three days away

Been feeling really crabby and out of sorts these past few days, which explains why I've been dragging my feet, grumbling like a nyonya tak dapat semalam seat dalam MRT and refusing to put in any effort for engagement-related tasks! I tend to whine and procrastinate a whole damn lot when I lose control of situations (with no chance of recovery), but showtime is coming up in a few days' time and I need to stop this bratty little girl syndrome if I want this to turn out well.

I need good vibes, people, good vibes.

Which is why I am snapping out of this angsty denial stage right here right now and drawing up (and sticking to) the list below! I always feel better and calmer when I draw up and look at lists so let's hope this helps:

Wednesday, 31 October 2012
12.00pm - Buy fake lashes and hairspray
8.30pm - DIY stuff

Thursday, 1 November 2012
12.00pm - Print stuff + Buy materials from Art Friend
7.30pm - Collect cookies from Designerbakes
8.30pm - DIY stuff & Clean room

Friday, 2 November 2012
10.00am - Visit hairdresser
1.00pm - Lunch with Nat
2.30pm -  Remind Ibu to collect cake and cupcakes
3.00pm - Buy dry items for dulang
4.00pm - Buy bedsheets and standing fan
6.00pm - Go printing shop and SKP
8.00pm - Collect dulang from Bedok
9.00pm - DIY stuff & Setup

Saturday, 3 November 2012
9.00am (TBC) - Collect bunga rampai from Bedok
10.00am - Buy fruits for dulang + Buy fresh flowers (TBC)
10.30am - Pulut delivery
11.00am - Start make-up and hairstyling
3.00pm - In the words of my Abang TOP in this video at 6:59 - *SHOWTIME*

There. That wasn't so painful, was it? Ok now, good vibes, happy vibes, come to mama!

just another entertaining day with saliheen the naughty child

Funniest conversation between my two younger sisters when I showed them the picture of the punching gloves on dulang: 

Fazlin: (in her trademark naive and innocent voice) "Abang Saliheen kasi Kakak boxing gloves aje? Dia tak kasi punching bag sekali eh? Adik memang nak seh beli punching bag." 

Farahin: "Ni kan Abang Saliheen kasi Kakak, bukan untuk adik."

Fazlin: "Ala bukan nya Kakak pakai pun kalau Abang Saliheen kasi."

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha WHY DO I HAVE SUCH ADORABLE SISTERS. WHY.

[Updated as at 4pm:

Ok guys, looks like my mat punya plan to letak kettlebells on our dulangs is becoming reality HAHAHAHAHA]

a farewell and a welcome onboard

Last week I was greeted with devastating news that the lovely Facelift Design &Interiors will no longer provide bridal room decor starting from 2013...

... but this week, I was super excited to see Mariah & Sham announcing their latest development; they're finally expanding to become a full-time business!!!!! Hopefully this means that they can take on more projects, create more of their incrediblely lawa works for lucky couples, and make me all warm and fuzzy inside when I see their pictures grace my Facebook timeline!

(Lagi mulia dari all the ridiculous "Like this post if you want to help this child" and "If I get 1 million likes, you must donate $1 million to charity" nonsense that have been cluttering my timeline lately. I have nothing against helping a child from another part of the world or seeking donations for charities but seriously, guys, Facebook likes??? Get off your ass and ACT ON IT if you're sincere and serious about the cause. I am also quite disturbed that my Facebook timeline is filled with such things because that means I have enough friends and cousins who think a Facebook 'like' will make some kind of difference. Such horror.)

Anyway, back to the exciting news - even though I don't think I'll be engaging them for anything related to my wedding, I'm definitely thrilled that Mariah & Sham is taking this much-awaited step to make their mark in the industry and look forward to see more of their awesomeness.

Watch out, local Malay wedding industry!

CHANGE

I previously mentioned that I'll blog about the change in one of our wedding service providers.

Jeng. Jeng. Jeng.

Hahaha ok lah tak perlu nak dramalah, let's keep it simple and keep it quick ok - the service provider that we've decided to change isssss...











... our service provider for entertainment.

That's right. Entertainment. Which is supposed to be - that's right - Sri Mahligai.

Before you all pikir bukan-bukan, let me explain what happened and why we've decided to change Sri Mahligai to something else.

It all started at Sham and Aisyah's wedding earlier this month.

(Yes, guys. Ni semua korang punya pasal ok!!! Hahahahaha.)

My future parents-in-law, who went to Sham and Aisyah's afternoon reception, were very impressed by the wedding emcee that the latter engaged for their reception. They really liked his eloquence and his steadiness in addressing a wedding crowd, and they were especially pleased with his mindfulness towards prayer timings and informing guests on the location of prayer rooms.

Even my mat and the rest of his friends thought the wedding emcee in question was a good speaker and handled the wedding proceedings well. But part yang paling penting that really appealed to them was: He did not make merepek lame jokes or inappropriate comments like some other wedding emcees that we've seen and heard at other weddings! Sejuk~~~ jantung aku dengar (a'ah dia ada telinga, boleh eavesdrop.)

It can be really painful to look and listen at some wedding emcees ok! Very cringeworthy. Everytime a wedding emcee cracks a joke yang inappropriate or tak kelakar - on a booming microphone, no less - I never know whether to force a laugh or cry in shame or yelp in extreme pain. Kadang kadang macam nak tolong dorang dig a hole for them to hide in pun ada.

My mat and I were talking about Sham and Aisyah's wedding when we started considering the idea of dropping Sri Mahligai and engaging the said wedding emcee instead. Our original idea was to get Sri Mahligai to help make general announcements for the reception (Sri Mahligai can make general announcements for receptions, it's stated somewhere on their website) but after talking it through, the idea of having an actual dedicated wedding emcee seemed to be more appealing.

Plus, his parents were really super duper keen on this dude, and my parents were super duper cool with the idea so after a quick discussion listing the pros and cons, we decided to take the plunge and engage Zan Sofiyan from Medialite as our wedding deejay/emcee!

