xx, T ❤

❝ When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too. ❞
❤ Our buying of Resale house journey, self-employed. Friday, March 4, 2016 @ 8:51 PM Lengthy wordy post ahead because ni problem besar betul and will be straight to the point. Lol! It started late September 2015. I saw a Jumbo house near my mom's going for a very good price, I decided to apply for HLE (aka HDB loan) and the process for self-employed people is very tedious. We only managed to get $246,000 HDB loan which is only enough for us to buy a 3room flat. Reason was my husband's bank statement did not match with what he declare as his income. I was extremely pissed but sad! According to their calculator online, we were supposed to get more than $568,000 loan. I sent in a request for a bigger loan and we got rejected. We decided to ask our MP for help, we received a letter a few days later requesting for our bank statement for the next 3 months. fast forward 3 months which is January we sent in October to December's statements. We received a letter and they asked for January's too. So we sent in January's and got a sms to check our MyHDBpage a few days later with good news, they grant us $350,000 loan which is enough to get a 4room at my mom's area. They CC-ed our MP too, Thank You Dr Maliki! Tips for self-employed first timers: Please have 12 months of bank statements (main business and savings account) ready, missing a month will delay the process. If you have 2 bank accounts, submit ALL months for BOTH accounts. You may need to go to the post office to retrieve them, or you can check through I-banking online and see which months are missing. Show the account where most of your savings is in. Have atleast 12months of FIXED savings, it acts as a replacement for your CPF if you don't contribute monthly like us. It's pointless to earn $8000/month without any fixed savings! Have your income tax papers ready, atleast 1 year will do. Jadi tuan tuan dan puan puan, nak beli rumah mesti agak-agak sikit. First time beli rumah, beli je 3 bilik ke 4 bilik dah cukup. Tapi kalau kau ada duit, gaji below $12,000, beli la kau Jumbo. Jangan nak angan angan macam aku, end up dapat Jubo. HAHAHAHA. Pelan pelan kita upgrade. Mana tahu next Condominium. Insha'Allah. HEHEHEHE. FLIPS PAGE NEXT CHAPTER I've been searching for a good Agent while waiting for our HLE to be approved. We wanted to DIY but we are not smart enough, HLE aje dah stress babe, kau nak aku diy lagi. Kirim salam aje! Before you start to contact agent to view houses, please apply your HLE first. There are many cases of direct buyers wasting agents and sellers time. Paling penting, how do you know which house you can afford if you don't have your HLE? We decide to engage Nona Kirana (facebook here) and it was a good decision! She's super friendly and easy to communicate with. Definitely recommend her! She fast with everything and will submit your papers the very next day, setting appointments with her is super easy too. We only went to 2 viewings with a total of 7 houses, I've heard people who went to almost 30 houses, but we knew this is THE ONE the moment we stepped in. You know how we always say some agents only think of the 1%? She is definitely not like that, she will negotiate the lowest price we can get and find us a seller who ask for low deposit. I have another PLUS point to say about her but it's personal. Even my mom likes her, and it's not easy for her to puji someone okay. Anyway, here is our timeline from first meet up, viewings, option to purchase, exercise the option to purchase and booking the first hdb appointment. Everything could have been faster but my off day is only on Monday, it wasn't till I decided to close an additional day and sacrifice my sleep on weekends. Lol! All paperwork and appointments will be done by the agent. All we did was viewed houses, sign few papers for option to purchase and transfer the first + second deposit to the sellers. So now we're waiting for our very 1st HDB Appointment, which is not so soon because both sellers and us will be away during the earliest available dates. We're fine with that since kita tak mahu dapat rumah time Raya, our sellers asked for 1month extension after completion date so yeah, bagus, more time for us to save money. Hahahahaha. If you need know anything, email me and Insha'Allah I can help: tashasari@gmail.com Labels: Self-Employed, TxAhousejourney { COMMENT } ❤ Back from our US trip! Wednesday, March 2, 2016 @ 2:33 AM If you