images of #projecthun.

based on our event package, abz and i were to select 300 images from our events for the hardcopy album.

we thought it was easypeasy, how much time can choosing pictures take.
it really wasn't! especially from a folder of more than 2,000 images of all sorts.

for the first few hours, abz and i just stared into the telly screen and wondered how do we start choosing. what pictures should be in the album, what pictures would people like to see, whose faces should be in. so much to consider even though the event is over.

we cannot randomly and blindly select images, can we?

so we came up with a plan:

1) allocated how many images for each date - we settled for 80:120:120, based on the event coverage

2) re-arranged all the images according to when they happened - solemnization, dinner and lunch

3)  sub-divided each date into three folders - (1) images with guests/pelamin, (2) behind the scenes and (3) the newly weds only (thats us! hahahh)

4) prioritized images with guests, followed by behind the scenes and lastly our own pictures

5) depending on how many slots are left after selecting guests images, we shall divide the balance slots accordingly to the other categories

6) we decided that we can afford to put our own pictures less because we have our own photoshoot album

and we were set!

it took us about four nights to complete the entire selection process. i remembered my fingers got numb from all that clicking, eyes dry and blurry from looking at the telly for many hours. with eyes fixed on the images, we were so focused on images to "stay-delete-delete-stay-delete-stay". i had never said the words 'stay' and 'delete' so much before.

we went through the same process for our photoshoot album.
we had to choose 30 images out of more than 200; this time in the studio itself and not in the comfort of our home.

"stay-delete-delete-stay-delete-stay"
we took about 4-5 hours.

our photoshoot album is embedded with a glass cover and for that, we were offered a pretty suitcase to protect our album. yay!

i love that its black and embossed. so sleek. hahah.

ahhh, looking back at those images~~
ahhahah, kemarok gambar wedding sendiri.

does this mark the end of entries for #fsprojecthun?
hmm, im not sure.
i'm just gonna take it as it comes.

∞ ♥ ♥ ♥ ∞ (Part III)

(Part III)

∞  ♥ ♥ ♥  ∞

Indoor and Outdoor Photoshoot

:: 14 August 2014 ::

all images by Signature Photography.

makeup and outfits by Signature Bridal.

∞ ♥ ♥ ♥ ∞ (Part II)

(Part II)

∞  ♥ ♥ ♥  ∞

Solemnization Ceremony

:: 08 August 2014 ::

∞  ♥ ♥ ♥  ∞

Wedding Dinner Reception

:: 16 August 2014 ::

∞  ♥ ♥ ♥  ∞

Wedding Lunch Reception

:: 17 August 2014 ::

all images by Signature Photography. 

click clack, it goes.

now that we're done with #projecthun, i am thinking of letting go some of my wedding heels which i know are unlikely that i will be wearing them again. really? such shiny shoes? puhhhlease!

rather than letting some of these shoes collect dust and take up space, i decided to let two of them go at slashed prices, in hopes that they'll be of use to another person.
it doesn't matter whether its for bridal or what-occassions-have-you.
so these are the two:

******************************

Item #1 For Sale: DMK Blue Glitter Heel Pumps

product description:
- size 38 (length approx 25cm)
- heels approximately 2.4" (6.0 cm) height
- worn once for my wedding photoshoot, which was about 4-hour
- condition as good as new
- comes with shoe box
- bought at SGD 39.90 from DMK
- selling at SGD 30.00

******************************

Item #2 For Sale: Plain Jane Silver Glimmer Heel Pumps

product description:
- size 40 (length: approx 25cm)
- heels approximately 2.4" (6.0 cm) height
- worn once for my wedding dinner, which was about a 5-hour session
- condition as good as new
- comes with shoe box
- bought at SGD 30.00 from Plain Jane at Bugis
- selling at SGD 25.00

terms and conditions:
- no trades please
- cash on delivery or bank transfer

- self-collect at Tanjong Pagar MRT (during lunchtime) or Parkway Parade (after office hours)

******************************

i would really love to keep these shoes lah, but what are the chances of my wearing them again? 

i don't fancy realllllly high heels, so i kept them at a max height. so these pumps are rather, safe during my walking down the aisle then. hahah.  

