The Wedding

What an amazing day this has been. We woke up early as we were asleep by 7 pm last night. We had breakfast in the hotel – an omelette and toast, plus the peanut butter sandwich I ate when I woke up because I was hungry. Last night, we were asked to wear traditional Javanese outfits for the ceremony, and someone came in to fit them to us this morning. Diana wore a sarong with a gold top. Some ladies did her makeup. I wore a sarong with jacket and hat and a small sword tucked in the back. The sarong was wrapped tightly, and my shoes were a little too small, so I had to walk like a penguin from the hotel to the car.

The people here don’t seem to like walking places. It could be because there’s not much sidewalk, and what there is tends to be very close to the road. Some told us that because it’s so warm there and the pollution was bad, so people tended to stay in cars or on bikes. The venue is less than a block from the hotel. However, we always drove. Today, they had police stop traffic as we drove the wrong way up the one-way street to get to the venue the short way. Ary was the lead car in a yellow VW Bug with flowers on the hood. Ary’s parents were in an SUV in the second position and we were in the 3rd.

We would learn once we arrived at the venue that this was the outfit that parents wore, and we were being treated as parents during the ceremony. I choked up when I realized that. We walked in the processional just behind Ary’s parents. The groom’s side and bride’s side faced each other before the ceremony as gifts were brought forward in beautiful clear boxes gilded with gold. Gifts were exchanged between families.

Then we walked with the family to the front of the venue. We sat in the front row during the prayers and vows. Many blessings and prayers were read, as Dichi, his father, Ary’s father and two other men gathered at a table in front of the crowd. Prayers were read and Dichi signed something at the table. Soon Ary began walking down the aisle, and I got a little misty-eyed. She was stunning in her headdress and gown. I didn’t take out my cell phone until I saw others do so. They walked up the aisle and more prayers were read before vows were exchanged. Then we were brought up to sit next to the other parents behind the front table, which was moved out of the way. Ary and Dichi kneeled the way Ary did yesterday, and when she got to me, I put my hands on her shoulder like the other parents did. She said, “You probably don’t know what I’m doing right now, but I am asking for your blessings and thanking you for being here.” That was it – the tears couldn’t stay inside. She moved on to Dichi, who also knelt before me and thanked me for coming.

Next the MC handed me a microphone and asked me to make a speech. This was unexpected, but I simply told Ary that 10 years ago she came into our lives and changed it forever, and that we were so grateful to be there with her, and that we wish them many blessings today and for the rest of their lives together. Diana was also asked to say something, and she said that Ary would never know how much joy she brought to our lives and wished her and Dichi happiness and blessings.

Next some photos were taken before we headed back to the hotel to change. After getting my suit on for the reception, we got in the car to return. Unfortunately, the parades were going on for the carnivals for the holiday weekend, and we got caught in gridlock, taking 30 minutes to go a block away because we had to go around and roads were closed off.

We arrived at the park again, and were once again asked to be in many photos with Ary’s friends and family. The band started playing music, and the MC shouted out my name, and asked me to come up on stage. Somehow, that ended up with me singing Elvis’ “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You”. When I left the stage, Ary’s uncle wanted me to join him to sing Unchained Melody, so I went back up.

After that, we met some English-speaking people who were involved in AFS in the past, and had a nice conversation with them. We talked about our hosting experience, and our journey from the U.S. to be here.

The reception line had cleared as people started handing out blue and white balloons, so we quickly went up to greet the happy couple and get photos taken. Then Ary and Dichi walked down to the dance floor area in the grass and they released the balloons. This was followed by tossing the bouquet. They teased the crowd by not releasing the bouquet the first time. Ary’s smile was a mile wide and it was so great to see how happy she and Dichi are.

As it was starting to wind down, we left the reception to go back to the hotel and get some rest. We packed up our clothes from this morning and gave them to Iluk before retiring to our room for a while.