27 February 2017

#lokmanzulaikha

**This is a long ass post written hurriedly so pardon the grammar and structure lah! Will proofread later laterrrr.

Tbh, this is the 4th attempt to write about my wedding experience. Basically this post has been edited since March 2016 and then in May, September and finally February 2017. Lol.

[VIDEO & SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE END OF THIS POST]

Anyway, on December 2015, I got married to my best friend of more than a decade (honestly, we don't know the exact number but we have been friends since 2004 so you do the maths). This fella, Lokman, was my classmate in 2004 - a small boy with spectacles looking kinda nerdy sitting in the middle of the class - and again for few months in 2007 before I moved out of SEMASHUR. 

Let's skip all the boring parts and go straight to the wedding because if I were to tell every little tiny detail of how the friendship-relationship develops, I WILL NEVER GET TO POST ABOUT THE WEDDING. And Hawa will be like, will you ever post about your wedding or even your Europe trip and blablabla. Btw, I did my post on Europe trip already.

NIKAH CEREMONY

Okay so we got married in a small ceremony that took place at the mosque near my parents' house - Surau Al-Furqan, Presint 11, Putrajaya.

If there is one ultimate advice I should give to all future brides and grooms, I'd say AVOID BEING SICK BEFORE YOUR BIG DAY. I caught a fever the day before my wedding day and it was horrendous, I just wanted to lie down throughout the ceremony and go to sleep. I remember when the jurunikah was giving the khutbah nikah, I frequently thought of going to the back of the praying area and lie down while he presented his khutbah. Hahaha not bloody likely of course, I was the bride!

Anyway, that morning of 19th December 2015 at around 9.00AM, we tied the knot! Here are the photos:

Lokman, looking as sharp as everrr with this expensive kain songket for samping.
Lokman's baju Melayu was bought at Jakel during Aidiladha sale, I think, and it was presented to him during engagement ceremony held two months prior to this wedding. The sampin songket was bought from Terengganu when he had his job training there. The songket was damn expensive in my POV but everyone said that that's the average price for a good songket. Hahaha, I never knewww.

Me, signing some forms.
My nikah dress was a hand-me down from Auntie Farah since she doesn't have a daughter. Tbh, I feel so touched with her decision to let me wear and keep the dress. The dress suited me well, I didn't even have to alter it! My veil, however, was borrowed from my bridal team. And my make-up was done by Eja Ibrahim - my ex-schoolmate/housemate who is now an excellent makeup artist.

Me being uncomfortable due to my medicines (lol) 

For future brides, I would really recommend to hire her as your makeup artist not because she is my friend but because she is THE MOST punctual person I have ever known. It is very important to have a punctual MUA especially if your event is time-wise strict and I've been to few wedding ceremonies that had to be delayed because their MUAs weren't punctual. My nikah ceremony was to begin at 9AM but Eja arrived at my house around 5.30AM that morning. We started my makeup at 6.30AM and finished by 8.30AM just in time for me to get dressed.

Lokman reciting doa after the akad (refer video)

After the akad, we exchanged jewelries and this is Lokman fetching my necklace.
My choice of jewelry was actually criticized several times because I chose necklace instead of commonly selected ring or bracelet. Personally, I don't wear jewelries most of the time so I fear if I put thousand bucks worth of jewelry on my hand, I might lose it. Therefore, I insisted that to have necklace instead. Besides, Lokman's first present for me back at school was a silver necklace so it seemed sentimental for me to request for white gold necklace with green silver pendant (I couldn't find jade pendant) for my wedding.

After several discussions and arguments from all sides, I got to choose this one myself. Most people in the end just concluded with -- let the bride have her way. Hehehehe.

