Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The wedding series - chapter 1

yay! pass thesis, boleh kawennn!!

Hi peeps, I went for my thesis Viva Voce last Tuesday.... and I passed!!!! I'm graduating my Masters this October!!! Woohoooooo!!!!! And most importantly..... haha... green light from the powers that be (my mom, hehe) to start on my wedding plans... yahoooo!!!!

Well, I can't say I haven't started planning, I always start with a mindmap... haha, yes of course. And beforehand, I bought this little notebook from ikea that fits inside my handbag to jot down every detail, plans, sketches, checklists and BUDGET. Yes children... how i plan my designs as a designer is how i plan my wedding.

Mindmap - What? Why? Who? When? Where? HOW?
The rest is obvious but "HOW?" is my favourite question. And as I always teach my students, answer this question with keywords. Basic ideas and concepts. So for my wedding, my keywords are COST EFFECTIVE, FUSS FREE (EFFICIENT), HAPPY, CHIC, VINTAGE. Why? because I don't want to be extravagant and burden my parents and my future husband. Because marriage is not just about the wedding, what's most important is the Nikah, everything else is secondary or not at all. So that means, decisions will be prompt and primarily based on the budget. Plus, I'm getting married in July. That is just 10 weeks away. TADAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

my mindmap in my notebook

So, based on that framework, I start on the next step, research.

Research - references, examples, visual cues.
Hmm... what a joy it is to get married in the digital age, haha. The internet, my dear, is a human's best friend. After searching through trash, in both languages, i finally found 2 websites that are absolutely delightful to source for wedding ideas.

http://www.projectwedding.com/
http://www.stylemepretty.com/

yes, both are website orang putih. But the local ones like syokkahwin.com and pengantin.com are just, well, tacky to me. Not to mention, lousy loading time, horrid interface and just plain bad taste. Anyway, being the fruit that comes forth from the loins of Abdul Muis and Maimunah Nazarene, we are all 'perasan orang putih' with suppressed Malay genes. Haha, taraaaaa!!!!

So well of course, when doing research, I do it from top down, so yeah, if money was no option, my wedding planner and wedding dress would be Rizalman, my pelamin would be Nas Great Ideas, my photographer would be Saiful Nang, my venue would be Pulau Redang and the favors would be Godiva chocolates and each guest would bring home a flat screen tv while we're at it.

But I'm a designer and if I had it my way, I'd customize everything. haha. If I had my way. This part, the suppressed Malay genes become unsuppressed and yes people, it is not my wedding, it is MY PARENTS. By that I mean, the decisions will adhere to their wishes and whims of course. I am a good daughter haha, and I love my parents, they rock.

So I start collecting pictures for references and compile it all in what we call an 'inspiration board'. So dears, here's mine...

i like purple, yes i do. texture, feel, style, pattern, typo...

The colour is purple, deep purple, magenta, burgundy, aubergine, violet, mauve... blablabla... basically the colour of berries. with hints of antique gold, silver and a tad bit of cyan. There's an air of mystery, fantasy, dreamy, whimsical ....


And this is my inspiration board for dress and makeup. charming.chic.vintage

But of course, it is an inspiration board, just a reference. there are bound to be changes of course.

And the shopping begins.

The rings for the merisik and meminang are bought earlier with Izham's Mum, Pn Zaiton at her friend's shop in Shah Alam Mall's Dyana Jewels. Connections, connections. We got 2 rings one for merisik and one for tunang at a good price. I'm not that fussy. Although i was eyeing this ring that looked like lace, it wasn't in the budget, so we got a different one instead. Woohoo.... this was pretty exciting for both me and Izham. Giddy giddy.

Last weekend, yes, right after I finish my thesis presentation, I prepared for another presentation at home haha. I printed out checklists, guest list forms, budget proposal, hantaran options blablabla... but remember dears, it is just a proposal, to show that you did do some groundwork meaning you didn't leave it all up to your parents. It is a gesture you must remember. BUT at the same time, do not make it look like you are doing everything by yourself and that you do not need their help at all. Its like this, be prepared, they want to see you are serious about this, and propose the budget is YOURS. Do not ASSUME that they will pay for it, only if they offer to, do not ask for it, you'll start off on the wrong foot if you do. Don't lie though, really have the money ready. I mean really.

My budget

Show options. More than one. Then let my parents decide.

So last Saturday, we went shopping for fabric tunang, nikah and reception. Went to Gulati's Jalan Tunku Abd Rahman. RM160-200 per metre? Too expensive. Kamdar, ahah!! yes, RM29 per metre, lovely. Consider this, fabric, with lining and for Izham's baju melayu, that is 4 pasang baju, 25 metres of fabric. total = RM423. Remember sayang, that is just fabric, consider also, tailoring services.

