How much does a wedding party cost in Jakarta?

By Johannes Simbolon

JAKARTA (JP): Weddings in Jakarta can cost nothing. Kidding? No. The Social Affairs Office of the Jakarta administration routinely funds and organizes mass wedding parties for vagrants and prostitutes to force them from a life of promiscuity to a decent life of matrimony.

But who is willing to pledge fidelity to a vagrant or prostitute to get a free wedding?

Normal weddings cost money and a handful of wedding firms are waiting to organize your big day. From a modest party to a fabulous extravaganza, depending on the size of your bank account.

The easiest way is to pay a wedding consultant to handle everything. The wedding consultants usually cooperate with other specialists so the commissions can get steep.

Johnny Andrean Bridal House, for example, specializes in bridal gowns and make-up. It hires Tarzan Photo to take the wedding pictures.

To save money, the couple could contact every connected firm themselves.

The first thing to do, before talking to the bridal gown house or cake shop, is book the reception hall. Since most Indonesians live by their horoscopes, many halls are fully booked for the lucky months a year ahead of the wedding.

The lucky months -- the Indonesian wedding season -- fall between September and February.

The expensive wedding halls in Jakarta include the Puri Agung Room at the Sahid Jaya, the Flores Room at the Borobudur Inter Continental Jakarta, the Mercantile Athletic Club, the Jakarta Convention Center, the Grand Ballroom at the Mandarin Hotel and Balai Kartini. Hotels usually provide various complimentary services to the newlyweds, including a one-night honeymoon in the hotel.

Prices range from Rp 25,000 (US$11.11) to Rp 60,000 a person, which includes a buffet. There is a surcharge of between Rp 4,000 and Rp 8,000 a person for each foodstall. Wedding parties may have up to ten foodstalls providing traditional Indonesian food like sate to Korean or Japanese dishes.

For a party of 1,000 guests, whoever is lucky enough to foot thee bill can spend up to Rp 200 million on just the food and hall.

After booking the hall, contact the invitation printers, the bridal gown house, the wedding cake shop, the master of ceremony, the pagar ayu (welcoming committee), photo studio and wedding platform decoration firm.

Some firms require that customers book long before the day because of high demand.

Bridal gown houses sell and rent gowns. Rents at Johnny Andrean start at Rp 2 million while most expensive gowns can sell for tens of million rupiah.

"If a bride wants to buy a special gown designed by a top designer and made of precious cloth, the price is surely special too," insisted Aie, a shop assistant at Johnny Andrean.

Wedding invitations, printed with gold ink, sell for between Rp 2,500 and Rp 8,000 a set.

Cakes may run at Rp 500,000 for the cheapest. Libra Cake in West Jakarta, for example, has 250 types of wedding cakes, some towering as high as four meters.

Flowers, the symbol of love, are a necessary wedding item. Soeryanto, the owner of a wedding decoration firm in West Jakarta, charges Rp 1.5 million for a platform decorated with artificial flowers. If it is decorated with chrysanthemums, the couple pays a surcharge of between Rp 200,000 and Rp 250,000 for every six flowers. Orchids go for Rp 3,000 apiece.

The couple may want a good master of ceremonies to ensure a lively party. Connie & Friends in North Jakarta charges Rp 1.5 million at the lowest.

"If a customer takes the minimum price, my assistant, not me, who will go to the party," says Connie A. Schifferling, director of Connie & Friends, who is also TV quiz host.

Reputed emcees like Koes Hendratmo and Anita Rachman rake in around Rp 15 million an appearance.

Tiara magazine reported that Indonesian celebrities' weddings, that attract about 5,000 guests, can cost Rp 1 billion. Five rural elementary schools could be built for the same amount.

"I always wonder why the rich don't have a modest party and donate what the would have spent to the poor. Many people will pray that their marriage will last," said Ningsih, an employee at an expensive wedding consultant.

Weddings don't have to be expensive. For around Rp 7 million, a consultant can arrange a fine wedding, with the bride and groom arriving in a BMW and entertaining their guests at a restaurant.

To save money, some Jakartans go home to their villages where they can stage a splendid party on a small budget. Others take the cheap kawin tamasya (vacation wedding) packages, which cost about Rp 1 million. The consultants provide a dress, pictures and a party for a limited number of people. The money saved can be spent on a honeymoon.

Some ethnic groups in Indonesia, including the Batak and Betawi, are lucky enough to have a tradition where guests present the married couple with money, instead of presents. This helps the newlyweds avoid bankruptcy. Sometimes they even get more than they spent.

The trend among Jakartans is for the couple to announce on their wedding invitations that they don't want gifts. This is a hint that money would be more appreciated.

"There is a saying now among the rich, 'Let's have a big party because the profit will be bigger'. It seems true because if you go to a big wedding party, you feel reluctant to give less than Rp 50,000," said Edi Gustomi, an alumnus of the Prasetya Mulya Management School, who once researched wedding consultants in Jakarta.