Last day of 2011

How I spent the last day of 2011:

Woke up, had my breakfast. Figured that it's the right time to start eating healthy, so I started my day drinking a glass of warm water and ate mandarin oranges. Then I had a little bit of fried rice and a little bit of fried noodles.

Showered, got dressed and went to the tailor for my wedding dress fitting. I got 4 dresses:

1) Dress for solemnization ceremony: OK, but it's heavy with beads so putting it on and taking it off is such a hassle.

2) Dress for Reception #1: The slit at the back of the long dress is just too much! It almost goes up to my butt! I didn't realize this when I tried this on at the tailor's because I was busy focusing on other details, but I'm gonna send this dress back and tell her to stich up the slit because it's too revealing.

3) Dress for Reception #2: The most beautiful gown I've ever seen! Unfortunately, it's made of heavy duchess fabric and the tailor used a tiny zip. The zip got stuck and they had to put on a bigger, stronger zip to the dress.

4) Dress for Reception #3: This fits well, too bad it makes me look like I'm wearing a curtain.

So I only took 2 of the dresses home (for solemnization & Reception #1) and I paid for all my dresses to lessen my debt!

Next, went to Felda Villa to submit all the marriage documentation to the jurunikah.

After that, went to KLCC. Got my first full salary already, so I paid off my outstanding zakat for 2011. I was supposed to start paying zakat in May this year, but I put it aside until now, so the total that I had to pay is RM432.

After paying off the zakat, I felt better and I decided to buy a new pair of jeans at Levi's. I've always wanted the Curve ID jeans since October, but when I resigned, I didn't get my salary and last month, I didn't get full salary. The Slight Curve jeans didn't fit me, the Bold Curve fits me but doesn't look that flattering, so I bought the Demi Curve.

Then, I treated my parents for lunch at Dome. They had fish n chips, and I had this horrible grilled catch of the day. The chef can't even marinate a fish! Too salty. I think the best grilled catch of the day is still at Manhattan Fish Market.

Next, went to Swarowski. Nothing interesting there. Tiny, delicate, pricey jewellery. Not my thing.

At Parkson's accessories section, something caught my eye - Monet alphabet gold pendant. From RM248 discounted to RM173. Unfortunately the letter 'N' was not available. There was an 'L' which stands for Liyana, but I don't want to buy it because Liyana is the name my office colleagues call me.

Went to ISetan, hoping I could find the 'N' pendant. No luck.

Saw a Nine West handbag sale and there's a bag that I liked but the display was actually the last piece, so, no thanks.

Since I had no luck with shopping, I went home and tried to make full use of my day by folding clothes etc.etc.

OMG, I'm getting married in 3 weeks!

Wedding Updates...

On Saturday, my parents and I went to a relative's house in TTDI to collect the things that she helped to decorate for my wedding.

One of them is the duit ambo-ambo (not sure if I spell this correctly).

At Johore traditional weddings, an elderly person (usually the bride's mum) or even the bride herself, will throw coins at the guests. Sometimes, the duit ambo-ambo is decorated nicely. My relative decorated it using 2-tone fabrics that matches my theme colour, gold.

Duit ambo-ambo

That relative of mine also helped to decorate the wedding favours for the main table.

Pink flowers with a hint of gold

On Monday, both mine and Mr.Y's family had a meeting to discuss the last minute details of our reception. Then, we went to Empire to shop for our hantaran. Both of us got 1 last pending item to give to each other.

I already knew what I wanted...

A Coach bag!

Coach was having their clearance sale. The handbag I chose is a convertible and has many compartments. I can't remember the full name... it's Madison Op Art Sateen something. I just love the Madison collection! The handbag I chose for my engagement hantaran was also from the Madison collection.

Next, shopped for fiance's hantaran. Shopping for men is so difficult! For our wedding, I've bought him shirt & tie, belt & wallet set, perfume set, ring, watch...and the last item (other than cakes and fruits and chocolates of course), has been pending for too long because I didn't know what to buy! Some of the things we've considered before...

