Well, where do I begin?  We are a week into our holiday now and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to update!!!

I will start, of course, with the whole reason for our trip, Anton and Nuri’s wedding.  WOW!!!  I have never experienced anything quite like it.

The ceremony was in a local church close to Anton’s families house.  It was a beautiful Catholic ceremony, all in Indonesian (of course).  Lucky for us Anton had arranged for a friend to show us around the day before.  Tati was brilliant!  The nicest person you could ever hope to meet.  She gave up her time for us all day on the Friday to show us a little bit of Jakarta and then arranged for us to be picked up and looked after for the wedding.  Her whole family got involved in “looking after” us.  Just wonderful people, one and all.

Anyway, back on topic, apparently it is customary for only close family and friends to go to the church, so it was a priviledge to be able to go.  After the ceremony there was a gathering with food and drink (water, it was a “dry” wedding) with everyone who went to the church.  We spent around an hour there before heading back to the hotel.  The car that picked us up was the same one that Tati had hired (yes, even though she is native to Jakarta even she wouldn’t drive in the traffic) for the day on Friday. This was complete with Tati’s parents, who were going to the reception as well.  Her whole family became our welcoming committee. She even had her sister waiting for us at the reception place so we wouldn’t feel out of place.

At 7pm we arrived at the reception hall to be greeted with this:

I have to say I have never seen anything quite like it.  The room was stunning.  Jo, Greg and I were speachless!  Not only that but WE got a present when we walked in as well.

About 15 minutes after we arrived we found Anton and Nuri upstairs in a sort of waiting area.  They looked like royalty.

After a little while we were treated to the wedding proccession.  This consisted of Anton and Nuri at the front and then a lot of people following them.  I know that some of the people were parents, but I’m not sure about the rest.  The proccession walked along up to a stage where Anton and Nuri were seated for the rest of the night while they were congratulated by all of the guests.  This consisted of somewhere around 500 – 800 (I think) people throughout the night while everyone else got to enjoy the food.  The massive amount of very very tasty food!!!  Water was in plentiful supply as well, which was good for us Melbournians as humidity was killing us by this stage.  We ate all that we could and then made pests of ourselves taking photos where ever we could.  We ended up being amongst the last to leave (very Australian of us).

I am truely greatful to both Anton and Nuri for inviting me.  Not only was this the catalyst for my holiday, but it was truly an experience I will never forget.  To Anton and Nuri, Adam and I both wish you the best of everything for the rest of your lives together!!!!