(Without a goddamn karaoke set for all the mabuk microphone hantus to abuse! Woohoo! Very pleased that we didn't have to go to any perang dunia ke-tiga for this because our parents share our sentiments! Ok fine, my mother would have preferred to include the karaoke set but she's an excellent team player who goes with the majority vote so the motion to not have karaoke set was carried unanimously.

Fuh. Dah macam Annual General Meeting seh, ada motion carried segala. Haha!)

What we considered before making the decision:

(1) Our contract with Sri Mahligai is for a 6-hour gig from 11am to 5pm at the price of $1,600.00. Our initial plan was to have Sri Mahligai play at our lunchreception and then engage a deejay/emcee (someone who will come with own equipment segala) for our dinner reception, which would have cost us an extra $500.00 to $800.00.

(I know some people rope in friends to help emcee dinner receptions but we didn't want to do that right from the start because we wouldn't want any one of our friends, especially a rapat one, to stress over or focus too much on his/her role as an emcee - we want all our friends to be able to enjoy the proceedings in peace and move around as they please.)

The Wedding Lunch + Dinner DJ Package from Medialite, on the other hand, costs $2000.00 for a 10-hour gig from 12pm to 10pm, which fits our lunch and dinner reception schedules perfectly.

This means that: 

(a) We don't have to susah payahkan diri to look for another deejay/emcee for our wedding dinner; 

(b) We only need to liaise with one service provider, instead of two separate ones; 

(c) The cost is more or less the same, with more convenience and better planning for us (instead of Sri Mahligai setting up in the morning then packing up in the afternoon to make way for the dinner emcee to set up, it will only be Medialite setting up the night before, and then packing up after the dinner reception is over. Quick, clean and fuss-free.)

(2) One of the things that we realized from helping or attending our friends' weddings is that having a good wedding deejay or emcee is something that is pretty important - sadly, this is something that is often overlooked by bakal pengantin, including us!

We used to only fuss over bridal and decor and catering, but surprisingly our wedding journey has shown us that having a good wedding deejay or emcee at your wedding makes a huge difference to your wedding reception - a good and trusted wedding deejay or emcee ensures that:

(a) your guests are properly welcomed and entertained and he/she knows when to announce for guests to come up to the dais for phototaking

(You'd think that this is perkara standard that all deejays/emcees will do but ho no no no, my friend, there are idiotic deejays/emcees out there who will stand around and play music with no initiative to usher/direct guests - this happened at my friend's wedding recently wherein the deejay had to be prompted a few times to announce that the pengantins are ready for photo-taking... and even then he didn't get a list of names from the pengantin's family or whatever - he just did a generic announcement over the music which did not even get the guests' attention or get the guests moving, and my friend didn't get to take pictures with a few key groups of friends);

(b) your event timing is taken care of and does not run off course for too far or too long due to unnecessary hegehness; and

(c) ensure that guests get clear directions as to who or where the mak bapak pengantin are, what is going to happen in the next five minutes, explain the proceedings to your guests who are not familiar with Malay wedding proceedings, stuff like that.

(One of the criteria that we had for a wedding emcee was for him or her to be able to speak comfortably in English. My mat told me that Zan Sofiyan's English is pretty lancar so that's a plus point for us!)

The downside to this whole thing is of course the forfeiture of our $100 deposit with Sri Mahligai, but the pros outweighs cons by berkilo-kilo so in the grand scheme of things, forfeiture of $100 is something that we can take. We might have been more reluctant to let go of the deposit if it was $500 or half of the contract price but it's not so... let go of Sri Mahligai, it is!

To think Sri Mahligai was one of the first few items that we booked for our wedding early tahun ni seh. (Don't judge ok, we did not plan to book entertainment that early, until we realized at the point of enquiry that Sri Mahligai was booked up until early 2014. Tak kelakar, geng.)

Both our mothers, my mat and I met Zan Sofiyan last week (our fathers wanted to come along but had other commitments) because he preferred to have parents around so he can get a feel of our family backgrounds and dynamics. The meeting went pretty well, I thought, different from what I expected but it was good nonetheless.

He was tersangatlah chatty hahaha (he's a deejay/presenter, of course he's chatty, geez) and was very serious and religious-centric when it came down to business, sampai at one point he must've have caught the mood of the discussion and he himself said "Ni dah macam marriage counselling eh" hahahahaha ah tau takpe eh bang. Even my future mother-in-law joked at the end of the session: "Rasa macam berbual dengan tok kadi!" Haha!

When my mat and I recapped the whole meeting over the phone that night, my first comment was: "Wah, at the start of the meeting, I ingatkan dia nak kasi khutbah or syarahan agama or something seh." Not that there's anything bad with this, of course! I must say you're better off with someone else if you're looking for a gila-gila wedding emcee though, because Zan Sofiyan is - in the words of my future mother-in-law - someone who is very... beradab. Which is something that both our parents like so it's a good match lor.

(Side note: This dude believes and is forever quoting “The wedding belongs to your parents and the marriage is yours” - a sentiment that I understand and can agree with to a certain extent, but I also feel that this is something that cannot be applied across the board. Judging from our tweet exchanges about this statement, my group of friends are pretty divided about it but we haven't had the time to fully debate the statement... TIME TO CATCH UP OVER DINNER AGAIN, GUYS! New topic to pertikaikan! Hur hur.)

It's a damn shame we can't have both Sri Mahligai and Medialite together at the same time for our reception. I still think Sri Mahligai is one of the best Malay traditional bands in the market and would love to have them perform at our wedding! Unfortunately, we think that $1600 (Sri Mahligai) + $2000 (Whole day emcee services) = $ 3600 for entertainment is a bit too excessive so it's one or the other.

