The real story
A hajatan, a family celebration such as a wedding or a circumcision, is often held at home rather than in a hall. So a rented tent goes up over the lane, plastic chairs fill the asphalt, and the road is closed with a hand-painted sign. Officially, using a local road for a private event needs permission from the neighbourhood heads and the police. In practice everyone just knows to take the long way round.
Guests line up to greet the couple and the parents on a stage, drop an envelope of money into a decorated box, eat from the buffet and often leave fairly quickly, because there may be two more weddings to visit that day. An 'organ tunggal' keyboard band or a dangdut singer keeps the volume high. The blue tent became shorthand for a wedding, and it gave its name to the 1990s pop hit 'Tenda Biru'.
