Showing posts with label Groomsmen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Groomsmen. Show all posts

Monday, July 22, 2013

bring out the bridal party!

Korang tengok ah this irritating conversation between Sham and my mat:


Bromance tak perlu sampai gitu sekali eh. Freaks!!!!!

But these freaks memang macam gini ah! All of us have no idea why but whenever this dua ekor meet mesti adaaaaaaaaaa je silly childish things that they want to say or do together tau, padahal dua dua turning 30 and dah boleh jadi bapak orang eh.

But because both of them are kaki buat benda tak perlu #1 dengan each other, it is probably a no-brainer why Sham is part of our orang orang kuat!

Aaaaanyway. Thought it'd be nice to list down why we chose the people we chose for our bridal party - you all already know who they are from the Orang Kuat tab and I've mentioned here before why we chose 4 groomsmen and 4 bridesmaids for our bridal party. But I haven't really posted anything on why these are the people we're keeping close to us for our wedding preparations and of course the wedding itself.

I actually told my mamat to list down the reasons why he chose Sham, Ahmad, Fadzly and Poji as his groomsmen for the purposes of our wedding website, but I guess I can cari chance to reproduce them here lah eh:
After being the best man for some of my buddies and attending countless wedding receptions, the moment finally arrived for me to handpick my own band of jolly men for my wedding. You see, the task of selecting your groomsmen is akin to an emperor handpicking his finest soldiers for battle. [Farhana: *cough* drama mama *cough*]
Groomsmen never help, groomsmen catch handsome, groomsmen can’t be relied upon and groomsmen no show are just some of the complaints I frequently hear after a wedding reception. Often friends question me so what makes you think your band of jolly men won’t screw up? Well, here’s why:
Why Sham?

Sham was picked because of his exceptional ability to plan and execute. Sham is also what you call a “shameless haggler”; a very important figure for those intense hadang moments.

Why Fadzly?

Fadzly was chosen because in the words of my momma “Ibu suka kawan E’en yg Fadzly tu, tengok muka dia tenang tak menyusahkan orang tua”. Simply put, Fadzly is like Valium. The person you can always rely upon to keep you calm. Expect to see more of him during the akad nikah.

Why Ahmad?

Ahmad was drafted into the team for a very simple reason. BITCHY. Blessed with a sharp tongue, Ahmad is the voice of reason. He’ll give you a straightforward answer if you can’t decide whether to hold the keris with your right hand or left hand.

Why Poji?

Finally, Poji, the man who aspires to open a Ramly burger joint in Korea.  Poji was selected as a groomsmen because he doesn’t mind having to sweat to get shit done. Probably because he sweat also still handsome (Nani can attest to that).  
*************************

Hahaha amacam?????

Sounds very good and very steady and very capable capable belaka kan our groomsmen? Our bridesmaids pun very good, very steady and very capable okay! So I pun nak cari chance tulis about them jugak lah hehe:
Why Nad?

Nad is my fellow diplomat who knows how to exercise tact when dealing with different characters and I've seen her in action when we were bridesmaids at Nani's wedding! She was extremely helpful and reliable as my fellow bridesmaid, and I'm sure she'll be just as fantastic as one of my bridesmaids. (Don't you just abhor bridesmaids who stand around and tangkap jambu only? Unless your purpose for having bridesmaids is for show only ah then that one no hal)
Plus, have you met Nad? Damn woman will get you laughing in stitches with her witty comebacks and hilarious tales of her latest misadventures within the first five minutes. I know Nad will be able to distract me from any possible hiccups and soothe my nerves with her wicked humour... and I look forward to hearing all the funny anecdotes that Nad will take away from the wedding! :P

Why Nani?

I trust and respect Nani's thoughts and I'm largely influenced by her opinions on some of my wedding-related items! Nani is like the big sister I never had - dependable, decisive and always gives me good solid advice, not just for the wedding but for everything else as well.
Unfortunately, she's exactly like my mat when she feels like being an annoying immature ass - we don't call them twins for nothing! I always throw my hands up in despair whenever they start goofing around but truth be told, I really do find their synchronized giggling and mischief-seeking ways ridiculously endearing. This is one woman who I know will get things done and still be able to entertain me with her colourful comments during the wedding. Haha.
Why Aisyah?

