Celebrating Ray's Wedding

Who would have thought Ray would marry before me and my other cousins. Nobody in the family predicted this until he was blessed with a baby girl. Somehow, because of the paperwork for the baby, the marriage was a little rushed and needed. Either way, we were all happy for him.

Marriage is such a big move and all we can do best as his family is support him. Today, I did a little shopping for the guests that are going to be invited. It’s such an intimate wedding but I’d love to share it with my hive family on this big day. I mean, one day, perhaps a year from now, I’ll look back to this happy moment and reminisce how far we all have come.

We only invited neighbors and the close family. With everything a little rushed, we didn’t really prepare much. But my mom insisted that I at least clean the house and bought this tuberose flower that is usually present during the marriage ceremony over here. In the morning, we visited grandma’s burial site and we prayed for her. Culturally, people say it’s to ask permission even if they already passed.

In Javanese culture, marriage is a big thing. It was supposed to be festivities on its own but because the baby came first, usually we skipped the festivities and went straight with the wedding. In fact, some people feel ashamed that they have to skip the big wedding and its culture but since the tradition is slowly fading away, people are fine with more intimate weddings and are no longer gossiping around about why the wedding was so intimate or even rushed.

Traditionally, there are also many steps before marriage and things a bride/groom shouldn’t do. But in this special case, we certainly don’t follow any of that. While it’s not my first time seeing and/or attending intimate weddings, I still wished that Ray’s wedding was different. But in the end, as a big sister, I can only hope it’s his one and only wedding and he’ll be a good father to his baby girl.