Vendor Reviews: Andaman, Photography & Videography

Now that I'm done with my reviews on catering, decor and entertainment, it's time to review three other heavyweights for our wedding - bridal outfits and andaman, photography and videography! Jeng jeng jeng~

Bridal Outfits & Andaman - Ishq by Nora Zee

I first wrote about Ishq By Nora Zee here.

Services: Bridal Outfits & Andaman (Make-up & Hair/Hijab-styling)

Company: Ishq By Nora Zee

Email: ishqbynorazee[at]gmail[dot]com

 Facebook: Ishq By Nora Zee

Website: -

I don't think I need to go into much details for Ishq By Nora Zee because I think it pretty obvious from my first entry on Ishq By Nora Zee and from my constant posts about them on this blog and on Instagram that I LOVE KAK NORA AND ISHQ BY NORA ZEE TO THE MOON AND BACK. 

Maybe I ceritakan sikit lah eh on how it was going through the process with Ishq By Nora Zee and Kak Nora. Let's start with the different outfits and looks we had for our wedding:

This is my nikah outfit!

Super love this customized piece because it is simple and pretty and most importantly white, (okay fine, it was a little creamy), which was our main criteria for our nikah outfits. More pictures of our nikah outfits here.

As for our sanding reception, we got a customized plain icy blue songket (which looks more... light grey, silver-ish?)! Love the songket (we specifically requested for songket), love the simplicity of the pahang cut, and super love the beading work which was fantastic!!!!! 

In all of our kecohness, I forgot to ask our photographers to take a close-up of the beading seh. Meh. More pictures of our sanding outfits here.

Have to say the sanding getup was my least favourite though, mainly because my hair was bunned up and my make-up caked heavily towards the end of the sanding reception... but I don't blame Kak Nora for that lah of course!!! 

We had no choice - my hair had to be bunned up so she can letak the cucuk sanggul (BAH, hate having my hair tied or bunned up) and the make-up caked at the later part presumably because of the sweat and heat and humidity + Kak Nora had to layer the new coat of make-up over my nikah make-up.

That said, Saliheen felt the opposite of me okay - the sanding getup was his absolute favourite! Probably because the fit for his sanding baju was the best amongst the three and that vainpot loved how he looked absolutely segak and the colour complemented his susah-nak-match dark skin. (His least favourite was his nikah outfit because the cutting was too snug for his liking lolz)

Gorgeous little piece designed and tailored by sought-after Malaysian designers, Mimpi Kita for our dinner reception!!!!!

From the front when worn:



From the back when worn:  

I hate that this Mimpi Kita piece doesn't look outstanding when hung on a hanger or laid flat but trust me, the dress falls perfectly and damn lovely when worn on a person okay!!!!! The beading and detailing is crazy gorgeous and the fabric is daaaaammmnnn awesome and delicate!!!!! 

In fact, it was so awesome and delicate, I was so scared I was going to ruin the dress just by breathing okay HAHA. Saliheen loved his outfit for dinner as well, I think this pairing was the only one both of us sama sama loved to the core of our being hehe. More pictures of our dinner outfits here.

Okay, yang I just mentioned tu semua baju-wise ah. Kalau make up-wise, jangan cakap lah - I LOVE KAK NORA'S MAKE UP SAMPAI BOLEH JATUH DEMAM 7 HARI 7 MALAM, CAN?! It's like... freaking live Photoshop, man. My maha ultimate favourite has to be my nikah make-up and hairstyle, of course - you all actually dah nampak gambar ni before but I nak show off lagi pulak :P

 Mehehehehe.

Oh, just one thing - when Kak Nora finished doing my wedding dinner make-up and I saw myself in the mirror, I was a liiiiittle taken back because I wasn't used to seeing myself in dark vampy make-up and I'll have to admit I was a liiiiittle apprehensive about the dinner make-up. But once we hit the ground, I saw myself glamming it up in pictures, I knew Kak Nora did the right thing and I was an idiot and foolish for even having the slightest of doubts. I mean, there is a good reason why I trusted Kak Nora and engaged her services kan!!!

