Indonesians have shown to be quite creative when it comes to marriage dowries in recent years. 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, usually taking the form of money and/or jewelry — though, for this couple from West Java’s Bogor regency, it takes the form of snakes.
The groom, Sigit Agus Setiawan, reportedly met his wife, Tiara Puspita Dewi, through a community of reptile lovers. The couple was married last Friday, and a photo of them posing with a big snake at their wedding has since made its rounds online.
That was just a prop and not the actual dowry, however, as Sigit gave Tiara an albino and an amethystine python that are 1 meter each in length.
“From the beginning, I really liked reptiles, especially snakes. From there, I joined a community, then I met my wife. She also likes snakes,” Sigit said in an interview by a YouTube channel named djo kobray.
“I once told her, I’d like to give her a snake as a dowry. She said yes. From there, we took off with the snake concept.”
Aside from the pythons, Sigit also included traditional dowries of a gold ring and a set of prayer clothing and rug. Tiara said that she was happy that her request was fulfilled, even though her family wasn’t on board with the scaly dowry at first.
The newlyweds said they are planning to develop a reptile and snake farm business, which will start with building an enclosure for their python pets.
