Tukang Ambil Video

Because I terharu there are people reading my blog, I nak rajin-rajin lah post. Heh.

And then I realise that I have not blogged about booking my tukang ambil video. erks.
K I share with you now k.

From the very first time we started planning our wedding, me and the tunang agreed that we wanted to splurge a little on photography and videography because we wanted to keep the memories of our wedding day. We didn't have any photographer for our engagement coz we thought it wasn't necessary so that's why splurging has been focused on the wedding.

So when the plan for marriage happened, apa lagi, kementelan terserlah. I started to watch wedding videos even before the engagement because I wanted to be in the "mood". Berangan eh.

And then, I saw this...

Majlis Pengsohoran Raja Sehari (Firdauz & Yasmi) from cstproduction on Vimeo.

And then when I showed the tunang, he so damn semangat to go and ask this very company for a quote. Of course la none other than CST Production in Malaysia. (Malaysia, y u so like dat ah? grr..)

Of course at that point of time we were fully aware that the company is based in Malaysia but we went ahead to get a quote from them. We were so ready to actually bring them in here based on the price they gave us for their video production. Unfortunately, there were other expenses that we had to factor in as we were required to provide for them the basic necessities when bringing them in here. So because of that, we decided to let it go and move on, walaupun di dalam lubuk hati naluri kita, we still wanted them because diorang memang awesome gila.

And then...

This happened.

Apa lagi. Tanpa melengah masa, we went down to the expo exhibition that they were at and enquired about their services. And without even managing a blink, we straight away book them. Yes. We happy gila u olls!

Yah. We made the booking like 1 1/2 year in advance and that was the first vendor we booked for the wedding. Bridal pon belom book at that point of time!! Hahahah!

We recently just met them again to discuss the itinerary and review our package. Alhamdulillah all is well now.

Now I shall give you a little eye candy of their few works which I absolutely love.

{Syahir + Juai} Solemnization from cstproduction on Vimeo.

Kahwin shopping in JB: Joo Bee

Finally, most of the kahwin shopping is done. *insert huge sigh of relief*

Remember I posted about trying to get custom made bags for my wedding favours, I've manage to find a shop who wanted to take our orders for our favours! Woohoo!

Like I said earlier, barang baik must share.

So my grandaunt said to go Pasar Larkin and try to enquire the kahwin shops there if they are willing to take orders for a customised size of drawstring organza bags.

Let me tell you first k the story of why we had to look for customized sizes. My mum ordered the favours in China via a colleague. She showed us pictures of the items and the sizes. So we already settled for what we wanted and place the orders.

So before the items arrived, we thought we have a head start to look for proper packaging for the favours based on the item specs that we received. Luckily we decided to just get a sample first before proceeding to buy 1500 pieces of packaging.

The favours were too long for the packaging that we already liked. So we had to look for an alternative way to pack them. We wanted to get paper bags for the favours but if we were to get a paper bag that long (yes long), there is hardly any reason for anyone to re-use a paper bag that long. Then it gets wasted. So we decided to get the classic organza drawstring bag. Tu pon susah u olls nak cari orang yang sudi membuatkan untuk kita.

But, my friends, kita tidak patut berputus asa sebab gua dah jumpa barang baik.

If you all know about Syarikat Thong Seng at Pasar Larkin, this is also another place to go to if you are around the area. It's located at the same level but at the other end. (If you facing Syarikat Thong Seng, it is to the extreme left end of level 2).

Joo Bee, lu baik.

When we entered the shop, we were pleasantly greeted by a bubbly Aunty Gan. We told her what we wanted and she was so excited to show us the options she had for us. We already know what we wanted so she diligently measured our item and even came up with a rough sample, sewn on the spot, to let us have a visual of how big the bags will be.

Aunty Gan, mai kanchiooonngg...

Aunty Gan is super-duper nice to even bother to go next door and sew a sample bag for us with the measurements that she took. Kecoh dok. But I love you Aunty Gan!!! U awesome!!! If I can kompang for you, I would!

We also manage to get our bunga rampai materials for wrapping there too. They will even cut the net material according to the size you need to wrap your bunga rampai. Fuss free. You just tell what you want, they can get it done for you.

They also do card printing you know! I didn't manage to snap photos of some of the card samples, but what I saw was quite good la. Standard stuff you get from other kahwin shops.

If BTBs out there want to look see look see what they can offer, you go to Larkin Bus Terminal Wet Market and go to Level 2. It is near the end of level 2, nearer to the surau side. Gua tak tau babe nak cari address kat mane. Google pon sua kasi salah punya address.

Wa manyaaaakk happy la u olls. Wa pon manyak stress tengok countdown. 60 days dok. 2 months. 2 friggin' months!

So far so good

Yikes. I haven't updated the blog in days. Sorry friends. "Busy" watching my favourite vlogs on youtube, googling ideas on wedding details and kepo-ing around on other BTB blogs. Heh.

