Insanity Unity Eternity

20th April 2005.

Make that date free because two insane individuals will be solemnizing their union on that date with a little bit of food, fun and fanfare and we want people there in celebration.

Yes, insane individuals. Azim and I.

Why?

Other couples get at least a year to plan their wedding. We have four months and at this point, less.

Other couples have their parents to guide them. We have only ourselves.

Other couples have their best friends and other posse to help them. Again, we have only ourselves.

Other couples have their wedding wear straight out from bridal shops. We have to have ours tailormade because the bridal shops in Dubai only cater to Arab and Indian weddings and do not entertain shipping their precious beaded sequinned bling-blinged stuff all the way to Singapore. And I won't be using a mak andam. Maybe my favourite Ria days makeup artist, Filzah.

Other couples have their wedding gifts easily brought around and readily available. We have to ship ours by FedEx boxes from Dubai to Singapore.

Other couples plan their wedding within the country of their reception venue. We are eight hours away, by plane, from ours.

Other couples have their wedding dinner on a weekend. 20th April 2005 is on a weekday. Wednesday, to be exact.

Other couples would have sent out their wedding invitations by now. We are still deciding on the guest list.

Other couples would have their leave approved in advanced for the week of their wedding. We have to put that at the last minute due to the nature of our jobs.

Other couples are always within the immediate vicinity of each other or thereabouts. Azim is in Muscat and I am in Dubai.

Tell me now, how can we not go insane?



Let's break it down so I won't have a breakdown.

Azim will return to Dubai and to me in a few hours. So distance is not an issue for the time being.

To be fair, the time we have (or lack thereof) is not too bad because I am not having a large-scale full-blown Malay wedding with a thousand people. It will be our solemnization at 6pm and then a relatively small dinner till late, with only one (yes, only one) change of wedding garb from the solemnization to the dinner.

Our mothers have offered their motherly assistance but we firmly said that we only need their approvals and nothing else. My mother has enough stuff to deal with and Azim's mother is preparing Azim's 10-year-old brother for his big move to Cairo. The little dude is going to receive his life's education from the Egyptian education system.

I have asked one of my best friends to be my chief bridesmaid but I can't think of a single thing I need for her to do in Singapore other than being there for me and being there at the wedding itself, all pretty and happy for me. I do appreciate her enthusiasm though. The girl has already had her outfit tailored out for my special event before I even went for my wedding dress measurements. Bless you, Izrina.

My other galpals have offered help but again, just stay in Singapore and turn up on that day. When I need help, I'll holler. Out loud.

My wedding dress......my wedding dress....AARRRGGGHH...my wedding dress!! And Azim's tux measurements. And my solemnization garb. And Azim's garb.AAArrrggghhh..................*injects own self with liquefied Prozac and calms self down*

The Dubai Shopping Festival is helping loads with the wedding dulang gift shopping. Retailers tend to bring out the past few seasons' stuff and display them for sale during this time so when I dislike the current season's offerings (which is often, I'm not very updatedwith looks!!) I can easily pick something out from Winter 2004 or Summer 2003. So this part is quite therapeutic as I am in my element, shopping without any guilt. And I can safely admit that soon enough, we'll be packing our stuff to be FedEx-ed to Singapore for storage till the big day to display.

I have decided on my wedding theme. And no, Diah, it's not totally white wedding. It's white with another colour so yours will be the only White Wedding 2005. So don't fail me,babe. White it all the way.

The venue is confirmed. The time is around 5pm, cupcakes and cocktails at 6pm for the solemnization and dinner after Maghrib. And the cocktails? Strictly, non-alcoholic. When she was four, my sister used to call alcohol "air gila" as in mad water. Yeah..so no "air gila".

And the date? Azim and I share the same birthday, albeit different year. Therefore, it is extra significant for us if we have our wedding date on our birthdays for it was divine intervention to me that I marry a person also born on the 20th of April (not Adolf Hitler,thank you! He was a 20th April baby also!AARRGGHH!) . So this year, 20th April falls on a weekday and that's why I'm having the main thing after five so more people are able to make it as most schools and offices close by then. I hope. Please understand.

I also hope that in April, our requested days off will be approved on that week. InsyaAllah.

The guest list is still undecided not because we don't know which friend to invite. But because we don't know yet which kaypo makcik or banyak komen pakcik to not invite. It's our special day and we want to be happy and to be able to recognize and like our own guests so if it means only inviting 90% friends and 10% relatives because we have too many vidictive or hot-cold snotty relatives, so be it. I don't want to be standing there shaking hands with a stranger, in my white lace and chiffon with a fake smile and a faker trill, trying to figure out who this sedara-Cik Timah-punya-menantu-punya-sepupu-punya-anak-punya-kakak-angkat-punya-laki is.

I'd rather fill up the rest of my guest list with cool blogger babes.

So you, watch out for your invites.

InsyaAllah, all will go well. People will turn up. And I will get married. To Azim.