Sorry I Couldn't Help Myself...

... but... I've been looking at pictures of wedding dresses again! I actually miss this. That point in time towards planning your wedding where you would just google for pictures and ideas for hours! So last night, during my graveyard shift (*panda eyes*) I found this one local website which just compiles tons and tons of wedding dresses pictures and ideas!  Here's a few that caught my eyes and which I so much adore! Wish I had found this website sooner.

I love the dress on the right. The empire waist with streamline A-cut gives off such a simple and elegant silhouette!

Love the ones on the right!A classic empire with silk-chiffon layering.

Can somebody please make their dress like the one of the left? I'd totally want to see it on somebody, and it would look great in a soft pastel color. The tapering of the skirt is gorgeous!

This one has such a lovely neckline and back details. And a full lace dress is simple divine! (and expensive!)

Layered skirts - a preview of things to come! (^__^)

I saved this picture because the lace material on the right is similar to the one proposed by my reception dress designer - so I wanted to see how it'd look like eventually.

But did you notice the headpiece? Been thinking of having it as a replacement for a hijab during solemnization ceremony in the mosque. Will forward this to my dressmaker straight away!

Like what you see? Do check out more @  Wedding Inspirasi.

(and no.. this is not a sponsored post!)

Busy Bee

I've just been soo bogged down with work lately that I feel like crying. And on top of my 18-hours shift in the office, I also have been chassing down vendors and finalising some WeeDay details before I fly-off for outstation job next week. But of course, in hindsight, my manager did ask (nicely) if I want to skip this job instead but... it's a great working + travelling opportunity here that I don't intend to pass-off!

(no... I'm not a workaholic. I just like eating airplane food and staying in hotel room which I don't have to pay for.)

Ok. Enough of my personal drama. Let's see what I've been up to these past week!

Nikah dress: Met-up with the dressmaker (Tralila! A recent fav amongst WeeLoggers. Try to guess who!) last Saturday for a mock-fitting. The toile was a perfect fit and needed very little adjustments. She showed me the finalised sketch and the rough beading works and it's beautiful! Can't wait!!

Reception dress: This one was a bit tricky. Had to chase down the boutique's designer so that we could finalise the materials and concept. Finally met-up last night and it was a brief meeting since she seems busy. Saw the materials. Love the materials. Just a bit dissappointed that the designer does not have enough imagination to expand the choices for lace. It'll be off-white as discussed and she'll provide some colorful accessories for me. (Yay!) Still in love with the fact that it's below my budget.

Invitation card: Finally finalised the wordings, colours and paper materials. Yay! Hopefully will be able to get it printed and delivered to my doorstep by end of next week. In the meantime, have requested and currently compiling addresses for the invitees.

Favors: Sending my mother to Jakarta again this Friday with specific instructions for the favors. I don't trust liasing with the contact person in Jakarta. Finally decided on what we're distributing, and my mum's friend is just too happy to volunteer her expertise to do up the favors. (Her telur pahar is just the most exquisite thing I've ever seen!)

Wedding Music Band: Met up with Ezura (of Ezura Entertainment) last Sunday. Discussed the possible range of songs that I'm interested in having for the wedding, and I love the fact that she's very open with any range of music (except for rock!). Currently happily compiling songlists for her (Tralilalila...).

Cake: Ideas communicated to Kak Wanie (mostly via this blog). Hopefully I can get it as I'd dream of.

Photographer: Basically I've decided on who to take, but he's getting married this weekend so cannot 'kacau'. In the meantime, I've been happily browsing through some other photog's website and asking for quotes. Menggatal...  (^__^)

Decorations & Pelamin: My ideas and concept have been roughly communicated to Kak Wanie, and so far from our meeting last Sunday, I'm very excited and happy with her ideas. Can't wait! Hopefully will be meeting up again this weekend with the full sketches and mocks and etc.

Want to know what else I've been up to? Busily reading all the other B2B blogs!! Huge congratulations to all who had gotten married these past 2 weeks! And a big shout-out to Amy, Sab and Ashylla for tying their special, huge knots and sharing their wedding day journey with us lots. And I also just want to say ganbatte(!) to Diah after bumping into her jogging at KLCC Park last Friday.  Too bad I've been too busy this week to join her...