The nearer the date, the more things are coming.

But the satisfaction of striking something off the wedding checklist....

I got it goooooodddddd.....

Of course la it wasn't THAT smooth sailing. There was a little hiccup with my customised baju but Alhamdulillah, with the advice and assurance from Kak Saba of Padi, semua dah settle. We did not have to worry so much. So me and the tunang were very happy with how Padi handled the situation. We almost panicked when there was a problem with our outfits until we thought that we wouldn't have any baju for the wedding. Drama!

I am not exactly aware la of what actually happened but lucky for me, I didn't have to worry so much. We just had to go to a different designer for the baju nikah tailoring early this month. Actually, I was also unsure if our baju would be able to be ready on time because with puasa coming up very soon, tailors are really busy this time of the year. I hear so many tailors saying that from last year hari raya, people already started sending their outfits to be tailored.

Efficiency kaum rakyat kita hantar baju raya memang tip-top.

I for one, am not planning to spend so much for Eid. The wedding is during Eid so all must go to the wedding. My parents pon happy la don't need to prepare the house so much.

So me and tunang went to our designer to get our measurements taken and confirm the design of our outfits. Of course la, at first, we were both skeptical of whether we can get it done on time and it being a last minute change, we didn't know if we could trust the designer if she could get the job done well.

So the designer said to give her a call at the end of the month to check if we could do our first fitting. I mean, when she said that, I thought that was really fast if we could get it done end of the month la. What more on top of all the baju raya tempahan she has to complete also.

But my friends, she. is. a. champion.

One week before the actual date I needed to call her, she call me first la eh! Baju dah siap untuk fitting.

Whaaaatttt!! It was like within 2 weeks dah siap.

I tell you she champion. So kita pon apa lagi, excited la kan nak try baju. Hehehe.

So we prayed and prayed that our baju turns out good and senonoh. (ok lah. design baju kita tak si beh kilau berkilauan like M Daud Kilau la. simple je u olls because we are keeping the outfit. siao ah want to keep a super bling baju to wear for normal occassions!?)

And when we saw and tried our outfit... EUPHOOORIAAAAAAA!!!

We fit just nice in our outfits (except that the tunang's pants were really loose. don't want to say much or someone's nose will kembang the size of his face.). Alhamdulillah.

She also apparently does bridal too but I haven't really heard of her bridal activities though :/

But she really did a good job la. We were very happy untiil we didn't take a "sneak peek" pichur. :(

If you all want to make tempahan for your baju-baju all, you go visit this champion k.

Rose Dafea Bridal Design Boutique
No. 26 Bussorah Street
Singapore 199444
Contact: 9191 0069
Facebook: Rose Dafea Bridal Design Boutique

I am very picky when it comes to tailoring and al-maklomlah, being such an "ideal" size, you know la eh how "hard" it is sometimes to deal with tailors.

I was really surprise she could do such a really awesome job on our nikah outfits in such a short time. It was so comfortable that I just wanted to bring it home there and then and wear it until the nikah day itself. Siao liao!

Kak Rose is such a nice really cute and petite lady. She is very professional in handling with all her customers and work. And she obviously knows what she is doing.

Can't wait to actually wear the outfit!! (can't wait to kahwin la ekcherli. hehehe)

This takes the cake: Perfect Frosting

Less than 3 months from the wedding and I just confirmed my wedding cake. Heh.

Relek brader, brader relek.

IMO, I felt like the wedding cake wasn't something that would make or break a wedding. I felt like it's just a little something extra or considered a part of the wedding deco. So I didn't have the urgency to source a vendor to make my wedding cake. Not until mum kept pushing it.

I have always loved the classic tiered wedding cake. I find cupcakes makes the wedding cake table too messy. As much as cupcakes reduce the mess of cutting and distributing, a tiered wedding cake is elegent and classy. Suka sangat.

I have watched too many episodes of Cake Boss and my appetite for cake goes over the roof each time I watch it. Selera u olls tengok mat salleh makan cake. Thats why I always believe taste is as important as how it looks.

Thats why I have been attracted to Perfect Frosting even before I got engage. Their wedding cake designs are really "Cake Boss" standard to me. You tengok la sendiri...

All pictures taken from Perfect Frosting's Facebook

I personally have not tasted any of their cakes but after reading Dellaire's and Mat meets Minah's post/review on Perfect Frosting, of course la I very confident liao. Too bad I couldn't make it to the recent showcase they had (because I is bochap like that. always can't make it for this kinda showcases. urgh).

Well at first I wasn't confident of getting any cake vendor. Like halloooo.. 3 months before wedding then wanna find cake vendor ah? Who teach?

But Alhamdulillah, when I enquired Perfect Frosting, they had one available slot left for my wedding date!!!

Image source: Reaction Gifs

Kak Fairani (Kak Fai) was so nice to take the time off on her baking day to explain to me the prices and details of the different price range of cakes.

