The Nikah Hantaran

This took me a long time for me to write. Really sorry for keeping you guys waiting.. Reason being, because of my crazy schedule mostly... and partly because my wedding subject kinda involved more details and a lot more pictures to share here! So after looking at the length of the details of my wedding, I decided to split them into few parts. So here's the hantaran part first. 

I don't know about you, but I think the exchanging hantarans are one of the most interesting part in a Malay wedding, that no bride should miss! I mean, everyone loves getting gifts right? At least I do! hehe. I love getting, anddddd giving them! (Remember this Santa Claus post? haha :p) So naturally buying the hantaran gifts for him has been such an exciting experience for me, being a shopaholic that I am! :p 

Okay..actually it was more like buying all gifts for myself! - Cuz I get to decide everything! haha. Well...actually I wanted to sort of "synchronize" our gifts. You know like same type or product or same brand or something like that to add in the cheesiness some more, cuz it's a wedding! haha. xD 

So my then-fiance-now-husband, gave me the privilege to choose whatever that I want for his trays from his side, and whatever I want to give him for my trays, because he's cool like that.  ^__^ 

Anyways.... so one month before the wedding, we went to Pavilion and Starhill malls to have a shopping spree trip in one day, to check off our hantaran list, and bought the for him and for her gifts together. Gosh...it was such fun times for me! 

For my non Malay/non Malaysian readers, hantarans are actually some tray of gifts from the groom in an odd number, which will be exchanged during the matrimonial ceremony. The gifts in the hantaran list are not fixed, although there are certain must-have items, like the daun sirih (betel leaves) and bunga rampai, a sweet-smelling mixture of daun pandan (screwpine leaves) that have been shredded thinly, mixed with some rose water and sprinkled with some jasmine flowers. This is like the signification of the Malay hantaran tradition, which until today...I still don't quite get it why do we have to have this in our hantaran list! haha.  I mean I could just replace the sweet-smelling tray with some bottles of toiletries or perfumes, right? You know...something practical and useful! hehe ;p

Anyway, the bride side will give back at least 2 more of the gifts/trays than the groom's side. So the number of trays could be from as little as 5-3, or 7-5, or 9-7, or 11-9, or 13-11 and more! The gifts are always in odd numbers, but there are no minimum or maximum total of gifts/trays that should be given from both parties. It's really entirely up to the couple/family to give how many and what are the choices of the gifts to be given. The hantaran will be decorated with ribbons, pearls, flowers and whatnot, following a colour theme of the respective families’ choice. 

The exchanging hantaran is not an obligatory custom, but it's our Malay wedding tradition, which I personally find it as one of the interesting parts in the ceremony! :) 

The Malays basically exchange the wedding gifts during the ceremony to foster good relations between the two bridal families. 

The Wedding Favors

2 weeks away from my blog. Wowww.. Hello everyone! o___O

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been sick these past couple of weeks. :( Back and forth to the clinic/hospital, and then when I was a bit better and free, I decided to use my free time to clean up my store room and clear out all my wedding stuff. It has been 5 months in there! - You know like all those extra items you bought for the wedding.. the "just in case they're not enough" kind of items? Like the invitation cards, the organza pouches or ribbons for the deco, or the door gift containers, etc etc? Yeah wedding could be such a waste of money if you don't calculate it precisely, right?! Any ex brides can relate to this? hehe xD

Well..in my case, we had four events, with five door gifts! So how confusing can that be? Haha. First event, was the Khatam Quran, which we gave each of our lovely guests a white fondant lace cupcake from Cake In Cups and a Turkish sejadah as the door gifts. Then the other three events, my parents decided to give the wedding favors from Fidani Chocolates all wrapped in three different boxes. One box is rectangle sized, one is round and another one is oval.. Just like the pictures below!

The rectangular box, for the Nikah Reception

The round box, for the Putrajaya Reception

And the oval one! From the Hilton Reception

So imagine how my parents had to think which chocolate (they're different in flavor/size/wrapper) goes to which box, that goes to which event and how many pieces of chocolates and how many guests at each event! haha. Confusing much? Yes, it was a bit complex at that time, so evidently my dad ended up ordering a lot more boxes than we actually need! LOL.

The chocolates from Fidani were so fine, they finished fast! But for the Khatam Quran event, we had a minor surplus of the sejadah though. Some guests didn't turn up, which is normal.. so I already gave them away to the mosque, as part of charity.

