count to the down

About five days ago, I posted a screenshot of our wedding countdown on Instagram:

 

Which pretty much means that by now we've already crossed over to a double digit countdown, you gaize!!!!! 95 days left, to be exact. Our friends weren't kidding sak when they warned us that time will zzzooooommm by like nobody punya business.

Naik motokar ape ni sampai laju macam gini!

But I think the countdown paling dekat and paling scary for now is this countdown:

(Yes. I have a countdown for our photoshoot, countdown for our engagement, countdown for our wedding and countdown for receipt of keys to our future home. Kalau boleh buat countdown to my next toilet break memang aku dah buat dah.)

Less than a month to the outdoor photoshoot already okay!!! Badan masih macam tong, macam mana ni?!?!?! Pakai stunt double yang muka sama but lagi kurus boleh tak????? Hahahahaha. (No progress on the #kilokhronicles journey so far - I keep losing and gaining a few kgs every other day haiz. Tengoklah macam mana nanti lepas bulan puasa. Mungkin pindah Africa untuk sementara waktu or what.)

Ooh talking about the photoshoot, coincidentally I received postcards from our photoshoot photographer Zakaria Zainal slightly after the countdown went down to less than a month -  ahhhhh I've always love receiving mail from vendors by the way, baik mails in my email inbox or mails in my physical mailbox :D

Love the postcards and note! The note started off with a "half a year has passed, with another to go" and it reminded me all the more about the next big change that both my mat and I are going to go through this fateful year.

Boleh bikin I sentimental, you know.

But before I ter-start I punya sentimental sakit mental, some updates on the preparations we've done so far for the photoshoot itself:

Photoshoot Location

Dropped by Bidadari during one of our free weekends since everyone keeps telling us about how good and spacious and quiet it is (including those who commented on my photoshoot location recce entry here) so we went to check it out... and fell in love!!! 

Exactly what we really want - spacious, ada patches of grassy fields, interesting pokok pieces without having too many trees... love it love it love it. 

It is pretty quiet - which is a good thing - but there was the occasional jogger and cyclist passing through the area while we were there so gotta keep that in mind. But okay lah boleh lah, that pretty much wraps up our chronicles in looking for a photoshoot location woop woop!

Photoshoot Dress

 

Remember I asked my mum to sew my photoshoot dress for me????? Turns out she's now too busy with Ramadhan and Syawal and ada time constraints segala so she won't be sewing one for me. BAH. 

Can't sew it myself because I am pretty much orang paling hopeless dalam dunia when it comes to DIY so tak penting eh ada hati nak sew a whole freaking dress. I knew I had to just purchase it off the rack or online... spent a few days trawling through malls but nothing caught my eye. Another BAH.

So in the end I had to turn to trusty old Etsy and found someone who can sew a dress for a slightly higher budget than I intended... but at least it will be close enough to what I've envisioned, insya Allah. Will make some minor tweaks once it arrives and I am very excitez!!! I'm actually 50/50 dengan ini budak Kim but tawakkal je lah eh?

My dress won't exactly be like the one posted in the gambar above because I requested for some tweaks - cannot be too terdedah dedah because that was one of the terms and conditions imposed by his parents before they gave us permission for a pre-wedding photoshoot ye (1. No intimate pictures 2. No revealing outfits. Yang No.2 tu nampak sah for aku lah kan, yang mamat aku nak pakai revealing revealing dah buang tebiat ke ape. Although he does have cleavage.....)

Photoshoot Props

These are DIY pompoms from my awesome tahap maksima future mother-in-law! She did the pompoms "suka suka" she says, and we're free to use them any way we want. So we thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to use them for our photoshoot! Yay yay!

So now all we have to do is figure out what exactly we want to do with them. Heh. Have one or two ideas in mind so we'll see how that pans out. We've also bought / ordered three props that we have in mind for our photoshoot so save for a few minor DIY touches, we're actually pretty ready when it comes to props :D

Oh! Also draaagged my mat to Plaza Singapura to get materials for a patricular DIY projek after visiting Bidadari and I can't wait to get cracking! Cuma between now and end of August, entah boleh dapat the free time to do it ke tidak :/

A few other stuff happening this weekend for me as well but the two wedding-related tasks would be... *drum roll perut roll lapis roll*

- Meeting my photoshoot MUA for my make-up trial. Yay!

- Collecting my lunch reception punya cards from From Fran With Love! Yay!

Hur hur. Baru benda kecik tapi excited semacam eh aku. Yay sana yay sini.

And ni baru photoshoot seh, belum lagi wedding, perasaan rollercoaster dah membuak membuak rabak macam gini. How to handle the bundles of nerves and excitement once the wedding comes ni?! 

Must remind my bridesmaids to sediakan 10 gallons of oxygen, epidural, sedatives segala during my akad nikah and sanding lah like this.

ZOMG

Guess what my mamat and I did over the weekend??? We watched our favourite Running Man episodes, revised our draft wedding itinerary, recalculated our budget... 

... aaaaand we changed the photographer for our outdoor photoshoot.

Very gatal, I know, but this last minute change, my friend, is well worth a million times over. Because our new photographer for our outdoor photoshoot?

