#51 - Decisions and choices

Things are definitely looking up so far.
We have confirmed our photographer, Chase Hasemi last Saturday after a not-so-short meetup with him and his wife.

Both the boy and me felt very comfortable with him and decided to just engage him for our wedding and pre-wedding shoots. I love that we both had that chemistry with him and could talk and crack jokes with him. He seems like an easy guy to work with so we are keeping our fingers crossed definitely.

Like i mentioned before, Photography is one of the things i really recce-ed for and prior to meeting Hasemi, i actually shortlisted a few of the photographers, some of which i met and did not have a connection with and some of them, i did not even have a chance to meet up with.

Knowing me, the boy told me not to meet too many people and just settle with the one whom we have chemistry instantly cos he knew, the more people i meet, the more confused i get and the more fickle-minded i become. Yang seksa dia nanti pasal nak kena layankan aku nya what-ifs and all.

The same goes for the bridal house. I actually shortlisted Lyanaz Bridal and Weddingku Gallery. I met up with Lyanaz Bridal, liked Kak Yatee and confirmed on the spot. Tak sempat pun jumpa Kak Lynn from WKG.

Back to the Photographers, i have actually shortlisted TRQ Irfaan Photography, Anis from Innovazione and Studio 41 (Eyeris Studio).

Alas, we only managed to meet Irfaan & Hasemi. If only we could afford multiple photographers. lol. Machiam paparazzi. Tapi kang nanti mata aku plak sepet, asyik kena flash je.

Hasemi was great right from the start. He was willing to listen to our ideas and explore it and gave out some good pointers that we should take note of. We arranged for our Pre-Wedding shoots to be taken in July, just before Ramadhan so that I would have ample time time to design our Wedding Cards.

Talking about Wedding Cards, i don't even know how i wanna have mine. Each time, when i do it for my clients, i can throw off ideas to them to get their ideal wedding card designs. But bila part aku, satu benda pun aku tak tau apa nak bikin. I only know that i wanna DIY part of it. Of course not the printing part. But i will most definitely have ribbons on it etc to set it apart from the ones i did for my clients. I probably would take the longest time to design mine cos i can be so anal sometimes. But that's the fun part isn't it?

I would also DIY my own Sticker Labels for the favors, the labels for the food etc and I am thinking of what i can DIY for each Guest tables to add our personal touch.

Yesterday, we met with Uncle Jais as well for our deco. I have told the boy numerous times to take a look at their multiply site to get an idea of how the deco's gonna look like tapi pasal dia busy macam Menteri nak pi election, sampai kita jumpa Uncle Jais pun, he still don't know how his works looks like.

So imagine his surprise when Uncle Jais showed him an album of his works. Muka dia mcm Menteri baru menang election. He went "woooooahhh!!!!" at every flip of the album.
Buat malu aku je. Kejap2 tanya "betul b, dekni charge $1580? betul??" haha.

Right there, i knew we made a good choice. We chose Baby Pink with a touch of cream and black. I am still contemplating whether to let him have the black chair covers. Sedapkan hati bakal laki ler. Kesian pulak black yang dia suka amat tu setakat setotet net je.
Maybe kasi chance ah kat dia.

Uncle Jais pun best. Such a nice person whom you know, does this for passion and not for money only. I told him of my requests, nak add ni, nak add tu, macam2 lah aku nya request all at no additional charges. Yay!

Up to this point, i'm blessed. It has been pretty much easy and straight forward so far.
Let's just hope it stay this way!

#50 - Breaking apart.

It took me a long time to decide if i should go ahead with this entry but what happened last Saturday kinda shook me up a bit hence this entry.

Prior to meeting, bercinta2 sampai tunang dengan the boy, i was actually engaged to another guy, Mr T.

We got engaged in 2007 and was supposed to get married in Oct 2009. But i broke off the Engagement on November 2008.

It took me a long time to tell my parents about it.
Back then, i was very sure, i did not want to proceed with the wedding. I was very sure Mr T is not The One.

