Wednesday 19 December 2012

Bride #1: now a mother-to-be

Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah, now A and I are counting down the weeks to welcome a new member to our family. I have survived the torturous 1st trimester with flying colours. Apart from the gagging from teeth brushing and the heartburns, I guess my morning sickness was not so severe. I could still eat like a normal person, not that it has increased my food intake. The cravings I had from this pregnancy (so far) was nothing like it would make A go crazy. I only had the sudden urge to eat Hometown Yong Tau Foo and Maggi Goreng Bestari in Hartamas. Would you even call that cravings? Pfffffttttttt! I guess the baby is just like the mommy, choose logical over nonsensical.
 
The one thing about being pregnant that stroke fear in me is the appearance of stretch marks. In a vain attempt to combat this, I am vigorously applying the Bio Oil AND Clarins Stretch Mark Control all over my boobs, tummy and hips. Thank God for these two weapons! Heard that Daphne Iking swore by Clarins Stretch Mark Control and she has zero lines on her tummy (no, we are not best friends that I said it cos I have seen it). But anyway, at 24 weeks I cant guarantee that I'll survive this pregnancy stretch marks-free but at least I'm doing something.
 
Will be sharing more on my pregnancy journey at next posts. 'till then, enjoy the rest of your 2012 with your loved ones ;)
 
Baby A in the making, Bride #1
 

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Bride #1: The Photographer

Pffftttt it has indeed been a while since the last update. Banyak sangat dah hutang for wedding reviews ni. Anywayyy, here's hoping that this post will somewhat help the B2Bs to decide who to hire for their wedding photographer.
 
I came to know about this photographer from Bride #3 when she casually mentioned it in our group chat. Looking at their website, I was not really impressed. The photos were heavily edited that they look superficial. I wanted something 'clean and fresh'. So I approached a few other names like the The Whiteroom, Afnan Omar, Bak Hafiz, Daniel Zain, Shutterspeak....just to name a few. But they were either not available on my date or, well, a tad too overpriced for my budget.
 
Then I stumbled upon the 'rejected-photographer's' new photos on their FB page. It wasn't like their previous work, the ones which were heavily edited. Figured it was fated for us to work together and so the 'magic' happened...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
*include edited and un-edited photos
 
And that my ladies, are the wonders from my photographer, Acestudio Photography.
 
Breathing again, Bride #1

Friday 16 November 2012

Experiencing Miracles

Hi everyone.
Its been awhile since i last post a blog here. Kesian ex bride #1 and #2 yg rajin update. Ampunnn.
Since long holidays and nobody really working on friday. So its a good time for me to update this dusty blog >_<
Marriage life is so much fun, roller coaster ride like some said and I'm experiencing it aswell. Since hubby doing most of the house chores, so I have no complaints to cook nice food for him. Ececece.
Still an amateur chef, so hari2 tgk masterchef nak dpt idea memasak. Since hubby is not a fuzzy type so its a good start to try all sort of recipes that I see on net. Mama quite impress coz she knows i never handle the kitchen myself alone. Oven je blum rasmikan lagi. Since Im using electric kitchen, so i never experience any bau gas lagi.Scary. Hehehe.
 As ex bride #2 visiting foreign countries, I myself dont miss the change to visit Johor Bahru. Cuti-cuti Malaysia. Brother in laws treats the whole family to Legoland and accommodations. We stayed at Villa Warisan, JB. Recommended to all Bali style villa lovers. Im loving it myself. Breakfast not much variety but still a nice combination. Legoland was not bad, despite the dry weather. As a pregnant lady, I was excused to sit on the nearby bench + cuci2 mata while waiting for them to finish the ride. Stress ok.
Hubby pun keep looking for me after each ride, takut bini kene culik kot :P 
Everytime I asked him hows the ride, he would answer "oklah" maybe try to make me feel ok. Ecece.
We did go to Mustapha, Spore 2 nights before deepavali and the crowd was crazy. I bought some cutey stuff for my baby. Hubby couldn't resist it aswell. Geram la tuu :P
I'm planning to go there again if my health permits. Long distance travel by car bring no comfort to my body.
Last but not least, newborn checklist long way to go. Now need to search a reasonable price and clinic location to do 3d 4d scan. Hopefully be able to see the gender. Senang nk shopping. Huhu.

psst: Will post about Theater Tun Dr Siti Hasmah later. Tggu la I gi tgk dulu ok. :P

xoxo, x-bride #3

Saturday 3 November 2012

Chasing Dreams

Hi dearies... Fuhh.. It's already November!
So, by now maybe no one reads this blog anymore eh?
Bride #1 and Bride #3 are currently experiencing miracles :)
while I'll be experiencing autumn for the next 2 weeks!
Wish us the best.
 