wanna view photos during our Vegas and LA trip, add me on facebook! < Tasha Sari > the one with Minnie mouse ears and Disneyland profile. Lol. From helicopter ride to Grand Canyon, to cold late nights in Vegas, Santa Monica in LA, International Makeup Artist Show in Pasadena, Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland Anaheim, Hollywood Walk of Fame and a lot more places. Definitely a different experience for us. Alhamdulillah everything went smoothly and everyone was extremely nice to us, especially their officers at the airport. They may look strict but are extremely nice when asked and checked, unlike our local airport officers. Sneak peek of my IMATS haul. Got to meet Tamanna from Dress Your Face!! screams { COMMENT } ❤ Amazeballs. Monday, June 22, 2015 @ 10:21 PM Look whose photo is featured in Kahwin Singapura's choice of 25 Most Amazing Wedding Photos in Singapore! Didn't know about this till my brother tagged me on Facebook. Kind of funny cause my husband & I never cared about having a pre-wedding photoshoot or even this photoshoot that comes with our photography package with Bliss PhotoCinema. I did not have any theme or idea in mind and just do whatever they ask me to. Didn't even noticed the title & thought it was best wedding photography vendors list. Hahahaha. Slenger. { COMMENT } ❤ Oh curtains.. Sunday, December 7, 2014 @ 1:30 AM I'm pretty sure alot of our guests or people who saw our photos will ask why we didn't cover the metal thing on top. It has 18 panels and each panel cost $80, do the math and you'll get $1,440. I was THIS close to saying OK, but I'd rather have extra money in my bank to spend in Maldives then waste it on a 2 day event. Biarlah orang tengok, kalau tak suka ke mata sakit gi berambus sua. Lolol. Labels: Post Wedding { COMMENT } ❤ How much would a Simple Malay Wedding cost? Saturday, November 1, 2014 @ 2:17 PM A year ago, I started planning my wedding, it was supposed to be in May 2015 but we forward it to October 2014 in hopes that my late father could witness our wedding. I wanted everything to be perfect, *in my terms* ofcourse. In March, my father passed away. In May, my husband got into a bad accident. I hated the process of planning a wedding, all those appointments and decisions I had to make. It was draining me, handling my business and planning alone. I complaint non-stop on how I wish we didn't have certain things so I don't have to go here and there + we could save a ton of money! Bride to-bes who are on a budget, here you go! Don't listen to what others have to say, it's between you and your husband to-be. If your family are understanding, good for you! If you have contacts and people who are willing to sponsor, it'll cost much lesser than this! How I actually wanted my wedding: 1 day event, nikah in the afternoon and 1 outfit change till 5pm. 500pax both sides. Family and close relatives & friends only. How much it would cost: MAK ANDAM FULL DAY SERVICE, $800. 2 OUTFITS: $300 for Bride and $200 for Groom. HENNA: $150 DECOR: $2300 for void deck. VENUE: $150, Void Deck CATERING: 1000pax, $9000. CAKE: $500. PHOTOGRAPHY: $2150 VIDEOGRAPHY: $1000 DJ Karaoke: $400 KOMPANG: $450 CARDS: $360 FAVORS: DIY, $480 BUNGA RAMPAI: DIY, $60+/- MAHAR (2 Rings): $3700 FAMILY OUTFITS: $500 TOK KADI: $170 including ROMM fees *TOTAL AMOUNT WE COULD HAVE SPENT: $23,670* AMOUNT WE COULD HAVE SAVED: $16,836 & that amount can give us another 9 days to Maldives which is much more worth it! If you're struggling to save money and your parents are not understanding because they want a "classy wedding", try showing them this post. I know some parents only think of themselves and what others will think. It's disgusting but sometimes there's nothing you can do. Keep calm and relax! // I’m not complaing, this is just a post for brides and grooms who are on a budget. BUT if I could do it according to how I really like it to be, it would be like this. We are NOT in debt and do have savings! Kalau kene hutang saje untuk kahwin, aku tak kahwin pun cantik ~ If you’re wondering whether we have bought for a house or not, NO we haven’t due to income tax details and blablabla. We’re self-employed and I just turned 21 last december, sooo faham-faham yer, adik masih girl lagi. Labels: Budget { COMMENT } ❤ How much does a (combine) Malay Wedding cost? @ 1:46 PM The big question for all bride to-bes is how much do we need for a wedding? It depends on what you want, what your family is going to sponsor, where you want it to be, who you want and all. Let me share how much I paid for (almost) everything excluding sponsored things! This is how much I spent for my wedding. MAKEUP ARTIST: $350 Makeup and Hairdo, touch and go for solemnization only. MAK ANDAM: $750 2 day event full service DUIT KIPAS: $150 + $20 which my husband accidentally give together and did not return. 