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Personalize Your Big Day
Courtesy of Sultan Hotel & Residence JakartaIndonesian weddings can be an enormous event to organize
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Courtesy of Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta
Indonesian weddings can be an enormous event to organize. From pre-wedding photos to the actual ceremony and on to the honeymoon, everything needs to be planned down to the last detail. It is also very common for wedding receptions to be attended by more than 1,000 guests, and families work with a huge team of catering services and event organizers so their wedding guests will be entertained properly.
This distinctly Indonesian custom of holding big wedding parties is one of the reasons weddings are big business, said Indonesian Decoration Vendors Association chairman Agung Prayono.
“The business of organizing weddings is quite massive, and there has been an annual increase in local demand for products and services. This trend has provided [broad] opportunities to service providers while challenging them to constantly innovate,” Agung said, adding that increasing demand had also increased the fees of wedding organizers and service vendors.
Agung added that the growing popularity of social media, where users want to post unique and personalized content, had also increased local demand for wedding businesses and services, from photography, decoration, venues, foods and much, much more.
He said these services were often required to help couples create their wedding in a style that was distinguishable from other couple’s, so they can give a very different image when they post their wedding pictures online.
“For instance, if a mother saw a picture on social media of a friend’s daughter wearing a particular wedding gown, she might say to you, ‘I want something different for my daughter, maybe something like this’,” Agung said. This high demand for personalized weddings had spurred the birth of wedding product and service start-ups.
Recognizing the increasing demand for personalized wedding services and the economic multiplier effect it could mean for various businesses, the Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta invited those who were planning their weddings to explore their options at the recent Wedding Extravaganza 2017, held from Nov. 4 to Nov. 5 at the Lagoon Garden.
During the expo, which was organized in cooperation with the Indonesian Decoration Vendors Association, about 45 vendors offering their decoration, photography and videography services, as well as entertainment management for wedding bands, wedding singers and emcees, informed visitors how they could help organize a personalized and memorable big day.
The expo also featured a fashion show featuring the latest wedding gown collections of local designers to help guests choose “the dress”.
“Whether a traditional, modern, Chinese or Muslim wedding, guests could explore different options during the two-day expo,” the Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta general manager Fintan O’Doherty said.
The expo was also held to promote the resort’s Lagoon Garden, a large venue launched in late 2016 that can accommodate 2,000 guests. It also has a high ceiling, which allows designers to decorate the venue in the most imaginative way possible.
According to the Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta catering director D. Noviarini, the hotel is located strategically on Jl. Gatot Subroto at the heart of Jakarta and is easily accessible from all corners of the capital, so families and guests can gather freely to celebrate the big day.
According to Agung, Indonesia’s unique diversity has turned local weddings into not only one of the world’s most luxurious events, but also one of the most colorful and beautiful events, particularly in terms of decoration and style.
“Each ethnic group has its own tradition. For instance, people from Palembang, South Sumatra, like colorful decorations using bright color tones such as red, pink and white,” he explained.
“Vendors usually adjust the wedding decoration to match the color tones and patterns of the clothes that will be worn by the bride and groom, as well as their families, which they show us beforehand. For instance, if a family wants to wear purple songket (brocaded traditional textile), we have to make sure that our decoration is predominantly purple,” Agung said.
He continued that nowadays, many Indonesians also liked to incorporate European-style wedding decorations and fashions infused with ethnic influences, which has resulted in more wedding vendors creating eclectic decorations and wedding costumes.
Not all couples and families, however, are well informed about what they want in terms of wedding costumes and decorations, as they might not be very familiar with fashion and design, said Agung.
He continued that this was where wedding consultants could step in to help, discussing with couples and their families on the kinds of decor that would be suitable for a particular venue, as well as other elements to realize their dream wedding.
“For instance, high-ceilinged venues allow you greater creativity in decorating them. For those with low ceilings, you can work well with more of a minimalist decoration style,” he said.
