marvin gaye - how sweet it is (to be loved by you)

One more outfit.

I'm thinking I need to wear a white dress for the shoot..so I'm re-using my white lace corset top, paired with the white tutu skirt I wore for my hen night. Genius.

Of course this outfit won't be shown at the reception - hello, corset? Strictly for private and facebook purposes ;)

xxx

Duuude.

I am thrilled - I scoured and dug around the house and found more 'vintage'-y stuff for the shoot! What I found:

- old, rustic, chandelier. This one was actually from my mom's room, but they took it down coz it's super old. How awesome would it be to hang it from a branch??

- authentic, vintage 'Jacobs' serving tray. This find was so random..my maid, Kak Khadijah served me nescafe ice on the tray this morning. I was about to send it back to the kitchen when I noticed the drawing on the tray is of a lady serving her family, and she's decked out in '40's - ish clothes, complete with hat! And it has the 'Jacobs' biscuit brand. Very cool.

- embroidered, knit cushions.

- two vintage-looking chairs...they're broken though, might use just one..we won't sit on them, just meant for props.

...still need to find a picnic blanket/rug, which is like the most important thing! haha. Worse comes to worst, we'll use a bedsheet as a picnic blanket.

Anyway, it just goes to show that you never know what you might find at home if you look hard enough :D

p/s: Ooh, forgot, I also bought a crochet lace umbrella from Bunga Reben the other day for the shoot!

xoxo

Birdcage veil?

The clock is ticking and it still feels like i've got a zillion things to do! Getting some stuff ready for the post wedding shoot...am thinking of blowing up pics to place around the reception venue. And after the wedding is over, we can frame some of the pics and put them up in our house :) So it's an investment! haha. I have been seriously thinking of getting a birdcage veil for the post wedding shoot, if not for the reception. I've got a couple of outfits for the post wedding shoot ready, it now depends on the concept and how many outfit changes i can make, so will be discussing this with the photographer tonight.

One outfit is a blue polka dot dress with slightly sharp shoulders - this one I bought months ago.

Another black and white polka dot, poufy skirt short dress - old dress, but I am wearing it because it goes with the shoes I bought for the shoot..the shoes have big red hearts at the front, similiar to these Vivienne westwood shoes:



But mine are black, with a stripey black and white heel.

Third outfit is a vintage-looking, lacey, champagne coloured babydoll dress...it has a romantic look to it, so I thought it would look nice for a 'dreamy' feel..

Fourth outfit is a dressy, black dress..this one is old, am thinking of pairing it with elbow length black gloves. Yasir will be wearing his black pants, shirt and an untied bow tie...I'm thinking these pics will be the one we'll blow up and place around the reception venue..

THINGS TO CONSIDER GETTING/ARRANGING/USING FOR POST WEDDING SHOOT:

- Birdcage veil
- Hair accessories
- Gloves
- Desserts (doughnuts, cupcakes, cookies etc)
- Yasir's (untied) bow tie
- Old books, vintage-looking frames
- Old suitcase?
- Small blackboard

...if any of you guys have the above, I would be ETERNALLY grateful if you let me borrow them! :D

Ughhhhh so many things to dooooo! :/ Have to make FULL use of this weekend!

Oh, a good thing happened today, I found more old, vintage books to use for the centerpieces or for the shoot..one book is even about marriage! :D

Any ideas/comments/suggestions regarding the shoot would be much appreciated.

Sloppy kisses!

One month.

Exactly one month from this date, I'm going to be a married woman! I'm going to have me a husband. I'm going to go to sleep everynight beside my koala bear, and see him first thing in the morning, when I wake up. And one day, we'll have little koalas of our own insyaallah haha.

:D

Can I jump for joy??

To future Malay brides

If you are thinking of having a Western themed reception and want your guests to wear suits/dresses, please also lay out other traditional options. Because there is a huge chance that your guests are going to refuse your invite based on the dresscode alone. Take it from me. Now I have to print out small snippets of paper to stick on to my cards, so I can put "Baju Melayu/Black tie".

Le sigh.

Ouch.

Went for my 'skin lasering' thingy yesterday at Dr. Ruben's. I now look like someone pressed a hot iron all over my cheeks. Dr. Ruben said it should be okay after 4 days..and I'm praying that that is the case' because my bridal shower is this Saturday! The actual lasering process wasn't too painful, it was qute bearable, but it got pretty darn uncomfortable after that. It basically felt like my skin was burning. Y'know, on freakin' FIRE. And the shit part was that I had to walk to my car with everyone staring and had to drive with my face feeling like it was melting.

Oh well, pain IS beauty.

Nenek and mama keep on staring at me like I'm a freak whenever I walk by them at home. And nenek keeps on muttering "Berani dia buat laser" under her breath. Thanks nenek, very comforting. Not expecting my skin to be flawless as a result of the laser, but hopefully my skin will be smoother and scarring less noticeable. Insyaallah Aminn aminn.

xoxo

Hair and makeup ideas for nikah

Been web surfing to find some inspiration for hair and makeup for the nikah..I think I've pretty much decided that my hair will be down, but not sure exactly how yet...swept to the side? Most probably..and a little bit wavy. Probably something like Penelope's here..

Check out the guy behind her, giving her the stalker stare heh heh. Anywhoo, makeup-wise, I'm definitely leaning towards the sweet, rosy, romantic look. Kena la sweet-sweet, nikah what. Have to channel the 'anak dara sunti' vibe, y'know? I'm thinking rosy lips (not total red, more towards a pinky red) and cheeks, definitely. And there has to be eyeliner, because my eyes would so sepet without! I actually use this look most of the time when I go out, so I'm comfortable with it. Something along these lines:

..and I'm also planning to tell all the 'dulang girls' to wear rosy blusher and pinkish reddish lips. If they love me, they'd better do it. Muahahaha. Okay, total bridezilla moment.

sloppy kisses!

Sigh.

I can't let it get to me. I'm getting married to the man I love and that's all that matters. That's ALL that matters.

Safe and sound

My nikah baju is hanging in my closet :)

Spa-ctacular

So, with one month to go, I've finally decided to do something about my 'bridal beauty'. I took up this traditional bridal spa package...four sessions, all in all, for RM750. Went for my first session the other day, admittedly, quite nervous about the thought of stripping down in front of a complete stranger, boobs akimbo, nipples ablazing. Did I use that correctly? Akimbo. Swear I've heard that somewhere. Hmm not to self, google 'akimbo'.

Anyway, the place is pretty secluded, nothing fancy, just a small bungalow in Jalan Ampang, a couple of rooms in one house. It was pretty quiet when I got there. Eerily quiet, in fact. I'd like to think it's so exclusive, like a secret only an elite group of brides-to-be share with one another. Cheyyy. So as I stepped inside, this girl straight away led me up to a big room, with two massage beds. The smell of traditional oils and lepat pisang (not making this up, I texted Yasir "I'm craving lepat pisang for some strange reason") wafted in the air. She told me to strip, and I was like whoaaa there stranger, I barely know your name, but I stripped anyway and slipped into the disposable panties. THANK MOTHER OF GOD for the disposable panties. Although this would then be pulled down later on in the session when she proceeded to massage and manhandle my bare ass.

So for four hours, I was massaged, scrubbed like a baby (we call this mandi lulur)..all the while acting like ho-hum I get half naked in front of strangers for a living pshhht, had a milk bath and sauna. The massage session was good, and I sweat like a pig on heat during the sauna session, so I'm guessing some of my toxins must have dripped from my body. At the end of four hours, I thanked 'adik' - the girl who now knows what my nipples look like - and asked to see what was in store for the rest of my spa sessions. She whipped out a laminated piece of paper, and I scanned the treatments. Lulur, facial, mandi bunga (flower...bath?), two more massages etc...and somethin somethin tangas. "Tangas? Apa tu dik?" I asked her. She went on to explain calmly about how they were going to smoke my vagina. I don't mean Malboro Lights Menthol smoke la..though that would make an interesting visual, I mean use good old fashioned smoke, you know, OH WHATEVER.

"Excuse me? Say what now?" was my reaction to this, when in reality I think I just stared at her and said, "Heh?"

Adik said it was very good for the vajayjay, gets rid of odours (mine smells fine, just so you know..Cosmopolitan magazine says musky odour is perfectly normal right??) and white...stuff. I just smiled and straight away made a mental note to self to shave for the fourth session. If smoke is what my vagina needs, so be it. So at 7pm, I walked out of that bungalow a new woman. Next mission: Posing nude for Playboy.

Oh, I'm going for a skin lasering session to help my 'Orang jahat' holes on my face look less jahat. We'll see how that goes.


Sloppy bridezilla kisses!

M.I.A

Dear readers,

I know I've been pretty much useless when it comes to updating this blog - it's because I don't have internet connection and am sans laptop at home :( All I can say is, sometimes you plan and plan, but not everything turns out the way you want it to. At this point, I'm actually feeling pretty laid back about the preparations. As we all know, the wedding is next month. AAAACK. I am still a wee bit upset about my baju nikah, but I think I'm still going to rock it anyway, and it's the fact that I'm getting married to my sweet koala bear man that should matter the most :) Still annoyed about the veil though. Might just get a whole entirely different veil done. Oh well.

The menu for the nikah has changed a bit too...still doing light, brunch'ey' food, but there won't be waffles or pancakes. There are crepes tho! Still contemplating getting a waffle stand. If I'm feeling generous, I might. but then again, I have to get a whole other veil done, so maybe I won't. Ha ha.

Pom pom deco for the tents are still on, fingers crossed that it turns out looking good. Bought some cute lil' lacy baskets which say "Our wedding" for the nikah favours - am going to put eggs in each of 'em, design a cute tag with two birds, and will have them read:

Tweet of you to come!

Geddit?? Tweet? Birds? Egg? :)

Till i get my hands on a laptop with internet connection,

'Aainaa

xoxo

Let the record show

That Man (my biological father) is not contributing a single cent to my wedding. Predictable, but nevertheless quite sad to stomach.

So what else is he good for then?

Ugh ugh ugh and updates

Okay, I know I'm not fat. Far from it. But really, I've tried on my baju nikah and my baju reception, and they both have one thing in common - my hips look ginormous. And I'm not looking to lose overall weight, just to lose some inches on the thighs and hips, that's all. Seriously considering going walking every single day until the wedding. YEAH RIGHT.

Anyway, my reception gown isn't fully ready yet, but I had my first fitting the other day. It's looking pretty good :) Had my nikah fitting yesterday......truthfully, am a bit disappointed. Not exactly what I had envisioned. But at this point, I don't really care..the outfit isn't fully ready yet, but from what I saw, it looked...normal. Nothing special. But considering the fact that a lot of brides just wear a plain baju kurung for the nikah, I suppose mine is alright.

Invites are ready! Now all I need to do is get the guest list together and start sending them out. Check out my black and white invite on Leanne's website *click!*

Sloppy bridal kisses!

Hmm.

The closer I get to the wedding, the more I don't give a rat's ass about it. It must be because everything seems to be moving in SLOW FRIGGIN MOTION. I really think I'll suffer a bout of acne attack later (nauzzubillah) at the rate things are going. Nikah favours? Nope. Pelamin? Nope no word from my wedding planner. Canopy for nikah? NOPE, still no quotation. Baju nikah? Tak siap lagi. Baju reception? Haven't seen it yet. Nikah documents? Nil. UGHHHHHHHHHH

Thing is, I literally have just 2 more months. I don't need things to be last minute - I don't want to stress out the day of my wedding. So this means that things need to be done way before, am I right?

Fuckity fuck la.

English vs Bahasa

Because my dearest datuk thinks it's "jijik" that my reception invite is in English ("WE'RE MALAY AAINAA!"), it will now have a Bahasa translation as well. Jijik.

