‘OH MY GOD I AM GETTING MARRIED TODAY’

Should have been my first thought but I was distracted by how hungry I was. I honestly cannot remember what happened after I woke up but I do remember hating myself for not packing days before. I also couldn’t remember if I used soap when I showered because there was a million things in my mind. I went downstairs to see my family, hugged my dad and my aunts who were finalizing the guests lists. Packed my things and dragged my sister with me to pick up my veil. On the way home we dropped by at the florist to order hand bouquets for my bridesmaids. When I arrived home my planner said there were problems with the flowers so I shoved everything into my car and drove myself to the venue.

That was the last time I was at home as a single person.

 Alhamdulillah everything was okay when I arrived at the venue. Next, I had to hang the paper flowers that I made under the gazebo because I had this ‘genius’ idea of making the gazebo prettier (this was  where the lantern ceremony took place). A word of advice for future brides, don’t rely too much all these handmade decoration stuff you find on Pinterest. THINK TWICE IT’S A TRAP. Unless you get someone to help you full time for the setup, don’t do it. Because there I was, drenched in sweat (El Nino couldn’t have come at a more perfect time) trying to hang these flowers under the gazebo, using the unstable lifeguard chair as a ladder. Thank god my planners and friends were there to help me otherwise I would have just jumped in the pool to drown away my sorrows.

After we were done with the flowers, we prepared the lanterns by putting the wax into its sockets packed everything up when were done.

Then it was time to get ready. I unpacked my things and arranged pictures of my parents and sister in the room because I knew I was going to get nervous at some point and looking at those pictures would clam me down. After doing this I realized that I had to take a shower so Ika and I went to the ladies toilet (note toilet, not bathroom) to take a shower. Both of us couldn’t stop laughing while we were bathing because there I was, the bride, sitting on the toilet seat, using the water host to bath. How elegant. So if you see my pictures and everything looks so nice and pretty and ayu, well now you now what happened behind the scenes lah.

My girls started to arrive and they had to get ready. I got teary when I saw them helping each other getting dressed up. While I was chomping on my Fish & Chips,  my make up artist Najeeb arrived and started to paint my face. I surrendered my handphone to my sister because I didn’t want to be distracted whilst getting ready.

I didn’t get the chance to talk to Joe before the wedding, but I knew he was with his family on the other side of the building getting ready

Mid-way through the makeup, the thunderstorm decided to make its grand appearance. And it was LOUD. I tried to calm myself down and recited my prayers. Then my sister said my planner wanted to talk to me on the phone. When Kat passed me the phone she said ‘please don’t freak out but Laila (my planner) has an idea on how to make the rain go away and it’s kinda weird’

Good grief, I thought. So I took and phone and we spoke

‘Yana, we can try to make the rain go away’

‘How’

‘We can call the weather consultant, a special kind of ustat’

‘What?, got such thing as a consultant ah?’

‘Yeah got, but hurry up and make a decision because it’s going to start raining really heavily soon’

Okay. Enough crazy for one day.

I gave my phone to Kat and asked her to get my parents or aunties to decide. I was in no position to make any decisions at that point. Then, my Najeeb said to me:

‘Why don’t you throw your underwear on the roof, it will make the rain go away’

You can imagine my reaction, half shocked, half amused.

‘Are you serious?’

‘Apparently it works, but it has to be your underwear lah, not anyone else’s’

Why on earth am I only knowing about all this consultant and ustat and underwear business now?!

Well it was too late for me to throw anything on any roofs so I just prayed and hoped for the best. If it rains, then let it be. The rain, as most people would say, is a blessing. Orang tua selalu cakap kalau hujan tu maksudnya berkat.Oklah, kalau berkat tu Alhamdulillah. Redha je. 

My family started to come in and wish me all the best. Seeing my mom’s face made me feel a bit sad, my dad was too busy so I didn’t get to see him before I got married.

Getting ready felt like jigsaw puzzle pieces coming together. Make up, clothes, scarf, jewelry, check! I started to feel a bit nervous when Najeeb was putting on my headscarf. I kept reciting my prayers to calm myself down, then when my sister came in the room, I felt so much better. We talked, made fun of the weather crisis (the rain finally stopped thank you very much) and I told her I wanted to listen to some music. She grabbed my phone and I just knew she was going to play Taylor Swift’s 1989 album (Thanks Taytay!) We danced, we sang, we were laughing so hard that when I look back at the wedding photos I tear up looking back at this special moment with my Kitty Kat.

Some of my girls kept popping in to make sure I was okay. Farah came in to see how I was doing, I think she was more nervous than I was so I tried to calm her down. We took pictures and hugged like we have never hugged before and I felt so loved.

Farah is my best friend. She’s my protector. We’ve been friends since we were 13 years old and no matter how far we’ve been separated from each other, we always kept in touch. Farah has always been there for me and I was so thankful that she was there, as the rest of my beautiful friends. We hugged and kissed and said our goodbyes and I thought everything was okay until Farah yelled ‘Oh god, my lipstick is on your scarf!’

I burst out laughing because I saw her face and it was priceless. She looked so worried because her red lipstick smudge was on my scarf but I didn’t care much about it and even joked ‘Never mind lah, you’ll be with me when I get married’.

Fixed my scarf, grabbed my bouquet, wore my shoes, and left the room.

My girls were all lined up, carrying their dulangs (present trays) and flowers and my goodness, I was so in love! They looked perfect from head to toe and everyone looked so happy. Radiant. Stunning. We all got giddy and excited and I was so thrilled that they were all getting along. When your friends become friends, the feeling is just magical.

I completely forgot about the time and when my planner said it was time to move, my girls got in line and left me and my sister behind, one by one. I felt a bit lonely as I saw them leaving the room so I held my sister’s hand and  slowly walked towards the solemnization area. We had to wait for a while as the groomsmen and bridesmaids had to make their way in. Then, I saw Joe and my heart started to beat faster and faster. I covered my face with the bouquet because I didn’t’ want him to see me yet. Then I noticed Kat was acting a bit trippy, I looked at her and saw her crying.

Seriously, ‘WHY IS EVERYONE CRYING I’M NOT MARRIED YET’

I took her hand and said that everything’s going to be okay. I suppose it was overwhelming for my baby sister because it would be the last time that I’m all hers. If only she knew my love for her wouldn’t change a bit and I am always going to be around, just that Joe will be with me most of the time. Hehehehe. After Kat calmed down, my planner said it was time for us to go.

‘This is it, I’m going to be a wife soon’

So Kat and I held each other’s hands one last time as two single ladies and off we went.