Son of Susilo celebrates in style

Son of Susilo celebrates in style

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Lamps made the Bogor Palace look dazzling on Saturday evening as
it welcomed thousands of guests for the wedding reception of the
first son of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, First Lt. Agus
Harimurti Yudhoyono, and model Annisa Pohan.

The reception was held in the large rear garden of the Palace.
A giant tent, which could accommodate about 4,000 guests, was
nicely decorated with beautiful orchids, jasmine and other local
flowers.

Among the guests were members of Susilo's Cabinet, heads of
state institutions, ambassadors and high-ranking military
officials.

In a pool outside the tent, a dozen white ducks greeted the
guests.

The bride, the groom and their parents looked charming in
their green Yogyakarta-style attire, created by high-profile
designer Adjie Notonegoro.

For entertainment, famous Indonesian singers such as Dani
Dewa, Krisdayanti, Ruth Sahanaya and Titiek Puspa were
performing.

The decorator creatively transformed the tent into a what
looked like a very beautiful large room, with maroon fabric,
flowers and big crystal lamps to go along with a number of other
lamps.

There was little information on why the wedding reception was
held in the evening, which requires more electricity to light up
the venue, something that seemed to go against the president's
own campaign to conserve energy.

"We held (the reception) on the terrace (of the Palace) to
accommodate security and protocol arrangements without disturbing
the daily life of people in Jakarta and Bogor," Susilo said
during a press conference before receiving guests.

Four catering service companies served a range of food for the
dinner. The guests savored, among other delicacies, Salmon,
Korean Barbecue and Singaporean noodles.

Without revealing the amount of money he spent for the all the
wedding ceremonies (which began on Thursday), Susilo convinced
Indonesians that he and the family would only accept "ordinary
gifts"

"We will not accept uncommon presents. I will return them,
should there be any," he said, adding that he would be
responsible for the expenses of all the festivities.

Susilo dismissed rumors about the cost of the wedding and
reception, which were estimated by members of the press to be in
the billions of rupiah range.

"The rumors are not true," said the president, who reported
his personal wealth of about Rp 4.6 billion to the Anti-
Corruption Commission (KPK) last year after being nominated as a
presidential candidate.

"Trust me, I will be responsible for everything ... and (I)
would never take one rupiah from the state or the people,"
responded the president, who looked uneasy by the questions.

Susilo cut short the press conference after the questions on
the cost.

Agus and Annisa exchanged wedding vows on Friday afternoon at
the home of Annisa's family, former deputy governor of Bank
Indonesia Aulia Pohan. The couple met more than a year ago in
Bandung. Annisa said that she was ready to become the wife of
Agus, who is in the military.