In Islamic weddings, the groom or groom’s father pays money or possessions to the bride at the time of their marriage as mahr (dowry). The dowry is agreed upon by the bride and is usually specified in the marriage contract.
While dowries usually takes the form of money and/or jewelry, one couple hailing from Indonesia’s Kebumen Regency, Central Java has achieved viral fame for their low-key dowry, offering up a statement about their views on materialism by falling several steps below the luxurious norm.
On Dec 29, Budi Risdianto gave a pair of flip-flops, framed, as a dowry to his bride, Julia Warasita, on their wedding day. A picture of them looking radiant while holding the framed flip-flops first went viral after someone uploaded their photo to a Facebook group on Dec 30.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2398703023534172&set=gm.2492239620790392&type=3&theater&ifg=1
“Praise God, officially husband and wife with a pair of Swallow flip-flops [as dowry]. May the marriage be sakinah mawaddah warohmah (full of love and blessings),” the caption reads.
Speaking to Detik, Julia and Budi said they value modesty and humility, and flip-flops are considered a fitting embodiment for those values. They denied some accusations by netizens that they deliberately chose a unique dowry to attract attention to themselves so they could go viral.
“It’s all because of mutual sincerity, and I don’t want to burden the groom in terms of giving dowry,” Julia said, as quoted by Detik.
Budi said he bought the flip-flops at a neighbor’s warung (kiosk) for only IDR9,000 (US$0.60). The couple also said they like wearing flip-flops on a daily basis.
The flip-flops dowry is the second social media post in recent memory to go viral for promoting modest weddings in Indonesia. About a month ago, popular beauty vlogger Suhay Salim also broke the mold with her low-key wedding, which only involved her and her husband going to the religious office (the Indonesian equivalent of a City Hall marriage) while dressing casually.
At any rate, we wish Budi and Julia happiness as they walk their married life together.
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