PDA!

Anyone up for a bit of a PDA (Public Display of Affection)?

Beautiful wedding of a friend, Syafiq and his wife Rita

Hailed from Penang, the weddings that I can recall attending in most of my childhood + teenage life were the ones of the relatives, the more traditional type at the kampung-kampung where the food was cooked via gotong-royong by the villagers, then makan bawah khemah atap zink tengah-tengah panas. Main menu for the kenduri would be kari. Kari ikan, kari daging lembu, kari daging kambing, kari ayam.

Then bila dah besar sikit, baru dapat attend the ones held at a more proper hall, or hotels. Cuz by then the daughters/sons of my parents' friends in the city pun dah besar-besar and dah nak kahwin.

But the first time that I witnessed the actual preparation of a modern-type wedding was a few years ago in KL. Everything abt the wedding was so beautiful, but the one thing that caught my attention was this one big framed-portraiture that stood at the entrance of the hall.

I was so mesmerized at the beauty of the picture and thought to myself that I want the same thing for my own wedding.

So, here I am, only trying to fulfill my teenage dreams :)

Insha Allah we are going for a simple pre-wedding photo shoot in a few weeks' time. Can't wait! Hihi. My sister's friend in KL agreed to do it for us. So hopefully we are able to choose a nice pic out of the many.

And thanks to Bang Hus for agreeing to lend me that tripodlike-thingy so that I am able to prop up that big frame on it :)

All You Have To Do Is Wait...

"All you have to do is wait for your nikah day". That was what being told to me by the helpful people at the Pejabat Agama Islam today after I submitted the borang nikah.

Submitted!

There was a brief interview or rather, a chit chat session with the Ustaz before he allowed me to hand in the form. On the way to the Pejabat Agama with my mom, we were quizzing each other on Rukun Islam, Rukun Iman, etc; the basic Pendidikan Islam stuffs. And then boleh pulak both of us terlupa 1 rukun for each the Rukun Islam and Rukun Iman! Punya la dok ingat... apa benda la yang termiss tu?? When you're panic-stricken, you simply forget! Errr...and why is my mom panicking again?

My dad told me that last week his friend's daughter ke son went to see the Ustaz, and he/she was asked to recite the Qunut. Maybe he/she was too nervous, and could not complete the recital. In the end the Ustaz asked him/her to come back once he/she is ready. Thanks Abah, does not help calm me down!

At the last moments before I went in to see the Ustaz, alhamdulillah I could recall each of the Rukun Islam and Iman. *phew*

But not that the Ustaz quizzed me on those anyway. Just a simple recital of the istighfar and syahadah, with the meaning. And he advised me on the do's and don'ts for a blissful marriage...tiba-tiba rasa sedih T.T

Domes and Table Centrepieces

Went to discuss with the caterer yesterday... Amongst the things discussed is whether they are going to provide us with maybe 4, 5 "domes" for the VIP tables (untuk rombongan lelaki). Cuz we will be having buffet-style lunch and I think the rombongan shouldn't be queueing at the buffett line with the other guests for food? Well, so far tak pernah tengok lagi, kalau ada, do tell me ya. So the idea is that the food will be served in that dome.

Unfortunately, the caterer they don't have any domes to provide to us. Well, our caterer ni small-time caterer aja. Semalam pergi discuss pun dekat rumah dia kat kampung kat Penang ni :) Food dia, insha Allah belum ada orang complain tak sedap lagi. They did the food for my engagement party last February and everyone liked it.

OK, so, tak da dome. The caterer is not aware of anyone whom we can hire the domes from. He said if we want to hire pun maybe about RM50 per dome, or more.

Anyway, later after meeting the caterer I went to find this one florist recommended by the bridal boutique. She told me that this florist memang tak charge mahal, and will do his best to work around our budget. I am trying to get quotation for my hand bouquets... And true enough... this florist memang tak sombong langsung. He showed me so many pics and samples together with price quotation. Eg if my budget is RM60 this is what I will get... and he also advised me on the alternatives to cut down on the price.

And I found out that he can also do table centrepieces... Quite cheap too... And I don't think I will be needing the domes anymore... Lauk pauk tu, I think dihidangkan atas meja dalam pinggan ke apa... And I am thinking of simple table centrepieces, like these pictures:-

From here

From here

From here

From here

...and I really2 want candles in the centrepieces too! Boleh tak? :D

Tomorrow (Monday) he invited me to his house cum showroom to see his flower arrangements... Can't wait!