1)A Parker pen...but everytime we wanted to buy it, there's always nobody at the counter to assist us.

2)Coat/sweater

3)I've thought of surprising him with a painting of both of us, but I'm too chicken to go to Bintang Walk at night and approach the artists there.

4)He wanted some PS3 stuffs but I don't think it looks appropriate as a hantaran.

So in the end, I bought him...

an Olympus digital camera!

Initially, we saw a RM399 camera at Sony and he mentioned that he has never own a camera before. So I asked the salesperson if they have the camera in black/silver, but sadly, they're out of stock.

So we went to another electrical shop and found Panasonic - Lumix cameras. The lazy ass at the counter did not assist us and Mr.Y suggested that we go to the photo shop at the ground floor to see more camera brands.

Then we saw Olympus cameras and I remembered something...my mum had an Olympus camera and I like my photos if taken using that camera. Fazilah also has an Olympus camera and I love the outcomes whenever I take photos using her camera.

We asked the salesperson if they have the Olympus camera in black, and fortunately they had it, and at a special price of RM350! Mr.Y tested the camera by taking my photos and as expected with Olympus cameras, I loved my photos! So I bought the camera for him.

Now we're done with hantaran shopping!

Yasser's wedding card

Yesterday, the invitation cards for my fiance's reception were finally ready! He was super excited to pick up the cards and distribute them to the guests.

Front pocket

Very beautiful doa at the back of the pocket.

There's even a customized envelope ;-)

So now I'm in the midst of sending out invitation to ex-colleagues at MH, new colleagues at QR, old school friends through Facebook. It makes me happy seeing the 'attending' number growing on my Excel spreadsheet!

Shopping for hantaran : makeup set

Mr.Y banked in some cash into my account so today I went to Sephora KLCC to buy some makeup for hantaran!

I spent quite some time there, trying to make full use of the budget. I had a hard time deciding what to buy!

Finally, I settled for these:


L-R: Mascara & Eye Makeup Remover set, Makeup Studio set, a bottle of bubble bath.

Front: Anti-shine primer.

I went only RM10 over budget!!! Not bad, right?

Sephora has this temporary loyalty program. My last visit there, I spent about RM300 and today's visit, I have reached the RM500 requirement for a RM75 voucher! So I redeemed the Burt's Bees lip shimmer which I love so much and the Soap & Glory Trick & Treatment under eye concealer.


FYI, the Makeup Studio set looks like this:

My wedding card!

Today Mr.Y and I went to the shop where I ordered my wedding invitation cards. He wanted to order the invitation cards for his reception. After he has filled in the details in the order form, the shop owner looked at the names supposed to be on the front of the card, and he said 'Yasser & Nana' sounded familiar.

I said that's because I ordered the card for MY reception from this same shop.

He said that my cards are ready, he just need to glue the paper inside with the cover. Anyway, he glued one card for me and let me take it home to show my parents.

So here it is...the front cover:


The inside of the card:



Overall, I'm happy with the card but my parents said the guy did not bold the RSVP date as per their request.

Wedding shoes

OK, my wedding progress: yesterday I went to Klinik Kesihatan Cheras for HIV test followed by appointment with the ustaz at the mosque near my house. I've got his signature for the marriage form (yeay!) so our next step is to go to JAWI to get the final letter (I'm not sure what letter though).

Today, me and my mum went to Felda Villa (where the solemnization ceremony will be held) with my wedding planner/neighbour Aunty L. Aunty L wanted to take a look at the venue as she will be responsible for the flower arrangement, mini pelamin, deco and stuffs.

After the visit to Felda Villa, Aunty L dropped me and my mum at Ampang Park and we shopped for my wedding shoes.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find the perfect gold shoes??? The theme colour for my reception is gold, my dress is gold and it's hard for me to find the right pair of shoes. A few weeks ago I saw this gorgeous pair of gold shoes at Guess, they had it in my size. Perfect right??? NO! When I tried walking in it, it's like being forced to walk on those reflexology stones. Very painful! So I didn't buy the shoes.

