December 21, 2016

My Engagement : The Preparation

Okay.. how do I even start?

I'm married now and I still haven't posted anything about my engagement preparation like I promised in my previous post. Not even gonna try to explain myself this time.


So here goes.... the long delayed post. 

My engagement preparation was simple and not that hectic. Everything was smooth sailing; from the dais to the hantaran, the catering to the dress... everything was how I imagined it to be. I didn't want an extravagant ceremony, just a small gathering for family and close friends. There are several important things to decide on before the engagement :

1. Venue 
I chose my house because it's the most convenient place for a small group of people.

2. Guests 
This links to the first item, which is the venue. I made sure the number of guests suits the area of my house so it won't be too crowded during the ceremony.



3. Catering 
I think food for the guests is one of the most important part of any event. I hired someone who my family trusts and they have done so many events for my whole family. So we know their food is amazing. If you want to try my catering, you can check out their Facebook : One Adnor Catering


4. Theme
Decide on what color theme you and your family can agree on so everyone can wear the same color. Some people prefer to have different colors for the bride to be and the family but as for me, I decided to have the same color as my family, which is grey. You can never go wrong with grey!


5. Door gifts
My door gift was a simple one. Just butter cookies that are shaped like an engagement ring. It was so pretty, so sayang to give out to people! Haha. My aunt is a baker so I hired her to make the cookies. I took inspiration from a picture that I found on Pinterest :


And I would say mine turned out pretty much the same with the inspiration picture. I have to credit my aunt for doing such a good job. It even tasted good!




6. Dress
I think this is most girls' favorite part. Not for me though. I am not the kind of person who likes to browse what design I should do and what not. So this is the hardest part I had to do. I decided to just rent a grey dress and everything will be settled. Who knew people don't wear GREY on their weddings or engagements??? Grey dress is so hard to find okay! 

So like it or not, I had to buy the grey material and made a custom made dress (something that I told Amin that I would never do for the engagement because I didn't want to spend so much for the engagement). When I told Amin that I need to buy the material, he kept quite but his face says it all. I was so close to punching his "I knew it" face. Pfffft.




7. Dais
I decided to not spend so much on dais but dais are so expensive. If you can find one that's below RM1k, you're lucky enough. I'm one of the lucky ones because I managed to find someone on Instagram who charges only RM180 - RM550. For an engagement, that range make sense to me.

 Mine is from @buaianberendoihzc on Instagram


8. Hantaran
Hantaran can be confusing. So I did so much research before deciding on the hantarans.  Based on my research, the number of dulang should be odd numbers and the girl should give additional 2 dulangs more than the amount of dulangs the guy gives. For example, Amin gave me 5 dulangs for our engagement, so I gave him 7. 

My hantaran to Amin

Amin's hantaran to me. I love the colors they used!


What you want to put on your dulangs is another story. As for me, it wasn't  that hard because both my parents are from Perak and our tradition is the dulangs for an engagement are only food, except for the material for our solemnization ceremony and sirih junjung. Everything else was food. I don't know about other states, but basically in Perak, that's how we do it. 


9. Make Up
Ahh, every girls' worry. As for me, I didn't have to worry because I never trust any other make up artists other than my good friend, Noor. Her touch blends in with my face so well that I couldn't deny how good I look every time she touches my face. Haha. If you are looking for a good make up artist and doesn't cost a bomb, you can check out her Instagram : @athirah3110




10. Hand Bouquet
This is something I had problems with. Initially, I didn't want to have hand bouquet because I simply don't like them. I don't like flowers generally (except for hydrangeas though), so to have flowers in my hands the whole ceremony just made me cringe. I told my Mom about it and she was okay at first. But on the day itself, I found out she went to the florist to pick up the hand bouquet that she ordered like a few days before the ceremony. Pfffttt Mom is so sneaky when it comes to having her way. I still thanked my Mom though because if I didn't have the baby breaths in my hands on that day, the pictures wouldn't turn out that great. Which brings us to the next and last item!




11. Photography/Videography
Honestly speaking, although I love posting my ootds on Instagram, I don't really know how to judge a picture when it comes to professional photography. Whether the lighting is good or whether this photographer knows how to edit or not. I have zero knowledge in this area and this is the reason why I don't really care about who takes the pictures on my engagement day. I know most people really think this is the most important thing, especially on one of the most important day of your life but I see it as just something I should have at my engagement but I'm not that fussy about how the pictures will turn out. However, my pictures turned out fine. My photographer on that day was Fydo. You can check his Instagram here : @fydography




These are some of the pictures Fydo took of us. I love these picture of Amin and I. You don't usually see us being this sweet. Haha.


By the end of the day, I was happy and content with everything on that day. Except the fact that I have a site visit at 7am to 7pm the day after. I was basically a zombie the whole day at the site visit, even when I had 3 cups of coffee. Zzzz.



No comments: