Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Indonesian style weddings

On Sunday, one of the clerks that Richard works with got married and we were invited. This is the type of wedding reception that the typical Indonesian in Palembang would have. It is usually held in an open area near their home. I think all the neighbors must be invited since they have blocked access to all the surrounding homes. The guy in hot pink is Richard.


The festivities start early in the morning with dances, speeches, prayers/sermon by imams, and maybe a song or two by the bride and groom. The wedding couple and both sets of parents sit on top of a raised platform. The 'thrones' and other furniture you see are carved out of wood.


The bride and groom could hardly move because of all the weight they were wearing and balancing. By the way, its not real gold, just gold in color. Take a good look at the bride's eye shadow. I don't know why they do it this way but its a stiff piece of green glitter paper thats stuck on her upper eyelids. She isn't able to fully open her eyes because its so stiff.


The day ends when lunch is served. Here's a photo of one of the three buffet tables.


And here's what we had for lunch. I'm sure the Rendang there was tasty but it was too spicy for me to enjoy.

8 comments:

Bilbo said...

A very interesting post! It brings back memories of planning and pulling off our daughter's wedding. Because her husband is Indian, we had to plan a wedding that blended Christian and Hindu rituals. Incredibly enough, it all turned out fine, and it was very colorful, as all the groom's female relatives showed up dressed in fabulously-colored saris...it was probably the most colorful wedding I've ever attended. That's just as well, because the weather was terrible and drove our planned outdoor wedding inside at the last minute!

Kellan said...

Truly beautiful! What a wonderful day and cultural experience - I loved seeing how they celebrate their weddings - very cool. Have a good day, Amanda. See you soon. Kellan

Kellan said...

Truly beautiful! What a wonderful day and cultural experience - I loved seeing how they celebrate their weddings - very cool. Have a good day, Amanda. See you soon. Kellan

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Wow, that was interesting Amanda. I love seeing all your pictures - they are so mesmerizing! What an awesome experience, no?

Heidi Hyde said...

Cool post and the pictures were beautiful. But that plate...ohh that plate of food was the most beautiful. Heaven.

-HH

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Very well written. I wouldn't have been able to eat it, either. I went to an Indian wedding in this country, and the food made me ill!

egan said...

This is great insight to something we don't see everyday here in America. Thanks for sharing and telling. Love the pink shirt.

Amanda said...

I'm glad you all enjoyed it. It really was a very new experience for me as well. So colorful, loud and BUSY! People were just constantly walking everywhere.