Most weddings nowadays has themes...I think the trend started with colors, where the whole wedding (color of tent, flowers, decorations, bunga telur, family members attire etc) will be of a certain specific color. Then there is this trend of family members wearing the same material ( a trend that never catched on me). Now, you have elaborate themes, like fairy tale-cinderella, under the sea, alice in the wonderland, arabian night, angkasawan ... and the most famous, the garden wedding. Sometimes it tickles me when people come up with the themes they do. Don't get me wrong, I'm all aboard with planning your perfect wedding, the way you have always imagined it, but sometimes when you get too carried away it might turn your wedding into a circus. This is just my opinion and I'm not thinking of any wedding in particular.
But some do turn out really beautiful, case in point:
you would think that having a cinderella carriage as too much, but it works for this pelamin - wedding of Putri Azalea of PU3. I think the pelamin was by Pak Abu
So, ok, MY wedding theme? Heheh ada jugakkkk...but the application of the theme is minimal lah and I prefer to have more than one color theme, just to brigthen up the event, like my engagement, where the family wore blue and brown.
NIKAH
I don't actually remember how or why, probably because of the influence from SATC2...the theme is "moroccan".
The theme will influence the home pelamin, the tent, home decorations and the ladies wear - ladies are encouraged to wear moroccan-inspired-kaftans.
Decorations will consist of tassels, drapings, lanterns, red flowers, among others.
What will not be influenced by theme are the guys' wear - they will still be wearing the traditional baju melayu, the bride's dress - still the traditional baju kurung and the bridal room.
As mentioned in this entry, the color palette is pastel; the family will be wearing pastel blue/purple/pink, while the bridesmaids will be wearing pastel yellow/peach/pink. Bride and Groom in traditional white.
I am trying to find some arabic/moroccan songs to be played, hahaha...if I can find the time lah.
RECEPTION
I've always wanted a black-tie wedding, where the guys will be handsome in their tuxedos and ladies elegant in evening dresses...
...... but Bapak said no one will come to my wedding if I set that dress code. Hahahah...Biasalah si party-pooper tu. Hahahahah. Reason because, it's too modern and "mat saleh" and relatives from outside KL may not fancy that kind of wedding. And because majority of my parents friends are government officers, they may be a tad more appreciative of traditional wear. So, we did away with mandatory dress code, BUT it remains an option - family members (other than my dad) will be wearing black suits and evening dresses. Guests can choose to follow or don the traditional outfits. Color palette for the family are; men in black, and ladies in maroon or royal purple.
The overall theme is basically formal. People close to me knows I love the city of Paris, but since Paris Hilton had ruined "A Night in Paris", that theme is out of the window and also because it will be too hard to decorate since it's really specific and too thematic for my taste. I thought of just incorporating some of Parisian elements like; lace, the colors of black and white, feathers (ala moulin rouge), elaborate lightings and jazz music.
But, elaborate lightings will cost a bomb and Bapak veto-ed my doorgifts idea (box wrapped with strips of lace decorated with feather and a bud of white flower). Luckily, he had no qualms about the lace on my invitation card, although he veto-ed my initial plan of having a black ribbon. So, what is left are the feathers and music. I INSISTED to have feathers, which, at my victory, will be part of the pelamin (yes pelamin tetap ada sebab nanti orang tua marah), walkway and maintable deco. Music, i am still trying to control that, with resistance ofcourse, but I hope there will be no "Cinta Seratus Persen" in the song list!
Groom's Reception
The theme is traditional - so me and Aliff will be donning traditional attires complete with traditional accesories as written here. Although I like the whole black-tie shananigans, I LOVE the fact that I will be having a traditional reception as well. I would be dissapointed if we didn't get to have the whole silat-kompang-songket experience. That's the bonus of having 2 wedding receptions (malays get 2 receptions :))
cover of Harmoni magazine
So, yeah. I mean all these are plans, we'll see on the day how it looks. I don't want to pay too much attention on the theme, although there is always a tendency to get carried away. But as long as everyone is happy and everything looks beautiful, I will be contented. Having a theme is just to add some fun, so I hope everyone, especially ME, will enjoy the wedding.
Although for me the most anticipated wedding of this year would, ofcourse be mine, for the rest of the world it would be Prince William and Kate Middleton's. Was browsing through the net during lunch and saw this picture of them and suddenly I got so excited about their wedding.
Prince William proposed to her in Kenya somehwre in October 2010 with Princess D's diamond and sapphire engagement ring. ahhh B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.
The wedding will take place on the 29th of April 2011 at Westminster Abbey, the church where Princess Diana's funeral was held. And it has been announced that their marriage will be marked with an official public holiday across the UK. Wahhhhh....the whole country celebrates their marriage...bestnyaaaaaaaaa..commonwealth countries tak cuti jugak ke?
What I am especially MOST excited to see is the Bride's dress. There appears to be so many speculations on who landed the royal duty, but I guess the palace is still being tight lipped about it. From what I read, *in search of finding information on her dress - very stalk-ish of me*, is that the wedding dress is now a work in progress, and is being created inside Buckingham Palace. Oh well...can't wait to see it!