However, we have this one particular item that's left in the room still! And they're too many that we could throw another wedding! Not kidding! haha

It's this beautiful jewelry caskets (the silver oval shaped box) that we used during my reception at the Hilton hotel. I really don't know what to do with it, they're a lot! I already gave some of them away to my friends! But there's still a huge box in the store room now that I decided to sell them off! I'm sure many women would like to have these beautiful pieces! ;)

It would look nice on your guests table, no? ;)

Shot by one of the guests at my wedding, which I'm not sure who. 

(Please let me know who you are so I can credit your name. Got the picture from my wedding Whatsapp group, btw)

Anyways, this Silver Plated Jewelry Casket Box is now for sale! I need to clear these babies off! We still have a few hundreds of them. My dad over bought the caskets for my wedding. This wedding door gift that my parents bought were from Istanbul, Turkey. They purchased them at 30 Turkish Lira (about RM 45) each. They got it at a wholesale price because we ordered more than a thousand of them. So if you were to purchase them individually at a store, it might cost you about RM 100 over EACH! tskkk - Please view Etsy.com, or any other shops if you don't believe me! (I also saw one at Great Eastern Mall, they're selling it at RM 270 each!!)

They've been in my store room for 5 months now and I really need to get rid of them! So right now I'm only selling it at RM 20 per piece! Yes, stock clearance price!  - Price not including shipping though.

The shape is oval, and the thickness in its construction gives a heavy solid feel. The design has this amazing hand embossed and engraved decoration to all four sides and top of scrolling floral and foliate design, exquisite and finely detailed.

The top has a vacant cartouche in the centre which could be engraved with a name or dedication. Perfect for a vintage piece to be an heirloom! ;) The interior is lined with black velvet material giving you that posh feeling! It measures 10.5 cm long x 8 cm wide x 4 cm height. The casket is just so lovely in so many ways! You would love it! :)

Perfect and useful decor item for your vanity or bedroom! If you are interested to possess this beautiful vintage jewelry case for your own personal use or for the VIP wedding gifts, kindly please leave me an email at emailme@shazwanihamid.com.

Thank you and may you have a great day ahead! :)


XOXO,
Shazzy.

The Henna Night

I am never really the kind of girl who loves wearing henna. Even my friends thought I would have a nude nail color/French manicure for my wedding day, being a modern/city girl that I am. Well, they're wrong! Wearing henna is one of the pre-wedding preparations that I have always looking forward to do! Although the last time I wore henna when I was only 9, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna do the ritual of tattooing the hands and feet of the bride-to-be for the big day, right?! Cuz wearing henna is part of our tradition of getting married.. so of course I'm not gonna miss that moment! Lagipun, bila lagi kan nak conteng tangan? I know I wouldn't do it on any other day! Heee

The Khatam Quran Ceremony

So my Khatam Quran was held a day before I got married. We decided to have this ceremony quite at a last minute actually! Heck, we always make a decision about everything at a very last minute also! haha - Everyone seems to be very occupied with work for discussions, so....last minute planning is what would happen normally! -__-  

Anyways about 3 to 4 weeks before the wedding, mom finally decided to have this ceremony, since there weren't so many things to be prepared and arranged for the event. There were only about six things to plan to be exact; order the food, make the dress, book the photographer & videographer, call the PA system guy, and buy the door gifts for the guests. That's all! Cuz the pelamin/stage, carpets, tents, table settings and etc were already installed for the wedding. Hence it's obviously convenient to manage two things at the same time as the effort that we needed to do for both events was only once! So having this Khatam Quran ceremony was just like killing two birds with one stone! hehe. We set the date to be on the 13th of December 2013, on a Friday morning just a day before the wedding...

Here's the highlights/snippets of the event/majlis. Took by the d&d Studio, a professional videographer who used to work with LH Media. I love his video! (But the date in the video is wrong though! haha. Never mind, he already edited it and will give it to me soon. Thanks guys!)

The Hen Party

So 3 days before my wedding, my friends decided to throw another party for me! The Hen Party, or the Bachelorette Party as some people called it... as a symbolic gesture of the "last hurrah of fun" before a woman ties the knot! Well, I would say "it's a last chance to torture the bride-to-be" more like! haha.

Leen, my friend, loves planning and coordinating a party. She has been planning parties as a hobby for years! So she was the one who planned all of this! Together with my sister, and Fadd too. 

