A guest post by my lovely friend Azalia Suhaimi. It brought tears to my eyes. I hope it touches you too.. :) SU
This site is meant to be a compilation of only my photopoetry works if it were to stay true to its title but I can't help it here - I just got married, and just like a bride on her wedding day, I'd like to take this opportunity to be
queen-for-a-day, again, this time on blogosphere. And
queen-for-a-day here can only mean an overly-excited newlywed yapping away the littlest details of her wedding day like how the colour of her wedding gown was three shades lighter than the tone of her husband's scruffy hair.
And because the very idea of that would scare you as much, if not more, as it did me, let's put it this way - This entry shall stay true to the essence of photopoetry with these beautiful wedding photographs captured by amazing photographer
Nik Aizu with teammates
Shazni and Amir. These photographs may not be accompanied by a piece of poem but I believe that on their own, they talk of poetry.
It's amazing how that dream wedding I lived vicariously through my Barbie and Ken twenty years ago has been realized last Saturday, so simply, yet so magically. Not with any man, but a man who speaks my soul. My soulmate who also writes. And what else could all that be, but a hauntingly beautiful part of life written in poetic verses. Marriage is poetry; and I could not be more grateful to be blessed with its beauty.
I have always dreamt to be wedded in a small solemnization ceremony in a mosque surrounded by the warmth of all the beautiful people who played huge roles in the groom's and my years of growing up.
Alhamdulillah, in a small mosque down the road, it was. Filled with love and the smiles of our loved ones.
And for my love towards nature, sunshine, love, art, anything vintage and all things soulful, I could only dream of a small and intimate garden wedding reception outdoors filled with buckets of love and good music. I believe I could not have chosen a better place.
My wedding reception later that evening was held at a garden by the lake I grew up loving. My childhood bestfriend, Ayesha and I used to go swimming here every other week when we were twelve. And for the next ten years or so, my mother, my sister and I would frequent this place. Sometimes for a good swim, sometimes just to lie down on the grass and listen to the songs the birds sing. This was where we celebrated my mother's birthday, this was where my bestfriend and I shared a good laugh, this is where I write my poems, this was where I captured the shots which had been used in
this postcard and
that, and this was where he proposed.
Last Saturday, this was where we celebrated our marriage.
I am beyond touched at how my loved ones travel (some, literally halfway across the world) to witness this special day of my husband's and mine. Especially to think that this "garden by the lake" was quite deep inside all of those greens that I love and talk about so much.
There was my charming aunt who flew all the way from England, a cousin from Chachoengsao, friends and old workmates from Australia, and a whole beautiful bunch of family and friends who came from several different corners of Malaysia.
What was beyond beautiful was to be reunited with my favourite cousin, Alida again after ten years. Especially on a day so magical to me.
And I can't even begin on how grateful I am to be blessed with such wonderful, selfless family and friends who helped so much with the wedding reception.
Because of my love towards having every little thing made personal and sentimental, I had almost each single bit of my wedding sprinkled with my own crafts, my mother's, my father's, my sister's, my grandparents', my uncles', my aunts', my cousins' and my bestfriends'.
I began by inviting my loved ones to the reception with an invitation I fully personally designed. They were sealed in brown environmental-friendly envelopes which had tiny heart shapes and music notes I personally doodled.
The mini garden baskets with tiny purple flowers were personally crafted by my mother, with the help of my dearest sister and my wonderful aunts. The baskets had rose-shaped chocolates in them, and were made as doorgifts for the wonderful souls who graced the garden with their presence.
I am at loss for words at the amount of passion and love my mother put to this wedding. I am moved to tears at the thought of how much she wanted it to be like the way I dreamt it with my Barbies and Kens twenty years ago.
It was no wonder then that the wedding turned out beautiful. My mother was behind it. Just the way she always is, to all things beautiful.
The beautiful lights and lanterns all over the garden was magic done by my creative Uncle Al, together with Uncle Shah, my mother, Aunt Shyda and the rest of the wonderful team. Amazing how they turned my wedding night into a fairytale dream come true.
The wedding cake was made by a very talented childhood friend of mine,
Su, who now runs the amazing designer cake shop,
Delectable. Su and I used to sit next to each other at our tutorial classes back when we were twelve. And to have Su baking and designing my wedding cake was an honour. It truly meant the sun and the moon to me.
No surprises, she did magic with my cake. It was designed in the wedding theme colours, together with the cartoon doodles of my husband and myself which I earlier designed for the wedding invitation cards.
The emcee who graced the night with her beautiful ways and made the guests comfortable in a semi-formal casual manner was my very own kind-hearted cousin, Vic. She has her way with words, has a beautiful soul, and is simply a gem. But more than anything, she is a sweetheart whom I love dearly, and would share warm hugs with every other morning we bump into each other before work.
What also made the night special was a short, heartwarming speech specially made by my Aunt Shyda who flew halfway across the universe for this joyous occasion. A very compassionate and thoughtful lady, she is. Blessed, I am, to be loved by an aunt with such a soul.
The guitar which set the mood of the music for the night is my father's, and the items in the playlist throughout the night were also inspired by my father's musical soul. I spent dreamy days and months before the wedding telling him how much I wanted my reception to be completed with songs by The Beatles. And each of these dreamy days and months would always be accompanied by beautiful childhood memories brought alive to mind.
And with all the heart and soul there were for the night, I then recited a poem I wrote for my husband. Of which he replied with a song he wrote when he proposed to me earlier last year.
A dream wedding indeed.
One in my favourite colours; surrounded by nature, love, art, music and beautiful souls whom I love dearly.
To top it all off, I got to walk down the aisle with my husband in what I reckon should be a theme song for the universe,
All You Need Is Love. This, I have to admit, has always been my secret dream, especially after seeing it happen in
Love Actually.
Alhamdulillah.
I truly could not ask for more. And I could not thank you enough for all the help you've given, and simply, for being there. And if you weren't, believe me, you were still a part of it. For I had you in my thoughts throughout the night.
I can now only look forward to fill the pages of this site with even more photopoetry I'll create for my husband;
my soulmate who also writes :-)
InsyaAllah.
Visit my talented and beautiful Azalia's photopoetry blog here. LINK
I'm so proud to tell everyone she was once an elf at Delectable :)
Purple from her new found love for eggplant.
HHhmmm... couples seem to relate purples to shades to Happy Matrimony. It is a trend? is Pink or White not a wedding favourite anymore? LOL
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