The Big Day Part I - Solemnization Ceremony

So it's been exactly 26 days since we got married. And I haven't written anything about it yet. Sorry. Huhu.

Anyway, so the day went just as what I wanted it too be. Small, simple, intimate. Except for the makeup during the wedding which I thought a little bit too much. At least it didn't reflect me, I think, because I actually want just a simple, natural, fresh looking makeup.

So anyway, the whole preparation was done intensively the day before. Some of my relatives, friends and my mom's friends came to help out. Especially with the souvenirs. My mom n sister and sister-in-law helped with the room. I drew my own henna on my left hand, and my brother drew on my right. My sister and friends (Fatimah, Mas n Safiyyah) helped with the henna on my nails. I didn't let it stay dry on my hands though, it was already 12am and I was tired. So I washed it off after an hour. It turned out surprisingly red, although the color did wear off gradually as I washed my hands. Now the ones left on my nails are orange. Huhu.

Anyway, the next day I woke up at about 6am. I took my shower, and started working on my makeup. Yes, I did my own makeup for my solemnization because the makeup package is only for my wedding, not solemnization. I could have taken an extra makeup session, but it would cost me another RM200. Considering it would be a short ceremony, I decided to do my own makeup. I think I was done with the makeup after about 30-45 minutes. By then people had started to come to my house to help around with last-minute preparation. It was already 9am I think, and I hadn't put on my dress. Frantically I went next door, where the bridal room was, to get ready. The photographer had arrived at that time, and I am quite sure he was quite surprised seeing me so not ready yet. Haha.

Anyway, so I got ready, my friends came, we chatted, and the photographer was busy trying to get good shots out of the owh-so-not-photogenic me. My dad started asking me if Ajoy was on his way when it was 9:40 am because he needed to fetch the jurunikah from his house (at the next village). So Ajoy and his relatives started leaving his house at about 10am. I was not sure when they arrived because my friends and I were busy chatting in the room, so we couldn't hear what was happening outside, but suddenly one of my friends took a look outside and she was like, "hey guys, they were already here!" I was like, "REALLY??" Hahah. Not long after that I got a phone call from my bestfriend asking for direction. When I just done giving her the direction, I was called to go out. I was like, "What?what?what?" and rushed outside.

After being given signals from my mom not to walk or sit too fast, I trying my best to look ayu. Then there he was, the groom, sitting from across the room. Everything felt so surreal. But still, being me, I didn't really feel anything, mainly because everything felt surreal. Haha. Then the jurunikah preached a little about solemnization (khutbah nikah). After that the moment began. At this moment, I couldn't help but being nervous.

My dad went to sit right in front of Ajoy. Almost everyone gathered around them (especially the photographers! official and unofficial!). Then it started:

Dad: Mohd Dzulkarnain Zainal Ahbiddin,
Ajoy: Ya
Dad: Aku nikahkan dikau dengan anakku Noor Hafizah binti Mohd Pushiri dengan mas kahwinnya 300 ringgit tunai..
Ajoy: Aku terima nikah Noor Hafizah binti Mohd Pushiri dengan mas kahwinnya 300 ringgit tunai..
.........(silence).........
Jurunikah: Okay? Testing je tadi tu..
Everyone else: LOL

So it was just a trial....huhu.

Anyway, right after that, it's the time for the real one..

Jurunikah: (said something in Arabic which I couldn't catch)
Dad: Mohd Dzulkarnain bin Zainal Ahbiddin
Ajoy: Ya..(he was cut by my dad)
Dad: Aku nikahkan dikau..
Jurunikah: Laju sangat..ulang balik. (said something in Arabic again)
Dad: Mohd Dzulkarnain bin Zainal Ahbiddin
Ajoy: Ya..
Dad: Aku nikahkan dikau dengan anakku Noor Hafizah binti Mohd Pushiri dengan mas kahwinnya 300 ringgit tunai..
Ajoy: Aku terima nikah Noor Hafizah binti Mohd Pushiri dengan mas kahwinnya 300 ringgit tunai
Jurunikah: Sah? (asking the saksi)
Saksi-saksi: Sah.

