A “once of a lifetime” event, they say.
About 2 weeks ago, I went to my friend’s wedding. She's my childhood friend–we’ve probably been friends even before we’ve turned 10, and her house is actually less than 10 meters from mine. We’re not so close but we often do various activities together.
Me and my other friend were asked to be her bridesmaids, so we arrived at the wedding venue earlier. After the afternoon ceremony and all the bridal photoshoots, the wedding reception began around 6 pm, where my friend and her husband walked down the aisle with their family members.
By the way, she came up with a quite unique “UMKM” wedding concept, which means that the food, drinks, and snacks were from small to medium enterprises. So there were various type of food and drinks that guests can enjoy: rice with seasoned beef and pickles (I don’t remember if it was Rendang or something else), baso (meatball soup), and even Indomie (instant noodles that are very famous and loved by many people here😂).
The guests could even watch the noodle-making process, lol that’s interesting. There was also a kebab stall and a simple bar for traditional snacks and cookies with various selection to choose from. (Unfortunately, I didn’t capture those because it was pretty crowded when the guests arrived)
However, I really wasn’t in the mood for anything other than the iced fruit soup (don’t even know how to write it in english, but it’s basically a sweet iced syrup with fruits and jelly). I even finished two bowls of it haha
I don’t know if this is just in Indonesia or an ASEAN-things, but wedding culture here is packed with so many things. From the traditions, to the invitations, and also the celebrations itself–it’s not only used up a lot of money, but also drains so much energy. I could never imagined shaking hands and having small talks with over 100 people in a single day. Honestly, 100 people isn’t that bad because the usual number of guests is up to 300 :”) My introverted self would have screamed intensely inside.
However, I think that’s the culture around here. A “once of a lifetime” event, is probably what they say to justify all the expenses for just one day. I think many people actually carry the same “unspeakable” burden within themselves because of this culture. So to get married, not only you have to find the love of your life–which is already challenging enough, but you also need to have a lot of savings in order to hold “a memorable wedding”.
Wdyt? How about the wedding culture in your country?