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Is the ridiculously talented Zakaria Zainal (who I blogged about before here)

(For better viewing, you can visit his website here and Facebook profile here.)

MAHA LOVE HIS STUFF OK! Reaaally cannot wait for our outdoor photoshoot now!!!

Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but my mum has agreed to sew my outdoor photoshoot dress for me - Have to resort to a DIY dress because I've tried looking online for a nice pretty dress under SGD100 but can't seem to find anything I like with such a budget hence the shameless cry for help to my supermother.

Tapi yang buat lagi exciting is ape tau?! The fact that I've found the perfect dress sample for her to recreate!!!!! Ran through that dress sample with two other dress samples with my bridesmaids just to see what they say and they voted for the exact one I wanted (without knowing that it was my #1 choice) because they agreed that the dress is "very me" :D :D :D

Happy sigh. Really love the amazing wonders of good old Internet lah - I was aimlessly browsing through wedding inspiration ideas and stumbled upon the dress by chance ok. Even found a super detailed online tutorial for my mum to follow step by step after that. So freaking happy!

Going out with my supermother this weekend to buy the fabrics! I am SO pumped to see how this turns out! (Pumped with excitement eh, not pumped with minyak)

dress me up before you go go

 While looking at bridal dresses to find inspiration before I decide whether I want to personalize and tailor anything for my wedding dinner dress and/or photoshoot, I realize that I seem to bookmark quite a few dresses yang ada ruffles ruffles lah, pleating lah, layering lah, lipat lipat lah, kembang bawah melati lah…

(Source: One Wed)

I love how the lipatan of this dress makes it look classy! Still relatively simple as compared to other bridal dresses, but the details save the dress from being boring. The headpiece is quite cantik but not really my kind of thing.

(Source: 100 Layer Cake)

Such a sweet little number! I like the silhouette of the dress very, very much! Don’t think I’ll adopt this design if I do decide to tailor my wedding dress though, because this dress makes it look like it will be susah to terkinja kinja or at least move freely (Requirement paling penting dalam dunia: I must be able to move freely in my wedding dinner dress)

(Source: Snippet & Ink)

So dreamy this piece! The dusty pink makes it look so sweet and somehow the ruffles fall nicely. Aku suka sangat. Sighhhhhhhhhhh.

(Source: Green Wedding Shoes)

This pleated little dress is sooooo lawa! I love it! Ok lah, the neckline not suitable for a Malay bride lah kan, but it’s ok – we can work something out. This might be something I can consider seriously, since it’s pretty and fuss-free.

(Source: Ruffled)

Oh how adorable is this! I love the lace and layering details! Not sure if this can turn out bulky if not done right, though.

Just ideas for now – trends change, preferences get altered, and my taste might also change by the time I make a decision next year. (I used to want something more outrageous, like this.)

And the search continues…

will you be my bitch - ahem, i mean, bridesmaid

It was Nad’s birthday dinner last night and one of the topics that came up was synchronization of our attires for Nani’s upcoming wedding!

We had a quick discussion on the types and colours to don for the photoshoot and reception and now we’re all set to be Nani’s lil bitches for her special day! Looks like I’ll need to look out for kaftans for the reception and beg borrow or steal one of my aunt’s kebaya for the photoshoot as well (I borrowed her baju kurung once for a relative’s wedding – the fit was good and it was comfy as hell).

Which also reminds me – I need to get Indian garb for another good friend’s wedding! Not entirely sure why I’m the maid-of-honour for his wife-to-be when I’ve only met her less than five times, actually. I tried to tell the couple that she’s better off having a cousin or close girlfriend as her maid-of-honour but they wouldn’t listen to my protests so…

Anyway.

I don’t really know when and how this whole “trend” of appointing girlfriends as maids-of-honour and bridesmaids came about (Would you call it a trend? Did our mothers have bridesmaids when they got married? Hmm… something to ask my mother) but I’m not going to argue with a useful “trend” that ropes in extra help for brides on their wedding day.

As with a few other items on my wedding checklist, this is something that I don’t have concrete plans on yet since I’ll need to know our theme/colour scheme before I can start planning on what I want my maid-of-honour and bridesmaids to wear.

We don’t even know how many bridesmaids and groomsmen we want to have for our wedding! As of now the count is: one maid-of-honour, one bridesmaid, one best man and one groomsman (total: 4 pax) but we’re open to increasing the numbers if need be.

My plan for now is: one baju melayu/kurung for them to wear for solemnization and afternoon reception and one casual baju for wedding dinner. The baju melayu/kurung they can wear whatever existing piece that they have asalkan semua sama colour whereas for wedding dinner, we might have to tailor or buy something new.
Some ideas that I have for my bridesmaids for now!

Tutu skirts

(Source: Project Wedding)

(Source: Elegala)

I’ve always adored tutu skirts! So cute and so flirty and so fun.

Different hues, different styles

(Source: Todd Pellowe Weddings)

Very interesting concept and lovely if executed well (plus will look very nice in pictures) but I’m quite a sucker for matching colours and/or styles so this might not be something I want to do.

