Prelims to Sumbawanese wedding party included all-night singing and tambourine playing, at both the bride’s and groom’s houses. On the big day itself, the women attendants put on all of their family heirlooms-brocades and exquisite antique jewelry as well as traditional head ornaments.
The main event began with a procession from the groom’s house to the house of the bride. The parade was led by the village elders and dignitaries, who were followed by the resplendent girls. The groom, mounted on a small horse and surrounded by his friends, closed the procession.
End-to-end the entire ceremony, the groom kept a handkerchief over his mouth. At the bride’s house, the bride washed the groom’s feet, an act symbolizing faithfulness. The pair then sat under a colorful awning and each ate of a special dish of glutinous rice covered by thin layer of palm sugar.
The couple pecked absently at their food-obviously, their minds were on other things. This symbolic act of eating together was the final phase of the traditional wedding ceremony.
Unlike some other parts of the Lesser Sundas, there was only a symbolic bride price in Tepal. Elsewhere, bridewealth could include herds of water ox, antique elephant tusks or prehistoric bronze drums.