Aisyah is the sweet young(est) thing in the group! Always cheerful, always supportive and has sparkles and sunshine radiating out of her every being. I know Aisyah will be the one who will help me see positivity in every person, every situation and every incident because she is just that sort of wonderful person.
With her grace and composure (zappppp), Aisyah is and will be the wingwoman who brings me the calm I need before and during the wedding. Plus, Aisyah is so easily pleased and easily impressed with almost everything, we'll get a kick out of laughing out loud at her overt positivity and enthusiasm. Hahahahaha.
Why Nina?
You know that one friend everyone has that puts the itch in bitch? Now, Nina - she's my itch in bitch. Fierce, capable and comes with an icy sharp tongue, Nina is THE person to unleash on recalcitrant vendors or guests. The best part of all is she's a fellow earlycomer!!!!! I love earlycomers okay, everytime I meet one I just want to stamp a "Good Job!" across their foreheads.
I also know I can depend on Nina to get things done in the quickest and most painless way possible - in a way I see a fair bit of myself in her when it comes to planning and organizing, and it's comforting to know that there is someone who will do things the way I would should critical decision-making moments arise during the wedding.
************************* 

But above everything else, there is actually one very important reason why we chose this particular band of orang orang kuat - it's because we know that they are our true friends who are and will be truly, madly, deeply happy for us, our union and our happiness. Penting tau ni!

We've seen and heard of horror stories where the orang orang kuat are petty, argumentative, unreliable, overly assertive without considering the pengantin's feelings and constantly gives the pengantins nothing but trouble and stress - and we know we won't get that sort of nonsense from Sham, Ahmad, Fadzly, Poji, Nadiah, Nani, Aisyah and Nina. Three and a half months left to the wedding and they've been helpful sweethearts so far so it's not too early to say kan? :D

Okay, cakap cakap pasal bridal party ni, I'm #nowthinking of possible poses for our bridal party!!! They're definitely joining us for the complimentary 2-hour outdoor photoshoot that comes with our Bliss Photocinema package so should be quite fun to posing posing ramai ramai. Hehe.

Here's the standard 'huddle close' or 'stand at the back' pose most bridal parties do!

 (Source: 100 Layer Cake)

And portraits of each bridesmaid and groomsmen (below)...



(Source: Unknown)



... which is one of my faaaaavourites so we're most definitely doing this!!!

Or we can do variations like these:


(Source: Apple Brides)



(Source: Unknown)

There's also the 'tengok bawah' pose...


(Source: Unknown)



(Source: Exposeure

... which I do not like that much lah actually hahaha.

Don't think my mat and I photograph well when shot is taken from the bottom lah!

An alternative to this would be a shot taken from high vantage point? So instead of taking dari bawah, the shot is taken from a very high point then semua orang donggak ke atas ah, macam gini.

And then there's the classic 'V' pose!

(Source: Blue Dandelion)

(Source: Jessica Feltz)

Slightly boring imho, but still looks nice lah when everyone arranged so properly like that. Can't go wrong with classics like this, I guess.

Ooh, there's also the "duduk diri duduk diri" pose!

(Source: Unknown) 

 (Source: The Ruffle House)

Ala ala Mad Men! Seen a few local Malay bridal parties do this kind of posing for photoshoots. Very cool arrangement but not really a die-die-must-do for me...

And here's another classic alternate male female male female arrangement:

(Source: Style Me Pretty)

(Source: Clary Photoblog)


Will most likely do this classic arrangement - I think we'll look really nice with our orang orang kuat by our sides, plus I'm a sucker for this kind of nice-looking arrangement things. (Sorry, I don't have enough energy to think of a proper word for it haha) Cantik kan kalau ambik gambar lat lat!!!

Ooooh there's also the very fun jump or "throw" shots!

 (Source: Snippet & Ink)


(Source: Rock N Roll Bride)

 (Source: Rock N Roll Bride)

(Source: Aphrodite's Wedding Blog)

I'm really hoping we can do something like this!!!!! I really really like jump shots because they're so fun and can potentially be very kekek because of semangat expressions on people's faces and all the tonggang terbalekness that happens when a big group of people try to do jump shots haha.

Aku sucker for this kind of merepek gonjol things okay.

