Progress for Engagement Preparation

Finally, something to update!

As of this date, I am now done with dais (pelamin) and gubahan hantaran but obviously NOT to be done by yours truly, hehe! Dearest mommy has agreed to 'pass' the job to Aunty Hamidah from ChantekMoleq. We went to see her at the boutique last week, good thing that she opens on Sundays too! She's an easy person to talk to. Since she is quite new in the field, her previous portfolio for mini dais is quite limited. So I've provided her with a few sample pictures...hopefully it will turn out just how I want it to be. Hint for my pelamin : Calla lilies!!

As for the hantaran, mommy asked for crystal flowers and the idea is to have the hantaran placed on a cushion (which is on top of the dulang) and decorated by a simple crystal flower. I am saving fresh flowers for my nikah hantaran, hence the crystal flowers for the engagement.

The hantaran will be 5 from my side and 3 from A.'s. The number of hantaran was suggested by dear mommy. As of now, the list are:

From A.:
1. Ring with flowers
2. Kain pasang
3. Sireh junjung (ke?)

From my side:
1. Kain sampin songket
2. Cupcakes or whole cake
3. Chocolates
4. Fruits (maybe?)
5. Sireh junjung

I need to finalise my hantaran soon! I change my idea each time while discussing, lol.

For photography, I am hiring my ex-students who is also a talented photographer - Azrianna Azmil. If you need to know further, click on the link to her website or find her Facebook page for further details.

By the way, I will be sharing the day with my sister's future baby girl (in May, hopefully) - the first girl in Minhat's 3rd generation, yippee!!

Here I am, hoping that everything will turn out fine insyaAllah.

Puteri Jawa Kraton wearing yellow on her big day.

So yesterday, sister no.3 asked mommy if there's anything she could help with for the engagement - for things like door gifts. Suprisingly, mommy said it's entirely up to me what I want for my engagement!

(Insert a super-excited face here) Teeehehehe!

I already have a lot in mind for the engagement (and oh yes, the wedding), but I thought my choices must be screened first by dearest mommy before we could proceed on anything. But since mommy said it is up to me.....I am now ready to go shopping! Weehoo..

Things like the day & time for engagement and also the amount of hantaran have already been decided after 'merisik' like few months ago. So I'm left with the colour theme, what to be included for the hantaran and door gifts if necessary..

Colour theme

I have been wanting pastel yellow for engagement. But come to think of it, my engagement & wedding colour themes will be quite the same since I am planning for champagne gold...

Help!! I can't decide on this one and A. isn't helping because he doesn't really mind wearing any colour, yikes!

I have a list of colours to consider -- pastel yellow, duck egg blue, teal blue, brown, purple and ....yes, the list goes on...haha!

I am planning to head to Jakel this weekend for the half-price sale, so let's all hope that I can find something nice!!


Door gifts

Most people would opt for chocolates, sweets, cupcakes..but dear daddy is being super concerned about health lately especially when it comes to sweet stuff which is known to be related to diabetes. In fact, the entire family is now trying to avoid those stuff. So daddy suggested "something that will not affect the health of the receiver". Lol.

But seriously, chocolates/sweets are the easiest options thus far. Hmmm.

I am thinking eggs, being all traditional and all. But wait, this isn't a wedding yet!

Well, maybe apples? Okay, very rare.

I thought of giving pocket-size Al-Mathurat or Yaseen, but apparently, most vendors require a minimum order of 100pcs. I don't think I am expecting THAT much people to come...hehe!

Hantaran

It has been decided that A.'s side will bring over 3 hantaran and my side will be exchanging them with 5 other hantaran.

Things (from my side) may include -
Sireh Junjung, Fruits, Desserts of 2 different types and a pair of Baju Melayu that matches my kain baju kurung that A. bought for me as one of his hantaran. I still need to discuss this with mommy though if they are all appropriate for hantaran. As of the Baju Melayu, I need to ask A. whether he agrees with that or..he has something else in mind.

For the arrangement (gubahan) of the hantaran, I am planning to do it with my sister. Maybe, just maybe, I could opt for my sister's sister-in-law to help on that instead. She's a florist, that's way hehe.

I guess that's all for this update...see you soon!

Shhhh..sneak peeks!

Photographer

Videographer

Make Up Artist

Memories captured through pictures are eternal.

People say, pictures speak for themselves and videos, they capture the exact moments you don't wanna remove from your memory. True enough, especially for a particular important day to most of us - the wedding.

Photography and videography are the two most important things for a wedding, well of course - apart from your dress, makeup artist, etc. Not only that they take up huge percentage of your preparation, on the wedding AND after the wedding itself, both hurt your pockets too..hehe!