Funnily enough, he was voicing his disgust to me in English.

My wedding gown is ready...

Am a nervous wreck. Fitting will be second week of May.

AAAAAACK!

Nikah invite

I am so in love with my nikah invite. Thank you to the ever talented Lee for making my dream come true :)

FRONT BACK

This invite will be going out to the small number of people who will be attending the solemnisation ceremony. It's a one piece invite, front and back. It's a small image though, sorry...

This is what is says at the front:

Together with our families

'Aainaa and Yasir

Warmly request the company of (insert name)

As we celebrate family, friendship and our commitment to each other.

The solemnisation ceremony will take place at 58, Jalan Keramat Hujung

And then the marriage prayer at the back:

Allah, help us to remember when we first met
And the strong love that grew between us.
Help us to work that love into practical things
So nothing can divide us.

We ask for words both kind and loving,
And for hearts always ready to ask forgiveness,
As well as to forgive.

Bless this marriage, Allah, as we continue our journey down the road of life together. The road turns and bends, but help us to make the best of whatever comes our way.

Help us to realise that if we hold onto each other, we will know that things have a way of working out for the good.

Help us to create for our children a peaceful, stable home of love as a foundation on which they can build their lives.

Dear Allah, we put our marriage into Your hands.

String quartet

Remember my string quartet idea? Well, I've been shooting emails to this guy, Jason Geh who provides music entertainment for weddings and events. He also provides a music band, if you want some singing...but I'm really particular about wedding singers who try and sing in English but sound really horrible..so I think it's safer to go with a string quartet, plus it will suit the theme. He's quoting me RM4,300 for a string quartet (2 violin, 1 viola and 1 cello) for an hour and a half. This INCLUDES sound system. Have a listen here ..you may want to forward past the talking and get to the performance. It's actually a clip Jason recorded from one of his client's weddings..the sound isn't clear though..but I imagine the quartet would sound great in real life. Will be paying the deposit this weekend. A string quartet at a Malay wedding..pretty cool if I do say so myself!

sloppy kisses!

Hantaran aka the gifts of luuurvee

Yasir and I are slowly but surely completing our hantaran gifts to each other..we decided not to go crazy and spend within our (very limited) budget. Here's the list:

His gifts to me (7 trays)

• Folding Rayban wayfarer sunglasses (have always wanted to get another pair since I lost mine but have been too sakit hati to buy them myself!)
• Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag (a yummy lilac-ish fuschia-ish colour)
• Aldo heels (4 inches, stacked, black, an updated version of the gladiator style..just the way I like 'em)
• Tiffany & co necklace (huge heart pendant on a long chain..the heart pendant can be used on their bracelet chain as well, so will buy this later on to switch things up from time to time)
• Wedding ring (eternity band, but not the normal eternity type..this one is encrusted with small diamonds all around.. I had a say in this! haha :) ) & wang hantaran
• Telekung from his mom (boleh pakai sembahyang terawih masa bulan puasa nanti heheh)
• Manisan (don't really know what this will be..a cake?)

My gifts to him (9 trays)

• 42" LCD tv from Samsung
• Blu Ray player (forgot what brand this is..Yasir says you can't have a high-def TV without having a Blu-ray player :P)
• Nike Air Force 1's (white with green swoosh)
• French connection watch (sturdy, manly looking - I had a say in this too heh heh..but he loves it!)
• Perfume set (Gucci Sport)
• Wedding band
• Manisan (cake?)
• Manisan (cupcakes?)
• Tepak sirih

Okay, we're a bit confused about the Tepak sirih dulang..is this supposed to be part of the hantaran, or separate? Because Yasir's supposed to give me tepak sirih as well. Does that count as part of his 7 trays to me? Anyone in the know? Would really appreciate some feedback!

xoxo!

Am I the only one planning this wedding??

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I only have two WHOLE months. TWO.

TWO!!!!!!!

A hairy issue.

Heh heh. Love the title. Ehem. Anyways, I've been toying with wearing a birdcage veil for my reception....but I'm not sure if that's the night for experimenting. So I came across this picture online and liked the idea of a feather flowery thingy in my hair. Looks pretty glam...



Looks perfect, coupled with diamond chandelier earrings. Chandelier earrings is a must for my reception theme, I think.

G'nite!

Nikah attire pt 2

So it's official, Dezaine is making my nikah outfit. Truthfully, I'm nervous. Not because I don't think they would do a good job, but because of the design I gave them. I designed everything about it, but I think I must have had a supermodel's body in mind when I did it, because the bottom part of the outfit will be in.....lycra. Yep, LYCRA. And any chick in the know would agree that lycra is ultra unforgiving. Any bump would be visible from a mile away. So I'm definitely on the hunt for some really good under...stuff. What's it called again? Corset for your thighs? I don't exactly have the slimmest thighs in the world too...ugh. But somehow I'm praying that miraculously I'll lose weight by July and have supermodel thighs by then. Okay, anything slimmer than what I have now would do too. Super super nervous. Gah.

Anyway, Abang Syed (the owner of Dezaine) charged me RM1,200 just for workmanship. Yasir had bought the material for me ages ago. According to Abang Syed, that was his 'special price'...seeing as my wedding planner, Auntie Pah, is related to him. I suppose it's reasonable enough.

Oh looorrrrd, grant me Gisele thighs by July!

L O V E

The 'LOVE' sign, or standing letters that I had made are ready and I'll go and pick 'em up tomorrow! Yasir and I actually went to the signage place last week, but it wasn't completely ready..but I'm happy with what I saw :) And after the nikah is over, it would make a cute little decoration piece for our home too, so I suppose it's okay that it cost me quite a bit to have it made. I would love to post a photo of it up here, but I don't have a transfer cable for my camera...maybe if I find one I will. I might also consider renting out the LOVE sign, I think it would be quite a hit for weddings...you can place it anywhere you want and it would look great for photos. But Yasir thinks then it wouldn't be 'special' anymore....true, but there's still nothing wrong with making a little bit of dough eh? ;)

The wedding planner, Eeqa, is coming over this Sunday to discuss (or shall I say re-discuss) the colour scheme for the nikah. The poor girl, she must be having a headache thanks to me. Heh heh. Ooooh and I bought a polka dot dress for the post-wedding shoot. Will most probably wear it for the picnic scenes. It's there, hanging in my closet, waiting for the day it can come out to play....

sloppy kisses!

