A Sponsored Honeymoon

I AM ECSTATIC! (although very stressed)

Groom’s side came to meet my family to discuss food choices for both the sanding day(Sunday) and nikah day(Saturday). Actually groom’s side, only his mum and step dad(together with groom’s 2 siblings) came. I feel so fortunate that quite a lot of things are ebing sponsored by either my family or his family, although not everything.

My family is doing all the DIY things like dulang hantaran, bridal room decor, bunga rampai, etc. My aunt sponsor marhaban, my cousin sponsor photobooth, my uncle sponsor decor items for hantaran and bridal room decor as well as hand bouquet, my mum sponsor 50% of the venue booking, my dad sponsoring our wedding cake, and the list goes onnnn. My future MIL is sponsoring our nikah food, and groom’s step dad sponsored our berkat(for both sides k since it’s a combined wedding), and he is also sponsoring goreng pisang and goreng keledek for our wedding. Initially he wanted to sponsor our honeymoon but when he got to know a certain someone went back on his words in sponsoring our berkat, he gave us $$$$ for the berkat.

Now, last Saturday, when the parents came over, his step dad asked us if we have booked our honeymoon. Now, I’m so stressed and financially tight too so I said, “I’m sad to say, nope. Considering to either not go for a honeymoon or if we do go, we’ll probably go to Bintan.”. Then he asked, “I thought you guys wanna go to Bali?”. And I said, “yeah but maybe some time later.”. He then said, “Pass me your passport details. I’m gonna book you both your flights, accommodation, a personal driver and some activities. Bali yeah? I’ll pay for everything. Just bring some money for food and shopping ya.”.

I was really embarrassed to take up the offer at first la. Cos he is afterall, my fiance’s step dad. Like, not his real father kan. Kalau his real father offer, maybe I won’t feel too embarrassed la. But step dad. He is very nice though. In addition, he used to work and stay in Bali for years before he married my FMIL. So I’m pretty sure our honeymoon in Bali will be a good one. I just hope he doesn’t book any water activities cos my tunang has phobia of the sea.

But heyyyyy! I’m happpppyyyy!

SCREAM!

I JUST GLANCED AT THE CALENDAR AND IT’S ALREADY 3 MARCH 2014. LESS THAN 4 MONTHS TO THE WEDDING. ASJHDSJSBDFSJBVFHBNKLODDJDN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

Exercises For Brides To Be

My Wed Dreams

… who are more on the “curvy” side, me included la. doesn’t mean im tall, im perfect. no, my body is like how you would describe a “Mak2” you know when ppl go “badan macam mak2 seh” yes, my body is like dat and im not even married yet. im bigger than my sister-in-law *WAILS* and shes older than me with 4 daughters in tow.

she’s the one in red and im in green. I LOOK SO BIG. tsk. no matter how i angle my body, i still look big, no amount of angling can help me now T.T (i should be exercising instead of blogging eh? LOL super procrastinator sia)

been following a few fitness channels on YouTube and i hope i can at least lose a fewlot of weight for my upcoming wedding which is not far.

hopefully can go back to circa 07 seh.

walaoeh so…

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Honeymoon Headaches

I have been thinking about honeymoon destinations but putting off booking it for the past 6 months.

We have a whole list of places we want to go for our honeymoon:

1) Egypt
2) Japan
3) Amsterdam
4) Africa
5) San Diego, California (Mainly cos of San Diego Comic Con)
6) Maldives
7) Australia
8) Greece
and the list goes on. I didn’t want to include more cos my heart started breaking at no. 8,

Other than the fact that these places are costly to stay at and travel to, just staying for 5 days to 1 week is definitely not enough. I’ve checked out honeymoon packages to Egypt and they are 2 weeks. Judging from the fact that I just had a job change, I don’t think it’d be good to take 2-3 weeks marriage leave.

So we decided to go somewhere near. And since we are both nocturnes but love the sand and sea and how laid back island or beach destinations seem to be, we decided on a few options:

1) Krabi
2) Bali
3) Langkawi (blearghhh)
4) Phuket (again! we’ve went there a couple of times but only to Patong.)
5) Medan, Lake Toba
6) Boracay

I would really love to go to Phuket again, really. I mean, we have gone there a couple of times but we haven’t explored the whole island. We managed to go island hopping on one of our previous trips there but Phuket itself, tak puas ah. We haven’t even gone to their reggae bar which I want to so much!

I strongly told my fiance I wanna go to Phuket for honeymoon. But this time, in Kata. He doesn’t mind it either. But me being me, I’ve been putting off booking the flight and hotel simply cos, I haven’t 100% made up my mind, yet.

Reasons why: Do I wanna go to a beach/island destination or do I wanna go somewhere hilly and cold like Lake Toba? Will halal food be a problem in Boracay or should I just go ahead and go for it? Should I go to Krabi or Phuket?