3 OUTFITS: $1,100 HENNA: $180 DECOR: $3780 This is their opening price last year. Outdoor package $4200 -10% discount. Additional Chairs: $250 We added 50 more chairs, $50 for every 10 chairs. VENUE: Netball Court, $240. $80 per day, maximum 3 days only. TENTAGE: $2650 Personal contact so special price. CATERING: Tasha: $9000 for 1000pax (sanding) and $1000 for 200pax (nikah) Hubby: $4500 for 500pax and $750 for 5000 sticks of satay (supplier price & half sponsored) CAKE: $650 PHOTOBOOTH: $850 PHOTOGRAPHY: $2150 + $300 for selecting our preferred photographer VIDEOGRAPHY: $1300 DJ Karaoke: $400 KOMPANG: $450 CARDS: Card Maison, $576 10% discount, $0.72 each for 800 cards. FAVORS: DIY, $880 BUNGA RAMPAI: DIY, $60+/- BUNGA PAHAR: $470, 150pcs GIFT TRAYS: $350 FAMILY OUTFITS: $1000 GUBAHAN: Groom to Bride: $3200 (note that I ask for a Michael Kors) Bride to Groom: $3000 TOK KADI: $170 including ROMM fees *TOTAL SPENT ON A COMBINED WEDDING: $40,506* Bride: $23,000 // Groom: $18,000 (excluding hantaran) Things I should not have done: Photobooth : $850 Bunga Pahar: $470 Things I think I could save more: A 3 tier cake from Spatula Bakery cost $480 (when I first asked) and taste much more nicer. Could save $170 on this. I can say I saved quite alot on my custom made outfits, diy bunga rampai and diy favors. I could save more if I diy the bunga pahars but we made some changes and deposit is non-refundable. I also asked for a $455 Michael Kors instead of a Chanel which my husband offered, I wanna get it using my own money when we head to Europe. We didn’t have any Sireh Dara and Sireh Junjung because our vendor backed out. We didn’t bother finding a new one because to us, it’s really pointless. Our families are not traditional oldies families so noone cares. Saved: $370. Things that are not worth my money: Bunga Pahar, bad service and colours are not what I asked for. Mak Andam, makeup was too thick unlike the makeup during my nikah. Henna, my henna was super dry! If you're looking into planning a full wedding with branded items and customized decor, you'll need another $10,000 - $20,000. This is a combined wedding, for a separate wedding, you'll need another decor vendor, a wedding car and some vendors charge extra for separate events. Amount I was sponsored: $1,300. // Do note that these are 2013 quotes. Prices go up every year. { COMMENT } ❤ Do you really need that? Thursday, October 23, 2014 @ 12:01 PM If you're just starting to plan your wedding and is on a tight budget, settle the things that is most important to you. I know some parents can be a pain in the ass but try and push them, most of all if they think they wanna show off to others, tell them not to be selfish and waste your money. Or you can tell them every cent you waste because of their selfishness will convert to dosa unless they wanna sponsor you those things. Hahahahaha! Remember try not to be rude no matter how pissed off you are! There are some things that I wish I didn't have at my wedding, most of them are not important at all. We could have stayed longer in Maldives. Lol. • *Photobooth, you can diy if you are extra rajin and wanna save money. I didn't invite much people and it was the eve of hari raya haji so this was a waste of $850 for me. • Bunga Pahars, I could diy my own but because we changed to a combine wedding, we had to used the $470 deposit for something else. Such a waste of money, bad bad service somemore. Pfft! • Sireh Junjung/Dara, the higher the thing is the higher your worth/whatever it is. We didn't have any, since our vendor decided to stop her business, we didn't bother to look for anyone else. I mean come on, seriously?! Save your $200-$400 for something else! • Favors, stick to towels or other practical items. Those small glass are pointless. We usually throw them out so don't waste $1000 extra for something most people will throw away! • Gubahans, please do not go overboard with your list of items. Both me & my husband spent around $3000+ each including our rings. We both bought things that we really want, he offered me a Chanel but I rejected because I wanna get it from