The "Perfect" Wedding + planning tips!

Assalamualaikum and hi everybody, I am officially a Mrs now! hehehhehe it is such a wonderful feeling, being married to the man you love. After all the planning and the stress, it is finally over. I will definitely say that i miss being a bride and i would definitely do it again - only if it doesn't cost a fortune! Lol. Today i'm just going to write about a few things i learned about the "perfect" wedding. Every girl I know has that perfect picture on how their wedding is gonna look like, whether it is realistic or not, it doesn't really matter. Once you're really planning it then you'll know what kind of wedding you're gonna have, because honestly, weddings are ~really~ expensive. I really do feel that even if you have some extra cash to spend, and you feel like you only need it "just because", you don't really have to spend a lot on your wedding. But some crucial things like the pelamin and dress, even if its just for the day, i totally understand the need to have the perfect dress and pelamin (for me) bcs thats where you'll be most photographed at! I know, with all thats going on social media, the thought of having an insta worthy wedding will definitely cross your mind. Lets be real here girls.  

Some tips from me,

1) Before anything, know what you really want girls. 

What color palette? - 2nd most important thing 

What kind of wedding dress? 

What is your budget? (the most important thing) 

Have everything in order, then only proceed to planning stuffs. Anything that doesn't fit in your budget or your colour palette goes. I mean it. Because there are gazillion choices of things that you have to make, and if you cant make up your mind initially, its easy to drown yourself in all of the wedding things. Plus, its easier to have a theme so that everything will look nice and complement each other.

2) Another point in the know-what-you-really-want tip is that, if you're particular like me, know what kind of shots you want the photographer/videographer to take. For my event, I already have a list of shots that I want, and also the flow of my nikah video, even the song! Haha. Sometimes i feel like it makes you more satisfied with the results rather than just waiting for it from the photographer/videographer. Plus I think they are more than glad to have some input from their client on what kind of results they are expected to deliver. The only shot i didnt get was the bukak langsir shot hahahha

Check out my same-day-edit nikah video, done by my awesome videographer --> @the.azpf on instagram

Solemnization // Fazlan & Alhana from the.azpf on Vimeo.

3) Ditch the wedding cake. Crazy right? I feel that way too. But after being let down by my cake (it was different than what i ordered, and it was so so sooo dry) i feel like it was not worth it. Unless your venue or your wedding planner doesn't provide a dummy cake, i'd suggest you just forgo the wedding cake and just use the dummy. I know they often look tacky but i promise you you wont even care on that day! Just have a normal cake (that you know tastes good) as your hantaran and eat it later that night. You'll thank me later. Plus like i said, everything wedding related is expensive so if you insist of having one, be prepared to fork out atleast RM 600 for a multi tiered cake - and if you can, have a taste test first. I didn't, so that was on me. 

4) Taking a page from my mum's wedding planning here - make a list. of EVERYTHING. This is crucial girls. This is not just a checklist of things to do months before the wedding, it is the guest list, budget list, things to buy list, and also things to bring on the day of wedding list. My mother, she is the master of lists. And even with a super organized mother like her, some of us (read: me) still forgot to bring this one list during my reception. Hehe sorry Ma! so better be safe than sorry! 

5) My sister was honestly surprised that i had time to eat on the day of my Nikah. I often hear brides saying that oh you won't really eat on the day etc. but that wasnt me. I NEED to eat. Lol. So yes, brides, please do not starve yourself. There's nothing to lose anyway. Just keep a spare lipstick with you for touching up afterwards. I even regretted not eating my fruit platter during my reception bcs i was busy doing god knows what. But on my nikah day, I genuinely enjoyed the food bcs I was looking forward to it even before the event. Lol but yes, there is no shame in taking some time to eat as a bride. You'll need that extra energy to smile for the rest of the day anyways.

6) On your nikah day, wear white. This is a no brainer.

