Girl Talk Part 4: The Nikah

assalamualaikum =)

last week on my 25th birthday, was the day i got married to mr asfirdaus =')
i can't believe it, and even after a week, it seems very surreal!

this year, many of my dear friends got married and my friends yang kahwin dah and yang belum all said the same thing about me.

"mesti you nangis masa nikah!!"

and i did!
hehee..

here's my nikah story =)

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

our nikah session was to be at 11am. so that day, after subuh prayers, i got myself ready.
mom dah ready kan breakfast for the whole family sebab we know masa nikah and after pun mesti susah nak makan.

masa tengok pelamin pagi tu, rasa excited sangat!
"ya Allah, this is really happening!" - i thought to myself sambil makan karipap.
pelamin dah la cun gila! my mom & chenta weddings came up with the theme! i never knew how it looked like until they finished it! punya la tak involved ngan ceremony sendiri. heheheee..
and after eating and mingling with my family, i went upstairs for makeup in my lil bro's room. sorry arief. haha! =p

my cousin, Nina Faressa, yang makeup kan. she did my engagement makeup too! she has really good soft hand skill (not many have this. banyak kali i rasa cam kena seksa bila di-makeup kan) and she knows the kind of makeup i like; not heavy and not too bright.

anyway, after makeup, i went straight to my mom's room to wear my dress, which was made by my cousin, Nina Natessa. Faressa and Tessa are sisters btw =)
i don't know much about designing so at the designing stage a few months ago, i just told my mom the kind of dress i want, and mom conveyed it to Tessa. coz to me, i just want simple and nice dress/baju kurung. shape, colour, length, blablabla, sume tu i leave it to mom and Tessa. i was working and studying kan, so i hadn't had time to think about the baju.
alhamdulillah, the dress was exquisite, made with such intricate beadings yet simple and lovely!

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

dress, tudung, veil by Nina Natessa

makeup by Nina Faressa

so after getting ready, we all sat and wait. well, not really. while waiting, i had to do a lot of poses for the cameramen. haha!! it's good anyway, i was already nervous. posing awkwardly to the camera distracted me from my jitters =)

and then... rombongan pengantin lelaki sudah tiba.

mom and i went down, and the moment when i reached the downstairs, i saw Asfirdaus, in white baju melayu and black songkok. we looked at each other for a while and then we looked away. that moment, all i could think of was "this is it". 

i whispered "bismillahirahmanirrahim" all the time while walking towards the pelamin.

annnndddd.. i was fighting back tears =)

photo by Project2Pi (via instagram)

*tengah tahan tears*

unfortunately, when i sat at the pelamin, i cried. couldn't contain it any longer!

but takde la teresak esakkkk! tak cute la kan. hahah!

i cried when i saw my dad.

i'm the only girl among his children, and he's letting me go to Asfirdaus.

i had so many mixed emotions then, but what really made me tearful was the thought of how i wished i could do more as a daughter. i wished then that i could give back to my Abah, who have struggled so hard and so much when my brothers and i were younger.. 

the night before the nikah, my dad came to my room. he hugged me and said "i'm going to miss you". as i was looking at him then, on the pelamin, i really really felt that i will miss him. a lot.

and then i looked at mom, who sat next to me.

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

mama, mama.. hehe! 

since ages ago, mama always said "i won't cry la. i'm not emotional." and always "mesti abah yang nangis!"

oh how wrong was she!!!

when i looked at mama as she wiped my tears, she cried!!

and then i took the tissue and wiped her tears!

and then tiba tiba dua dua gelak, sebab it was funny.

photo by Project2Pi (via instagram)

*tengah lap tears sambil gelak*

i cried looking at mama crying and she cried looking at me crying!

hehehee!

i just felt so much love for my parents at that time. i just want to pause everything and tell them how much i love them. just for five minutes at least. but i don't have such power. all i could do was smile (tearfully) and pray in my heart.

my parents have done so many for me, for my brothers, for their families. my mom planned everything herself, from nikah sampaiiiii reception.

i did only 1% of the whole thing, which was to be there.

