An Indonesian Wedding Culminating in Serenity – Temples, Textiles and Tribes

The wedding took place earlier. The Serenity extravagance was the follow-up formal Celebration.

Serenity in Canggu. This Bali town has so much to offer: from the beauty of the coastline, to the sanctity of its Temples to the pulchritude (beauty) of its people. Yet, the best part of Canggu is the Serenity Eco Lodge. Serenity offers a peaceful energy in a nurturing, earth-sustaining environment. Life-uplifting tranquility is concentrated at the Serenity Eco Lodge and Yoga Resort. Sure, Serenity is a hotel; plus so much more. I spend a lot of time at Serenity just to soak up the peaceful, easy feeling. Plus, Serenity Eco Lodge is where I hang my hat. I have lived here since July. I now call this place my home.

Folks, it does not get any better than this. Serenity is a high-value, full-service establishment dedicated to well, … earth-sustaining serenity. This tranquility resonates both in the world; and inside anyone lucky enough to be here. Among other things Serenity offers: permaculture; waste water recycling; a toxic-chemical free environment; organic food groceries and supplements; a vegan/raw restaurant; plus classes on medicinal herbs and eco-sustainability. All of this uplifts the spirits, helps save the environment; and the food tastes damn good. Did I mention the yoga, reiki, spa or meditation center? Serenity has it all.

November, 2021 by Made Victor (Bali name of writer Zephyr Carlyle) Serenity moved to a higher level of joy on November 14, 2021. This memorable Sunday was a day of peace and shared enjoyment: The Wedding Celebration of Krisna, an owner of Serenity, and his beautiful bride, Fina.

The Formative Stage: The Prep Work

This Celebration went off perfectly. There was friendship, fellowship, food, and Indonesian festivities — all in a big fiesta to celebrate the wedding of this happy couple. During party time, it looked effortless. But let’s look behind the scenes for the endless days of labor, cheerfully undertaken. Note in the pictures below, who is doing the hard grunt work and who are the supervisors? Helpful hint: Serenity is owned by Daniel and Yatna — along with their son, Krishna — who happens to be the newly minted husband in this Wedding Celebration.

**Yatna, in a white blouse, is an owner of Serenity. She is in the center of both photos. Right picture: Owner Daniel and son, groom Krisna, supervise**

**Left: See, the men did help out. Right: The traditional ceremonial figures of bride and groom. Look for the face at top of marigold figure on left**

**In the above picture, on the right side: hard working daughter-in-law, Fina**

A study in color contrasts. Above: Fina preparing a new environmental product, Soul Soil – the perfect compost for small planting areas, sold in biodegradable containers.

**Marigolds in the middle. Or maybe pumpkins, if you squint your eyes?**

**In center of above picture: hard working mother-in-law, Yatna**

Meanwhile Daniel the Owner (along with co-owners, spouse Yatna, and son Krishna) was orchestrating everything behind the scenes and frankly, right up-front.

In preparation for the Celebration, the beauty of Serenity was brought to a new level of frankly, enrapture. These folks have vision: During the Celebration, there was more beauty per square foot than at any other hotel I visited. Now, I have stayed at many 5 star hotels — if you count walking through the lobby to the hotel bar as having “stayed”: hotels all gorgeous, and beautiful. The accessories and baubles on the walls dripped gold all the way down to the inlaid marble floors. The beauty of these hotels was based on being ostentatious, and throwing around money. Their beauty was cold, sterile, over-priced; and I doubt they are enhancing our earth environment. At this Celebration; everywhere was beauty in harmony, with peaceful and serene ambiance. Think I am exaggerating? Watch this: Look at the serene touches in the pictures immediately below, and even the photos just under these beauty baubles:

Finally, Enter The Party

The Celebration was just a great event and the facilities were decked out to equal the occasion. Left is the grand entrance as you enter the residential part of Serenity. Below is the main entrance to Serenity which was transformed into a Party Palace.

As you enter the facility, in the font is Alkaline, the vegan/raw food restaurant. Also in front, displays of organic vegetables, household goods, and earth-friendly products. The residential facilities are in the back.

As the guests enter, they are met by the Welcoming Committee:

The Food

The Celebration had no end to the food — delicious, mouth-watering, vegan food (I am not kidding.) A lot of the offerings were Indonesian taste treats, some of which were very exotic to this bule (local word for all Caucasians.) Expand the left picture below and see the legible signs in front of the sayur urap and cap cay. To the left of the sayur urap is some sort of sticky rice paddy in small woven baskets. I have a lot to learn.

The above picture is just a small section of a much longer line of food. This picture above shows part of the left-side buffet table. The corner of this table is visible at left side of the picture below. The food above are examples of the Indonesian food served.

A juice bar including kombucha and daluman, called jelly grass juice in English

A free standing fruit bar, just because

The first few to show up got in while the gettin’ was good. This picture shows the middle desert table and the right side of buffet. Thus, the main food layout had a left and right buffet tables with a dessert table in between. Just in case: the left and right tables did NOT serve the same food.

The Festivities

What can I say except a fabulous night was had by all? A picture says a thousand words; so the photographs will do the talking:

Above, the radiant woman in orange is Yatna, mother of the groom. She was joyously buzzing around everywhere flitting from friendly flower to flower, gathering more delight as the evening progressed.

Here is a group photograph of the new, extended family:

The Fabulous Entertainment

There was a full spectrum of Indonesia and Western entertainment, including a traditional bamboo gamelan. This older style of gamelan with bamboo instruments is called rendik. Many modern gamelan instruments are made of newer construction material, such as metal or commercially prepared wood.

Plus all the other entertainers:

No Indonesian Wedding Celebration held in Bali would be complete without traditional Balinese Dancers:

Balinese dancers express their stories of dance-drama through body movement including gestures of their entire body: head, face, eyes, legs, hands and fingers.

Traditional Balinese dance is an ancient art form.There are three genres of traditional Balinese dance – sacred, semi-sacred, and that meant for enjoyment by communities at large.

Did I mention the Fire Dancer? Or the separate show of the physically challenged Fire Dancers?

For many years, Serenity have supported and encouraged the local physically-challenged community. Those folks with special needs are welcome to participate in the Serenity experience, and this Celebration was no exception. By the way, a lot of these people are talented: They had singers, musicians, dancers, and fire dancers among them. I was impressed … by their talent.

**Dance troupe warming up with the band**

Final Photographs

Below is just a little focus on Fina, who is the most photogenic of the bunch. Center picture shows the happy couple:

The Finale – Going Home

Was the Fiesta a success? Ask this guy.

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