Weddings-Indonesian Style

Indonesian weddings are a huge part of the culture here. They are usually all-day events, and there are always a TON of guests invited. Depending on how wealthy and well-connected the family is, many weddings can easily have a few thousand guests! Contrary to weddings we're used to, most guests don't show up until after the ceremony. The main focus is the receiving line, in which guests may have to wait an hour or more to congratulate the bride and groom and families.

We recently attended the wedding of one of the Indonesian women who works with us. Almost all of the Indonesians in our office went, in addition to a few other Americans. It was held at a home in a city about 2 and a half hours' drive from Jakarta. Along with our American coworkers, we made sure to arrive late as that was what we were advised to do. However, apparently arriving late is still arriving very early! Seeing as we knew no one there but the bride, we were anticipating the arrival of our Indonesian coworkers. They (mostly women) had spent all day at the salon getting their hair and makeup done and dressing up. They finally showed up around 4 hours after the time on the invitation, and only stayed about an hour and then split! It was a great opportunity to see what a real Indonesian wedding is like.

This last picture shows the happy couple and all of her coworkers. You'll notice almost all the men are wearing the traditional Indonesian batik shirt. Batik is a method of dyeing fabric, and it is actually considered a national art form in Indonesia. Men wear these shirts to just about any formal function, which makes getting dressed pretty easy for them!