Getting married II

This is a continuation of: Getting married I

The groom’s entourage had arrived and taken their seats, we were told. Shortly after, the ladies and I were asked to go down and together, we left the room for the living hall. The bridesmaids paved the way for me. The hall was so packed!

I took my seat, just beside my mum and sister, facing the groom, who was meters away, surrounded by his groomsmen. Expected the ceremony to begin anytime soon, but I learned that the Tok Kadi had not yet arrived heh -_-‘

Holding my phone, my maid of honor dialed his numbers. That’s when we found out that the Kadi was stuck in a traffic jam and it would take him a while to reach my house. Technically, since the Kadi wasn’t present, I should still be upstairs… but it’s too late to return to the room.

So everyone just sat inside the hall, whispering, exchanging smiles and making small talk, while waiting for the Kadi. It was slightly awkward lol. During the wait, I noticed how confident Reza seemed. Not a single trace of nervous. Looked like he was having fun, flashing his smile to the guests like a politician.

To our relief, the Kadi arrived… after 30 minutes. The wali and saksi-saksi came to the front and took their positions. Everything after that, seemed to happen so fast!

The akad nikah proceedings began. To start off, the Kadi read the khutbah nikah, giving us a brief explanation on how it’s going to go. After a dry run of the ijab qabul, the men were ready for the real thing. The moment everyone was waiting for arrived!

Seeing that Reza was so confident, I knew he came prepared and had a feeling that he’d nail it the first time. True enough — after my dad (who was probably more nervous) recited the akad and as they shook hands, Reza responded with a clear and concise lafaz.

The kadi asked the saksi-saksi:

“Sah?”

Unanimously, the saksi-saksi validated the lafaz:

“Sah.”

Hearing this, the Kadi recited a doa. Well, that was it — with a single lafaz, Reza and I leveled up and became husband and wife!

Both of us, including those who have seen us together over the years, breathed a sigh of relief (some even teared lol). Like, finally! Asna, who was sitting beside me the entire time, was all excited. She was opening her eyes and mouth widely in amazement, repeatedly telling me:

“Cikyong, you’re married!”

Reza continued with the lafaz taklik, signed the documents and performed the solat sunat selepas nikah. After that it was time to batalkan air sembahyang — in other words, bersalam-salaman with the other half.

As well as some public display of affection.

We exchanged rings.

Then, he put his palm on my head and recited a doa.

After all that was done, it was time for the more exciting part of a wedding — bersanding!

Elder relatives and immediate family members were given the honor to be part of our small-scale merenjis ceremony, where they threw bunga rampai and sprinkled rose water on our palms, giving their blessings. It’s also the time for the wise to whisper marriage advice to our ears.

The caterer started serving food after that and most of the guests left for the great dishes that awaited them, while we took pictures with those who are closest to us.

Once that was done, we dined as newlyweds at the main table. It was just him and I, at the table, supposedly exclusively, eating the Malay dishes I’ve picked. There was a personal butler to serve us, which was cool. I was responsible in picking all the dishes during the meeting with the caterer, so I picked the dishes I liked. Everything that was served, was absolutely satisfying on the day… at least to me.

Post lunch, we had to rush for a post-nikah photography session that’s held a few hundred meters away from home to take geli photos like this:

More and more people began the flood the reception. Regrettably, there wasn’t much time for us to meet and mingle with the guests who arrived early. However, post the photography session, I was glad that I could still catch up  and take pictures with those who were still there.

So since we’re at the end, I’ll take this opportunity to thank the family, friends, neighbors and colleagues who were there to grace and celebrate our big day. Your assistance, presence, wishes, presents and ang pows mean a lot to us and they are all greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoyed the ceremony and the food! Let me wrap up this post with the akad nikah video highlights that I’d just uploaded on Youtube: