Bridal Party!

I'm organizing a small tea party (i call it a tea party because it's at 4pm, but knowing us girls we'll be having the full monty meals ha ha) to announce to my bridal party that they will be involved in my wedding. I don't know whether this is traditionally done or not, but it's more of me officially announcing that we are getting married and this bunch (besides my immediate family) will know exact dates and details of the big day before anyone else. Sooo excited as this will be the first official event that will lead up to the auspicious date :))))))

My guestlist will include

-My Maid of Honour aka sister
-My nine tray bearers for the solemnization
-My four bridesmaids for the reception

Which totals up to 15 people in total including me. Three won't be able to make it (sob sob) because of work / geographical reasons / etc so 12 pax it is. Soooo difficult to get everyone together in one seating so I had to settle with the three absentees. All I hope is full attendance during the wedding, at least! LOL ;) At this tea party, as a surprise for the girls, their outfit designers (or reps, depending) will come and do their measurements straight away! The MOH aka my baby sister will be wearing Innai Red, the bridesmaids will be in Mimpi Kita and the tray bearers will be donning Ezzati Amira KL.

I've booked the venue at (where else) Modesto's in RSGC. I just really like it there because they cater to your every need and they're very flexible too for example in menu, setting up, etc... Thinking of themes and decoration ideas for the small event.. Thinking of lots of floral arrangements and maybe some watercolour flower decor too. So obsessed with watercolor flowers at the moment.. Still thinking of whether I will incorporate them into my official wedding invites or not. Which reminds me I haven't thought of invitation cards yeeeettt.....

 

Tossing around ideas before bed. Let's see how this pans out.. being DIY and all. Haha!

Mehndi

Malam Berinai is still one of those things on my maybe, maybe not list. I know for sure i want to have henna on my hands and feet, but definitely not those large scale Bollywood themed nights I always see pictures of. Maybe a small do at the house with a few close female friends and relatives, while we cut up bunga rampai and tie up the doorgift ribbons.. Aaaaa just the thought of it gets me excited!!! Hehe..

Thanks to the countless accounts and "sila visit IG saya sis" posts on Instagram, i was able to narrow my choice of henna artists down to two main selections. I've noticed that since the invent of social media, people don't really update their blogs and websites anymore so most are outdated or simply have links directing us to their Facebooks or Instagrams. Either way, happy camper i am because there are an abundance of photos to choose from and also user testimonials in the form of IG reposts and wall comments. These are the two that i'm thinking about:

@ChanteeqMulusHenna

 

 @FaizaHalim

 

I'm not too sure what the going rate are for henna artists these days but i think both are quite reasonable; ChanteeqMulus is charging RM200 for full henna of palms, hands and feet with henna caps for hands and feet, and FaizaHalim is charging RM300 for the same but with one free henna drawing for a relative or friend (usually the maid of honour/sister/best friend). If this package is taken, any additional free hand drawing of henna will be RM10-RM20 per drawing per hand, so any other guests who want to get in on the action can do so too!

At the moment I'm leaning more towards Faiza Halim because all her designs look so intricate and neat, but it's still open season! Have also got to think of whether we would need catered food or just cook ourselves (a bit leceh, takut penat right) and also whether I want to do it one or two nights before the nikah. Apparently the henna sets in darker after a couple of days, so I'd prefer earlier, also I wouldn't want to have a late night right before the nikah lest my eyebags decide to come as an aninvited guest to my solemnization right.... Lots to think of!

P/S: Stuff I've (or more likely, my Momzilla has) done so far:

• Sort out dates - 1) nikah, 2) reception, 3) bertandang
• Hire wedding planner
• Nikah venue
• Nikah outfit
• MOH outfit
• Dulang girls outfit
• Reception venue
• Reception outfit
• MOH outfit
• Bridesmaids outfit
• Reception doorgifts
• Paid deposit for MUA + hair

Banyaaaaaakk lagi nak buat, pelan-pelan kayuh. JUST UNDER FOUR MONTHS TO GO! :)))

WIP

*heart flutters*

Cushion Cut

Lusting over some cushion cut rings today.. Sighhhhhhh :))))