if you are interested, or know someone who might be interested, do drop me an email at shyafreidah.am[at]gmail.com  

:) 

yours is your own.

what i've learnt from from observing life-changing moments such as vacations, pregnancy and births, getting own's houses etc,
especially weddings since its a once-in-a-lifetime affair,
and perhaps you ought to as well, is that,

to each moment is your own fortune.  

lain orang, lain rezeki nya k. 

moving forward.

its been a month since the solemnization of #projecthun, 
and about three weeks since the receptions; 
those moments still felt surreal sometimes. 

really, already? i’m not even gonna comment on whether has time gone by fast or slow. we have a heck of a lifetime ahead insya Allah; with monthsary countdowns, time will definitely crawl lahhh. 

how's married life so far?
i said this to all who had asked, and i say this again for now: "so far so goooood."
come on, its only four weeks.. or so.

taking #projecthun to a month ago, it went smoothly, thankfully. 
or at least the way i saw it was. 

during the solemnization and/or receptions, believe me, nobody around you is gonna tell you whether there's hiccups or not. unless you yourself turun padang pelamin to inspect every nook and corner of your wedding affair. everyone is either telling you everything is in order or they don’t tell you at all. in fact, you don’t give orders. you take orders - from mak andam, the photographers, the floor manager, timekeeper, etc. okay lah, give and take. 

those three days have memorably seen me smile, laugh, bashful and feeling all coy. those days also had me teared, cringed and upset. there were nerve-wrecking moments (one instance was when i couldn’t get to S.Khai right up to a day before the event) and possibly regretful over choices of some vendors and selections, etc. 

the last few things you'd want to happen before your wedding are negative emotions and/or vibes as well as the possibility of any event turnaround. especially when you have your itinerary in hand and things/people tend to not follow the schedule. 
basically, it kinda felt ergh for not being able to be in control.

i’m really grateful for the few people around me for giving me positive reminders and assurance. because of them, it felt easier to keep calm and remind myself "all is well." or "it will turn out fineeee." or "let (my worries) go, they'll handle it good."

all three days went beautifully and oh golly they went by fast.

i would love to do a proper review/recollection on #projecthun. but lets hold that idea, as i'm drafting the entry. nothing fancy. just a short #throwback. which reminds me.. i gotta update the page tab.... some day.

but for now,
*punch fist in the air*
yay syukran dah kahwin!

∞ ♥ ♥ ♥ ∞ (Part I)

(Part I)

∞  ♥ ♥ ♥  ∞

:: 08 August 2014 ::

knock, knock.

embrace a whole new world with that one person.

who knows the best is yet to come.

all the things she said.

mom and i were working on the berkat boxes while watching P Ramlee's Tiga Abdul on Youtube.

mom commented that she likes the song Sedangkan Lidah Lagi Tergigit (Apa Pula Suami Isteri), to which i reply, belum kahwin je dah boleh bercakar, apalagi bila dah kahwin.

mom agreed. hahahh.

and then there was a moment of short silence.

mom broke the silence by saying,
"nanti tak lama lagi kau dah tak selalu balik sini lagi lah eh."

simple words, but heartwrenching, i tell you.

settlethekettles: seventh.

this is the part where the entries with regards to projecthun may get a little boring.
okay lah, not that its any interesting before.

according to the date calculator, we have less than five weeks to go.
say whuuuut.
hahah.

i'm pretty glad that a lot of matters have fallen into place, and what's left is just the final touches leading up to the solemnization day.

1) ROMM Interview
we went for ROMM interview exactly five weeks before the solemnization date.
as the stories went, we were told that the Ustaz who will be interviewing us are likely to ask questions like do you agree to this marriage or are you forced, how do you rate your religious knowledge etc.
instead, the Ustaz asked me which child order am i. he asked abz. "cuti hari ni?", after which he proceeded to verify our details and gave us the standard speech. naisely done there, Sir.
after the interview sesh, i asked dad what did the Ustaz ask him when they were in the interview sesh, to which dad replied, "i said lah you paksa i sign untuk kasi you kahwin."
thanks ahhh dad, bukan paksa kahwin eh tapi kena paksa sign. hahah.