Plus, we also have to bear in mind that having them both onsite would mean we would have to allocate more space for entertainment alone. Mana nak letak pelamin, mana nak letak dessert table, mana nak letak buffet tables, mana nak letak sound system, mana nak letak kerusi meja, mana nak letak kandang untuk letak and ikat kanak kanak budu yang suka lari lari tak tau diam...

We also considered having Sri Mahligai for our lunch reception and then Zan Sofiyan from Medialite for our dinner reception but that idea very cepat kena tanam di ladang gandum because it didn't make sense to top up $1380 for Zan Sofiyan to emcee our dinner reception for a mere 2 and a half hours.

If any of you happen to have the same wedding date as me and memang nak Sri Mahligai, cepat cepat cepat pergi place your deposit before the slot gets snapped up ok! (Note: FYI, Sri Mahligai's rates are no longer $1,600.00, but $1,800.00. Their price hike happened on 1 May this year.) 

So I guess this is it... Bye bye Sri Mahligai booking :(

I hope you'll go to another couple who deserves good music and entertainment at their wedding ok! (Nampak sah dah gila, berbual dengan a mother bloody booking hahaha)

impian yang musnah brought to you by anggerik impian

As an update to my earlier entry about Anggerik Impian:

And from one that just happened last weekend:

 (More details here and here.)

Kalau dah takde minat, dah takde hati dan takde resources nak buat decor untuk majlis kahwin, then retire sudah lah. Yang sebok menipu, sebok hancurkan majlis kahwin orang tu apesal?!

Jijik punya orang.

impian yang musnah (jiwang pe title)

Those who regularly read Cozycot Forum (Thread: Malay/Muslim Weddings) would have seen these postings on the forum last month:

 (Source: Cozycot Forum)

This struck a chord with me because a few weeks before the above postings were posted on Cozycot forum, one of my friends and his tunang told me about their negative experience with Anggerik Impian. I won't go into details since it's not my story to tell but essentially it involved pretty much the same bullshit: empty promises, unanswered calls and messages, bad attitude and lousy service, siap dengan threats being thrown at each other via Facebook. My friend told me that a few days after the showdown happened, he received private messages from two other couples who said that they had problems with the same wedding vendor as well.

I thought of posting about this on my blog - even had a draft ready! - but decided to withhold it first.

Until I received this email this morning:

SO TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!

My fellow comrades... you have been warned.

[Updated as at 24 October 2012 here.]

#shamsyah + #natazmin

It's been so freaking hectic at work!

Not that I'm surprised, of course, because after working at my current workplace for two years plus, I'm well aware that peak periods for my department are from late February to late April and from late September to late November. Just gotta grit through the next one month plus because once December cruises by, I'll be back with quicker email replies and regular updates. Hehe.

First things first, before I officially change the name for one of my vendors under the Vendors page (Yes, we changed one of our vendors! Gasp!), I just want to do a quick one on Shamir and Aisyah's wedding that happened last two weeks. Mari kita mulakan dengan gambar gambar dulu yer.

 

[Pictures from my Instagram, Flipside Stories and friends of the couple who tagged pictures in FB]

Overall it was a lovely wedding for the lovely couple (even though there were issues that could've been handled better) and they looked super fab on their wedding day thanks to Aisyah (lol Aisyah the MUA dolling up Aisyah the bride) from Anggun Wedding Services! Absolutely adored the nikah outfit and accessories, the baju melayu for sanding was a bit so-so (only my opinion, of course) but the indian outfit for their sanding was so exquisitely cantik and I very suka! But the hot favourite among the guests (also the bride's favourite) is the wedding dinner dress which suited Aisyah's style so, so well. Looks like the couple's brave decision to switch their andaman to Anggun Wedding Services two months before their wedding was well worth it :D

As for the wedding food, personally I wasn't a fan of  the way the food was served and its presentation but tak boleh deny that the food from Hassan Rabit Catering is super good and from reviews, guests enjoyed eating the food tremendously... itulah yang paling penting for a majlis kahwin, betul tak! Part part cerewet pasal presentation and serving style ni semua only leceh people like me will fuss about. Heh heh heh.

Oh, in case anyone's looking for a super big air-conditioned hall for a Malay wedding (especially suitable for combined wedding receptions), the multi-purpose hall at Grassroots Club is a very good place for you to consider! Their hall is very spacious and the location is easily accessible to your guests, even if they're travelling by public transport (Yio Chu Kang MRT kat sebelah je, you buat two or three standing broad jumps je dah sampai). It really is unfortunate that the venue is in Ang Mo Kio, because this would have been our first choice if it's in the Eastern/Central part of Singapore!

Ok I know this was supposed to be a quick one but I have a buruk habit of not making my blog entries "a quick one" because I'm panjang lebar menjela like that - so the next time I say it'll be a quick one, you JANGAN HARAP LAH it'll be a quick one. Hahahahaha.

The reason why this entry will not be a quick one is because I also want to blog about the maha gorgeous wedding of Natasha and Azmin!!! Ok, Nat and I have never actually met in real life - Nat came across this blog few months back, and after few comments here and there and a long list of recommended venues (with pros and cons) which she very generously shared with me, we started corresponding via emails. When I lamented that I've never tasted wedding food from Anggun Wedding Services before, Nat very kindly invited my mat and I to her wedding because they're her wedding caterers! So nice, hor?!

Which reminds me... I should remember to ask Nat whether they delivered their services well and whether their food is as good as I've heard.

Ok the reason why I need to ask is because I couldn't make it to her wedding in the end!!!

Boo freaking hoo, please. It was really unfortunate for me that her wedding date fell on the same day(s) as Nani's! I really thought I could've made it in time because I already planned the timing sui sui in my head but it was just not my rezeki. It started raining after Nani's solemnization and we had to wait until cuaca reda before we can head out for the outdoor photoshoot (the sun turned merciless while we were finally out for it!!! Cilakz). By the time we were done, my mat and I dah almost terlentang kat tepi longkang and it was already too late to make it for the wedding.