I did some research on the transformation of royal wedding gowns -
Lets start from the very beginning - the lady who introduced white as the bridal color; Queen Victoria when she married her cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg in London, 1840. She wore a white silk dress with Honiton lace. This is what I learned - She revolutionised bridal gowns by going against the tradition at that time when she opted for a white dress instead of a colored dress. During her days, the concept of a bridal gown is not a symbolic-one time wear-dress, instead the dress chosen was to be the bestest dress that the lady would own, whatever color that might be. Queen Victoria was also the first royal bride to have bridesmaids carry her train, which also became a wedding trend which lasts until today.
Queen Elizabeth I a.k.a The Queen Mother married in 1923;
Then we have the Queen herself; Queen Elizabeth II when she married Prince Philip in 1947;
The beautiful Grace Kelly becoming Princess of Monaco in 1956;
Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister married in 1960;
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 1967;
Then in 1981, the world watched as Diana became a princess when she married Prince Charles;
Followed by the marriage of Prince Charles's brother Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson aka Fergie in 1986;
The demure Queen Rania in 1993;
The Queen's youngest son, Prince Andrew's marriage to SophieRhys - now Countess of Wessex in 1999;
Then we have the millenium royal brides -
Princess Mette Marrit of Norway in 2001;
Princess Letizia of Spain in 2003;
Mary Donaldson now Crown Princess of Denmark in 2004;
who can forget Camilla Parker Bowles now Duchess of Cornwall in 2005;
Swedish Crown Princess Victoria in 2010;
You can see there is a shift from big puffy gowns to a more sheath silhouette. The patterns became more simpler but the long train remains to be the signature of royal brides. Laced veils are also an important component of a royal wedding ensemble. You always read of 200 maids hand sewing the lace veils of princesses for weeks. Royal wedding gowns are usually made exclusively for the brides to the extent that the pattern of Queen Victoria's 1840 dress was later destroyed so that it wouldn't be used again.
Of all the dresses, I absolutely love Queen Margharete II of Denmark's dress - its just timeless. Didn't actually knew of her, so the first time I saw the picture I thought it was fairly recent. Wouldn't have guessed it to be over 40 years ago. And ofcourse Princess Grace Kelly's, she's just a goddess in her own right - anything she wears would look absolutely stunning. I also like the Queen Mother's veil which is definitely the style in the 1920's and the grecian-like tiara that she wore.
I hope Kate won't feel pressured to live up to Princess Diana's big dress and the reaalllyyyyyy long train. Don't get me wrong, Princess D's dress remains an icon, much because it was hers - it wouldn't be what it is if it was worn by anyone else, I would think - case in point; Mariah Carey's wedding to Tommy Mottola in 1993 where Mariah tried to channel the princess in her;
Princess D's dress is too dated (anyone in the world, even if they didn't know about the wedding would know that the year is somewhere in the 80's) and I would hope that Kate's dress will, while retaining the classic look, have a modern twist which encompasses the regality befitting of a modern day princess.
Being Prince William's girlfriend has made her a paparazzi target, and over the years you can see that this girl has simple, sleek and elegant style. She's also very modern and quite sexy...so I have high hopes that her dress would be a stunner!
I found an article wrote by the designer of Princess D's wedding dress; Elizabeth Emanuel. This is how she envisioned Kate's dress and I absolutely concur! Breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL. I am not sure tho whether she will be allowed to look as sexy as the royal brides tend to be quite modest and conservative.
I've not seen a royal bridal gown without sleeves yet, the closest would be Princess Victoria's off-shoulder sleeve. Anyway, she'll be wearing a tiara rightfully as a real princess...unlike us commoners who wears tiara as "Raja Sehari" ... let me emphasize the word "Sehari"... We only get to wear a tiara for one day, but she'll be a princess forever. Every girl's dream, came true for her...
Anyway, Prince William is reported to be wearing military uniform. One sentence is enough. Boring. Ahaha.
Details of the wedding that I managed to get;
(all these are reported in the internet so accuracy is not confirmed)
Miss Middleton will travel to Westminster Abbey by car via The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and Parliament Square (the decision to travel to the ceremony by car rather than glass carriage is a break with tradition. This was the bride-to-be's idea, as she wanted to arrive at Westminster Abbey in a more low-key way)
The ceremony will begin at 1100 BST
The Dean of Westminster will conduct the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury will marry William and Kate and the Bishop of London will give the address
After the service, the couple will travel in a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace along the same route taken earlier
There will then be a reception, hosted by the Queen, for guests from the congregation, "representing the couple's official and private lives"
In the evening, the Prince of Wales will host a private dinner at Buckingham Palace, followed by dancing, for the couple plus close friends and family.
The Invitation
Cards have been issued and about 1900 people is expected to attend. The royal invitation comes in a pale brown envelope with a white card gilded with gold.The Queen's initials are die-stamped in gold on the card below a crown. The card reads:
"The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by the Queen to invite [name] to the marriage of his Royal Highness Prince William of Wales KG with Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29 April 2011 at 11.00am."
I found a picture of the invitation;
Been checking my mails everyday, I guess my invitation got lost. You dont get to marry the second-in-line to the throne, but getting to witness it wouldn't be so bad...a girl can dream.
Anyway, I'm sure it will be televised. Can't wait for what is dubbed as the Wedding of the Century!
