Sunday, November 11, 2007

Marriage: Mass Parrty in a Package

Every girl (I stress this in the hopes of impressing upon dear reader the arguable assumption that following thoughts are perfectly common), has thought about her future wedding. It should not be translated to mean that her wedding is imminent, or that she is impatient for it, or that she is hopelessly romantic. It is simply a girly naturalness. It’s just that some girls are more secretive about it than others, as I have been until the moment I press “post” on my blogger dashboard.

In my entire life in this country, I have been to only two weddings which I have actually enjoyed, one was at a coffee plantation resort in Central Java overlooking hills and valleys, and the other was last night at an upscale restaurant in Jakarta where the female guests’ dress code was white/champagne. The two weddings had only one thing in common: the invitees did not exceed 200 people. Other weddings? perhaps thousands of invitees, including the relative of the relative of the relative, and the siblings' friends and siblings’ friends’ boyfriends.

So last night, in my champagne coloured dress and a glass of champagne in hand, I had genuine fun and met a lot of people I actually knew and could chat with. And then I thought, “I want my wedding to be like this.” But I doubted the possibility, because if I only invite 200 people, some 800 people I don’t know just might get offended.

4 comments:

Rob Baiton said...

:) so I should expect an invite, yes? no? maybe? not yet?

Anonymous said...

That's what sucks about Indonesian weddings aye? The simple fact that you don't get invited is often translated as an offensive gesture, while it's not always the case. It's because our society embraces the value that family and friends weigh more than everything.

It's a good thing to know that your friends surround you though, especially if you live abroad and going through a hard time finding "friends". Of course if we talk about privacy that would be another question, which shouldn't be a big issue in Indonesia, though (who still has privacy in our country these days btw?)

To me, it's enough to know that my good friend is content with whoever she marries. It's enough to know that she makes a big step in her life and knows what she does. Wish you the very best luck!

ps: I still expect an invitation btw ;p

Anonymous said...

i so can relate with this post. seriously.

Anonymous said...

touche, teez!
i can SO, so, so relate to that gurlfren! It's one thing to be thinking that way, but the truth is not many of us eventually manages to break free from the imposition of the traditional Indo wedding. I mean seriously, must we have another reform movement just to free ourselves from this oppression?! maybe someday I'll have the nerve to look into her parents' eyes and say "NO!, this is my wedding and your daughter's wedding, and WE'll be the one running the show!"

*sigh* wishful thinking... invite me too, please! :P