Fluffy kerfuffle

Was looking at this photo...can't remember where I got it now, but I thought that the photo of the tent with the fluffy balls looked super sweet...inspiration? Defo. It would take a lot of hardwork to get each ball done and strung across...but it looks AMAZING in pics though. KIV.

I am seriously seriously considering injecting a little rose pink into the colour scheme..because nothing says 'romance' like rose pink? Or maybe a dark pink? Ugh, I'd better get this colour nonsense sorted out before everything just gets jumbled up! Crap crap crap.

xoxo

Nikah attire

I have an appointment tonight with Abang Syed from Dezaine to see what he can do (and most importantly, how much he will charge!) for my nikah attire. Dear god, please let it be good and unexpensive. Please. Updates soon.

Sloppy kisses!

p/s: Went material shopping with Nik last Sunday. Saw this GORGEOUS kain, but guess how much per meter - around RM1,700. PER METER. Whatevs. Bought french lace instead, and Nik said he would spruce it up. Am admitttedly a bit nervous, but staying positive. Insyaallah things will work out just fine :)

Photographer

In case you guys are wondering, nikah and reception photography will be done by Kudegraphy. They are a super talented couple..Ili is actually my BBGS junior :) They do beautiful, beautiful work. It was a bit difficult for me to choose a photographer, because I'm a bit picky when it comes to wedding photos (okay I'm picky when it comes to everything :P). Their work has been featured on the famous international wedding website, JunebugWeddings.com, and they even won an award!

Be sure to check out the photos they took for Serina (Chef Wan's daughter) and Gavin's wedding. Major love for their work!

sloppy kisses.

Old Hollywood Strikes Back <---title by Yasir Yusoff

Where was I? okay, so on to the reception. Eeqa brought me back on track with my initial reception theme...yes, black and white, but I haven't been focusing on the 'old Hollywood glamour' feel all this while - so it was good to be reminded of it. She brought up a couple of awesome ideas that I love. She showed me a bouquet that had feathers, and I remembered wanting something like that when I first contemplated the idea of Old Hollywood. Think it would look great. And another idea, which I absolutely adored, was using mannequins as decor. No, not the human looking ones we see in window shops, but more of the vintage mannequin, without legs and arms...the cloth type.

This is nothing original, but to go with the Old Hollywood theme, i'll be labeling the tables after names like Monroe, Sinatra etc...and maybe the occasional Malay names like Saloma and P.Ramlee. The pelamin is a bit of a tricky one...how exactly would we be able to incorporate old glamour into this? Eeqa and Aunty Pah had a few ideas (one was to have those lights that we usually see surrounding dressing room mirrors in old theaters...you know, the light bulb-ish ones?) as part of the pelamin. The idea of it seems really cool, but am a little afraid that it might look too try-hard. Hmmm. Will probably still work on this....but you have to hand it to Eeqa, the girl is so creative - which makes me feel so much less stressed out about this whole wedding thing!

Bought a 'Greatest 50's hits' CD pack at Speedy yesterday...have been listening to it, and it's made me even more excited for the reception. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Doris Day, Nat King Cole...that was the time of great music, man. I especially think Sinatra's *Love and Marriage* tune is so quirky and adorable. Am toying with the idea of using that song for Yasir and my post-wedding shoot. Have yet to discuss ideas for this project, but as soon as I heard the song again I imagined a cute, colurful picnic. Props like balloons, cupcakes, strawberries and cream, soap bubbles (i won't be eating the strawberries of course) will make it look even more festive. Me in a cute, vintage dress and Yasir in a relaxed white shirt and loose tie. Then another photo shoot where I'll try to do the cheesy, ol' school housewife thing...apron, oven mitts, serving Yasir a meal or cake. Or a shot of Yasir reading the papers while i'm knitting. Not too sure where I'm going to find yarn or knitting tools, but it might be possible!

Sorry, have gotten a little off track haha. Back to the reception. If all goes well, Eeqa will get black tabletops for all the tables. Then I'll get white paper doilies to use as place mats for each guest. They're a bit thin though, but I think they should be fine...told her my idea about making black napkins just for the main table and she said it's definitely possible. Never knew that napkins could get me so excited. Ha ha.

Okay, internet's acting up and I'm getting sleepy. Soz for cutting it short, but a girl's gotta get her beauty sleep! Night night people.

Done!

Finally met up with the wedding planner and her daughter; Shafeeqa - my senior in BBGS, last Sunday morning. Felt soooooo good to express all my ideas to Eeqa...she gets me, so I'm confident she understands my 'vision' for the nikah and reception. We spent a good hour just discussing the nikah. It was a flurry of polka-dots-and-vintage talk. I listed down the key words for her:

1) Charming
2) Vintage
3) Quirky
4) Kitschy
5)...and a little bit of the R word - Romance.

Sounds confusing, even to me. Ha ha. We also discussed favours...there was this favour that was sitting around in their house which I thought would be the PERFECT nikah favour. One thing though - it's from Indonesia. It's a hardcover, floral notebook/diary. Would be even more perfect if I could change the print to polka dots. Love, love, love. Hoping to get my hands on them, to give out to guests. They've got reaaally cute stuff on their **website** too...check check check it out.

Next post will be about the reception...

Opinions needed!

Thoughts on this dress?

Take my (baby's) breath away

Okay, cheesy-o title. Sorry. Found this image on The Knot. Baby's breath look really pretty too for centerpieces...and the definite plus side? It's majorly budget-friendly. Bunch them all up together in one vase and they look sooo pretty and ethereal!