Mr T was a very nice guy (he still is actually). In fact, lots of my friends actually reprimanded me
for breaking off the engagement 11 months before the wedding itself.

No doubts about it, he is a very nice guy, a man of few words, jarang marah2, takde banyak kawan perempuan. Senang cakap, siapa dapat dia untung lah.

I had a series of bad relationship before i met Mr T. Hence, when he came along, i thought he was The One. He was so different from all the guys i have went out with.
He was so patient with all my mood swings, he never raised his voice with me, he never try to argue with me. To him, i'm always right.

Which was good. Only for awhile.

After we got engaged and we started the preparations, i begin to see his traits as a negative one.
Macam tak kena dengan my personality. He gives way to me all the time, even if it is so ridiculous. At times, i would just test his patience, just to see how far can he go. Trust me, he has a high-tolerance for my nonsense.

I keep telling myself, that it's good but i know deep inside, i want my husband to have a stronger hold on me. My kepala ada satu besar peh batu duduk kat dalam.

So i either get a husband who can tolerate and keep quiet about that batu besar or i get a husband who have an equally batu besar kat kepala and help me to keep things in check.

During our engagements, we rarely fought. In fact, if you ask me, kita tak pernah ada major fights. Because he always give in to me. Tak pernah nak cakap tak boleh. Mesti boleh.

He leaves all decision to me. Everytime i asked for opinions, he would say "sembarang lah yang, kalau u suka, i pun suka".

To be really honest, i got sick of it. Lama2 i saw him as someone yang takde pendirian hidup.
He would just follow whatever i tell him to do.

I began to slowly drift away from him. Kadang2 call dia sekali je sehari. Kadang2 tak call, sms je.

What made me decided to broke off the engagement was, one day, i totally forgot to sms him.
Not that i didn't want to, but i totally forgot about him. I forgot his existence in my life.
I knew then, that if i could forget about him, he really does not mean much to me after all.
Hari tu jugak, i sms him, to meet. I told him it's not working out and we should call off the wedding.

He cried and i was tempted to take back my words. I sympathised with him.
But, i wasn't in love anymore. I had no feelings for him anymore.

Friends told me it could be just Wedding Jitters. So i gave myself few weeks to think it through.
But i still oculd not ignite that sparks i had last time. zilch.

The love and feelings i had for him, gone.

I found it hard to explain to people why i felt that way. BUt at that time, i knew definitely, i had no feelings for him and i just couldn't see myself with him 10 years later.

My friends couldn't understand but they were supportive of my decision.
Informing my parents about it was very difficult. I couldn't muster the courage to tell my mom.
I only told them about it 3 months after i called off the wedding.

Seriously tak tau nak cakap apa. But surprisingly, they did not even scold me for it.
They were very calm and supportive and while they didn't exactly say that they saw it coming, somehow, they couldn't figure out why i was with him in the first place cos we did not complement each other very well.

But being parents, they just want to see me happy. If they think i'm happy with my choice, they wouldn't wanna interfere.

Mr T had it worst. He began calling my friends and asked them why i had a change of heart.

Till today, i still say that it was the best decision i have ever made in my life.
I still cannot see myself with him. I cannot envision waking up to him every morning, making coffee for him and acting happy.

My relatives were ok, tak de yang mulut laser, cakap bukan2 depan aku.
Tapi, belakang aku tak tau ah. But to be honest, i was mentally prepared for that and apa orang nak cakap, cakap je lah. Aku peduli apa. Aku yang nak kahwin nanti, yang sengsara nanti pun aku, bukan dorang amik kisah pun nanti!

I had to be strong for myself. I did not even cry after that. I just felt relieved it's all over and i can stop pretending.

Why did i bring this up was because of what happened last Saturday.
I had a breakdown and cried in front of the boy, who was totally caught off guard cos i cried for no reason.

There was so many things going on with the wedding preparations, the finances, the house and all that. I bottled that up and one day it just got over me.

But i was glad, the boy was very understanding of it.
He grabbed a cup of Coke, told me to drink it and cry it all out.
He told me to tell him what's up when i'm ready.