I tell you first k. When you see fondant, tiers and details, you don't see cheap. So you need to be prepared to hear the prices from different vendors when finding your wedding cake. Some can really be expensive. To each his/her own. Everyone has their own budget. Need to be smart and make the right financial choices. :D

The price range did not come as a surprise to me because I am fully aware of the work and effort that needs to be put into making these cakes. Stacking individual cake layers already not easy. What more with all those pretty little flowers and the extra oomph to make the cake look gorgeous.

Apa lagi, cepat-cepat u olls letak deposit. Now I tak sabar to collect the cake samples to have a taste. Confirm mmmmmmdaaapp.

Now to google, pinterest and what-have-yous for cake designs!

Favour for Wedding Favours

My shipment of wedding favours from China are finally here! It just gets more real now doesn't it?

To think about it, I never did mention about my wedding favours. Well, simply coz my mum was handling the bulk of this. She ordered them all the waaaayyyy from China via her colleague. So we got them at a super duper cheap deal u ollz!

Despite shipping charges, long wait and not being able to see the item in person, we are super happy that the items are pretty, in one piece and safely here.

However, me and mum underestimated the size of the wedding favours. We made a trip to a JB pengantin shop (I sumpah u olls I cannot recall the shop. But I did came across a BTB's blog mentioning it but now I cannot find!! I will update when I chance upon it) and there the salesgirl showed us this plastic packaging for our favours. She was kind enough to allow us to bring home a few samples and try it on the wedding favours. And try we did. Unfortunately, the plastic we liked was too small and the other samples were not nice or too big.

So right now, I am trying to look for a place (in SG/JB) that can custom make a nice sort of organza draw string bag or just a really simple bag for us to pack our wedding favours in.

So all you KKKs or KKDKs (Kakak-kakak dah kawin) out there, if you have any contacts that can custom make a wedding favour bag/packaging, please let me know. You will get pahala k! InsyaAllah. *muacks*

Kad Kahwin Cheni

From the first time I laid my hands on photoshop, I was very sure that I wanted to design my own wedding card. And I told myself that at the end of the day, a wedding invitation is just for formality's sake and the invitation is kept for reference on the event details. So there was no need to go all fancy shmancy on the cards.

I've mentioned it before here that I wanted to DIY my cards. And DIY I did. Ok la, when I say DIY, is not like the kind where I need to tie ribbons for every card or paste stickers or doily papers. It's just the design is DIY. You crazy ah want to tie ribbon for 500-700 cards? Where got time siooooooooollllllll.......

But anyway, I am finally happy with my card design after like 10 times of changing this and that and this and that and eventually, go back to my original idea.

So it's true when they say, if you already know what you want, stop looking. 

I am also helping the tunang design his cards because he also want DIY but I am doing the DIY lor. So practically, it's not his DIY. You get what I mean kan? Men.

Well anyway, after I have completed the design for the cards, another headache comes on. The printing.

I don't own maha besar gila laser printer at home. I ade Epson nye printer je uolls. Itu pon print 50 kali, ink dah abis. So of course la I had to source for a printer. In SG, I've did some surveying when I was helping my babygurl with her card printing and generally, it's quite expensive. Well, I mean yah, one piece is $0.50 to $0.80 but when you have to print at least 500 cards... you do the maths k.

So my tunang so pandai gave an idea to find a card printer across the causeway. At first, I'm like, errr... like same only if we find a card designer and printer there. And some more, I don't know how to trust their quality. But my friends, after a few research here and there, I have found the chosen one. It took just one person more to tell me that they've engaged their printing services and I know I had to contact them.

My fellow BTBs, I will introduce you to Kad Kahwin Cheni.

First and foremost, when I saw Building Our Love's Nest post about wedding cards, I had to ask her for the contact. So when I got it, I browsed through their Facebook page and website. Not bad. Not bad at all.

And then I saw a friend's IG posting a picture of a wedding card she helped her friend design. And when I asked her which printer her friend engaged, it was the same one. So, I was damn sure I wanted them to print my cards. Confident eh.

So I enquired them via Facebook. No doubt la, it took them a little while to reply me, which kinda pissed me a little because I hate when service providers don't have the efficiency of replying their potential customers' queries. So me and the tunang decided to take some time off to go JB and pay them a visit. But because the light has shine the path for me and the tunang, I receive a reply from them mentioning that they have a booth at the Wedding Bliss & Lifestyle Asia 2013. Awesome gila u olls! Alhamdulillah!

So we took some time after my family event over the long weekends and made a trip down to their booth at Expo last Sunday. When we came, we saw many samples of their work. Their hardcover cards are really pretty (I was tempted to just order one of their ready made templates). Me and the tunang were quite excited because we completed the transaction within, hmmm.. half hour? Heh.

We were damn happy when we heard the price and it was on promo price as they are starting to open up their business to customers in Singapore. I was doing cartwheels in my head when I receive the quotation from them and straight away we placed a deposit and confirmed plus chop that we want them to print our cards.