Err...there's no Guess store at Ampang Park. Situ paling 'grand' pun brand 'Princess' but I don't mind about the brand of my wedding shoes. In fact, I would prefer it if I can minimize the cost because post-wedding, I'm not gonna wear these swanky wedding shoes that often. To me, wedding shoes is a one-time thing and I'm not a very detailed person up to the point where my shoes have to match my dress 100% and that sort of thing. So I would happily settle for those less expensive shoes at Ampang Park.

This was what I bought for the wedding reception on my side, a pair of gold T-bar heels with sequins. Actually this was my second choice because it kind of made me look as if I'm going to a party instead of my own wedding. But maybe that's because when I tried these shoes on, I was wearing my usual day clothes. When I came home, I immediately tried this shoes on with my engagement dress (though the colour clashed). Thankfully, when worn with traditional wear, these shoes are OK for wedding.


My first choice was a gold shoes with sequins and glitters (at Princess) but lucky me, they didn't have it in my size.



For Mr.Y's reception (for friends and collleages), I bought a pair of metallic white shoes for RM116. Since it's white, I hope it's safe to match it with my peach dress. It's really hard to find peach wedding shoes!

For another one of Mr.Y's reception (for close family and relatives), I bought the most perfect shoes ever! Ivory shoes with platform heels that made me look 3 inches taller! To be worn with a matching ivory dress. Perfect!

Perfumes

Went to Sunway Pyramid with Mr.Y for one of my favourite activities - shopping for hantaran! This time it's our perfumes.

I had a tough time deciding which perfume to buy. FYI, I have a weakness for perfumes in nice bottles so I was torn between Vera Wang's Lovestruck (the flower + ribbon bottle cap is just too cute!), Marc Jacobs' Lola (purple bottle with colourful flower cap...so adorable!) and Vera Wang's Flower Princess + Preppy Princess combo.

In the end I decided to take the Flower Princess + Preppy Princess set because for the other two, the sets consist of EDT and shower gel. On the other hand, the Flower Princess + Preppy Princess set consists of TWO EDTs for only about RM350! Definitely worth buying! Plus, I already have the original Princess EDT so these 2 EDTs will make a gorgeous Princess collection!

Only when I returned home, I realized that the ring on the Preppy Princess bottle cap was missing :-(

Mr.Y offered to buy another EDT for me to replace the Preppy Princess. I said it's no big deal, it's just the ring cap, I can still use the perfume. But still...the set looked incomplete without the ring :-(

Anyway, I bought Mr.Y the Unforgiveable EDT set he had always wanted. When I was in London last week, I looked all around town for the Unforgiveable EDT set, hoping to get a really good price because perfumes are cheap there. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any sets (only individual perfumes) as the sets will only be available close to Christmas.

But nevermind, found the set at Parkson Sunway Pyramid. EDT + deodorant + shower gel = RM340.

I didn't expect this, but about an hour after Mr.Y sent me home, he bbm-ed me and said he had exchanged the Preppy Princess EDT for me! Now the perfume bottle comes with the ring and it looks complete! Thank you dear! :-D

Wedding invitation cards

Today my parents and I went to the management office of Dewan Merak Kayangan (I think the company is called Felda D'Saji or something) to discuss about my wedding reception. We were discussing about all my wedding requirement (actually more like my parents' requirement as they're the ones paying for my reception) such as the food, table layout, music, emcee etc.

Then we went to Bangi to order my wedding invitation cards.

So many great designs, I was spoiled for choice!

After thinking and comparing the cards, I was left with 2 designs. The first one is a simple card design with butterfly graphic embedded on the top right corner (simple and cute, matches my butterfly-shaped wedding favours) and another one is a more formal and classy kind of card.

Since I want my card to be presentable to all VIPs and the elderly, I chose the formal+classy card. Furthermore, my fiance already selected a 'cute' design for his reception invitation card so I thought it's a good idea if I go for a more 'serious' kind of design.

So...here it is, my wedding invitation card:

Well, not yet MY card because I still have to re-confirm the aturcara majlis with the card designer so this whole card-printing thing is still in progress. But my parents have paid the deposit though. Nice isn't it? Creme metallic paper with copper wordings and floral design.