Silver ring for him

I didn't cry throughout the akad but my mother did and towards the end, I CRIED TOOO :(
Forget me incessantly crying not at the right time (lol) but pay attention to my henna. Hahahaha, the henna was placed by my girl friends who slept over at my place the night before. I was battling with fever so I just lied on my bed the whole night with this girls fixing henna for me. Since it was 2AM, I told them it might be too late to have flowery henna so let's just put them at the tip of my fingers. They did it around my bed while gossiping and I just listened to them while I closed my eyes to rest. We gossiped far too long to wait for the henna to dry and when I cleaned them, the henna was actually black henna! It was really black and dark that night! Lol, so the girls tried to soothe the colour with wet wipes and well... it didn't work much. So there we have it! Kahkahkah.

These are the hantarans.
I self-decorated the hantarans in green because, let's face it, it's not that hard. I learned how to decorate them for engagement ceremony with Tiq's mother. So I decided to do the nikah ones on my own except for the sirih junjung  - that's just way out of my ability, lol. 

How did I do it? Well, I borrowed the white trays from Nur, my ex-schoolmate/housemate since she bought those nine trays for her wedding. Then I reused the sponge bases bought from engagement ceremony and covered them with cheap green satin. I wrapped the outer side of the trays with thick ribbon bought from an art store, sealed them with tape (lol) and covered with gold ribbons also from art store. The white, cream and green flowers were bought at bridal decor shops for cheap prices and pinned down using needle pins. And, tadaaaa, there we have it!

All of the items were self-bought by me and Lokman except for the fruit in red basket sponsored by Uncle Nan, the green cake sponsored by Auntie Zah and Uncle Lan, the box of cookies from my mother and sirih junjung from Tiq's mother. I am not so sure about Lokman's side but the peach trays were decorated by his cousins, Dayana and Dalina. Of course, they did their job soooo much better than me.

BRIDE'S RECEPTION

Later, the reception took place at my mom's school hall which was cute and highly convenient, in my opinion. Cute because it's a school hall! And convenient because it is near our house thus it was easily manageable.

My dad insisted we hold the reception at the school hall because it is economical and distance relevant. We rented it with the rate of staff's price since my mother teaches there. Lol. I really didn't mind for as long as we have a place to gather and be merry!


The pelamin by Persona Fiza Bridal
I selected my bridal team myself. I found Persona Fiza Bridal on Facebook and immediately contacted them because their packages, designs and location are relevant my reception. The package I chose costed RM2500 including the pelamin, make-up and reception dress. She also lent me a veil for my nikah dress and round pillows for my nikah ceremony. 

The theme for the whole thing was gold and green but I wasn't really strict with colour choices, tbh. I came up with the colour theme because people kept asking me... so there we have it. 

The doorgifts
The doorgifts were personally packed by my family and friends of family. I think there were about 1000+ in total. My Uncle Nan sponsored the paperbag and I honestly think they are really cute. There are M&M cookies by Akid Cookies - packed and managed by cousin, Abang Khairil - inside the paperbags. The small boxes on the right are the cases for boiled eggs - the cases sponsored by my dad's friend and the eggs were boiled by our caterer (also dad's friend).

Basic layout of the hall
We rented the tables and hall decorations plus a tent for RM1500. Since this is a school hall, the venue is not specifically made for weddings so they didn't have the right furniture. My dad made sure the colour suited the theme and my mom brought out the red carpet from the school store. The furniture renter also bought a new pair of gold chair so really the high chairs were still covered with plastics on the day before. Hahaha. Tbh, my parents set a lot of things for the venue in the end because the wedding was on the weekend of my final week of the semester -- IMAGINE THE MADNESS OF MY SCHEDULE. And on the Friday right before the nikah ceremony next morning, I caught a fever. Lol.

Gettin' readyyy
Our photographer was Lokman's friend from university. His team, The Creatigraphi, gave us a pretty good deal - RM2xxx for photos from three events (nikah, sanding & tandang) and videos from two events (nikah & sanding). Besides the team got to attend as guests too! Also, personally I felt a lot better having personal acquaintances to capture our wedding photos.

Makan beradab! And suap menyuap lah ofc
Funny story: I didn't get to finish the large shrimp served for makan beradab. I like shrimps and was sulking about not being able to eat them. My Makcak saw me and so she collected the shrimps and placed them in tissues. She handed them to my sisters so I can have them later! Hahaha!