You want to know how awesome the price is?

Card size = 150mm x 150mm
Folded card with all 4 pages printed
White Art Card
Total pcs to print: 1500 pcs
2 different designs
Inclusive of envelope
1 pc = $0.30

Did you hear someone fell? Coz I just fainted. HAHAHA!

This was their opening promo price at expo and I is a happy goober. 'Nuff said. We have already signed.. soon to be sealed and delivered.

Even their ready made template cards are really pretty.

So if any of you are interested, you can take a look at their facebook page or their website. If you wish to pay them a visit, they are located at Danga City Mall in JB.

The Pre-Wedding Photoshoot

After all the anxiety with the pre-wedding photoshoot, it was finally over and done with on Sunday.

Oh disclaimer first....

I won't be saying too much about our pre-wedding photoshoot. I need to keep the details and any pictures sealed until the day. If not, no anticipation u olls! Thanks you for your understanding!

Our photography package that we took with TheProjectPixel included 6-hours of pre-wedding shoot. However, we thought we wanted to keep a few hours for the post-nikah shoot. And because TheProjectPixel peeps are super awesome, they allowed us to break up the hours so that we don't have to pay for extra hours for a post-nikah shoot. So we had 4 hours for the pre-wed and 2 hours for post nikah. Economy u olls!

So on the day of the photoshoot, we were blessed with fine weather. There wasn't a single drop of rain but it was extremely sunny. I was immediately sweating after stepping out of the car at our first location. But because Ms Juliana Naim is the barang baik, her makeup stayed on my face and didn't feel heavy or oily! WIN!

Frankly, me and the tunang are hopeless when it comes to photos. We rarely pose for the camera or take couple photos of ourselves. So we felt really nervous about the photoshoot. We really knew nuts about posing. Kaku kejung k we olls. And we both felt malu having to pose with each other. Hehhehehehe.

The first location we went to was where we felt really sticky and warm. Lucky for us, our 2nd location was an open area. So eventhough it was extremely hot, we still had quite a bit of wind. And it was more relax.

But the whole photoshoot was really fun. Eventhough I am still healing from my injury, Shukri and Hali from TheProjectPixel were really understanding and made us felt comfortable infront of the camera. So we are really very happy we made the choice to engage them for the wedding. Puas hati u olls!

Haiz... Please excuse my giant of a thighs and calves. And... perut.

Sneak-peak la konons. Dah sikit-sikit je. Tak nak potong stim. Hehehhehe.

Pre "Pre-Wedding Photoshoot" Anxiety (Part 2)

Remember in my previous post, I mentioned that because of the change of date, my original MUA couldn't make it?

So I had to go for another search for a new MUA a week before the shoot. Stress tonggek oi nak carik because it was within short notice. I was about to evolve from a Bridezilla to a Bride-o-saurus k. Macam pokemon. I almost wanted to settle to do the hair and makeup by myself with just my one strong hand (because my other hand is still in progress of regaining strength).

But clearly, with patience and loads of doa, the light at the end of the tunnel shines bright like a diamond. I was very overwhelmed when this lady decided to give me her time to make me up like a princess. I have always loved her works but I have also been a little self-conscious especially when it comes to this particular subject. I still have issues with the way I look and sometimes I very paisei to approach renown MUAs to ask for their services. I feel like I won't be portfolio worthy. You feel me, brah?

My issues aside.

Anywaaaayyy, like I said earlier, I have been an admirer of her portfolio. All her clients are just so beautiful and her makeup really looks good on film. You want to know what I mean? You see k...

Source: Faceworks by Juliana Naim

Yes. The very magic hands of Faceworks by Juliana Naim has decided to come to the rescue of the cries of this distressed BTB. Gua terharu beb. Terharu gilerrrr....

Some more, she particularly did not take any assignments that week because she had other matters to attend to. But, I feel so blessed when she said she decided to take me because my schedule wouldn't disrupt her plans, but instead, worked for her timing. I am so blessed! Alhamdulillah!!

I just love how her brides look so natural in her make-up. It's not so overwhelming to the brides' face. But of course la, I had to be realistic and not have an image of me transforming into an arabian princess Jasmine after she makes me up.

Tapi kalau transform jadi macam Dato' CT kira orait jugak ah.

Pre "Pre-Wed Photoshoot" Anxiety (Part 1)

When I was in my younger years,dreaming about my fantasy wedding, I always thought "alah.. tak payah la nak pre-wedding photoshoot ke hape hape. belom halal abe dah nak amik gambar together."

Now..... EAT YOUR OWN WORDS B*! heh.

We are gonna have our pre-wedding photoshoot this weekend!!

Seriously, me and the tunang are not the very "suka amik gambar" couple. There is HARDLY any decent couple photos of us throughout our courtship and our tunangship. I tunang also no photographer.

But I enjoy looking at photos. And then, I regret.