More Wedding Cakes!

I just had a sit-down with Kak Wanie and my mum this evening and we had quite a lengthy discussion about the wedding cake. (psst... btw... am super excited about the decorations ideas from Kak Wanie!! Can't wait to see the sketches!) I was trying to explain to them the concept of my ideal wedding cakes, which is meant to be shared with the guests. And I had an idea for the presentation to be somewhat like this:

Separate cakes presented on different levels. Of course, we'd be cutting the highest (and smallest!) ones.

But Mum worries that once we'll have it for a 'free-for-all' ala buffet style, the cakes will get messy and not be pretty anymore. She even tried to sneak in a dummy cake into the conversation (*shock!*) and suggested on distributing cupcakes instead. Something like this:

But to be honest? I'm bored of cupcakes.

(I've had it on too many occasions for the past 2 years already!)

However, if I were to go with Kak Wanie's suggestion of having a simple, basic 3-tiered wedding cake, I must say I would love it in this style:

I would have it exactly like this. Or maybe we'd add a bit more colour and flowers to it.

And here are some other pretty cake pictures from Style Me Pretty that I adore!

I esp love this!

Creative use of ribons and bows instead of the standard flowers.

Simple, Rustic & Home-made

When it comes to wedding cakes, I love it rustic and home-made and slathered with a generous topping of swiss meringue buttercream. And I also love variety - being able to enjoy different kind of cakes.

source: GWS

Because cakes are meant to be eaten - all part of it. It's not meant to be disposed (*ehem*fondant*ehem*) or fake (*ehem*dummy*ehem*) just for the sake of looking pretty. And it's not meant to be grandieur (*ehem*eight-tiers??*ehem*) only to be binned later on.

I want to be able to share my cakes with my guests, and I want them to enjoy it as much as I do (being the cake-loving person that I am). So when it comes to deciding my wedding cake designs, flavours and concept, it was one of the easiest choice I've ever made.

source (from top): theknot, ratukek, signaturecupcakes, misscreativecakes

3 cakes. 3 flavours. 3 separate tiers. And fresh flowers. And maybe... after the cake-cutting ceremony, I'd have the cakes transferred to the dessert table so that it'll be easily accessible to my guests. Well.. that is, after I've had my fair-share of the cakes itself. (^__^)

(Q: So how many times have you eaten cake at a wedding? Seriously.)

Wedding Blues

.... or should I say "Blue Weddings" ? I've been doing a lot of blog - walking, hopping, skipping, running, strolling... (etc... etc...) ever since I came into the wedding scene and it was hard not to miss that the theme colour of 2009/2010 has been none other than... *drumroll*.....

Ms Tiffany Blue! 

Now, Ms Tiffany Blue would like to say her thank yous' to Tiffany & Co for the opportunity to become the ambassador for their jewellery box, to Audrey Hepburn for immortalizing the name in cinematic history and to all brides who has nominated and choosen her as the wedding theme colour of 2009/2010. But with a heavy heart, Ms Tiffany Blue would also like to announce her early retirement and make way for her younger (and less popular) cousins.

And without further ado, "A&L" proudly presents a.i.n.u.n.'s official colour theme(S)!

For solemnization/nikah ceremony

Inspiration:

Antique French Library by Project Wedding

Romantic Blue by Perfect Palette

For Reception #1: Bride's

Inspiration:

source: GWS

For Reception #2: Groom's

Inspiration:

source : The Party Dress

His family had just decided on their colour theme last weekend, so that's why I was confident to announce all my colour themes now! Never expected them to go with blue again, but have to say that I absolutely {heart} their choice! But... be straight with me though... do you think there's just too much blues?

(PS: Ok... so this is not a wedding cake post, but it is still pretty cool right? Was too excited not to share this ASAP but I promise - cross my heart - that the next post will definitely be a cake post. )

Bridezilla tamed... for now!

