Acehnese Traditional Wedding: Published on 05 May 2010

Today, we went to the wedding party of one of our staff in a village called Garot, near Sigli, 130 Kms away from Banda Aceh. This is a beach town in the east coast, which is also affected by Tsunami.

Acehnese have their own wedding traditions which slightly change from east cost to west coast. The wedding takes part in three parts- engagement in the brides place, wedding in the in the mosque and the wedding party in the grooms place.

As soon as we arrived, we have to enter through a decorated arch tent, where the reception is. We signed the guest book, deposited the gift in a beautifully decorated box, received a token gift from the ushers and go to the reception area. We put some cash in the envelope as a gift and we received a key chain as a token.

Then we were escorted to the lunch place. There are separate places for men and women. We have to line up for the food, and there are many varieties to choose from. Beef, Chicken, Goat vegetable, fruits etc., its outside in a tent, so hot, and we were sweating…

We tried to ask the others when the wedding is going to happen. They told that it’s over, and we can go home. We were surprised and started calling up our other staff to know what’s happening. It seems, attendance and eating some thing are the important activities in the wedding.

Any way, we went to see the new couple, sitting inside a beautifully decorated room called ‘wedding house’. The room is decorated with blue silk cloth, drapers, and carpets on the floor. Some close family members are sitting on the floor.

The bride and the groom wore traditional Acehnese wedding clothes. The groom wore full cut black trousers and a black coat with long narrow sleeves. Both are decorated with Golden color designs. On the head there is a beautifully adorned cap called ‘Kupiah Meukeutob’.

The bride wore colorful trousers with narrow ankle, and a long sleeve top both in blue color. A sarong is decorated with gold and is tied to the waist as a belt. There are not much decorations compared to groom. But the head is beautifully adorned with an array of golden flowers called ‘Bugong Ok’. A huge necklace is cascading from the neck to the waist. Each arm has a large single golden bracelet.

The men (guests) wore Short sleeved Batik shirt, and the women wore traditional silk dress, mostly single color.

When we entered the wedding room, the bride and the groom are receiving blessings from their mothers and other close relatives. The blessing is given by dipping reeds in rice water and touching the hands and head. Later, their hands are covered with flowers. This process is repeated by all the family and friends.

After the blessings are over, we had a chance to have pictures with them, wished them and departed from that place. On the way back, we met their mom and expressed our thanks for inviting us to the wedding party.