=')

i think all this emotional rollercoaster was just about 2-3 minutes but it felt like ages.

and then, ustaz started the ceremony.

session power transfer, from my father to Asfirdaus began.

photo by Project2Pi (via instagram)

alhamdulillah, dengan satu kali lafaz, sah la kita sebagai suami & isteri =')

i was so proud of abah and asfirdaus. abah was so calm and steady, asfirdaus was confident. both were articulate =)

i cried again of course, because i was both relieved, happy, sad, and all bunch of emotions. that's being a girl! haha!!

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

ultimately, i was grateful to Allah SWT, for allowing all this to happen.

syukur alhamdulillah, i can't even give words to describe how grateful i am!

Allahu Akbar =')

akad nikah selesai in one brief moment, and when Asfirdaus, my husband, went to perform his sunat prayers, i just sat there, trying to digest what just happened. i tried to put back my thoughts together, coz it seems to be buzzing all around, and i just want to remember everything. =)

my hubby came back, we signed the documents, and alhamdulillah, selesai sudah! 

and then, it was salam salam session between me & Asfirdaus =)

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

i was so shy masa tu! nak pegang tangan dia rasa cam was-was je! 

i was like "eh dah boleh pegang, tapi nak pegang depan orang ke? eh eh eh?"

pastu dah pegang nak salam tu, macam "WAHH INI SERIOUS NI WEHHHH BOLEH PEGANG!!!"

hahaha! macam jakun!

pastu bila diorang suruh my hubby cium dahi, rasa malu gila yang teramat sangat!!

dia cium pun kat atas tudung, sebab i elak. hahahaha!

=p

we were all smiles that day!

i was so happy that i didn't even feel tired! wait, it's not that i did not feel it, i felt tired, but i was ok with it. sebab i had so much fun!

with all my closest friends and families, with my in-laws and families, and of course, with my husband, how can i not be happy? =')

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

*bersanding after nikah*

*can't help it. when someone says "FREESTYLE!" masa tangkap gambo, i can only make faces. =p*

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

*majlis ambo ambo*

*muka takleh blah please*

*ahak!*

and that was it in the morning =)

there're more majlis after that, but i'll take my time telling them.

just because =)

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

photo by Mukhriz Latif & Udey Ismail Photography

 my family ada extra one son! ahakk!

by the way, Project2Pi is with CST Breed. CST Breed is my official videographer, fyi =) so Project2Pi is this new service by CST Breed where they will upload the pictures ON THE SPOT via instagram, twitter, and facebook! so those yang cannot attend my wedding got updated with the whole event even without being there! i think it's such an awesome new service, and it's a good thing i took it =D 

and here's the video, by CST Breed, of our wedding =)

(and they made it so brilliantly that even i cried when watching!)

*i love you too mom =')*

alhamdulillah it was a beautiful day, blessings from Allah SWT.

everything went well and smoothly!

ohhhh.. i can't thank everyone enough!

may Allah SWT reward your kindness, your kind and lovely wishes, your prayers, your presence, everything! moga Allah swt membalas berganda ganda!!

love you all lillahi taala,

my families, my friends, those who read this.

=)

salam from Puan Maria 

ihik!

Cover Story for Eternity

assalamualaikum and hewwoooooo!

well i'd just like to say and confess, i am completely, most definitely...

not photogenic.

and i think i don't look good with make up.
or is it just me? hmmmmmmmmmmm... ok malas nak fikir.

ANYWAY, Alhamdulillah! i am featured on the cover of Eternity, September 2012 issue!!

tadaaa~ maybe it's not the make up. it's just me. i tak reti "smize" and i kinda tak reti nak smile bila orang suruh. =p
usually if people tell me to smile, i'd smile like this:

so yeah. macam suci je kan senyuman gigi ku? hahahahaha! 

eh wait. what was i talking about?

oh yeah!

SAYA KENTAL!

bukan kentang ye tuan tuan dan puan puan~

tapi nak kentang pun boleh la.

