Do’s and Don’t’s for an Indonesian Wedding Guest
A wedding is always a good opportunity to observe a culture’s customs and traditions. Indonesia has a broad assortment of ethnic groups and each one has its own set of ceremonies and customs. Understanding these rites and rituals is always interesting especially if you have made the country your home.
The first thing you should remember is that if you are invited, it’s important that you attend as a sign of respect for those who invited you and your relationship with them. Even if you haven’t known them for a long time, remember that if they invite you, they really want you to come and honor them with your presence to show support for the newlyweds. Not attending might insult those involved in the wedding and will probably cause some trouble in your relationship.
Wedding guests in Indonesia usually just attend the reception even if both the ceremony and the reception are indicated in the invitation. If you want to attend the ceremony to see more of the rites, be sure to ask the person who invited you. Sometimes the ceremony is kept small and intimate; it may be that they prefer only family and very close friends witness the exchange of vows.
Appropriate decent attire is expected of guests as these celebrations are very special. Women should wear nice dresses (long-sleeved if it is a Muslim wedding) and men should dress in a business suit or a long-sleeved batik shirt with decent trousers.
In earlier times when weddings in Indonesia were fancy and extravagant affairs, wedding guests would present the newlyweds with large floral arrangements displayed outside the banquet hall. Gifts would also include an assortment of household appliances and furniture. This becomes a problem for the newlyweds when their thousands of guests would end up giving them the same gifts over and over. It’s quite common for the bride and groom to receive 20 rice cookers, 5 refrigerators, 10 blenders, etc. It has become a practice since then for the bride and groom to request their guests to refrain from bringing flowers or gifts. They include this statement in their invitation: “Without belittling your generosity, we’d appreciate it if you didn’t give us flowers or a gift.” This is their subtle way of saying that they prefer money instead. At a table outside the reception hall, a box with a slit on top is placed and you can insert your money envelope there. Make sure to ask around for the appropriate amount to give. Envelopes are usually numbered and the number is indicated in the guest book next to your name so that the newlyweds know how much you gave them.
During the reception, speeches will be made by representatives of the bride and groom’s families. After these, guests will be invited to come on stage where the newlyweds are and shake their hands and that of their parents. After going through the receiving line, guests may then eat. If waiting your turn to go on stage will take quite long, it is also okay to eat first then go up the stage later.
There is no rule as to how early you should come to a wedding or how long you should stay. You can come to the reception just in time to go up the stage and go through the receiving line then proceed to partake of the banquet. It is also acceptable to leave right after having your meal since some may get multiple wedding invitations for one night so you want to make sure you leave time for each of them.
You should count yourself lucky if you get invited to an Indonesian wedding because those involved are very sincere when it comes to inviting guests. However, be prepared to keep with the acceptable practices to make sure you don’t offend your Indonesian friends.
Related posts:
- Indonesian Wedding Tradition An Indonesian wedding is a very important occasion. The bride...
- Ideas for Muslim Wedding Gifts Muslim weddings often reflect the personal beliefs of the couples...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
If you like this article, kindly leave a comment or rate my post. I would also appreciate any honest feedback as i constantly seek to improve the quality of my articles. Thank you for reading!
|
Digg It! |
Stumble It! 
|
Sphinn It! |
Bookmark It!  |