[Side story on the dinner hairstyle: Kak Nora actually wanted to do something different for my dinner hairstyle but my hair refuseddddd to cooperate after a whole day of sweat, grime and bucketloads of hairspray so Kak Nora gave up and twisted it into a sideswept hairdo which worked just fine for me because I like sideswept hair heh heh (Well, my supermother always did say that my hair is degil, just like the person ha. ha. ha. ha. ha. I must have gotten my sense of humour from her eh)]

By the way, just thought I should mention this: I think I have quite a lot of laughing pictures with Kak Nora ah, I don't know why. These pictures below (taken by the amazing Bliss Photocinema) are only a few out of the lot, yang lain aku malas nak gi cari and save and upload hahahahaha.

Lolololol I'm kidding. I do know why I have SO MANY laughing pictures with Kak Nora from Ishq - how can you not have so many laughing pictures with someone when she is damn funny and damn gerek and damn awesome seh?!!! Mesti ada je benda yang nak diketawakan zomg, tak tau itu hari aku tengah kahwing ke, atau kita tengah buat sketsa comedy central tau.

Oh, and because my husband is such a maknenek, he was sooooo excited to get a pak andam for himself!!! We never really saw the true benefits of having a pak andam until our wedding day itself - useful gila lah siak to have a pak andam for the groom!!!!! TAK BEDEK OK. Him, his baju, his tanjak, his samping, his accessories, his face, his everything got the attention that they also deserve. Semua ditanggung beres.

This was a particularly great service for us because Saliheen is such a vainpot for a guy!!! He is more vain than me, actually, I think I've mentioned this quite a number of times. (This dude uses SKII for his daily skincare regime lah okay.) The first time I asked him about switching bridal to Ishq By Nora Zee, one of his first few questions was "Abeh I? Ada baju cantik untuk I tak?" HAIYO GOT LAH, GOT BAJU CANTIK FOR YOU LAH, PRINCESS *grumbles*

Some light moments with his pak andam, Onan, who is also a super awesome and super gerek person like Kak Nora:

(I am damn tickled by someone's comment - can't remember who! - that Kak Nora looks like she can be my sister and Onan looks like he can be Saliheen's brother, by the way. Hahahahahaha!)

And now that I'm done with my "cerita sikit" about Ishq By Nora Zee, we move on to the ~burning~ questions:

Did we regret changing bridals 4 months before the wedding? NO.

Do we think Ishq By Nora Zee is too simple, too safe, too new? NOPE.

If given another chance, would we choose another bridal instead? NEVER NO NOPE NOT BY THE HAIR OF OUR CHINNY CHIN CHINS.

As far as Saliheen and I (and our parents who approved maha approved Kak Nora!) are concerned, Ishq By Nora Zee is damn awesome, and our love for Kak Nora is setinggi gunung Everest, sekuat besi tungsten, seluas lautan Pacific, sehangat bebola matahari dan segala sebagai yang sewaktu dengannya. Amin!

Wedding Photography by Bliss Photocinema

Services: Wedding Photography
Company: Bliss Photocinema
Email: bliss.fotografi[at]gmail[dot]com

 Facebook: Bliss Photocinema

I have NOTHING to say about Bliss Photocinema. 

Except that they are absolutely fantastic, they delivered their services exceptionally well and I freaking love them to the end of the manfreakingkind. Hahahahaha.

We chose Naz as our photographer right from the start because we really loved his work and he definitely did not disappoint us!!!!! We also had a second photographer, Shahdan, because we didn't want a flush mount album and was told that we can replace it with a second photographer instead... and replace it with a second photographer, we did. 

So damn glad we did that because having a second photographer actually helps okay!!! We had a range of photographs which might not have been possible if we only had one + ours was a full day wedding and having two photographers meant they could take turns capturing moments. 

