Unforgettable moment on offer in special honeymoon package

Unforgettable moment on offer in special honeymoon package

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post/Klaten, Central Java

It was Monday afternoon at Candi Sewu, a Buddhist temple in
Bener, Bugisan village, Prambanan sub-district, Klaten, Central
Java, about 17 kilometers east of Yogyakarta.

The sun was about to set when honeymooning Russian couple,
Finskiy Maxim and Kyyda Vladislava arrived in front of the
ancient, flower-adorned temple, ready to act out a "wedding
ceremony" in classical Javanese style.

Both were decked out in traditional Javanese wedding costumes,
locally known as Paes Ageng (the grand style, usually reserved
for princely and noble families). However, the bride had opted to
forego the traditional makeup, which normally takes four to five
hours to apply. Tienuk Rifki, a top Javanese wedding stylist, who
was in charge of the makeup "operations", said the bride could
only stand one hour for the makeup work.

"We were all prepared for the Paes Ageng makeup, actually, but
she didn't want to have a cengkorong on her forehead," said
Tienuk, referring to the traditional v-shaped design drawn on a
Javanese bride's forehead. Tienuk did this for Princess Pembayun
when she married the Yogyakarta sultan, Hamengku Buwono X.

Similarly, the parents of the newly married couple were absent
from the celebration, unlike in traditional Javanese wedding
ceremonies, which were originally not just hosted by the bride
and groom's parents, but also by members of their extended
families. In this case, the Russian couple were only accompanied
during the one-hour-long ceremony by two friends.

"This is part of a honeymoon package comprising a wedding
reception and leisure activities. We are trying our best to
provide the best, and that's why we only hire professionals for
this," Anny Yulianti, a director of Grand Java Tour and Travel,
which organized the celebration, told The Jakarta Post on the
sidelines of the event, referring to the involvement of noted
makeup artist Tienuk Rifki.

To make the celebration as authentic as possible, two pairs of
actors and actress acted as the parents of the bride and groom.
Stage actress Tatik Wardiyono acted as the bride's mother.

Stepping out of their car, the happy couple were escorted to
the place where the "wedding celebration" was to be enacted -- a
small, raised stone platform sandwiched between two Dwarapala
statues, right inside the temple's main entrance gate. There, the
bride and groom went through a series of rituals before being
finally seated on carved wooden chairs placed on the stone floor
of the platform, with their "parents" flanking them.

Among the rituals they underwent were balang-balangan gantal
(throwing rolled betel leaves at each other), mijiki (the bride
washes the groom's foot after he steps on an egg), kacar kucur
(the groom places a mixture of coins, rice and beans on to a
piece of cloth held by the bride to symbolize that he is the one
who will provide for the family), and dhahar klimah (where the
bribe and groom symbolically feed each other to symbolize
harmony).

Javanese Enggar-enggar and Gambyong dances were also performed
to entertain the couple, before they finally left the venue on a
decorated, horse-drawn carriage to the place where the wedding
dinner was to be served at the neighboring Prambanan Temple.

Although they looked somewhat awkward at first, the couple
seemed to thoroughly enjoy the entire event, as could be seen by
their smiles. The bride, Kyyda Vladislava, for example, was often
seen moving her hands and shoulders during the Gambyong dance, in
time with the dancers' movements.

"This is what I call creativity in promoting tourism. We are
blessed with great cultural and natural riches. It's only a
matter of how we package these into marketable tourist packages.
For this we need creativity," said Tazbir, the Yogyakarta
Provincial Tourism Agency marketing chief, who also attended the
celebration.

These sort of packages, according to Tazbir, would not just
benefit the hotels where the tourists stayed, but also many other
components in the community, including traditional makeup artists
and their assistants, gamelan players, dancers and everybody else
involved.

"They are all local people," he said.

For the Grand Java tour firm itself, Monday's event was not
the first such wedding celebration package it has handled. In
2001, a Dutch newlywed couple had a "wedding" celebration at the
joglo (Javanese traditional house) in the Jogja Village Inn. On
that occasion, the couple's parents were also present.

"Now we are in the middle of preparing a number of similar
packages. Our partners in Sweden and the Netherlands have been
asking for more information on wedding celebration plus leisure
packages like this one," said Anny.

Anny also said that her company was planning to market the
packages in Malaysia and Singapore, and expressed optimism about
the business's prospects, especially given the skills and
facilities available in the region, including the bridal spa
services offered by a nearby five-star hotel, the Sheraton
Mustika Yogyakarta Resort and Spa.

"Of course, we are more than ready to joint hands with travel
agents to promote these innovative packages. To make them a
success, it will require cooperation among all the stakeholders,"
said Sheraton Mustika general manager Rully Zulkarnaen, who also
attended the Russian couple's "wedding" celebration.