Our Wedding in Jakarta, Indonesia

Hi Everyone! Long time no post. As you may have known, I just got married a little over a month ago, and things have been pretty hectic. I was in my hometown for quite sometime, so I was out of my usual set up. I have to say, being away for home with my family and friends have changed the way I am within the past 3 months. I value the time I have more with my parents and sister, and I also got to reconnect with old friends, which have been awesome.

Our wedding might not be exactly the way we had hoped, but God had blessed us in so many ways. The ceremony and reception went as smoothly as possible, and all thanks to our family and friends and wedding team for the fabulous cooperation! If you don't know already, an Indonesian wedding, typically in Jakarta, is usually bigger and much more complicated compared to the simple and intimate weddings in the US, which I and Ocep both love. It was a grand experience for both of us, with around 700 guests came to our reception.

My day started at around 3 AM. My makeup artist and hair dresser came to my hotel room a little bit after 3.30, and started the process right away. Then the photographer came at around 5.30 am. We hired different makeup artists for my bridesmaids, mom, sister, mom-in-law and sister-in-law. All to be more efficient and save time. We had our ceremony scheduled at 10 AM at the church where I came to know Christ. It meant a lot for me to have our ceremony there. After the ceremony, we then had the Chinese tradition, tea ceremony, or what we call tea-pay. It's where we respect our elders from both sides of the family by serving them tea and usually the elders give red envelopes or jewelries as the wedding gifts.

I'm so glad I had my two besties that kept me laughing throughout the day!

One of the traditions what we followed was the veiling of the bride by the parents. I had on my hands Yosef's corsage which later I would give to Yosef in exchange for my bouquet.

Confessions of a Bride-to-be | What Changes and What Doesn't

I have to say there are a lot of things in life they don't teach at school - being a bride is one of them. I've heard different stories, but when I finally get to experience it first hand, I feel super unprepared. Nevertheless, I'm trying to enjoy this phase of my life as much as I could. It's not as hard as I make it sound to be. It really isn't.

First of all, let me just sing praise for my very own wedding coordinator, my beloved mom. I do hire a wedding planner, but no one can replace my mom's position in this wedding. She's the most supportive mom, and she's super resourceful. She's the one who went vendor hunting when I was still away. She, with the help of my dear dad of course, went all around Jakarta to plan for my wedding. She could get a bit carried away sometimes when she thinks of every single detail. It may seem like she cares more about the wedding than I do, which is not entirely untrue. This is her first ever wedding to plan, but she's not new in event organizing. Working at humanitarian organization for 32 years, she'd been the go-to person when it comes to organizing and executing events. She should consider this a new career.

Planning a wedding is hard as it is let alone planning when you're on a different continent. I just got back home a little less than 2 months before the wedding. We decided to have the wedding in Jakarta instead of in the US because most of our families are in Indo. It just makes more sense (even though the more details I have to think about the more I question our decision). The US wedding culture, at least for most weddings I've attended to, is simpler and intimate. It's not the case for Indonesian wedding. I used to grunt with mockery at the fact of inviting a "friend of a relative who's the second cousin of" which is what Indonesian weddings do. Some of my perspectives have changed since then.

What changes:

• While I had my own expectation about my own wedding, I had stopped to try fulfilling every single one of them and started seeing the bigger picture.

The One with Suprise Pre-Wedding Party

Despite of our decision to have our wedding in Indonesia, there was a gap in my heart knowing that I didn't get to celebrate with my loved ones here in the US and to not have a garden-theme wedding like I had always wanted (outdoor wedding is tricky during September to December when it's rainy season in Indonesia). On the back of my mind, I thought of throwing a little party for ourselves with our close friends, making it simple and intimate. Yet, with Ocep's new job, our new home, and the wedding prep in Indo, the thought was shoved right where it started, on the back of my mind.

One day, one of my dear friend, Cecyl, texted me asking me and Ocep to go to dinner with here this past Saturday. She said the location was a surprise, and it was to send me off to Indonesia since I am going to go back to Indo real soon. She didn't tell us anything else other than to dress up for it was a fancy dinner.

Saturday came, and we got ready in time when Cecyl said she would pick us up. I had Ocep to put on a black bow tie to match his black suit, making it real fancy. I decided to go with my favorite floral dress that I wore to a wedding not too long ago. You may have seen it from this post. When Cecyl arrived, and as we were going out of our door, she told us that our other friends, Fenny and Marlene, wanted to join us  at the last minute so we had pick them up also. When we got to their place, Cecyl told us to stay in the car since she was just going to knock at their door and let them know that we were there. She then came back to the car telling us to wait inside since they were still getting ready. I kinda knew where the dinner was going to be at that point =).



The Surprise
I rang the door bell, Ocep was behind me. The door was opened, and all of our close friends were there shouting, "SURPRISE!" The night just got better and better from then on. I was smiling all night until my jaw hurt. They turned Fenny & Marlene's backyard to a fancy garden party, complete with the pretty lights and center pieces. There was even a two-layer Indonesian cheesecake as the wedding cake made by our dearest friend.

California Winter: Yellow and Blue || Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation

I am convinced California has the best weather in all America. It's technically still winter, but it already feels like spring. Ocep and I were hunting for a good photo location for the yellow wild flower and we always go back to this place. He brought me here about 3 years ago in spring and it was totally a different scenery (check the blog post here)! Tax season is just in front of me, and I am eager to get started and just get it over with. With wedding planning in my mind, I find it harder to focus with a lot of distraction from myself, mostly. I understand now how the term "bridezilla" came about. I can imagine myself being stressed out and frantic over little details. I am so grateful to have loving and supporting mom who helps me every step of the way. The wedding will be in Indonesia, so my mom is my top wedding planner. I am so thankful for her. 

I find the hardest thing to find is my own wedding dress. It seems that I am not sure exactly of what I want, but I am very sure of what I don't want. Why is that? I feel like it's just a girl thing. It's so easy with guys. Ocep can just wear anything I pick, and he'll be happy.

LOTD: Blurred Imperfection - Summer Wedding Look

My good friend got married on Saturday. It was the funnest wedding I've ever been to simply because she is such a fun girl. She was literally the life of the party. She sang "All About That Bass" and danced on the dance floor while encouraging people to dance and sing along with her. It was awesome. She was a rock star. 

Since it was a summer wedding, I thought of a more rosy kind of look. The eye look is basically the my favorite for the past couple of years. I just love incorporating rosy shades with purple eyeliner. The foundation is the star of the makeup look I'm going for here. I fell in love in first try with Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide foundation. It does not only smoothen as the name suggests, but it blurs pores and imperfection. I love love love how this looks onto the skin.