Jordan's Queen Rania shares photos from Rajwa Al Saif's henna party ahead of royal wedding

The event was the first official celebration in the lead-up to the wedding on June 1

Bride-to-be Rajwa Al Saif arrives. All photos: queenrania/Instagram

Queen Rania with her eldest daughter, Princess Iman

Queen Rania greets guests at the henna party

Rajwa Al Saif greets guests

Rajwa Al Saif will marry Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein on June 1

Princess Iman, Queen Rania, Ms Al Saif's mother, Azza, and Princess Salma

The royals gathered for the first official pre-wedding celebration on Monday evening

The bride-to-be wore a white abaya with gold beadwork by Saudi designer Honayda Serafi

Queen Rania and Rajwa Al Saif walk hand-in-hand

Queen Rania embraces her future daughter-in-law

Queen Rania's speech moved Ms Al Saif to tears

The bride-to-be greets her mother, Azza

Jordan’s Queen Rania has shared photos from the henna party of her future daughter-in-law Rajwa Al Saif.

The event, which took place in Amman on Monday night, is the first major celebration ahead of the wedding of Al Saif to Crown Prince Hussein, which is set to take place on June 1.

Sharing photos from the event, which was attended by members of the royal family including Princess Iman and Princess Salma and women from across Jordan, Queen Rania said she was celebrating “our beautiful Rajwa”.

“No celebration would be complete without our Jordanian family. Celebrating our beautiful Rajwa,” she wrote.

In one of the pictures, Queen Rania is seen embracing Al Saif, while in another, she is pictured making a speech as the bride-to-be wipes away a tear.

In a second set of pictures shared on Tuesday, Queen Rania can be seen talking to attendees and embracing Al Saif's mother, Azza.

"Thank you all for sharing in our happiness at Rajwa’s Henna party last night," she wrote.

Al Saif wore a white abaya with intricate gold beadwork for the occasion, custom-made by Saudi designer Honayda Serafi.

Queen Rania, meanwhile, wore a bespoke powder blue kaftan by Lebanese designer Saiid Kobeisy, featuring a high neck, belted waist, flared sleeves and heavy beadwork.

The celebration was held in the grounds of Zahran Palace, where the wedding ceremony will take place next week.

On Monday, Queen Rania shared a look at some of the final preparations, posting a video a video of local artisans as they prepared decorations, fabrics and handicrafts ahead of the big day.

“Thank you all for going the extra mile to make our celebrations extra special. God bless you and the happy couple,” she said in the caption.

Several of the artisans involved commented below the post, sharing their joy at being involved with the wedding.

“I am proud that I was part of this achievement, and our hands worked to decorate this joy,” the account Macrame by Saja, which makes decorative crochet wall hangings, wrote.

Henna designer Zaina al Sharaf wrote: “Thank you for sharing your joy with us and supporting a lot of Jordanian projects, young men and women who are entrepreneurs and creative.”

Last week, the official logo for the royal wedding was revealed, with the words “we rejoice” written in Arabic calligraphy. A bilingual version of the logo has the Arabic calligraphy along with the words “Jordan's Royal Wedding” and the date, “1-6-23".

Al Saif, 29, is the daughter of Saudi businessman Khalid Al Saif. She was educated in Saudi Arabia before moving to the US for higher education, where she studied architecture at Syracuse University.

The couple announced their engagement in August, when their families gathered at the Al Saif family home in Riyadh.