2) Wedding (Main) Gifts
we have finally finished purchasing all the main gifts for the gift trays. phewww.
abz and i do not consider foodstuffs to be part of the main gift exchange because... well, its food. you can't go wrong with the choices, can you? cake, chocolates, cupcakes, macaroons, pulut and jellos all that. its just a matter of how many food types do you want to exchange. we were set with just two kinds, i hope.
we hav, however, set aside the number of trays for the gifts, excluding mahr and dowry. make it fair lah, if i'm giving ten gifts, he should also give me ten different gifts on top of the mahr and hantaran. nyeheheh. but of course we aint doing ten each.
all the stuffs are finally purchased, arrived and shipped; items are kept in our respective big boxes after which will be given to respective sides for the gift trays. macam production line.
yay!

other than these, its just a matter of sending the invitation cards, printing the necessary whatnots, collecting the final items, putting them together and sealing them for use in... five weeks or so. in addition, i guess we need to review the pending payments, the final appointment dates with which vendors and who's who.

it get slackier as it gets nearer yet it gets a little tiring as well.

setthethekettles: sixth - walk on.

abz started this shoe shopping.

he got all his shoes within a week(!!) and was showing them off to me, catwalking in them.
vainpot.

why are men's shoes so easy to get??

but of course lah easy! you guys only have two colors - black and/or white to pair with your suits! or brown but thats unlikely. and a standard color for chapal for the traditional outfits.

guys don't have the options of sandals or heels/pumps, or covered/peep toes, or any ruffles/flowers/sequins needed in the designs, or the heel height!

on the other hand, tell a girl she is allowed to buy shoes.
and watch her go kemarokz over shoes.
no kidding, dude.

i had so much fun trying on shoes that i lost count how many i had bought.
and it doesn't help that its hard to find just one matching color that fits all my outfits. it sounded like excuses, isn't it? but its trueee. hahahha.

i got three freaking pairs from DMK, my new favorite shoe store! their shoes are comfy for me, affordable and pretty! all shoes are below SGD50.00 per pair and i purposely chose designs that i can wear even after the wedding affair.

i was never the bold bling shoes kinda person. I'm happy with just a little shimmer, a little glitter and satin or silk. i don't want to be too extravagant in the designs and accents, because i still do want to wear them again and again. too wow of a pair of shoes is just not practical to me.

Pazzion was the first pair i had gotten, thanks to the influence of FaeO. for a while it was my favourite pair, because its silk lace. hahahh. its a little pricier than DMK's pairs, but was still within the budget.

happynotetoself - i can still use it for many more Raya in future.

one of my impulsive buys is this Plain Jane crystal kitten heels. i had gone to Bugis Market with JC to survey for shoes and found this sparkling pair staring at me, telling me I'm still within the shoes budget. hahahha. so how? i grabbed, and go pay. NF dubbed this pair as a kelab malam pair of shoes.

i was toying with the idea to carousell my shoes after the wedding. but now that i'm thinking about it.........................

..................... lets think of this damage as an investment k. I.N.V.E.S.T.M.E.N.T.
given this many pairs of shoes, lagi tiga empat tahun nampak gaya dah tak payah lah beli kasut lagi dahhh.

sebab tahun ni dah bayar niat.

settlethekettles: fifth.

did you know that not all browsers are compatible with the ROMM website?
now i tell you - we managed to finally book our Solemnizer via Safari after a few failed attempts via Chrome and Firefox. mehhh.

but hey, finally!

while my famz and i have no preference, abz wanted Ustaz Suhaimi Fauzi to be the solemnizer.

kalau Suhaimi Yusof jadi Naib Kadi for us, aku rasa malam tu confirm orang nak bergambar dengan dia lebih dari dengan pengantin okay. hahah.