Europe myself. I asked for a $455 Michael Kors which I have been wanting for sooooo long! That extra $5500 could give you additional 4 days stay at the beach in Maldives! Another way to save is TRY to get your own wedding outfits. This can save you alot of money + you get to keep or resell it. I like simple outfits, I don't like over blinged top to toe outfits. I'm selling one of my outftis, so plus size ladies, keep a lookout yeah! I'll try to post as much as I can wedding related. I don't think I'll be converting this blog to anything personal as I'm a low profile boring person. Lol. Back to work today, super lazy you know? Labels: Budget, Wants { COMMENT } ❤ Honeymoon @ Angsana Velavaru Resort, Maldives. Friday, October 17, 2014 @ 8:30 PM Disclaimer: Every couple should go to wherever the want to and what the can afford. Do not go in debt just for a few days of fun. I’m posting this to share with everyone because I know what it’s like to wonder how much it really cost for a whole trip. Checking flight and hotel rates are not enough, there’s always tax, gst and extra cost like spa and food. You can always go to another resort that you like and stay in any room you want too. Check out all the photos in my Facebook!* Here’s how our journey was like: Changi Airport -> Male International Airport -> 5 minutes Bus ride to Terminal A -> 40 minutes Seaplane ride -> Drop off in the middle plank -> 5 minutes Speedboat ride to our Land Villa -> 5D4N -> 5 minutes Longtail boat ride to InOcean Villa -> 5 minutes Speedboat ride to the middle plank -> 40 minutes Seaplane ride to Terminal A -> 5 minutes Bus ride to Male International Airport -> Changi Airport. I really wish we could stay for 2 weeks there but I think 9 days is enough because you’ll get bored of doing nothing, no convinience stores or shopping. Just you, your husband and the resort. BUT I would do it all again, maybe a few years down the road after going to Europe, America and South Africa. Hehe. We took 2 rooms, on the beach and in the ocean. InOcean Villa Room is literally in the middle of the ocean, it’s across our Beachfront Jet Pool Villa which was really beautiful! The stars decided to show up on our last night, it’s our first time stargazing and there’s hundreds of them shining so bright. We were in awe! I spent my days swimming in the ocean and in our pool while my husband snorkelled out alone because I is ze pengecutx! Hahahah. Our flight home got cancelled and rescheduled to 2:35am (Singapore time). Everyone was sent to a nearby hotel blabla. Super tiring and horrible experience with Singapore Airlines! Okay let’s go into the details! *// I booked everything myself, no travel agencies. I compared prices and we would have had to pay additional $1000++ if we booked through a travel agency. So save time and money!* Weather : Slight rain, mostly in the early morning and late night. If it rains in the afternoon, it’ll be around 5 - 10 minutes only. So no biggie! Flight : Singapore Airliners Cost : SGD 2374 (2 pax) Hotel : Angsana Velavaru Date : 7 - 11 October Room : Beachfront Jet Pool Villa (link) Seaplane Transfer x 2 : USD 1,092 Accommodation 543 Bed tax 16 Service Charge 54.30 GST 8% 47.78 Half-board Meal x 2 110 ___________________________________ USD 771 / night 5D4N USD 3,084 Date : 11 - 15 October Room : InOcean Pool Villa (link) They upgraded our room to Sunset InOcean Pool Villa which has this wooden deck extended out from our room. My favourite spot to lay and chill! Accommodation 1123.25 Bed tax 16 Service Charge 128.33 GST 8% 112.92 Half-board Meal x 2 130 ___________________________________ USD 1,510.50 / night 5D4N USD 6,042 Other add ons: Angana Spa Package 462 (180 minutes + 30 minutes relaxation) Private Snorkelling Trip 180 Angsana Gallery 300 (souveniers, tea and scrubs) We spent on others things such as lunch and room service so our total was USD 4414 + USD 7627 = USD 12,041 I have no idea what the exchange rate is but according to my bank statement, we spent a total of SGD 15,843 Total cost for 9D8N @ Maldives flight + seaplane + resort + food + extras = SGD 18,217 If you want a much more detailed post on every single thing, check out Farhana’s post on Maldives! Her post did helped me out when I first started planning! Hope this will help you couples to plan your honeymoon trip to Maldives! (link) Labels: Angsana Velavaru, Honeymoon, Maldives { COMMENT }	NATASHA Business Owner Blissfully Married. Our Honeymoon in Maldives
made with love, ayemrawi

