Yesterday, one of the Semarang Blogging Community members, Mizan, invited me to witness an Indonesian Wedding.
He literally asked me that morning – the day of the wedding!
I was a bit shocked because a question like that is virtually non-existent in western society, and after he insisted (after talking via Adi, who I’m staying with), I thought that I don’t get invited to an Indonesian Wedding every day!
And that’s the whole point of this entire trip – seeing the real Indonesia.
Since the timing was a bit short notice, Ari, also from Loenpia, quickly brought me one of this batik shirts to wear. This is what men traditionally wear to such weddings when invited as guests.
Anyway, this is roughly how an Indonesian Wedding works (well in this case, a traditional Javanese one).
First of all there is a ceremony. Unfortunately, I missed this because Ari was caught in a traffic jam when he was buying me the batik shirt, so unfortunately I cannot tell you what happened in this case!
There are a number of complicated rituals that occur (about 7 steps). If you want to know more, you can translate this page from Wikipedia (in Indonesian). But in a nutshell, there the spiritual jist is that there is a transfer of responsibility from the parents to the bride and groom.
But the reception is something else.
The bride and groom, with their respective parents and immediate family, are on a stage for photos and greetings. They are all dressed in traditional Javanese clothing.
Photos are taken with each and every single guest/family group. And I literally mean, every single guest.
Since I was an invited guest, the same applied to me!
Instead of presents, money is donated so that the costs of the wedding and reception can be covered.
This was a relatively small wedding by Javanese standards – only about 700 guests were present at this wedding.
Sometimes, they reach 2000-3000 guests! I’ve been to some large Italian weddings in my time (some of which where I didn’t even know the bride or groom), but these Indonesian Weddings put these to shame!
There are no seats and tables at the reception. Everyone stands up, and goes to a number of food stalls to eat and mingle with each other. The reception is a fairly social and informal event, and it was bustling for the entire time I was there.
This reception goes on for a large chunk of the afternoon, and guests move in and out of the venue in steady droves.
Like most weddings, there is music played – I heard a variety of songs both in Indonesian and English sung by the band.
However, it’s not often that a foreigner rocks up to one of these events.
Once again, like in other places in Sumatra and Java on this trip, people wanted their photo with me.
I was almost paranoid of stealing the attention away from the bridge and groom.
And there’s also the wedding car!
I very grateful to Mizan for sharing this fantastic opportunity with me – I’ll never forget it!
And I now have a batik shirt to prove it!
To find out more about Indonesian Culture, check out Indonesia – Culture Smart!
Air Asia flies to loads of places in Indonesia from loads of other places. Check out their website for a great airfare deal now!
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Twitter: suzannita
Says:
October 19th, 2009 at 8:02 am
that’s to many wedding after Lebaran…
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October 19th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
you look great in batik….
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October 19th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
next time i’ll bring you to ‘emperor nasi goreng’ wedding
but you miss the story, that we must stand beside air blower..
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October 19th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I really appreciate that you willing to came at my sister wedding, sorry for the short notice
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October 19th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
anthony, i am so sure that you’ve never been in a javanese wedding before…hahaha…yeah, and know finally u could use ur own batik shirt…
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October 20th, 2009 at 7:40 am
Good luck for your travel mate
..seeya next time
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October 20th, 2009 at 8:59 am
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October 20th, 2009 at 9:03 am
sorry! I can not write in English…
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October 21st, 2009 at 7:03 am
Wow nice batik shirt. Yabbie wants you to wear it home and to your wedding! I esp. love the car with the paper mache chain, maybe something we could do!!! You are so lucky to be invited hey. Well done.
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October 21st, 2009 at 6:34 pm
You’re lucky! Seriously! What about the food?
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October 21st, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Hi Thomas. As usual, the food was great. Lots of different stalls to go up and graze all day.
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November 23rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
What a treat. I have a good friend who was married on Bali and he once reviewed all of the components necessary in the wedding ceremony.
I think that it must have just been really interesting to attend such an event, especially after being more familiar with western-style weddings.
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January 24th, 2010 at 2:55 am
It really looks like they had a great time.
I wish we had more interesting food here in the UK, instead we get the same old “traditional” stuff. I really mish my Asian food!!
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January 27th, 2010 at 8:58 am
I’d love to experience different cultured when it comes to weddings. Someone who I once knew got married in China to a Chinese lady and the way he described the day was completely different to how weddings are in the UK. I guess each country has their own way of doing things.
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January 28th, 2010 at 4:09 am
Wow – that looks great. The bride and groom look a tad strained in the photo – probably from having to have their photos taken with 700 guests!
fiona@A Matter of Wedding Photography Edinburgh´s last blog ..Real life wedding – Jane and Duncan
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February 7th, 2010 at 11:28 am
the photos looks so cool , why they have every thing greeny , and plants every where !
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February 20th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Nice to see you again. I wish I could travel the world, just like you. …, One day……
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Twitter: vencanica
Says:
March 24th, 2010 at 9:29 am
I would like to be on one Indonesian Wedding look wery nice to me.
carolija@vencanice´s last blog ..Carolija Vencanice Novi Sad Beograd
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March 27th, 2010 at 2:05 am
Such lovely greens! I enjoy seeing how people celebrate marriages in different parts of the world. Thanks for sharing.