Oh, but the throw throw shots most likely tak boleh ah walaupun fun sebab... patah pinggang bridal party kitaorang, nyah! Actually jangan cakap patah pinggang ah, mesti diaorang patah semangat nak hidup lagi ah sebenarnye hahahahaha

Okay, next is the heart-shaped arrangement!

 (Source: Unknown)


(Source: Wedding Chicks)

Standing in the form of a heart shape, y'allz.

I actually find this pretty cute... but macam very the cheesy kan??? Haha.

Okay next one is another one of my favourites... bridal party pyramid!!!!!

(Source: The Wedding Community)

(Source: True Photography)

Love this one the most, y'all!!! The last one's a perfect example since we're having 4 groomsmen and 4 bridesmaids for our bridal party! :D

Now this, I reaaaaaaaally want to do this but most likely... tak akan menjadi ah geng. Sebab satu satu confirm tak boleh angkat ah geng hahahahaha.

Plus can you imagine us with our baju pengantin and our orang orang kuat with their baju melayu and baju kurung segala... mau rabak pe dah pakai tertib tertib tutup tutup sopan santun segala and kena do this?!?!?! Sampai mengucap panjang nanti mak andam and photographer kitaorang.

Oh, there's also the super cute "in the mirror" pose!



(Source: Bridal Guide)

Super cute hor???!!!!! Got different variations for this as well lah, of course.

Will need a nice long/big mirror to pull this off so we'll see how it goes on event day.

There's also the shot that has close-up of the bridal party's outfits...

 (Source: Magnolia Rouge)

 (Source: Unknown)

 (Source: Green Wedding Shoes)


 (Source: Unknown)

... which is SO cute but memandangkan we've already decided on matchy matchy uniformed outfits for our orang orang kuat (since my last post briefly considering on how to dress my bridesmaids), the effect might not be as ketara... this kind of shot will nampak lagi lawa if we dress them in different prints or styles instead, I think.

Ok next - shots of bridal party holding up boards or letters! 

Something like this:

 (Source: Bridal Guide)

I already have a few in mind.......... okay lah not just in mind aje lah, sebab I dah suruh my sister design the boards pun ah actually hahahahaha. Tinggal nak print! So we might have a few shots macam gini :D

Oh here's a super awesome one where your bridal party can angkat something to show to the camera - get your bridesmaids and/or groomsmen to indicate where they met you on chalkboards and then hold them up for a shot!



(Source: Storyboard Wedding)

Maaaaaddd love this idea, please. 

But I'm not sure if this is something that we'd want to do... ours won't really have much variety, I think? Balek balek CJC, balek balek Twitter. Hur hur.

Never seen this in a Malay bridal party picture but this one incorporates tug-of-war!

 (Source: Rock The Aisle Bridal)

 (Source: We Heart It)

(Source: We Heart It)

Yang last bukan tug-of-war lah but still looks fun! Haha. 50/50 about this, though.

But one thing is for sure ah - we definitely won't do any kissy kissy shots because my mamat and I are just... not that sort. Part ni, kita ada conservative sikit. Kirakan part part lain tak conservative sangat ahhhhhhh ape maksud cakap macam tu.

There's also the "bayang bayang" pose:


(Source: Scoop It)

Kalau ada enough sunlight, nak buat jugak!!! Maybe boleh buat bayang bayang heart-shaped macam my mat and I try buat when we went for our outdoor photoshoot recce last month:


Hahahahaha yes aku tak habes habes dengan aku punya cheesy heart shape ideas.

Oooh, there's also the "from the back" pose!

(Source: Unknown)

(Source: Unknown)

Ada different variations for this kind of 'back' pose - pengantin and bridal party with their backs to the camera or pengantin face front but bridal party face their backs to the camera, etc. Whichever floats your boat lah kirakan.

Okay, okay, I know we can trust our photographers to do a good job with this since we're paying them for their professional services kan??? Tau lah dorang nanti macam mana nak posingkan semua orang. As long as it's not this or this or this, kitaorang actually no hal punya.

Oh, but we definitely do not want to do anything like this ah:

(Source: House Goes Home)

 (Source: Sterling Image Works)

Buang tebiat ke ape nak letak dinosaurs or robots dalam gambar photoshoot. Haha!

