of ishq and fate

You know it's fate when...

... out of allllllllll baju pengantin pictures your MUA chooses for inspiration, she chooses the EXACT same one you and your fiance have been lusting after for the past year without you having to show or tell her in detail what exactly you want.

Tengah tengah malam buta aku freak out gila eh when Kak Nora whatsapped me picture of that Malaysian pengantin. Such an IMPOSSIBRUUUUU moment lor!!!!!

 

Here's the enthusiastic response from my mamat lol:

Not regretting our decision to switch to Ishq and forfeit our deposit with our ex-bridal so far!!! Kak Nora also gave me picture of the kain that she bought for my mat's baju for dinner and we LOVE IT MAX OKAY. She got the exact right shade and we couldn't be happier!!! My mat baru messaged me lagi tadi pagi saying that he "is very happy and walking with a spring in his step now" after seeing the text messages from Kak Nora last night. Had to tell him to stop being so auta mama.

Anyway. In other updates - have I already mentioned...

... that we've received the special add-on item for our dinner invitation cards???

Haven't found the time to put them together with our dinner invitation cards (which we've already collected from the printer last month) but hopefully we can sit down and get this task out of the way on one of the weekends during this fasting month. Should probably start printing some of the stuff that my sister dah finished designing so I can do the necessary finishing touches on them as well.

You know, I actually thought I'd have some extra free time during the fasting month to do some of the wedding-related tasks but turns out I'm either too tired or too busy to do so - weekday mornings and afternoons are spent working in the office, weekday evenings are spent slaving in the gym whereas weekends are spent catching up on sleep and having iftar sessions with family and different groups of friends.

Siapa mau layan gunting gunting tampal tampal ikat ikat, beb.

hey newbie, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey newbie

I can haz a make-up artist (MUA) for our post-wedding photoshoot!

Hahahahaha ok ok actually amidst the booking of service providers and planning the guestlist and itinerary, the thought of getting a MUA for our post-wedding photoshoot didn't exactly cross my mind. When we first booked a slot with Bliss Photocinema, my only thought was "Well ok, since it's a casual photoshoot, I'll just get Nani to make me up or worse come to worse just pergi kedai buat make-up and hairstyling" so I didn't exactly keep a lookout for a MUA.

And then, my dear Dyana recently launched her freelance MUA services on Facebook! So I thanked her for officially launching, asked her for her rates and boomz - I can haz a MUA for my photoshoot!

Hee hee hee.

Ok I know you must be wondering - who exactly is this Dyana ni? The new and improved version of Diana from Janji Diana ke?!?!?! Oh tidak, my friends!!!

Hahahahaha I have obviously picked up some dramatics from my very dramatic auta keling mamat. (Do you know that if he snubs his toe or something minor like a scratch or what, he will wail about how he is injured, make his breathing fast and short and cry out that he will need medical attention, an ambulance, anything?! DRAMA NAK MAMPOS.)

I actually know Dyana from sometime back - we didn't hang out or anything (although she once passed me a bag of gummy bears through a secret backdoor hahaha dodgy much pe kita) but we're on each other's social media so we've been connected online for quite awhile. I've seen her make-up works on Instagram and really liked it but she can do super simple and she can do dramatic bold colours - really versatile!

As a fresh face in the industry, of course tak banyak to showcase but some of her few works here:

 (Source: Lipgloss by Dyana)

Eh, very interesting eh all these MUAs. They all semua ada "by" "by" - you know - Faceworks by Juliana Naim, Magic Touch by Wiwit Anggun, Faces by Sarah dan segala macam by by by lah. Kalau aku lah MUA, mesti aku call myself "Puakaface by Farhana". Siapa yang nak muka make-up nampak macam puaka, ah silalah kasi aku make-upkan muka kau ye hahahahaha (Nampak nampaknye time Halloween je baru make-up services aku akan laku ye)

Ok berbalik kepada kami di studio satu.

I think it's a well-known fact that one of the awesome things about getting service providers who are new to the market is that their rates are usually awesomely cheap, and it's no different for Lipgloss by Dyana! So if you have engagements ke, photoshoots ke, dinner and dance ke, suka suka nak duduk rumah feeling feeling datin sambil tunggu husband balek from kerja ke, and don't see a need to spend a bomb for it then Dyana's your girl for it ok!

Cakap punya cakap pasal fresh faces in the industry, you all ada nampak kelibat fresh new face of a wedding photographer tak??? I got nampak, you know! And it came in this form:

 

(Source: StudiogerakPhotography)

[More stuff over at their Facebook but naturally, not that many wedding albums because they just started out in October! If you like their work and decide to engage them then next time your album pulak lah yang akan masuk their portfolio and tolong other pengantins-to-be decide whether to engage them for wedding photographers ke tak ^^]

Price-wise, same thing - much lower than the big boy players in the market because newbie ma sooooo if you belum dapat wedding photographer, this is a company you can consider - catch them before they naik harga sampai setanding with the other photographers in the market ok!