 
On the other hand, I have received the wedding dvds from my OV.. the output is great! However, there were ding-dong ding-dong on the deliveries for quite a while (hate those moments). As a customer who has fully paid for it, of course it should not be that way. Well, seb baek sume setel at the end.
 
I'll keep you posted on these.
In the mood for Parisian autumn romance, Bride #2.


Saturday 15 September 2012

Wedding OP & Albums

Hellowww people, this is a short and sweet update of our wedding OP and the albums. The chosen OP is Elinazz Photography. I found the contacts on the Internet by just googling around hehe. The 1st time we booked Elinazz was for our E-Day, and since hubby + me were satisfied with the service and outcome, we straight away booked Elinazz again for all our wedding events.
 
With our OP
 
The owner is Abg Nazim, always early, has a very calm attitude, so it helps for the easily-annoyed person like me hehe, dia cool aje all the time, best2. Plus, he makes great suggestions and softly remind me what I need to do next and next. For example, I'm the one yg selalu sgt lupe hand bouquet (few times tertinggal dlm bilik la, kat pelamin la), pegang tgn husband and most importantly SMILE to the camera! Oh, thank God.
 
The albums are nice too, coffee table book type. Heavy glass album cover and the pages are thick hard photo paper, more like board paper kut. Sleek and clean. Kalau air tumpah atas mane2 page pon bole lap, tak rosak. Pics softcopy are provided for each event in DVD. All customized.
 

E-Day Album
 
Wedding Albums
 
Overall, definitely recommended.
Happy weekend all! , Bride #2

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Flora Terrace, Hampshire Place

Photos from my videographer FB's page.




What a lovely place to hold an event like this. I love their dais! The black and white panel just transformed the whole mood. And the colors were so so gorgeous! 

Bride's dress from Alia Bastamam and make up by Chot.

On self note, video and photos are ready for collection. Look out for huge updates from us. 

Wiping the dust, Bride #1

Friday 24 August 2012

To Feel A Little Bit More Beautiful

Now that I'm in KL, I got the chance to explore more different brands.
Right now I'm exploring MAC's Skincare collection - the Lightful New Collection for Spring 2012.
I bought these 2 days ago:


Nice bright packaging... Lightful also smells AMAZING! I think I will stop using Dermalogica huhuhu. I also bought MAC Prep + Prime, MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Shanghai Spice and MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Stubborn Brown.

Oh Happy Hari Raya everyone! Still enjoying your raya? I'm back to office already...
Album kahwin dah siappp... Later I can share more, hopefully :), Bride #2

Friday 17 August 2012

Salam Aidilfitri

We seek forgiveness for all the unintentional speaks in this blog which may have hurt feelings. Those traveling this Raya, we wish you safe journey.

Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin.

Love, The Junetastic Brides

Wednesday 8 August 2012

New Life in KL

Hi dearies, I'm still coping up with new life. Change : like a 360-degree turn. Wuhuhhh.
Anyway, married + KL life is interesting.

Berbuka at in-laws' house (almost everyday huhu)

Traffic jam sucks!


Our little love nest is still in progress. The main colours are black, white and red.



I hope it's not too late to wish everyone Selamat Berpuasa :)
Love, Bride #2

Monday 23 July 2012

Another Happiness Project

Last night my wedding dress(es) designer, Khalik,  PM-ed me on fb bertanya khabar and he asked how's the wedding, the dress etc. Such a great after-sales service you see :) ... Gaspppp! I realized that I owe him one nice review. Oh dear, I've kind of neglected blogging for a while, huuuu sorry! I'm now busy packing things for my permanent move to KL next week. My other acceptable reason (I think) is that I want to write reviews with good pics in hand, in which I still don't have much right now.

Dress No. 1

Dress No. 2

For the past 1 month gile cari rumah, sana sini househunting, then after setel dpt rumah, gile home deco pulak. I'm browsing IKEA, Home24, Apartment Therapy, Decor Diva etc. googling for ideas and inspiration like crazy! I have listed some of the stuff I wanted. Well, if I told you everything in my head, I would be deemed as a madwoman haha. My style for home deco is contemporary, fun, playful, sometimes colorful, and relatively practical.

