In Reply to: Wedding posted by NiLuh on Friday, 23. September 2005 at 14:34 Bali Time:
... but we were married there on 2/11/83 - an auspicious date numeroligically, and so it has proved to be :) We'd been living there for several months and the family whose losmen we stayed in, in what was then very sleepy Legian Kaja, encouraged us to have a Balinese wedding. Soooo much better than an Aussie wedding with all the hassles (my brother had been married the traditional Aussie way - NOT for us!!)
The girls went to the market early and bought flowers etc for the offering towers, and campuka for my headress - the men took the day off work, built cooking platforms where they spent most of the day preparing the food - we'll never forget the sounds of the cute little piggies being sent on their way to becoming VERY yummy babi gulings. The chickens were quieter, happily.
We went to the Catital Sipil (registry Office) in the morning with bro & sis-in-law for the legal stuff - a bike cortege - then got stuck into the duty free bubbly bro bought. The Balinese worked ALL day - from 5am til 5 pm when the ceremony started - the guys also made HUGE bins of punch using good old Mansion House gin in vast quantities. About 50 people came, both Balinese and friends we'd met in the months we'd been there and some friends from home. It was amusing that the Balinese all wore their best western clothes and the tourists all wore sarongs & scarves. Hubby felt a bit silly in his Balinese wedding clothes. I know it was the happiest day of my life and it shows in the pics :) I looked drop dead bloody gorgeous - but who wouldn't in the circs.
The traditional ceremony lasted for about an hour - the words, when translated from priestly Balinese, were what I would've chosen - very special.
Much later we went off to a hotel in Sanur for our wedding night. When we returned the next day at around noon, the whole of Legian Kaja was comatose!!! No-one to welcome us back - all sleeping off food & punch.
So, of course Bali is a very special place for us .. I am still known as Hedda-Kawin-Di-Bali, so I discovered a few weeks ago back there.
The Balinese say it is very lucky to be married there, and for us, 22 years later, they are correct. We wish you well:))