Pretty sweet, if you ask me. Oh, bought yet another bridal magazine on Sunday. I'm glad I did though, because I've picked up one or two DIY ideas..like tying daisies to the chairs. Will work it out with the wedding planner to see if it's do-able!

Sloppy bridezilla kisses!

Oopsie daisy!

There's something so fresh, charming and whimsical about daisies. I think they'd look adorable as centerpieces, surrounded by baby's breath. Apparently, they're pretty cheap too.

p/s: This blog will be on a little break; the laptop is busted, so it's a tad bit difficult to squeeze in time to use the computer at work to update. My apologies, ladies.

Woodwork

I'm having one of these in Yasir and my future house, I don't care:

Yasir has given me his word that he'll actually do the whole testosterone thing, find some wood, cans of spray paint and make a stencil. I have all of you guys as my witness. I mean, how cute would it look near our shoe rack when guests come over?

And just for the record, he has promised to make one of these too, for the nikah and also to put in our home:

It says "...and they lived happily ever after". Not only would it look good in the nikah photos, but I would imagine it would help Yasir and I get over our arguments (as all married couples have) in the future, everytime we catch a glimpse of this, sitting in our house somewhere. I also like the romantic quotes too:

One of these signs would either be sitting in the bridal room as a backdrop for the pics, or on a table somewhere for the nikah...or both.

So sayang if you're reading this, you have your work cut out for you!! Ha ha. Love youuuuuuu :P

sloppy kisses!

And the verdict is.....

.....I'm getting my dress made! :) Going material hunting with Nik this Sunday. Fingers crossed it turns out gorgeous!

xxx

DIY weddings

I heart DIY weddings. I think DIY details make a wedding so much more special and fun, and are so personal. I know having DIY details for a reception would take so much hard work, so I'm trying to include touches here and there for the nikah, to lend a 'homey' touch. And first up on my DIY project is getting a 'LOVE' sign made, to use as a centerpiece for the main table. I came across a picture in a magazine and fell in love (pun intended) with the image of the LOVE letters surrounded by flowers. I ran through the idea with my cousin Juliana who is the creative DIY person in the family, and she suggested we go look for places that make signage. Found one online which is in Ampang, so I'm going to drag Juliana by the hair and see if they'll be able to make a LOVE sign for me.

*pic courtesy of Gabriel Ryan.net

The secret's out - I'm planning to use old books as centerpieces for the tables at my nikah. We have heaps of classic, vintage children's books on the shelves upstairs - so I thought since Yasir and I are both 'writers' (well somewhere along those lines - though i'm not technically a writer anymore, I'll always see myself as one) and we both love reading, so having books as centerpieces convey a little bit about our personalities. I'll be putting love quotes on each table too - haven't finalised what material i'll be using for this; but it shouldn't be too difficult, I think. Then of course the look will be completed with flowers.

Toying with using scrabble letters for centerpieces for the guests' tables too....ideally, I would prefer alphabet blocks...but my office has a scrabble set..........

more ideas to come!

Sloppy DIY kisses!

Decisions, decisions...

Am seriously considering having my wedding gown tailor made. Met up with designer Nik Erwan Rosely and we chatted and came up with a gown design. He's got some serious talent, and I think he'll be able to see my "vision". The reason why I am contemplating having my gown made instead of renting, is because I'm a bit broken hearted that the gown I wanted to rent was booked by some chick who lives in Ipoh. To cut a long story short, last saturday I went with shikin, my cousin, my sis and my mom to pick out a dress. Found The One, got a little teary eyed wearing the dress, was overjoyed that the search for The Gown was over...just to have the shop assistant tell me the dress was already booked. OUT OF ALL THE DATES, right? Went a little crazy thinking about changing my wedding date just to accommodate the dress, but now that I've come to my senses, I am seeing that changing everything for one dress may seem a little too over dramatic, even for a bridezilla like me. Sigh.

So anyway, over dessert in Delicious, Nik and I poured over the bridal mags I brought, and finally zoned in on one design, which is a bit too complicated to describe in detail. But I stressed over and over to Nik that I would like to stray as far away as possible from looking like I'm wearing a gown which is TRYING to look Western. Of course he understood, and I'm pretty sure he'll be able to do an amazing job. My heart is nagging at me to give the green light to Nik so he can start working on the gown immediately. But something else is telling me to keep looking for The Gown - it's out there, I just need to find it.

So will I finally decide to rent or to make a dress? Stay tuned.

Oh snap.

Even bridezillas need a break :(

Invitation teaser!

Met up with Lee last night to discuss designs for the invite. Just part of what will be on the invite:

Sooo excited! :D

Sloppy bridezilla kisses! xxx

band

where can i get a string quartet band on the cheap? anybody?

Bring it black.

Small updates on my black-and-white reception in general:

I haven't scouted around yet, but I really really really really want black table napkins, just for the main table because if I were to buy them for all the tables, I would obviously have to declare bankruptcy. Plus, what would I do with 500 black napkins after the reception? Worse comes to worst, I'll get black linen material and have them made. Probably around 15 pieces, I think.

As for the general tables, Mar made an excellent suggestion about having DIY napkin wraps in black, with Yasir and my monograms in white. This can be done on medium thick paper and shouldn't be costly, seeing as they won't be very big. The above pic is an example of a napkin wrap, but in a different design than what I have in mind. I think they'll be nice touches to the black-and-white theme. Oh, and I couldn't find a proper pic online, but I'm looking into including black lace table runners for all the tables. Will need to discuss this with my wedding planner. And with regards to tie backs for chairs, this will include black ribbons, which will need to be DIY as well.

I present to you....my reception favours! ta-daaaaah! haha. Found them online, and thought they were spot on with my theme. They're actually made to look like chess pieces. I never really knew this, but the coulours of your favours also add to the reception decor, when placed on the tables. It's good that the packaging comes with black and white checkerboard and black and white ribbon. Will make stickers to personalise it a little bit more. I know, I know, candles are so bleh, but these are cute candles! I mean, come on, would you throw these if you got them at a wedding?? Haha. Which reminds me, need to bank in the cheque for the deposit soon.

