Not Ubud - wedding
Trip Start
Oct 02, 2008
1
5
16
Trip End
Nov 30, 2008
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Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Friday, October 17, 2008
At 7AM, Ibu (the wife) was at my door announcing that the wedding had already started. Five minutes later I was dressed and out the door. So quickly that I forgot to check my camera. The batteries had gone dead. So I got a copy of someone else's pictures after wards.
The first ceremony was at the groom's house, just across the village. It's a pretty leasurely event where most people sit around and talk. The first ceremony started at 4AM and continued until noon. A Hindu priest conducted a few blessings throughout the morning and after wards everybody ate a buffet meal. Later in the afternoon, a smaller crowd moved to the bride's house for another ceremony.
The bride did not have approval from her family to get married. Her mother had died and she was the only female left to take care of the family. It's a pretty traditional culture. So...the bride got pregnant by the groom. Now her family has no choice but to let her marry.
One thing struck me as rather odd. About half way through the morning the groom moved away from one young woman and sat by another. Both were very dressed up and stunning. Apparently, the second woman who appeared was his bride. The first was his sister.
The groom's sister kind of stole the show. She had a magnificent presence. I still don't understand why she was so prominent in the wedding. But there's a sad story behind it. She is older and already married with one son. Right after he was born, she got pregnant again. She was unable to nurse both. So the second sibling died from malnutrition.
