Geography : Choosing a Venue

The Goal : Gardens

I wanted to have a simple and intimate wedding, attended only by our nearest and dearest. I imagined it would take place on a breezy afternoon in a semi outdoor restaurant. The ambience would be warm and cozy. A lot of my inspiration was derived from weddings featured in WeddingChicks, I guess this one in particular really embodied what I wanted my wedding to be like.

This beauteous backyard wedding was featured in Wedding Chicks here

The Glitch

A wedding in Indonesia is seldom centered around the bride & groom. Instead, it is considered a huge social event and is usually the parents' domain (especially parents of the bride). A guest list of 300 pax is considered to be small , which means I better adjust my expectations real quick. In the end, we had a total guest list of 350 invitations (700 pax), which by Indonesian standard still isn't considered to be a big wedding. All I could think of was how many hours I would have to stand shaking each and every one of those 700 hands! Mother have mercy.

We also had to take into account several things :

1. My wedding is in November, during the heavy rain season (September-March) in Indonesia, thus any hope of booking an outdoor venue is promptly discarded. 
2. Due to Javanese Weton (previously explained here), our wedding vows are not suggested to take place on a Saturday or a Sunday. We finally chose a Friday afternoon, so guests can come join the festivities after office hours. 
3. Alas, the parents does not approve of a Friday wedding reception! So Saturday reception it is, then. 
4. Since we now have 2 events, booking the same venue for both dates was way too expensive. 

In the end, we booked 2 different venues. 

The Wedding Vow Venue

I wanted the wedding vows to be as simple and hassle free as possible, so I chose a mosque for the venue. As it is a holy place, there are restrictions on how much people was allowed, how much decoration was allowed, and how we were allowed to dress.
In my case, it was the perfect excuse to limit any possible creative scenarios my mom would be planning. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and her party planning ideas, but I think one dramatic event is all that I can handle for my own wedding. Besides, the mosque itself was already very pretty with its' colorful ceiling ornaments and calligraphy chandeliers.

The Reception Venue

For the reception, we had a really hard time finding a venue. All the indoor wedding halls were fully booked and we had to wait at wit's end for someone to cancel their booking. Thankfully, the first one that became available was perfect. It had the perfect location, great access, huge parking, great staff and a slightly reasonable price. 

Better yet, it had somewhat of an Art Deco feel to it (or at least, I think it's art deco). 

From above left : the signage - the lobby - the ceilings!!!

How can I not fall in love? Sure, it meant that all my "cozy intimate wedding" ideas had to be scrapped, but I was starting to be excited at the prospect of having a flapperesque era style wedding.