The gorgeous floral design is printed inside too. The font colour is brown and first page of the card is the doa for bride and groom.

Second page is the aturcara majlis and the contact numbers of family members.

Third page - the invitation.

Fourth page - the map.

Close-up detail of the floral design on the top left corner of the card.

Bride & groom's names with wedding date printed in copper font.

Up close detail of the floral design on the bottom right corner of the card.

I just can't wait to see the final outcome of the card!

Holiday Villa

My fiance's parents are planning 2 receptions for our wedding and one of it will be held at Holiday Villa, Subang. So yesterday, Mr.Y and I went to Holiday Villa with his parents to check out the venue and pay the deposit.

Our reception will take place at the Victorian Ballroom. The design of the ballroom and the surrounding area is exactly like during the Victorian era : statues, large chandeliers, classical paintings.
Entrace to the Victorian ballroom. Veryyy nice.

There's a garden outside the ballroom. If the reception is held at night then the hotel will offer barbeque in the garden.

The hotel manager told me that the layout may not be that impressive during the day, but at night it will be breathtaking with all the lights.

I didn't take a picture of the ballroom because:

a)they didn't switch on the AC and I was feeling hot & stuffy & uncomfortable

b)the staffs were busy walking around to set up the hall for a wedding

c)we were busy discussing about the big day with the hotel staffs

d)I don't wanna be seen as a jakun.

So for this reception at Holiday Villa, I will wear a dress and Mr.Y will wear a suit. We will have a pianist and the hotel manager reccommended that we have ballroom dancing to complete the whole package, but judging from the size of the ballroom, I don't think that's possible. Plus, I'm a terrible dancer.

Watch for him

Went to Pavillion on Sunday and bought a Swatch as part of the hantaran gifts for fiance.

Swatch Gents His Tender Black.

Next on our shopping list is my perfume set!

Our wedding rings

Today Mr.Y and I finally bought our wedding rings!

Mine is from Habib Jewels...

I bought his at My Diamond's.

Satisfying Shopping Spree

One of the great things about getting married is shopping for hantaran.

This was how the backseat of Yasser's car looks like after our shopping spree.

Anyway, he bought me a gold-plated Guess watch studded with Swarovski crystals.

I bought a Savile Row belt & wallet set for him.

Initially I was skeptical that Savile Row is really from London. Then I googled the brand and yes, it really originates from London.

I also bought a lilac shirt and purple tie for him at Marks & Spencer.

Apart from the hantaran, I also bought a pair of new shoes for office wear, a blazer at Dorothy Perkins, a pair of pearl drop earrings at Diva, some stationery at Daiso and Cotton On sunnies.

Can't wait to shop for more hantaran!

Hantaran

For him...

Fabric for baju Melayu to be worn during akad nikah & reception ~ Quality Street & Belgian seashells chocolates ~ Al-Quran, sejadah & tasbih ~ Sirih ~ Fondant cake ~ Fruits ~ Marks & Spencer shirt & tie

For me...

Fabric for the dress to be worn during akad nikah ~ Coach bag ~ Al-Quran ~ Telekung & sejadah ~ Fondant cake

Actually there's a sirih as well but there's no individual photo of that!

I'm engaged!

Finally, today is THE DAY!

Yasser and I are finally engaged!!!

My parents, Ayah Chu and me went to Hyatt Saujana at 9.30am. Ayah Chu waited in the lobby, and I hang around in the hotel room with Che Ngah and my cousin Afie.

After they opened the Zamrud function room, everyone went down for a briefing and rehearsal. It was so funny because everyone got confused of their roles and what to do. We rehearsed a few times.

Uncle Rashid was the MC of the day and I'd have to say that he is one talented MC ;-)

At 12am, I went back to the hotel room because my makeup artist, Kak As has finally arrived!


The makeup session

Kak As put on something out of a white jar on my face. I thought it was some sort of cream. "No," she said. "It's a foundation." I did not get the name of the foundation and the brand is unrecognizeable and it's driving me nuts until now because I haven't figured out where to buy it!