Invites are going to be very very simple but (hopefully) chic and el cheapo too. It's going to be just a single card. Black background with white cursive lettering. And in English. But there will be an element on it that's kind of quirkily cute ;) Will post it here when we finally get a design sorted out. And I want black envelopes too. I have been looking for paper lace in A4 size which I want to include in the invite, but no luck yet :( Am seriously considering to opt for doilies instead. I might be getting Lee to design my invites, so at least I can be involved with the whole step-by-step process. Really need to get this sorted out ASAP though. Lee, call me!!

So I've been thinking about how I'm going to incorporate black into my outfit, as I'll be wearing a white dress. The easiest way would be to have my hand bouqet tied together in black ribbons or black cloth, like the pic above. And this particular bouqet is so easy to make too...they're carnations, which I love. I'm not really a 'roses' type of gal...I like my flowers on the fluffy side. Definitely KIV-ing carnations. Plus, they last long.

Another obvious option would be to have a black sash around the waist. I dont really have to go nuts trying to find a dress with a black sash, I can just DIY (or should that be DIM? heh heh man I'm so funny) - get some material, turn it into a ribbon and attach with a brooch etc. Easy peasy. Plus black and white wedding dresses are so in this season, daah-ling. Cheyy.

....and then of course an important element which will add to the black and white theme would be my gorgeous family and close friends who will be wearing classy black dresses :)

Okay, that's all I got for now. Any ideas or suggestions on how I can add to the black and white theme are always welcome!

-sloppy black-and-white bridezilla kisses!

Gowns galore

So on the 26th of February 2010, together with Maine and Lee (who are such sweethearts!), we thronged the streets of SS2 Pj to find a wedding gown for the reception. Honestly, I didn't really have high hopes at first, because I quite consider myself picky in what I wear daily, so what more for my WEDDING, right? I suppose I mentally set myself up for disappointment from the get go right till the moment before we stepped into the first shop.

Okay, so I didn't know what to expect when it came to Chinese bridal shops, but Malay shops can get a bit iffy about trying on their outfits. One particular bridal shop at Semua House has a policy where you have to pay RM50 just to try on their outfits, forgodsakes. True story. Anyway, I was looking to rent a dress - the budget conscious side of me screamed to RENT seeing as I'll probably only be wearing a white wedding gown once in my life (INSYA-ALLAH.. plus, parading around in my gown at home while I do the vacuuming won't really count), so I've decided rent it is. Back to the whole 'trying on' issue - these people are actually really lenient when it comes to trying on their gowns! You can literally try on 20 gowns and I don't think they would kick up a fuss. Was very happy about that. I mean, that's the way you should run a wedding gown business - customers obviously have to try on a couple of gowns before actually finding one they really like. TAKE NOTE MALAY BRIDAL SHOPS.

So, the first shop we went to wasn't really promising...a bit kodi la. There was one gown which was okay, but was backless (to tell you the truth, that was my fav part about it) but oh well, obviously backless is a no-no with mama. And of course 99.9% of the gowns are sleeveless which posed a daunting challenge seeing as I needed something with sleeves. And the shop assistant tried to make me wear a..you guessed it...bolero at one point. *Shriek* and I swear I couldn't breathe when I tried one on, not in a good take-my-breath-away kind of way. Shudder.

I'm really bad with details, so I can't remember the name of the shops in order (thank god for Maine jotting down everything in her Blackberry) but the first shop was a bit of a let down. On to the next. And as soon as I walked in, my eyes spotted this vintage looking, lacey champagne coloured gown with a brown sash at the waist. Now this is more like it, I thought to myself while hundreds of images of wedding dresses from months of flipping through Martha Stewart Weddings flashed through my mind. Veryyyy nice. I undressed myself and slipped into the dress before the shop assistant could say anything and melted a little. Maine and Lee's oohs and aaahs confirmed that it was indeed a nice dress. Very sweet. And I'm a sucker for lace. One thing though - it was strapless. But I battled with the assistant about adding detachable lace sleeves and she caved in. BUT the dress didn't fit my theme. It was champagne coloured, while my theme is black and white. I asked if I could change the sash to black, but the sash was sewn into the dress, so that wasn't an option. Damn. So we KIV-ed the dress and moved on to the next shop.

I remember the name of the next shop, funnily enough - Bridal Concept. I posed my dilemma of needing a gown with sleeves to the shop assistant, and she whipped out this dream of a gown..but it's an off-shoulder dress. It's a bit hard to describe it in detail, but it has a bit of detailing - which adds to the glam factor - around the upper hip and has a skirt which isn't full, but flares out a little, which complemented the off shoulder design. Maine said the dress was a 'wow' dress and chose it has her number one dress. I agreed. And I loved it. But how was I supposed to convince mama to let me wear an off shoulder dress? Crap la. Maine suggested pulling the "But I'd be married then!" card, but I don't think that will fly with mama. Sigh. Am still going to try and talk her into it next week when I bring her to the shop anyway. Then the shop assistant pulled out another dress with one detachable lace sleeve because she couldn't find the other one haha. Can't remember it in detail, but all I know is that it looks vintage and has detailing on the bodice, with an A-line skirt... which is always a good thing. Tried it on and it was also a winner. It wasn't as glamorous as the off shoulder dress, but Lee says that at least I wouldn't look weird sitting on the pelamin wearing it, unlike the other dress. Figured she had a point. That dress was Lee's number one dress on her list.

I'm not going to list down every single shop we went to because this entry will go on and on if I did, but we basically found at least one gown in every shop, which was great. Except for this one shop which shall not be named - they refused to accomodate to detachable sleeves and I swear, I almost puked looking at this horrible, lace bolero with flared out sleeves which they suggested I wear. Not if it was the last bolero on earth, man. Anyway, the last shop we went to before we called it a day had a dress which was quite lovely. Again, lace detachable sleeves went with it because it's strapless, but I thought it actually looked better WITH the sleeves anyway :) It had detailing on the bust area and a little ruching at the skirt. I thought it would have looked better if the skirt was mermaid cut and asked if the skirt could be tightened a little at the hips instead of flared out, and was pleased when she said yes. Am definitely KIV-ing the dress.