(added: i told shaq about abz's wanting to take SY as kadi. her reply: "nanti SY suruh dia (abz) jojojoooget dulu baru boleh akad nikah!" LOL. she made me laugh so hard then.)

anyhoos. abz had even called SF and we were good to book him. but came the registering night, we couldn't find his name in the list of available Naib Kadis on our desired date.

so we decided on Ustaz Syed Mustafa Alsagoff who was my lecturer in Pergas long long ago.
i didnt tell abz, but i was silently rooting for SMA. i was smilinggg inside when SMA was the chosen Naib Kadi. hehhh.

the whole registering process was okay, with not much hassle. tick tick tick, click click click.

if you hadnt register yours, do have these details in hand when you do:

• you and your partner's identification card numbers and details, 
• wali's identification card numbers and details
• two witnesses' identification card numbers 
• desired date and time

i was tad a lil kiasu lah, so i got abz to call SMA to heads-up him about the date, the payment, transportation and timing etc.

yay yay dah boleh kahwin! hahahh.

salute!

abz and i spent our previous sunday in jb, making the final payment for our cards.
while we waited for the salesgirl to give us our receipt, abz browsed their card gallery and showed me this:

"eh banyak pe options for title diorang!"

i cant even handle all the Encik Tuan Sipolan or Cik Puan Sipolana on my card, whatmore these TanTinTuns. the salutations alone took one line!

to be fair, it was a VIP card lah - it was a hardcover card, with inserts of an introductory note, english and malay invitations, map, itinerary and a closing note.

but still, kecoh pe salutations dia.

settlethekettles: fourth.

with less than one hundred days to go, it seems like things are according to timeline.

1) save the date (STD) images
one week was all i took to come up with the images. fuss-free and simple, because it wasn't even supposed to be grand.
i made three STD images - solemnization, dinner and lunch.
solemnization STD image is in shades of black, white and grey; dinner's image is in shades of pink and lunch in shades of blue. it was put together with the decor concept in mind.
i showed abz and he okayed it. yay!

2) receptions' invitation cards
i never thought i'd be that anal when it comes to the invitation cards. hahah.
as i blogged previously, we had Cheni as our vendor and so far it was all good. designs finalized, details given, maps emailed.
and then the draft came.
i didnt quite like the invitation templates. so i told momsie and abz that i'm gonna google and give my own template for the invitation card. took us about a week to finalize the templates and designs at our end - the wordings, the fonts and right down to the font weight and size. abz was more OCD lah - he even edited the designs and indicated the position of some wordings.
yay to no extra charges for using our own template!
now we're waiting for the second draft.

3) bunga rampai aka potpourri holders
abz left this to his mom and aunties to decide, so we didnt really have much visibility on what the trays on his side will be like.

i knew i wanted white color concept for my trays and bunga rampai. momsie asked me how i want the bunga rampais design to be. while i left all designs and craftings up to her, i thought a little participation from me wouldn't kill as well. so we googled images for holders for bunga rampai. i do not wish for her to concentrate too much on making this from scratch. hence i told her to get ready-made holders so she can concentrate on the gifts trays and buying the contents on the day itself.
we googled for ideas, found a holder design we liked, emailed and paid for it.
now im just waiting for the delivery.

4) wedding favors for adults
i wasnt sure of the kind of favors i would want.
i dont mind food favors because, well, extras can be for us. i also didnt have any issues with practical favors that can be used in long time. so i let momsie decide what she would want as the favors. she came to me instead, asking what i wanted; in which i told her, if its not food, make sure its a practical favor. she showed me one, i took a liking for it and i said okay. quotations received, quantity confirmed. but i left it idle. that was some time in feb.
realizing its less than a hundred days to go kinda alarmed me. i emailed the vendor again, confirmed the prices and quantity, and this time, i finally made my deposit for the adults' wedding favors. hahahh.
and its scheduled for delivery for end of may. ni vendor lincah or whattt.

abz settled his side's berkat wayyy back in feb, i think. it was so easy for him! got a quotation, finalised the quantity with his mom and the next thing i heard, deposit already done. his vendor is in msia, so its really cheap and affordable.
his favors are one size fits all, according to him - only adults get the wedding favors.
but we are looking at last min changes that might happen so we decided to give Cheni's small gift boxes to his side, just in case his side wants to give kids as well.

whats left for both sides is just the packaging.
and maybe some thank you stickers.