Phening!

Stupid Nightmare.

So the night before, I had a nightmare that I remember vividly. It’s as if it really happened and it has ruined my whole day. It is not a nightmare about ghosts or the paranormal. But instead, my engagement ended in the dream.

(Words in blue are IRL and the ones in red are in the dream. Skip this paragraph if you do not want to know the details of the nightmare but read the next for my verdict on this)
So the dream spanned over a few days to a week. I mean, it’s just 1 nightmare but in the dream, it was a few days to a week. My fiance accepted a friend request from this girl on Facebook. I do not personally know this girl IRL but I do know her from social network sites like Facebook and Instagram. Now, IRL my fiance is not the kind who’d add girls in Facebook(he only has Facebook and no other social network) unless they are his family members, relatives, or mine. He does have a few girl friends on Facebook and those are my friends too. He doesn’t even have any girl’s phone number in his phone, again, other than his family members or mine. Back to the dream; he accepted her friend request and proceeded to contact her; from FB pm, to sms-es, phone calls and a few days later, her meets her. Surprisingly, he informed me of all this. Although I was jealous, I trusted him cos he said she has an interesting personality and he would like her to be his friend. I guess I was stupid and shouldn’t have trusted so much. Anyways, he meets her one day and ironically, came to my house together with her to hang out. I was kinda okay with it, I thought, hey, he does treat her as a friend since he wants to introduce her to me and maybe their friendship were like bros. But when he started too ignore me but was so chatty with her, that’s when it started to smell fishy. He later massaged her feet followed by her shoulders. Of course, I bingit la. I confronted him. He left with her. The next day, he met me and we had an argument that led to him ending our engagement so that he can be with her.

I definitely woke up really angry and felt really down. It ruined my whole day and I kept crying at random at work. Throughout the almost 9 years together, we have never once been unfaithful to each other. I am very confident in saying this because he is with me all the time, except for when he sleeps.  I know all of his friends and vice versa. If you’ve read my previous posts, we are still very much in love and in lust and we are very happy together. There are many factors as to why I am confident but hey, I shall not bore you too much la haha. I told my mum and a few of my colleagues about this dream. I also did a google search. I found out that there are a few reasons as to why I dreamt that. It can be just a random nightmare, it can be because I have been very stressed with the wedding preps and people around me and that this is just that coming back into my dream in the form of another person, it can be Syaitan or Jin trying to put bad thoughts into my mind that might lead to us cancelling our marriage, it can be that a Jin is trying to stop us from getting married because he/she is in love with either of us, or it can be that someone is trying to stop us from getting married by using black magic or voodoo. My mum told me that orang yang tengah tunang ni darah manis. Syaitan suka kacau and and will do all they can to stop the marriage. Simply because, nikah is a form of ibadah and everything we do after nikah is halal, as compared to before nikah where kisses, hugs etc are sins.

I personally think the most valid reasons are that I am very stressed and the problems came to me in the form of a person, and that syaitan suka kacau and will do all they can to stop the marriage. I have heard plenty of stories from married friends, and friends who sadly ended their engagements. I was told all these problems, be it the dream or other problems I am facing(actually not even a problem but others seem to make it a problem when it really has nothing to do with them), are all a test, Syaitan’s work. And all these problems will somehow or rather happen throughout the engagement but especially so when the wedding date is closer. But once the nikah dah di lafaz, these nonsensical problems will miraculously stop.

Any of you BTBs/GTBs encountered or currently facing this kinda things before? Do share, if you don’t mind.

In closing,
Insyaallah, my tunang and I, as well as all you BTBs/GTBs will have the strength to go through all these tests and whatever negativity that comes our way.

The High Cost Of Being A Bridesmaid

My Wed Dreams

For BTBs who have (many2) bridesmaids and to the bridesmaids themselves.

Source: Bridal Musings

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*wink wink*

Wedding shoes, yup. =)

Photobooth YAYYYYY!

Hello everybodehhhhh!

Sorry for the long hiatus. I’ve been so busy with wedding preps and work that I don’t even have time to meet my friends anymore. =(
On weekdays, I wake up, go to work, come back home, sleep, repeat. On weekends, I usually sleep in, have some wedding things to do, do my laundry, meet my fiance, go back home, sleep. I feel so bloody tired lately.

Anyways, enough on the sadness la eh.

At first, we decided to not have a photobooth at our wedding. We had a strict budget to follow but we kinda burst the budget by about 2k+++ so a photobooth was out of the question. Not that I did not want, but I didn’t feel like it was a particularly huge need. I mean, as compared to other crucial things like Catering, Mak Andam, door gifts, photographer, decor, etc, most people would forgo the photobooth, especially if they are really tight financially.