London wedding photographer´s last blog ..It’s Tubesday: Wedding Humor
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June 2nd, 2010 at 6:26 am
What a great post, I enjoy seeing pictures of other cultures and their wedding ceremonies. Here is a website for anyone in any culture to buy or sell wedding related products or services. There was a lot of the color green in this wedding, does that have any symbolism?
Benito “Green Wedding” Vazquez´s last blog ..中国人结婚怎么选日子？
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June 19th, 2010 at 7:36 am
Loved seeing the photos of this! The clothing is so colorful and it’s interesting how everyone in the family matches.
Heather recently posted..Authentic Pakistani Cuisine: Simple Vinegar Broast Chicken
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July 11th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Such great photographs. I love the head pieces that the bride and groom are wearing. What an amazing experience.
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July 11th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
One last thing. The brown and black pants that the mother and father of either the bride and groom are just wildly vivid. That’s just amazing to be visiting a country and to be invited to a wedding on the spot. I’m very jealous of your adventures and hope to have a little taste of them in the future.
James recently posted..Candace Mike Engagement Session
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anthony Reply:
July 11th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
It was awesome! I really enjoyed the experience!
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July 12th, 2010 at 3:49 am
what i love about asian foods is that they are always tasty and spice`:,
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July 12th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Great post. Indonesian weddings are so fun! Going to one in September.
tim edyan recently posted..Simply register on theindiaphile website to be in with a chance of winning a fantastic Rag Bag and wallet
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July 23rd, 2010 at 1:30 am
Great dress. They look wonderful. It is another wedding dress that comes in an artistic style. Very creative.
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July 23rd, 2010 at 11:47 am
I never been and attended an Indonesian wedding and wow this is nice. I like the head dress of the bride and the style of her dress. And the guest is around 2000-3000, my gosh the wedding is soo expensive
How I wish I could also afford it 
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July 26th, 2010 at 3:37 am
Indonesian wedding is so coloful. The set- up is so unique. Very different to western weddings wherein the bride would wear white gown.
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July 26th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Their elegant and colorful outfits speak of the rich Indonesian culture and wedding tradition. What amazes me is the number of guests who attended their wedding.
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July 30th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Best wishes to the newly weds, how I wish one of these days I can also witness such kind of wedding ceremony. Different nation, different tribe but when we say wedding it is connected in one common purpose that is to unite two individuals together forever.
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July 30th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
The shots were great and best wishes to the couple. The outfits were really colorful, I wish I could witness a wedding like this. Love the green theme!
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August 5th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Where would you get a venue to hold that many guests. How do they get to know 2000 people, why don’t they just ask for presents, it would take months to undo them. I guess that feeding 2000 people is quite expensive though. I love the image of the wedding car, that is great. This really does show that the West has lost a lot of its culture and that we have a lot to learn from other cultures such as Indonesia!
Jon@ Wedding Photography Leicester recently posted..Darren & Anna – Wedding Slideshow – The Carriage Hall
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August 6th, 2010 at 5:10 am
The color of the dress reflects their culture. Muslims have very colorful dresses, so as their bride and groom wear colorful dress. One of the indonesian wedding concept is the more guests, the merrier. That’s why most of their wedding has most numbered of guests. It’s really great to know more about their culture. I could imagine how wonderful your experience was as you witnessed their wedding.
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August 7th, 2010 at 1:04 am
This is a different type of wedding. They have their own concepts and style.The bridal gown is not also typical. Do they also have bridesmaid and grooms men? You are lucky to witness such an event.
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August 11th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Wonderful experience. Indonesian wedding is so colorful. I could imagine the number of guests they had. Are Indonesian weddings always outnumbered with guests? I wish I could witness such.
Grant wedding photography recently posted..Wendy Steven Engagement Session
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August 14th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Asian weddings are really colorful in nature and full of rituals. It is blended with traditions and culture.
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August 16th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
One of the most important concepts at Indonesian weddings seems to be ‘the more the merrier’. Literally every relative, acquaintance, colleague or business partner could be invited to the wedding.
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August 18th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Hahaha, interesting experience! Indonesian wedding shocked my husband too (I’m Indonesian). My dad in the last minute didn’t think we invited enough people, and just spread the word from phone to phone (and his friends that got invited by phone, invited even more people by phone).
Dina recently posted..Happy Independence Day- Indonesia!
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anthony Reply:
August 19th, 2010 at 9:04 am
But that’s exactly why I loved it! It was a great experience I’ll never forget!
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August 23rd, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Amazing how the cultures differ though. A big UK wedding is probably 400 people and that is a lot. Even if I invited everyone that I had spoken to in the last year, it probably wouldn’t reach 4000. shows that the western culture is far more polarised and impersonal imho!
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September 1st, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I really wanted to attend or experience a wedding from a different culture like the Indonesian or Indian wedding.
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September 2nd, 2010 at 9:38 pm
I think the wedding is more in traditional wedding. But that was a great wedding I like the color of their dress is green. And the reception there’s a lot of people, but they enjoying the foods they serve.
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