At first, I was quite unsure whether or not I should be attending the party, as the wedding was just around the corner! I already canceled one slumber party that my friends were supposed to throw for me on that Friday earlier, at Le Meridien Hotel , - because the timing was really really difficult for me! (I had food testing, fitting for the dresses, buying some last minute stuff, and etc. Everything happened back-to-back!) Sorry girls! T_T 

So initially I wanted to say no to this party as well, and decided to stay at home for a week before the wedding. After all, I already had two parties with the girls that two weeks before, The Spa Party and The Bridal Shower. But well...what can I say, I'm not the type that can stay in the house for a very long time! haha. Hence, I decided not to cancel this party, and just go out and join the girls that night! (Note: If you ever wanna go to a party that's just before your wedding, make sure to tell your mom and bring the sister too! Mom would definitely approve! ;p)

The Bachelorette Spa Party

A lot of planning goes into getting ready and prepared for a wedding, and a sensible bride should know that their beauty routines, should be ranked high on the priority list! - Right above floral arrangements and just below the reception hall reservations! hehe. I've got tons of special treatments needed to be done for my big day, blame it on the stress! So like any other bride, I needed the skin, the teeth, the nails, the legs, the hair (although I'm wearing hijab, but that doesn't mean I am entitled for having a bad hair day, no? I gotta ensure my husband thinks I have a beautiful hair! ;p), the body, and so on, are looking at their best! So for my wedding, I've been doing a lot of spa treatments in Indonesia, having made one of my wedding dresses there! - Kill two rats with one stone, ey? hehe. 

Although..I did cover most of the beauty essentials before my big day, somehow there are a few things I couldn't get my hands on it. Like my teeth for example. I was so busy running here and there, I missed my last appointment with my dentist to go get my teeth whitened! I got them cleaned, but I didn't get them whitened :( Well they're not that yellow..but you know, they're not perfect! I was supposed to get my teeth done and fixed (with filler), and whiten them on my last week before the wedding, but some things came up, I couldn't get them done! Sad. 

Oh man...I just wish my fave drink in the world, wouldn't stain my teeth so much! Ladies, don't drink coffee ever, if you wanna have a perfect  wedding  teeth! haha

And another thing that I didn't get to reach my goal was obviously my weight! I was 60 kg before, yes..obese. hahah. I wanted to be super skinny for my wedding. My target was 47 to 50 kg, but I only managed to get to lose 5 kg before the wedding. So 55 kg je lah yang mampu! tskkk - It's hard to lose like 15 kg in 3 months time, when your fiance always brings you out to makan! T___T 

Anyway, the other beauty treatments I did was pampering the skin, the hair and the body. I spent a lot of time in the spa place with my then-fiance-now-husband at the amazing Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa, Jakarta. Well I'm lucky to have a partner who loves going to the spa just as much as I do! Hence, going to Jakarta for plenty of times before the wedding has given me the privilege to enjoy luxurious spa treatments at their massage parlour to calm those pre-wedding jitters! I've been a bridezilla for a few weeks..so with all the amazing treatment in Taman Sari, has helped me to decompress and ease my pre-wedding tensions a little. I'd spent like 4 to 6 hours every time I go to Taman Sari. It's an amazing place!

The Bridal Shower

So my Bridal Shower was held on the 1st of December 2013, which was 2 weeks before my wedding! The beautiful party was held at the Orchid Conservatory Room in Majestic Hotel on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Ah, the place is so lovely!! Have you been there? If you haven't, you really should check it out! It's really gorgeous! Made me feel like I'm in a botanical garden or something! Perfect setting for an afternoon tea session! ^__^

The Sweet Moments

Hello sweethearts!

How are ya? It's been awhile ey. Heeee. Now I know this blog has been hiatus for quite some time.. Really sorrrrrreeeyyyy! Blame my marriage for this! hahaha :p Well I've been kinda busy since I got married - First, I celebrated almost the whole month of my wedding events in December, then I continued with almost 4 weeks of our honeymoon in January..Then comes February, which we traveled quite a lot, back and forth trying to fit in with the environment and everything to my parents house, to my in laws' and to our place. Then packing, unpacking, moving in, arranging stuff, shopping for the household items, cleaning the house and etc. And then, BAM! Another new month coming in! Oh hellowww March! O__o

Jeez...time flies so fast these days! I need more hours in my days! tsk.

So anyways, I just watched myself and the husband on Astro Ria for Raikan Cinta Season 3, Episode 2. And oh God...I just realized that I haven't really update this blog with my wedding entries! Super slow, I know! Ish. Sorry guys! I just didn't know where to start, really! Like the preparations/pre-wedding, then the wedding itself, then the honeymoon...and then, my current married life and everything else in between! Heeee. Banyak sangat benda nak tulis sampai otak jammed! LOL ;p

Lagipun, dah 2 months plus dah I kahwin! (Quite basi already, huh? hehe). We took quite a long holiday after the wedding (one month of traveling!), so my mood to blog on my wedding has shifted to the honeymoon instead! - But somehow it just doesn't feel right to be blogging about the honeymoon part, when you haven't even update your readers on the wedding itself! haha  -  Just so you know, we're STILL on our honeymoon phase! So that explains why lately I update this blog sporadically! ;p (It's hard to be so semangat to update this blog laa, when you're so busy being a good wife! :p)

But today, after watching us on TV - watching all the preparations and the wedding itself, I really miss being a bride again and planning a wedding! I remembered how nice it was... The decisions, the planning, the options, etc! Although wedding really is a stressful job actually.. But it will all be worth it! Cuz these are the moments that will stick with you forever. So cherish every minute of it! 