And there it went, the moment I turned from a Ms. to a Mrs. The moment I become a wife to my owh-so-irresistable husband :)

Anyway, after that moment, I turned to my friend, Kakyah, who sat next to me. I told her, "I'm married!" and smiled from ear to ear. Then the jurunikah made fun of me, "Tgk pengantin perempuan gelak besar lepas jadi isteri!" Then my mom gave me a sign asking me to behave..again. huhu.

So after that, Ajoy was asked to read something (I forgot the name). I was fortunate not having to read it, because based on experience, I saw most ceremonies would require the bride to read it too. Anyway, after reading it, Ajoy came and sit in front of me, to give me the maskahwin and the ring. The maskahwin was folded beautifully in heartshapes, and placed in a frame. The ring was in this metal box in heartshape. He handed me the maskahwin, and took out the ring. He took my hand, and slipped the ring onto my finger. We were asked to remain in the same position of course, as lots of photographers wanted to preserve the moment in photographs. Then I held his hands and kissed them, and he kissed me on my forehead. It was magical. It was the most beautiful feeling ever.

After that, everyone was busy gathering around the food. We were still in the house, taking pictures, when suddenly my mother-in-law asked, "Cincin Ajoy taknak sarungkan ke?" I gasped. Oh my God! I forgot to gave Ajoy his wedding ring! Hahaha! So I took the ring and slipped it onto his finger. And everything was finally completed. Hehehe.

So, here are some pictures of the ceremony. Ajoy will take the official photos soon, so I still don't have a copy of the official photo. Hence, I took these from my friend Ibik, who tag me on Facebook. Thank you Ibik for coming and taking my photos, and sorry for taking your photos without permission. I love you babe. Please don't sue me. Hehe. Anyway, you can take a glimpse of the official photo here.

p/s: If people ask me how does it feel to be married, I will answer I feel more calm, like I don't have anything to worry about anymore. It's like a big burden has been lifted from my shoulder. A burden that I didn't and still don't know what it was. I am basically happy. Bahagia.

Wedding - short update

Hmm..so I think most of the preparations are almost done by now. Souvenirs are at home waiting to be tied up and tagged. Foods, outfits, makeup, and other preparations will be done by my wedding planner. Hall has been properly secured. Hantarans are 70% done and only need some serious glue on the decorations. My nikah dress is with my cousin's wife and I believe it's being altered right now. I've bought my makeups and shoes. Owh, I need to wash the veil and practicing on my makeup skill. Hehe.

So, I think I can start breathing properly n sit and hope to be pretty on the wedding day. After all, I don't want to be yawning during my solemnization and wedding, do I? :P

Hahaha gedik sungguh.

p/s: trying hard to forget all the necessary things to do for my departure to Canberra, but failed. *down*

p/p/s: We've reserved a honeymoon package for this Monday till Wednesday (Feb 8-10, 2010) hahahaha

I'm getting married on February 6, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010. 1:30am

Dah lame rasenye tak menulis kat blog ni. Well, I guess I should start updating now since the wedding is 8 days away.

So this wedding is one of those quite 'spontaneous' decision. Since the decision for my scholarship application is not out yet, last Monday (Jan 18), I asked my parents to go see Ajoy's mom and tell her the current situation. I asked my parents to ask Ajoy's mom if she's okay if we do the wedding on January 31, or February 6. With the situation carefully explained, Ajoy's mom agreed with the idea.

Ajoy and me started working on the necessary documents on Wednesday. On Thursday, we went to a clinic to get the HIV test. Then we headed to the mosque to see the Kariah Masjid for Ajoy's area to get his approval. On Friday morning, we went to JAWI to send Ajoy's form, so that I could start working on mine (the bride needs the groom's form before submitting her form). Then we went around searching for available halls and wedding planner. Alhamdulillah, we found the perfect and (very) affordable wedding planner on our first try, and we found the perfect and available hall on our second try.

My dad, uncle, a relative and me went to see Penolong Pendaftar Nikah to get his approval on Saturday. On Sunday, we went to Nilai 3 to search for souvenirs and things for hantaran. On Monday morning, my dad and I went to book the hall. Then we went to Pejabat Agama Islam Daerah Gombak to submit my form. After that, we headed to see the wedding planner to book her service. We went to Shah Alam in the evening to order some invitation card.