❤ Our buying of Resale house journey, self-employed.

Friday, March 4, 2016 @ 8:51 PM

Lengthy wordy post ahead because ni problem besar betul and will be straight to the point. Lol!

It started late September 2015. I saw a Jumbo house near my mom's going for a very good price, I decided to apply for HLE (aka HDB loan) and the process for self-employed people is very tedious. We only managed to get $246,000 HDB loan which is only enough for us to buy a 3room flat. Reason was my husband's bank statement did not match with what he declare as his income. I was extremely pissed but sad! According to their calculator online, we were supposed to get more than $568,000 loan.

I sent in a request for a bigger loan and we got rejected. We decided to ask our MP for help, we received a letter a few days later requesting for our bank statement for the next 3 months.

*fast forward 3 months which is January* we sent in October to December's statements. We received a letter and they asked for January's too. So we sent in January's and got a sms to check our MyHDBpage a few days later with good news, they grant us $350,000 loan which is enough to get a 4room at my mom's area. They CC-ed our MP too, Thank You Dr Maliki!

Tips for self-employed first timers:

Please have 12 months of bank statements (main business and savings account) ready, missing a month will delay the process. If you have 2 bank accounts, submit ALL months for BOTH accounts. You may need to go to the post office to retrieve them, or you can check through I-banking online and see which months are missing.
Show the account where most of your savings is in.
Have atleast 12months of FIXED savings, it acts as a replacement for your CPF if you don't contribute monthly like us. It's pointless to earn $8000/month without any fixed savings!
Have your income tax papers ready, atleast 1 year will do.

Jadi tuan tuan dan puan puan, nak beli rumah mesti agak-agak sikit. First time beli rumah, beli je 3 bilik ke 4 bilik dah cukup. Tapi kalau kau ada duit, gaji below $12,000, beli la kau Jumbo. Jangan nak angan angan macam aku, end up dapat Jubo. HAHAHAHA. Pelan pelan kita upgrade. Mana tahu next Condominium. Insha'Allah. HEHEHEHE.

*FLIPS PAGE*

I've been searching for a good Agent while waiting for our HLE to be approved. We wanted to DIY but we are not smart enough, HLE aje dah stress babe, kau nak aku diy lagi. Kirim salam aje! Before you start to contact agent to view houses, please apply your HLE first. There are many cases of direct buyers wasting agents and sellers time. Paling penting, how do you know which house you can afford if you don't have your HLE?

We decide to engage Nona Kirana (facebook here) and it was a good decision!
She's super friendly and easy to communicate with. Definitely recommend her! She fast with everything and will submit your papers the very next day, setting appointments with her is super easy too. We only went to 2 viewings with a total of 7 houses, I've heard people who went to almost 30 houses, but we knew this is THE ONE the moment we stepped in. You know how we always say some agents only think of the 1%? She is definitely not like that, she will negotiate the lowest price we can get and find us a seller who ask for low deposit. I have another PLUS point to say about her but it's personal. Even my mom likes her, and it's not easy for her to puji someone okay.