It's true what they say.. the sweet moments seem to pass VERY quickly on the day, so simply enjoy the entire day and every moment of your pre and post wedding! ;)

Anyways, I know this wedding entry of mine is obviously a SUPER long overdue post as I have been married for more than two months now! Heeeeee! I know many of my followers/readers have been waiting for me to write everything about my wedding entries in here - thank you for all the sweet emails/messages, you guys! Thus I'm gonna start sharing & posting them one by one now, starting with the first event that happened on December 2013, The Bridal Shower. I don't want to squeeze everything in here. So next would be the Bachelorette Spa Party, then the Hen Night, then the Khatam Quran, then next is Henna Night, the Akad Nikah, The Receptions and up to The Honeymoon! Oh, such fun times I had! ^__^


Okay, I will stop talking and start writing now...and publish it tomorrow! Promise! See ya! ;)

XOXO,
Shazzy.

Teaser

I just found my wedding video highlights. They're in my external hard disk drive, which somehow were stuck behind the bedhead and the bed apparently. -__- When you always change your place to sleep and travel here and there with your laptop everyday, you tend to lose your little belongings. ishh. Glad I didn't lost them! It'd be tragic if I did! >__<

Anyways, I have different videographer teams for my wedding. 4 to be exact.. All for different purposes/occasions. I'm glad that one of them was from the D&D Studio.  They're very professional, hardworking and great team, really! I would highly recommend them to anyone who's looking for a professional videographer with a VERY reasonable price! Will blog more on them soon! Below, was the teaser video that they took on one of my wedding events.

Update on them soon! They have such a great deal specially for my blog readers! ;)



XOXO,
Shazzy.

The Wedding Planner

So last two weeks was our final reception and our last day as bride and groom. I'm so glad everything is over now...So we both can start having a normal life again! hehe. I started planning my wedding after our engagement in July 2013. I had 4 months to plan everything. Well...actually it was only 3 months, because during Ramadhan last year, I didn't really do anything for my wedding works.. So yeah..I had 3 months to plan for 4 events. Quite a short period of time, ey? But alhamdullilah we managed to do things as planned. Anyways, my parents have given me the privilege to be my own wedding planner. My dad was the banker. My mom was the decider, and I'm the planner. Well, kinda like the researcher actually. hehe. So I did my research..my planning and my notes and everything else in between..all on my own :)

My mom was the one who inspired me to do a wedding book since she's an organized person herself. She has this one diary/organizer where she would jot down all her activities and her spending each and every day. Or even some Things To Do/Buy or something like that.. So when my parents have appointed me to plan my own wedding, I decided to have a Wedding Book of my own version! teehee..

At first, I thought of having a much simpler version of the book...but as time goes by, I realized...I needed to have a more detailed and organized book and file because wedding definitely is a big thing and I need to be well organized! Plus, planning your own wedding is half the fun of getting married to the man of your dreams! I mean...all the headaches, the researches, the shopping and etc are all part of realizing your dream wedding, no? So I want to remember all of this part. I'm a forgetful person most of the time. That's why I needed to document every step of the way and every choice I make, so that one day when I look back at my wedding pics, I remember why I wanted to have this vendor or that thing or something like that... I don't want to have a wedding ceremony without remembering or even knowing how or why I did that or chose certain things, and give that fun part to someone else to be the decider! After all, we're only gonna do it once (inshaallah), so of course you want it to be perfect...at least in your own eyes! (Note: I'm a perfectionist and a detailed person/I don't trust others opinion unless you're my mom or Victoria Beckham. lol. Kidding! :p )

