Idul Fitri: Keeping decorations fun and festive

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hotels and restaurants may try their darndest to get people out to sample their wares on the special days of Idul Fitri, but tradition dies hard.

For most Muslims, there is nothing more joyful than celebrating the end of the fasting month in the home, feasting on the same delicious savory dishes and snacks remembered from childhood amid the warmth of family and friends.

Some aspects of the tradition can do with a reworking, particularly in creating a welcoming decor and attractive table setting.

It's a challenge, especially with only a week to the holiday, but that does not mean we should play it "safe" by sticking to the usual ornaments, like the plaited coconut leave casing used to make ketupat (boiled rice cakes) but often hung as a seasonal decoration.

Still, ketupat and other typical Idul Fitri items and mainstay colors -- the tikar (woven) motif and hues of white, yellow and green -- can be a source of inspiration in trying something new to decorate the interior and the dining table with a fresh, money-saving theme.

Inspired by those simple woven coconut leaves used to wrap ketupat, a florist from www.bunga-bunga.com, Maria "Sandra" Alexandra, teamed up with event consultant Ojjie Nanik to create a stylish yet practical table setting and home decoration that goes well with traditional Indonesian interior decor.

The use of simple flowers and other decorative elements, like jasmine, tuberose, coconut leaves, branches and rice stalks, are fully in keeping with the Indonesian theme -- and they smell good, too.

"Various materials, even old and simple ones, can be used again in a creative way as interesting accessories or accents for the interior -- and they save us from spending too much money," said Ojjie.

For this year's theme, Purity of the Heart, they focused on purification and starting anew after the month-long fasting month, using white flowers and freshly cut leaves.

"For the flowers, we focus on popular, widely available ones like sedap malam (tuberose), white orchid, chrysanthemum, jasmine, cucurma and bunga kapas (cotton flower)," said Sandra.

Living and dining rooms are decorated with branches, wild grasses and rice stalks for a kampong ambience.

Traditional items and games, like a congklak (a wooden board with indentations) and a woven-leaf mat, bedeck the low coffee table.

"The indented parts of the congklak are filled with flowers and different kinds of traditional sweet treats, arranged one after another, and guests can enjoy them while chatting and waiting for others to arrive," Ojjie said.

The centerpiece of the dining table is a beautiful flower arrangement, consisting of several groups of flowers with individual woven place mats for each guest.

A woven envelope filled with padi, branches and an orchid decorates the back of each dining chair.

Once the traditional Idul Fitri meals have been served and eaten, then comes desserts, including the must-have treat dates, served on the dining table in the form of a small tree.

"Guests can just pick them straight from the tree," Ojjie said.

Small notebooks, designed with a matching woven motif, are provided for each guest at the dining table. After enjoying the meal, guests are invited to jot down the habits they would like to get rid of as part of their Idul Fitri resolutions. This part of the gathering is specially created to involve all the guests and provide warmth and excitement.

For houses with a classic-style interior, florist manager at Shangri-La Jakarta Budi Susanto highlights the typical Idul Fitri colors of white, yellow and green for an elegant, formal theme to celebrate the special day with family or with office colleagues and associates.

The dining table is decorated with a low round centerpiece, consisting of golden shower flowers, cassablanca lilies and fern with small ketupat for accents.

Ideally, Budi said, the centerpiece should be kept low or at medium height in order not to block the view of people at the table.

"It (the centerpiece) is usually removed when the house owner serves elaborate meals but there is no need to do it when a set menu is served one after another," he said.

For a special touch, each of the napkins is adorned with a sprig of golden shower and a ketupat.

"When various dishes are served together on a buffet table, a tall flower arrangement is recommended to create a balance with the food in its surroundings," said Budi, a veteran of both national and international flower design competitions.

Similar flower arrangements are also placed on the table in the seating area on a cabinet, while a taller one enlivens a corner of the room.

"Flower arrangements and home decoration elements should compliment the whole interior and I personally recommend keeping them simple," he said.