Wedding Diaries: The one With the Actual Events and the Honeymoon….

Hey Everyone!

Today’s post is going to be the last of the wedding series for now. I actually don’t have all of my wedding event pictures back yet from our photographer, so it will be really hard to share the outfit details with you guys until then. These pictures i put in are just taken from my own iphone so you guys get a taste for it!

Our wedding was 4-5 days long, and four of the five days were back to back. SO you can imagine the tiredness, lack of sleep, and stress that caused. But at the same time, it made it all the more exciting, fun and memorable weekend!

Shopping in Pakistan: So when we went in Dec-Jan, we placed orders for my wedding day and valima day outfits with two different designers in Karachi. We got the mehndi outfit sem-ready made so that was the easiest outfit of all. And for the nikkah outfit, my mother-in-law purchased that in March when she went to the motherland for wedding shopping.
The whole process was so much more than i imagined, because the outfits were 100% customized, i literally had to choose the fabric, color, designs, how much/how little work to have, what type of dresses, and everything you can imagine. I was also wary because of all of the horrible experiences we’ve heard of people who’ve placed orders and have had their outfits messed up, so I really made sure my mom & I stayed on top of all of the designer ladies to get the outfits to us by their promise day. Major alhumd for this process actually going smoothly, both were delivered to us right around the promise date and needed NO alterations.  In addition to my clothes, we also got a matching custom made sherwani for my husband for the wedding day, and a matching outfit for the mehndi. Not to mention, my sisters and parents also shopped for their outfits for each wedding event too…it was non-stop daily hours upon hours of just straight shopping.

Wedding events –
Manja/Mayoun Sunday August 26th, 2018: This is the yellow event, and the bride and groom have it separate in their own homes. It’s probably the most low-key event of all of them because it’s at home and just your own family, and close friends. My aunt and sister did an amazeeeeeing job with the decor in our basement,  and really transformed it to look super yellow and traditional. The event just consists of traditional customary rituals and then dhol playing and food. I had a great time with my close friends and family for this event!

Nikkah Thursday August 30th, 2018: So in between the mayoun and nikkah was the only gap we had. In that time, it was just consumed with more prep and family and friends arriving from out of state.
The outfit i wore for the nikkah was from my MIL and it was white which is what i wanted to wear for the nikkah. It was a very pretty outfit and very heavy outfit too, each outfit was like that in it’s own way. I loved the detailing of it and the net dupatta made it look super elegant! I also ensured that my hair and makeup looked different for each event. I went with a really dark silver smokey eye this day and a unique colored lip, i kept my hair up because it was a hot day and this day requires a lot of movement with the rasams and etc. so i wanted to make sure my hair was all up and not sweating and bothersome throughout. I was really pleased with how everything turned out with my look this day!
This day was probably the most emotional of all of them, since it is the true Islamic marriage day, and most emotional for the bride’s side of the family. Alhumd, everything went well with the rasams and traditions and the decor and the food (afghani!) this day!

Mehndi Friday August 31st, 2018: This is a traditional (not religious) event basically for the fun of the bride and groom, their family and friends. This evening was filled with skits and dances and song performances that made the night entertaining and so memorable. We had chinese food for this evening, because i wanted to make sure each event (to the best of our ability) had different foods/cuisines each day, since food is the #1 thing guests really remember.
I did my hair in a big fishtail braid with clip ins in it, i also had to wear clip in extensions because obviously my hair is not that long. For makeup, i decided to keep it pretty simple, but with a brighter pink lip and just some glitter on the eyes. I loved this look too since the braid was exactly how i wanted it! 

Wedding Reception Saturday September 1st, 2018: This venue was by far my favorite of all. My parents and i toured dozens of venues for our reception day event, because this event had the most # of guests. Where we ended up was the best choice! Super elegant, spacious and had a beautiful outdoors for our pre-event shoot too.
This was outfit 1 of the Pakistan designer shopping. It was the traditional deep red/maroon with gold. It was by far the heaviest outfit of all. I had a trail at the end of my gharara too which made it so difficult to walk. But pain is beauty my friends. The dress photographed beautifully. The dupatta was also intensely heavy so it did handicap me somewhat, but not nearly as bad as the bottoms did. I did the traditional up-do for hair that day with a blood red lip. Now looking back on it, this was probably my least favorite look, only because it wasn’t me. I look pretty dollish which is just what happens for desi brides on the wedding day.
I still love the outfit and all the details though! The food was desi this day but the best tasting! We did really well with our caterer choice this day, alhumd! We had cake cutting ceremony which also was delicious and fun doing the cake testing with the hubby months prior, speeches by my friends and family, and then endless photographs.

Valima Sunday September 2nd, 2018: The last of the events! The valima is hosted by the groom’s family and is the last event for our desi-muslim weddings. The outfit for this day was probably my most favorite, because it had blue in it. This was outfit #2 from pakistani designer, and she did amazing. Blue is my favorite color so i wanted to make sure I incorporated it in my wedding somehow. The hub, also bought a french blue suit for the valima so the coordination was amazing.
This event was filled with some speeches and performances and food and more pictures. We entered on a horse and carriage which was fun and unique too!

Overall, I had a great time at my own wedding. So did the husband. Going into it, i was super stressed and mentally exhausted and i really thought i wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself. But i’m SO glad i did. I think once you go through the events and motions, your mind and body almost go numb in the best way, like from the stage and where i was, i really couldn’t tell what the issues were or what was going wrong – which there were plenty of little things because that’s just how life is. But i’m glad i was able to be as present as possible through these events!

And, the next day which was actual Labor day Sept 3rd, we flew off to Cancun, Mexico for our honeymoon! It was SO SO SO needed after the hectic-ness and craziness of the wedding. We got the best weather, amazing beach, fabulous food and our first experience at an all-inclusive resort. I wish we could go back or never left it lol. We enjoyed leisure time and went jet skiing and parasailing which was super fun!

Alhumdulillah for everything going amazingly. For any brides or bride-to-be’s out there, just try to remember that everything will work out the way its meant to. It’s so hard to accept that, but it truly does. And most importantly is you and your future spouse, keep yourselves at the center of it all and be there for each other during chaotic moments. The two of you need to enjoy your wedding the most, because it is a once in a lifetime event!

That’s all for now everyone! I’ll probably do how married life is…has been…etc. posts in sometime, once i have enough to say about the topic.

Until then, don’t forget to follow me on instagram to stay up to date on everything!

Until next time, XOX