Welcome

Living Room

Can't wait to put things together in our little love nest.
Moving to the big city, Bride #2.

Thursday 19 July 2012

Bride #1: The Venue

 Disclaimer: This post is in no mean to jeopardize the future of the suspect. Peace!

When it comes to talking about the wedding venue, I’d say I might be the unlucky one who received an unfair treatment from SOME of the people at the DP. It was not the worst experience ever but sure enough an unpleasant one. Come to think of it, am I that much of a fussy client? Well, you be the judge =)

I’ll walk you through the process of getting the venue of my dream when it first started back in October 2011. As most of you brides would do was to get in touch with the ‘front-man’ and that’s how I met Dominic (bukan nama sebenar). First meeting was like doing a ‘site-visit’, my first time to set foot at the DP, and true enough it was love at the first sight. There we talked about the packages that they have, what’s included and what’s not. And then came the quotation, listing all the necessary details for a client’s info which includes the date, time, no of guests, menu for the minimum price you pay, extras (PA system, rela, free rooms, surau), payment structure.

I had been very detailed at describing the ‘feel’ that I want for my wedding i.e: colors, props, the dais design (was informed that I was not allowed to bring in ‘outside’ vendors), the flows, the selection of the food etc. Ok, honestly not much of a theme, but at least I specified which shades of the colors that I preferred. I even created a document with photos from the net that I saved for inspirations, gave them a sample of the ribbons I used for door gifts. Talk about going the miles for people who should be ‘working’ for you.

The payment structure was divided into 3 parts, being the final payment to be made during the final food-tasting session (total of 3 sessions). One of the things that I began to question, ‘what would happen if they mess up during my wedding day? Will there be any compensations?’. However, as not to ‘mess up’ with their minds, I abode to the arrangements, which were all explained in a set of quotation they provided me. 

We requested to reduce the no of pax from 750 to 600 due to the number of people who had RSVP-ed but this was not agreed by them. After much persuasion the number was reduced by 30 pax. I, then, understood that, well, business is business. Kekecewaan tapi pasrah #1. 

The price per pax that we agreed was for the following dishes: 
Nasi Hujan Panas, Nasi Putih, Gulai Kurma Daging, Ayam Masak Bulbul, Udang Goreng Bercili, Sayur Campur Istimewa, Acar Timun Karot, Sambal Belacan, Keropok Ikan 

My parents and I almost agreed at the menu when we went for our final food tasting session. The above, but with fish butter replacing Udang Goreng Bercili. A then proposed that the dishes would go better with prawn butter instead of fish butter and so we had that changed. I was really surprised when they informed me that by doing the changes, I had to pay RM3.50/pax for replacing FISH with PRAWN. Can you see where my frustration started? They had specifically laid out a list of menu in the quotation which already included PRAWN and yet asking me for additional money for making the changes. I began to lose my temper (literally yelled on the phone ;)) so I stressed on what were agreed in the quotation, just to make my point. Did I really get what I requested for? The answer is: NO. And I only found out on the wedding day itself when I was being served at the ‘meja beradab’. Kekecewaan tapi pasrah #2. 

The buffet stations were taken away at 4pm, but I was ‘promised’, (again, it was all in the quotation, we might not pinky-swear but whatever that's in the paper is as good as a binding agreement) that my event could run from 12pm-5pm. Guests who came after 4 didn’t get to eat, not even a single drinking station was left behind. Kekecewaan tapi pasrah #3. 

Decorations were nothing short of amazing. The process towards getting the final result was however, a pain in the a**. I requested small cushions for the dais in turquoise/aqua blue, orange and silver. Can you tell me if these are really turquoise/aqua blue? 

Kekecewaan tapi pasrah #4. 

Despite of all frustrations, the food was GREAT (tak tipu, memang sedap!), Dominic handled my wedding AMAZINGLY WELL, my guests were HAPPY and to receive A LOT of nice compliments from them really saved me from going crazy.

3 weeks after the wedding, I sent an email to the people at DP, expressing my disappointment at those shortcomings which could have been avoided while of course, showing them my gratitude for their hard work. Kita orang melayu, nak marah pun kena beradab =) I did not expect a refund neither I want them to re-do the whole thing (a second round of the wedding?, probably not) but rather I want them to handle my complaints professionally. Perhaps, as simple as ‘WE ARE SORRY WE SCREWED UP YOUR WEDDING HAHAHAHA’ but but, as we speak, no signs of replies from any of them. Kekecewaan tapi pasrah #5

Anywayyyy, if you plan to have your wedding at the DP, by all means, go ahead. Arm yourself with truckloads of money cos that would kinda solve everything. 