And Shahdan was such a goofball, we cannot tahan!!! Couldn't stop laughing with him and Naz, these two are so happening and gerek to be around. Helps to ease the tension and the exhaustion you might feel as a pengantin on your wedding day, you know? Akak approve seratus persen!

Oh, and one of the perks we got for choosing Naz - this speedy gonzales was the one who worked on our wedding photos so freaking laju macam nak kejar bullet train kat Japan, he delivered our wedding album 2 weeks and 5 days after our wedding!!! (I think I mentioned this before somewhere) Crazyshitballs! We were actually expecting to receive our album only after 4 weeks lah eh. Inilah example of aiming for the stars and landing on the moon (Entah, aku pun tak tau what's the link hahahahaha)

Wedding Videography by CST Singapore

Services: Wedding Videography
Company: CST Singapore 
Email: booking[at]cst[dot]sg 
Facebook: CST Singapore 
Website: CST on Vimeo

The CST Singapore (CST) crew that worked at our wedding turned out to be... pretty awesome :D

I will be very frank and say right now that we were very, very, VERY unimpressed and pissed at CST weeks before the wedding to the point that we almost forfeited our $1050 deposit and engaged another videography company (yes, we were that pissed off). But after getting their warm and fantastic service during our wedding day, the rage has softened... somewhat.

I'd really like to review and share our experience with CST as a whole though, so I'll reserve my full review until after we receive our wedding video. 

For now, let's just say dealing with them pre-wedding was absolutely horrendous because of one particular admin staff of theirs who had shabby administration skills, couldn't be bothered to get her records right and had ZERO motivation to do any bloody work. Which was why during my last entry mentioning CST, you can hear the sound of my blood boiling while reading some of my paragraphs on CST. Haha.

(Your blood will also boil if I told you what she did, okay?! Making your clients wait for you for more than an hour? Not acceptable. Mixing up your clients and missing appointments? Not acceptable. Asking your client for records because you insist "your office does not have records"? NOT ACCEPTABLE. I now refuse to call that particular admin staff by her real name and shall only refer to her as the nickname that my husband and I have coined for her.)

It was a totally different scenario during the wedding, though! It was much, much, much better and restored our faith in CST Singapore - the crew was hardworking, everyone knew what they were doing, they were friendly and really, really patient with us - Saliheen and I kept protesting every time they asked us to say something for the video and kept groaning and dragging our feet whenever they told us to act it up for the camera because we absolutely hated it lolz - and everything was just... really great ah. 

Now all we ask for is for the wedding video to be just as great, if not better! And hopefully... not 7 months late ah.

The only thing that can be 7 months late is... my next blog entry. 

(I'm kidding!) (Or am I.)

The Outdoor Photoshoot

Whoa whoa whoa.

Looks like there are two Malaysian weddings to watch out for this coming 11.12.13!!! Especially excited for Jovian Mandagie and Nina Sabrina's wedding (read here, here and here) - I'm sure their baju pengantins will be so awesome lah kan?! And then there's the wedding of Zain Saidin and Rozita Che Wan, of course, which has attracted controversy and criticism for its whooping RM13 million price tag (read here and here and here)

Mesti ramai orang in Singapore pun kahwin on 11.12.13 eh.

BUT I am not here to blog about orang lain punya weddings lah kan, but to blog about mine! Heh heh heh. Since I've covered my nikah proceedings and my sanding reception, next up is our outdoor photoshoot session with Bliss Photocinema and vitraiture session (ala, video footage of pengantin cakap cakap pasal relationship dorang dengan feeling feeling tu) with CST Singapore.

And at where else but Temasek Poly! Because that's where we first met lah, I've mentioned this before here. Photos were taken by Bliss Photocinema, of course, and again, quality and resolution reduced to be uploaded on Blogger - quality and resolution of photos are much better in their original form.

This "cak" shot below is actually one of my favourite couple shots haha! We look so damn happy to be doing such a silly shot padahal dah start berpeluh, dah start melekit and tulang belakang macam nak patah segala tau.

