A touch of tradition at Sydney bridal service
Text and photo by Sonya Sandham
SYDNEY, Australia (JP): Cross-cultural relationships are on the rise in Australia, with the latest research showing 60 percent of people are ethnically diverse as a result of mixed marriages.
Sumatran-born Lini Kuhn has tapped into this niche market, offering a service to Indonesian-Australian couples on a day close to their hearts -- their wedding day.
Lini offers a traditional Indonesian wedding service complete with clothing from various regions of the archipelago, hairstyles and makeup which capture the color of Indonesia's diverse cultures.
Her bridal, hairdressing and beautician business is believed to be the only service in Australia with such an extensive wardrobe of Indonesian wedding clothes and accessories.
Lini, a qualified hairdresser and makeup artist, has been helping couples prepare for traditional Indonesian weddings for more than 20 years. Between 1979 and 1984, she owned a hair and makeup business, Hany salon, in Senen, Central Jakarta.
In 1984, she moved to Australia and continued dabbling in hair and makeup for an Indonesian clientele, including visiting dignitaries like the sultan of Yogyakarta's wife.
Since 1987 she has been buying the costumes and accessories which now fill an entire room in her home-run business.
"I do it for the love of it," she said. "The bonus is my work touches people on their special day.
"Traditional Indonesian wedding costumes are mostly used by couples in mixed marriages which is nice because they are embracing the culture by choice not because their parents say they have to.
"I love Indonesia's culture and through this work I am introducing my culture to other people."
Lini said it took about two hours to prepare a bride, with the makeup consuming the most time.
"The makeup is very important because you can see the color of the culture through the makeup."
Lini said she often had to strike a balance between Indonesian traditions and Western style because some couples did not want to follow the culture too strictly.
"Most men refuse to wear makeup, Javanese brides don't want paes (black paint around the hairline), some women choose lipstick colors other than red and others don't want the traditional Cleopatra-style eye makeup of some cultures."
In addition, most Australian women do not want their husbands- to-be to injak telur (a Javanese marriage rite of stepping on an egg) because they interpret the washing of a man's feet afterward as a sign of subservience.
Lini said she had 50 sets of clothes with matching accessories from 10 distinct cultures -- Melayu Deli and Melayu Riau from around Medan; Sunda in West Java; Jawa, Solo and Kraton from Central Java; Minangkabau from West Sumatra; Betawi from Jakarta; Sulawesi and Bali.
The most expensive items to purchase are not the costumes, but the accessories because they must be high quality or gold-plated items to prevent them from deteriorating.
She plans to keep expanding her wardrobe on trips she makes to Indonesia until she has costumes from every region.
From her current collection, the Sundanese and Javanese costumes are the most popular for large weddings, with the kebaya putih (ornate traditional white blouse worn with a sarong) used for small weddings.
She charges between A$100 (Rp 540,000) and $600 (Rp 3,240,000) per outfit, depending on the style of dress and whether makeup, hair styling or bridesmaid dresses are required.
Indonesian weddings in Australia are not without their difficulties.
"In Indonesia it's easier to prepare for a wedding because if you need something, you can go to the market and look for it," she said. "Here it must be ordered from Indonesia."
Sadly, melati (Indonesian jasmine flowers used for weddings) is not available in Australia and Lini must make do with imported artificial flowers made of material.
If couples want janur (wedding ornaments) made from daun kelapa (a type of palm), Lini must import it from Bali and make them herself. It takes many hours to prepare each one so she hires them out complete with fruit and flowers, for about $150 per ornament.
Lini said her business's greatest strength -- the wide selection -- was also its greatest weakness.
"Most couples have an idea of the color they want and they are often surprised by the range of colors I have. My collection does have a limit though, so the lack of a color can also be very disappointing," she said.
"Size is always a problem. Even though I buy costumes which are XL in Indonesia they can still be too small and this may limit a couple's choice as well."