 This place has a special place in my heart, that’s where A and I were officially announced as husband and wife. Therefore, there’s no such thing as me holding a grudge against them. As I said earlier, I might be the unlucky one.

Make love not war, Bride #1

Wednesday 18 July 2012

The Adjustment

Hello lovelies...

I have to apologize, on behalf of The Junetastic Brides, that this blog seems a bit dead at the moment. Each one of us are going through a significant changes in our lives. Moving in to a new place, going in and out of a job, picking up a new skill in the kitchen while enjoying every bit of being a married person. Well, that sound pretty normal but these are our struggles and we hope you could bear with us. We do, however, promise you that we have A LOT in store that we can't wait to share. 

As for me, more updates on the wedding are coming up as soon as I get my hands on the photos from the OP. When is a perfect time to start chasing them?

Have a lovely Wednesday, Bride #1

Sunday 8 July 2012

Life & Change

Wedding is crazy, fun, fast and exhausting experience. After 3 hectic weeks, this weekend I got my alone time in Kuantan. I've been cleaning up the bujang house all day, did 2 rounds of laundry, folding up clothes yg dah berbukit x lipat.

I also completed our honeymoon scrapbook album :) using the wedding gift by Aina + friends. I hope this album captures the details of our special trip and keep that elated feeling in our heart.


And soon I need to plan on packing my stuff to move to Kuala Lumpur in August. Life's big decisions are often made in an instant, like this one:


Yahhh, I resign from my job, for this I just follow my "go for it" inner gut feeling. I got instant hutang as I breach the 9-year contract with the company $$$ ppffftt (bcoz of my PETRONAS education scholarship).

InsyaAllah, ade rezeki lain demi niat nak jalankan tanggungjawab isteri utk suami. But no baby plan at the mo', that will have to wait dulu ye huhu.

I struggle, but I'll survive :), Bride #2

Thursday 5 July 2012

Mimpi Indah (Sweet Dreams) at Bermimpi Bali Villas



We had a very wonderful honeymoon at Bermimpi Bali Villas. Husband and I stayed at Bermimpi Manis for 4 days from 26th - 29th June. When we first arrived, Ari greeted us cheerfully and checked us in while telling us about the villa amenities and nearby attractions. We were excited to explore the villa immediately, we took pictures at almost every corner :p. Ari informed us that Hayley gave us a complimentary Balinese couple massage that can be arranged during our stay, such a pleasant surprise! Thank you so much :D! (We enjoyed the massage session on our 3rd day, by the pool)

  


Villa is nicely and richly decorated throughout. Manis is a very comfortable villa with homely atmosphere. I love the delightful smells of Frangipani scented soap, body butter and shampoo in the bathroom. I took them home so that I can be "transported back to Bali", to recall the happy memories. I can still remember the smell of it even when I'm writing this. The open shower concept is awesome! I can see the stars in the sky during my evening showers.


There are lots of shops, bars and restaurants along the "Eat Street" just within walking distance. We even futher walked to the beach, Potato Head and Kudeta on same evening! That's quite a distance actually, but we did. We had dinner at Kudeta (expensive but worth a try) on the 1st night as suggested by Ari. Other restaurants that we've tried in Bali - The Kitchen Club, The Junction, I Made Joni (Ubud), Koko Bar & Restaurant (Kuta). Some of the days, we prepared breakfast and dinner in the villa as the kitchen is well equipped with a lot cooking stuff - the kitchen is complete like a real home! We bought groceries at a mart nearby. In the afternoon, when the sun is out, just jump in the pool to cool yourself..ahh it's a great feeling, hubby loves that.


We were straight away happy with our choice of accomodation for our honeymoon. 4 days was not enough, we should have stayed a week or longer. Everything was faultless and we highly recommend this villa. You will not be disappointed. Thank you very much Hayley, Ari and the Bermimpi team. We'll be back, definitely!


P/S - This review is submitted to Trip Advisor

Monday 2 July 2012

Bride #1: Seoul on iG


menyesal a bit now we didn't go in =(


3rd wedding dress, kinda put on weight there


pixelated ride


blending in

  staple drink


Halal Korean food to whip your appetite

one for the album =)

Sooo, what's next for a holiday-deprived, Bride #1?