The Sanding Reception

So, after the most nerve-wrecking part of the wedding (also known as the solemnization) is over, comes the noisy merrymaking sanding reception!

We went up to the changing room (given as part of venue package by Silat Federation for pengantin usage) after the nikah to rest, ambik aircon, have a quick lunch and change into our sanding outfits.

My mamat sharing a light-hearted moment with Onan, his pak andam, before putting on his tanjak:

Wish I can post up something else that made our mak andam, pak andam and photographers laugh so hard hahahahaha but that shall remain as an inside joke between the people in that room hahahahaha and as a conversation starter for those who have the privilege to flip through our official wedding album in hard copy hahahahaha

And here's my MUA putting together my next look for the sanding hehehe

And my bridesmaids putting on their war paint for the next round! 

Hadang time!

I know some people wonder whether there is a need for hadang for a combined reception and if yes, how to go about doing it. Traditionally, hadang is meant for separate receptions, where the groom and entourage will come from a different venue. Once they arrive at the bride's venue, the bride's entourage will "bar" the groom and his entourage from seeing his bride and will only grant the groom's entourage permission to pass through the "barriers" after they are given duit hadang (Which is usually a small sum of money. Kalau nak kasi NTUC vouchers pun boleh tapi makcik pakcik pihak pengantin perempuan mungkin akan tanya kau dah buang tebiat ke ape). Obviously it works differently for combined receptions, since the groom is already at the same venue as the bride.

This was a quick mutual decision for my mamat and I - we wanted to retain the hadang tradition since it is something that we do enjoy participating in and watching so we did want to have it for our wedding. 

Well, okay, more for me than him, really. Hehehehehe.

So our arrangement was: Bride to come down to the reception hall and sit at the pelamin first, then the groom and his entourage will come down, get ready in front of the entrance and start walking in about 5 to 10 minutes later with the kompang to pass through the hadang barriers. 

Might sound silly to some partypoopers but we didn't care - we just wanted to have fun!

First hadang: My uncles and male cousins!

I imagine his uncle must be saying something along the lines of "Lek, lek, ni semua boleh berbual" hahahahaha.

Negotiation, rowdiness and berbalas pantun kecohness ensues:

Abang sachok who is also the tukang kasi duit hahaha

Dah lepas!

Second hadang: My aunts and female cousins!

Another hadang barrier - lepas! This second hadang includes an amusing impromptu dance by my female cousins at the end lol

And then the last one - bridesmaids!

Look at NAD'S UNIMPRESSED FACE, YOU GAIZE HAHAHAHAHA JUST LOOK

#UNIMPRESSEDNADAI 

Cannot take it, obviously giving her famous "NIGGA PLZ" face hahahahaha

Love how happy everyone looks in the last two shots! :D

(Well, except his uncle, of course, he looks like he is done with hadang negotiation for life hahahahaha)

I think one of my favourite moments came from my bridesmaids' hadang - they were hankering for more money during the hadang, obviously, and after awhile one of his uncles actually pekik from the back, telling them to "Baca doa Qunut dulu!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ah kan terperanjat akak sekejap kena baca doa Qunut petang petang buta hahahahaha

But the paling siak part was when my bridesmaids asked my mamat a soalan cepu emas "Kalau Farhana pergi McDonalds, makanan ape yang dia order?" ("What is the meal that Farhana will order when she goes to McDonalds?")

I thought that question was GREAT because EVERYONE close to me knows that the only thing I will order at McDonalds is a "double cheeseburger, with no pickles" (+ "yes to upsize, and drink will be iced Milo."). And c'mon, this is the man I married! Of course, he knows what my favourite McDonalds meal is.

But does he prove me right and answer the easiest question about me ever correctly?

NoooOoooOOOOOooo.

Almost wanted to karate my way down from the pelamin when he answered "Errrr... McSpicy"!!!!! Kepala hotak kau bertanjak, ENGKAU yang suka makan McSpicy, budak!!!!!!!!!! Ah kan, sampai aku pulak yang terbukak pantun.

Of course when the bridesmaids tell him he is salah, he panic lah right, so he said he knows what I always order for McDonalds BREAKFAST instead. Mintak kena terajang oppa gangnam style ini anak. Nasib baik his answer for my favourite McDonalds breakfast was correct eh. Kalau tak....... malam kau tido luar McDonalds Tampines Mall sudah, bro.

Our male cousins did the silat ceremony for us after the hadang hadang...

 

And we got to see Kompang Zapin Berdendang in action again! 

Haven't seen them since the last wedding I went to and blogged about here (which was the first time I saw them in action and fell so hard in love haha. Cinta pandang pertama, yo!) So happy to see them again but was also a bit miffed that I couldn't concentrate fully because guests started walking up to the pelamin for phototaking. Heh.

Kompang Zapin Berdendang doing their short performance <3

(I hope our videographers or one of our guests managed to record their performance?!)

The bulk of the sanding reception was phototaking, of course (for us lah, for the guests, it's the makan makan haha) - we had groups of guests intermittently going up to the pelamin to have their pictures taken with us. 

I liked that there were gaps in between for us to take a breather and take in the sights and sounds, and truly appreciate and experience the festivities happening in front of us while waiting for guests to come up and take pictures. I guess this is one of the luxuries you can enjoy if you have a combined reception? Longer period for phototaking and interaction with guests. 

I've been to weddings where photo-taking sessions were hurried and had long queues of guests wanting to take pictures because everyone had to rush for phototaking with the pengantin - usually because the couple has to rush to and fro venues for separate receptions, especially if the groom's and bride's receptions are held at venues which are hujung tanjung from each other.

We didn't have that issue so YAY!

Goofing around with props from Snap A Picture Services photobooth before going down to the bridal table to have our lunch heh heh. 

Ambik gambar bodoh macam gini, kita okay, bila kena ambik gambar look into each other eyes lovingly and hold each others' waists segala, tu yang buat kita geli geman sikit hahahahha

By the way, can I just say how freaking glad I was to have engaged Snap A Picture Services as our afternoon reception's photobooth?!?!?! Kept our guests entertained and occupied + the girls are such sweethearts and they were so energetic melayankan our guests!

But full reviews will be up in a separate entry, of course. Heh heh heh. 

Happy to report that everything was on track for our afternoon reception (We even had time to leisurely makan somemore! Yet another benefit of a combined reception - the time saved from having to bertandang can be used for more time for pengantin's lunch) but about an hour away to leaving our wedding venue for our outdoor photoshoot, the clouds started to rumble and it started raining! D:

But since I've prepped myself mentally a few days before the wedding, I knew I'd be able to survive (lol) not going for our outdoor photoshoot because of the weather - even though it'd be a bummer, I wouldn't be super affected by it or anything.

But in the words of his supermother - "Ramai orang doakan you all, Een" because the rain stopped about 10 minutes before we were due to leave for the outdoor photoshoot! So after saying our goodbyes, we left Silat Federation for Temasek Poly. Woohoo! Time to boogie!