The Solemnization (The Nikah)

And so, the long-awaited day finally arrived.

Woke up in the morning feeling like P Diddy a zombie, had my last mandi pagi as a single woman (squeeeee!) and waited for my photographers, videographers and make-up artist (MUA) to arrive.

While waiting, aku pun sempat ah gobble down lontong from the makan makan session the night before (appetite still intact, y'all) and sempat post this countdown screenshot on good old Instagram:

You know, I didn't really feel ervous or anxious during the days leading up to the wedding - whenever people asked, I'd say the obligatory "Yeah, I'm nervous!" or "Yeah, I'm anxious!" but I don't think the jitters truly, truly hit me until I opened up my house door that morning and saw the guys from CST Singapore arrive. The thought that ran through my mind the minute I saw them was "This is IT, Farna. This is the day your life changes forever!!!!!"

But before the jitters could settle down, my MUA arrived and so did Bliss! All of them went straight to their work, of course, and two hours later, I saw my pengantin self in the mirror for the first time. And my first thought was:

"ZOMG WHY THE MAKE UP SO CANTIK ONE?! IF AKU PENGSAN FROM HAPPINESS NOW MASIH SEMPAT PERGI NIKAH TAK AKU NI?!"

Hahahahaha AH YE sekarang boleh lah aku ketawa eh. Cuba kalau really happen. Telan balek sak aku punya ketawa, simpan buat perhiasan.

I think those who are on my MUA's Facebook would have seen this picture on my wedding day:

I don't know how she did it but it was just... PURE MAGIC LAH OKAY.

Would really love to gush somemore but this is not the time yet, I will give my full review in a separate entry! But let's just say lepas dah nampak diri sendiri macam gitu, I was sungguh psyched and raring to gooooooo ah. Hehe.

EXCITEZ WRITTEN ALL OVER MA FACE~ Y'ALLZ

Arrived at the venue right on schedule after which my dulang girls and I lined up outside the hall, and I was relaxed enough to take it that everything was going according to plan. Of course, it was at this juncture that my supermother decided to come out and have this conversation with me:

Supermother: "Ana, berkat belum sampai tau, macam mane ni?"

Me: "BERKAT BELUM SAMPAI?!"

Supermother: "A'ah. Bunga rampai pun belum sampai."

Me: "BUNGA RAMPAI BELUM SAMPAI?!"

SYABAS. 

Background story: We'd already received the bunga rampai containers that we ordered from Ola Lola the night before but since our order was for containers only, actual bunga rampai leaves NOT included, we made separate arrangements to get the bunga rampai leaves ourselves. 

My aunt's sister-in-law has a shop in Joo Chiat which sells bunga rampai leaves so I was actually prepared to get them from her, but my mamat insisted on another arrangement so I thought well, okay, let's just go with that then. 

Guess that decision turned out to be the wrong one because that other arrangement was late and the bunga rampai containers were not ready by the time we wanted to walk in for the solemnization (Our middle siblings were assigned to carry the basket of bunga rampai for each side for the pre-solemnization walk-in). 

Nasib baik my aunts were all ready at the guest reception table and helped to speed-pack the bunga rampai leaves into its containers once the leaves came and finished them in time for post-solemnization distribution! The favours for both sides came shortly after too so that turned out fine in the end. Phew!

Some (unofficial) pictures now:

Me, caught on camera receiving news about the missing-in-action bunga rampai and favours from my supermother hahahahaha (Ya now I laugh):

Me, caught on camera chatting with Zahrin from Kasai Sayang about god knows what. And Kak Nora caught uploading pictures on Facebook?! Muahahaha:

Me, caught on camera trying to sort out the problem of the sireh dara that was too big and heavy for any of the girls to carry:

Me, caught on camera asking my kakak sedara to help inform the photographers and videographers that we were ready to walk into the hall hahahahaha:

EH BUSY PE PENGANTIN YANG MINUTES AWAY FROM HER NIKAH NI.

Of course nothing else mattered by the time we walked in!

All photos from this point hereon were taken by our official photographers Bliss Photocinema (And yes, we've received our official wedding photos, guys, and it's only been three weeks since the wedding! Bet Speedy Gonzales was the one who worked on our photos...)

Note: Quality and resolution of photos reduced to be uploaded into Blogger. The quality and resolution of photos are much, much, much better in their original form.

My precious dulang girls! 

Consists of 4 bridesmaids, 2 sisters and 1 favourite cousin <3

Seconds later, it was the dulang boys' turn to walk into the hall...

 4 groomsmen, 2 brothers and 1 favourite cousin as well <3

Ceremony started with our wakils exchanging pleasantries but the exchange happened for about 5, 10 minutes only, I think?! Because I remember glancing at the big wall clock at the back of the hall cun cun at 10.00am then glancing towards the door right after... and seeing Ustaz Mohd Khair striding in.