Cake cutting ceremony
The cake was sponsored by my Auntie Farah. She made and brought it herself. I just told her that she could do any type of cake she wanted as long as it is chocolate! Because let's face it, the bride loves chocolate as much as she loves her husband. Duh.

Our pengapits and us
An and Tiq became our pengapits for the day. Both of them were our college roommates (An is Lokman's & Tiq's mine). Of course, An's involvement with our friendship went far back since school. Anyway we decided the let them choose the colour of their dresses for the ceremony and they chose that colour because Tiq likes blue and An wanted to tailor-made a new pair of baju Melayu. So ok lah. Thinking back, I allowed a lot of people to decide for my wedding huh.

I know I said NO to acara merenjis. I insisted that everything is kept simple and within the given budget. In fact, I didn't hire kompang group and just let the music play on speaker followed by selawat to accompany our red carpet walk.

Photobooth print from Jom Photobooth team
I didn't think my budget could fit to hire a photobooth team but my family seemed to be very interested with the idea. I worked my ass off to find a good deal and at that time Jom Photobooth offered a year-end sale or something so I sealed the deal with them - RM1500 for 3 hours unlimited print. My family - uncles, aunts, cousins and siblings - truly deserve this for helping my parents out honestly.

The design for photobooth film strip was adapted from our wedding card invitations designed by Purdy Studio. We really like the design but their service was a little slow and delayed to the point I almost gave up and offered to print on my own. Despite all the trouble, we managed to collect all the ordered items in the end. 

One of many shots from outdoor photoshoot
Outdoor photoshoot was a wee bit awkward tbh because we have never publicly displayed our physical affection. We think photographers play a huge role to allow us to feel comfortable with one another or come up with ideas to portray good relationship without touching one another. Anyway, this photo up here was just candid at first since we were waiting for our photographer team to set up. 

Overall, we spent RM10k +/- for bride's reception excluding food. My dad agreed to pay only for the food because my parents' guests amounted more than mine. Also, my parents got to choose the menu so I handed them total control of food and catering selection. Plus, they also requested for the extra food like char kuey teow, cendol etc which they can afford themselves so ok lah. There were RM2k +/- balance from the wang hantaran for my personal use and I gave all the duit kaut/salam to my parents because they deserve it. Besides, I got to keep all the wedding presents too!


GROOM'S MATERNAL RECEPTION

The very next day was the second reception of Lokman's maternal side was held at Puri Buana Garden Wedding in Bangi.

Tbh, it was really tiring especially with all the fever going on. We arrived at the venue around 10.00AM to see Lokman's family hustling in and out with caterers and others. Our MUA from Wedding Galore had been waiting for us to get ready for the makeup and dresses.

The pelamin by Wedding Galore

Pelamin design selected by my MIL that costed quite a fortune...

The doorgifts
My MIL insisted to pack the doorgift on their own so Lokman and his cousins spent weeks to get all the nuts in these jars. Hahaha Lokman suggested to his mother to just purchase pre-packed nuts in jars but my MIL wanted to have control over the quality of their doorgift. Since she offered to pay half for it, Lokman decided to give in and they packed the nuts by themselves. But I think they really did excellent job! The stickers were designed by Purdy Studio, standardized with Lokman's side of wedding invitation card design.

Table setting for makan beradab by Nurul Izzah Catering
Again, the catering was personally chosen by my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law(?). They chose Nurul Izzah catering and the makan beradab table set up was designed by the caterer themselves. I don't remember the food that they served to guests because tbh I didn't play much role in vendor selection for Lokman's side. I remember saying, "I don't mind. Anything that makes everybody happy." Really, because I have had enough in my hands with all the assignments and test due that week.