Same fabric, different styles

(Source: I Love SW Mag)

(Source: Jarvie Studios)

Ooh! I don’t mind this! The fabric and colours are the same but are in different styles to spice up the mix. Jadi tak boring lah, kalau semua sama colour, same style, semua boriah dah macam kendarat lah pulak kan. I like the second picture especially, sebab lagi interesting when you play around with the pieces rather than just the necklines.

I suspect it is also because the outfits are ~glittery~… the girly girl in me shudders with pleasure. HAHAHA

Stripes

(Source: I Love SW Mag)

(Source: I Love SW Mag)

If we decide on a stripey wedding, this will be the perfect choice, of course! I think I like the style in the first picture better than the second one, because at least tak tenggelam sangat kan kalau only half of the outfit is stripey. The second one still works though, because the stripes are light grey in colour so tak too overpowering and I reaaally like the design… lawa seh! (albeit tak sopan for a Malay wedding, but well… y’know… just sayin’)

Colour blocking

(Source: Green Wedding Shoes)

I is very like colour blocking! Semua sama uniform but to make it more outstanding boleh pakai bold colours. Mix it up with different accessories, maybe?

Same coloured dress with stockings/colour leggings

Oooooh can I get my bridesmaids to wear stockings! Or leggings!

(Source: Style Me Pretty)

(Source: Green Wedding Shoes)

I like this very much jugak! Either stockings or coloured leggings… will have to depend on the theme, of course. The coloured leggings are very the love! Very kena with one of the wedding themes that we have in mind so I’ll definitely bookmark this. Heh.

(Source: Amber Glanville Photography)

Have I mentioned how much I am in love with barebacks?! Maybe I can incorporate it to my bridesmaids’ dresses… with lace, like the picture above! So prettz!

Ah well, flimsy ideas for now but as we get nearer to the date, the theme gets more or less confirmed, we’ll know how many and who we want as our bridesmaids and groomsmen, and we’ll get to decide which style will kena the most for them and for the wedding theme.

What I do know now is what I do not want for our wedding – you know those little kids who are roped in to become flower girls and bunga boys and all that? Yes, that. I do not want that. Friends and family jolly well know how icky I can be when I have to handle kids so for alllll our sakes, we can make do without all that unnecessary stress, yes? YES.

which dress should you marry?

I’ve been casually browsing through different bridal sites to get inspiration for the kind of wedding dinner dress that I want but I don’t have any concrete ideas at the moment – just vague, flitting ideas on how I’d like my wedding dinner dress to look like.

At this point, I’m not even sure whether I want to customize my own wedding dress (something that I will wear only once, unless I tailor it such that it can be worn again or it can be altered to become a more wearable piece). In fact, one of the ideas that I have in mind is to just get a casual short dress that I’ll be comfortable in so I can terkinja-kinja comfortably for the wedding dinner portion hahahahaha kalau dress with long train segala how to terkinja kinja!

Tripping aku nanti.

So I thought: Ok, why not start by figuring out what kind of dress will flatter my body shape and will look good on me, play around with ideas based on that and then see if I like it enough to go down the customization route?

I think I should go back to basics and familiarize myself with basic dress shapes that I’ve learnt in one of my poly CDS (Cross-Disciplinary Subject) – 21st Century Fashion!

Ok lah, I took that CDS because it sounded like fun (does it not) but the lessons were really light so aku taklah sampai boleh transform into Donna Karan ke ape lah kan. Donna Karat ade lah. Sometimes the baju that I choose to buy don’t even flatter my body type! (Abeh admit sendiri eh hahaha) Sekarang pun I can only vaguely remember some of the names of the dress silhouettes – empire, sheath and a-line. Dah. Tu je yang aku ingat. Haha!

But in the meantime, sambil sambil refresh memory, I think I’ll use this as a guide:

(Source: Bridezilla)

(… I’ve always thought some empire waist cuts are no good for full figure bodies, though. Hmmm. And tak ke biadap ini guide cuma kasi dua options je for full figures whereas the other body types ada tiga??? Dengki.)

Haiz. And that’s just the shape/silhouette je tau.

I also have to consider necklines! Whether the neckline will kena or flatter or accentuate my jawline ke tak! And whether the neckline will elicit screaming fits from my mother and my future mother-in-law ke tak! Hahahahaha

(Source: Pre-Owned Wedding Dresses)

Ala so leceh…

Haiz tak jadi lah. I think I’ll stick to whatever my bridal house ada lah.

(Hahaha perangai quitter sak.)

hey shorty

Further to my earlier entry about possibly wearing a short dress for my wedding dinner, I am digging these beauties from Tobi Hannah 2013 Bridal Collection:

(Source: One Fab Day)

More dresses from the collection here.

I lurrrvvveee the lace detail on the first piece and the skirt on the second piece is vair fun and flirty! And the third piece - so chic.

Unfortunately, these fall under wedding dress designs that I cannot even dream of ever having because of kesopanan reasons so I’ll have to make do with drooling over them during lunch time breaks.

it's a yes

(Source: Rock N Roll Bride)

YES, PLEASE.