When he wiped my tears away and assured me everything is gonna be alright and he loves me lots, I know, this boy, he is the one.

I know i can depend on him to keep things in check. To tell me, everything is gonna be alright.
When he says he loves me, i believe him. Really i do and i can't wait to start my life with him. :)

#49 - The Photographer

In my previous post, i have mentioned about TRQ Irfaan whose works i admired and last saturday we had a chance to meet up with him to discuss on the possibilities.

While i truly do like his works (and i still do), i do not feel a connection with him. He is a bit shy (maybe because he has just started out and is not comfortable yet with meeting people). I was like that too, last time, so i totally understand.

Him being quite young is also a crucial factor. I believe he is still in his early 20's. Like between 19 -20 years old? Cos when we asked how long has he been shooting, he mentioned 4 years back, since he was in Sec 3 (15 years old). So plus minus, 19 lah kan?

It was ok to talk to him, but i still don't feel a connection with him.
Entahlah susah nak cakap apa. So even though his rates were reasonable, we had to let him go and go for another one.

After countless research for another Photographer, i think i might have found one.
His price is really reasonable and most importantly, i LOVE his works.

To be really honest, i think, his portfolio fits all my criteria for my wedding pictures.

He has this romantic feel to his pictures and his post-processing works are awesome!

His pictures kinda remind me of one of my all-time favourite Photographer, Sarah Yates
Not an exact one or even a duplicate lah but macam iras-iras gitu! lol

That person is Hasemi from Chase Hasemi Photography.
Go check out his works if you are free.


How did i get to know about him was quite stalk-ish actually. I hope he doesn't read this. lol

I was actually googling for Malay Wedding Photographers, Singapore.
Then i got directed to Clubsnap and read the forums, then i got to know about Kliqueimages which is actually a Forum for Malay Photographers

Bila dah sampai kat Kliqueimages, surf lah the forum also, then i saw a posting by a username chasehasemi. I fell in love with the pictures he posted so i clicked on his profile, hoping that i can at least have his email address, to no avail.

So i went to google and search for Chasehasemi and voila, i saw that he has a FB account.
Yay!

I immediately asked him for a quotation and was very pleased with his quotations.
Like seriously pleased that i cannot wait to meet him this Saturday to confirm his services. lol

I shall share with you guys some of the pictures i love from his portfolio.

I love all these classic pictures from him below. Very timeless.:

I love how this is so quirky + romantic at the same time.

The last three pictures are the ones that remind me of Sarah Yates.

So if you are still looking around for a Photographer for your Wedding or Pre-Wedding, you can get a quotation from him.

I asked him for his hourly rates only because i want a DVD copy of Hi-Res pictures only. I will tell you why in another post. :)

I'm a happy girl!

#48 - Doing it myself.

I consider myself a creative person. I am considerably good with crafts and other hands-on project.

So it does not comes as a surprise to my Family & friends when itold them i wanna DIY most of my wedding stuffs.

One - because it is cost-friendly (ni paling important)
Two - because it will hold a certain sentimental value to me
Three - because i enjoy doing it. It gives me a kick when i manage to DIY anything successfully.

So far, i have managed to DIY my Cake Stand.


Next, i'm gonna DIY my favors.

I went to Phoon Huat yesterday to look for Baking Materials. Yes, mak nak try buat cupcake.
Kalau senang, then boleh buat untuk Hantaran.

While looking around, i saw some white boxes. (will show you girls the boxes in details in another post pasal semalam lupa nak amik gambar box tu inside out)

I love the box cos it's of the right size and it's white inside out.

Yes, it's not those Cake boxes yang luar white, dalam cardboard tu. It was selling at $1.25 for 5 pieces so i just got 1 set of it to show the mother and also to try testing how it would look like with ribbons.

Here's how it looks like with ribbons. But, my ribbons for the favor box will be a lighter shade of Pink though. Ni kes pakai je ribbon apa yang ada untuk testing2.

I'm also gonna paste a Monogram Sticker at the sides.

What am i gonna put inside?

I'm gonna bake some cookies (which lots of friends love cos it taste like the Famous Amos ones - sumpah tak bedek! lol) and my mom is gonna have Egg & Pulut Kuning to accompany.

The cookies will be baked at least one month prior to the wedding and kept in air-tight container and then sealed in party bag to ensure dia tak lemau.

The Egg & Pulut Kuning, my mom say hari Jumaat boleh bikin..

As for the egg, i was thinking of doing the Lace Eggs that Sofia had during her wedding.
Cun-cun pulak she posted a link to Martha Stewart's Lace Egg Tutorial.

It looks easy enough lah for me and 300 eggs are still manageable.

But i don't know whether to dye the eggs in Red or Hot Pink!

Another DIY project will be the tempat Bunga Rampai that i have to give during Nikah.


I'm thinking of DIY-ing this cute little bottles with Black Lace and Pink Ribbons and stuff bunga rampai in it.

Guess where i got these little bottles from?



Hahahah yes! Brand's Innershine. There's six bottles per box and i reckon i will have lotsa spare bottles which i can use for other DIY stuffs.

I have not start the DIY process for this yet. Will update you gals when i think of something!

#47 - Save The Date Videos

Isn't this cool?

Cute kan? Probably great for today's generation since almost everyone we know has a Facebook Account, this would be an informal way of telling your friends to save your wedding date on their calendar.

Save the Date_Radzi from John Hafiz on Vimeo.

Save the Date_Alia from John Hafiz on Vimeo.

#46 - The Cupcake Stand

If you follow me at Twitter, you would figure out what i was up to the last two days.

I first went over to Phoon Huat at Bencoolen Street to get some Cake Boards.

I then hopped over to Arab Street to get some ribbons, cloths and Lace.


Kin Soon at Arab Street is awesome. Buat orang mengeram je kat sana. There's just too many shades to pick from that you are spoilt for choice.

I spent close to half an hour by myself trying to pick out one colour. Last2 beli dua roll je.
Cos I just wanted to wrap that Cake Board.


I initially wanted to get this Pink but because my cupcakes will be in Light Pink, i figured kalau amik Shocking Pink ribbons baru contrast kan. So Pink yang ni kena lah kensel.

Ni macam peh banyak ribbon, kalau keluar tangan kosong jugak, tak tau aku nak cakap apa.

My loot from Arab Street! Cake Board yang paling besar kat bawah tu 14 inch je. Nak carik 18 inch nya tapi tak dapat. So i probably will source it out somewhere.

The three Cakeboards + Cupcakes cost me $21.00
I beli that cupcake nya cups pasal nak gauge how many cupcakes i need to order.

The ribbon is $5.25 per roll. Satu roll tu 25 yards.
Then kain Lace tu is $8/- per meter. Tu pun lepas dah bargain + kenyit mata kat apek tu.
That is the cheapest sey. Kedai yang lain (Alibaba, Aladdin, entah kedai apa2 tah lagi) semua quote me between $16-$22 per metre.

But pasal kain dorang lembut ah sket. Then ada glitter2 sket.
Tapi nak kain lembut pun buat pe kan, not as if nak pi buat baju. So i settled for the cheapest one. Asalkan nampak the lace and nettings sudah.

The end result of the Cake Boards!

It was not that difficult actually. It just takes a lot of gluing and i really mean a lot of gluing! So must make sure the glue you're gonna buy is suitable for fabrics and papers.

I have done a mock up of the Cake Board and it looks gorgeous!! Especially with the lace on.

Oh, kertas cantik tu i buy from Made With Love, this scrapbooking store at Plaza Singapura, tingkat tiga, depan escalator. Yang tu pun boleh rambang mata. So, jagalah diri dan pocket bila pergi sana.

Now, you'll probably be wondering, apa kebendanya sampai cupcake stand pun aku nak DIY?