So we started our hunt around 1.30pm and finished at 7.30pm. All in all, it was a successful and productive day. Tiring too. I may still think about tailoring a dress, IF the price isn't too costly though. Will speak to a designer soon-ish about this. Next week, I'll be bringing in reinforcements aka my cousins to go over the shortlisted dresses and pick THE one. Am very nervous.

sloppy bridezilla kisses.

p/s: Adele's Make You Feel My Love is a good song to have on your blackberry when you're out trying on wedding gowns and are in need of that 'warm and fuzzy' ambience. It really helps. Thanks Maine ;)

If the dress fits.

Going to ss2 PJ area with the girls to see if we can find a wedding gown for the reception. Good luck to us all!

Kakak's reception.

Phew. The hectic whirlwind that is kakak's wedding is finally over. Lord knows it was a stressful affair - right up from the last minute rehearsal till seconds before the reception. But alhamdulillah, everything went smoothly. My family members looked sugary sweet in their pink ensembles...just the way kakak liked it ;) And of course the bride looked gorgeous. She finally caved in and surrendered to the hands of the makeup artist and gave the green light to smokey eye makeup. I got a little teary eyed looking at her, even. She's all grown up! *sniff* On to a few more pics!

Letting loose after a hard day of work and stress!

We did a little dance/singing number. It was my idea to sing Al Green's Let's Stay Together. The song's classic, and it helps that it's short. Ha ha. We had small dance steps to it too, which I figured might be cute. We took turns singing..this was taken during my *ahem* solo. All in all, I'm just glad no one tripped from the tangled mic wires (we didn't get wireless mics GAH) and everyone enjoyed it.

This is towards the end of the song when we all came together and just belted out the chorus. Can't believe I didn't get anyone to record this! :(

Goofing around!

Oh, and I gave a speech too which caused me (and a lot of guests apparently!) to tear up..but somehow no one took pics of me when I was up on stage ha ha. Will post the speech up in my next entry.

sloppy bridezilla kisses!

Candy buffet

Had a little chat to the company that sets up candy buffets because I'm thinking of having one at my nikah. Sounds a bit pricey though...I'm thinking that it would be cheaper to just make one myself. This was the reply, after I shot them an e-mail asking for a quotation:

hello dearest,

For rm500, we will provide you:
1 huge jar
2 medium jars
2 small jars
2 small set of lollipops
2 trays of cupcakes-- 30pcs
100 small boxes for take away
basic flower arrangement

transportation + set-up charge = RM50.
flower arrangement add on upon request; price depends on the arrangements.

thank you.

Hmmm, does that mean that all I'll be getting are two small sets of lollies and two trays of cupcakes? Are the jars empty then? Apparently they're booked out till May, so I'll only be able to set up an appointment with them then. This 'candy buffet' business sounds lucrative..maybe I should start one of my own....

Thanks Mel!

..for giving me the Autumn issue of Cosmopolitan Brides! Inspiring stuff :) You rock my white, lacy socks, babe.

xxxxx

Walking down the aisle - nay or yay?

I have always thought that the most romantic part of a Western wedding is the church ceremony. The sight of the bride walking down the aisle to her soon-to-be-husband...and the look on his face when he sees the love of his life...*sighhhhh*

Okay, I admit, I'm a sucker for all things romantic. And if I could change one thing about our weddings, we would have a 'walk down the aisle' damnit! Ha ha. Sure, in Malay weddings we have the bride and groom walking down an 'aisle' (if it's a reception in a hotel/ballroom/hall), but it would be soooo cool to have the bride walk towards her groom, so they can have that 'moment'. Yesterday evening, I was toying with the idea of actually pulling this off...since my reception will be a non-traditional one, why not incorporate me walking down the aisle to Yasir? So basically, I would still have my bridesmaids (this is where my girls can come in) who will be walking the aisle before me, and then finally I'll make my grand entrance (coupled with romantic song in the background) and walk towards Yasir, who will be waiting near the stage....

Then I realised....maybe we won't really get to pull this idea off. I mean, Mat Salleh brides walk towards the groom and then they say their vows, right? Wouldn't it be strange if I were to walk towards Yasir.....and then we go and sit on the pelamin? Or maybe it won't be strange? I mean, let's take this into consideration....ever since I was a little girl, the sight of the bride walking to the groom was like a fantasy to me. And if ever I was going to pull this fantasy off, this is my only chance! I would love to see the look on Yasir's face as I walk to him - if I were to do this, Yasir and I would get ready separately and he won't be able to see me before the reception, for maximum impact obviously. Should I say screw it, I'm walking down the aisle to my man even if it looks strange because of the fact that we would be going up to the stage to sit on the pelamin?

Should I care what other people think in the first place? Hmmm.

And if mama says "Haishhh apa mat salleh sangat ni?" I'll just go "Well, merenjis tu not exactly wajib pun. I DON'T CARE. BAAAAH!!" Okay, maybe without the "BAAAAH!!" part lah. But I'll have to use my powers of persuasion. I have ways.

I want to post a video which I think would make such a great song when the bride is walking down the aisle, but as usual I'm technologically illiterate, so I'll just post a link here -> **clickety click** It's the song in Romeo and Juliet, the balcony scene *sighhhhhh :) Oh, and this one's a tear jerker too **click** it's still Craig Armstrong..the soundtrack from Love Actually which I love love looove .

Any thoughts on whether I should say "Bullocks - I'm doing it!" or "Nahhhhh, I don't want to embarrass myself in front of all these people...."?

What say you? :/

Sloppy bridezilla kisses xxx

Pretty pelamin, please.