5) wedding favors for kids
abz said his side dont need favors for kids. for now.

momsie was rather excited when she described the kids' favors.
you see, she was helping her company to prepare giftpacks for her company's event and a colleague showed her a colorful ikea rajtan spice jar with jellybeans. instantly she liked the idea and decided to bring it forth as the kids' favors. she bought about a hundred spice jars that week itself. hahahh.
sure momsie. but isnt jellybeans tad toooo expensive? a bag of 1kg jellybeans at Walson cost SGD34.00. we needed about 6-7kg. nahhh. i told her that i dont have that much money to spare and will source for alternatives. thankfully she agreed.
for a week, i was buying chocs, candies and jellodrops to find the suitable content for the spice jars. googled for wholesellers, providers etc.
until i came across a forum post which suggested to directly call the company who imports the confectionery; to which was exactly what i did; afterwhich i got a fast and good deal. ohyay!
now i'd just need to confirm the quantity, payment and delivery.

so glad these have been stroked off the to-do list.

settlethekettles: third.

hooray to no more dindingdongdong issues!

1) kompang
i had the kompang group booked for my dinner reception first last year. it was all fine and well.
about six months later, abz too needed a kompang group for his lunch reception. so easypeasy, book the same kompang boys for both days lor.
unfortunately because we first reserved them last year, the charges based on past year's quotation could not be brought forward, aka discounted. since we reserved them again this year, we have to follow this year's price list.
hence two days of kompang ensemble is about $1K.
bayor je lahhh.

2) receptions' venue and catering
so abz and i decided to change the receptions' venue for both sides.

it was easy for abz's reception lunch since he have the final say. just a word from him and his family is good to go. within a week, he settled the reservation for his new venue and catering menu. see, fuss-free.

unlike mine.
for the longest time, this have been a back-and-forth issue.
for a while, it annoyed me when my folks first couldn't decide the venue, and then couldn't grasp the menu's price and the whatnots that comes with it. its worse when the venue was tied with the decor vendor. i was feeling bleargh because i always had to wait for their comments, when i could just quickly do so myself. i was annoyed because i couldn't give fast updates when vendors called me. goodness, i wont be so frustrated if i wasn't the middle person.
okay i shall not digress. hehh.
the reception dinner's venue and menu is now fixed.
finally.

3) solemnization venue
we wanted it to be at a mosque. but because our solemnization date is on a weekday, most mosques don't accept reservation requests too early in case they have events on the same chosen date.
well isnt a wedding solemnization at the mosque makes it...... an event? ah well.
again, a little dingdongdingdong issue. after discussing for a while, finally abz and i let loose. to us, as long as we get married on our chosen date, korang decide lah mana korang nak. we kind of tak kuasa nak give our opinions.
so it'll be at my house.
hmm okay lah.

*breathes a longggg sigh of relief*

settlethekettles: ch-ch-Cheni-out!

there wasn't much jazz about choosing our invitation card vendor.

abz and i were pretty much sold to Kad Kahwin Cheni when we were at their booth at the first wedding fair we went to. we didn't know how much they would cost or what designs they have to offer, but given their cards on display, we silently sealed them before even confirming anything else. we were assured further when we looked at their website for more of their card designs, and some of our friends had nice Cheni wedding invitation cards.

and so there we went, after being stuck in the causeway jam for about an hour.
before that, kita berkrepes dulu! hugeee. and krispy lah sangat. and shiny! hahahh

Chicken Floss Crepe

 Chocolate Almond Crepe

we had to wait for a while before being served.
abz and i were there about about 6pm and we had to wait for about forty five mins before a lady attended to us. as we were discussing, we were interrupted by people who came to collect their cards, look around etc. the salesgirl was on her own for that period, so she had to leave us on our own while she attended to them instead. we were almost annoyed.

thankfully, abz and i knew what card size and color we wanted. hence it was breezy discussing the cards.

i brought a sample and asked if they have such concepts. i was delighted when she told the package we chose is the same concept as my card sample. yay! there were other information that the salesgirl shared, such as what template we can have, what colors are available and what could cost additional etc.

when discussing about your card order, you might want to:
1) bring your own card sample;
2) ask if the invitation details are written on the card itself or does it come with an interlay;
3) ask how much is the added costs along with your added requests (change of font? change color? more interlays? etc.);
4) confirm with them which package can be customized and which are not.

according to Cheni, a card's interlay is this:
the additional paper inserts lah basically.

