#5

At last. Time to write!

Mind you, today is the 10th January and I finally have the time to finish up this entry. Typed it half way and in the middle of doing so, duty calls, as in duty, duty not that duty. This whole week was relatively busy labouring to the bosses' demands of doing an extensive research on a matter and coming up with an opinion. Earnestly speaking, the opinion writing class that was taught in Hons was an absolute redundancy. Bias only to those who are practicing and nothing for government-related advises. I so want to teach opinion writing to students when I finally become a lecturer some day! (dengan nada annoyed haha) Yes, I do have an intention of doing that, be it on a part-time basis or otherwise, only time will tell.

Anyways, today, I mean on this date (5th January) marks another 5 months to go for the big day, insya Allah. Nervous? Check. Excited? Check check! I thought of sharing with you my wedding updates on a monthly basis (hence the #1 title) just for the fun of it. I'll post a wedding update on the 5th of each month as I don't think it'd be wise of me to create a blog just to share my bride-to-be journey. I don't think I can keep up with more than 1 blog to manage and no need to go figure there. Plus, sometimes less is more (less blog, more focus) lol! In furtherance to that, I've also added B2B links that I read as my utilitarians for the next 5 months. Thanks dears for allowing me to put a link to your blogs.

Here goes:

• Dates - so far the dates have been decided, subject to the confirmation of tok kadi's (now known as jurunikah) availability dates.

• Legal procedures - attended the kursus kahwin last weekend (2nd and 3rd Jan) at Masjid At-Taqwa, TTDI. Hash and I had fun and learned a lot about husband and wife's duty to each other and the importance of communication. The ustazs and ustazah were very, very good sampai rasa nak sambung belajar agama dengan diorang. I didn't go to Zura's Akademik because I think it's tad a bit too long. The one that I attended is organized by Pusat Kursus Perkahwinan Pusat Bandar Damansara. You can contact them here. The next step would be filling in the required forms as per the procedures stated therein by JAIS.
  

• Venue - well, alhamdullilah this is settled too. It'll be at home for akad and bersanding, Dewan Perdana Felda (DPF), Jalan Semarak for second reception and Kompleks Dewan Raja Muda Musa, Shah Alam for bertandang.
  

• Catering - mom's got a few quotation and more or less has decided on which one to pick from. As for the menu, I leave it to my parents to decide. This is not my jurisdiction. Haha.

• Canopy - this one too is not within my territorial powers. Haha. I was only given the liberty choose the colour of the scallops and ribbons on chairs. At any rate, this is confirmed.

• Wedding dais and decoration - as for the ones at home, that's settled except for main table setting. That has to be confirmed once we've finalized with the canopy people. Meanwhile, for the one at DPF, we have yet to arrange for an appointment with Onn Aziz, the man in charge for all the dias decoration for Felda weddings. We were told that he's only free for meet-ups during office hours. Hello, you're not the only one working here. I have no idea of reconciling that issue now. Either I take a time off or take a leave but I honestly cannot leave my desk at the moment. Nevertheless, should we like with his suggestions, we'll just proceed with him for the hall decoration & dias. On the other hand, if we disagree with his design, style etc, I already have my option 2 :) Oh that reminds me, one of the ustaz from kursus kahwin mentioned that for those doing a garden wedding or wedding outside a closed area, you must have your dias covered from the sides, failing which, majlis tersebut tidak diberkati oleh Allah swt. I dunno what's the rationale behind this but I feel obliged in telling you future B2Bs. Guests should see the bride and groom from the front, not from the sides.
  

• Theme colours - I can safely say that this is fixed but I won't tell you now hehe!

• Photographers - by far, this is the most difficult thing to decide! I've been meeting them since err, last month and I swear, there are abundance of them! Ranging from 2k - 10k pun ada and they are all good in their own ways. The more I see, the more confused I get, I know but being the (trying to be or maybe just inborn) perfectionist I am, I want to get the best offer with the best price with best pictures with quality. So far, I have three photogs in mind already and I can't seem to decide on which one, although at the end of the day, it'll be mom who calls the shot but if you'd like to know who they are, they're Fad Manaf, Bliss Candid or Ariff Aris (my previous photographer for my engagement) Any comments/help/recommendations here? I'm supposed to decide by tomorrow ni.
  

• Videographer - haaa, this one pun pening. Who in the world does not want Manggis to shoot right? I've set for an appointment to meet 3 videogs next week, and that includes M too. Hopefully I will be able to decide amongst the 5 that I've seen.
  

• Wedding outfit - I have a few designers in mind already but no particular design. Bought the materials for all except for the reception at home just yet. Will start sending or prolly looking for them next week onwards.
  

• Make up and hair - just to let you know, Sue Cantik has always been my favourite make up artist. Howeverrrrrrrrr, she's full on the dates of my wedding. Therefore, I had to out source elsewhere and alhamdullilah, already got this settled *wink*

• Favours - this is an untouched area. Will work on this as soon as possible.

• Hantaran - we've decided on the number of trays which is the usual 7 and 9. We've bought 2 items on the list already and will purchase the next ones end of this month :) and we've already got the person to do the arrangement, i.e. gubahan. Hee. Just to let you know, Al-Quran, sejadah and telekung are not encouraged to be given as part of the hantaran. I was told by Aunty Su of Sonia Sofia Bride Ideas that those three items are the basics for setiap umat Islam, hence it should be given privately from the husband to the wife being that he will be the one guiding us (pemimpin hidup). So Hash will be giving me 7 trays of hantaran plus 3 of the abovementioned. Above all, this is all customs and adat. No hard and fast rule there.
  

• Cards - sudah tempah, yay! subject to finalization of texts and inlay design.

• Wedding cake - I have two cake-makers in mind already but must think of the designs now.

• Hand bouquet - akad and home reception done. Felda not yet. Hehe.

• Guest list - okayy, this needs serious concentration and guess what I've done for this, zilch. I should prolly start doing now ay?
  

• Entertainment, Emcee, Kompang, Ghazal, Sound system - TBD.

• Maid of Honours - all set! Got their materials ready only to take them to my tailor.
  

• Bridesmaids - TBD as to who they will be and what they will be wearing.
  

• Usherers - Some of the materials have been given to them.
  

• Tray bearers - taking them to the tailor end of this month or early next month, insya Allah.
  

• Bunga manggar - already have an idea as to how it's going to look like but dunno who can make that happen :)

• Last but not least, honeymoon - hmm... sayang? hehe!
  

Okay, panjang gila entry ni. Lets hope that I would be able to decide on the photographer pronto shall we? And doakan saya and Hash yang elok2 and that everything will be smooth sailing, thank you! :) Till the next update on W next 5th, insya Allah. Daa!