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn

After deciding that we did, indeed, want a ballroom reception, that led to a KL-wide hunt for a suitable space. It turned out to be quite limited because we didn't want a large scale wedding attended by 1500 people oh noooo.. We were looking at more or less 300 of our nearest and dearest friends and immediate family so finding a ballroom that would accommodate to that and still tick all the boxes. Honestly I personally had no time to go touring around KL hotels because of work and other commitments, so after my momzilla's hard work and head hunting, it finally came down to:

1) Mandarin Oriental - Diamond Ballroom

2) Double Tree Hilton

3) Le Meridien KL

These ballrooms can accommodate about 300-450 pax each, which was wonderful, and narrowing it down to one final choice was a no brainer for me! KLCC is like a second home to me and it's like a minute away from our family home so DING DING DING we had a winner! Since this is not the main ballroom, of course it is smaller and less grand and somewhat low ceiling, so that led to a new Google search - low ceiling ballroom wedding! It's just amazing what you can find on the net, just a click away from the comfort of your own bed and Revenge playing in the background. There are a few pictures i nicked away for safekeeping:

I am having my wedding reception in a ballroom that has lower ceilings than I would have liked (9ft). Do you have any wedding design tips that will help transform the space without feeling small or claustrophobic?

Use mirrors or mirror runners on your tabletops. An inexpensive way to do this is to purchase back-of-door mirrors from IKEA. Remove the frames and lie them flat on the table to be used as a runner. You could also purchase mirrored tiles and alternate them on the table for a similar effect. Though it may seem counterintuitive, mixing taller arrangements in with low centerpieces is a great idea. The taller centerpieces will add some height to the room. 

How on earth did people plan weddings before the world wide web?!

Tray Bearers

I was so lucky to have met up with Ezzati right before her recent buying trip to China - she came back with sooooo many fabric swatches for me to choose from. RAMBANG MATA MAK! I showed her a few ideas that I got off Google and Pinterest and magazine cuttings, and it's like she literally went inside of my head and picked out the exact fabrics and materials and textures that I would have picked myself!! And we found one especially nice sequined piece that would look so great on my baby sister - in non other than BLUSH and GOLD, my exact colour theme for the Nikah. *somersaults* So over some frappucinos and poorly made pastries (sorry Starbucks but your food really needs to "buck" up!) we finalized the colours and materials I liked for all the outfits. At the next meeting she will be showing me the sketches for all my 10 girls based on that.

My maid of honour and dulang bearers will look sooooo friggin cool in custom Ezzati Amira KL dresses, can't wait!! :D

BAJU KAWIN

Had a good first discussion at Innai Red regarding my two wedding outfits - one for nikah and another for the dinner reception. Yes TWO receptions, I now have a hotel dinner as well despite our earlier agreement to have one home reception from nikah to sanding to dinner haha. Plans keep changing left right and center, every week it's a different outcome but I've been told by old brides that this is a normal occurrence and that I should take it in good stride. And that I will! ;) There were a few designers that I had in mind when it came to my dresses, what with having so many talented people in KL to choose from, but when i found the dress of my dreams to copy be inspired from after countless hours or googling and pinning and magazine page tearing all that jazz, IR immediately popped into my mind as someone who could execute it. 

I chose a kind of twist-on-traditional for nikah - very covered, very modest, as syariah compliant as I possibly can as there will be tok kadi and pak imam and orang-orang masjid in attendance he he he, and then for the dinner I went down the route of a more western evening gown Hollywood glam kinda feel, but still modest and covered of course, for fear of being disowned by my father at the alter lols. Erin and Juliani the two main designers from IR were very forthcoming; I could tell that we were on the same page from the get go, and their rough sketches were exactly as I had envisioned! Will meet them again in two weeks for the final sketch and review of some fabric swatches, and also the most important thing - costing! This bride has a budget yawwllss! 

Updates on that to follow. 

Anyway, if you've never been to their boutique in Plaza Damas, you should! So many nice things off the rack to touch and feel and smell and gather inspiration from. Of course all in a size ZERO so i didn't get to try anything on *cry* #notasiansized