You're a Gurame bride when seaside wedding is your thing

Picking Gurame Indonesian Restaurant as our wedding venue didn't struck to me one day when I woke up from my sleep. The reason I knew of its existence and that weddings do happen there, is because a childhood friend of mine got married there. What made me remember about Estee's wedding that happened 2 years back until now was the ambience. A seaside wedding? You got me. Call me lucky to have found someone who loved the place as much as I do which you can read the process of picking all here.

Why Gurame? You won't believe me when I say it is so easy to just deal with one vendor who is in charge of your venue, decor, food and little miscellaneous things like ensuring your wedding runs smoothly from A to Z. It is a bonus that the Keith (the manager) and his team are amazeballs. I am not saying that because I did my wedding there but you will be amazed how far these people who are strangers to you, will go all out for our wedding.

When I was doing my final fitting at TWB, I what'sapp Keith to ask if it was okay for someone to come by Friday to store some stuffs there as we will be coming from the hotel. He replied (jokingly), "Can but need to charge you." Baobei who was holding on to my phone when I was changing, read the what'sapp and closed it. Keith called 3 minutes later, telling me that he was just joking and thought I got offended that we had to pay to store items which is why I didn't reply him. Hahaha. I was "No, no. I am actually at my bridal doing final fitting so I didn't manage to read." Hilarious.

So, the plus point was Keith giving us a free hour so we could do the nikah and catch the sunset. If you're doing a wedding there, you will be given 4 hours. Either 11am to 3pm slot OR 6pm to 10pm slot. Since we were the first wedding of the year and Keith love us (I am just kidding but out of the kindness of his heart), we started our event at 5pm and still ended at 10pm. I said this before and I am going to say it again, please don't expect free hour because this is all subject to availability/approval.

For those brides who are crazy over chivalry chairs, you will love that Gurame includes such chairs for their outdoor seating for free. Now scream!

This seating is considered outdoor but sheltered. So if *touch wood* it decides to rain, you have the indoor and these outdoor seats. Oh, for the indoor, outdoor but sheltered and outdoor by the seaside, there is a total of 320 seats. So it was perfect for our wedding since we only have 300 guests so no one had to leave/stand to give way to other guests.

And yes, the chivalry chairs are gold. We opted out the flower center piece on every table because I hate flowers. So I am sure all my guests could deal with no flowers for one day because the bride says so.

You all know we chose Gurame's in house decor/dais. You can pick external vendors to do your wedding decor/dais, just deduct the prices for the decor/dais in the price list and replace it with something else (like food).

The dais looked very pretty in the day (you will understand at a later part of the entry why I specifically mentioned just day), and we had no issues whatsoever with the decor.

I actually like the white cloth draped over the hugeass cabana.

Oh, plus point is the seat for us are together. Not separated.

The best backdrop you don't get anywhere else.

This is why we picked a dinner reception over lunch.

This and of course, Baobei sweats very easily and we don't want the groom to sweat more because we all know how nerve wrecking nikah can be for the groom right?

And tak kan want to do sun rise. Tebiat nanti orang cakap.

These photos are taken from the extreme right of the outdoor but covered seating area. As you can see our pelamin area is glowing likka sun. Hahaha, but it turned out not so great.

DAY

VS

NIGHT

Okay the only thing you have to consider when taking Gurame's dais and dinner reception is this. The lighting is not placed right so people who took pictures with us on their camera phones, turned out crappy. Okay let's not talk about camera phones lah, even D was having a hard time. If we were to pull the lighting to the front, it might be tad too glaring for us. Unfortunately, this is a known problem to Gurame yet nothing is still done. (As I am typing, please keep in mind I am talking about Gurame itself and not Keith in particular because he runs the show with whatever is given to him)

The lights at Gurame can be a little romantic but it will be better if it could be brighter?

And also, we decided last minute to have a cake so we needed a cake table. The cost of a cake table set-up is $50.

This is $50.

Not sure if I should embrace simplicity but I think Gurame can do a lil better.

This is us, just out from the changing room which on normal days is a room for the staff to rest. I don't really mind the dressing room though can be small when we need more people inside and no aircon which I am okay lah. But... we wanted to do a "walking down then aisle" and the aisle is from the restaurant to the pelmain. I mean, we could do from entrance of Gurame BUT they have no back door. So Gurame if you're reading this, can you also drill a hole and put a backdoor from your changing room so we can still surprise our guests with our outfits and still walk down a proper aisle?

Oh, last but not least. Their sound system is old. I am talking really old skool kind of old. The microphone can be louder especially when planes fly. We had quite a hard time during the nikah when it became too soft. And if you plan to not take a band and play CDs like us, they don't even have mp4 or plug in from your phone/laptop okay? Plain old skool CDs.

Overall, Gurame you did good or rather Keith and his team. Major love for them! You all were very attentive and did whatever is required like topping up food/drinks without having to ask. My family members and close friends were very impressed with/by everything. If Syahrul and I were to do things any differently, there is nothing we would change. Even the horrible lighting at night, we will do it all over again.

Before this, Mama asked us to consider some restaurants in the East that have all-in-one but I thought it was a bit tacky and maybe because we have already set our mind with Gurame. Sorry, but I don't like cramped restaurants.

For those who emailed/PM/Facebook message me, don't quote me but if I am not mistaken Gurame has to renew their lease yearly or every a few years. That is why when we asked them in December 2013, they asked to call them (and can only book then) in February 2014 when they have confirmation of their 2015 lease. So can give the restaurant a call and just find for Keith. Please go down, and see the place for yourself. Keith will also give you a list of what is included in the packages, including food list. So trust me when I say it is better than asking me okay?

Also, to those busok hati people who said "Why must Izzatie buat kerja kahwin kat tempat mahal," can suck my balls because we tak hutang/pinjam duit from people to do our wedding here at Gurame. You asked how much one person costs, so my parents answered. Then ada hati want to say such stuff on our wedding day? On the day of our wedding, everything was FULLY paid for. If you tak nak bagi banyak duit (or tak nak bagi terus) pasal "tempat mahal" also okay makcik because kita tak mengharapkan duit dari sesiapa pun. Semua da bayar lah. Kita tak perlukan duit makcik untuk bayar yang belen lah.

Okay, since the last post to this, I have turned 25 years old and Baobei & I have turned one month. With many more surprises in 2015 awaits us. I am trying to finish up the wedding series (cake, rings, berkat, henna) soonest possible so expect more updates these nect few days before I share with you all more exciting things like houses and honeymoon and ...

Thank you Gurame Indonesian Restaurant

Thank you Keith and team!

The one where the Kakak-Kakak Kahwin/Tunang Clan dah kahwin lah...

If I had to do the 11 months prep all over again, I would do it. There is nothing I would differently. Anything to relive the moments of getting married again which now I totally understand when one of my gfs, Za, always says she wants to kahwin lagi. I ALSO NAKKK!

Okay, let me tell you what really went down with what happened on the day of the wedding itself without doing any in-dept reviews, with the exception of our Tok Kadi. If not this will be a very, very long post. Got your kopi and roti kaya ready?



Woke up at 8.17am due to nervousness and the moment I was up, I told myself "Okay Renny, this is it. You are getting married. Better believe it." Because I told myself the idea of being married will probably sink in during malam berinai after I shower myself with minyak kapak but it didn't happen. When all my relatives cameover the night before, also has not sunk in. So I was mentally preparing myself when I woke up because it is The day.

D (my ex colleague who left me to further her studies) fetched me at about 10.15am and we went to errands before checking into our room at Park Avenue Hotel and Suites which is at Changi since the Best Friend works there. We booked a total of 4 suites of which my family and the bridesmaids (which was later the room Baobei and I stayed in) took the 2 bedroom suite while Baobei's family and the groomsmen took the 1 bedroom suite.

My bridesmaids got 2 MUAs, Kak Fad (who did my engagement make-up) and Kak Yumi to do their make-up and hair/hijab. So they were getting ready one by one while the rest of us,

Apa lagi? Pop the sparkling juice lah. Hahaha.

We were super hungry so we decided to order MacDs for brunch. The groomsmen came up to take some stuff and since Baobei said to each other we only want to meet each other on the pelamin itself, I could only talk to him through the walls. But at one point we couldn't hear each other, so he looked in the room and I looked out at the corridor, CHAKKK! hahah! Then he was like "Why you look out?" Ehhhhh.

Katt and her assistant came slightly after 2pm and since the bridesmaids hogged the 2 rooms, I got ready at my family's room which is just opposite mine. I think even when I was getting ready, the feeling of going to kahwin has not sunk in yet (I know, very melampau).

1/3 done and my girls kept coming in to see if I am okay, so I decided to take this and send them this on the group chat. Hahah. Partly because I am curious how I looked like too. So far, loving it.

According to the itinerary, the girls are supposed to leave the hotel but I was only done by 4.20pm. Obviously I lost track of time doing this

ISN'T D LIKE AMAZEBALLS?

D kept reminding me to put my game face on.

Apparently two nights after, Baobei was doing his storytelling before our bedtime about how chaotic the boys were the night before the wedding and while getting ready. The boys only could leave after we left so, obviously we rushed after seeing how late it already was.

Arrived at Gurame and sat in the restaurant to wait for the boys to arrive before sitting on the pelamin. When the boys arrived, THAT WAS IT. It was sinking to me that I was going to get married. Nervous ada, takut ada. Hahaha! So I had to pick someone to sit beside me and I picked my oldest friend of 17 years, Izza. 

I was literally holding her hand very tight throughout the whole time. The boys came and Baobei settled down on the pillow that Ibu-Baobei sew, and slowly everyone started to crowd around the pelamin area. I was so happy when I saw that most of my friends came for my nikah.

Both our representatives started talking and then, we baca doa. Slightly after 5pm, our Tok Kadi arrived. We picked Ustaz Mohammad Irwan Shah because he stayed the nearest to Changi and we are really not picky actually. Both my gf, Za, and my secondary school mate who is also the genius behind the wedding cake, Hana, had Ustaz Mohammad Irwan Shah to do their nikah as well.

I have no complaints about our Tok Kadi except he talks really, really fast and he was pretty long winded. At some point of time, I thought it was going to be THE time but then he started talking again. When he spoke to me, he will turn to make sure we had eye contact and I did some sort of gesture or said something to acknowledge what he said. Due to the fact I took very long to process the Malay words and convert to English in my head, Izza had to feed me answers to Ustaz Irwan Shah's questions but one question he said something "Awak janji...." and Izza asked me to say "Setuju." HAHAHAHAH this is what you get when you put two of us together. (And no, I didn't say setuju.)

I honestly, couldn't have picked a better person to sit next to me. She held my hand tight, kept asking me if I was okay, and she even blew air towards my cleavage because I said I was perspiring on the inside and she couldn't wipe hahaha! In Baobei's words "Always this two!" Hahah. 

AHHHH SO MUCH LOVE!

Ustaz Irwan Shah had a dry run with my 2 men (yes, Baba gave me away *wipes away tears*) in which he has an ipad with the words which they can refer to, whenever. I was more nervous for Baba since he was practicing at home and he mixed my name up with Kakak's by changing my second name to Izzawatie (Kakak's last name is Syafawatie). One point he changed Baobei's name to "Raja Saiful." Aiyoh. Hahaha. The akad nikah was sah on the second time because the first one, Baba missed out some words and he got a tad emotional (aiyah my Baba). But the second time, no hiccups and Baobei did it so very smoothly. Apparently he has been practicing with the boys at the hotel. So much love for my husband! One thing about Ustaz Irwan Shah is that he kept reminding us about the feelings we had just before the akad nikah and during, and remember this feeling when the tough gets tougher. Guess what? He is right, up til now I cannot forget the feeling.

This is literally one of my fabbret things being Baobei's wife.

At home, I will literally kiss his hand. Hahah, I mean time dating when holding hands, I will randomly kiss his hands but being his wife has so much more meaning.

Our Fairy's Inc rings are finally on our fingers!

That cheesy pose that every married couple does that we told ourselves we don't want to do it. Hahah but we succumb to peer pressure anyway.

Why I love getting married by the sea. Loving the backdrop.