"ooohh.. baru pakcik tahuuu~"

even an interlay can be an added cost per piece okay.
abz changed his interlay color, and that cost us an additional RM0.50 per piece.

generally, i noticed Cheni's packages have a standard free gift set - most of the packages have free Berkat Kotak Kecil and two pieces Bunting.

their small boxes for wedding favors looked small enough to fit an egg,  or a few pieces of sweets or candies. Bunting, or banner as i saw it, are those that you might place at your receptions' entrance. according to the salesgirl, the templates for the buntings are standard, but you can opt o add in your own couple pic. urmmm, nahhhh. we opted for the something else since its really secondary.

anyway, here are some preps you might want to take note of:
1) their deposit is (if i remember correctly) 80% of your total bill. do prepare enough cash.
2) please do get all the usual details ready - names, venue addresses, directions, etc. i had to call momsie a few times to confirm that both my grams have 'Haji' to their names.
3) venues' maps can be emailed at a later date. however the later you email your map(s), the later they'll draft your cards.

ah, please call the salesgirl to confirm that she received your email. ours was left idle for about three days, only to find out that the girl was on leave and no one backed her work up.

anyhoos, so relieved that the cards have been paid for, altho its just the deposit.
i am waitinggg to see the first draft.

yay now we can ch-ch-Cheni out in the checklist!

settlethekettles: her mighty pencil.

i finally sent my solemnization cloth to the tailor, all the way in Johor Bahru, somewhere behind the Angsana Plaza.

i was reluctant to travel across the border to have my outfit tailored. too much of hassle, i thought. since my mom insisted on it, so okay lor, go lor.

i had to say, i was satisfied with the service that she gave.

it was a personalized consultation.
i showed her images of inspired dresses, and she started sketching the designs. Eliza explained clearly that my final outfit (the flowy effect, the dress tail at the back etc) is not necessarily the same as the images i showed her. she pointed out how much of tail length can she get from the cloth, and she even showed what effect i may and may not get on the outfit, etc. she had to sketched and erased a few times more; only issuing the invoice when the design is finalized.
Eliza was constantly reminding me that she will not give me hopes to get the ultimate bridal outfit but will do her best nevertheless. i was almost telling her, "go ahead lah do your best", but i cant do that when she's earnestly giving me all the details for the outfit.
my consultation with Eliza lasted about three hours.

her sketching skills was superb. i was amazed how she could just start on the paper without hesitating.
no, that's not my final outfit. it was one of the ideas i had.

i walked out from the shop happy and excited to see the end result, at the same time crossing my fingers that the outfit wont get screwed up.

if you're still looking for a tailor for your outfit, here is the shop's details!

EXCLUSIVE BRIDAL COLLECTION

here's a couple of their dont-dos (that i know of):
1) no walk-in consultations - you have to call for an appointment (i reserved mine about two months in advance).
2) no tailoring for the groom's outfits, unless the groom dont mind a 'cetak' oufit.

here's a few preps (that i know of) if you have an appointment with them:
1) images of inspired outfits - just be aware that your final outfit may not be exactly the same
2) deposit about RM100.00 - RM200.00

do note that everything from designing to finalizing to amount differs for all customers.

hope this helps! :)

note to self: dengar cakap mak bila dia kata sesebuah kedai itu bagus.



= ADDED =
abz had sent his solemnization outfit to his tailor as well and he refused to let me see his final design. "it'll be a surprise," he said. it was designed by his mother.
MENYAMPAH AH.
im a little sore about it because i showed him mine and i knew he liked it.

his solemnization outfit had better be an awesome design, and for obvious reasons, one that *i* like.

takde takpe: one.

i kinda like it that the checklist getting shorter.
it also meant the days are nearing and to a certain extent, i just want to get this whole prep over with.

initially, a longgggg list was born, after compiling ideas from various sources. abz and i adjusted that list to suit a pinterest malay wedding. we improved further to suit our budget projecthun.

we realized, that we do not have to have the attitude "i'll have what they are having (for their wedding)". necessities vs wants vs trends, we wont be having the following for our projecthun affairs.
however, if your wedding do have them, we are happy for you and wish you the best in coordinating your time and energy.

1) a whole line-up of bridesmaids and best-men

to much extent, i think this is highly pinterest-influenced - all the images and colors.
i am one with small circle of friends, hence having a group of bridesmaids was never a must for me. it helped that abz too, doesn't need a group of best men on his side.
the one gal pal i have is faeO, the closest to me. she's been with me the past few years - we've seen each other cried and laughed, loved and hated each other. i figured there would be no better person to be my bridesmaid/event runner/operations manager other than her.
my other girlfriends asked if i have a specific color for them to wear for the reception. i don't, but i do tell them that they can wear their own color theme although they're not assigned to be bridesmaids. escuses to buy kain for bajus, why not!
abz, on the hand, have his buddy in mind to be his best man. guys are more… laid-back in such matters, so i leave it to him to decide his best man.
ive read how some btbs planned/are planning in detail for their bridesmaids and best men - from the proposals to the outfits' designs to the bridesmaids' kits etc. im truly amazed at your enthusiasm and energy! :)

2) chiavari chairs aka tiffany chairs

does it matter? yes, it looked nice - to me, it gives the English wedding vibes.
my appointed decor asked if we wanted her to source tiffany chairs for my venue, in which i gave an instant no. she laughed, saying "dah research ah ni pasal tiffany chairs." well of course. unless you wanna supply these chairs for free, we will gladly pass.
yes its nice, but unnecessary additional costs wont do for us. anyway the venue of the receptions have their chairs and seat covers. this, we can easily forgo because its obviously not a necessity for us. 
but hey, if you have rented chiavari chairs for your wedding, good for you :)

3) save-the-date/pre-wedding shoot

we have not officially released our dates, and are prolly not doing so until the a couple months before. we don't see the need for a pre/save-the-date photo shoot because
(1) added photo shoot equals to added cost,
(2) the dates are fairly easy to remember and
(3) we are having small receptions.
since we are not doing an elaborated wedding, this pre-shoot isn't really a want to start with. the idea of having a pre-wedd shoot, the wedd-event shoot, a post-wedd shoot... how many days of shooting is that?? a shoot in the pocket tak kira?
howwwever, im thinking of doing up a Save The Date image (so i can send via whatsapp, hehee) as a early reservation for my guests to, you know, block their date.

QUESTION: how many months/weeks/days in advance is it before one send out this Save The Date info? 

4) a wedding hash-tag

is this the trend now?
i noticed couples are now combining their names or significant labels and turning the name into hashtags for themselves. no offense ya to those who have hash-tags for your weddings.
this had never in fact, crossed our minds. we didn't think our wedding affair to be a trending topic in the social media. this is by far, projecthun's trivial matter. hahah.

how did we decide to not have these? these are our considering factors:
1) is it a necessity or a want or a waste, or simply a trend;
2) the added time, expenses and energy spent on it; not just yours but other people involved (eg the photographer, the designer etc);
3) what are its use or what does it do after the wedding.

its very tempting to have a certain 'that' at my wedding too; which girl wont want a Pinterest-influenced or a dream wedding or a theme wedding? bring in all the Pinterest/WeHeartIt/Etsy wedding related images, i would gleefully smile and have bubble thoughts for projecthun. yet at the same time, that is only achievable if i have the financial luxury, and obliging folks (this part, a sigh).

given that its a lot more coming after the wedding, such as the house and the renovation, i guess its better to keep our feet on the ground for the wedding.

so yeah, for us, these things... takde takpe.
:)

settlethekettles: second.

its a happy happy feeling to see items being checked off the list, yes?
in no chronological order:

1) pre-marriage prep course
we went for it last year, and it was only after the two days that i knew thepeningpengantin and dijahfaizal29 were in the same course. and oh, hello miss rohani! i am that… menonong sometimes. it was a good two day course by suchi success. but imo its too expensive for a pair of seats.
the takeaways (unanimously agreed by those who had attended) were hilarious, engaging and most importantly, insightful.
it was nice that your partner and you get to scribble in each's answers in the other's guidebook during activities. the guidebook should be kept ah, you know, for future references. "dulu you tulis gini aper!" or "you tengok aper you tulis masa kursus dulu!" hahah.
well i hope what we learnt during the two day course is not wasted brought into the future together.