Much hugs and appreciation for all your emails and comments on my very 1st Bridezilla moment! Here! Have a cookie. (^__^)

(source: googleimage)

In my moment of panic, all your comments and words of assurance helped to calm me down a bit. And I was sane enough to do some damage controls and made a few contacts and I have found my savior! Alhamdullilah... a family friend (or more like my Mother's colleague's family) had offered to helped us out with the wedding card printing&designing. So, after trading a few emails, a quick discussion with The Parents, a phonecall and a few more emails, I'm crossing fingers that all will turn out well. 

Want to know who is my savior? Check out this awesome powerhouse couple: 

It's All About Printing  

On another note, had another talk with my Mother this evening about the favor that I asked her to order in Jakarta and I just found out that she ordered a low quality version of the favor, and the design is different compared to what I had wanted. *sigh....* I don't know if I should be feeling very guilty for putting my mum through all the troubles of travelling all the way there and yet, have to deal with a fussy daughter like me or...

Resign myself to the failure of miscommunication.

But I've already sent a quick email to the vendor in Jakarta to make sure that I get what I want, or else it'll be more money wasted on things I do not like. I'm kinda hoping the Father will be going back to Jakarta soon, just in case I need to do more damage control later.

Ok... ok... enough of bridezillas!! On a lighter note, I found a wedding band! No. Not the one that you can wear as accesories. It's the one that can sing! (and play musical instruments!) Hardcore googling paid-off, and I managed to find a 4-piece band within my budget. Check them out!

Ezura & Band

And she sings Norah Jones! (l.o.v.e.)

PS: Do you love cake as much as I do? Wedding Cake post coming up next!

Bridezilla Moment #1

Ask any of my friends - I'm the coolest bride there can ever be. Not in any 'popular' terms though, but in the context that I don't worry so much about the wedding preparation. WeeDay is 2 months down the road and what have I achieved? *silence* See? Even I don't know what I've done thus far!

But I'd like to say that I'm level-headed. I don't sweat the small stuff. I only see the big picture. At the end of the day, it's the solemnization of the marriage that matters. And that's all I've ever wanted - to be married.

So, my preparation thus far has only been to cover the basics. Get the vendors, confirm some details, and I'll let other people do the worrying. And here I was thinking that when I sent my mother to Jakarta to order the wedding invitation cards, I'd have one less thing to worry.

NO WAY!

The vendor just came back to us yesterday with a mock-up and O.M.G (!!). It looked nothing like I wanted! I approached my mum about it and apparently my dad had managed to intervene and decided on another type of card instead. *smack!* There's a reason why I sent my mother and not rely on my father, because I absolutely cannot rely on his taste (Tolongla.. no kerawang2!). But we are sooo not going ahead with having our cards printed at Jakarta, I'm making sure of that.

And now I have to start at square ONE. Called-up a few vendors this morning and they mentioned that due to upcoming busy wedding season, it'll take about 4 - 5 weeks for printing. *sigh* I want to feel angry but then I'd be guilty over it later. I wanted to order the cards months ago, but parents kept insisting on getting the cards done at Jakarta and now look where we are.

Coming from wanting to get a custom-made card, I'll just have to settle for anything that is fast and cheap. Any ideas/suggestions/help out there? It would be so so so very much appreciated!

xoxo

a.i.n.u.n.z.i.l.l.a.

Big vs small (??)

When it comes to choosing photographer for my WeeDay, I try to avoid the Big Names (oh... you know exactly who they are). Why? Well... with Big Names comes Big Price. And yes, the quality speaks for itself - but don't you think the results sometimes tend to look the same as well? (Esp the cliche wedding shoe photos! What's up with that?)

So... when it comes to choosing photographer for my WeeDay, I tend to look at smaller (and perhaps?) up-and-coming names. Most of them are apprentices to those Big Names, while some others have been long in the industry but just hasn't had the opportunity to get big just yet.

Random Fact #1: Did you know that Kudegraphy has only been doing wedding photography for less than a year? But the team is known internationally now! Check this out: JuneBugWeddings.

