One month to go

Salam lovelies~

I can't believe it. After all the scouting, after all the time spent with the preparations and after all the emotional outbursts... as of today, I have exactly ONE month to go before the big day!

One more month to...

being independent,

being untied to any responsibilities,

being a daddy's girl...

One more month to...

building a family of my own,

to being somebody else's wife,

being somebody else's responsibility...

I'm getting mixed emotions about this. A part of me is eager to step forward and assume a new phase in life but another part of me is too comfortable in the life that I've been accustomed to. And in the midst of all of that, I'm starting to question myself: Am I ready to be someone else's wife? Can I handle the burden and responsibility of being one? Will I be able to fulfil my roles? Does that mean I'm not a daughter anymore? :( These thoughts, they just keep playing in my head.

Am I getting cold feet?!

Hehe.

Saving BIG

Salam ladies~

Bear with me as this will be a super, duper long post! Today's post will be about saving costs - let's just say I owe it to everyone for slacking off with my posts as of late ;)

Tip number one: Go to wedding showcases.

But go to a reputable and proper one, of course. I have to admit the recent Wedding Showcase provided the best foundation for any bride and groom-to-be to begin with. They had just about everything there - from photographers (CS!!) to bridal boutiques (including displays of amaaazing baju songkets from the well known Mutiara Ayu or better known as Hjh Lina's at Ong Sum Ping) to ideas for hantarans such as velvety Al-Qurans and cupcakes.

And best of all, they all came with amazing discounts and promotions! I only went there to settle my curiosity (since much of the wedding preps are already done with) but I actually ended up booking myself a pelamin for almost half its original cost! And the other half also managed to save about 40% by booking himself a vendor to do his gubahan hantaran for nikah. Save to say, we were one happy camper couple that day. :)

Tip number two: Utilise as much privilege cards that you have. If you don't have one, get one. If that's not an option, then borrow one!

Trust me, they will do you wonders! DSTCard has some great privileges if you're looking to get your wedding or engagement rings - they offer 30% discount on selected jeweller shops including a certain T jewellery shop in Kiulap. Ah-ma-zing!!

And if you're looking to get honeymoon tickets for cheap and happen to have ample miles on your Royal Skies, then this is probably the best time to redeem it. The most you would pay for an airfare would be about $100+ and that is the cost for fuel surcharges only, everything else is free!

Till next time ladies~!

:)

I love this story.

Sometimes the simplest deeds can mean more than we expect them to be. MasyaAllah. :')

There was this beautiful woman, who wanted to get married, but she wanted a very pious husband, so she said that she’ll marry the man who recites the whole Quran every single day, fasts for the whole year and stays awake and worships Allah all throughout the night.

She was a very beautiful woman, and a lot of suitors wanted to marry her, but they knew they couldn’t fulfill the conditions she set. Until this one man stepped forward and said he could fulfill them. So the Imam got both of them married.

After the first night of the marriage, the wife sees that the husband doesn’t recite the whole of the Quran, nor does he fast, nor does he stay awake in the worship of Allah, she decided to let it roll on for a few weeks to see if there were any changes, there weren’t, so she filed a complaint and asked for a divorce.

They are both taken in front of the judge, and the judge asked, ‘What were the conditions of the marriage?’ the man replied ‘They were for me to recite the whole Quran daily, keep fast for the whole year and to worship Allah all throughout the night.’

The Judge asked, ‘ did you fulfill them? The man calmly answered, ‘…yes.’

The judge answers, ‘you lie, your wife has said that you don’t, that’s why she’s asking for a divorce’.

But the man insisted that he had fulfilled the conditions, so the judge asked, ‘did you recite the full Quran everyday?’ The man answered yes. The Judge, baffled asked, ‘how? How can you do that?’ The man coolly answered, ‘I recite Surah Ikhlas three times a day and according to Prophet Muhammad (saw), reciting Surah Ikhlas three times is equivalent to reciting the whole Quran.’ The Judge was intrigued, so he asked, ‘how did you fast the whole year?’ The man answered, ‘ I fasted for the whole month of Ramadan, then kept another six fasts in the month of Shawwal, according to Prophet Muhammad (saw), keeping all of the fast of Ramadan then keeping six fasts in the month of Shawwal, is as if you have fasted for the whole year.’

