Three Weddings & A Dream Car

This is a long overdue entry, in memory of my ayah, dedicated to UL.

Photos (from left to right)

These photos are from my late father's collection (I do have mak's collection too). I remember sitting down with him and going through all the photos together - who is who and so forth. To my regret, since that happened very long ago I pretty much forget the relevant information.

The three weddings include one involving relatives - the couple is still very much alive today. My father was the best man in the first wedding photo. I don't know what is the exact criteria to be chosen as the best man but I do notice that he took his role seriously (as can be seen in the subsequent photos).

In an old time Malay wedding, the grand reception on the bride side consists of many rituals and practices. Both bride and groom (must) wear 'baju songket'. Usually, a (smaller) solemnisation ceremony is held earlier like on a Friday late afternoon or Friday night (august time as well as to prevent any potential disruption to the actual process).

On the day of the grand reception, the groom will arrive at a (prearranged) house, quite a distance from the bride's house. Thus the bride will venture forth (pic 1) to fetch the groom and back together in a small parade of relatives bearing the wedding gifts (hantaran) to the house accompanied by the sound of 'kompang' (pic 5). A variation of this stage will be where the groom is held at the gate or the entrance to the house by bride's relatives or mak andam. He will need to pay some money (duit tol) in order to gain entrance and sometimes the groom's side will to reply spontaneously to 'pantun-seloka'. This is usually done by the people from Melaka.

The bride and groom will then sit together on a prettily decorated dais. If there is one outside, first they will sit on the outside dais (pic 4) to be entertained by a showcase of 'pencak silat'. The bride and groom are pretty much the king and queen for the day since everything is referred to them. The 'silat' person bows ceremoniously to them at the start and end of the show.

Next, the bride and groom will sit on the inside dais (pic 2) for the 'merenjis' ceremony. Senior relatives (meaning all the uncles and aunties from both side) will come forward to the dais and sprinkle them with a combination of rose water, 'beras kuning' and 'bunga rampai' (to the best of my knowledge, this ceremony is actually originated from Hindu's custom and thus should be left out). The purpose of this ceremony is for the couple to officially meet the relatives. Afterward, the relatives are given the 'bunga telor' or special case in Negri Sembilan a token of appreciation in terms of 'dodol' or 'wajik' (which they have to pay for it at the end of the day).

The role of the best man (and bridesmaid too) is to accompany the bride and groom throughout the ceremony - holding the umbrella, works the hand-held fan, wipe away perspiration, clean the hands after each 'merenjis' etc.

In pic 2, notice the headgear worn by the bride. This is part of the Minangkabau wedding accessories.

Pic 3 shows a couple inside the decorated bedroom. If there is no dais, this is another favourite place to pose for photos. Notice the amount and size of the wedding presents (not the 'hantaran').

As for the dream car...(to be continued)

P/s: I welcome any contributions to improve my understanding of traditional Malay weddings.