Pernikahan Jawa

I worked as a receptionist at my English teacher's daughter's Pernikahan Jawa (Javanese Wedding).  In the morning I went to the actual wedding ceremony at the bride's house.  They are a Catholic family so they had the first dogs I've seen in months.  Ibu was really uncomfortable because if a dog drool lands on a Muslim they have to wash the skin seven times and use holy water on it.
Later we went to the the gereja (church) which was full of music and singing.  I couldn't understand the verses that were said because they were in traditional Javanese, but it all sounded very beautiful.  The bride was crying when she symbolically kissed her mother goodbye.  Because of Indonesia's modest culture when the priest said "You may now kiss the bride" the groom kissed her on the forehead.
I worked at the reception in the evening after about an hour of makeup and teasing my hair into a traditional Javanese cone.  The bride, Jessica, was a law student (here law school is a fall back school) so I worked with all of her college friends who were also part of the ceremony.
It was great to spend time with other kids my age rather than the younger high-schoolers that I spend all day at school with.  I quickly became very adept at small talk in both Bahasa Indonesia and Basa Jawa.



The ceremony itself consisted of the bride showing submission to her new husband (washing his feet) while he showed that he would provide for her (feeding her).  Then they sat in thrones and greeted the thousands (literally) of guests that arrived.