So the thought of having a pre-wedding shoot makes me a nervous wreck. I hardly had any time to properly prepare a theme/concept/idea; which just adds on to the anxiety.

On top of that, we scheduled the shoot quite spontaneously. There wasn't any marking of calendar 2 months in advance or anything like that. We had to work around the tunang's work schedule and only having to know his work schedule for the month like 2 weeks before, we thought we could just kill it and choose a date.

We already had an idea of having our friends for the pre-wedding photoshoot because we wanted them to be a part of our wedding as how they are a part of our relationship throughout the years. Unfortunately, there were clashes in timings and there were other commitments that our friends can't let go off. So the idea was scrapped.

Oooppp ooopp.... commercial break jap...

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Kini kita kembali ke We Nak Kahwin...

Then when it came to the idea of having only the 2 of us in the photoshoot, we totally went blank. Even my research on google, pinterest & tumblr did not give me any ideas. Then we just thought, heck la, as much as want to be different or one and only, we need to also be comfortable mah. And be realistic. So we decided to wing it with our personalities.

To find out what our idea is, nantikan episode akan datang di We Nak Kahwin.

It didn't end there. Pasal photoshoot pon macam-macam cubaan.. Seriously eh, these last few months before the wedding have been really testing times. So my advise to other BTBs out there, just redha and bersabar.

Our photographers, ProjectPixel also had some issues with their schedules too. We had to change dates like 3-4 times. And just when I've confirmed with my MUA the date of our shoot, we had to change it to the day after, which is when my MUA wasn't available.

I will save the MUA story for another post k.

I am a very calm person. I don't like getting myself stressed and worked up about anything. Even if it means last-minute scheduling. When our photographers said they weren't available for the initial 3 dates we set, me and my tunang were very pro about it. Kita tak nak flip-flip tables getting worked up about these little-little things. Really not worth the energy and time la.

So my fellow BTBs, apa-apa yang terjadi, itu semua.... cuuubaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnn...

In the words of my fellow friends from Bora...
"Apa-apa pun... steaaaddyyyy je....."

Booked and interviewed

We are done with the most important item on the wedding list.

The Kadi.

Everything is basically signed and sealed.

We booked the kadi and registered our upcoming marriage last week and like I mentioned earlier, we need to go ROMM latest 5 weeks before the wedding date. And since I'm still resting at home (only until next week), the tunang decided to get it over and done with once and for all so that I don't have to take another day off from work later on. So yesterday, I grabbed my dad (who is obviously my wali) and we headed to ROMM for the interview.

Senangkan if u get all these nitty gritty stuff done asap. At least I can use up my leave for something else.

Anyway, upon reaching ROMM, we got the Q number and waited for the counters to ring our Q number. I tell you, the bell for the Q number is superbly kuat nak mampui. It makes your nerves jump. Terperanjat beruk sey each time the bell rings.

Bell story aside.

Who needs to be with you at ROMM:
- You
- Your hubs-to-be
- Your Wali

What you need to bring to ROMM:
- NRIC of your husband-to-be, wali and yours

And that's it. So basically upon reaching, the counter will call for you and will ask for the 3 NRICs. Then you need to verify your information. It's very critical to correct all the information like spelling. Any change after that day is gonna be troublesome.

So once that is over, you need to wait until the kadi calls for you into the "interview room". Your wali needs to go in first followed by yourself and your hubs-to-be.

Darah gemuruh jugak sey tunggu nak masok. Macam that day jugak nak nikah.

But ekcherli, when you go in, it's not like the kadi is gonna judge you if you are capable to get married or not la. It's just to ensure that you are single, that you dah pergi kursus, that you are not forced into this marriage, that you haven't been married before this and you need to angkat sumpah to seal in all your answers.

On the way to your marriage, if you decide to transform into a whole new person and change identity or what, then you termakan sumpah sendiri k.

So another thing is striked off the wedding list. Woohooooooo!!!

And I'm returning back to work next week. booohoooooooo... I is sad kitty.

Honeymoon woes

The topic about honeymoon comes and goes. We haven't exactly give much thought to the honeymoon la ekcherli. We didn't include it in our budget list either. It's basically like, if have, have la. If don't have, then don't have la.

But I for sure want a break. Almost 2 years tahan not going for any holiday siol.

But we are almost set with a destination.

I was torn between 2 places. Funny thing is they are not even far from each other. HAH. So it was down to whether we wanted to spend a little bit more time and money to travel or not.

But one thing's for sure, budget was a little tight coz we were planning for another trip end of the year.

What more with other future projects like the house and renovations in 1-2 years from now. Gotta keep it real u olls.

Anyway, 2 places...

LOMBOK VS BALI

Memang tak banyak difference pon. Bukannya jauh pon dari each other. But there were a number of things we had to think about.

Lombok's direct flight was only on certain days of the week and wasn't working well with our schedules for the following weekend. Unless we decide to transit in Bali but that just means forking out a little bit more for travel expenses.

