Here you DO marry your beloved's family. Regardless, establishing a relationship is always a first step. Mixed-gender parties are looked upon by many as corrupting influences. They are often raided by vigilant vice police, the ubiquitous Komiteh, everyone is arrested and subjected to all sorts of harassment and humiliation. Whether because of the loss of face such arrest brings or because of fear of corrupting influences, many middle-class families tend to be very strict with their daughters about attending such parties.
Parties are particularly good occasions to begin semi-illicit friendships and relationships.
They generally begin with the men and women sitting shyly apart in small clusters in opposing sides of the room, and only when dancing begins, or when the noise level is so high to lend a modicum of privacy to the conversations that the furtive tentative exchanges begin. The girl looks up at the man through her lashes, tries hard not to stare into his eyes yet at the same time she appears to look wholly focused on the man and the conversation. The guy blocks out the rest of the crowd, physically turning his back on it, in a sense making an aegis of his body to protect the girl from view. If the conversation ends fortuitously, phone numbers are exchanged privately and away from the others' curious eyes, and from there a relationship begins. Universities are another great place to meet a member of the opposite sex.