Monday, July 1, 2013

here's one for the men

Remember a few months ago I met my bridesmaids for brunch and gave them kain and personalized hangers as their bridesmaid gifts? My mamat a.k.a my mak nenek pun seeeeebok lah sangat nak kasi gifts to his groomsmen jugak! 
 
Which is why he asked them to meet up for dinner last Friday...




... to pass them their gifts! Whoop whoop I iz very suka!!!!!

The groomsmen giftpack consists of 3 things:

  • Samping for them to pakai during nikah and sanding receptions;
  • Tailored shirt for them to pakai during dinner reception; and 
  • Cool little card that says "Your services as a groomsman is required" tagged with a cigar. (Thanks to my sister for using her skills yet again to help us with this!)

Okay lahhhh, technically the gifts are stuff they need to pakai for our wedding reception... but not the cigar eh! That was just a nice little touch lah hehe. Kalau you all you all sebok hisap cigars during the wedding reception, I will ketok all your heads with my super bridal shoes eh. Biar bocor kepala mambang.

Anyway! I am very happy to report that our orang orang kuat has been really supportive and helpful so far, and we're really puas hati di Golden Chance with our decision to choose this set of people to push us through to the finishing line!!! Occasionally I'll ask for opinions or share ideas on our group whatsapp chat and it's great to be able to get their opinions (which I trust and value a lot) and bounce off ideas with people who know what they're saying.

You know, one of the (superficial) reasons why we thought 4 groomsmen and 4 bridesmaids will be good for us is because... it'll make pretty pictures!!! Hahahahaha. I got this idea from Shaz of Glitter On My Finger, actually - 2 bridesmaids on my left side and 2 bridesmaids on my right side, with me as the bride in the middle... which makes 5 of us! Same goes for my mat and his 4 groomsmen. Balance out sui sui in pictures, yes? 

Have I ever mentioned that 5 is my favourite number??? So I biased lah hehe.

Oh, by the way, one of the main reasons why we do not have one person each as the best man and maid-of-honour is because... they are all equally awesome can???!!! Haha! There was no way we could've chosen one over over three others lor!

We've also gone over some tasks to assign and the arrangement is a bit complicated so tak yah lah eh nak berbual grandmother story kat sini. But we have appointed the overall in-charge who will monitor the pace and execution of our wedding proceedings - Sham on Saliheen's side, and Nad on mine. Weewit! Satu tepukan gemuruh kasi sama dia lah! :P

Oh, you know what else I'm also happy to report about?????



We've collected our dinner invitation cards, y'all!!!!! :D

Colour and quality are great so again, no regrets printing our dinner invitation cards with One Inkjet based on Nani's recommendation!!! Such a gem, this one.

And ah yes - as you can see, I've finally decided to give in to my mat's request (more like insistence) so our official wedding hashtag is now #kahwinkhronicles, yo. 

I previously mentioned that I'm not in favour of the said hashtag but after mulling over it for a bit, I figured what the heck, let's run with it. With four months left to the big day, we have a million and one other things to focus and decide on so why worry about the official hashtag kan? Plus, it is actually quite nice to use a name that we've been maintaining for the past two years of preparation and let our guests see a chronicle of all the efforts we've made and experiences we've gathered in pictures. 

Lives up to the name Kahwin Khronicles, doesn't it? :)

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

selamat datang ke ROMM

Yay kita dah pergi ROMM interview! :D

Ok I know we have a few more months to go and as long as we do it 5 weeks before our solemnization date, we'll be good to go BUT (1) we wanted to get it over and done with; and (2) we already took full day leave on Monday to meet Zakaria Zainal to discuss the outdoor photoshoot anyway so we thought, why wait? Lagi muai can max out our leave!

(Initial idea was to get some rest before meeting Zakaria Zainal which was why we took full day leave but since we expected the ROMM interview to last only an hour or two, we decided to just get it over and done with instead of waiting for another day and use up another day of leave)

We arrived at ROMM at 10.00am and ended the whole process in about one and a half hour? Spent most of the time waiting, actually. Pffttttt. Several of our married friends dah warning suruh pergi bright and early i.e. once ROMM opens at 8.30am because once dah inching towards tengahari, there will more couples ahead of you which means the waiting time will be longer. TETAPI! Kerana aku ada bakal suami yang chronic latecomer argh end up we reached ROMM at 10.00am gitu.