We obviously ran over the time since the akad nikah took longer than we expected. And we wanted to catch the sun before it disappears.

We came out after mahgrib. You alls know how much I want to wear a sanggul lintang right? I requested Katt for a full one, and woah did I love it. Walked down with "Thank God I Found You" by Mariah and 98 Degrees. 

Decided to cut the cake first because we ordered 3 tier, all real from Hana and we wanted to make sure all our guests makan because we didn't want to bring any back. Found out the groomsmen carried the cake to the table and my bridesmaids cut the cake with lots of kecohness! Hahaha. It was very awkward because everyone was starring at us and we honestly had no idea what to do. I actually had no idea where to put my hands. Thank goodness Katt was around, she was "Renny 2 hands on the knife." HAHAHA. Too hilarious.

We took more pictures with our families and friends before making our way to have dinner (SUPER HUNGRY LAH). From the start, we knew that we didn't want VIP table where only both of us have dinner so we requested our version of VIP where our parents sat with us. D, who has been by our side almost the whole day also makan with us.

The last look supposed to be Baobei in his number 1 uniform and I changed hairstyle. We got a bit lazy by then but Baobei was getting a head cramp from the tanjak while I was getting a migraine from the sanggul lintang (already warned by all brides), so we changed. 

We walked down with our groomsmen and bridesmaids, this time with a instrumental version of Lessang's You're The Answer to A Guy Like Me. I did tell you that Baobei got very Korean right? Hahaha.

After last kopek of taking pictures with our guests, we had a lil time on our own

ALALALALA, I LOVE YOU LA OK.

It was slightly after 9.30pm and we decided to make our rounds by thanking our family members and dearest friends who are still there. Took more impromptu pictures.

Close to 10pm, we left the place in which Hisham drove us back in his uncle's Audi which was convertible. The moment we left the place, we were like, "Oh my god so tired!!!" The moment we reached back hotel, I took off my shoes. Bride tak bride, I survived in my Jeffrey Campbell's. 

When we got back to our room, Baobei sighed at least 30 times and said how tired he was. Hahahaha! We wanted to supper so the groomsmen ordered us food from SPIZE. That was already 1am and Baobei was already asleep after I closed his mouth from complaining hahaha. At 3am, the room phone rang which means one thing: FOOD! We woke up and ate but everyone was half asleep, and we didnt even hangout after. The boys left our room about 4am.

We got a late checkout. Supposed to have a photoshoot on Sunday but Baobei already told me to change it because he was tired and a bit under the weather. 

-

I will do my thank you post to the orang kuats when I have our pictures. Getting all my wedding photos later today from D and I am super duper excited to see ALL. The best part about small and intimate wedding has to be the fact I can remember who came, who took pictures with us (and didnt) and when, and who are the people who matter to me most. I didn't cry when I became a Mrs but I remember crying when I salam-ed my parents especially Mama. I have grew up to be pretty rebellious when I was in secondary school but like what Katt said is true. You will get closer to your family after you get married.

My next entry shall be a photo entry but probably after we are back from honeymoon. I survived my first night without Baobei. Was so sad about it (life of an abang bomba's wife) that I whats'app-ed him and asked if he finished his 7000 words for the day. Haha! Because the kursus said that men only speak that amount of words a day and because Baobei is always so talkative before we sleep (something new I learned about my husband) until I cannot sleep, I always said he is finished with his 7000 words. But Baobei was at work and I was very lonely because no one popet to me and he was "I am left with 7000 words. Can bring forward." Step never talk the whole day at work ah. Hahahaha. I love my husband la. 

Please pray for our safety to and fro. We will be back 18th January. Thank you for everyone who have wished us via different social media, be it friends or strangers. We appreciate all the well wishes and doas.

xx, Mrs Rsn

The one with the Sambal Goreng Pengantin...

We made our 3 out of 4 deposits with Gurame, which only means that the wedding is just around the corner. This deposit sucked out money dry because it was 60% of the whole cost. Anyway Gurame's policy for food tasting is up to 10 people only, and this is inclusive of the package price we paid (which means we don't have to pay for this).

