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Jokowi returns to Jakarta before son's wedding
President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo returned to Jakarta on Sunday evening and will stay in the capital city until Tuesday to finish work he would not be able to do in Surakarta during the wedding of his eldest son
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resident Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo returned to Jakarta on Sunday evening and will stay in the capital city until Tuesday to finish work he would not be able to do in Surakarta during the wedding of his eldest son.
The wedding of Jokowi's eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka to Selvi Ananda is scheduled for Thursday, but the whole procedure is to commence on Tuesday in the President's hometown of Surakarta, Central Java.
The coordinator of the First Family's wedding's media center, Quirinto Endy, said that Jokowi departed for Jakarta on board of a Garuda Indonesia flight scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
'There was no entourage, just the Presidential Security Detail [Paspampres]. The First Lady was also not with him because of the wedding preparations,' Quirinto said on Sunday.
He said Jokowi would be in Surakarta again on Tuesday to join a series of processions for the wedding of his eldest son, including the lamaran (wedding proposal).
'On Tuesday and Wednesday the President will have an office at his residence in Sumber. He is scheduled to return to Jakarta on Sunday,' Quirinto said.
Meanwhile on Sunday, the First Family held kumbakarnan, or the final meeting conducted for the preparation of the wedding, at a restaurant in the city. Among those attending were Jokowi, his mother Sujiatmi and the groom- and bride-to-be Gibran and Selvi.
Gibran said the preparations for the pre-wedding ceremonies were finished.
He said no bridal car had been prepared for the wedding because he and Selvi would go on foot for about 200 meters from the family's house to the reception site at the Graha Saba Buwana building.
'Maybe Selvi will go on a horse, but I prefer to walk,' said Gibran, who said he designed the decorations for the wedding reception on his own.
Separately a member of the First Family, Anjas Wijanarko, said that the reception would be held with a standing party concept. The ijab kabul (marriage solemnization) procession would also be held at the same building as the reception.
'Signs will also be provided to guide the guests on their arrival and departure,' Anjas said.
Javanese culture observer Mufti Raharjo said that kumbakarnan was a grand meeting of a wedding's organizing committee held to discuss details of the wedding programs.
He said the marriage of Gibran to Selvi followed the Javanese Surakarta style as indicated by the costumes and the processions such as the midodareni (wedding opening), the dawet (traditional Javanese beverage) selling and siraman (ritual washing).
In a related development, high-end hotels in Surakarta, including the five-star rated Lor In, Sunan and Sahid Jaya Hotels, are reported to have been fully booked ahead of the First Family's wedding.
Lor In Hotel spokesperson Kartika Oktavia Pravitasari said the hotel's 359 rooms had been fully booked since the last week.
'Almost all the customers who have made the bookings are the wedding's VVIP guests,' Kartika said, on Sunday.
Similarly, Sunan Hotel's marketing communications director Retno Wulandari said that the hotel's 203 rooms had all been fully booked ahead of and after the wedding day, Thursday, until Saturday.
'Of the customers who made the bookings for Thursday, 90 percent will stay for the wedding reception,' Retno said.
