Wedding from Another World

The Wedding was announced (to family and relatives)around mid July, to take place at Serrata Hotel, in the city of Semarang, Indonesia, on September 17th, 2011. 500 invitations were printed around the beginning of September, and the last delivery (courier service) was the day before the wedding ! On the wedding day, there were about 700 people attending. Incredible !

There was live music and many selections of traditional food as well as 'imported' creation. Buffet tables and barbeque were set up inside the hall and outside by the swimming pool. Guest register was attended by at least 4 students from Diponegoro University. Greeters in traditional costumes lined up along either side of the red carpet which stretched from the guest register all the way to the 'throne' where the bride and groom are sitting or standing to receive handshakes from guests.

So, how was it done without hiring a wedding planner?

Around mid July (2 months prior to the wedding), the bride's mom gathered some family members and close friends (around 50 adults) and asked them to be in the wedding committee. Each person is given a task, such as negotiating with catering service, costumes coordination and finding a dress maker, transportation arrangement, getting ceremonial nick nacks, attending guest books, coordinating a team of beauticians for the bride and the bride's maids, finding a team of decorators for the ceremonies at the bride's house and the wedding venue at Serrata's. I am assuming that the venue was already picked and reserved at this time....

Everyone works as a volunteer and is happy to do the job. So, is it the Mom who has such tremendous social power? Is it the bride? Or ..... is it the culture?

SACRAMENTO TO JAKARTA, AND POINTS IN BETWEEN

Sacramento is still my favorite airport in the United States. At least while it's still small enough to make my check in easier and more accomodating to fly out of the United States. And .... while I still live nearby ..... Eventhough there is a price that I had to pay this time. Transit in SFO was 7 hours, for my flight (Singapore Air) was not till 01:20am Sunday morning, and the Red Carpet Lounge (United Airlines) was closed at 10:30pm Saturday. Grrrr ! The internet connectivity was bad, the snack choices were pitiful. Hours of operation is not useful for late night travellers. They should change the color of the carpet ..... maybe instead of "RED" call it "BLUE CARPET LOUNGE" ?

The one shot flight to Hong Kong was the longest segment of this journey. Duration: 13.5 hours. After 3 movies, 2 meals, 3 Singapore Slings, and snacks in between, plus some sleep we finally arrived in Hong Kong with only 2 hours of transit time before continuing to Singapore. Next segment, Hong Kong - Singapore was only 3.5 hours. Easy trip. One meal, one movie, and one more Singapore sling. Monday at noon, we arrived at Changi Airport, Singapore. My favorite airport in the world. See my previous article about Changi Airport......

Five hours transit in Singapore Airport went fast, as always. I easily found Lufthansa's desk at Transit Lounge E ...... and got my boarding pass to Jakarta. The plane that was going to carry us to Jkt arrived an hour late because of the unexpected storm in Germany that caused delay. And then after we boarded and the door was closed, fifteen minutes later, the plane still didn't move. Soon the captain announced that the ground crew were having difficulties pushing the plane out of the gate. ...... greatt! More time to kill !

I didn't know what happened, I suddenly heard an announcement that we have just landed in Jakarta. ..... hmmmm.... I've been asleep ? I know that the flight is only 1 hr 20 minutes, but how long was the plane on the ground in Singapore ? I wonder if my friend, Ianty, is going to be there at the arrival gate to greet me.