We ended up skipping two other weddings that we had on that day as well.

(Yes. We had four freaking weddings to attend that weekend ok. FOUR. Asal tak multiply by five jadikan twenty weddings sekali kan?!?!?!

Hahaha ok lah, takmu drama lah, actually we could have made it for all four weddings if we were not Nani and Poji's orang kuat lah. But we were, so... we should've anticipated the last minute plan changes and the physical and mental exhaustion that orang-orang kuat for weddings pikul lah.)

Very sorry to pengantins whose weddings we missed! Kita janji tak buat lagi ok. Haha.)

Anyway, it was our loss to miss Nat and Azmin's wedding, because it was so awesomely lawa!

No picture, no talk? NAH. PICTURES.

[Pictures from friends of the couple who tagged them on FB]

How bloody lawa are the outfits and the make-up hairdo segala?! I know some might not agree with me (especially those yang lagi suka dramatic make-up and complicated bridal outfits with renda renda bulu bulu labuci labuci berkilauan from head to toe with puffed up sleeves and kain terikat terbelit) but I like my bridal outfits and andaman simple but classy level: 1000 ok.

Of course, it's a bonus that the bride herself is a natural stunner so semua baju pakai pun will nampak lawa gila lah! Just a touch from the magical hands of Abang Hadi from Versari Ade, and we have a winner, betul tak?!

Oh, and I very the jatuh hati jatuh tangga with the wedding dinner dress, please!!! If that was my wedding dress, I'd wear it to sleep for the next ten years of my life. Betul tak bedek.

Also have nothing but praises for the decor and dais for their afternoon reception (not my style but how can I deny how lawa and royal they are kan?!) but the decor for their dinner reception lagi an absolute dream!!! Why am I not surprised that the decor company responsible for such awesomeness is The Wedding Chateau??? I love, love, love the stuff done by The Wedding Chateau but I think I'll save my thoughts on them for another day. Because kalau I go on, this will become a 3000-page report. Bukan 3000-word report yer, 3000-PAGE report.

(I must mention that I'm digging the napoleon chairs - although I know there are people who will throw up their arms and say "IT'S ONLY A BLOODY CHAIR! THEY ALL WORK THE SAME!" which is true lah but WHATEVZ, aku suka pulak and malas nak explain myself pulak. Haha!

Anyway, when I was telling Nani about Nat's wedding, I joked about how Nat has earned the right to flip her hair and say "Chiavari chairs? What chiavari chairs? Bitch please, I'm having Napoleon chairs at my wedding.")

Hahaha! Sorry, I couldn't help but finish that off with a gif.

I think it also helps that the venue that the couple booked for their wedding dinner memang cantik on its own!!! It's none other than the beautiful Alkaff Mansion, located at Telok Blangah Green. Nat told me they have a huge outdoor courtyard at the bottom of the hill (the mansion itself is on the hill), where there's an air-conditioned marquee specially for events. Best part is: you can bring in your own caterers! (Beautiful music to your ears, if you're a bride-to-be struggling to find a spacious venue that allows you to bring in your own caterers. I cannot even begin to express how unbearably pissed I get when I see or hear the line "you must use our in-house caterers if you want to book our venue for your wedding event" URGH. SO JIJIK.)

Ok that wraps up my blog entry for today! In case anyone starts thinking that every wedding pun amazing and gorgeous and awesome to me hahaha I should probably put on record yang that's not true!!! The only reason why it sounds like I'm always raving or almost raving about my friends' weddings is because...

... takkan I want to talk bad or make fun of weddings that I don't like / don't enjoy kan??? If it was your wedding I find fault with, you suka tak??? Tak suka kan??? Tak baik of me kan??? Which is why I only blog about weddings that I truly and genuinely enjoy attending or seeing on Facebook, which also explains why I'm always squealing about the awesomeness of the ones I do end up blogging about. Heh heh. If there are aspects of the wedding that I personally did not like, I usually glaze over with an unenthusiastic line or two or totally not mention about it at all.

Of course there are times I want to fully bitch and fully whine about the merepek and buruk parts of weddings or the dirty tactics or perangai buruk of merepek and/or snarky wedding vendors that I've heard or seen with my own kepala mata but I can't and I won't (unless they've been reported all over) because lain orang, lain experience, lain pendapat.

All these things better to simpan belakang tabir because very the sensitip, nyah. Kawan kewat I pun tak sensitive sampai tahap kritikal macam gini, nyah.

Ok, ok, I'm well aware that I started this entry wanting to ceritakan about changing one of our wedding vendors but dah tak cukup masa ni because I'm rushing off to have breakfast and movie with my mamat. Ni kirakan aku macam feeling feeling drama cliffhanger lah gitu, kalau nak tau perkembangan seterusnya, watch out for the next episode update! Ciao.

kau ingat ni main main ke ape

Earlier today, I asked my mat what gift I should buy for him (something that I can put on his dulang for our engagement):

Me: Think about it first ok... Just let me know at least a week before our engagement.

Mat: I nak menan.

Ah kan. Ambik kau. NAK TUNANG/KAHWIN DENGAN BUDAK LAPAN TAHUN SANGAT KAN.

(For those unfamiliar with budak kecik talk, it's a cutesified version of mainan, meaning toys.)

are we clear?

Question Bontot Gatal of the Night:

I wonder whether there are companies that rent out clear chiavari chairs in Singapore.

(Source: Fad Manaf Photography)

 (Source: Kudegraphy)

Will be twitching like a mafaka until I get the answer. Till then.

yang terpantang, dan yang terlarang

Recently at Elvy's wedding, some of my girlfriends and I had a brief discussion about kepercayaan orang orang tua time dulu dulu when it comes to kahwing kahwing and one of my bride-to-be girlfriends Ellia (her wedding will be three weeks from mine!) suggested a blog entry about pantang larang for bakal pengantin Melayu.