She used a dabbing motion when applying the foundation. She didn't even use concealer at all to cover my zits. I don't remember exactly the steps she took to transform me, but I remember that she used MAC and Dior eyeshadows, MAC blusher, MAC bronzer, loose powder from an unknown brand (mysterious!!!), really really thick liquid eyeliner with the consistency of a black nail polish, MAC lipstick, Body Shop highlighter, MAC pencil liner to line my bottom lid and L'Oreal mascara.

The photographers arrived shortly after and took pictures of me starting from makeup.

Once Kak As was done with the makeup, she told me to change into my engagement dress because she wanted to proceed with my hair. I went into the bathroom to change and when I looked at the mirror, I almost fainted! I could not recognize my own face!!! I looked so different!

I changed, and then Kak As transformed my flat hair into a bun that kinda look like a beehive. She put fresh flowers in my hair as well, with a lilac veil to match my dress.And then...tadaa!!!


That's me...fully made up and styled. This photo was taken by my cousin Lina.

Next, I took photos with my aunt and cousins in the hotel room and I practiced my smile. Thank God the photographer was patient enough in helping me find my best angle.

After I've finished doing my makeup, everyone went down to Zamrud hall leaving me with Che Chu. I was feeling quite lonely at that time, then my 2 best friends emerged into the hotel room... Fazilah and Fazlia!!! I was so happy to see them. While waiting for the cue for me to walk into the hall, me and my BFFs took photos and talked and laugh to ease my nerves. Another friend from office, Nad, also came to see me. I appreciate her coming to see me, because I know she's busy and had to rush off to another engagement.

When it was my cue to come down to the hall, Che Chu, Fazilah and Fazlia walked with me. Fazilah even held my hand as I was walking down the stairs in my extremely high heels.
When we've reached Zamrud, Fazilah and Fazlia took their seats while Che Chu and I waited outside the door. The waiter offered me a drink. How nice. Another waiter asked me, "Nervous?" That was the moment I felt nervous because I thought about walking in and being the centre of attention.

When Uncle Rashid announced my arrival, Che Chu escorted me down the red carpet. I heard my mum hissing at me, "Walk slowly!!!" and I slowed down, straighten up my posture and smiled.


I sat down on the chair as gracefully as I could, but then there was something wrong with my kain so I had to stand up again and re-adjust. Sigh.

Next, is the highlight of the event... Yasser's mum slipped the white gold solitaire diamond ring onto my ring finger. After that, lots of people took pictures of me and when they're done, I had to shake hands with all the elderly relatives seated in the front rows. Then it was Yasser's turn and shortly later, the MC announce it's finally time to eat. I sat next to Yasser and ate. I hardly ate, no appetite and besides, I didn't want to ruin my lipstick.

I've lost count of people telling me how I beautiful I looked on that day. I felt reallyyy good!
After we finished our lunch, Yasser and I walked around the hall and I introduced him to all my family members and friends.

Next, we had an outdoor photography session. I was sweating like mad. The photographers told us to pose in different ways and even though I was tired, I tried to give my best pose to make full use of the daylight. Alhamdulillah it was a bright sunny day :-)

After we have run out of ideas on how to pose, we decided to call it a day. Yasser went home and I went back to the hotel room. Everyone was busy packing up. My cousin Jaja was sweet enough to take out all the flowers and pins in my hair while I drank like I've never seen water in 10 years...

My engagement is meaningful to me not only because Yasser and I have taken our relationship to the next level, but also because I feel loved by my family and friends.

Please note that the following thank-you list is NOT based on any particular order:

My parents had put so much effort to make this day a memorable one for me.

My aunts and uncles came all the way from JB just to be there on this special day.

My cousins - Jaja, Lina, Afie, Shamier, Fariz, Syuk, Alya, Am ... they carried my heavy dulang hantaran and help with lots of other things.

Fazilah and Fazlia - they were there to keep me company and held my hand on my way to the hall.

