💋 Malinalism.: MxS Engagement Ceremony

Event: Malina & Syazwan's Engagement Day

Date: 18th February 2017

Day: Saturday

Time: 8pm - 11pm

Venue: My home

Who was there: Family, relatives & closest friends

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Countless thanks to my family members, relatives, friends, neighbours, and last by no means least, massive thank you to my partner and my future in-laws, family, relatives and also friends, for all your love, pray and amazing help and support to make the engagement ceremony goes beautifully and smoothly without a hitch. Thank you for coming all the way to memeriahkan lagi majlis. Alhamdulillah. Thank you for helping to make our February 18 come true. Apologize for any uneasiness or perturbed that may/may not caused. Once again, thank you for joining us for the engagement ceremony, may Allah ease everything and we shall see each other again very very soon for the next event, InshaAllah. I am forever grateful. Alhamdulillah ❤️💕

It was a very short period between the time MSA proposed to me (I think it was on November 2016), and the merisik (on January 7th 2017) and the engagement day which was a month after the merisik. The preparation was made in a very short time, approximately a month, just right after the merisik.

Alhamdulillah, everything was easy. The bookings were easy, the vendors and everything are available though it was only a month away for the event. I made a very last minute appointments with the spa for facial and body scrub, mani/pedi, dulang hantaran and those fresh flowers my mom and I picked out ourselves from the market. MSA and I went to most of all jewelry shops in KL to find the perfect engagement ring.

Speaking of engagement ring, did you know that MSA actually surprised me and I wasn't even there when he bought it? He has been observing me and my taste in rings so he knew all along which particular type or design of ring I love. So he did manage to find the perfect one and he knows that I will love it.

And also the clear tent and caterer. And the dress. Fun fact about the dress: I actually bought the dress from Variante like a few years ago for Eid (Hari Raya) but I never got the chance to wear it because it has to alter a bit since I bought one size bigger. I did not have the time to send it to tailor and that is the reason why I never wore it for that year's Eid. Managed to alter it as my engagement dress few years after and it looked perfectly beautiful. My tailor, Kak Intan has done it nicely. Added a few touch of hers with some sequins and beads and make it to look a little less-jubah and more-to-dress and voila!

For the headscarf and the most gorgeous veil, believe it or not, I managed to find it exactly 24 hours before the engagement day. Ariani offers a lot of different colours and designs for the scarfs and also the veil and the staff were very attentive and I tried quite a few in the fitting room but none of it suits the dress. My mom and I were about to give up and one of the staffs told us, "Wait, I think I have exactly what you meant and what you need. Give me 10 minutes.". We waited while still trying on few other options and then a few minutes later, this person handed me the perfect veil, the design, the colour, the material, you name it. Everything is perfect for the dress and I am absolutely obsessed with it!

When my mom and I were back home from Ariani, everything at home was sorted out. Two tents are up, whole entire home are cleaned and furnitures were outside in the car porch. Dulang hantaran deco and the pelamin were arranged the next day in the morning. Caterer is ready with the food, everything is set and I got my makeup done at 5pm. Got dressed and I was pretty nervous. My girlfriends were with me the entire time and they helped me got through the pre-engagement jitters very well.

Then one of my aunts held my hand and escorted me to the simple yet beautiful pelamin. The scent of the daisies, roses and calla lilies mixed together were all filled in the living hall. I was nervous, my palms were sweaty and MSA's mom came to sit beside me on the bench at the pelamin. She was holding the ring box, opened the box and took the ring out and my heart beats fast. My upper lip was wet. I do not know why I was nervous but I was. MSA's mom held my right hand and put the ring on my finger. I said, "Alhamdulillah, aunty. Thank you." and she replied with, "Alhamdulillah, I was nervous. This is my first time." and I laughed and said, "Its okay, aunty. This is my first time too!" and we both laughed, hence, the photo we both laughing captured in one of these photos below. It was funny, we both were nervous but Alhamdulillah, it went very well.

Then, the photography session with almost everybody at the event. Then out for dinner and mingling around with relatives and friends. I was nervous to see MSA's face for the first time that night because in our Malay culture, the groom-to-be is not allowed to be in the house while the discussion and the ceremony was held. He is not even allowed to see the mother puts the ring on the bride-to-be's finger. So I did not see him the entire evening except for the photography session. I was scared, somehow, to talk to him or to meet him in the eye. Its kinda embarrassing and overwhelming at the same time, but we did it. The ceremony went smoothly and praise to Allah that we managed to finally stand at this stage in life. We are beyond thankful and grateful for the help of many in the journey of uniting us together in the future, inshaAllah. Thank you to all helps and prayers from our beloved ones and may Allah bless this journey and may Allah ease everything for us both.

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