A friend called up today and asked for the rate of a make up artist, the average price of wedding kebaya (traditional Indonesian wedding dress) and so on, in short she asked me how much a standard wedding party cost.

I then remind her that in Bataknese custom, there’s no such thing as “a standard wedding party”, every Bataknese wedding is held in accordance with the budget capacity of the bride and groom’s ( or their family). If the budget is rather slim, then the priorities should be set properly; but if the budget can be extended without limit, then congratulations, you don’t have to read this blog story.

So first thing first, show me your budget, so I could probably suggest the best MUA, photography and so on within your budget, I told her. She said: ow… I don’t know for sure kak… I’ll ask my soon to be husband. And I am shocked. Literally…. If they can’t talk openly about money before the wedding party, I am gravely doubt that they will talk about money openly in their marriage….

Cheers, may we all can converse comfortably about money. 



Karin Sabrina