7) To save extra, have your nikah at a masjid. This way, you won't have to spend on pelamin and also khemah. You'll save loads. At first my plan was to nikah at Masjid Wilayah, but again, because i was late to book, the eating hall was fully booked. The nikah room was available to use but my mum wanted a proper place for the guests to eat. It is such a hassle to nikah at the masjid and to come home and eat eventho the masjid is not so far from my place. So we ended up doing it at home. I've always wanted to do it at home, but it is way easier to do it at the masjid (read: mess-free house!) but then we ended up still doing it at home. Alhamdulillah, my dream did come true. Although we could save a few thousand ringgits by having it at the masjid, is it not recommended actually due to some girls might be on their period and stuffs, so yeah. But we ended up going back to the masjid for the photoshoot after the nikah! Lol

8) You can always find some service at a great quality but with a lower price. Lol coming from me, i spend days scrolling through instagram to find that perfect makeup, henna and pelamin person at a slightly lower price but with quality results. But then again one of the reasons why i searched high and low for a lower price was bcs the makeup person that i wanted was already booked on my date. I was ready to spend up to RM 750 for one makeup session lol but alhamdulillah i ended up with a great MUA at a better price. Better yet, get a famous MUA to be your friend so that you can get a "friend" price from them! Haha. I had three different MUAs for my 3 events. I didn't really want this but the MUA that i wanted wasn't available for both of my events so i had to hire a different one for my reception. Even from the start I wanted 2 different MUAs, one for nikah and reception, another for bertandang. I even had another re makeup session from the same MUA on the day of my reception for my photoshoot. 

Tip: some MUA give extra discount if you book more than one event so book wisely!  

Another tip: Hire people that are near to you so you won't have to pay extra for transport! I made a mistake on this for my hantaran person. I had to pay quite alot for the transport. That doesn't include the time i had to go all the way to send my hantaran stuffs. But it ended up being super close to my husband's house while his hantaran person lives near to my house. Hehe alhamdulillah on how things work out perfectly in the end.

9) Another thing that I value most during my wedding is the music. I absolutely adore my wedding playlist! Haha this may be masuk bakul angkat sendiri but it’s the little things that made my event special and a little bit more personal to me. Of course, I’ve had help on the songs but there were some songs that I had to have playing during my event and there were also some special songs catered to the specific moments during the event - walk song, cutting cake song, video slideshow song etc. My tip to you is to have something personal that makes the event more unforgettable to you and your guests. 

These are solely my recommendations, if you don't agree, then don't do it. Its as simple as that bcs every girl's dream is different. You might look at another girl's wedding dress and not like it but to her it is perfect. To each their own. Amirite?

All in all, despite some let down, I thoroughly enjoyed being a bride. I loved every single moment of it! I can safely say that I didn't have any major bridezilla moments & that I was a calm bride (quoted by my friends k! not self proclaimed :p) but I did have a mini tantrum when i saw my pelamin the morning of my reception. It was again, not exactly what i wanted. Even until now when I look at the pictures i cringed a bit, but it was done and all I could think of is how happy i was that day. Everything else was perfect. Thank you so much to everyone involved. My parents first and foremost, I couldn’t have done it without them. They are my biggest supporter and I love them so much even way before my husband came into the picture. My bridesmaids, my pengapit even my pregnant sister, everyone was super helpful during the event. I couldn't thank everyone enough. And to everyone who came that i couldn't meet and thank properly, thank you for coming and it was an honor to have you at my wedding! I on the other hand was the only one who contributed the least! Well except for preparing my own doorgift (with help) and actually being there on my wedding day of course lol

If any of you wants the wedding checklist, feel free to comment below with your email and i'll gladly email it to you! 

With all the love in the world,

Alhana

I'm Getting Married!

in exactly 54 days... you do the math.

OMG i can't believe it I'm actually getting wedding jitters right now. And its too late to change my mind (i mean even from the start its already too late cause yknow theres feelings involved LOL) but like yeah, this is really happening. It's real life guys. And for the past 6 months that I've been working (yes it has been that long) I've been doing mostly mundane stuff, nothing out of the ordinary, basic 830 AM to 530 PM jobs, 5 day work week and its really stressing me out sometimes. I'll tell you why in a bit. Lets get back to the part where I'm excited for my WEDDING YAY!

So basically i haven't really been updating anywhere or anyone about the details of my wedding preparation. I just have an excel sheet, some notes on my phone of all the never ending list of things to do and that's just it. I'll have a monthly update with the fiance on our progress just to make sure we have everything listed, and nothing gets left out you know. The last thing you wanna have on your wedding day is to go - wait where my ___? oh no. nope. not in my wedding preparation book. And plus, i have a suuuper organised mother, who takes care of things down to a T, yes i mean that. But then that also means less work for me cause she basically does half of the planning for me and I well, have just to go along with it. It is kinda exhausting but I stuck with it cause its gonna be my wedding anyway. Not that I didn't have any fun planning my wedding hehe but it was less stressful than I thought it would be. I don't really have any bridezilla moments (yet?) and the only time we're like even remotely close to fighting is just things relating to money. It really is a big issue since my mom is paying for like a huge chunk of my wedding. My power of authority only covers things that I'm paying for which includes gifts for the hubs, my solemnization dais and other teeny weeny stuffs. Lol. Theres more of stuffs that looks like I'm paying from my own pocket, but its also the same pocket that my mum fills in every month so... you get the idea. But really, it's not all bad, because the way i think of it is like the ceremony is hers to begin with. It's to celebrate me getting married as her daughter, not the other way around. I'm just happy that she's finally letting me go on an unsupervised trip with some guy she just knew after all of this is over. LOL