I thought it was an interesting topic and how apt is it that Sham (who got married last weekend) recently tweeted about the 44 pantang larang Melayu for bakal pengantin via this blog?

(List is available on Wiki as well.)

Our dear Chinese friends who subscribe strongly to Chinese culture might get shivers down their spines though, because there's 44 pantang larang, haha! (For those who didn't get it, 4 is considered an unlucky number in Chinese culture because it is nearly homophonous to the word "death". I would like to point out that the person who did the blog entry numbered his/her list incorrectly though, and the total number of so-called pantang larang should be 43, and not 44.)

I reproduce some of the listed pantang larang here for sharing purposes!

Jangan keluar dengan pasangan selama 40 hari sebelum diijabkabul untuk mengelakkan tohmahan masyarakat. Selain itu ia bertujuan untuk mengawal nafsu. Ia juga untuk menimbulkan perasaan rindu dendam. Perasaan yang timbul akan membuatkan wajah pengantin lebih berseri.

Some of my friends practise this! (although their agreed period is usually lesser than 40 hari). I kind of like the idea of not seeing my mat days before our akad nikah but don't think we'll do it for 40 days before... I'm not that kuat semangat to not see my mat for more than a month haha FREAK. 

Will most probably decide on period of two or three weeks before the wedding?

(Ok this is very salah bawak ok guys, mak tak ajar eh pandai pandai sendiri tweaking pantang larang!)

Jangan tidur di rumah orang takut terkena ilmu. Ia juga untuk menjaga nama baik keluarga. Jangan bebas keluar kemana-mana kerana takut disantau oleh mereka yang mempunyai niat tidak baik.

(Well, actually, if memang ada orang dengki and memang dah nak terjadi, it can happen even if you tidur at your own place or selubung diri with selimut and duduk terperap kat rumah. I had a relative who "terkena ilmu" few months before her wedding and never recovered even after her wedding day. I know some people don't believe in such supernatural things or black magic but in order to explain it, I'll have to elaborate more on this - which I do not want to do - so let's just keep it at that.

The whole extended family tried everything - hospitals, specialists, medical experts, ustazs and ustazahs, religious people, spiritual healers, shamans, western medical treatments, laboratory tests, prayers, traditional malay therapy, you name it, we did it, we tried it, but we never found any cure or solution in time for her wedding.

Bless her (then) fiance, who refused to cancel the wedding and went ahead to nikah her (although they scrapped the sanding at pelamin part because of her condition) even though she looked like a living skeleton because she lost a lot of weight, developed dark circles around her protruding eyes, lost most of her hair, and was unable to speak or react and had to be held and moved slowly and painfully with the help and support of our family members.

She eventually passed away one week after her wedding.)

Jangan makan nasi dengan gulai berkuah beberapa bulan sebelum naik pelamin bagi mengelakkan perut buncit.

(Mamat aku kalau tak makan nasi and gulai berkuah pun memang tetap boncit seh hahahaha)

Elakkan makan ulam yang berbau busuk seperti petaidan jering.

(Especially bakal pengantin lelaki. Kalau tak, bila nak lafaz akad nikah, pengsan tok kadi nanti)

Kawal makan iaitu sekali makan setiap hari (mengikut sesetengah adat)

(In other words................................... diet lah tu.)

Elakkan terkena cahaya matahari kerana dikhuatiri hitam dan tidak berseri pada hari perkahwinan.

(Matahari no matahari both our skin memang hitam seh hahahahaha)

Jangann bercelak atau berlangir serta memotong rambut seminggu sebelum ijabkabul.

(Nooooooooooooooooo my celaaaaakkk)

Jangan buat kerja yang berat. Bila pengantin membuat kerja berat, dia akan berasa penat dan mudah terjadi nya gangguan emosi.

(Nak apply for 1 month pre-wedding leave ah gini.)

Jaga pertuturan agar tidak menimbulkan rasa sakit hati.

(Yang ni memang proven so I believe in this! So must ingat to seal my mulut dengan stapler gun once I hit the 1-year-before-wedding mark.

As it is, sepatutnya you must jaga pertuturan whether or not you're a bakal pengantin lah, because memang tak bagus to have mulut jahat or mulut takde insurance. Cuma, yelah, apakan daya... kita kan manusia, mesti ada cacat cela nya......................... HAHA alasan.)

Jangan cukur kening ditakuti akan menghilangkan seri muka.

(Planning to stop my threading sessions (and full face make-up) six months before wedding. Habis lah, next year Hari Raya must go jalan raya with my original kening all grown back... kalau aku punya original kening memang arched and cantik takpe, my original kening kalau grow back dah macam misai Anil Kapoor, tak kelakar lah sak.)

Lempar baju di atas bumbung rumah tanpa diketahui oleh orang lain bagi mengelakkan hujan turun ketika majlis berlangsung.

(Doa and sembahyang hajat je lah, nak lempar baju atas bumbung ni semua ape ke jadah, cik kak.)

Dilarang memandang cermin ketika disolek oleh juruandam kerana dikhuatiri hilang seri.

(That's it, kalau mak andam make-upkan macam The Joker pun kau won't know until it's too late.)

Kedua pengantin dilarang bercakap ketika bersanding kerana kurang manis dipandang tetamu.

(Bedek seh. Kalau pengantin tak talk to each other nanti tetamu ingatkan gaduh seh.)

Jangan makan kepala ayam nanti mengantuk masa bersanding.

(Who the hell eats kepala ayam ni?! *judgy eyes*

(And what has kepala ayam got to do with ngantukness??? Is there something inside a kepala ayam that will make you ngantok??? Is this proven by science??? Omg if this is proven by science, does this mean there is a possibility that one of the ingredients inside sleeping pills is kepala ayam?! HORROR.))

Elakkan keluar rumah tanpa tujuan kerana angan-angan yang tinggi menjelang perkahwinan dikhuatiri bakal pengantin mengalami kemalangan jika berada diluar.