Bali however, has nothing that was stopping us. But, it's Bali. Ok la, me and the tunang haven't been there before but we've heard so many things about Bali that we thought we can save for a different trip.

Haiz. Dilemma betul la.

After much research, lamenting, calculating all the expenses, weighing out pros and cons, considering our schedule and revising the budget.... it has been decided....

We are gonna get the best of both worlds.

We are going to BOTH LOMBOK AND BALI! *fist pump*

We won't be spending too long on our honeymoon. Just 2 nights in Lombok and 1 night in Bali. Bali stay tu kira untuk "jamah" je la. 1 night pon jadi pe. And we didn't wanna spend the whole week because we have a friend's wedding the weekend after our wedding.

And of course, honeymoon takkan nak simpan untuk pengantin baru je. Pengantin lama pon harus u olls. InsyaAllah!

Well anyway, when booking our accomodation, I only had one thing in mind. Private pool. HAH! Bila lagi u olls nak cari chan untuk skinnydipping. Heeee.. mentel eh.

Anyway, because Lombok is so calm and less havoc compared to Bali, the resorts are all suitable for honeymoon couples. But me and the tunang have agreed to Kebun Villas & Resort.

Tak nak cakap banyak la kan. Meh sini kakak tunjuk u olls....

Clean, spacious and private *AHEM*

I squeal each time looking at the pictures of the villas. Tak sabar u olls!

I will save about the Gili Islands for another post.

But that is one thing off the wedding list!

VIP: Tok Kadi

The Tok Kadi is basically the one most important person for your wedding. Basically the one and only person who would make your marriage official.

And without me realising, we are gonna make the booking for our Tok Kadi very very soon. Like next week.

Time is flying u olls. I macam tak percaya.

I am sure alot of pantins-to-be know the process of booking the Tok Kadi. Basically all the information you can find on www.romm.gov.sg. The system basically has a window period for you all to start booking kadi. There is the earliest date and latest date and you can also see how many registration has been made for that particular date.

The earliest date of registration is actually 150 calendar days from your solemnization and latest date to register is 7 days before your actual solemnization.

I actually tak paham what the hell I just tell u olls.

To put it simpler, you need to be solemnize within 150 days from the date of registration. Tapi jangan la you nak nikah besok, baru nari you register. Tok Kadi kalau tak kasi azan kat u olls, kira nasib. Paling lambat you boleh register pon is 7 days from your nikah date.

Registration pon takde la free. Nak kener bayar $39. So sape cakap boleh kawin free? Kalau takde duit hantaran pon, register pon nak kener bayar. Hehe. Kalau u olls dan pasangan u olls bukan anak jati Singapore, bayar mahal sikit, $128 je. So all you foreigners, kalau nak kawin lari, jangan kawin kat Singapore k? :p

ANYWAY, important information you need to have to register:
- Bride & Groom's particulars
- Wali
- 2 witnesses (1 from each side)

Benda2 cam ni, prepare early kira senang. If not, leceh kan if you don't have complete information.

If you need to know the contact numbers and address of the Naib Kadi, you can get it here. It is only reasonable for u olls to book a Kadi who is nearest to you right? Just imagine if they have like 10 solemnization ceremonies on that day, kesian Tok Kadi. Dah macam agent rumah. What more, time is of the essence. You wouldn't want to have the Kadi be late for your own ceremony kan? But please don't quote me. I am just sharing what I think is kind of reasonable la.

Unless Tok Kadi ada private jet, u olls pon boleh tumpang, nikah atas awan.

DIY la konon (Kad Kahwin)

I will beam up whenever I come across DIY craft stuff like photobooths, cards, labels, center pieces, trays and whathaveyous. If I had all the time, energy and resources to do all that, I would want to do everything on my own. Even wedding deco.

I am obsessed with DIY.

But frankly, I am not very artsy fartsy. I don't come up with fresh original ideas. I research for inspiration and work from there. I won't say I have excellent taste either. Taste I pon kadang-kadang kokarp jugak. But to each its own la kan.

Well anyway, having alot of free time on my hands (pun intended) at the moment, I had to make do with the time I had to do something worthwhile for the wedding. It's now less than 6 months away so it's crunch time.

I am doing some things on my own with help of family and friends.

The DIY stuff I'm getting done are:
- Cards (Design & Print)
- Photobooth (Backdrop, props, photos, guestbook)
- Candy corner (With the help of my aunt. Thanks aunty ku!)
- Wedding trays (With the help of my grandaunt)

Takde lah banyak sangat. It's small-small stuff and of course with family members rendering their help.

First and foremost of the list, cards.

Truth be told, when I google wedding cards, many of the search results return results from negeri mat salleh. I also watch alot of wedding reality tv shows (David Tutera, Say Yes to the Dress, Fabulous Cakes, Astro Ria etc etc you name it). It's TV. Of course semuanya cantik and of course it comes with a hefty price tag. On top of that, western weddings and malay weddings are totally like comparing nasi minyak and steak. Totally different.

So when I came across cards like...

Source: Uploaded by user via Caitlin on Pinterest

Source: bforbel.com via Morgan on Pinterest

No doubt these ideas are totally out of the box, creative. But I mean kamon la u olls. Pakcik-pakcik and makcik-makcik out there will go like...

"Apa ni kad kahwin macam gini?"
"Apesal huruf kecik ni?"
"Kasi kad tapi takda map. Macam mana nak pegi ni?"
"Kasi kad tapi tak tulis nama"

Seriously u olls, as much as people's opinion ain't gonna matter to me, I still gotta be realistic. Our people may be known to hoard stuff but things like wedding cards, they will be thrown away once they have a taste of your nasi minyak. And to do these for 500 or more cards is outrageous. Mat salleh weddings only have, 100 something guests, max I heard is 300. So they olls semua boleh la invest alot more on things like these.

Lagipon, kat SG ni, benda macam gini tak murah. (Unless you kaya gila or nak kahwin anak dato' or you sendiri anak dato')

Well anyway, you get the drift la. I'm still in the midst of designing the card, with the help of the sissy. I need to get this done and out of the way by end of the month at least, or next month so I can concentrate on other things.

I'm still scouting for good printers for my cards. I'm not very well versed with graphic terms (e.g. 300 dpi, 72 resolution...). All I care about is that my wedding card doesn't look like a photograph or postcard, unless I wanted it to.

If you olls have printing shops that you may know of, do let me know! If I have printer contacts, I'll let you oll know too. Win-win for everyone.

"Tukang amik gambar"

They say... "memories last a lifetime"

But memories with pictures lagi awesome kan?
*mood killer*

Nonetheless, I was rather cerewet when it came to photography and videography. Basically, the ones who will keep evidence of the wedding. I needed to be sure the ones I chose would do a very good job to capture the essence of the wedding (ceh banyak nye essence). I really wanted to see emotion and more of the people who attended the wedding. Because frankly, at the end of the day, me and the tunang will be just sitting and looking pretty on the dais whereas the backbone of the whole event are the family and friends.

but still.. spotlight's on me. Heeeee....

Ok so we had a hard time choosing which one we wanted, eventually delaying the whole process. The first choice we had was Bliss PhotoCinema.

Unfortunately, on our event date, they were left with only one photographer. Like I said, I was rather fussy and I was looking forward to at least having 2 photographers.

I have understood the concept of photographers at a wedding. Yes, we all can make do with one photographer. But if we really want to capture moments, emotion of the rest of the wedding party, we can't split the photographer into 2. I understood that when there are at least 2 photographers, one will follow the pengantin, taking portraits and poses, the other one will capture moments. So it was rather essential to me and the tunang to have at least 2 photographers. It's once in a lifetime right? Insyallah...

So when  Bliss PhotoCinema wasn't available, we had to look for another one and almost instantly, we made an appointment with TheProjectPixel Photography because that was the other first choice. And lucky for us, they were available!!! *throws confetti*

We took the package with the pre-wedding shoot. Initially, I and the tunang discussed that we didn't need a pre-wedding. Because we thought... kan belom halal. But we came to an agreement that the concept of the pre-wedding shouldn't be intimate like hugging, want to kiss but shy shy, holding hands. We wanted it to be more mysterious. Macam paham la pulak mysterious.

If you all went down to the recent wedding exhibition at Singapore Expo last weekend, you should have seen their eco-chic booth. Totally out of the box.

Picture taken from TheProjectPixel Photography

Kalau makcik-makcik, mesti diorg dah cakap "Ni apa ni booth macam gini? Takde bunga-bunga, kosong macam gini. Betul ke diorg boleh amik gambar?"

Makcik, ni zaman minimalist la makcik. A little goes a long way. It's all in the details makcik, details.

Some of the awesome works by TheProjectPixel Photography:
*taken from their Facebook page*

All images are copyrighted material and all rights reserved.

I am so in love with all their works. Really. Nothing very typical or cliche about their photos. Our "tukang amik gambar" is settled!

Hope I've helped some of u olls to look out for your ideal photographer for your wedding.

Marriage Prep Course

Frankly, I never really did research on this particular subject. It was basically..

A: Eh kau pergi kursus rumahtangga kat mane?
B: Oh aku pergi kat ...
A: Oh ok tak? Brape eh? Camne nak book?
B: Ok ah. Price is ... Kau pegi kat website dia ....

Yup.

That was it. We just made a choice based on recommendations from our fellow friends. Well, I mean, why have added stress of doing so much research when you can channel your energy into something else? Ok, I tau, ini benda important. But I mean, the concept and motives of the courses are all the same.

And one more thing. I had to take into account that the tunang is on shift work, and with no fixed shift schedule, we had to settle for a one day course. At least we can have a safe bet that he can get at least a day off on the day of the course.

