A guide to engagement preparation and inspo ✨

Hey girls! It’s Qina again. In today’s episode, I will be sharing on my engagement day.

It was unexpectedly a quick decision made from both of our families to get engaged. We had less than 3 months to prepare everything. Crazy! But wait until I share my Nikah day with you, literally everything was planned a week before je sebab PKP 😂

1. Decoration

I spend a week or so digging thru pinterest/instagram for wedding deco inspiration. To be honest, it was a hard decision to decide haha. Since my mom’s friend is the one who’s doing my engagement deco, me and my mom also had a look into his previous wedding work to see his style and vibe in wedding decorations. In the end, I decided to go with an all white with green leaves vibe for that modern and high end look.

As the turnouts? At first I was 50-50. Since it was an engagement, i wasn’t expecting everything to look like i dah boleh nikah dah haha but I can say his work is nice. Since he is used to work on big dewan’s wedding decoration, putting all his decoration at my home seems so grand because of the size haha. But looking back, I LOVE every aspect of it ❤️

2. Hantaran and Cincin Tunang

Me and my fiancée (back then still fiancée 😝) decided to give 7 berbalas 5 dulang. We took our time to buy our dulang hantaran items to keep it within our monthly budget. We also went to factory outlets to save some money on our hantaran items. For engagement’s hantaran, usually people will give the other person things they can use/wear for solemnization day or for work, fruits and sweets. If you’re more on the tighter budget, give less dulang and lean more towards giving each other fruits and sweets!

What I gave him : Kasut, Belt, Baju, Chocolate, Sirih Junjung, Cupcakes and Buah-buahan

What he gave me : Cincin, A Cake, Kasut, Tepak Sirih and Buah-Buahan

3. Outfit

This dress was a hit! I love the color, the design and how it fits on me. This is also my first designer baju and I’m happy with the turnout. Some tips, if you’re planning to customise your wedding dress or baju kurung, do it in the early stages of your planning. Discover what kind of designs you like and if it will look good on your body. Also decide on the materials as this is what makes or breaks the baju. Then decide on the color. If you’re going for a tailor/ designer, make sure to check their portfolio (thru their ig pictures of previous clients) and see if their skillset matches with the type of materials you want your dress to be made as not everyone masters everything. My dress is made by Samm Republic and he is known for the flowy chiffon materials and that is why I put my trust on him and he did not dissapoint. Every tailor can try to do the design you wanted but not every tailor can make the outfit fits on you perfectly the way you wanted it. Fitting is no 1 no matter how body-hugged or loose-type you like your outfit to be!

4. Photographer/Videographer

I decided to hire a photographer for my engagement day and it’s the best decision ever. I didn’t hire any videographer though to save budget, plus it’s just an engagement. I go through a number of photographers and made a top 3 list of the ones I like. I then slowly compare their skillset and prices to choose the one I like best. Choosing a photographer within your budget and the one you like is important, but i think it’s more important to choose a photographer that gets you and has good attitude. Make sure the photographer has a good reputation/known through your family or friends to avoid a rude and bad-attitude photographer. I had a friend who booked a photographer just because artist/influencers used them and ended up with bad service and photos. As it turns out, they only treat you good if you’re someone famous. If you’re not they only give you their rookie junior to take your pictures. So choose wisely if you decided to spend! Know who your photographer is!

5. MUA/self-makeup

I wanted a stress-free day so I asked around for MUA’s prices and hired one! If you have a skin condition or allergy, make sure to alert your MUA’s and see if she/he has the skill to hide any imperfections you’d like. Since my skin is dry and light to fair, I also made sure my MUA knows how to handle my complexion and skin well. Don’t be afraid to ask your MUA your concern! It’s part of their job anyways! If you’re choosing to spend on MUA, it’s good to know if they’re using high-end or normal makeup items. For my MUA, I would say her price is affordable and she deliverssss! I remember just looking thru a quick makeup wedding pics and gave her exactly that on the morning of my engagement. Oh it turns out so well!

6. Doorgifts

This was very last minute. I had no idea we were giving doorgifts but we did! 😂 My mom insisted on giving our family and friends some doorgifts last minute. We went to Mr Diy and the local bakery store to find a simple thank you gesture for the guest. We bought a Mr Diy paper bag, air kotak and roti bun and pack it all together. My aunty who has then just started a flower and gift business also gifted us more doorgifts for the guest. So we had two doorgifts! Mewah ya tunang ni 😂

It was a hectic planning but yayyy everything comes together smoothly. There are few downs to the day but that’s normal. If you’re planning your own wedding soon, don’t be stress out. I hope you’ll have fun and able to get what you envision on the day ❤️

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