The Prewedding of Eka & Andry (Part II)

My Design: Eka & Andry's Wedding Invitation Design Package

A little story behind the design:

When Eka first asked me to make her wedding invitation, I had just started my interest in Indonesian traditional patterns. I cannot believe that it took me a long time to realize it, but Indonesian traditional patterns are soooo pretty. I was particularly interested in Minang embroidery patterns and Andry just happened to come from Padang, isn't that just the sign? That was why I immediately decided that the design should have bold red color on it :)

I also really had fun designing this one as I was actually dying to make a non-floral invitation design. Don't get me wrong, my love for floral-themed design will never end. But I need a break, like real bad! 

Anyhow, this was actually unplanned, but when we did a photo shoot for their pre-wedding pictures, we just realized that Eka's kebaya and Andry's batik just happened to be red.

Anyway, congratulation Eka & Andry. Wishing you guys the best of luck for your future endeavors, see you at the wedding!

Photo shoot for Kemuning Event Planner

Kemuning Event Planner atau kadang juga dikenal sebagai Kemuning Wedding Organizer, didirikan oleh Ghina, Enggan, Farah dan Eka dan mulai aktif di Bogor sejak awal tahun 2013. Setahu saya, mereka mulai terlibat acara pernikahan temen-temen deket yang memang minta bantuan mereka untuk persiapan dan pada saat hari H pelaksanaan acara pernikahan mereka. Enggak aneh sih, soalnya memang Ghina itu dari dulu selalu passionate banget sama hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan pernak-pernik pernikahan. 

Nah, yang tadinya cuma pegang acara temen-temen deket, kemudian tim Kemuning mulai dapet tawaran untuk pegang acara pernikahan orang lain. Bahkan, tim Kemuning juga mulai terlibat di acara-acara lain seperti acara wisuda sekolah, tunangan, dll. 

Sekarang ini, tim Kemuning sudah mulai dikenal di kota Bogor sebagai salah satu EO/WO yang recommended walaupun dengan harga yang sangat terjangkau. Karena acara yang dipegang pun mulai  beragam dan skala-nya membesar, tim Kemuning sekarang juga tambah rame. Makanya, tim Kemuning kemudian pengen bikin semacam rebranding dan minta dibantuin untuk sesi foto-foto ini. 

Saya sendiri ngerasa kebantu banget sama temen-temen tim Kemuning pas pernikahan saya di tahun 2014 kemarin. Selain bisa jadi tempat buat konsultasi teknis acara pernikahan, mereka juga bisa jadi tempat curhat-curhat yang lain dan ngasi banyak tips buat hari H pernikahan kita. Pokonya, cocok banget sama motto mereka: the bestfriends for your wedding.


Kalau berminat dan butuh bantuan tim Kemuning, bisa hubungi Cp di bawah ini:

Kemuning Event Planner (Bogor dan Jakarta)
Email: kemuningwo@gmail.com
IG: @kemuningwo
Phone: Ghina (+62812-84155645), Enggan (+62813-82822202)

lovebirds

     background credit to emir. 

My design: Muti & Emir's Wedding Invitation

corat-coret: edisi hijab

Pre-wedding Shoot: Muti & Emir

Pre-wedding shoot: Enggan & Bang MT

I do not call myself a photographer nor am I entitled to be called one. But I do like taking pictures and have fun with my camera, especially when I travel around with my husband (who is, for me, one of the best photographer I know). 

However, once in a blue moon, I do get asked to do a free photo session, usually for pre-wedding or engagement photos of my closest friends. One of them was this session I did with my friend Enggan and her-then-fiancé-now-husband Bang MT. 

It was one of the quickest and simplest session ever as we did not really prepare any special prep for the photoshoot. We even did the session in my very house yard. But I really had fun! 

seoul, the city of cuteness

a little throwback to the cute city :)

Missing Singapore!

People say you never know what you've got 'till it's gone. Cheesy, I know, but at the moment the saying best describes how I feel about Singapore: "I can't believe I say this, but I do miss Singapore so much! Like much!"

A mere good luck had given me a one year experience of living in Singapore for my master's degree. Looking back, I never felt that it was very special, in a sense that it's not like living in a more 'interesting' place like some European countries or America. I mean, it's just next to Indonesia. It is just an upgraded version of Indonesia: same weather, different infrastructure and better living standards. In fact, I remember that I used to say to myself that I didn't think I would miss the place once I go back home for good. 

I couldn't be more wrong. Turns out I have this list of tiny bits that I miss about Singapore:

 

THE FOOD

The first few weeks of living in Singapore was quite dreadful for me as I found out that the food wasn't really my plate of gado-gado. Despite the quite similar look with its Indonesian counterpart (they're made of quite similar ingredients and herbs, I would say), Singaporean food couldn't give me the satisfaction that Indonesian food does. As time goes by, however, I started to find some of my most favorite food there. The list goes on from Soya Milk, Teh Tarik + Kaya Toast, Barley Tea, Chicken Rice and so on! But the top three would be:

• Prima Deli's Waffles: seriously, they have the best waffles, even better than the ones I had in Belgium, 'o the land of waffles. Unlike those waffles you find in traditional bakeries, Prima Deli waffles are freshly made and I love how they just pour the batter onto the waffle maker without applying any layer of oil. And the smell: oh-my-god. The smell of the waffle batter is so good that you can tell that you're near a Prima Deli's store from a long distance. So, if you happen to find any Prima Deli store in Singapore, do try their waffles!
• Jurong Point's Nasi Lemak: As there are bazzilion nasi lemak stalls in Singapore, I think I have to be very specific about this one: one of the best nasi lemak I've tried was this nasi lemak stall located between Jurong Point Mall and Boon Lay MRT Station. I already went to this nasi lemak stall that people in Singapore really love so much as it had already gotten several awards, yet I still like the Jurong Point's nasi lemak better! I don't know why, but for me the combination of the sambal and the fried chicken is just the best. It's also very very cheap. I don't know the current price of this nasi lemak, but back in 2013, it only cost me 1.8 SGD. Oh, how I miss you, cheapo lunch!
• Yong Tou Fu: One thing that I first realized was that it was not that easy to find green-veggies food in Singapore, you know, unless you cook it yourself. Chinese food was definitely off the table for moslem, so the only option was to go to nasi padang stalls. Yet I still thought the veggies at nasi padang stalls weren't that fresh (not to mention I also had problems with the taste. Like seriously, this is not nasi padang for me!). Until that day when I tried yong tou fu. The clear broth, the endless option of vegetables and mushrooms stuffed with ground meet and fish paste. No matter how you eat it, either dry or with soup, you can never go wrong with this dish!

WEEKLY AFTERNOON WALK

As now I am living in Jakarta, I probably miss this one the most. After more than a year, I started to long for my hours of wandering around the town alone. Although back then I lived with other five Indonesians at my HDB, almost all of them used to go back home to Jakarta every weekend. That's why I started to go around the city by myself. It was a bless. It was also such a luxury for me to be able to take a late night stroll around the town without having to worry of getting abducted or something :).

Wedding Throwback: Budgeting, Konsep & Lokasi

Begitu tanggal pernikahan udah ditentuin, hal pertama yang penting buat dipastiin adalah masalah budgeting acara pernikahan. Kenapa penting? ya penting banget dong, karena semua konsep acara basically bakal ngikutin jumlah duit yang ada. Untuk pernikahan gue sendiri kemarin,  gue dan suami dari dulu udah bertekad kalo acara pernikahan kita akan pake biaya sendiri tanpa minta ke orang tua. Alhamdulilah ada rejekinya yang emang udah kita tabung dari dulu-dulu, walaupun engga gede-gede amat. Nah, berhubung keadaan dana terbatas ini, makanya untuk konsep acara pernikahan  kita ya simpel-simpel aja: humble yet memorable :D, maksudnya, acara nikahan kita nggak akan (dan memang enggak mungkin) yang super mewah. Acara pernikahannya yang penting khidmat, sederhana, tapi tetep berkesan.

Terlait lokasi, sempet ada wacana buat bikin acara nikahan di rumah gue, tapi tentunya ide itu gue tolak mentah-mentah, secara rumah gue jauh banget di kaki gunung salak, bener-bener enggak tega ngebayangin tamu-tamunya harus kerepotan nyari lokasi rumah. Masalah berikutnya adalah, karena rumah gue lokasi nya lumayan di tengah-tengah perkampungan, maka rasanya enggak enak banget kalo enggak ngundang tetangga-tetangga sekitaran rumah. Memang serba salah banget sih, mau diundang ke gedung enggak mungkin, karena budget bakal membengkak. Enggak diundang juga rasa-rasanya enggak enak banget dan kasian sama nyokap bokap. Akhirnya diputuskan kalo acara pernikahan bakal dilaksanain 2 kali, pertama di gedung, yang kedua dirumah (yang ini fully covered sama orangtua :D).

Nah, begitu tanggal pernikahan udah ditentukan, hal pertama yang jadi concern kami tentunya lokasi gedung. Seperti udah pada tau, jaman sekarang gedung itu jadi hal pertama yang harus ditentukan karena semua hal lainnya bakal ngikut si gedung ini (ya konsumsi, ya dekor, dll). Soal gedung ini, ada beberapa gedung yang jadi inceran kita setelah melihat budgeting tentunya:

Gedung Seameo Biotrop 
(+) Harga terjangkau, kapasitas besar, parkiran luas, dapat penginapan untuk keluarga
(-) Lokasi yang agak so-so, karena walau secara teori lokasinya deket pintu tol, tapi daerah yg lumayan macet
(?) Nggak jadi, karena sudah di booking di tanggal nikahan kita, hiksss, sedih. sempet ditawarin untuk pake pas sesi sorenya sii.. cm nggak mau acara malem, apalagi hari Minggu, kasian sama tamu-tamu yang besoknya mau kerja.

Gedung Pasca Panen
(+) Harga terjangkau, kapasitas lumayan, parkiran luas, gedung baru
(-)  Lokasi yang agak-agak terpencil sedikit, bikin kepikiran soal jalan
(?) Nggak jadi, karena lokasinya yang sedikit bikin bingung, dari rumah keluarga gw dan R sama-sama jauh, buat tamu-tamu pun agak jauh, berasa lebih banyak kekurangannya dari pada kelebihannya.

Gedung Zeni A 
(+) Harga terjangkau, kapasitas sangat besar, parkiran luas, lokasi oke banget di tengah kota
(-)  Gedung yang udah tua (banget)
(?) Nggak jadi, karena gedungnya bener-bener udah tua dan gw gak sreg banget sama bentuk atapnya yang kayak hanggar pesawat :p, daaan ini bakal berefek ke biaya dekor yang gw rasa bakal membengkak juga

Gedung Zeni B 
(+) Harga terjangkau, kapasitas lumayan, parkiran luas, lokasi oke banget di tengah kota
(-)  Gedung lebih baru dari Gedung yang B
(?) Jadiii :D

Pemilihan gedung ini bener-bener hal paling sulit dalam proses nyiapin nikahan ini. Emang sempet kepikiran kalo ukurannya gak sebesar Biotrop, tapi karena di luar aula utama masih ada 1 ruang lagi yang bisa dimanfaatin, jadi akhirnya kita putusin untuk pake gedung ini. Kebetulan si Zeni ini emang kelebihannya adalah tempat parkir yang luas dan lokasinya yang oke, jadi Insha Allah ga akan nyusahin tamu-tamu.

Bener-bener ngerasa lega banget pas akhirnya udah diambil keputusan di gedung ini karena pas gedung udah fixed, udah deh tinggal yang lain-lainnya ngikutin.

Wedding Throwback: A Note

Salah satu alasan utama dibuatnya blog ini adalah untuk nulis-nulis pengalaman seluruh persiapan pernikahan gue beberapa bulan yang lalu. Kenapakah ini begitu penting? Yaa.. ga penting-penting amat juga sih, hehe. Cuma emang ada beberapa alasan yang bikin gue bercita-cita nyicil nulis-nulis tentang persiapan pernikahan kemaren.

Mungkin pertama-tama gue harus jelasin dulu kalo nikahan gue itu untuk ukuran di Indonesia termasuk yang sederhana banget kok. In fact, it wasn't actually the most perfect wedding day with the most delicious food and the most beautiful decoration and flowers. It was only a very average and simple one. But still, it was one of the most magical day of my life :). Words cannot describe apa yang bikin hari itu spesial banget. Kalo disuruh ngulang lagi, gue mau banget (tapi enggak mau cape-capenya lagi, dan definitely nggak mau bagian bayar-bayarnya lagi haha). Nah masa-masa persiapan nikahan kemarin itu campur aduk seneng, capek dan stressnya. Makanya pengen banget ditulis di blog ini biar nanti di masa depan bisa baca ulang buat inget-inget segala tetek bengeknya.



Selain itu, selama masa persiapan nikah kemarin, apalagi jaman-jaman awal banget, gue sangat kebantu sama blog orang-orang yang ngereview persiapan pernikahan mereka. Serius deh, selain bisa dapet masukan-masukan yang berguna banget soal vendor-vendor nikahan dll, baca-baca blog tentang pernikahan orang itu juga lumayan ngurangin stress selama persiapan. At least gue jadi tau kalo semua pun mengalami hal yang sama, dan, ada semacam perasaan: "You'll be okay, no biggies, everyone's been through the same shit". Ada beberapa blog orang-orang yang jadi semacam bacaan harian pas jaman-jaman persiapan kemarin, diantaranya blognya mbak leija ini. Nah, jadinya kepikiran juga buat bikin catatan kaya gini, siapa tau aja bisa bermanfaat untuk temen-temen lain.

Hello Again

It's 2015 and I've finally convinced myself into blogging again. Not necessarily to be read by others, but more of a personal diary. I may also put more of pictures instead of words. Anyhow, I think it will be nice if someday in the future I can just read the blog to look back way to the past :)