The next day, Tuesday, my mom, dad, and I went to PAID Gombak to retrieve back my form. After that, we went to Jalan TAR to search for my scarf and decorations for hantaran. Couldn't find what we want, we decided to go to Nilai 3 that evening. Ajoy joined us after work in Nilai 3. Then Ajoy and me headed to Shah Alam to confirm the design of the invitation card (and we found the wedding ring for him here). My parents continued shopping in Nilai 3.

On Wednesday, we started working on the hantaran. Ajoy and I went to SOGO to buy a pair of shoes and some makeup for the solemnization ceremony.I've been trying to get a silat group, but my search leads to nothing. Good to know that my mom has found a kompang group and a DJ.

Hmm..so far everything goes on smoothly. Alhamdulillah. Now I just have to wait for the decision on my scholarship application, which I should get today. Let's just hope for the best.

p/s: I want to go for a honeymoon. Anyone wants to sponsor? Hahaha

Hantaran

Last Saturday, after buying some toilettries at Alpha Angle, Ajoy and me were planning to go to watch a movie when he mentioned something about hantaran. The chat went on, and I voiced out my concern about the year-end-sale was coming to a close and if we were to buy all the things later, they might be more expensive. Since we'd need to buy them sooner or later anyway, we decided to buy them that night itself, and cancelled our movie plan (although the truth is, we were short of money haha).

And so we did some express browsing through the handbags and shoes at Alpha Angle. As always, they had quite a selection of bags and shoes, but we decided to go to Sogo anyway since they had more choices and the discount might be better. It was close to 8pm, and we headed straight to Sogo.

As expected, Sogo was packed with people (apart from their sales, of course). Discount signs were everywhere, and so the handbags and shoes. I was stunt and did not know what to choose. But I had a brand in my mind--Bonia. I thought, since Bonia was usually so expensive, I might get a good deal during the sale season. But boy, was I wrong. The bags were still expensive despite the discounts (erk), and so we went on to search for other handbag.

After a few minutes of walking in the sea of people, we found a black handbag complete with a matching wallet. After comparing the price before and after discount, I decided to take it. Then we went on searching for a pair of black leather shoes. To our surprise, we found another corner in the mall that sold Bonia goods and the shoes were at a reasonable price (the handbags were still out of my reach haha). I couldn't help but trying on the shoes and ended up buying a pair (hehe). Our shopping went on to the men's department, where we were looking for a shirt and a pair of matching pants. Then we saw it; the shirt design that he had been wanting for so long. The best part was, it was on >50% sale. Without thinking, we grabbed the shirt, and a matching pants, which was also on >50% sale. Then we called it a day.

The next day, we headed back to Sogo. We searched for shoes, wallet, belt, and necktie for him. Somewhere in the corner, we saw Bonia shoes were on sale, and we hurried there. He tried on one. OMG I swear the shoes were made for him. The shoes were RM10 over our budget though, but who cared? Remember this people; a pair of perfect shoes is never too expensive. (haha!) We took them anyway. Not far from the shoes section, we saw boxes of belt-and-wallet set. We headed there, and browsed through the boxes. And we agreed to take one of the sets, consisted of a belt, two buckles, a wallet and a tie. It was RM20 over our budget, but o well, we took it anyway.

Then we went headed to Alpha Angle to get a bottle of perfume for him and a set of skincare for me. Too bad that perfumes seldom go on sale, but that's okay. Looking at his happy face that he finally got the perfume he always wanted, made me all happy inside :)

Anyway, now we basically have all the big things that we want to present as the hantaran. Maybe we'll browse some fabrics/dress for me, though. My mom said since husbands need to provide their wives with clothings, a dress as one of the hantaran is necessary as a symbol.

Owh, I haven't told you guys the plan for hantaran, right? So far, we may do 9-11 or less for our hantaran. The main things from both sides include a ring (symbol of the marriage), sirih junjung (symbol of tradition), 2-3 types of food (cakes, fruits, etc. for the family), and an al-Quran (symbol of religion). Those have already made 5-6 dulang. The rests will be clothes and stuffs.

Yes, we will be broke, we know. Haha.

p/s: I expect all the expensive stuffs for the hantaran will last for at least 2 years. If not, I'll burn Sogo. Muahahaha!!