Alhamdulillah...

My request to transfer to the firm's branch in KL is accepted. Now am waiting for the clearance date, as in when can my current office effectively release me. Don't wanna owe the office anything, do we? Leave the office as a clean slate.

Hmm...do I really want to continue in the line I'm currently in? Those late hours, high stress levels...in KL it's gonna be even worse (the traffic jam's gonna make the whole thing worse)... Not good for married life, they say.

I tell myself to give myself a chance. Should things do not work the way they are supposed to, maybe Plan B will take into action (note to self: to formulate Plan B :P) There are so many things about the wedding to think of, rather than nak peningkan kepala nak cari kerja lain!

Before "I Do"

Tiba-tiba timbul keinginan entah dari mana nak amik gambar pre-wedding. Mungkin berkat usaha kawan-kawan Chinese kat ofis asyik dok tanya aja bila nak amik gambar pre-wedding. To the Chinese, it's like a must to have pre-wedding pictures. Mula-mula memang tak pertimbangkan langsung nak amik gambar pre-wedding ni, banyak lagi benda nak difikirkan selain dari posing-posing depan kamera. Nanti masa kawin nanti, dah nak posing dah pun.

Tapi, bila duduk dan fikir-fikir...

Why not? Ngee...

Nothing too fancy and elaborate. Just me and Ide in our normal clothes looking pretty in front of the camera.

Something like this, perhaps: -

Pretty, isn't it? Thanks to Bang Hus

I talked to Ide abt it... He thinks it is a good idea too... But we haven't really decided on it. If it happens then the event will take place somewhere in KL, and I plan not to go to KL again what with the wedding is so near now... my Mom cakap nanti takda seri pulak... asyik menunjukkan muka kat KL ja :-S But there is still so many things for me to do! Pick up invi cards, groom's ring, fitting for KL reception, bla bla blaaaa....

Absence...

...makes the heart grow fonder.

Miss my darling... It was only yesterday I sent him off on the bus back to KL, and I miss him already... (ngada, ya I know :P)

Did I tell you how much fun we had during his short 2-day trip to Penang? His last trip to Penang as an ineligible bachelor...

Day 1
Turun2 bas ja, he said his stomach was grumbling and needed to be fed Nasi Kandar Line Clear... off we went... hmm tapi tak sedap sgt la... I prefer Nasi Kandar Kg Melayu hands down... then we went home and talked and talked... listened to beautiful music, I am so in love with Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major (flute and piano version), but Ide likes the violin and harp version.

Day 2
Went to Transfer Road to try the Ceri Roti Canai... It is years since I've been wanting to try that infamous roti canai... But always tak pergi cuz my thought is roti canai is very fattening. But whenever I'm arnd Ide, my diet always seem nonexistent. The roti canai sedappp...but mcm kena tipu ja bila time bayar? :( Note to self: Next time tanya betul2 harga setiap benda yg diorder.

Then off we went for facial... It was his first experience, he seemed very excited but did not show it (tak macho lah, excited nak pi facial :P). He kept asking me to tell him what's gonna happen during the process... I told him just enjoy the process lah... Hehe. We were placed on adjacent rooms, and throughout the facial I can hear him making weird noises... Like when the lady put on a steamer he snorted few times. I guess he slept for some time cuz I heard him snoring!! Grr...

Then we went to place deposit to rent his tuxedo, after that to the mall in the quest to find him the bow tie and waist band as described in the previous entry. Watched the movie "Surrogate" (interesting movie! - pursuaded him to watch "Papadom" but he refused to) and had Thai dinner at a kedai makan tepi jalan.

Day 3
Rode on the motorbike to the local neighbourhood market to have breakfast (ya you read me right - motorbike!). It was his first time carrying a pillion rider hehe. Nasib baik tak tertunggang terbalik OK. It was our first time riding together on a motorbike.

Went to the shopping mall to find him his pair of shoes for the wedding... Then we went back home to eat Mama's homecooked lunch and get him packing for his bus back home to KL.

And today... here I am... missing him :(

The Groom

Ide darling is in town this weekend, yay! He is here to hand-deliver his completed borang nikah forms and such - I am proud of him for actually completing the necessaries for his nikah application at such a short time. Me? I haven't even get the form from the local Pejabat Agama *embarrassed*

He is also here to get his size for the tuxedo rental. Erm...kami rent aja, don't have the budget to custom made a full tuxedo set. But we have to get the pants on our own, if we are to rent one from the bridal shop, the pants provided are all rubber-waisted (means kat pinggang tu semua getah, pakai sarung aja takda cakuk2). Eee...don't want! Macam lau pek lah...