The next day, on Sunday, we went straight to the tailors and sent everything, this is Bkt Sentosa, Rawang. Roughly 3 pasang baju, RM500.

3 Dresses and 1 baju Melayu total (tunang, nikah, reception) : RM923

Lovely.

For the recption, I'm wearing a dress inspire by my mother's wedding dress that was made by my grandma. besides, empire dresses are more suitable for apple shaped brides, hahah. yes anak2 murid, there is a reason behind every design.

my parents wedding pic, hehe.

Date and itinerary confirmation.

Engagement : 10 May 2009
Lunch time, guests roughly 40 (both sides), close friends and family. Rombongan meminang includes my Dean, my professors and my deputy dean. Haha, yesss, I am getting married to my colleague who also happens to be the son of my professor. Ironic? you tell me. My aunty is cooking lauk kampung. hantaran 5 balas 7. Mostly food and Nikah things, and of course, the Sirih. Theme: burgundy

Nikah : 4 July 2009
Morning or lepas Zohor. Venue: at home. My Bapak will do the solemnisation. Hantaran 7 balas 9. Theme: white purple

Reception Irina: 4 July 2009
Dinner lepas maghrib. Venue: The hall beside my Mom's school. No sanding. Just sit down and eat, heheh. Oh, and my dad's giving a speech! Theme: deep Purple gold

Reception Izham: 5 July 2009 (my birthday!)
Venue: Izham's house in Seksyen 6 Shah Alam. Theme: Dark Blue & Silver.

Our photographers are our very own students. Didn't I tell you being a lecturer rocks? And I'll design my own card of course. And my hantarans as well with the help of family and friends. Everything else, my parents, especially my Bapak is super excited to plan so I'll leave it up to them and try to assist as much as I can. I sincerely hope and pray that everything will happen smoothly and as easily as possible with the goal of getting our families closer and mendapat keberkatan, Insya Allah. Ameeeenn.

bridezilla freaking out

So peeps, save the date! This is a 10 week countdown to THE DAY. This weekend we'll be preparing the hantaran for the engagement. And filling up all the forms and paperwork as well.

I thank God for my very supportive family especially my ever lovely parents, for their prayers, love and attention. My siblings and in laws who are so eager to help out. My friends who are pretty excited but sad at the same time, i love you girls. My colleagues, thanks for setting us up, haha, and my comel sayangs, my students who are very2 notty but lovable, thank you so much.

Izham's family who made me feel welcomed, are really cool and helped me to finish my thesis, haha, Alhamdulillah, I'm happy we'll be family soon.

Yayang, I never imagined when I met you last august that we will be married in less than a year after that. I didn't know that my last birthday and hari raya would be my last as a single woman, haha. I am very happy that you are the one that God has chosen for me. For all that you are, your flaws and your strengths, thank you for loving me for all my flaws and strengths. Thank you for being able to see beauty in all my imperfections, and for that I love you and look forward to spend my life with you dalam senang dan susah. I know life wont be easy, but having you gives me the assurance that we will try our best. Insya Allah. Ameeeeen.


God Almighty. Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, La Ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I'd rather


I'd rather look for ideas for my wedding dress than look for citation on who said what.

I'd rather daydream about the nikah and reception than visualize my Q&A session with the panel for my Viva.

I'd rather go shop for barang hantaran than setting margins and spacing between my paragraphs.

I'd rather think of colour combinations for flowers than numbering the figures and charts.

I'd rather plan for how our house will look like than writing my bibliography.

I'd rather research for bridal hairstyles than putting in page numbers.

I'd rather go look for wedding favors than doing my powerpoint presentation.

I'd rather do a colour theme & moodboard collage than preparing my A2 poster for the presentation.

I'd rather look for fabric for the wedding dress than fix my prototype.

I'd rather buy curtains and bedsheets for my new home than print my thesis in hardcover.

I'd rather lepak with my future hubby and watch TV than sit beside him writing out abbreviations on my computer.

I'd rather plan my wedding and life after marriage than facing off the assessors to defend my research.

But I cant start to even think about the wedding until after Viva. So lets get this over and done with.

Sayang, i love you too. waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh..... tsk tsk... sob sob..... yayang tolong buat thesis i boleh? and come in for my Viva and beat the crap out of the panel who dares to interfere, muahahaahahhahaaa!!!!

Mak, nak kawenn... tanak buat thesis dah.... uhuk uhuk..