So yes, i'm basically super stoked that i finally get to marry the man of my dreams and head on to the next adventure of my life. Apart from that, remember all the things i said about being kinda stressed about work at times? Well the wedding plans has definitely helped with some of the stress, but I've really been thinking of venturing out to other ways to fill my time rather than aimlessly scrolling through social media just as a mean of "resting". I'm even thinking of starting my own YouTube channel! Wait for it, you might not know whats there to come. I really feel tired living this way, it really feels like i'm not living my best life. But I don't really have anything to complain about since I don't have to pay for rent and transportation but thats just how I feel. Hope that you guys don't take this the wrong way. Hehe

Well its almost 530PM (lol i'm blogging at work since i completed mine for the day) and its time to head home. Wish me luck guys! Until next time my dear readers, I love you all xxx

Alhana

Trois

Let me tell you three things about two diff subjects

1) Movies (yep, we're back to that topic, haha)

Remember that kid from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ? Well, he's all grown up now. And he's even cuter. Watched this already, and yeah it's a romantic movie, so expect no drama at all. Or maybe a little. Haha. Also starring Emma Roberts. And watching this, Im starting to wonder is there such a person like him? Weird, but very smart indeed. I like his dimple.

Who does not love the charming Ryan Gosling ? Im only halfway thru this one, so can't say much but it's def a love movie (my type of movie hihi). Also Starring Michelle Williams. (I love her current hair btw)

*Okay I just finished watching it. Just editing this post a lil bit. Super sad ending :'( I just wished that it could be different, and hope that it doesn't happen to me. Nauzubillah.*

It's everything you look for in a movie, thus deserving it's Oscar on Best Motion Picture. (claps) Shows the growth of the movies starting from the silent movie until what we see in cinemas today. I think it's a great reminder to the people nowadays about the origination of the film industry. And it's heartbreakingly beautiful at the same time. And a surprise at the end ;)

2) Weddings (love mode: ON :p)

I went to three weddings today. And all three of them had different colours, settings, food, and also gifts.

Colours - First one was red, (my mum was furious cause she wore the same colour, i thought it was a tad decent as you get to fit it just like i did at K.Yu's wedding hehe), 2nd one's my favourite, baby blue and pink ! Hihi. Altho the deco looks a bit kiddy, but the dais looks so pretty. The lights, the chairs, the flowers and all. Not to mention the bride and groom themselves. Awww. The 3rd one, it's grey. I didn't manage to look at the bride and groom, what more the dais, but the wedding is huge. They had like 7 canopies up for the event. I can't imagine why not, it's the first daughter who's getting married !

Settings - The first one, they did it in an open space, so there's ample of place for the guests to sit. But parking's always been a problem, for any event. Unless you do it in a hall or a hotel.  The 2nd one, they did it at their house, but they were smart to use up the space beside their house. What they did was they have a gate at the side of their house, and they open it up to make some extra space, taking up the side alley. Nice move. That way they don't have to put up the canopies up front. The third, it's actually my neighbour, so they took up all the space, but there's actually quite a lot since their house is a corner lot but yep, the parking problem again. Some even parked in front of our house. They did it at night so i guess it's okay to park in front of somebody's house. They all have one thing in common, the chair deco. Every single one of them had a piece of cloth tied to the chairs, according to the theme. I say, is that the only way to deco a chair during a wedding ? Hmm

Food - Two out of three served Nasi Hujan Panas - my favourite ! Hehe. Two out of three also served oranges. But the third's food was incredibly goooooood. The other two was okay :)

Gifts - Of course they will be different ! Haha. God knows what people nowadays have in mind. The first one gave sweets, cupcake and a porcelain cup. The second one gave a glass container filled with this sweet crunchy thing, i dunno what's it called, but it's good. Hehe. The third gave a cute trinket - as my mum said it. Go google it. And the sad part is, nobody actually give away eggs anymore. Sobs.

alhanasabrina