Then we went on the hunt for his bow tie and waist band... Not that the bridal shop does not provide one, but the shop only provides a clip-on...and Ide wants a proper bow tie that he has to tie himself. Emm...mengada tak? :P

But then it is his wedding as much as mine, if he wants to be a gentleman, let him be. He grew up idolising James Bond. I suppose he has been dreaming of being as suave as the Bond on his own wedding since childhood...who knows? And that he is only realising his childhood dreams.

This is the look he hopes to achieve on our wedding day:

My fave Bond - Daniel Craig...handsome kan? :D

And we had fun learning how to tie the bow tie, it is quite tricky actually but the SA at the shop was really helpful, we practised until we managed to get it right...and again, YouTube does help too! :)

And all I can say is, the groom's attire is almost as expensive as the bride's! - Yea...my dress is just a simple affair...nothing too fancy :)

His tuxedo set is almost complete, only left with his tuxedo shirt aja...I am not sure where to get a tuxedo shirt...(is it what they call it?) We thought of getting a normal white shirt if still couldn't find the tuxedo shirt...

I told Ide that his next trip to Penang - he'll be a married man! Hihi.

Make Up Gone Wrong

When I was in KL almost 2 weeks ago (hmm I realize that this month's entries are mostly about the happenings which took place during my recent trip to KL ;p ), MIL-to-be told me about this hair salon owned by a lady who happens to also do bridal makeups. So, since we are still deciding on who's gonna do the makeup for the KL reception, MIL-to-be suggested why not I check this lady out, since the price is rather reasonable.

I do not go for famous and professional make-up artists since I do not have the budget for that. And I believe, if look hard enough there are promising makeup artists who are on the rise, and charge reasonable charges too.

And I do not want to pandai-pandai suggest as I don't feel too good abt doing so, since it is the majlis bertandang and I do not want to interfere in their planning, unless required for.

As curiosity kills the cat (and it did kill me too!), I went to the lady's hair salon and booked for an appointment for a trial makeup, and so happened I was supposed to attend a wedding dinner. No better timing there, right? Lepas makeup boleh trus attend wedding!

Dah la mula2 I heard the lady said RM30, but when I was about to pay it actually cost me RM70. Not that I mind paying RM70, in fact I am glad to have forked RM70 out of my pocket, for I do not want to look like what I looked like right after the trial makeup - on my wedding day! (hmm, I think the sentence structure is a bit pusing2).

This is the lipcolor applied on me lips:

What's with the fluorescent color, dude?

And how my eyes were done:

Errr...I am not auditioning for Zainal Abidin's "Hijau" videoclip, thank u!

While I looked at my face in horror, Ide was dozing off on the comfy couch at the salon. When he woke up, he didn't look shocked (this guy can keep his cool, I admit it) but rather, looked at me in pity. Yes, pity. Can it be worse than that? But after a while, he seems to enjoy having walked beside a rodeo clown.

Driving on our way home, he held his palm out to me. Being in a foul mood I was like, "What you want?". Him - "Can I have a cotton candy, please?". Grrrr!!!!!

At his house, he called his Mom to see the outcome. His Mom pun macam kesian ja tengok keadaan my face :(

In the end, I was late at the wedding dinner, cuz it took me a long time to tenyeh2 my face to get rid of the makeup. The morning after, I found a pimple on my face :(

To cut the story short, I think I have found the one. Based on my friends' opinions, I couldn't go wrong with this makeup artist. The work is good and the rate is slightly lower than the top ranking prof. makeup artists.

Haih...can I just not wear any makeup at all?

2 in 1

It is decided that we are going to have both nikah and sanding ceremony in 1 day. And mind you, my sanding ceremony is not dinnertime, but rather, lunchtime.

This is because we plan to have the akad nikah at the masjid in the morning, and prefer to keep it as simple as possible. So it is totally not worth the money to have 40+ rombongan on the guy's side from Taiping (the grandma's house) and to spend on accommodation (we are looking at service apartments, and the rental rate in Penang is not that cheap...and need to book 10 rooms at least). Not to mention the nitty gritty things that the rombongan has to think about, e.g. lunch, dinner and breakfast for that day...these small2 things if add up can be rather costly on them, and on us as well.