I believe all of us know that Photobooths are at almost every Malay wedding now; like a viral trend. Most photobooth vendors do include guestbook services into the packages that they offer. It’s a great combo, in my opinion, cos these photobooth vendors will place the photos according to the page where the guests have signed/written on. At the end of the day, after the wedding, we can open up our guestbook and read the well wishes from our guests and immediately know/recognize who those wishes were from. Come on, if there is no photo in the guestbook, I don’t think we, the bride/groom would recognise every single person who signed the guestbook kan? Sometimes, the person is a relative that you only recognize when you meet or see a photo of. I really don’t know the names of some of my relatives. Immediate family members, cousins, uncles, aunties, etc, I of course know their names. I’m talking about our parents’ cousins, or our parents’ cousins’ children, ahhh you get what I mean.

At the same time, by looking through the guestbook(with the photos inside), you instantly know that the respective guests came for your wedding. Nowadays, most photobooths come with fun props and signages from the boring to the wacky, you name it they got it.

I notice a huge growth in the number of photobooth vendors over the past 1 or 2 years. It is a growing trend to have a photobooth at Malay weddings simply cos GUESTS WILL ENJOY IT! I have always enjoyed taking photos and getting to keep it(at times having to purchase it in order to get a copy). It depends on how you see it. It can go both ways. You can either enjoy looking at the photos and well wishes in the guestbook OR you can feel good when you see guests enjoying themselves at your wedding.

However, the down side is, almost ALL PHOTOBOOTHS ARE THE SAME. They provide a single backdrop that they hang or set up, wacky props, signages, a DSLR+instant photo printer and/or Polaroids. Depending on the package you choose, guests can either keep a copy of the printed photo, or purchase it for around $0.50 to perhaps $2++. But whatever it is, all the printed photos are placed onto the guestbook for the bride and groom’s viewing pleasure/keepsake.

I am very lucky to have a cousin who has offered to sponsor a photobooth for my wedding. So, YAY! We are getting a photobooth for our wedding! So my cousin and I did our research about 2 days before we booked and confirmed with the vendor. Very fast, right? I know. We saw plenty of photobooths on Facebook, Instagram, etc. All are basically the same la but of course quality varies. I wanted something different and able to suit our style.

I searched #photoboothsg on Instagram and chanced upon TGIFactory. I believe that it’s a very young business. By that, I mean, it’s very newly set up and they do not have as much portfolio content as some other more established and popular photobooth vendors. Now, what attracted me to engage their service is that, THEY ARE USING GREEN SCREEN TECHNOLOGY for the photos’ background. Currently, they have offered me 6 customisable backgrounds. Guests are able to choose from 6 different backgrounds(pre-chosen by the bride and groom), and have their photos taken together with their chosen props. Guests get a copy of the photo taken while the other copy will be pasted onto the guestbook, per photo session. Guests will be charged $2 per photo if they were to request for additonal copies. TGIFactory has various packages you can choose from but we took the Light Package(it was on Promo when we booked). From what I know, they also offer Unlimited prints for a slightly higher priced package.

Here’s a sample photo I took from their Facebook page(yes, 2 photos can be printed onto 1 pc of photo paper):

NOTICE THE DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS? THE BACKGROUND IMAGE/PHOTO PAPER CAN ALSO BE CUSTOMIZED
ACCORDING TO YOUR THEME/PREFERENCE. AWESOME KAN? ESPECIALLY COS OF HOW CEREWET I CAN BE, AND
COS NOT MANY VENDORS WOULD BE OPEN TO THE IDEA OF HAVING A HORROR THEMED ANYTHING!

I purposely delayed writing an entry on this cos I wanted to meet the crew first. So we finally had a wee bit of free time to meet them and location was Paragon CBTL. I believe that after the meeting, both the crew and us(my fiance, my cousin, her fiance, and I), had a better understanding about what was expected and what was offered, respectively. Prior to the meeting, I have conversed with Farhan from TGIFactory(sadly, he wasn’t able to make it for the meeting due to work commitments). Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised to know that Farhan, like me, is a huge Horror fan. So, A HUGE PLUS LA KAN cos he TOTALLY GETS WHAT I WANT.

TGIFactory offers a customizable theme. From props, to background, to the photo sleeve. Hell, they even dress up according to the theme that customers require la. They even dressed up in shorts and jerseys for a soccer themed one! I believe most of you already know what my theme will be, eh? But in order for things not to get too scary or horrifying, we are going for an Addams Family themed photobooth. So, imagine an Addams Family mansion background, a dark misty forest background, a back alley background, etc. But of course, we will include a generic background to accommodate guests who do not want to have some horror/dark background. Our props will be horror themed as well, one of my favourites, FREDDY KREUGER’s GLOVE(Nightmare on Elm Street)! If you have read my past posts, you will know that I have a Freddy Kreuger Living Dead Doll. My fiance and I are both crazy NES fans la so..hehehehehhehe!