The hunt for a pretty pelamin for the nikah which fits the theme is officially on. God speed.

Doily, darling.

Anyone know where I can get pretty lace doilies in all shapes and sizes? Looking for one in A4 size..and normal round ones too. Wanna use them as part of the table centerpieces. Any suggestions would help :)

The perfect palette

Initially, I wanted an all white theme for my nikah, but now I'm considering adding more colours into the colour scheme. All white might look too stark or boring even, so I've decided to have a few splashes of colours here and there to complement the white. So I've decided.....the main colour will still be white (or ivory), but to add to the 'vintage' feel, I'll incorporate chocolate brown, gold and maybe (maybe!) peach. Was inspired by a website my sis recommended :) And the plus point is, that my house fits the theme perfectly in terms of chocolate brown ha ha. And it does have a sort of vintage vibe to it. I still envision all my flowers in white though...we'll see. I present to you the colour palette...ta-daaaah!

Gold

Chocolate brown

Ivory

Peach

Sorry for the humongous blocks of colour...wasn't sure how to go about resizing them. Oh, and ignore the weird spacing :P But yeah, there you go :) Still battling over which colour I should get my family and girlfriends to wear.......

sloppy bridezilla kisses.

xxx

Kakak's a wifey :)

Venue: Keramat Hujung (house)

Time: 10.30am

Hair & Makeup: Kak Maria from Dezaine

Attire: Given by mother-in-law

Catering and tent: Al-Huda

Pelamin: Eden Drias

Decor and flowers: Auntie Pat

Hantaran: Auntie Raina

Kakak is officially Dickie's wifey! Extremely happy for her :) The event went well, she looked beautiful (she was really worried about her makeup but it turned out great)....and her paper lanterns looked fab. ha ha. Am thinking of recycling her white ones for mine...might as well put them to good use eh? Told her we could use her coloured lanterns for her baby shower one day *hint hint*. Congratulations to the happy couple, semoga kekal ke akhir hayat..aminn.

Part of kakak's hantaran to Dickie..this pic doesn't do it justice, it looks much nicer in real life. And very reasonably priced too. The main colour was lilac/lavender. Part of the hantaran included a Taylor Made golf set (think this is the brand? I don't knowwww but all the uncles were pretty impressed!), a putter, Adidas shoes, and this cute cake:

Yes, it says "Love is...never having to walk alone", and has Dickie wearing a Liverpool jersey, standing next to kakak in a wedding dress. Cute, right? And apparently, dickie has "You'll never walk alone" engraved in his wedding ring too. Yep, die-hard Liverpool fan alright! Oh, you can see the Taylor Made golf thingy next to the cake too.



The bilik pengantin..lavender to go with the theme,check out the tulips on the dresser..gorgeous! All the furniture is new - it took months to put this together. Aunty Pat and Aunty Lily did such an amazing job. Don't have pics of the bathroom, but the bathroom is faaaab. I helped pick out the sink and the feature wall tiles. *Pat on the back*

The yummmmmmy food! Sorry no close-up :P

The tent at the back..the main colours were lavender, baby blue and white. The food was ah-mazing..Al-Huda did it again! We even had had roast lamb..mmm-mm!

Auntie Azra, if you're reading this, thanks for the pics, I curik from your facebook! Heh heh. Congratulations again to the happy couple! Let's hope the reception this Friday turns out well too :)

sloppy sister-of-the-bride kisses!

It was cool in the '80s.

What is it with wedding gowns in Malay bridal shops looking really dodgy? I would think there are other ways to cover up the arms or shoulders without having to don a puffy and stiff looking bolero! I wouldn't mind a slinky looking one, or a demure lacy bolero, but we're talking thick, ones which can pass off as neck casts here! The other day when I followed kakak to do her fitting for her reception gown (which by the way is gorgeous - it was actually my initial idea for my nikah attire, but because I'm a nice sister I'll give that one to her :P), and I started browsing through the store's selection of 'wedding gowns'. As I suspected, most of the gowns had tacky looking bits sewn unto them, like cheap looking pearls or sequins, puffy sleeves - as if we have never moved on from poofy wedding dresses that were so in during the '80s! Don't get me wrong, I love the '80s, just not on wedding gowns thankyouverymuch. And of course, there was a bolero that went with almost every gown in that store. Of course.

All the rage in Malay bridal shops!

So just as I was about to call it quits, I spotted this lace-y numbered gown, which looks decent from the waist up. Some would even say really nice. It had tight long sleeves, a nice sweetheart neckline and was made entirely out of lace. I guess my description makes it sound dodgy, but it's quite nice. As I was checking it out, my eyes scanned it from top to bottom - and stopped at this PUFFY, PUFFY THING at the bottom of the dress. Why why whyyyyyyy? It's not your average trumpet silhouette, which can be classy - this dress just had both sides at the bottom sticking out, with bunches of netting which formed a long train. Okay, imagine this if you will..the bottom of the dress formed into a 'V' shape and tufts of netting stuck out from the sides of the V. '80s wedding dress much? Sigh.

One of these days I'm going to pull my girlfriends together and hit the Chinese bridal shops. I heard PJ is where it's at for wedding gown shopping. Not sure what the price range is like, though..if all fails, I'll just have to make a dress from scratch - which can cost an arm and a leg, chopped off by my mother herself.

Does anyone know of any places with nice wedding gowns (Please don't say Jovian Mandagie, a gown by him would probably be the cost of my whole reception put together) which are reasonably priced? I'm considering getting Arma Wedding Couture to make my dress, because their tailoring is quite good - although I've never actually seen any of their wedding gowns, but they seem open to ideas. It can get a tad pricey though. Sigh.

Maybe I should change the title of this blog to 'Bridezilla on a budget'........


Anyway, here are some pretty gowns with sleeves, WITHOUT a bolero *gasp*:

























...there are more, but they're in my bridal mags. Proof that you can have sleeves on your gown without having to wear a bolero! HAH!

sloppy bridezilla kisses!