I’ve written about my akad nikah ceremony, but haven’t yet written about the 2 receptions that followed after. Since Dean is busy watching football and putting me on mute, I thought I might as well have some nice alone time with my blog.

So the next day after the nikah (you can read about it here) was my side’s reception.

The colour theme was the hardest to decide on. In the end, I just went with my guts. I wanted simple, white and classy. Elegant touches, white fresh flowers, sequin tablecloth, dangling crystals. Nothing OTT, just a hint of these all round the hall. I wanted just white and silver, but in the end they had to add gold touches here and there because white and silver alone looked a tad boring (Note to future brides).

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THE MORNING

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There was drama in the morning!

First of all, I had NOTHING to wear. The day before, Dean had reminded me to pack for 3 days worth of clothes since we’ll be switching between hotels and we won’t have time to go back to our houses. I thought my make-up session was more important (naturally, duh!) so Toots and Asma’ were in charge to pack for me.

The usual; clothes, pajamas, flats, heels, toiletries, toothbrush, hair dryer, some accessories, chargers.

Guess what they actually packed.

I opened my duffel bag in the morning before getting ready to go down for the breakfast buffet.

I found in the bag…. lingerie and telekung.

USELESS BEST FRIENDS. USELESS!!!

So we had to go back to my house to pack some clothes. We were already running late for the rehearsals, when suddenly my whole body turned red. Like small patches and dots of red. Great, just great, I thought to myself.

Day 1 of Wife-hood: Show your husband you have rash.

I’m allergic to seafood so I was thinking what on earth I could’ve eaten. I was so sure I didn’t have any because I was being so careful leading up to the wedding. Either I’m allergic to general air, or I have some weird anxiety rash since I was a bit too excited for the reception night. Some even joked that I was allergic to Dean.

My mom was already calling us for rehearsal. But I needed to get rid of this rash pronto. It was on Saturday so clinics were limited and if they were open, it would be only half day. It was 11 am. I wasted no time. Called my doctor and thank God his clinic was open. Dean rushed me to the clinic to get an allergy jab.

I walked in to the clinic and was so happy to see that the clinic was FULL. Full of people with skin problems waiting to see the doctor.

In my head: IT’S NOT YOUR WEDDING DAY TODAY. LET ME GO IN BEFORE YOU DAMNITTTT! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY.

On the outside: How long more yeah? Oh 6 patients before me? No problem, I’ll just wait. *flips a magazine*

 After what seemed like forever, I was called in. The doctor jabbed my butt and I swear I must’ve been so anxious that it was the least painful jab in the world. I had too many things on my mind.

By the time we got back to the hotel, people had already dispersed for lunch so rehearsal was crossed out. Dean and I just practiced walking in while Jaclyn Victor sang live to gauge how long the entrance walk was (She’s one of my favourite singers so I requested that she sang at my wedding).

Dean and I were allowed to rest before the makeup artist came, so we walked around Pavilion to shop instead. Hehe. By then, my rash was not totally gone, but had reduced a great deal, thank God! It must’ve been the SALE signs everywhere.

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THE GETTING READY PART

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As I was having make up and hair done, Toots and Asma’ had to do theirs as well because they were my bunga telur girls on the pelamin. But it was also drama then, because the table seatings changed last minute because tables were shifted in the hall. I was so worried because I had it all planned out; which friend was to sit where and with who! Asma’ sat with me to go through it again and communicated with the wedding planner, and mannnn no matter how you plan and plan, sometimes you can’t control these things! Some things will definitely happen; either tables were switched, or some guests didn’t show up or brought more people, or table seatings were printed wrongly. Drama WILL happen when it comes to guestlist/seating, so just hope for the best after you’ve planned.

After make-up was done, the nice people from Anne Avantie assisted Dean and I with our wedding outfits. They were flown in specially for the wedding, and I am so thankful! We had back-ups for everything. I had a back-up veil in case I wanted one last minute, Dean had back-up sampin and tengkolok. You see, Indonesian wedding outfits are slightly different; the guy wears a songkok-like hat instead of a tengkolok and an obi belt instead of just rolling up the sampin and the sampin also has elaborate floral beadings which I thought was too feminine for Dean, and the girl wears an elaborate headpiece instead of a tiara. Of course, I wanted to suit our culture so we collaborated with a local designer to “Malaysian-ise” our dresses. Mimpikita also made me special pink heels at the very last minute because the Anne Avantie ones were too short for my liking. I mean, hello, do I look like a bride who would wear kitten heels? I needed all the height I can get!

