Salaam!
Ahmad and I were officially engaged yesterday, 29th May 2016.
That brings us to a nice figure of 285 days (a little less than 10 months) away from our wedding. We have gotten many questions especially from our Malay friends, about planning a wedding in such short notice. The trend nowadays is booking vendors and making preparations as early as 2 years in advance.
Surprising and interestingly, most of my Chinese and Indian friends did not share this same shock and surprise that we are only getting engaged for a period of 10 months. In fact, i think for other cultures, 10 months engagement is pretty darn long! 🙂 It’s interesting to hear from various perspectives about this.
Nevertheless, this was a conscious decision from both parties. Most importantly, I’ve learnt from my friends and some relatives that it is indeed better to keep the engagement period as short as one can afford, because of the trials & tribulations of a couple who are awaiting their marriage.
Ahmad & I have been together for almost 7 years; granted the first 2-3 years were a grey area between friendship and courtship; so I daresay we have had our fair share of really HIGH highs and extremely rock-bottom lows. We don’t want to ruin this opportunity-of-a-lifetime and jeopardising our chance at a future together, forever. 🙂 InsyaAllah.
Having said that, in the midst of wedding-planning (yes, we were too excited that we have been enquiring nonstop with vendors even before the engagement), we run across a few problems.
- Many vendors have been snatched up
- Some vendors are unwilling to commit at such short notice (they prefer 1-1.5 years notice in advance)
- We need to prioritize the CRUCIAL vendors (ie: catering, venue, decor) and then from there filter which smaller vendors will be available on our chosen dates (ie: bridal, henna, cake, photography)
Thankfully, Ahmad & I are honestly VERY simple and carefree people. We have never set our hearts too strongly on any one vendor. Believe it or not, I’ve NEVER stalked or set my mind on any bridal companies before he even popped the question. 🙂 I’ve always had the mindset of taking whichever is the most practical and value-for-money choice.
InsyaAllah, this blog will track our journey towards matrimony ; the good, bad, and ugly parts of wedding planning. I hope this blog benefits the readers out there.
AT X II 