(Ok this one cannot make fun eh, because this one pernah happen many times before. I think this is also considered a part of what people call "darah manis"?)

Ok I'm not a particularly superstitious person but I do try to follow or adhere to those that I personally think has its benefits, its valid reasons or those proven to be right because I think it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to some of the pantang larang. After all, this is one of your most special days of your life we're talking about seh.

Of course the pantang larang yang obviously datang from zaman kuno and tak masuk akal or tak bawak afdhal you can, I don't know, campak je atas bumbung or something.

A + F

I thought of blogging about Nani's wedding only after the official pictures and video from Bliss Photocinema are out but HAIYA I CANNOT CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT ANY LONGER LAH.

Lagipun I figured it'll be best to blog while the memories are still fresh and hangat hangat nugget ayam in my mind! Ok cerita dia very panjang melebar (so I suggest you heat up some popcorn and pour yourself a nice icy drink kalau you semangat nak baca ni) and it goes like this:

Two and a half or so years ago, Lisa, Nani, Ika (one of my close poly girlfriend who got married during Chinese New Year this year and got flak from us for holding her wedding during a long weekend lulz) and I had cakes and drinks at TCC Bugis. At that time, Ika and Nani were still recce-ing and preparing for their weddings so they shared some of their insight with Lisa and I (Fuhyooooo insight seh. Dah macam menukar pandangan dalam rancangan 'Detik' seh).

I was not yet ready to prepare for my wedding at that time but it pretty much gave me an idea what was in $$$tore for me in the months to come.

And now here we are, Ika is three months away from her first wedding anniversary and Nani's wedding was over last, last weekend. Doesn't help that my mat reminded me the other day that once Sheikh and Shahirah (another kahwing kahwing couple friends of ours who have also requested for our services as best man and maid-of-honour) officiates their union this coming November, we'll be left with less than a year to our wedding and jumping on the fast track that our friends keep telling us about - "Bila tinggal setahun sebelum kahwin, dah laju dok, kau pejam kelip pejam kelip... eh? Dah sign surat nikah?!"

As it is, I'm still reeling in shock after realizing that it is less than a month away from our engagement.

And I am still stressing over what the bloody hell I'm going to do for my engagement!!!

But that one is another headache untuk another occasion yer my friends. Now you all dah baca this entry for 10 days 10 nights already, tapi aku masih tak sampai sampai to the main cerita ape kejadah ni sekarang hahahahaha (one of the things that binds my mat and I together - both of us can jump from one random topic to another to another and another and talk alllllll day and all night long. Especially my mat. So becok. Mulut dalam ada pasang battery Duracell ah aku agak.)

Ok first up, I want to raaaaavvveee about Nani's bridal room decor!

(Source: Facelift Design & Interiors)

GORGEOUS NAK MAMPZ OK. I remember stepping into her bridal room during her henna night for the first time and the experience was phenomenal - I kena swept off my feet ok!!! Weight berat macam gini pun boleh tersweep off my feet, amacam cakap hahahahaha

I loved how the whole room decor screamed of Nani ok. SCREAMED ok. From the soft draping to the romantic lighting to the delicate styling with a touch of glam and the dreamy aura it exuded - vair up Nani's alley. If this was someone else's bridal room, I would have totally said "Nani will LOVE this!!!"!!! Needless to say, the bride was very pleased with Facelift Design & Interiors because they delivered spectacularly!

Her wedding bouquet was also crafted by Facelift Design & Interiors and it was pretty gila - I didn't get to take a photo and can't seem to find anyone who took a picture of it anywhere :-(

Ok, next pulak kita keluar from the bridal room and move on to the solemnization corner just outside the bridal room! (You all bayar I berapa ni for this guided tour hahahaha)

Kasai Sayang

(Source: Kasai Sayang)

How super cute is this?!?!?!

Simple but super duper teratur and sweet mini dais set up by the talented people of Kasai Sayang. Makes for very pretty pictures! I wanted to kidnap their mini dais and simpan dalam my bilik seh.

And now let's hop on down to the actual event venue itself - the humble Tampines Avenue 5 void deck, lovingly decorated by none other than the awesome people behind Kasai Sayang jugak!

(Source: Kasai Sayang)

I loved the backdrop, I loved the detailing, I loved the fresh flowers arrangement, I loved everything about it!!! Zahrin and Rashid have outdone themselves tremendously and the bride was very satisfied and pleased with the outcome. As Nani's bridesmaid, I pun tumpang gembira lah right!

I was also very happy with how Kasai Sayang handled minor hiccups or issues raised by the bride (attentive and prompt service recovery very penting, you guys!) - I guess having decorators who give their all and focus on only one wedding per weekend has its glorious perks eh! Hehe.

I'm very bersyukur that I can easily talk to them because they were very friendly and incredibly down-to-earth (Some vendors I've met or liaised with don't realise that I strike them off my list because I got turned off by any hint of bitchiness or arrogance towards my mat and I and/or towards other wedding vendors, and/or any hint of unprofessionalism.) - and as I've said before, they are very accommodating and don't shy away from new ideas - perfect for brides/brides-to-be yang suka menyusahkan like Nani and I hahahahaha 

Ok, ok, on a serious maha serious note, if you've already engaged or plan to engage them, please do not bully or go bridezilla-crazy-nak-mampos on the poor boys at Kasai Sayang ok?! Never ever take someone's kindness as a sign of weakness, my friends. Tak baik tau bully orang, nanti kena sumpahan orang minyak (takde link ah actually hahahahaha).

Zudrya Creation

[These lovebirds just got married last weekend woohoo!]

[Our very annoying friend... who is also very single and very available. Also very straight. 

