Slick, in answer to your questions...

I wore a maroon-ish dress with golden embroidery/designs on it. Not a traditional wedding dress...that will wait until the wedding party in the summer. I don't think we really have bridemaids, culturally. Not in the sense of a typical Western marriage anyway.

We did exchange rings. He can legally claim me as a dependant, as I am now legally his wife, and that is recognized by the government. I think all one needs is a marriage certificate for that. Our culture/religion sees us as married. The ceremony we had at the mosque is the main thing, and what makes us 'legally' husband and wife. The city recognizes religious marriages like that. We had to have the ceremony before we could have the legal documents from the city. We can be together now if we want to be, but with our current circumstances, it is best that we wait to start life together until he is done with school/has a job. We just had a small ceremony with our closest friends, but the big wedding will be the party we have before we start life together. It is kind of difficult to be so far from him right now. We're on the phone 24/7...something you can all probably tell, because I'm not getting any time for PT. Hope this answers your questions.