And plus, the guy's side prefer to have everything settled all in 1 day.

The question is, will I be able to pull it off? This means we have to kick off the akad nikah ceremony as early as 9am, or the earlier, the better. 8.30am maybe? My dad said tak pernah orang buat awal-awal macam tu. On the other hand, my friends said buat aja even though tak pernah dibuat orang. If not how to make it in time for the lunch reception?

Hope everything will go on smoothly...even the slightest delay is going to affect the sanding ceremony...I'm praying hard so everything will go on as planned...insha Allah.

Cards, etc.

Ordered the invitation cards last Saturday. Another major item striked off the To-Do list. Oh, I am not that creative to design my own wedding card. But then again, I suppose given the time I could if I try hard enough. Hehe. I just want a hassle-free process of producing wedding invitations, that's all. And so I went to a shop in Pertama Complex (PC) with FIL and MIL-to be and Ide, inspired by this:

I lost the link of this pic, but a huge credit to the shop/photographer. The design screams simple and sweet, don't you think so? Am learning to tie a neat and pretty ribbon as per above, with YouTube it's not that difficult, really.

I am not sure how many shops there are in PC that cater for wedding invi cards but I bumped into 2 shops. The first one is a well-known shop but the SA was very sombong and wasn't very entertaining and was busy folding her paper bags while answering my questions in single syllables. No free stuffs offered either (hey I'm all about finding good bargain there is!).

2nd shop is a floor above the 1st one. The lady was very kind and sweet and most of all, patient. I was rather fussy, asking this and that, and pin-pointed so many cards that we have a lot of cards spread on the table. And me being rather fickle-minded, could not make a firm decision until the very last minute. The SA sabar aja layan my kerenah, smiling all the way.

And she threw in a free bunting and printed envelopes too! All at a very, very good price which is way below my budget.

Now am waiting for the first draft to come in...

1st Dress Fitting...

Not sure of this pic's link, but isn't the lace pretty? *swoons*

I was in KL last weekend with the mission to get the wedding invitation cards out of my To-Do list. Also to attend a friend's wedding (now that I am getting married, I would want to attend all the weddings there is).

Oh, I also went for the first fitting on the dress to be worn during the majlis bertandang in KL. I like it very much!! I went to visit the butik for the first time couple of months ago and I showed her the design that I would like her to make for me, and promised to come back some time after raya for her to take my measurement.

Then mana tau when I went to the butik, the lady took out the dress - a cream colored songket with gold lace (the theme is go traditional for majlis bertandang) which is 90% ready only to sew the beads on the lace. I raked my mind and thought hard whether I had my measurement taken on my first visit? Then the lady said during the first visit she agak-agak my size, and came up with that dress according to the design that I presented upon her. Wah. Not sure, is it a good thing or a bad thing? That she agak-agak my size? But weirdly enough, the dress sort-of fit me perfectly like a glove. Just a few alterations to be made on the wrists and waist.

OK la tu kak, next month I come again to see the final outcome. Anyway I really respect this lady, she is so professional and patient, a pleasant person to deal with. On my first visit I thought she would be a bit arrogant cuz I always see her advert in the monthly Pengantin mag... but I thought wrong! And she charges reasonable price too, I mean, really reasonable.

My dress on my side of the reception? Errr...bought the lace at Euro Moda in KL, now am about to buy the lining and my target is to send it to the tailor here in Penang by this weekend! Can't stand the panic whenever I think about my dress! Just want to get it out of the way and get it over and done with.

It's a negative

Went for my HIV screening test today. Lucky I dropped in today as they accept people for the tests on Mondays and Wednesdays only, from 2pm onwards (pls bear in mind different government clinics/ hospitals has different rulings on the timing, best to call up and check beforehand). I went to the Klinik Kesihatan Sg Dua, Penang.

Being the kiasu Penangite that I am, I arrived at the clinic at 1.50pm. Waited 10 minutes until the clinic reopens for the afternoon session.

Thanks for my kiasuness - I am the first one in line for the test! Hahaha.

I hate being in hospitals, clinics, etc. I hate the sight of blood, needles, sick patients, those health-related posters on the wall. But have to drag myself for that prick on my finger so that I can get married. Adoi. Sakit gak la. Yea I know, I am mengada-ngada :P

Now waiting for Ide to settle the checklist for his application e.g. surat akuan bujang and whatnots...then only I can proceed with mine...then baru boleh kahwin!