Right on schedule!

I didn't think it was possible for me to love this tok kadi of ours more than I already do <3

My husband-to-be (at that time) listening intently to Ustaz Mohd Khair, who is his most favourite ustaz in the whole wide worlddddd, giving his sermon.

I can see why my mamat fangirls over Ustaz Mohd Khair, which led to him being our #1 choice of tok kadi by the way (story here) - there is just something about his entire being that makes you feel very calm and composed (you can see him in action in one of the videos which I posted here)

And the fact that both of us love his sermon during nikah proceedings helps - his sermon is awesome (we have the same favourite line from his sermon, which we've heard from another nikah that he officiated), he keeps it short and simple, his voice is fantastic, he has a very calming aura and he is... very easy on the eyes hahahahaha.

I still remember my heart fluttering when I heard our favourite line being delivered by Ustaz Khair ever so effortlessly and within the next few minutes, I heard him say the most anticipated line for the day: "Aku nikahkan kau..."

I might have held my breath for a bit until Saliheen habis lafaz, which he did just as... effortlessly.

And that was it - we were married. We are now husband and wife.

I don't know if I'm just biased (OH MAYBE I AM, SO SUE ME DAMNIT) but I loved Saliheen's lafaz of the akad nikah. It was exactly everything that I would have wanted him to do - he used 'Aku', he said out the mas kahwin amount (instead of 'tersebut') and he said the lafaz in one single breath (no pauses yay!) - and he did it without even me having to tell him beforehand how I would have preferred it to sound. Couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride swell inside me after he finished his lafaz :,)

You can watch him take the akad nikah in this lovely short video which my awesome baby sister did as a little surprise for us :,)

(And please don't get me wrong - as long as the lafaz is coherent and recognized by the two witnesses and tok kadi, and most importantly, asalkan betul di sisi agama and diberkati in the eyes of our Almighty, that is all that is needed. Even if Saliheen had done it differently, it would have been okay and I would have still loved him the same - and still wanted to marry him! - for who he is and everything that he has done for us. But it was just very lovely and very heartwarming to hear Saliheen doing the akad nikah in the exact way that I would have loved it to be, you know?)

I also love the fact that Ustaz Mohd Khair asked our two witnesses for their acknowledgement (the "sah" part) immediately after, said "Alhamdullilah" and everyone raised their hands up for the doa. We've been to solemnizations where the tok kadi cracks a joke right after the lafaz and that is something which we wouldn't have wanted.

Saliheen probably looking excited because he finally got to meet his favourite Ustaz in person again, and not because he was already married to me hahahahaha WHAT A FANGIRL FREAK

We then had a series of phototaking with our families and orang orang kuat as well as individual and couple shots which both of us absolutely hated doing hahahahahaha. You see - my mamat and I are NOT the romantic and the mushy mushy sort so we get crazy embarassed and crazy awkward when asked to take huggy huggy kissy kissy couple shots! Yelchhhhh!

Of course the pictures didn't turn out tooooooo bad in the end, but I think we'll keep those for our own future reference instead eh :P

WE'RE HUSBAND AND WIFE NOW, SUCKERS!!!!!!! :D

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

You know, months before the wedding, I had some people asking me a question - "Will you cry during nikah?" 

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect and couldn't really answer that ~burning~ question. You see, I've never really been a crier - I laugh or make useless observations during supposedly sad emotional scenes, and I don't cry during Hari Raya mornings while seeking forgiveness or while watching wedding videos like some of my friends - so while I didn't expect to cry during my wedding... you can never know with this sort of ceremony, right?

As it turns out... aku memang tak nangis punya orang dah. Hahahahaha.

I did, however, smile and laugh till my jaws hurt.

In fact, that's all I wanted to do throughout the solemnization ceremony - smile and laugh and smile and laugh somemore because I was so... happy.

I was happy to see our families and close friends gathered together, I was happy to see everyone dressed in their baju melayu best, I was happy to know they took the time and effort to come witness, bless and celebrate our occasion, I was happy to see all the pretty decorations around me, I was happy to see the man I've been wanting to marry for the past 5 years finally sitting next to me as my lawfully wedded husband. I was just... so happy.

I know the tears that people cry during weddings are tears of overwhelming happiness but I guess that's just the kind of people Saliheen and I are? We're not the sort of people who cry or even tear during happy occasions - not even those of happiness or pride - we're always out to goof around, we seek for fun and laughter, and we regard every gathering, every party, every event with our loved ones as an opportunity to give and receive smiles and laughter, and we strive to make as much merry as we can - and I love that this is just one of the many things that Saliheen has in common with me.

It's comforting, really, knowing that this was the man I married that fateful Saturday morning.