Ok guys. Since we're on the topic of new players, guess which newbie is also coming into the market???

You see the two pelamins and decor in my instagram pictures above??? Everything painstakingly and lovingly DIY-ed by the pengantins (and their awesome helpers)! Super awesome considering that they're first-timers at this, please. Planning a wedding is tough enough but to pull everything off yourself without professional help??? Takes hard work and dedication, y'all. Respect.

What makes me very happy and excited is that they've decided to establish their own wedding decor and catering company and will be able to cater to different styles and tastes of fellow pengantins-to-be. Shall wait for the newly-weds to come back from their honeymoon (they're flying off only next week) before blogging more about this new venture of theirs.

You all just tunggu snug and tight in your seats ok. Now if you will excuse me, akak have a wedding to go to in an hour's time.

kawanku kahwin: nurul + zhafri

Now that Nani's wedding is over and done with, I'm looking forward to another kahwing-kahwing couple friend of mine punya wedding next weekend - our ever lovely Aisyah and our very segak Pak Sham! Haha! Sorry I couldn't sit down and chat at length with you guys at Nani's wedding, seriously no joke lah ok carrying out orang kuat duties at weddings. Sampai no time and no breath aku dibuatnya! Nasib baik penyakit semput bapak aku tak turun temurun kat aku ok, kalau tak last weekend first time ah korang akan nampak bridesmaid angkut oxygen tank kat badan hahahaha

I know I probably won't be able to talk much with you guys next weekend either since y'all will be too busy being married but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing both you in your pengantin gear, and I pray that everything will turn out fantastically for the both of you as well!

And guys (especially you, Aisyah)... STOP FREAKING OUT. With Saiful Imran SID Events behind the scenes as your wedding planners, I'm sure your event will be a glorious beautiful success! If not, let me know and I'll get the word out at lightning speed. Ha. ha. ha. ha. ha.

Speaking of Saiful Imran SID Events as wedding planners, I think it's about time I do a quick entry about a wedding I attended and have been wanting to blog about... which was successfully handled by them! I've seen the bride herself (Oh hey, how's married life treatin' ya, Nurul! Hehe.) rave about the services rendered by her wedding vendors and I must say, it translated well into her Singapore wedding reception that I attended earlier this year (The bride married a Malaysian, so they had wedding receptions in Malaysia and Singapore)

(Source: Nurul Huda's Facebook)

Venue: Toa Payoh East Community Centre
Andaman and Outfits: Versari Ade (MUA: Abang Hadi. All outfits are customized)
Dais and Decor: Saiful Imran SID Events
Caterer: Maria's Le Caterer
Photography: Mohd Razali (Malaysia-based) //  Frames Photography (Singapore-based)
Videography: Jangguttouch (Malaysia-based)
DJ and Entertainment: Entertainment Network (Hosted by: Deekay Dezmond)

 (If you prefer moving pictures, video of Nurul and Zhafri's wedding reception in Singapore here.)

The reception decor was clean and lawa and as a guest, I felt very comfortable because there was ample space and the right amount of air-conditioning at the venue. We (meaning my mat and I) thought the area with the hanging chandelier (I have got to find out what that thing is called, damnit) created a very nice cozy feel when we first stepped into the venue and we liked that the colour template went well with the colours of the venue. Very classy, very SID. They're definitely your people if you want beautifully executed white weddings or white-based weddings, guys!

I must also say that the food was fab! The last time I ate wedding food from Maria's Le Caterer was yearsss ago so it was good to be able to taste their food once again. The variety was fantastic, the nasi was just right and the rest of the lauk pauk tasted good... although I thought the ayam masak merah lacked flavour (bear in mind I'm very fussy about ayam masak merah - this is what happens when you love your own mum's ayam masak merah too much hur hur hur - so far I have not tasted any ayam masak merah that I find up to par to my selera from any wedding receptions I've attended). There were more hits than misses with the desserts so I don't think the taste will disappoint your guests, but if you're looking for a super duper prettified dessert table, you're better off engaging providers like Dessert Artisans or Ola Lola, because Maria's Le Caterer's dessert table setup is pretty standard (very teratur but not prettified, prettified, you know?).

(It's a damn shame that one of their staff was rude to me via email and that experience completely turned me off from them, really. Friends have told me the owner herself seems nice enough though, so if you're interested to engage them, rest assured that the food is good... just hope you don't have to encounter the same staff member who attended to me!)

Will blog about Elvy's wedding next after the official pictures and videos are out on Facebook! In the meantime, some unofficial pictures bumped from Nour Weddings and my personal Instagram:

 

Off to wash my laundry now, maklumlah nak jadi isteri orang kena tau buat household chores jugak, bukan asyik nak blogging pasal weddings aje.