The Judge remained silent, he couldn’t give a reply saying the man was wrong, so finally he asked, ‘ how did you stay awake all night and worship Allah, when your wife saw you sleeping?’ The Judge thought the man wouldn’t be able to answer this one, but the man, cool as a cucumber answered, ‘I prayed Salatul Isha with jamaat, then the next day prayed Salatul Fajr with jamaat, according to Prophet Muhammad (saw), the one who prays Salatul Isha and Salatul Fajr with jamaat, it is as if he had stayed up all night worshipping Allah.’

The Judge sat there looking at the man; the final verdict was about to be released…

He said to the man and his wife, ‘…go, just go, there is nothing wrong with this marriage’…

Original article was taken from here.

The invitations are here!!

Well, actually, since Thursday and my heart has been brimming with relief, joy and happiness ever since. :)

Salam all bride-to-bes!

Hoping everyone is in the best of health and iman. :)

So as the title suggests, the coveted and long-awaited invitations are finally here! Alhamdulillah. I was so excited about them that I didn't even get to take a photo of the parcel that it came in and neither did I get to take a photo of them in their 'fresh' state! Hehe. Let's just say, they're all neatly packed in their appropriate envelopes now. :) But here's a replica of what they look like in blue, mine's in dark pink:

Credits: ilikecard

Pretty, if I should say so myself! My mum was saying, 'patutnya org lain lah cakap lawa atau nda, ani ia sendiri yg memuji kadnya.' Hehehe. Can't help it, aku suka! :D Next step: printing out invitation names! And note to self: to pay remaining balance!

Phase 1 photos are also out and I love them! It actually feels a bit weird to see your own house from another person's perspective (the photographer) but I have to say I love the way he captures them. Looks like a different house altogether! Of course I caught photos of myself smiling and standing very awkwardly as well but let's just pretend I didn't see those... ;)

And as for the campur boxes, I've got something like this in mind:

And they've been ordered, with full payment. :D So excitingg!!

Also went for my pre-marital screening blood tests earlier today at my local health centre. The lady who took my blood samples commented on how late the nurses tend to give out these tests to the bride and groom-to-bes: 'patutnya awal kursus atu sudah drg mbagi kamu test ani. ani selalu akhir bah. org kn kawin nda lagi batah.' Not that she was mad but I suppose it was a valid statement. Test results will be out in three weeks so I'll make my next appointment then. Mudah-mudahan everything okay, amin!

A sense to reflect :)

Salam ladies,

Interesting read which I found. :)

Title: To Love her for Him

Many people have been talking to me about marriage lately. I wonder why. I still remember this one occasion when a friend of mine asked,

"Lutfi, are you married?"

"What!? No! Do I look like I'm married?"

"Engaged?"

"No, I'm not. Why?"

"Why don't you get married?"

"Well now that you ask, marriage is not that simple for me. And you didn't answer my question."

"What's so difficult? You're an able man. Get married quick."

"Easier said than done, brother."

"Look Lutfi, I got married at the age of 27 and the first thing I thought was 'Why in the world didn't I get married sooner?'"

Laughs. OK, he might have a point. I mean, he's not the President for nothing.

Why is marriage not that easy for me? Surely, there are so many reasons why it's not easy. It shouldn't be easy for anyone! Why do you think marriage is considered as half of our deen? There is such a heavy weight on marriage in Islam such that it is so highly regarded by Allah in many narrations of our Prophet PBUH. Many people do not consider the implications of a pure relationship between a man and a woman in a marriage. That's why many of them end in divorce. What are the typical questions someone asks when considering marriage? Spouse? Money? Education? Job? Wedding? Guests? Food? And the list goes on. Material things.

How many people even ponder on the most essential points? And this is especially so for the man. When I inquire about a woman for marriage, I do not want to know what she should do for me, I want to know what I should do for her. In my opinion, marriage in Islam is not for satisfying my needs. It's not for me at all. It's for Allah. It's for Islam. It's for my wife. It's for my children. It's for my family. It's about responsibility. It's about providing love and care to another soul as Allah has commanded.

If I marry, I will ask my wife of nothing, except that she obeys Allah and His Messenger. For I know that on the Day of Judgement, I will bear the weight of her sins on my back if she doesn't. Islam says, what's mine is hers, what's hers is hers. Islam says, she will be rewarded with the good deeds that I do, and I will be punished for the bad deeds that she does. My wife in this life, is my wife in the next. Marriage is eternal and transcends death. A marriage for Allah's sake may bring me to Jannah, while a marriage based on anything else may bring me to Jahannam. It's more than just 'tying the knot'.

