The Luckiest Girl In The World

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 Sophie Rhys - 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.

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A more conservative modern look, while retaining the princess-like structure, that would look beautiful on her would be something like these;

Pronovias

 

Monique Lhuillier 

 Oscar De La Renta

Elie Saab

Rosa Clara

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!

Yours truly, 

Wedding Fan.

HIV TEST

One of the requirements for marriage approval is for the future bride and groom to take the HIV test. There seems to be a misconception that the requirement is for you to pass the test. NO. You only have to take the test. The result will not affect the marriage approval as far as the authorities are concerned. It's purpose is so that you will be aware of your partner's result. If it is positive, then it is up to you whether or not you will proceed with the marriage. Marriage in Islam is all about consent and the agreement of both parties to marry. And if you choose to proceed, the authorities will advice you on how the marriage can work and what precautions you will need to take. Read here.

You can ONLY take the test in government clinics. So I made an appointment with Klinik Kesihatan Kerajaan at Shah Alam because it is the nearest to Subang. It is in Seksyen 7, Persiaran Kayangan. It is near Shah Alam's I-City and UITM back entrance and is right next to JAKEL.

I think most clinics require you to make an appointment first. No walk-ins. And the time for the tests starts at 2.30pm until 3.30pm. But I heard that the one in Klang allows walk-in. I think it depends on the traffic that day. If there are not many, then probably they'll accept walk-ins. But I think it is advisable to just make an appointment. For Shah Alam, the number to call is 03-55186531. For other places, numbers can be found from JAIS's website.

Anyway, me and Aliff took leave yesterday (Tuesday, 15th March 2011) to test for HIV. You can actually just take time off or half day because the test does not take long, but Aliff wanted to do some medical check ups at SJMC in the morning and I, well, cuti je lah. Hahah. Woke up at 8.00am, had our breakfast at SJMC, and by 12 noon Aliff settled his check ups. We drove to Shah Alam at about 1.30pm (time allocated for getting lost and our stop to get some bubble tea). We reached there at about 2.30pm. Parking there was limited so we parked outside, at the side of the road, illegal ofcourse, but there were no where else to park.

Once you reach, you have to fill in some form which you have to get from the 1st floor. Then submit it to counter 4 downstairs. Wait till they call your name. You'll have to pay RM1 for the test. Then submit your form to room 13 where you'll have to wait again for your name to be called for them to take a specimen of your blood. They'll prick your finger with this small device to take a drop of your blood. Then wait some more. They'll then call your name and give you a yellow copy of the form that you filled in earlier.

 

That's about it.

No questions were asked, no explanations whatsoever. I remembered watching one of the SATC episodes when Samantha went for HIV test, she was interviewed and asked a lot of personal questions. Anyway, none of that here. Just going from one counter to the other submitting your forms and waiting, with minimal conversation with the nurses, or none at all. They only speak when asked. Well, what more can you ask for from government hospitals? Them not giving sarcasm remarks or giving daring looks at you is a plus already. Anyway, much to our surprise and delight, the several 'waiting' did not take long. Everything was done in about 45 minutes or so.

The yellow form will say that the named officer has tested you for HIV. It does not state the result.

So to make sure, we asked the nurse whether there is anything else that we should do upon receiving the yellow form. She said there's nothing else to be done. If there is no problem with the result it means we've passed. Not that there was anything to be worried of, we just wanted to make sure that we've met with all the procedures to avoid having to do the test again.

So, I guessed we passed the test.

Ok, so next will be for the validation from the Qariah and the approval from JAIS.

The Make Up Artist Part II - The Nikah & Groom's Reception Dinner

For the Nikah, I am going with Kak Faizah, the one who did my make up for my engagement. This post comes a little late because it was quite hard to get a hold of her. Anyway, booking has been finalised.

There's a story on how we found her.She is actually my cousins' boyfriend's aunt. She owns a bridal boutique, and her services range from pelamin, bridal wears, catering and make up.

This was how we met - For Kakmira's Nikah in 2007, she wanted a simple white mini pelamin which we decided to just DIY. The idea was to get the canopy people to set up a platform. Then I bought white sheer fabrics for the back drop and white satin to cover the platform. We also asked the canopy guy to install fairy lights behind the sheer white drapes for the backdrop. Then we would "sprinkle" the satin covered platform with rose petals and on each side we would place the bunga telur stands. So, all we needed was a white pelamin chair. Adam (my cousin's boyfriend) introduced his aunt to us and we went to her boutique. She said she has the pelamin chair that we wanted and would rent it to us for the day.

This was how Kakmira's Pelamin turned out

When we were at her boutique, we saw she had ready-made bridal wears and one that caught our eye was this javanese inspired ensemble. Kakmira tried it on and then we decided she can wear it for her Berinai the night before the nikah. That was also the moment we suddenly decided there was going to be a Berinai. Hahah.

So, on the morning of the day before the Nikah, Kak Faizah brought the javanese ensemble and the pelamin chair. While she was there, she saw me struggling to prepare the flower decoration for the stairs. *There were buckets and buckets of fresh flowers delivered that morning but I was absolutely clueless of how I was supposed to arrange the flowers at the head of the stairs* Ahah. I guess she kesian, so she offered her help. She asked for the oasis and the filler leaves. What? Ahahah. What's an oasis? And ooops we didn't get filler leaves. She then told me there's a florist in Sunway which she usually frequent and we can get the stuff there. So I drove her to the florist and she got what she needed. Then she just took charge. She did the flowers for the stairs as well as the flowers for the bed.

