Alhamdulillah …
It has been 19 days that I am now a happily married woman and I can’t be more thankful for this blessed life. Everyday, I wake up feeling so grateful to Allah that I managed to progress through to the next phase of life. I have always thought that weddings and marriages are far-fetched and will happen to others but not to me.
I can't recall the exact date that both Miftah and I decided to get married but I think it was sometime back in February 2011. We did not have a long courtship period.
In Malay traditional customs, as soon as a man announces his wish to marry, an engagement date will be set when families of the couple meet to discuss the wedding plans. The adat bertunang (engagement custom) is normally held at the bride's home and this took place on 30th Apr 2011 for us.
In terms of preparations for our wedding, I feel that it is similar to preparing a corporate event but the primary difference is that relatives tend to be more sensitive so we had to be delicate in our decision-making and try to manage objectives, emotions and the level of involvement by others. Furthermore, the two of us decided to have a combined function as compared to a traditional Malay wedding, which usually involves one function on the bride's side and another on the groom's side so we had to be very mindful of the wants and needs of each other’s family.
It was definitely a rollercoaster ride throughout the whole period of wedding preps. A word of caution that I would like to highlight to future brides and grooms is to ensure that you go through the agreement with the bridal service providers thoroughly. I made the mistake of assuming some items were included in certain packages I took and failed to ensure that it was printed in black and white. Professionalism must be maintained even if the service provider you engage might be directly related to you unless maybe the service providers are your own parents. Eventually, it is still a business deal.
Another point to note is that it is highly encouraged that you have your own checklist and mark your own deadlines. Do schedule a few meetings with your décor provider, photographer, videographer, food caterer, mak andam and other service providers. It is good if you can have one final meeting at least a week with all those involved to run through everything and check if anything has been missed out. You need not do all these on your own and can always assign your trusted friend or relative to be in the loop.
Last but not least, now that the event is officially over, my husband and I would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to everyone who had been involved one way or another!
Our Heartiest Thank you …
Fadlin M. Saffri from One Avenue for the wonderful videography
And thank you to all our guests, comprising of family and friends for sharing our joy and for praying for our well-being.
Much Love,
Shasha & Miftah