As much i would love to have a Wedding Cake / Cupcakes on my wedding, I could not believe the amount i have to pay for a cake to stand so proudly for six hours!

Most of the quotations i got was at least $400 for a two-tier Wedding Cake and Cupcake.
That is inclusive of the Delivery and setup charges.

Seriously, $400 can get me a small sofa you know, and that can definitely last more than 6 months at the new home as compared to a Cake.

I initially wanted to go without a Cake. But the boy wanted a Cake-cutting ceremony. I know right, orang lain nya tunang entah perasan ke tak ada Cake kat wedding dorang. Tunang aku sibuk nak potong cake!

So, we shall have cake then.

Kalau nak DIY cake sendiri, confirm tak menjadi. Baik takde cake dari ada cake yang tak senonoh.

So i figured cupcakes can be easily bought and it is so much cheaper. Then i was looking around for Cupcake Stand when i chanced upon ''How to make a cupcake stand".

That's how i know i can actually make my own cupcake stand which i could personalize.

Remember, i bought a cupcake cup (6cm diameter) which is commonly used by all bakeries.
I lay them on the cupcake stand and calculated how many cupcakes i need and it turns out i only need 30 cupcakes on the stand!!

My Little Cuppies quoted me $1.80 per piece for the cupcakes so technically i have to pay $54.00 only for the cupcakes. But 30 pieces seems a bit too little so i will be ordering 36 pieces of Mini Cuppies ($0.80 each) which is half the size of the normal cupcakes. I will then place all the 36 mini cuppies all over the table (rapatkan saf) lol.

So, technically, i only spend $83.00 on the cupcakes. So cheap kan!

There you go, one more way of saving $$ for your wedding.

#45 - Of Pink Flowers

I went over to JB over the last CNY weekend with the bestie and the boy. Went to Angsana and chanced upon the shop 'Romantika'. Gonna go back real soon, there's lots of stuffs i wanna buy for my DIY stuffs.

Saw some really pretty pink artificial flowers there which are of the perfect shade of pink i want for my theme.

I especially love this batch. So pretty!

The bestie and her hubby has promised to bring us to JB more often for wedding-shopping. So exciting!

#44 - Chop Chop

Just a quick since i have been missing for almost a week.

Our progress are quite slow to be honest. I still have not booked my Photographer because i am still comparing their portfolios and pricings. I have shortlisted a few i really, really like though.

Tomorrow im gonna go and meet the Khemah guy, so one more down.

I might scheduling a videographer this week and a photographer next week.

Oh, itinerary pun da bikin. You know, last time i always chase my boy's clients for their itinerary. Apalah susah sangat bikin itinerary, lambat sgt nak submit.

Now that i'm the one who has to do it, i finally understands why it is so hard to schedule nicely.

Stress aku buat itinerary tu.
Aku rasa buat itinerary holiday lagik senang.

Also, while discussing abt the wedding, the boy's mother requested to ask for Portable toilet yg ada seat because dia tak nak menyangkong. *slaps forehead*

Aku dah de banyaaaaak benda nak fikirkan. Sekarang kena pikir pasal toilet jugak?

>_<

#43 - T.W.O

He, the one who makes me laugh as much as he makes me mad (and cry sometimes).

He, who has always been there for me. The 1st one i will share my good news and bad news with.

It has been a wonderful 2 years, B.
Here's to many, many years together, Insyaallah.

#42 - Baju2 and Mekap2.

I have decided on my Bridal House yesterday night. I am so amazed at my decisiveness, if you ask me. But i blame it on my incessant research that i have been doing.

I have crossed out one more item on my to-do list. In fact, this is the 1st Vendor i have met.

I am quite happy with the package, the costume, the makeup and most importantly, the service.

Kak Yatee made me feel at ease and was very very friendly that i have no qualms handing over $400 deposit to her yesterday. hahaha

Anyway, one down, many more to go.

Wedding Planning is kind of taking a toll on me. I keep fearing things may go wrong, vendors will cheat me lah, entah apa2 lagi lah.

All i can do is, pray hard everything goes smoothly.