Please email me directly if you're interested to know what he has to offer behind his Batman mask and his creepy smile. Hahahahaha]

 [Lisa and Ika (with husband in tow), the other two girlfriends who were present at my momentous peek into the world of wedding preparations two and a half years ago mua ha ha ha]

(Source: Zudyra Creation)

Ok, one of the things that the bride really appreciated was having the sweet, energetic people from Zudrya Creation managing her photobooth and ensuring her guestbook was pumped up with well wishes from her guests! They were early to set up and started working the minute guests started streaming in, swiftly taking pictures of the guests and helping those who wanted to leave messages for the pengantins in the customized guestbook.

Nani recommended that I engage express photo-printing and guestbook services for my wedding - I'm still thinking about it, but it does seem important to have reliable (third-party) people managing the guestbook. It'll be different if you DIY and get friends or relatives to manage the guestbook for you, sebab relatives or friends kan mesti nak take pictures, makan makan and mingle around with other guests... you wouldn't want your relatives or friends to be stuck at your guestbook table when dorang pun want to enjoy your wedding proceedings at their own pace and ease kan?! 

Pretty Chic by Peti Solek

Lovely exquisite gubahan trays for Nani were from the people behind Pretty Chic by Peti Solek! This was my wedding gift to Nani and I'm super glad you love them bb!

I remember Nani convulsing when they started doing gubahan services and posting up pictures of their lovely creations on Facebook hahahahaha come to think of it, I think kita banyak convulsing moments together seh, woman. Everytime ternampak wedding-related yang lawa or shiok kat Facebook mesti riuh rendah satu Whatsapp chat.

Chantique The Bridal Gallery

Kak Ruby from Chantique The Bridal Gallery was, simply put - amazing. I've heard about mak andams who mati mati tak kasi the bride's orang kuat (I'm talking about 1 or 2 people aje, not one whole kaumpuak of 20 to 30 people lah) or even worse, don't allow photographers and videographers to be present in the bridal room during the andaman process itself.

Apparently some believe it will hilangkan seri pengantin, or will reveal secrets of their trade or make their work lembab. Agaknya takut tangan tiba tiba tumbuh batu sampai jadi berat and become lembab to make-upkan pengantin tak? Or takut photo/videographers publish step-by-step manual on how to apply make-up using their techniques ke? Macam macam reasons lah eh.

I'm not a wedding makeup artist so I don't really know how reliable or how true these beliefs or practices are, but I was just very glad and relieved Kak Ruby allowed Nad and I to be in the room along with the awesome boys from Bliss Photocinema - she even enlisted our help with hairclips and hair sprays and accessories! Feeling feeling assistant mak andam, you all! Nanti kahwin boleh apply make-up and pasang hairdo sendiri, you all! Hahahahaha.

I was also very impressed at how Kak Ruby guided the pengantins throughout the proceedings with her patience and guidance, and how she made us and the pengantins feel comfortable with her motherly nature and easygoing personality.

To think the bride was initially hesitant about her mak andam! Mainly because she had heavily hinted that she wanted another MUA to the owners of Chantique the Bridal Gallery but was eventually assigned to Kak Ruby instead. (We were also a bit miffed because my mat and I followed Nani and Poji for their fitting session but we weren't allowed in because they had booked too many people for fitting sessions on that day and there was no space for us. My mat and I ended up merayaping at NTUC Joo Chiat to discuss the price of diapers and milk powder (hahaha) while waiting for them to be done because we couldn't eat, drink or smoke since it was during Ramadhan, and it was too scorching hot out for us to jalan jalan at the bazaar.)

In the end, it all worked out well and good though, because Kak Ruby memang the bomb lah. Hidayah, her assistant for the second day, was also very sweet and easy to talk to - I wish you all the best for your future mak andam dreams ok babe! :D

Andaman-wise, I loved the whole look for nikah and the first outfit for sanding (The sanggul lintang was maha gorgeous! If you're a sucker for gorgeous sanggul lintangs, Chantique The Bridal Gallery is one of the local bridal houses that have the best ones, imho.) Felt that the hair could've been better for the bride's last outfit change but the outfit was pretty and the make-up was very va-va-voom alamak terhantuk bengol anak mak!

In case you missed pictures of the pengantin outfits, you can see snippets of them here.

Bliss Photocinema

(Source: Bliss Photocinema)

There is a very good reason why Bliss Photocinema is very sought after by pengantins these days - these guys are seriously damn awesome lah ok!!! Very peramah, very talented, very professional. The main photographer was Syarfique and the videographer was Rizal (both from Bliss Photocinema) and I seriously have no bloody idea how they can actually do this for a living!

Halfway through the photoshoot, we already felt like nak collapse and give up on life from the exhaustion and dehydration segala, but these dudes macam steady rock pi pi aje walaupun kena angkut their heavy equipment, manage and give instructions to a group of noisy people involved for the photoshoot, and capture good shots in the merciless scorching weather.

(My respects not only goes out to the guys from Bliss Photocinema, but also to all wedding photographers and videographers who are very dedicated to and passionate about their trade and have to go through all that during weekends and more.)

One of the things I especially liked was how Syarfique made the effort to keep the mood light by cracking jokes, was always smiling no matter what temperature it was, and gave very energetic instructions to everyone. Steady lah abang photographer ni! I felt that Rizal was the more serious one, but it was very reassuring because you can see that he was very focused on getting his job done well. My mat (who was the best man for Poji!) also commented that the way he operated his equipment was very skilled and even demonstrated how Rizal handled his video equipment with his own hand gestures segala hahaha macam paham lah lu mat!

Adam's Corner

I looovvveeeee the husband-and-wife duo behind Adam's Corner - Walid and Farissa - because they're very friendly and easy-going and kind and always so accommodating!

Their food were decent and good, as always, and even though it would have been better if they were not shorthanded on staff that day, they managed pretty well and worked hard to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible.

Maria's Le Caterer

The cakes and desserts table at Nani's wedding was from Maria's Le Caterer, and their early arrival and quick setup did not go unnoticed by an appreciative bride. There was a good variety of cakes and desserts served in a nicely stacked arrangement, and even though it was not the popular prettified dessert table versions that are all the rage nowadays, it was good enough for Nani's guests - so much so that certain desserts kept running out (which MLC topped up immediately. Initiative!) Damn shame the bride didn't get to taste all of the desserts.