I've been eyeing on photography and videography services since..well, forever. Selalu berangan time study dulu! So I've got a few listed here that may be useful for you to decide. Trust me, choosing on one is not easy! I whine almost every other day to A. asking which is better, which is value for money, which is more "famous" (for some reason, lol) and most importantly, which one captures the true emotions at that particular second.

My personal favourite and will always be is Daniel Zain. He used to do wedding photography, but not much now and he's concentrating more on portraits. His pictures are THE BEST, without doubt! The pictures captured are carefully edited and could tell you what exactly happened at that particular moment - the feelings, the environment. The difference with Daniel Zain is that he edits ALL pictures. It is important to know that most photographers DO NOT edit all the pictures taken on the day. The only edit 80-100 pictures which will all go into the album. So the rest of the pictures will be given back to you as raw and unedited - either in pendrive or DVD. 

Next to Daniel Zain, I would suggest Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail. They are the two principal photographers under the company with a few senior photographers. Obviously, the price range is different for principal and senior photographers. Mukhriz's detailed snaps are very creative while Udey captures more on-going emotions throughout the wedding. They've both performed a very good job with the rest of the team for Maria Elena's wedding and soon, Liyana Jasmay's!

And, if you're looking for a "known" photography company in Malaysia BUT also offers affordable price, I would strongly suggest Ministry of Moment. They've done loads of wedding photography for celebrities but the price is quite reasonable, provided you live in the Klang Valley. A note to take away is that every photographer based in Klang Valley will charge you an extra sum of money if your wedding is situated outside of Klang Valley, and vice versa - if you're hiring an outside photographer for a job in Klang Valley. The current charge is about 0.70sen per km. Certain photographers do charge their airline costs & food allowance too. So remember to ask and check with them! Anyways, coming back to MoM, if you think you can't afford it, why not try MoM's sister company - Canvas Studio. Both are located under the same roof with the same photographers as MoM but they offer slightly cheaper to cater for couples who don't wanna spend much for the wedding photography service.

If you prefer ladies' photographer, look out for The Photolicious! Yummy as its name, it also offers good wedding photography services. Fret not, if you need a guy photographer, they have them too! They've recently photographed the wedding of Malaysian team's goal keeper - Apex and Leuniey. Different photographers will have different taste in editing, so remember to state whichever way you want your photos to be edited! MoM's work is kinda vintage while Photolicious offers a bright and modern editing. But most photography companies have its own editing department. This would mean that the photographer will only snap as much photos as he can, and he will then leave the next job to the editor to decide which editing suits the mood of the wedding.

Other than these, I've also looked on individual photographers such as Hafizudin Hamdan, Ichi and KerjaGilaSiMoll. Their prices are just as competitive as the others and their work are just as good as big companies like MoM. The advantage of hiring individual photographers is that you know he will come and be the principal photographer on the day. Unlike some big companies, they may offer you cheap promotional prices, but they sent off junior photographers who is still lacking in skills and experience.

My advice to all B2Bs would be to..

1) Survey ALL photographers that you can find/like, etc

2) Once the date and venue are confirmed, email/text/call/whatsapp them for quotations. Also ask if they are able to come and meet you up somewhere to show you their portfolios

3) Meet-up with them over a cup of tea or coffee! Pour your questions to them..hehe

4) Compare the quotations - how's the price like, what will you get with the package, coverage hours, portrait session, custom album/photobooks, size of albums, etc

5) Make a decision and proceed with payment. And ohh, do ask them if they could offer instalment for the payment. 

6) Once payment is made and date is booked, YOU'RE DONE WITH IT. JYEAH!

Back!

Long hibernation, I guess?

I've been very, very lazy to update on my progress. This is baaaad, I am supposed to be writing everything so that one day, I will be able to read through this blog and cherish the moments!!

My preparation is a wee-bit static as of now, only managed to finalise a few things - which, will be updated in the next post. Hehe.

On a different note, I have deleted my personal blog that I've been using for the past..well, God knows when! I guess I won't be updating two blog at once, hence the decision. Letting go is hard..tsk!

Anyways, let's hope I will be updating this blog more frequent! Till then..

A good wedding venue is important!

Have you decided where your wedding will be held, dearies?

Deciding on a place is obviously not easy. There's so many things to consider, and you need to write them down to make sure your chosen hall will be able to fulfil your once in a lifetime wedding dream.

As for me, I am not the one deciding on the venue because I ain't spending any money on that. Lol! So the job is taken by both the parents. Apparently, they have started their hunt yesterday and I am all excited! Though I am not directly involved, both Mom & Dad will usually discuss it with me over dinner and take my ideas into consideration. As of now, Mom knows my Yes-No venues and hopefully, the search will end with a beautiful place for my wedding reception. 

This is the clue for one of the venues that I am currently considering for..hehe!

Anyways, here's a checklist for you when it comes to choosing the right venue!