Plus, it's a sure bonus the fact that they're starting out small, their packages tends to be (very) competitive as well. And really... the quality of their photos are just as good as the Big Names!

Here's my shortlist of potential photographers. I'm having a hard-time trying to choose just ONE!

Fad Manaf

The first wedding photographer I fell in love with.

(ps: the picture above was from my friend's wedding that he had done in Putrajaya)

Random Fact #2: Did you know that Fad is the official photographer for our local act Hujan? He is also in the same gang as Udey of MU, so you can see them working together sometimes.

Ariff Aris

He has been in the industry for 7 years now, so you can count on him for experience.

And I love the fact that he has a fish-eye lense.

Random fact #3: Ariff gives you a better rate if you join his facebook group. (^__^)

Rudy Azwan

You may know him as the man behind Sweet Pictures (I googled him from the latest ed. of Ratu Sehari).

And if you're getting married this April, there's a promo waiting for you!

Wedding Music Band

I'm on a look-out for a good wedding band. Anyone got any ideas? The thing is.... I'm a bit picky when it comes to live music. I love (lovelovelove!) a good acoustic band! Maybe a string quartet, a jazz band, or just a simple bass&piano combination (like the one at Delicious @ Dua Residency).

But for my wedding, I hope the band can meet these criterias:

• Can play both Malay and English music
• Versatile - can play a wide range of music genre (from folk to swing to jazz to acoustic to classic)
• Have really really good acoustic sounds
• Vocalist can sing in good Malay and English

My WP gave me a few suggestions and I also did a quick google for more options. Check out the clips below and tell me what you think!

Amethyst Band.
Strong vocalist and the band is great.
They are also the in-house band at Restaurant 39, PNB Derby.

Clymax Band.
(sorry for the bad quality!)

Wedding Live Band: Romantic Quartet.
Eventhough they're singing a chinese song but they've got really good acoustic here!

From Jason Geh Entertainment.
Love this band! So lively! So versatile! Listen long enough and you'll hear them singing Broery Marantika (my dad's fav).

February Checklist

8
That's the number of weeks I have left before my W-Day. Is this for real? I feel like I've hardly covered the basics! But before we move on to more rambles and chaos of my wedding preparation...

Let's see how much I've done on my JANUARY CHECKLIST:

1. Start doing up my paperworks.  + Much thanks to my father for handling this despite both of our busy schedule.
2. Order wedding invitation cards
3. Confirm make-up artist
4. Confirm photographer (too many choices! don't know how to choose!)
5. Search for reception dress at bridal boutiques.
6. Start ordering wedding favours (soo many ideas...!)
7. Get all my families and dayang-dayang materials for clothes and organizing them for wedding
8. Look-out for live band for reception
9. Finish shopping for 'hantaran'
10. Make plans for 'Singles Retreat' with the girlfriends
11. Get sample measurement for hubby's 'baju melayu'

5 out of 11?? That's bad.... It means I have to put more pressure on myself for this month!


FEBRUARY CHECKLIST

1. Order wedding invitation card  + Am sending my mother to Jakarta this week to order the cards and some wedding favors.
2. Confirm photographer  + still pening
3. Start ordering wedding favors  + Have a bunch of ideas! Remind me to share them with you girls.
4. Look-out for live band for reception  + Have a few recommendations from Kak Wanie of KK but still open for other recommendations.
5. Finish shopping for 'hantaran'  + Actually bought most of the stuffs already except for 2 or 3 other stuffs.
6.  'Singles Retreat' with the girlfriends  + Have a small vacay with the girls this CNY but not all are going, so planning another trip or just a day out somewhere.
7. Finalise decorations ideas with Kak Wanie of KK
8. Send materials to dressmaker for my nikah  outfit.
9. Fitting and finalising concept for my wedding dress.
10. Confirm caterer and canopy for nikah ceremony
11. Book honeymoon (??)  + Havent confirmed with hubby yet.
12. To lose 2kg!! + Have to force myself to start training for marathon already.

Hopefully I can start announcing my official vendors soon!