Of finding Mr.Right and saving money

With all these wedding stuffs, it makes me realize two things.

(1) In search for the right one, the perfect man might not be our Mr.Right. What important is, he is the perfect one for us. He may have some flaws, or may even have a lot of flaws, but somehow we know that he is the right one of us. After all, no one is perfect right? Including ourselves. So, why do our Mr.Right has to be perfect? When we know he is our Mr.Right, we see perfection in the imperfection. But of course, one thing that I think everyone needs to have is the desire to be better--that includes ourselves, and our Mr.Right. People will change over time, so why not changing for the better with our Mr.Right?

(2) We know that wedding costs a LOT, but we tend to save for our wedding when we actually have found our Mr.Right, since saving before finding our Mr.Right may make us look dreamy/pathetic/living in a fantasy. But trust me, we will spend more when we have found our Mr.Right, so trying to save at that time is kinda pointless. So, to singles out there, start saving before it's too late! Just ignore what other people might say! (or just answer you are saving for a holiday oversea instead)

p/s: scholarship result today. *bit nails*

Short update

Done with the marriage course yesterday. It was not bad at all, apparently. I think it was better than the one I went in 2004. Maybe it's because the lecturers were good, and now that I have someone, I could totally relate to what they were saying. Plus, I did not feel too embarrass compared to 5 years ago, when they were talking about things related to relationship between a husband and a wife (a.k.a. sex. Well, it's a course about marriage anyway).

Btw, I can't do much now, since nothing is confirmed until the result of tomorrow's meeting (about my scholarship) comes out. Till then, I'm just browsing through halls for my wedding venue.

p/s: I found a link listing telephone numbers of possible wedding venue. One of them was the number for Taman Tasik Titiwangsa. My mom told me to just try calling them, asking for the price--just for fun. We know we cannot afford it. Hahaha

Kursus Kahwin

I just booked two places in a marriage course (kursus kahwin), which will be held this weekend in Setiawangsa. This is the link.

Btw, this will be my second marriage course because I lost my certificate for the first course that I attended. Hahaha. But that's fine. Knowledge is never a bad thing.

Mari berkursus! :)

The engagement--her story

For his story, click here.

It's 4:08pm and already I don't have the mood to do a more beneficial thing. So I guess I fill this blog with yet another post.

I will write about the engagement day, held on December 12, 2009 (last Saturday).

I recall it was a very busy week. With me just came back from the BTN camp, and getting that-time-of-the-month right after, I did not feel eager of even energized enough to do all the preparation. I should give credit to my dad as he was the one who took care of all the cleaning that needed to be done.

Anyway, the day before the engagement, my sister had a terrible stomachache. So I had to take her to the clinic at 11:40pm and we reached home 50 minutes after that. I was tired and was prepared to go to bed, when my dad did not let me sleep because he said he wanted to take a nap and he was scared no one would wake up on time on the big day. And so I stayed up, thinking everyone else had gone to bed and I would have to wake them up after about an hour. Yet, after an hour, I realized my dad did not go to sleep and I stayed awake for nothing. The same thing happened till it was 4 am, and I decided to go to bed anyway, no matter what my dad said. I was planning to wake up at around 8 am.

At 6:50 am, my dad woke me up and asked me to move the cars to the neighbors lawn. Being sleepy and irritated, I moved the cars anyway. After complaining about my dad to my mom, I went back to sleep and woke up again at 8:45 am.

And no, I did not take my shower right after. I had to clean the cups and glasses, arrange the chocolates for the hantaran, and do other chores around the house (so much for being the woman of the day). Ibik and KakYah arrived safely at around 9:40 am, and I finally got to take my shower at around 10:15 am (after ignoring my dad's command to sweep the floor).

After showering, I went to Farid's (my brother) place next door to get ready as the ceremony would take place there. Due to tight budget, I did my own makeup, and Ibik acted as my photographer/mak andam. The makeup turned out okay I guess, considering I had to wear more colors for the engagement although normally I would only use natural color for my makeup. By the way, Ibik and KakYah kept on saying I looked like a professional makeup artist since I used all these brushes and stuffs. Again, they were NOT commenting on the makeup I did on my face, only on the tools. Hahahahampeh.