The same photobooth from bridal's side

Sample of photo strip - design adapted from our invitation card

Walking and sweating nervously lol
Nuzul was Lokman's pengapit for this side because, well, they've been friends since primary school. Hawa became my pengapit for this one because I remembered she said she wanted to be my pengapit one time during dinner yearssss ago. And I said, okay because she is really helpful and resourceful most of the time.

What's with the face, Lokman?

Ma face at the sight of three-tiered cake l
Probably the most mysterious cake ever because everyone realized the disappearance of this three-tiered cake that night at my MIL's house after dinner. Lol. Someone asked, "eh, who took the cakes?" and NOBODY knew. Well, apparently only Lokman and I got to taste the chocolatey goodness during cake-cutting ceremony. With just two bites, who knows who got the rest of it? We still talk about this mysteriously-missing cake up until today. Hahaha.

Details of the rented songket dress

Lokman's attempt at fixing my tudung

Outdoor photoshoot... again
At the end of the weekend, we were extremely exhausted. The outdoor photoshoot wrapped up the whole weekend event and we really tried to give our best for the shoots. I whined mostly to Lokman about wanting to sit and lie down. For someone who isn't used to wearing high platform shoes, my feet were really in pain. However, all in all, I was surely happy with the photoshoot results -- thanks to the patience from Lokman and our photographer. Hahaha.

GROOM'S PATERNAL RECEPTION

Finally, the reception for Lokman's paternal side was a simple dinner at Best Western Hotel in i-City, Shah Alam. It was held on the very following weekend on Boxing Day 26th December 2015 at night.

Again, Lokman's father and his stepmother had total control of the selection for this side of the event. As bride and groom, we really let people have their way especially if they are paying. Hehehe. But of course, everyone tried to inform whatever decision they made so we'd feel comfortable at our own celebration.

Outdoor layout of the venue

Pulut kuning instead of cake!

Doorgift for kids

Lokman replying to incoming guests LOL

Getting ready for family photos

Outdoor photoshoot with i-City as background --

My dress was designed by my cousin, Izrin Izelan!
Overall, yes we did have multiple receptions aka celebrations. Of course, it was tiring but it was all good fun. Personally, I feel really lucky and undeserving throughout all the events. Everyone had been very excited and cooperative in celebrating our marriage. I get to be the bride at wedding receptions held at school hall, garden wedding and hotel too! I mean, it was really great to experience all these despite my health condition that week. 

I thank every single soul who had participated and contributed to our wedding ceremonies. Here's a video from the nikah ceremony and bride's reception:


Did we enjoy it? YES, definitely.
Will we miss being bride and groom? NOT REALLY. We decided that we are glad it happened once and happier to attend other people's wedding than plan our own.

To sum it up, here are the services (with links!) involved throughout the events:

NIKAH
Venue: Surau Al-Furqan, Presint 11
Dress: (Sponsored) Auntie Farah
Makeup: Eja Ibrahim

RECEPTION (CYBERJAYA)
Venue: Dewan Perdana Puteri, SSP
Pelamin & dress: Persona Fiza Bridal
Photographer/Videographer: The Creatigraphi
Cake: (Sponsored) Auntie Farah
Doorgifts: Akid Cookies
Invitation cards: Purdy Studio
Photobooth: Jom Photobooth
Caterer: Tok Ayah Catering

RECEPTION (BANGI)
Pelamin & dress: Weddings Galore
Makeup: Weddings Galore
Photographer: The Creatigraphi
Invitation cards: Purdy Studio
Photobooth: Jom Photobooth

RECEPTION (SHAH ALAM)
Venue: Best Western Hotel, I-City
Bride's Dress: Izrin Izelan
Makeup: Fatin Hilmi
Photographer: Ideo Imaging
Invitation cards: Purdy Studio
Caterer: The View Cafe



To wrap this super long post, I'd like to announce that I was in rush at writing and publishing this post because a new chapter is coming into our life whereby...

A post shared by Zulaikha I. (@juraikha) on

...YASSSS, LOKMAN JUNIOR IS ARRIVING IN FEW MONTHS!
Toodles, folks! Until the next post!

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