Flowers at the stairs

Flowers on the bed

I don't know what I would have done without her. By the time she was finished, Kakmira was getting ready for her Berinai. She helped Kakmira got into the javanese ensemble. Then we realised, hmmm...we didn't get anyone to do her make up. So she volunteered and did Kakmira's hair and make up .... beautifully!

And the best part was she didn't charge us at all for all that she did for us that day. We only had to pay her for the pelamin chair and the javanese ensemble rental. 

So, when I was looking for a reasonable make up artist for my engagment 3 years after, we thought of her. We called her up, did a test make up with her, and we booked her. I told her the kind of make up I want, light blue eye shadow, natural foundation and nude-pink lips. Most important: Not looking "tepung" - like the olden days brides. There's going to be a lot of cameras other than the OP, so I must not only look good in the OP's camera but also to those other little cameras clicking away with their flashes. Ahahah. That is one of my top priority. So, anyway. I think she did a great job for my engagement.

Before and After (OMG Horrid picture of the "Before")

So, when searching for a MUA for my Nikah, I was confident to book her.
 ..... And book her I did... I hope everything will turn out beautiful.

Her price is very reasonable and affordable, and Aliff being Aliff did not want to spend so much on make up for the Groom's Reception Dinner, so we booked her for that night as well.
She is really nice. She can be reached at : 0123905902 Her name is Faizah.

So, make up for all three events checked!

STRESS Part Deux (censored)

STRESS.

I remembered saying "I know preparing for a wedding can be a nightmare for some people, but I am so looking forward to planning mine."

Now I find myself saying I can't wait to get it over with? That is something that I NEVER thought I would ever feel or ever wanted to feel.

So, thank you, to you who have made me the person I am not.

-- Portions of this entry has been removed because a wise person told me writing in anger will only result in an emotional outburst which are usually feelings at the spur of the moment that will just last at the heat of that moment. That I know, but I chose to write anyway because I was just so pissed off. Now that it has passed I choose to remove it to avoid possible future conflicts, as pointed out by the same wise ass. Ahaha. So, thanks wise ass. Love you. --

Groom's Attire

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So last-last Saturday I finally managed to get Aliff's time to settle his baju melayu for the nikah and his suit for the bride's reception dinner.

We went to this shop called Baron Gentlemen which is run by ex-Sparkmanshop suitmakers. Aliff knew one of them, who had made him a pair of pants and shirt once and Aliff was comfortable with his workmanship. The plan (Aliff's plan) was to go there first and then to another tailor at The Curve where Aliff had also made pants and shirts with and maybe a couple of other places to survey the price and such for his suit.

We arrived at Baron Gentlemen, which is situated at Klang, at about 1.00pm. First Aliff settled his baju melayu. The material for the baju melayu is white linen, which i bought for him as one of the engagement hantaran.

He had already decided to make his baju melayu there. They took his measurements and basically that's it lah because, well, unlike the baju kurung, baju melayu is pretty standard. The only designs out there is I guess whether you want a cekak musang or the johor collar. So, we went with the 5 buttonned - cekak musang.

Then they started talking about the suit. I've followed Aliff to men's tailors a couple of times and it takes about 2 hours for him to finalise everything, from the fabric, to the cut, to the collar, to the sleeve and what nots. Aliff is VERY particular, and men's tailoring is not actually my area of interest so I was prepared to be bored. I guess this is what he feels when he (very rarely) accompany me to Cindy. So, while the men talked, I snapped a few pictures.

There were a few times when Aliff looked at me and asked my opinion. Aww so sweet. I don't really care actually, as long as he looks like the McDreamy poster they had on their wall :) -

Aliff ended up making his suit with them as well, cause he liked them and well he just did not want to survey anymore. We were there for almost 2 hours.

So, YEAY! Our wedding attires for my side has been settled. Next are just fittings.  Tak sabarnyaaaa!

Aliff decided to wear a black thin tie with his suit. I was watching the Oscars the other day and saw Robert  Downey Jr. donning a white tie with his suit, looked so handsome...

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hmmm...emailed the picture to Aliff...I think he still wants to go with the black tie. Oh well.

On the subject, I must say that this year's Oscars Red Carpet saw so many BEAUTIFUL dresses! And my eyes popped out when I saw a sneak peak of what I have been envisioning my reception dress to be - Mandy Moore in Monique Lhuillier at the Oscars...except that mine would be in ivory and a slightly longer train -

                                        

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HOPEFULLY it turns out just as beautiful.

So now we have to concentrate on the wedding attires for the groom's reception, which is under his mom's purview... it'll be malay traditional, using songket as the main fabric. I think she said she's sending it to a tailor in Jakarta. Will have to update on that.

Toodles.

Wedding Diet

Wedding Ticker : 3 Months, 2 Weeks and 2 Days.

Today is the 1st of March 2011 which marks the first day of the Wedding Diet. I have been postponing the Wedding Diet for 2 months now. It should have and I did start the Wedding Diet in January, but succumbed somewhere in the middle. Then it was postponed to February, which was again a failure. So, March is 'THE' month.

MAIN OBJECTIVE:

Losing the tummy bulge, trimming the thighs and erasing the double chin. I don't care about weight, i don't see the point if the physical is the same.

THE PLAN:

1. Eat waaayyyyy less - Eliminating junk foods while working which means no more Rocky, I'm not going to cut rice from the diet just yet, probably in May? Just lesser portion for starters. Dinner before 8pm. And it is also a good time to ganti puasa.
2. Exercise - ahahahah. Jogging lah dulu. Probably some sit ups to eliminate the tummy.

Just 3 months away, I can't afford to fail anymore.

First fitting is end of March, so we'll see how I do.