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!

Pancakes and waffles

So I talked to my caterer last Saturday - it's the same caterer that did kakak's engagement and mine, she'll also be doing kakak's nikah on the 12th of Feb - and asked her if she would be up for serving Western food for my akad instead of the usual Malay dishes. I figured that since the ceremony will be in the morning at 10am, I would like the food to be more of 'brunch' instead of a heavy lunch (wow, that rhymes!)...I'm pretty sure those attending wouldn't have had time to have their breakfast before rushing over to my house. Plus, Yasir's a big fan of continental breakfast; he loves his scrambled eggs and toast. So it turns out my caterer (Al-Huda) is up for the challenge! I know it may seem a bit of a risk to ask a Malay caterer to prepare Western food, but they did such a good job for my engagement and their food quality is awesome (the compliments kept on coming during my engagement!), so I don't think they'd do a half hearted job. And I did stress that I wanted fluffly scrambled eggs, not the Malay kering kind etc..and we were on the same page.

So, here's the menu we planned out so far:

- Fluffy scrambled eggs

- Waffles OR pancakes (can't have both! prioritising waffles though), with different toppings like peanut butter, maple syrup or honey

- Cocktail sausages

- Beef bacon

- Chicken chop with black pepper sauce

- Coleslaw

- Creamy mashed potatoes

- Chinese fried rice with chicken boxing? (mama insisted on this one, because she said "Perut Melayu kena ada nasi!" Not too sure exactly what chicken boxing is, but it's chicken on stick or some sort..)

And for dessert, ice cream, cheese tartlets and scones with whipped cream.

Not sure if I missed anything out though, I might have. And the menu might change; she was a bit hesitant about scones. But I WANT SCONES. Heh heh.

Sorry, Bridezilla moment.

Here's to hoping everything works out the way I want it to!

Black dresses.

I'm finally at peace with having my closest friends and relatives wear black for the reception. Some may say - "But isn't that too funeral-ish?" Well, if you really think about it, isn't black also associated with all things chic, glamorous and sophisticated? The theme for my reception is along the 'vintage glam' side, and it's Western - Ill be wearing a white dress, if all goes well..and Yasir will be rocking a suit, and my best friends will look slammin' in their chic, black dresses. I'm not against wearing traditional attire (my sister would probably just settle for a kebaya), but I'll force her to wear a lace-ish black one. And if I had it my way, everyone would be dripping with diamonds. Ha ha. Found this mood board online, and thought it to be almost completely in line with what I have in mind for the reception:

Pic credited to My Sweet & Saucy

I'm a sucker for all things vintage, I admit. I'm convinced I'm living in the wrong era. More black-and-white mood boards, pics coming up...gotta rush to class!


sloppy bridezilla kisses!

Inspirational eye candy

Terri gave me this link to a website which is filled with mouthwatering goodies, and I love her for that! Thanks Terri! *click away!*

I love websites which are unique...they get my creative juices flowing.

pic credited to My Sweet & Saucy

...how cute would that cookie be as a favour for the guests? I know I would squeal in adoration if I received one at a wedding :)

I've been toying with the idea of having a polka dot cake at my nikah, since I'm sort of going for that 'vintage' feel. And there's nothing more vintage then polka dots right? This cake on My Sweet & Saucy is too adorable for words! Not sure why the owl looks sad though..but it's so quirky I love it to death. The combination of olive green and black polka dots against a white background is perfect, methinks. Polka dots definitely kick ass.

Okay, have a 9am class tomorrow, so I'm off to bed *yawn*

G' nite!

The first entry!

I've decided that I had to separate my personal posts from my wedding-related posts, because ten years from now when I may want to re-live my 'Bridezilla' days, I won't have to sift through my personal blog so much. Also, I'm doing this in a bid to keep the readers of "It's not about the shoes you wear, but how you wear 'em dahling" from wanting to tear their hair out if they read yet another article about wedding planning. Plus, all this wedding planning energy is making me go a bit postal...it's nice to have an outlet to release all these ideas and...stuff.

A wedding at Merak Kayangan

So, to start - I've decided to settle on Merak Kayangan for the reception. I did try looking at other venues, most were too expensive or fully booked; of course if I had a rich arab sheikh as a father, I would have it at Carcosa Sri Negara. Dream venue, man. I wish. But never in a million years. Or Cyberview Lodge; that place is pretty snazzy too. And then I looked at locations for outdoor receptions. But then....Yasir's (The Fiance's) reception (31st July) will be semi outdoors (Villa Felda), so won't that just be too similar to his? So I decided the reception should be indoors. And Merak Kayangan is a pretty alright place. Nothing grand, but it's quite a cosy space....cosy enough to fit 500 people. Ha ha. And I've been to a few weddings there...they were alright. And at least it's air-conditioned, so my makeup tak cair, which is very important. The price of the ballroom is really reasonable, hence mama picked it (let's not forget that she'll be paying for both my sister and my wedding this year!) so it seemed fit for the budget.

I've got to run, have to go to Yasir's nephew's birthday. Watch this space!

bridezilla kisses.