Since we are paying for every single thing in this wedding, and refused to accept any forms of "sponsor" because

We are the ones who are getting married, so we should pay for our wedding. Don't menyusahkan other people because you want to get married. After all, you should be ready which includes ready financially,

therefore our parents have given us the liberty to tailor our wedding according to us. But we thought, it will be great to have the parents' contribute their opinion on this. So we have Baobei's parents, mine, Mak (my grandmother), Dok (MOH) and ABst/Wan (Bestman).

The final list has to include: 1 staple, 4 mains, 2 desserts and 1 drink (apart from coffee, tea and plain water).

We pick this for food tasting:

- Nasi Kuning (S)

- Ayam Masak Merah (M) *

- Ayam Bakar (M) *

- Sambal Goreng Pengantin (M) *

- Rendang Sapi (M) *

- Ikan Asam Manis (M) *

- Ikan Goreng Pecel (M)

- Sop Buntut (M)

- Acar Nenas (Appetiser)

- Pulut Hitam (D) *

- Bubur Terigu (D)

*what we chose in the end

I am not going to say much but this is truly Gurame standard. My absolute fabbret has to be the Rendang Sapi so I have reminded Dok to ensure there is quite a fair bit of that on our table when it comes to our time to eat. Heh. So our guests, you're in for a treat at our wedding!!!

Anyway, I am mad impressed at the serving at Gurame. It is like as if we ordered a feast but actually we are there for food tasting. We actually couldn't decide if we want half nasi minyak and half white rice but after much debate, we decided on just white rice. Reason being, the main dishes are "strong" thus with nasi minyak, you will not get to taste the full flavour. Baobei liked the Ikan Goreng Pecel's sambal but it is somewhat similar to Ikan Asam Manis (fancy name for sweet and sour fish haha) so we didn't choose that (sorry baby but we can always come back to makan here ok).

This was our hungry faces because I insisted to take picture before eating haha. I am such an evil person but hey! it was with intention to put on blog.

So while waiting for dessert (they couldn't make the Bubur Terigu in time, sorry Mama), they decided to take photos at the dais. Ye lah, semua tak sabar kan? Heh.

My Chinese grandmother and 1/2 Chinese Mama. That is why their skin so white unlike mine! *cries*

This is the backdrop of the dais.

This is pretty at night, but such a pity because from 5-630pm when we are there, the backdrop of the sea would have been so, so perfect. But we have to think that we will be there until 10pm. We wanted them to pasang the dais up when we change to our sanding outfit, but Keith says that it is tak manis to be setting up when guests are around. So in the end, we are having this as our background throughout the whole nikah and wedding.

So what if it by default by Gurame. The best part is a lot of couples choose to engage outside decor and this dais isn't used as often as you think. And we get to save so much more!

Whenever I go out with the 2 best friends, I will get so annoyed at how sometimes they behave. Haha, some days these 2 just don't grow up and they bully me. But ABst (Always best friend, sometimes tak), has become an important person in my life (unfortunately hahaha). 

And yes, we are all addicted to Running Man.

Ibu-Baobei.

I am truly blessed to have such nice in-laws. I heard so many stories about monster in-laws, but mine are truly Godsend. I am close to Ibu-Baobei, because this boy always tells me things but very selective to Ibu-Baobei so she will call me up to ask me things. He can be seating beside me but Ibu-Baobei will ask me how he is coping with his job. I guess I am lucky that this boy opens up to me.

Pretty, pretty dais. Sigh.

Though I don't fancy flowers at all, but this one is an exception! But dear invited guests, if you want to drag us and take picture with the beach/sea backdrop, please feel free to drag us to tepi laut okay.

Okay, today's entry a bit late (cannot run from janji melayu haha) and a bit subtle (no strong opinions of mine), but please remember when you blog your thoughts/opinions, you must be responsible for the repercussion, be it good or bad. If you can't accept it, I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself and not put it for the whole world to judge it (not you, but it). I am pretty straightforward. There are reasons why I think the way I do, and if you disagree you can always say it. But you can also let it die inside of you. Either way, at least you know I am being true to myself.

Til tomorrow's 12pm virtual date.