The ROMM interview process was quite simple and straightforward, actually:

(1) Collect queue number at the reception.

(2) Wait for your queue number to be called.

(3) Once you're called to the registration counter, you'll be asked to confirm your solemnization details (information that was submitted during your online registration). The officer will tell you about the kadi fees ($100).

By the way, it's not stated on the list of documents to bring but please bring along your pre-marriage course certificate. I happened to mention our ROMM interview to Nani, who told me to bring them along and true enough, the registration officer and the Ustaz that interviewed us asked to have a look at the certificates as confirmation.

(4) You'll be asked to go back to the waiting area and wait for your queue number to be called into the Ustaz's interview room.

(5) Your wali will go in first for the interview then followed by you and your future spouse.

(6) Once you're in the interview room, the Ustaz will ask you a series of straightforward questions and will ask you to confirm your solemnization details once again before asking you to angkat sumpah and sign the confirmation document.

That's it! Takde suruh demonstrate macam mana nak angkat air wudhuk or baca mengaji or doa qunut or kena grilled with tough questions yang boleh buat you sweat your coli seluar dalam off segala. Nonsense lah all those rumours! In fact other than confirmation of our solemnization details, I think the Ustaz only asked us whether we are currently taking religious classes. Kacang cap tangan je.

Oh, we were interviewed by Ustaz Ismail Terimoh who turned out to be very friendly and funny, by the way! He joked freely with us and he put both my mat and I at ease from the get go. I was actually quite nervous when we were waiting to be called into the interview room - no idea why, though! Haha. Baru nak kena interview dah nervous wreck, nanti bila time nikah entah macam mana. Kaku beku agaknye.

And in case you're wondering (like me, before I went for the interview) - there is no requirement for you to put on the tudung (for non-hijab-wearing ladies) during the interview, although friends did advise me to wear something tertutup and sopan to look appropriate for the occasion. (Not that I would even dare to wear a cleavage-bearing top and shorts to a ROMM interview anyway lah kan, korang ni pun..........)





My daddy the wali and my husband-to-be! Tee hee!

After the ROMM interview was over, we dropped by Grand City Shirt Manufacturer at Frontier Building to collect our groomsmen punya shirts for dinner reception pulak YAY YAY. Fab service, great shirt quality and workmanship, friendly staff and tauke - needless to say, we were pleased with Grand City! :D

Here is my mamat waiting for the ~goodies~ 


..... and the finished product!


Actually kan I was pretty sceptical about the collar print when my mat showed me a sample of the chosen print (he went to the Grand City tailor with the guys only whereas I was out at another tailor with my bridesmaids few months ago) but they turned out really great and now I'm so psyched to see our groomsmen looking all nice and segak in their shirts!!! Meeting our orang orang kuat next Friday for dinner so my mat can personally hand the shirts over to our groomsmen!!! Benda gini pun aku excited eh haha

Ah, now I wish I have the bridesmaids' outfits on hand too! If it wasn't for the Raya season, we might be able to get the outfits for our bridesmaids earlier but since our tailor's pretty tied up, what with Raya season coming up and all, we'll have to wait for September before collecting the baju for the girls. Tak sabar nye~~~

For now I kena divert my excitement and look forward to this coming weekend pulak. Actually kan our plans for this weekend is to paint my bedroom and spruce it up for Raya, my andaman session time kahwing and my mat's ultimate move-in - in fact, I already took colour samples in boring shades of grey segala when my family and I went to HomeFix to buy paint for my sisters' bedroom last weekend...


... BUT! After meeting the amazing Zakaria Zainal yesterday, terasa macam more excited to recce locations for our outdoor photoshoot instead pulak! GATAL KAN.

We already have a few locations in mind (and props and DIY tasks too!) but kita kena play by ear and tengok dulu whether we can indeed head out and do the recce. We'll see what the weekend brings! For now, akak ada ten thousand things to do dalam office so... CIAO.

P.S. So sorry if you sent me an email over the weekend and I belum reply - had a bachelorette party for a girlfriend from Saturday to Sunday, and between running errands and attending appointments on Monday, I haven't had the time to reply to comments and emails... will try to do so within the next few days ok!