Anyway, here is our timeline from first meet up, viewings, option to purchase, exercise the option to purchase and booking the first hdb appointment. Everything could have been faster but my off day is only on Monday, it wasn't till I decided to close an additional day and sacrifice my sleep on weekends. Lol!

All paperwork and appointments will be done by the agent. All we did was viewed houses, sign few papers for option to purchase and transfer the first + second deposit to the sellers.

So now we're waiting for our very 1st HDB Appointment, which is not so soon because both sellers and us will be away during the earliest available dates. We're fine with that since kita tak mahu dapat rumah time Raya, our sellers asked for 1month extension after completion date so yeah, bagus, more time for us to save money. Hahahahaha.

If you need know anything, email me and Insha'Allah I can help: tashasari@gmail.com

Labels: Self-Employed, TxAhousejourney

{ COMMENT }

❤ Back from our US trip!

Wednesday, March 2, 2016 @ 2:33 AM

If you wanna view photos during our Vegas and LA trip, add me on facebook!
< Tasha Sari > the one with Minnie mouse ears and Disneyland profile. Lol.

From helicopter ride to Grand Canyon, to cold late nights in Vegas, Santa Monica in LA, International Makeup Artist Show in Pasadena, Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland Anaheim, Hollywood Walk of Fame and a lot more places. Definitely a different experience for us. Alhamdulillah everything went smoothly and everyone was extremely nice to us, especially their officers at the airport. They may look strict but are extremely nice when asked and checked, unlike our local airport officers.

Sneak peek of my IMATS haul.

Got to meet Tamanna from Dress Your Face!! *screams*

{ COMMENT }

❤ Amazeballs.

Monday, June 22, 2015 @ 10:21 PM

Look whose photo is featured in Kahwin Singapura's choice of 25 Most Amazing Wedding Photos in Singapore!

Didn't know about this till my brother tagged me on Facebook. Kind of funny cause my husband & I never cared about having a pre-wedding photoshoot or even this photoshoot that comes with our photography package with Bliss PhotoCinema. I did not have any theme or idea in mind and just do whatever they ask me to.

Didn't even noticed the title & thought it was best wedding photography vendors list. Hahahaha. Slenger.

{ COMMENT }

❤ Oh curtains..

Sunday, December 7, 2014 @ 1:30 AM

I'm pretty sure alot of our guests or people who saw our photos will ask why we didn't cover the metal thing on top. It has 18 panels and each panel cost $80, do the math and you'll get $1,440. I was THIS close to saying OK, but I'd rather have extra money in my bank to spend in Maldives then waste it on a 2 day event. Biarlah orang tengok, kalau tak suka ke mata sakit gi berambus sua. Lolol.

Labels: Post Wedding

{ COMMENT }

❤ How much would a Simple Malay Wedding cost?

Saturday, November 1, 2014 @ 2:17 PM

A year ago, I started planning my wedding, it was supposed to be in May 2015 but we forward it to October 2014 in hopes that my late father could witness our wedding. I wanted everything to be perfect, in my terms ofcourse.

In March, my father passed away. In May, my husband got into a bad accident. I hated the process of planning a wedding, all those appointments and decisions I had to make. It was draining me, handling my business and planning alone. I complaint non-stop on how I wish we didn't have certain things so I don't have to go here and there + we could save a ton of money!

Bride to-bes who are on a budget, here you go! Don't listen to what others have to say, it's between you and your husband to-be. If your family are understanding, good for you! If you have contacts and people who are willing to sponsor, it'll cost much lesser than this!

How I actually wanted my wedding:

1 day event, nikah in the afternoon and 1 outfit change till 5pm.
500pax both sides. Family and close relatives & friends only.

How much it would cost:

MAK ANDAM FULL DAY SERVICE, $800.
2 OUTFITS: $300 for Bride and $200 for Groom.
HENNA: $150
DECOR: $2300 for void deck.
VENUE: $150, Void Deck
CATERING: 1000pax, $9000.
CAKE: $500.
PHOTOGRAPHY: $2150
VIDEOGRAPHY: $1000
DJ Karaoke: $400
KOMPANG: $450
CARDS: $360
FAVORS: DIY, $480
BUNGA RAMPAI: DIY, $60+/-
MAHAR (2 Rings): $3700
FAMILY OUTFITS: $500
TOK KADI: $170 including ROMM fees

TOTAL AMOUNT WE COULD HAVE SPENT: $23,670
AMOUNT WE COULD HAVE SAVED: $16,836

& that amount can give us another 9 days to Maldives which is much more worth it!