Maria Elena ialah Kentang.

eh?

nampak lain kan? hehehe! but who cares about how i look like. you care about what the writer wrote about me kan?

iolls tau. uolls suka membaca! GOOD! iolls bahagia dengar. haha!

so head on to Mediaglam.com, and check out Eternity September Issue if you wanna read more about me =')

don't worry girls (and guys), the magazine is online, free and very very veryyyyy interesting! love love the recipes and the tips shared!

save the website k bebehs! keep it on your tab!

thank you for all of your support =') you are the best!

ps: my mom called me just now and asked the name of the magazine. and she was at a bookstore. haha! i told her that it was an online magazine! comel jeeee!! mama is my number 1 stalker and supporter ='D

i love you mama! forever and ever lillahi taala!

mmuuuaaahhh!

ihik!!

ok ok.

salam!

pps: i was, from head to toe, dressed in RinaSalleh.com's collection! =D

ok dah.
ihik!

i Bag you!!

assalamualaikum!

ok title macam drama + pun.. =p haha!
*ehem*

can you imagine this?

MARIA ELENA - BAG DESIGNER 

can you?

can youuuu?!

neither can i.. 

but it will happen!! maria elena, engineer + bag designer.. OVER GILA! hahaha!

Sometime had contacted me and they want me to be one of their designers! because, here's the cute bit, because they said they like my fashion sense! ahakk! (padahal i biasa sangat)

sometime is really awesome coz they get designers from all over ASIA to design exclusive bags at good prices!

kawaiiiii!!!

and I WILL BE ONE OF THEM DESIGNERS YAWWWWW!

i will be representing Malaysia along with John L and Aliana. wuuuaaahhh.. iolls sangat terharu..

but before i get everyone too excited (myself mainly), they said that i'll start from the "Inspired By" stage before i graduate to "Designed By" stage. i strongly agree with that since i really suck at drawing and i know neither head nor tail about type of cloth, stitching or whatever. hahaaaaaaaaaaaa! =p

so!! basically i will give sometime's bag designer some of my ideas, they will incorporate the ideas to suit the market and errr.. i forgot how the process is like.

i will meet the bag designer soon, in sha Allah to discuss about the bag designs and stuff.

oh gosh.. i'm inspired already!

check out their facebook page too to catch their bag updates =D

i'll share with you more about this soon! can't waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttt!!!!!
=D

salam!

Hijab tutorial!!

assalamualaikum!!!

kalau tak jawab dosa, kalau jawab, uolls sayang iolls! iolls terharu.

hahaha!

for a quite some time, i've been getting requests for another hijab tutorial.
most requested for labuh style, which honestly, i felt like "why? kacang gila kot. you just panjangkan the depan part la"
until one of my friends actually asked me herself:
"maria, ni style apa lak you pakai?"

"ha? style biasa i je la. nape? nampak lain?"

"ha ah. sebab labuh kot. camane you pakai ek?"

zasssssssssssss

that's when i realised that ok fine, maybe i should make a tutorial. i pun buat survey kat facebook and the responses are overwhelming.

so i did it!

TADAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

hope your 12minutes stay at the video was beneficial =B

thank you for watching! oh btw, i threw out my first hijab tutorial. auratku tak ditutup ngan elok.. iolls malu..

ok now!! allow me to repeat my advice in the video about why we should cover the chest area.
nowadays it's not safe anymore. we've read on the news about how girls are getting kidnapped, murdered, raped here and there. it's a scary world i tell ya!!

so we need to protect ourselves. of course we need to have gadgets or some martial art skills and whatnot, but on appearance pun we have to take care.
don't wear clothes that will "mengundang" leering looks from men.

if one thing i'm sure of, it's men's weakness for women. it's already stated in the Quran!!

Surah Ali Imran (3:14)
Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return.

so.. why cari pasal? we can look good of course, we can be fashionable or sporty or whatever, but we should know to what extend.
our assets (both front and back, top to bottom) can make men get lustful. the more we jiggle them in their faces, the more likely they want to 'attack' you.

don't go looking for trouble!

maybe it's because i'll be getting married, so i have this thinking that only my husband can see my precious gems, from the root of my hair to my pinky toes. haha! what a way to call them =p
anyway, i want only my husband to see my perfection and flaws. i find it insulting if other people sees them..
i want to be exclusive to only ONE! bertuah husband i nanti. ecewaahh!! =p

in sha Allah, Allah SWT will protect us if we put our trust in Him and put on efforts to protect ourselves too.

i have so much more to write about but i think this is long enough!!!!
ok uolls!!