The reason why I wanted to have a say in my own wedding is because when two of my sisters got married 7-8 years back, they didn't really know anything about their wedding except their wedding dresses, I think? All have been taken care by my parents and a wedding planner. I personally think that, that wasn't fun enough because I LOVE to be involved with my own wedding! hehe. Doing and executing all these pretty and romantic job just seems SO fun to me! Anyways, when it was my time, my mom thought she's an expert in weddings now that she has two married daughters already! Initially, she did ask me who to hire as the wedding planner. I have decided not to waste RM 20k (or more) to someone, just to help us decide which color or which flowers should we choose or some things like that because we thought or at least I thought that we (me and my mom) shared the same taste. Mom agreed and she said she didn't need a planner. She just need a coordinator or secretary for that day. That's all. So yeah I agree with her too because after doing a lot of research on weddings, I realized a lot of vendors overcharged the customers. I heard my dad's friend's wedding planner charged him over 300k to plan the wedding! Crazy world I'm living in! huhu - Well if you have a lot of money and didn't mind spending for things that you can plan or even find info yourself on google, then go ahead. But for me, I would rather spend that money on other things instead, like my wedding dress for example...and food! haha. Hence I gave the coordinating task to my best friend instead, Farhana as she's such a perfect coordinator, floor manager, secretary, planner, you name it! She will execute it exquisitely! hehe. Thank you darling! Love youuu! ;)

Anyways so I showed my mom a couple of things that I have done on my own for the wedding.. She was impressed a little and let me do my job since then. How nice of her! I think it's such a privilege that my mom let me pick what I want for my big day and trusted my taste! I'm blessed, mashaallah..Thank you God! ^__^

So this is my wedding book. Or file as you may call it. Or maybe even a wedding scrapbook I guess? haha. I spent every Sunday sticking things in here! It was fun!! hehe

Anyways, I started doing a lot of research and travel since I got the green light from my mom. And when I found some pretty good deal, I'd show my mom and propose them to her. If she agrees, then we get the deal! hehe. Ahhh....such fun times I had, going here and there on my free time! Seriously planning a wedding is such a nice experience, that I think I wanted to make it as my full time job! hahah. ;p

Buying a dress in Nurita Harith's boutique

Bringing my mom to meet the beautiful Vicky, the Marketing Director of Hilton Hotel. She's such an amazing person! I love her!

Fitting for the groom at Jovian Mandagie bridal boutique

Canopy searching at a wedding fair

Hantaran shopping - the second most fun part of any wedding, after shopping for the white dress!

Bridal dress hunting

Food tasting

Choosing and designing the cards

Fitting for bridesmaids dresses 

....and lots and lots more preparations!

Some of you are so curious to know what are the contents of this little book. Well....it's just some typical list of a wedding. You know like things to do, things to buy, the checklist, the receipts & invoices...etc etc. But.... with a little bit of details and infos I would say - Cuz I'm a pack rat like that...I love keeping things, even in book! haha :p

This book still put a very big smile on my face every time I open it, even after the wedding!

- Well...we've only been married for 2 months now. haha. But still! I never get bored flipping through it, and remember the ups and downs of our journey to the wedding! :')

Yup..it's that thick (and heavy!) haha

I keep this too! Our first wedding fair that we both went to! The asian Signature Weddings Affair! - The best wedding fair I've ever been to! Classy and elegant compared to the other 7 weddings exhibition that I went! 

The journey...

Will blog soon on the contents of this book! I know most of the brides-to-be out there wanna know more on this! I get that a lot.. Don't worry sweetie, I'll share with you soon k? :)


P/s: This week I've received 3 appointments already with my friends who asked about weddings! And I shared a lot with them with what I've learned and know so far. Glad I could help them! Ahh...being a wedding consultant is fun! hahah. So who's next? Let me know, I'd be glad to help! ^___^


XOXO,
Shazzy.

December 2013

December 2013 is THE month for me! I've been waiting for so long for December to come! I had a lot of fun these past few weeks! I had my ups and downs, happy tears, sad tears, joyful moments, funny moments, etc. And now that December will soon end, I feel so sad..cuz it means I'm no longer a bride....but a wife with lotsa responsibilities! (Although I do have another reception next month, after we got back from our honeymoon! LOL)

Starting with 1st December 2013, and ending in January 2014, inshaallah!

Sorry guys for not updating! I'm toooooo busy running here and there, settling a lot of stuff and enjoying life as a wife! hehehe. Will update all stories pretty soon yeah! Tak cukup masa and tenaga to online these days! huhu. For now, let's enjoy some of the pics I got throughout these past few weeks!

1) Bridal Shower Tea Party

2) Bachelorette Spa Party

3) Hens Night

4) Upacara Mandi Bunga

5) Majlis Khatam Quran

6) Henna Night

7) Majlis Akad Nikah

Our first solat as husband and wife. I'm so happy to finally find my Imam :')

8) Reception 1

Phewwww.... Another two receptions and a honeymoon to go. Then I can finally close my wedding book! And start my journey as Hazim's wife! haha. 

XOXO,
Puan Shazwani.