The only thing I failed to think about was a floral bouquet, so I didn’t carry one in the end. Which I think was a blessing because it’s so annoying to carry that thing around all the time.

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THE RECEPTION

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As our walking in song, I chose this number by Jaclyn Victor simply because it’s just so romantic and I love the meaning. I wanted a Malay song to represent my roots and I was happy I found it after weeks of going back and forth choosing songs!

Jaclyn sang superbly! Seriously, even singing live she amazes people.

Almost teared when my mom merenjis-ed me.

Up on the main table, I was having a ball! I loved the sequence of events, I loved seeing everyone at one glance and I even told Dean that I don’t want the night to end.

Toots gave a speech and of course made me cry. She reminded me of the times we would have sleepovers and just talk about our dreams as little girls. Now we’ve both come this far and we’ll build more amazing things, but our awesome childhood memories will always be in our hearts.

Then our nikah video came up. Kudos to Manggis TV for whipping up the video in just a few hours! Thank youuuu!

They also collaborated with my dad for a surprise video! My dad is the sweetest I tell you. He loves music and he wanted to sing for me. But since he’s too expensive (or chicken) to sing live, he sang to me through a video instead. He collaborated with Uncle Acis (Dato’ Sheila Majid’s husband) to sing Wild Horses by Rolling Stones, one of the songs he’d always sing with me. He compiled old pictures of us and included them in the video; me sleeping in his arms, me holding hands with him, me kissing his cheeks, me graduating, me setting up FV. Basically he did a journey of my life so far. The last lines of Wild Horses are “Wild, wild horses couldn’t drag me away. Wild, wild horses, we’ll ride them someday.” so it’s to signify his love for me that even strong wild horses can’t drag me away from him. If I wasn’t on the main table, I would already be running to him to give him a huge bear hug. My dad and I are really close, so of course by now I was already sobbing loudly oblivious to the fact that I was on the live feed’s big screen.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one without shame.

Super not macho.

Dato’ Shake and one of my uncles also sang a couple of songs for Dean and I! Dato’ Shake sang something in French and although I didn’t understand a thing, I was swaying left and right on my chair loving every bit of it.

We went back up on the dais for the final cake cutting ceremony. It was extra special for me because this cake was made by Asma’ herself. My cake was by Gateauxlicious of course, and it was everything I imagined. White, lacey, crystals. It was perfect. Thanks Asma’, your sleepless nights were worth it! Haha.

The night ended with photography sessions with our beloved families and friends, and by the end of it, our cheeks were numb.

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THE END OF THE NIGHT

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We went back to the hotel room, and we realized how hungry we were. Ordered room service, and guess who showed up at the door instead.

Toots and Asma’, of course.

As if their room wasn’t comfortable enough, they decided our TV was more fun and were more than happy to learn room service was on the way.

Plonked themselves on the bed with the remote, while Dean and I sat awkwardly on both ends of them.

In conclusion, my wedding day was more than I could ever imagine. I felt so underserving of it and when I think about what my parents had done for me, I can cry. I love them so much and only God can repay them for giving this daughter such happiness, not just for her special night but for all the 25 years of her life. They’re good and genuine people, and I really hope God will grant them Jannah. Thanks, Mom and Dad for everything!

And of course, thanks for letting me marry this one. He’s a keeper!

Insyaallah, you have put me in good hands.

For more wedding pictures, please visit the photo album on FashionValet Facebook fanpage. 

We are also unveiling the pictures from Dean’s traditional reception on Thursday, so don’t forget to Like the page to be the first to see!

I also have videos that I would love to upload, but I can only do that next month. You’ll know why soon.

Planning and Decoration: Pak Abu

Wedding dresses: Anne Avantie

Shoes: Mimpikita

Maid of Honor: Radzuan Radziwill

Bridesmaids: Nurita Harith

Hair and Make-up: Saidatulnisa

Videography: Manggis

BTS Videography: CelebrateTV

Photography: The PhotoZ

Cake: Gateauxlicious