Oh and whats more, we are going together with 2 other couple friends! Mereka pun akan mengahwininye pada tahun ini nye aduiii.. So kita adalah members pergi together u ollz. Their other halves are also on shift work and have only at most a day off. So timing was a bit of a concern.

And the chosen one is..... *drumroll* *or maybe rebana roll sebab tunang I budak dikir barat*

Details of the course are:

1-day Course

1 Couple to 1 trainer

$300/couple

Course structure:

9.30am - 12.30pm: 1st session; personalized pre marital guidance course

2.00pm - 6.00pm: 2nd session; small workshop session with other couples discussing relevant issues in a marriage

Information and image source: http://www.apkim.sg/

The 1-day course is conducted daily from Mon-Sat and first 2 Sundays of the month. So we had the liberty of choosing whichever date yang suitable for our other halves.

There are also group sessions which is a 2-day course. But I believe slots are limited as they only take in a small number of couples for the group sessions. I think it's 8 couples per group session. You can chekkiddout at their website for more info.

Anyhoos, booking was "easy, breezy, beautiful, Covergirl". Payment was done via fund transfer. So it was all done in the comfort of my office chair. What's more, they provided us reading materials to prepare us and give insight on what we can expect during the course, all via a form of an e-book. Barang baik dok.

Tunang: I nak tengok e-book tu. I nak baca.

*I downloaded it on my iPad so he had the luxury of reading it, lying down on the sofa*

Tak sampai 5 min....

Tunang: zzZzZzzzzzzzzzz....

Speaking of which, I pun belum baca. HAH.

Anyway, if u olls are looking out for course providers for the Marriage Prep course, here is a small list of providers that u olls can look at:

www.apkim.sg

www.kasihsejati.com

www.romm.gov.sg

www.bdmi.sg

www.sapphirepearl.com.sg

I cannot say who I recommend and who I don't recommend. Sebab ni baru first time pe pegi course. Duh. Your best bet to know which is good and which is not is to ask your friends who kahwin already.

Happy prepping for marriage u olls!

Let's get down to it: Bridal

Ok. So I thought no need for a lengthy introduction. It's clear on why the blog. But let me just make it clear that I am not doing this to pull in any form of advertisement, promotion or any of those along the lines.

This is personal. I am doing it because I want to share and document the process of planning my wedding. MY wedding.

*sempat selit disclaimer*

Back to where I was.

First and foremost on the list of things to consider for bridal was the cost.

Living in sunny Singapore, where prices are going up, and bank accounts are going down, cost was the most important thing I had in mind. Nevermind that prices are going up. Soon-to-wed couples were also competing to block their wedding dates to get the best services for their big day. I've seen people asking for quotations, 2-3 years ahead of their dates.

That aside. So I was browsing through portfolios of various bridal companies, asking for quotations. Average prices are above $2k/$2.5k. I don't get it sometimes. Y SO EXPENSIVE?! We are renting out the costumes and the only service/product we get to keep is the make-up and styling.

But I am in no right position to discuss that. Nonetheless, we were blessed with a little bit more rezeki and decided that it's a once in a lifetime event. So why not put our money where it deserves. Right?

The other item on the list of things to consider was the styling and costume.

Being an ideal size 18 *pfft*, I had a long time trying to decide on which bridal I wanted to engage for my big day, because firstly, mass media always wants to look good. I don't blame anyone for that. Like c'mon. We get attracted by first looks. So, I needed to ensure that whoever I chose needed to be able to cater to the "ideal" size that I am.

I am not saying that I put in zero effort to lose any of these flab. I did work on it. A little. C'mon don't judge me. But progress was slow. So I told myself, the dress should fit me. Not me fit the dress.

Of course. Looking good on your wedding day is what every bride wants. You don't want to be looking at your wedding album in the future and go "Was I drunk throughout the whole wedding?". So of course I had to look out for the make-up and styling. I had to be sure that whoever I chose could make me look good without overdoing it.

After a whole lot of discussion and thinking and calculating, me and the tunang have decided.

Lucky for us, we had a friend who became our consultant. We had to balance out the pros and cons of every bridal company that we've enquired. Alhamdulillah, we finally made the decision to engage Padi Bridal for our big day.

And like what I said earlier, we were blessed with a little bit more rezeki and we were thankful that Padi Bridal could create brand new, custom-made outfits for all the 3 outfits that we are having. We were gonna keep our solemnisation outfit, so 2 of the outfits will be added to Padi Bridal's collection.

Me and the tunang have already designed the outfits. We will share it here eventually, when the time comes. But as of now, I am very excited to see how the outfit turns out. Hopefully, the sketch that was done by the designer would come to life. Teehee...

So brides-to-be, I am very sure we will share same sentiments on deciding the bridal for our BIG day. Relax, breath, believe and it will all be worth it in the end.