Ramadhan Mubarak!!
and please forgive me for all my wrongdoings. to err is human, but still. i need to ask for forgiveness. tak cukup ilmu kan. still trying to improve. in sha Allah.. heeee.. =B

salam!

ps: can you imagine me being a bag designer? will share the story soon!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Pulau Perhentian! woohoo!

my friends and i agreed that

"whatever happened in Perhentian, stays in Perhentian"

assalamualaikum!

my friends and i went to perhentian island over a weekend. can you believe it.. we actually drove the whole way, to and fro!! we didn't expect the drive to take us about THE WHOLE DAY!

sebab jam, sempat sesat, and multiple bladders yang cannot synchronise. sikit sikit, stop. hahaha!

girls.. motip sangat!

i was the first driver of one of the cars, and i drove for solid 8 hours. memang terasa gangsta gila tau. haha! nasib i had really good company! my girls kept me awake and we just had fun talking and laughing in the car =) and they took turns sleeping too. sorang dah habis drool, sorang lagi sambung. so ada drooling beregu la. teamwork FTW!

and that's why peeps, it's really really important to have good company to go with you on a holiday! #tips

ihik!

a picture is worth a thousand words right?

so i'll just let them speak for themselves, with a lil' help of my caption opkos! haha!

sesi lepak tepi jalan otw to jeti besut. 12 girls hovering around, 1 guy to fix the tyre. very nice =B

#tips

1. check your tyres and get your car serviced before going on a long trip 

2. have dependable guy friends in case...in case of any car emergencies. thanks Ikram!

sesi pertukaran drebar while orang belakang tidoq bedengkoq

#tips

1. have friends yang boleh take over the wheel when you're tired of driving

2. pakai shades supaya nampak macho macam inot.

so let's skip the whole bumpy boat ride (yang best gila to me) from jeti to the pulau and straight on to THIS!

Pulau Perhentian uolls!!

subhanallah!

pakai flats ke pantai. cool ke tak cool? buahahaha!

#tips

1. bring waterproof bags to put your expensive gadgets. once jatuh dalam air, considered padan muka. 

2. don't bring big bags. susah mau carry dalam sand. terbenam dalam sand juga ada, maka bermuscle la anda nanti. eh, macam bagus lak kan... ok, bring big bags to have more clothes (in case) while building up muscles. myahahahaha! =p

sesi diri dengan gaya, mutu, keunggulan sambil usha mat salleh panggang

sesi meninggalkan tapak kaki di tepi pantai dengan cute-nya

sesi bergumbira tengok live band di tepi pantai pada waktu malam =D

sesi muka tak sabar nak pi snorkeling

anyone up for a fishy spa? hehe!

cantik kan the water? it's so clear and just amazing!

sesi men-Darth Vader-kan diri nak masuk air cantik

btw, WE SAW A HUGE AWESOME TURTLE YOU KNOZZZ!? 

CANTIK AND BESAR OKENG!

but tak sempat nak amik gambar coz we were too mesmerised and the turtle swam fast. tak sempat kejar tauuu!! ='(

takpe, alhamdulillah ada rezeki gak to see it live. heee! =D

sesi buat muka kesian puss in boots sambil makan beramai ramai di tepi pantai selepas habis puas bersnorkeling selama 7jam. muka dah tanned.. ada rupa jessica alba tak? ahakkkkk!

sesi menyelamatkan m&m shake yang Nad sengaja tumpahkan. hahaha! opkos, saya pun tolong lepas tangkap gambo ni. muahahahaa =p

#tips

1. 5second rule is always applicable if the table is clean

2. kerjasama is IMPORTANT

sesi syok sendiri sebab the night before tak layak masuk gambar. malam ni, WIN.
oh here i was wearing ThePoplook blue slinky dress and yellow cardi from Uniqlo! 

malam malam macam breezy so best pakai dress =B

sesi nak promote the perhentian snorkeling services.
ha uolls yang nak pi perhentian ni, tengok la baik baik ya!

sesi pertukaran dress maxi. haha!

this is Fara, Adreen and moi.

Fara will be married a week earlier than me u knoz!!

and yeah, i changed into my ThePoplook angle back maxi sebab best. hahahaha! =p over gila, i know!

sesi tengok sunrise.
subhanallah, cantik gila the view =')
tenang hati iolls tau tengok the view in the morning!

