A story of my marriage day

Alright, I did mention before that I wanted to post something about my wedding. For my friends (especially Zamila and Ziad!) whose weddings are gonna be around the corner, I hope you will enjoy reading this post :)

Now where do I start…? Oh yes. A few days before solemnization.

I had 2 days to complete the work for Bangkok project before I left the office on Wednesday to go on my annual leave (yes annual leave! Marriage leave was for honeymoon :)). It was a hectic 3-day leave, where I cramped everything that was not yet done:

• Having my bridal spa (I excluded manicure and pedicure. Didn’t want my henna to look faint) at Cendana Spa, Section 7, Shah Alam. I found out about this spa through a few bridezillas’ blogs :)
• Fetching the tailor-made scarf for my red kebaya jubah (this was supposed to be the attire for cake cutting, tapi last minute thinking, malas nak tukar baju during reception, hehe and the dress ended up to be the attire for outdoor photo shoot, which we have not done yet) 
• Completing my personalized VIP gift bags (I already completed 51, but when Mr. Fiance told me his group might be big, I decided to add another 19 paperbags) 
• Completing the hantaran for the groom. 4 were completed like 2 weeks before. The other 7 were done that Thursday night, just right after my photographer paid me a visit to discuss on the solemnization and reception arrangement. Thanks Mom and my sisters for the helping hand :) 
• Last-minute shopping for the wedding bedroom
• Decorating the room like I planned it to be

Thank God I didn’t have to make the bunga rampai on my own, thanks to Mom, Maktok, Auntie Rahmah and Auntie Lin. I definitely could not do it all by myself without their help.

Above anything, I wanted to meet Mr. Fiancé for the last time before becoming Mr. Husband. But there was too little time to spend, so we just had to forget the idea.

I couldn’t really sleep that Friday night. But I was indeed tired. The dais was not ready, the house was still in a mess and I thought of accompanying my Mom and Ain to stay up until everything was done. But then Mom asked me to go to bed, so I did.

Waking up on that 20^th felt weird. I don’t really know how to label that feeling. But it felt kinda uneasy. I called Ozal (who just arrived from Arau that morning) into my room and asked him to give me a hug. Unconsciously, I was sobbing quietly. He comforted me to calm down. I grabbed my towel and went to have my bath. When I got out, the makeup artiste has already arrived. She began her work as soon as I was ready. Chitchatting with her took away the nervousness I had. By the way, did I mention I loved what she did to my face? Yes I really do! I highly recommend her.

Later then, my videographer and photographers came. Not long after they start recording and snapping photos, my good friends came into the room. I was excited by their presence but kinda didn’t really know how to greet them in excitement. I guess the exact word to describe me was ‘slightly frozen’ (Afterall, Mom always reminded me to be a well-mannered bride. I guess I did well :))

From upstairs, I heard the marhaban group started reciting Yaasin. I couldn’t really predict what was happening downstairs. I told myself to shake it off and just relax. My room was being swarmed by increasing number of friends and families. It was nearing 11 am, and my Dad asked me to text Mr. Fiancé to proceed to my house from the nearby mosque.

So, it was time for me to go downstairs. Descending the stairs slowly allowed me to give a few gazes at the guests. After I got myself comfy on the dais, the groom’s side started to enter the house, placing the hantaran in front of the dais, just opposite my hantaran for the groom. My palpitation was softened when I saw my Dad and family members around. Mr. Fiancé entered the door and made himself comfy in front of Imam Yusof. And then, the ceremony began.

Auntie Rokiah Ramlan was the moderator of the solemnization. She did a really great job with her splendid speech containing the elements of adat Melayu like pantun and kiasan. My thanks to her for handling the ceremony just like how I wanted it to be.

Imam Yusof took the crowd’s attention with some words of wisdom. Mr. Fiancé then volunteered to read the marriage sermon written in Imam Yusof’s notebook when Imam Yusof said it was afdal for the groom to read it himself. I felt proud of Mr. Fiancé for being so confident :) Then the real trembling came, when it was the time for the solemnization. All I can think of was reciting selawat over and over again. Thanks to Farina who constantly reminded me what to do before the event started.

With one lafaz, I became the wife of my dear Mr. Husband. Alhamdulillah everything went smoothly. After Mr. Husband performed the prayer, he came to the dais and presented the dowry together with the ring and the bangle. We exchanged the gifts: 11 trays from me and 9 trays in return from him.

And so, the day was spent with greeting families from both sides, taking lots and lots of pictures (thanks to Ariff, Darshan and Uncle Shahrin of course!) and yup, who could forget nasi minyak as the menu of the day?

And of course, I wanna thank my friends who made the effort to come (Dib, Fatin, Shafaf, Aween and Yatt) and the awesome uncles, aunties and cousins who made the day so memorable. Special thanks to my sister Ain, for being a great coordinator for both the solemnization ceremony and the wedding itself. I’m forever indebted.

To my dear husband, welcome to our new life :) Have fun on your birthday tomorrow. I just want you to know that I love you :) very much! Can't wait for our 2nd honeymoon soon~

Last but not least, congratulations to Shafaf on her marriage last weekend!