Wedding in Padang, Indonesia

My Best Friend's wedding


A friend of mine got married early this year. She is an Indonesian friend from Padang. Padang is a town situated in the upper north of Sumatera. Padang people is related to us especially those of Minangkabau ancestries. This can be seen from their buildings and wedding ceremony.

My friend’s wedding started early in the morning with akad niqah which is a formal and religious Muslim marriage matrimony. She was dressed in white and traditional Indonesian songket while the groom wore a smart dark coat with a batik “sampin”. After their akad, we had heavy breakfast while waiting for the couple to change into more traditional attire. However, I would like to talk about their “pelamin” or the stage for the couple. This stage is familiar even in our Malay culture in Malaysia, however, theirs are more elaborated. They had the whole room covered with shining material that matched the pelamin. So when we entered the room..we were struck in awesome because of the fabulous décor. Normal tourist reaction would be to take photos and more photos..:D:D. And that was what we did.



Akad nikah



pelamin


The ceremony were further celebrated with more food for lunch. One that strikes our attention was that of a satay. Meat-on-sticks, to describe the food for short!..satay were grilled on the spot and best eaten while its hot. It is eaten with peanut gravy just like the one we had in Malaysia…didn’t I tell you that Padang people were very much like Malaysian.



satay

Later that day we went sight seing in Padang town. Our first destination was the Museum Padang. They charge admission fee but it was worth it. The museum had free open show on its ground every Sunday. The traditional dance were performed by school children and they were fabulous and look very professional. We were impressed!!..Even my parents in law were entertained..(I was worried if they wouldn’t enjoy museum). The exhibits were typical of any museums in Malaysia. Old and liveless..and I wouldn’t want to comment more. But the building is just like any Minangkabau buildings even the ones in Malaysia particularly in Negeri Sembilan.



Museum

After museum we bought some “keripek belado” or in Malay terms kerepek berlada. Later we went to the beach to let the kids get off some steams.



They had an open show at the beach..Dangdut ofcourse!!..