Cake Love Couture

Pretty wedding cake and cupcakes from Cake Love Couture! The best part was the fact that their cake and cupcake did not just look good, they tasted good as well. Thumbs up on presentation and taste! Now, if only their administrative staff can improve the speed of their replies, reduce their miscommunication issues and give better customer service and experience... Cake Love Couture would be on the right track.

Petitfour Express

Nani booked a popcorn machine from Petitfour Express for the children attending her wedding but end up mak budak, bapak budak, nenek datuk budak pun join sekaki haha! Nad and I didn't get to taste any of the popcorn because we were too busy running around, giving instructions and rectifying things, which was such a shame, because some of our friends said the popcorn was very good seh :( 

Kudos to the Petitfour Express team who set up way ahead of time and made do with the tight space that was allocated to them!

Sugarpop Productions

Nani stumbled on Sugarpop Productions by chance when we went to the mega wedding exhibition held by Mega Express in January this year and decided to sign them up because the details were very attractive - DJ services, live band and wedding car all thrown into one package, with discounts.

From Nani's wedding, we realized that DJ service is one of the things that people overlook or ambil ringan - please do not overlook or ambil ringan on this, if you want your reception to run as close to your event schedule as possible and if you want someone who can manage the atmosphere of the your wedding event well. Abang Khai from Sugarpop Productions was super nice and super rock steady throughout the event (even when we encountered hiccups along the way) and he was quick to act or think on his feet, according to what went on during the whole proceedings.

One of the main hiccups that made everyone really frustrated and anxious was the fact that the driver of the wedding car was very late to pick the groom up (Poji and his groomsmen dah get ready to transform into members of KL Gangster dok hahaha) and made it worse by saying "Ya, dah nak sampai, dah nak sampai, dah nak sampai" even after the guys called him every five minutes. They ended up tweaking the plan which worked out ok in the end, Alhamdullilah, but we wouldn't have had to go through the panic attacks if the driver had been early and responsible.

Al-Qawi (Kompang)

Ok, ini part pasal kompang aku nak rant sikit eh.

This is not about Al-Qawi (who have been nothing but nice and professional), but the kompang group that the pengantins booked before them. 

Many months back, my mat and I followed Nani and Poji to meet their kompang group to pay deposit and confirm the agreement for their kompang services. This kompang group is actually a subset of a popular dikir group in Singapore, and I know the guys from my younger heydays of dabbling in dikir and dating dikir boys. The meeting was very nice and light-hearted, and since my mat and I have seen them play twice at my friends' weddings (they're good and we really liked them), I figured oh hey, we don't really have to recce for kompang services, let's just book them for our wedding when the time comes.

Fast forward to a week before Nani's wedding. Nani and I were having lunch (Yay to nearby offices!) and the poor bride-to-be was listing down all the complications and grievances that were happening so close to her wedding over lunch, when she received a text message from the dude-in-charge, saying they weren't able to play for her wedding...

... because the saringan for Mega Perdana was happening on her wedding weekend.

Aku macam nak kompangkan aje budak budak bertuah ni lah.

Asal sepuluh tahun yang lalu tak tau nak bilang eh?! Tangan pun dah tumbuh batu macam tangan sesetengah mak andam jugak ke?! Sampai berat sangat tangan nak text siang siang?!

OK TO BE FAIR. They apologized, and I don't think they would've known the saringan date few months in advance. But at least a month's notice would have been better than a week's notice, yes? Would have made a difference to a bride-to-be who was in the throes of freaking out over her wedding preparations and struggling to tie up loose ends at the last lap, yes?

I assume the saringan date would have been announced during the taklimat which was held on 11 August 2012. Even if, for some strange reason, participating groups were not informed of the saringan date during the taklimat, I'm pretty sure participating groups would have known the saringan date at least one month before the competition, because firstly, groups usually train for a month or so before a major competition and secondly, the saringan date was publicly announced on 28 August 2012, a full one month before the wedding.

To give them benefit of the doubt, maaaybe they had divided people into the team that goes to Mega Perdana saringan and the team that performs at Nani's wedding but had to regroup due to shortage of people at the last minute and can only form and send one team to one event. Between the biggest dikir competition in Singapore and some random wedding, obviously the former would be of upmost priority to a dikir group kan?

Or maaaybe they had to take almost three weeks to source for replacement kompang group for Nani's wedding, how very efficient.

Granted, they made the time and effort to source for replacement kompang group but even then, it was not handed over properly because the new set of kompang guys didn't even know what the initial arrangements that the pengantins had requested for were. Luckily the boys from Al-Qawi were understanding and took the initiative to secure and arrange for the items that the pengantins requested for within a few hours and the issue was quickly resolved.  

In the end, dikir group gets through to the semi-finals, the pengantins had energetic kompang boys in their bright shiny outfits to iring them on the wedding day itself, and Al-Qawi gains recognition and possible future clients (because some people were asking for their contact details). Did everyone get what they want? Yes. Is everyone happy? Sure.

But I still think the whole experience was not very nice and not very professional and caused unnecessary distress to the pengantins a week to their wedding. Very bersyukur that everything turned out great in the end, it is just very unfortunate that my impression of the dikir group soured in the process. Aku pergi Mega Perdana campak tomato kat korang baru tau.

***************

Ok YAYYY finally done with all the credits credits yang patut, y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kasi credits macam aku punya wedding eh hahahahaha EH PENAT OK

Like I told Nani earlier, this blog entry probably took me six days, five nights, four and a half buckets of sweat and three vials of blood to finish muahahaha

I think by the time I get to blog about my wedding, you all will baca my entry dah macam baca Fifty Shades of Grey gitu, sampai kena ada trilogy segala.