Anyway, Ajoy and his rombongan arrived when it was close to noon. I did not know what happened during the discussion, as I could not be involved in it. All that I know is that I was asked to go out for the sarung cincin, salam-salam, and picture taking. The sarung cincin was done by my future sister-in-law since the place was limited and my future mother-in-law could not reach my hand from where she was sitting. After the sarung cincin, I had to go around the hall to shake hand with everyone (which was soooooo awkward). When the discussion was about to end, I was called once again to sit in front of the hantaran, in the middle of the discussion circle, for pictures. Awkward. Once again.

After the whole thing ended, people gathered around me for pictures. I felt weird having to keep a sweet (erk?!) face all through out the picture taking session, but my mom did a poyo pose in one of the picture (told you, it's genetic). Then it's time for picture with the fiance (whee~!). However, Ajoy was forced to sit at a distance from me as all the grandmoms and aunts said cheerfully, "Eh, takleh duduk dekat2 lagi..haa taruk ni kat tengah buat jarak," and they cheerfully pulled the sirih junjung in between me and him. The weird thing was, they asked my future brother-in-law to sit right next to me in the same picture because they said the picture was not balanced (pasrah gile).

Anyway, after that, everyone headed to my house for some feast. Me, my friends (Ibik, KakYah n Safiyyah), and some of my relatives stayed at my brother's place and ate there because my house was too packed.

After a while, they all went back home, and I had to stop eating and run to wash my hand to send them off (mmg tak senonoh).

And so, the conclusion of the discussion was, the date will be discussed later, due to my unconfirmed study planning, but it will surely be next year (insyaAllah).

Eh, panjang pulak entry ni.

p/s: I was told that his family came complete with pantun, but my family couldn't reply. Hahahahampeh buat malu jek

p/p/s: I was also told that his family came with a tepak sirih, wrapped in three layers of clothes. In order to accept the peminangan, a representative of my family needed to open the wrapers and eat the sirih. But since my family representative did not eat sirih, he only took the sirih and kept it. I was also told that the three layers wrap represents the time we will be engaged--3 days or 3 weeks or 3 months or 3 years. I told my friends to come back after 3 days. Hahaha.

Color

I think the most important thing in a wedding is the theme color. Western weddings tend to use white as their theme color, while Eastern weddings tend to be more colorful.

So, which color to choose?

I believe the color that we choose will bring out the 'feel' of the wedding. For example, white will give a more dreamy feeling, while the combination of blue and pink will give a more 'festive' feeling. Other than that, color can also effect the look of the wedding. For example, a combination of white and gold/dark brown will make the wedding look more expensive and elegant, while the wrong shade of blue will make it look cheap, no matter how much the actual cost is. Hence, the right theme color will reflect what we want the wedding to look like.

As for me, I want my wedding to look dreamy, laid back, and expensive/elegant (since clearly I won't be using anything expensive in my wedding, so a look-expensive color combination will greatly help). So, I choose to use white-gold/dark brown color combination for my wedding. The addition of some off-white roses and a little bit of green for the leaves would give a more laid-back atmosphere. That would be perfect.

Initially I wanted to use white-silver/grey color combination for the solemnization ceremony. However, due to some technical difficulties, I had to change my dress into all white, and my future husband will be wearing white-black-gold/orange. Due to those modifications, I think I'll make 'garden' as the theme of the ceremony. I think white, green, brown and some pastel-colored flowers would work well.

All in all, the keyword for both events is: Dreamy.

After all, this whole wedding thing is like a dream come true anyway :)

Welcome to The Two Aries' Blog

Now that we are officially engaged, I guess a separate blog for the wedding preparation is appropriate (since I don't want to fill my main blog with too much personal stuffs). I actually have set up a website on ewedding.com about a month ago, but with its more formal look, I think I would use it as an e-invitation card and would only reveal it when it's closer to the wedding day. Anyway, this blog will be our more informal and personal wedding website; hence, pardon all the mushy-ness that may likely to pop up in all the future posts.

Anyway, enough with the introduction. Let's go to some more important (?!) stuffs.

Hmm..thinking back, I think maybe later..I am too sleepy. Sorry for making you guys read this. Haha.

Good night everyone. I promise I'll update asap.

Byebye.