As the Islamic fasting month fast approaches, many couples have decided to tie the knot, causing a backlog in Jakarta’s wedding halls’ reservation lists.
Komaruddin Hidayat, the rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, wrote on his Twitter account that he had attended four wedding parties last Saturday and another on Sunday.
According to Islam, any day or any month is a good time to get married, but local tradition has its own reasons, Komaruddin tweeted.
“Many Muslims in Jakarta choose to get married just before the fasting month because they want to have partners in performing the religious practice during that month,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, adding that these couples hoped to be more devout in worshiping God.
Many people told the Post they believe that if a couple is wed in the month leading up to Ramadan, God will bless their union.
Putri Wulandari, a civil engineer, told the Post that, “dozens of my friends were married between June and July this year.
“It’s been quite a busy wedding season, every weekend there was at least one party to attend,” she said, laughing.
Putri, who plans to get married by November this year, chose to tie the knot after Ramadan because she wants to fast with her big family for one last time before her wedding.
Renaldi Agung, a wedding planner from Bekasi-based Bunga Wedding, said the month leading up to Ramadan was his busiest time of year.
“The peak season to get married is from June to early August,” he said, adding that this year, there were even more weddings as the school vacation coincided with the wedding season.
“To have their wedding at this time of year, people often have to place reservations for the venue of their choice a year before the big day,” he said.
Lidya Fitriana, who is a marketer for the Samudera Building, a wedding hall in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, said that over the past two months, many weddings were held in the building. However, she said she had received even more reservations for events in October.
Vannya Gita Alamanda from weddingku.com said “People like to have their weddings in the week after Idul Fitri at the end of the fasting month in September, and also in October and November, so that they can concentrate on their fast.”
Not to mention, catering prices generally hike around the Ramadan, she added.
“People also look for auspicious dates like 10-10-10 [Nov. 10, 2010] and 20-10-2010 [Nov. 20, 2010],” she said, adding that it took a year to reserve those dates.
Wedding parties provide profitable business opportunities, especially in Jakarta, where a variety of wedding packages are available, from the most glamorous fairy tale wedding to the modest ones.
More than 500 wedding planners are available in the weddingku.com. The web site also lists the many wedding halls in Jakarta, not to mention the city’s hundreds of businesses supplying wedding invites, wedding dresses, traditional dresses, photography and video camera professionals, make up artists, decorations, caterers, wedding cake bakers, souvenir suppliers, florists, entertainers and MCs and wedding car hire.
Sudarman owns a business that offers traditional dancers and MCs who speak Javanese, Sundanese and other dialects.
“Every weekend during June to July, I get at least two dance show requests a day, each morning and evening,” he said, adding that the most popular performances are Javanese dances like Gambyong and Gatot Kaca.
“One Gambyong dance performer costs around Rp 1.5 million [US$170]. A maximum of six dancers can perform in each show,” he said.
Nuril is another person trying to make her fortune from the wedding business. She just started to rent her party dining wares five months ago.
“I rent dining wares for anyone, but mostly to catering vendors,” she said, adding that business had been quite good over the past two months. (ipa)
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