Checklist

How many guests are you inviting?

This is obviously important to know whether the venue can actually cope with the number of people you are inviting. It helps to determine how you would arrange tables and chairs and food quantity. Take into account how it's going to be like at the venue when the crowd is large or when it is at the peak hours of your wedding - eg : lunch time if you're planning for a buffet styled wedding. 

Food quality

A grand hall doesn't mean they serve good food, remember that! So it is extremely vital for you to request a food-testing session with the Sales person. Don't bluntly trust words of mouth, taste them for yourselves! Because at the end of the day, it is your wedding..so make effort to ensure the food variety suit your taste. In addition to that, read reviews by previous clients - on how the organiser cope during events, do they replenish food on time and what's the overall comments from the previous clients like? Also, ask the Sales person there and then if you require or need special menu, enquire them if they could probably serve your preferred menu if it is currently unavailable - cos it will be worth asking, who knows right?

Banquet Preparation

Read their packages, sales kit and marketing pamphlets carefully. Some halls do provide and include banquet services for the price they are offering - hence the explanation above! But some halls don't. So it is important to know and decide whether you want to proceed with another caterer or take the hall all-in package. Banquet does not only include food, but also the arrangements of tables, chairs, stage, pelamin, registration table, etc. Also ensure the hall provides enough and equipped staffs (waiters especially) during the event if they do provide catering services. This helps to ensure a smooth evemt when it comes to replenishing food & clearing used dishes tables. This will provide a comfortable environment for your guests and allow them to enjoy the wedding reception.

Audio and Visual Equipment

Right dearies, don't forget audio and visual equipment if you need any of them for karaoke session, making wedding speech, live singers, presentation of short film, pre-wedding video or photo slides during the wedding. Check whether the venue is equipped with the required equipment and if they do, do the equipment work? If you have requested for these items, make sure everything is working on the day of rehearsal. Identify any faulty equipment early and not on the day of your wedding! Check on the costing side too, because some halls do charge for these extra equipment - speakers, microphones, white screens etc. 

Decorations

Do they include decorations in their packages? If so, what are the decorations and are you happy with the listed deco? Let the sales person know what you need, what you want and also ensure that you understand what they could offer you. If they can provide you with pictures of the deco, do check them out! Remember 

that every detail is important.

Door gifts

Most high-end hotels or convention centres would provide their own door gifts as part of the package. So if you choose a hall which doesn't provide one, you can either request or order your own door gifts with a separate supplier. But if the package includes door gifts, it would help in reducing your cost!

Overall Cost

Here goes the scariest part! Ensure what you need or want to MEET your budgeted cost. Try not to go over the board, knowing where to give in. A grand wedding is dreamt by everyone, but not all can afford to do so. So try to minimise your cost wherever possible, reduce unnecessary "wants" and double check the "needs". And of course, know the difference between needs and wants! 

Last but not least, remember that a grand wedding doesn't necessarily have to be an expensive one. You could opt for so many other options to reduce cost especially on deco and food. So make sure you take effort to survey and ask around a few different places before deciding one. Comparing all your options is a must!  

This is just a guide line, there are probably other things that you'll need to consider when it comes to actual planning and discussion when choosing your venues. But hope this helps a little bit! 

Happy hunting!

Preliminary Dates

It's been quite a while since I last update myself here. I'm currently helping mom's business, so I am mostly in the office on weekdays. But oh well, that doesn't stop me from browsing bridal magazines, checking out promotions and organising my wedding! And I hope you guys are doing the same too.

Anyways, as the title suggests - A and I have now decided on our dates, yippee! The dates are still preliminary though, because it depends on the availability of the hall my dad is renting too. And speaking of the hall, dad is procrastinating his job!! He's been saying that he would go and survey the halls, availability and such...but no confirmation just yet.

Talking about dates, my heart jumps in excitement a wee bit! Hihi.

Deciding on a date was tough, extreeemely tough since it involves everyone in the family. Whoops, I mean..both families! At first, A & I decided to get married in December 2013. Both parents got involved in this too, but my Dad suggested November 2013. Lo and behold, he is suggesting that we get married on his birthday! Mmmm, well okay.

That was a bit awkward since Dad and my second sister share the same birthday!

Come to think of it, the date doesn't bother me much. So A & I agreed with the idea. As for now, our nikah ceremony will be held on the 8th of November and the reception on the next day - the 9th of November which will be on my Dad & sister's birthday.

As for the engagement, both sides have confirmed for 1st of June 2013. Six more months. Erk, I need to lose weight!!!

But at the end of the day, no matter how much planning we do..it is important to remember that Allah is the Greatest Planner. So from this point forward, I need to remind myself to be patient and accept God's decision if my plan doesn't work its way through.

Alrighty B2Bs, till then..have a great week ahead!