My grandmother - even though she's sick, she still insist on making lengkong to put inside my hantaran for Yasser.

Che Ngah, Che Chu, Che Chik, both Uncle Rashid - they've been helping my parents A LOT. Without them, this event would not be a great success.

Yasser and his family - I really appreciate their effort in decorating my hantaran and coming to the event and everything. All their contributions matter as well.

My neighbour Aunty L and her daugther - they did an amazing job in decorating the area I was sitting with fresh flowers.

Overall, my engagement day is one of the most memorable events on my life and I'm so excited to plan the coming events ahead ;-)

The night before...

Need to:

-epilate
-scrub my face
-cut my fingernails
-shampoo and condition my hair
-have a good night sleep

Important things to bring to the hotel tomorrow:

-my dress
-contact lens
-shoes

Tomorrow I'm getting engaged and all I think about is work. Today I worked til 7pm, then I went to Saujana to check out all my hantaran and the setting of the hall. Mannn I really need to sleep so I won't look tired tomorrow! So excited!

Cakes

Today I went to the Kerja Kahwin exhibition at Jln Conlay with my parents. Came across this booth that sells wedding cakes. They're having a promotion... 3-tier wedding cake for only RM500 (original price is RM1000). It's not a dummy cake and customers can choose from a wide variety of cakes for every tier. I chose butter, chocolate and marble for my wedding cake. Mum paid for it. I also booked a cake for hantaran nikah. Flavour to be decided later. It's a 1-tier cake only and I paid for it.

Countdown to E-day : 1 more week to go!

I can't believe how fast time flies. Now it's 1 week til my engagement day!

Today my parents and I came over to Mr.Y's house to discuss about the day and brief them on how the ceremony will be like, the seating arrangement etc. All I know is that I'll be walking down a red carpet in a hotel function room wearing a 3-inch (or maybe higher) heels. Omg. Panic attack! Note to self: breathe, walk slowly and carefully. And SMILE.

This next 1 week will be a challenging period for me at work. My boss will be on medical leave so I'll be the acting project lead! I hope that things will go on smoothly and I won't experience another round of heart palpitation and breakouts.

How I wish I can't fast forward to 11 June 2011 without having to go through the days prior to that!

20 more days to go...

Today Mr.Y and I went to his tailor's to collect his baju Melayu. The workmanship is great. He also bought a matching purple + silver sampin to go with the baju Melayu.

I'm confused...is sirih supposed to be included as part of the dowries? If not, then I'll have to come up with one more gift for one tray.

I'm so looking forward for The Day. Can't wait to...

1. get all dolled up with professional makeup.


2. wear my specially tailored dress


3. receive all my dowries


4. pose for the photographers


5. share the special day with my close family members and friends


6. take our relationship to the next level

Presenting...my engagement dress!

Finally...my engagement dress is ready!

OK, it might not have the 'WOW' factor in these photos, but I really really love it.

Today I went to Jln TAR with my mum and bought the sampin for Mr.Y to be worn during the reception.

Off-white sampin with gold thread...just like what Aunty L suggested.

My mum also bought flower corsages for the wedding committee team members (which primarily consists of her sisters).

The purple ones to be worn during the engagement, the brown ones will be worn during the reception.

Chocs!

My mum's favourite task in planning my wedding is searching for the wedding favours.

Currently her plan is to give chocolates to the guests. There's a shop in JB called Bliss Candy that sells chocolates which you can customized the design and my aunts bought a few samples for me to try.The chocolates are so cute! They taste OK, but the pink ones are not very nice though.
On Friday I went back to JB and today I've arrived home in KL. Bought some chocolates at KLIA as part of the hantaran for Mr.Y.

Cadbury Quality Street (which I think will look reallyyy good on the hantaran tray because of the colourful wrappers) and Guylian Belgian Chocolates (which I assume will taste good).

My mum bought 2 boxes of cute chocolates to be given to the kids during my engagement ceremony...

Ladybird chocolates

Bees chocolates.

Very cute right??? I'm worried that I might finish them off before my engagement day!