And a few shots in front of our future home! :D I've blogged about this here.

We almost excluded our orang orang kuat from the outdoor photoshoot because of some rearrangements but now I am so so SO glad we didn't!!! :D

Bridal party <3

And these are my absolute favourites of the whole group! :D

Oh, Saliheen and I had the shock of our lives and almost pengsan from laughing so freaking hard at the last shot with Sham's bontot jack pose that came out secara tiba tiba lah ye hahahahahahahahahaha abang korporat tertukar menjadi abang kaberet for the weekend eh, Sham??? :P

And some more shots with the girls! :D

Very pleased with Bliss for taking the above candid back shot because the girls were very happy with their kain belah belakang so to have it captured in a picture is great for memories :) 

(We had to argue for this kain design with the meanie auntie at Manja who grumbled about it being "too sexy" okay, EH EH excuse me auntie, you pakai ke my bridesmaids yang pakai ni, auntie??? And do you know how difficult it will be for bridesmaids to run around in tight kains with no slits, auntie??? Darah go upstairs ah kalau berbual dengan orang bitter macam gini. Pfft.) 

 

And then the boys... will be boys.

Ah, yang ni bukak pencak silat ke, bukak pencak salah bawak sak hahahahahahahahahaha

The "pok pok pok bujang lapok" shot...

... and the feeling feeling Top Gun shot ah korang hahaha gua takbley angz

Love love love this last shot as well because it's very ada makna, you know??? Macam we are moving up from where we first found our jodoh with each other (Temasek Poly) towards our future home which is coming up in the horizon. 

Fuh, tak ke dalam maknanye tu????? :P

I know it doesn't show in the photos (oh thank God) but we were really freaking exhausted from the whole day of festivities and almost wanted to collapse and crash on the cold wet floor by the time the photoshoot was over (padahal we were at it for only an hour gitu???) But we couldn't take a break pun because CST Singapore had to record our vitraiture next *grumbles*

I have to admit, we actually dreaded the vitraiture portion because like I've mentioned before: Saliheen and I are not the romantic mushy touchy feely sort of couple and our fingers and toes always curl up in unison when we hear or watch something that is too cheesy for our liking haha

So when it came to our turn kena feeling feeling jawab questions like "What is love?" and "What makes the other person right for you?" for our wedding video, both of us kept groaning and whining and tried to protest with exclamations of "Kita tak boleh lah buat gini!" and "Kita kaku sebab kita tak biasa mushy mushy lah!" "Kita tak boleh lah cakap benda benda mushy gini, kita geli" Unfortunately, our videographers wouldn't hear of it!!!!! So in the end terpaksa lah kita cakap something. 

We were crazy awkward and had so much trouble articulating for the video footage lah seriously but I guess the videographers should have seen that coming because when they wanted to record me saying something to Saliheen before our nikah, I was really reluctant and saying stuff like "Ah, tak nak lah!" "Tak nak record tak boleh eh???" "Tak tau lah ape nak cakap, I'm not used to saying mushy things!" and then, when they wanted to record Saliheen - separately - HE SAID THE SAME THINGS TO THEM ALSO LOR.

I've said this before, and I will say. it. again. - Saliheen and I, we love having fun. We like cracking jokes and making each other laugh, we like goofing around and being super lame, but if you ask us to tell you why we are in love with other, WE. FREEZE. UP. We freak out and then we freeze up and what you get is a ridiculous merepek hesitant piece about how "love is about trust and commitment" WTF love is about trust and commitment, what did you do, read off a motivational poster, Farna??? *bangs head on wall*

What I wanted to say after I finished saying my piece for the camera lol:

And nowww we're really really really scared at how our wedding video will turn out like seh. Confirm merepek and awkward gila. Good luck lah eh to the person editting our wedding video! Tapi jangan sampai use that as an excuse to deliver our wedding video lambat lah yer.