You can check them out on Facebook

Here’s the link to TGIFactory’s photobooth instructional video that I took from their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=193297914206093&set=vb.177140059155212&type=3&theater

Sorry if my post is too long!! But hey, I haven’t written in a looooong time and I needed to writeeeee! Makes sense? hahah..

I miss you alls. And H, if you’re reading this, I miss you!

WEDDING SHOES

I bought my wedding shoes!!! But its so bloody unconventional la. Imagine almost a hand ‘s length(palm base to end of middle finer tip) high wedges, black, t-strap with a this gold chain down the I of the T.

I am not sure how I feel about it now. It’s $176 after discount from Steve Madden. It’s really nice la and Fir told me to just buy it cos I can still use it after the wedding. (I dunno which part of “can still use it after the wedding” is applicable cos I don’t wear heels and especially not wedges that high!) I bought it anyway and really love looking at it. But like I said, it’s really not the usual wedding shoes kan. 

But meh, it’s my wedding. =)

GUA STRESSS! But yay! We chose our wedding outfits!

4 months to go and somehow, I feel like there’s so many things undone for my wedding. I have gotten a new job and started work about a week or so ago. Or maybe 2 weeks? I don’t know. I have lost track of time what with all the rush to tender my resignation(1 week notice k) and the daily bangun pegi keje – balik terus tidur routine. What with my aunt nagging about how messy my room is and how much it stinks of cigarettes. I am so tired after work. I wake up, shower, get dressed, go to work, come back home, shower, sleep, repeat. My weekends are spent sleeping in and only waking up to do the laundry, eat, sleep. Past few months were hell at my old workplace and I was pretty emotional about leaving the place(I didn’t expect I’ll be leaving in a week’s time k. I informed my new employer that 1 month’s notice is required to which they initially agreed. Then suddenly tell me they want me to give 1 week’s and are willing to pay for the short notice.) I really didn’t do anything for my wedding and I didn’t think much about it either.

Argh! Ok anyways..

Thankfully my new colleague asked me if I have chose my outfit and done this, that..

I quickly called Abg Adam from Lamaison to ask when we can drop by to choose. Then he said to come on Friday, which is today. After a whole day of drama from my dad who didn’t let me use his car to drive to Changi(Jurong to Changi is damn far k..I’ll be spending $60+ for taxi trip to and back), I asked my dear friend who is also the official wedding car driver to help. 

Initially, we wanted the following outfits:

Nikah: White Baju Kurung
Sanding: 1) Yellow Songket
               2) Traditional Black Javanese 
               3) Red or Black Japanese

I also saw a white baju kurung on Lamaison’s facebook page and asked Abg Adam to reserve it for me.

When we reached Lamaison, there were plenty of their latest designs showcased on mannequins and in their catalogue. I first saw the white baju kurung I got Abg Adam to reserve. It was really nice..modern baju kurung. Since I went to the ladies prior to entering the showroom, my fiance and my friend went in first. So they were telling me this is nice, that is nice.. Abd Adam passed us Lamaison’s catalogue after which, at the exact same time, my fiance and I showed each other this page with a photo of a black and silver songket outfit. At that instance, we both knew that is the songket oufit we want.

So Yellow Songket is now Black and Silver Songket.

Next, Abg Adam showed us a black colored velvet traditional Javanese outfit. It’s really pretty with a nice long tail. That was pretty straight forward so we chose. 

So traditional Javanese outfit, checked.

I enquired about the Japanese outfit but sadly, the outfit is still being made. I got the feeling that Abg Adam got the outfit specially made cos we want it for our wedding. Therefore, we can only see it sometime in April or Early May.

Basically all outfits settled right? Wrong! Abg Adam had to show me this beautiful ALL BLACK kebaya after saying “Adik, I’m sure you will love this. Since you suke black colour kan”. AKU TEROS FALL IN LOVE LAAAAA! I was so tak tentu arah when I saw that baju cos we could only choose 4! Abg Adam then said, “Adik, almost all your outfits are black in colour. Why not you pakai ni for your nikah instead? We can make it black and red. You can wear red inside and wear a red veil. Then you(to my tunang) can wear a plain baju kurung with a red tanjak and red samping.”

My friend went “What? Baju kau suemua hitam seh aku just realise”

My tunang went “Kata nak pakai putih untuk nikah?”

And I went “But I love it. Can we wear black for nikah? Please pleaseeee”

So I got it. Bahahhha.. Thus, my White Baju Kurung for Nikah is now a Black Kebaya.

I really didn’t expect this to happen la; all outfits to be black. But what to do? Only the black ones caught our eye(s). I guess we are not able to have a black wedding after all cos if my pelamin is black and my baju is black like wth right. A white wedding it is, then. 

Anyways, if you wanna have a look at Lamaison’s page, click here.