=')

sesi maria elena is jubah hitam =p

i always wanted to know what it feels like to wear jubah while strolling at the beach. it didn't feel any different than wearing a dress, to be honest. tapi saje jeeeeeeee.

nak bajet ayu you knoz! hahaha!!

one last look at the beautiful pantai... before...

balik....

ke.....

reality.

WUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! *lari lari sambil nangis with lagu hingustan kat background*

by the way, we stayed at a chalet, which i won't say here sebab nanti uolls will marah i. lebih baik uolls cari sendiri and puas hati sendiri. coz ours, it was quite last minute, see. so...... yeah. what can you expect from a last minute arrangement? right. =)

but that's how we roll! hahaha!

we had awesome fun though! alhamdulillah we got to see loads of beautiful creatures and amazing views, and alhamdulillah we arrived home safely. =)

actually, this was the first time i went to the beach as a hijaber. since 2010!

gangsta gila. 

so it was kind of a struggle for me. to find the right clothes, the right shawls, etc.

the struggle to keep the shawl on when swimming, the struggle to make the clothes not fit to the body the minute i got out of the water, and at one point, i actually had the urge to take off my shawl! coz it was too much of a hassle sampai i rasa nak give up. tapi it was momentous, alhamdulillah! biasalah perempuan. bila emo tu, iman pun boleh goyah. pfft! geram with myself.

at least from this experience, i think i know how to prepare for a beach vacation. maybe should make separate post for that kalau ada orang nak. ahak!

i wish we could stay longer in perhentian.. the place is BEAUTIFUUUUULLLLLL!!!

alas, work called, reality called, mom called, everything called from the besut jeti. kita pun kena la menjawab call mereka dan terus pulang ke pangkalan damansara..

i will see you again, perhentian!

coz the BESTEST, BEST EVAH, BEST THING WE SAW AT PERHENTIAN WAS...

THOR!!!!!

the demi-god!!!

in swimming trunks!!!!

who wouldn't wanna go there again after seeing Thor. i mean, seriously. 

=p

till my next beach vacay!

woooooooooooooooot!

babying baby khayra

the other day, dato' aspidos and myself went to dato' khairi and dato' azizah's house to see their 2-month-old baby Khayra!!!

Subhanallah!! how adorable baby khayra is!!! she is so friendly, so small, so so so.. so babyyyyy!!!!

before that, rewind sikit.

we arrived to their house around 9-ish akibat tersalah jalan and we were practically starving in the car. alhamdulillah sampai their house, we saw pizzas and cekodok pisang bangsa negro! hahaha! 

cekodok jijah buat yang sedap

the dato's

we were eating and talking about baby khayra, pregnancy, giving birth, etc, when suddenly dato' jijah just sprung off her seat and went into the baby room. baby khayra dah bangunnnn! mother's instinct.. amazing =')

le bebehs

le ABPBH yang tak tertengok pun sebab best layan baby khayra

oh!!! comel nya baby khayra nii!! gerammmm!!

this dato' pun excited betul dapat pegang baby. hahaha!!

this is such a cute picture!!!

baby khayra looking at her daddy while aspidos checking out her tiny feet

baby khayra loves twinkle twinkle little star song sang by an owl. hahahaha! comel gila!

baby pengsan after layaning all of us. hehe! 

this is too cute!!

after all the baby talk and talking like babies, you know, "oyoyoyooo! baby ni yomey ya. yesh you yomey. ye baby laaa! booshook booshook" stuff like that, we excused ourselves and went home. ye la, baby dah tido, parents dia pun dah penat, takkan nak linger on lagi. haha! 

in the car we were just talking about babies and how we're going to name them. =p

somewhere in our conversation, aspidos said the boys will have As___ and the girls will have Maria ___. i macam, "oh, dah decide ek?" ahak ahak!

we'll see la. =)

this is just a vain shot of me. i just love this CalaQisya long grey cardi! i realise i've been wearing this kind of ensemble, long cardi, plain top, maxi skirt, messenger bag, and to make myself look more interesting, i just wear printed shawls. here, i'm wearing shawl bought at primark, cardi from calaqisya, skirt from mellovely, bag from clubmod and vans shoes (not in picture). teeheee!! =8p <-hidung kembang annoying smile

all pictures taken from my phone so quality not so good. oh well. 

babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!