How much does a wedding party cost in Jakarta?

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.