2) wedding gifts

stuffs we have gotten slowly but surely. 

wedding gifts are not necessary in the ceremony but of course, we have the families to think about and i want to avoid remarks like "huh? no dulangs?". malas nak layan orang-orang macam ni. so nak tak nak, we had to set a small budget. after having an idea of the gifts to give and how much they'd cost, we waited for the right time. its a given for all soon-to-wed couples to get gifts during sales. hahah. we are no less lah okay. 

gifts that are likely to have short warranties are to be bought closer to the date. we have bought items that don't require warranties but at the same time could be costly, such as tins and bottles.

we had two steal purchases so far: 

one was when the sales lady told us the item was on two years warranty. there's still have another year (or so) of warranty from the official exchange date, so item is a must buy now! hahah.

another was when another item was reduced by a good 60-70%! 

my tip is, even if the item is on sale, do ask how long will the warranty be and calculate its worth from your exchange date. not to mention being nice can bring you more discounts! hehhh. 

we are left to get a couple more electronic stuffs and the kitabs. and maybe i'll throw in chocs for myself him.
we have not even counted how many trays to exchange. you know, in case a Cik Temah or Pak Tam wants to sumbang a dulang or two.

3) wedding bands
i once mentioned to abz that im willing to cut corners almost anywhere in projecthun, but i am particular about our wedding bands. as time passed, i had to change the course of my want. heck, we were thinking of re-using our engagement rings if wedding bands are out of our budget.
nevertheless, abz was very onz about getting a good deal for the new bands - he wanted it such that i should at least get a new band. he'd whatsapp me images that he find suitable and asked if i like the design. you see, solitaire/princess/etc-cut rings are no-no for me. finally we got an excellent deal for the bands.
initially i was skeptical about the idea, but after much persuasion, i relented. aiyah we girls just want one thing perfect for the wedding, and for me, its the wedding bands. but well, sometimes we have to adjust our sails.
sometime a couple months back, we went to view the rings'designs and came back the next day to make our reservation.
now we have the bands packed in the boxes, waiting to see light. yessaaaahhh.

4) wedding cake
our cake vendor was initially tied to our decor. but based on my elder sis'wedding cake, my mom wasn't keen on the their cake. too dry, she said. so i had to drop the cake and move all deposit to the decor.
with about half a year to go and dates are filling up fast, we figured we had to source and reserve fast.
so i emailed a few vendors for quotations, got a couple replies and almost instantaneously sealed the deal with the vendor who was sweet enough to allow us to book two dates with her. bila orang berbudi, kita berbahasa. since she is willing to slot us in, we have no issues to book her.

[ side note: see, im that fuss-free. if you have open slot for our dates, we are likely to book you. we don't consider your quotations for days and make people wait for our replies like we're some kind of anak-raja-susah-nak-contact ya'know. ]

5) post wedding photoshoot
i didn't actually want a post-wedd shoot because we have booked the event days' photog, and abz and i can just make do.
BUT. there's always a but, ey? hahahh.
when we met our photog team for our second appt, we were talked into signing up for their post-weddg package. the sales lady was good at persuasion! she showed us images of post/pre photo-shoots (read: korean and sunset theme backdrops!) and brought out the albums and table frame that we would get in the package. the price was just out of our gulping expectations. i was contemplating about it in my mind, knowing that we don't actually need it and thinking abz would want to discuss further about it.
before we did, abz said okay!
after the appt, i said, "i thought you want to discuss first sey", to which he replied, "you looked like you wanted it. alah its okay lah since we have saved quite a bit."
i dooo?? oookay~ hahahah.

so there we have em, little stuffs off our minds.

as we go.

he said:

"hang in there.. hold on tight."

for you i will.