But Allah knows, I want to hold her hand and guide her when she is lost. I want to protect her when she is in danger. I want to be her crying shoulder and wipe away her tears when she is sad. I want to laugh at her jokes. I want to be patient and understanding with her when she is angry. I want to forgive her faults when she makes a mistake. I want to accept her flaws and imperfectmemori hatiions. I want to be kind and gentle to her. I want to be her friend and companion. I want to be her guardian and supporter. I want tobe her teacher, leader and imam. I want to be the father of her children. I want to be there for her through sadness and sorrow, hardship and grief. I want to be there for her in happiness and ease. I want toplease her for the sake of Allah.

I want to show her compassion and affection like the Prophet PBUH, who used to show a great deal of affection towards his wives. Aisha reported that the Prophet would only enjoy his meals when she would sit next to him. They would drink from one cup and he would watch where Aisha would place her lips on the cup so that he could place his lips on the exact position. He would eat from a bone after she would eat from it, placing his mouth where she had eaten. The Prophet used to also help around the house. Aisha narrated, Prophet Muhammad used to stitch his clothes, milk the goats and help in the chores inside the house. I want to emulate our beloved Rasulullah SAW, and I know, this is why it isn't easy.

So ask yourself now, is marriage easy?

Original article was taken from here.

Doodles

Oh my days...

My room has been a warzone eversince I came back from that trip to Singapore. The other half's hantaran things are still in the luggage untouched and everything else is just splattered all over the side of the bed that I am not sleeping in. Not. a. very. pleasing. sight. to see after you return from an exhausting day at work. Nope. Amidst all the social functions and the events happening at work, it's just been very difficult to find the time to clean up and when fatigue takes over, the intention to do so just dies altogether. Maybe I should do it bit by bit? *ponders*

Speaking of 'social' functions... I had the chance to meet up with a good friend of mine earlier today, just after work. We haven't seen each other in quite some time now and being the girls that we (naturally) are, the talk of Phase 1 came up into the conversation and eventually the trip to Singapore too. There was one particular issue that has been bothering me since that trip actually and having to actually let it out and have someone understand my point of view made me feel... how should I say, relieved? Thanks to her, I came to the realisation that this IS my wedding and I should be entitled to feel happy about whatever I intend to do/get/buy, without having to worry about other people talking behind my back. If not now, bila lagi kn? :)

Anyways... on to happier stuff! :D

Guess who has a brand new Ipad2 now?

Yep, you got it right. And he was oh-so-pleased. :)

Queued a good half an hour or so at AV electronics too, to get that. ;)

Short wedding preps update:

* Pictures for Phase 1 to be delivered on Monday. Whoop whoop! :D

* Invitation vendor still to get back to me regarding remaining payment. Getting nervous about this as its been taking her quite a while to respond.

* Still waiting for another vendor to get back to me about my boxes. All this waiting is making me giddyyyyy.

Till next time bride-to-bes!

Post-trip

Salam everyone,

Many apologies for the lack of updates. This bride-to-be has been very busy. :)

Unfortunately that hasn't been due to wedding preparations, hehe. Work has been taking its toll on me lately and it's just taking a bit of time getting adjusted to. :)

Anyhows, as the title suggests, yes, we have finally made our trip to Singapore! Weeheeee! The aim was to get our hantaran stuff there and syukur Alhamdulillah, things have gone according to plan. :) For the other half, we've managed to get the following things:

- Wallet

- Watch

- Ties

- Shoes

- Work shirts, and

- Camera

Which is basically half of his hantaran already, so I can't be more pleased! His ipad2 is still pending though, and until that is bought, I doubt I'm ever gonna hear the end of it, lol. ;)

As for myself, I've managed to get a few bags, tudungs, makeup as well as toiletries (skincare). The hantaran is still missing a few pieces but the rest are available in Brunei so I don't really have much to worry.

As for progress updates, I'm still waiting for my invitation cards to be delivered. Word is she'll be sending them today and it will arrive within the next couple of days so that's exciting news! I also had the chance to go to Masamichi earlier today to settle the remaining payments for the video coverage and that has been done. Feels like such a productive day :D

Till next time bride-to-bes!