If you're struggling to save money and your parents are not understanding because they want a "classy wedding", try showing them this post. I know some parents only think of themselves and what others will think. It's disgusting but sometimes there's nothing you can do. Keep calm and relax!

// I’m not complaing, this is just a post for brides and grooms who are on a budget. BUT if I could do it according to how I really like it to be, it would be like this. We are NOT in debt and do have savings! Kalau kene hutang saje untuk kahwin, aku tak kahwin pun cantik ~ If you’re wondering whether we have bought for a house or not, NO we haven’t due to income tax details and blablabla. We’re self-employed and I just turned 21 last december, sooo faham-faham yer, adik masih girl lagi.

Labels: Budget

{ COMMENT }

❤ How much does a (combine) Malay Wedding cost?

@ 1:46 PM

The big question for all bride to-bes is how much do we need for a wedding?
It depends on what you want, what your family is going to sponsor, where you want it to be, who you want and all. Let me share how much I paid for (almost) everything excluding sponsored things!

This is how much I spent for my wedding.

MAKEUP ARTIST: $350
Makeup and Hairdo, touch and go for solemnization only.

MAK ANDAM: $750 2 day event full service

DUIT KIPAS: $150 + $20 which my husband accidentally give together and did not return.

3 OUTFITS: $1,100

HENNA: $180

DECOR: $3780
This is their opening price last year. Outdoor package $4200 -10% discount.

Additional Chairs: $250
We added 50 more chairs, $50 for every 10 chairs.

VENUE: Netball Court, $240.
$80 per day, maximum 3 days only.

TENTAGE: $2650 Personal contact so special price.

CATERING:
Tasha: $9000 for 1000pax (sanding) and $1000 for 200pax (nikah)
Hubby: $4500 for 500pax and $750 for 5000 sticks of satay (supplier price & half sponsored)

CAKE: $650

PHOTOBOOTH: $850

PHOTOGRAPHY: $2150 + $300 for selecting our preferred photographer

VIDEOGRAPHY: $1300

DJ Karaoke: $400

KOMPANG: $450

CARDS: Card Maison, $576
10% discount, $0.72 each for 800 cards.

FAVORS: DIY, $880

BUNGA RAMPAI: DIY, $60+/-

BUNGA PAHAR: $470, 150pcs

GIFT TRAYS: $350

FAMILY OUTFITS: $1000

GUBAHAN:
Groom to Bride: $3200 (note that I ask for a Michael Kors)
Bride to Groom: $3000

TOK KADI: $170 including ROMM fees

TOTAL SPENT ON A COMBINED WEDDING: $40,506

Bride: $23,000 // Groom: $18,000 (excluding hantaran)

Things I should not have done:

Photobooth : $850
Bunga Pahar: $470

Things I think I could save more:
A 3 tier cake from Spatula Bakery cost $480 (when I first asked) and taste much more nicer. Could save $170 on this.

I can say I saved quite alot on my custom made outfits, diy bunga rampai and diy favors. I could save more if I diy the bunga pahars but we made some changes and deposit is non-refundable. I also asked for a $455 Michael Kors instead of a Chanel which my husband offered, I wanna get it using my own money when we head to Europe. We didn’t have any Sireh Dara and Sireh Junjung because our vendor backed out. We didn’t bother finding a new one because to us, it’s really pointless. Our families are not traditional oldies families so noone cares. Saved: $370.

Things that are not worth my money:

Bunga Pahar, bad service and colours are not what I asked for.
Mak Andam, makeup was too thick unlike the makeup during my nikah.
Henna, my henna was super dry!

If you're looking into planning a full wedding with branded items and customized decor, you'll need another $10,000 - $20,000. This is a combined wedding, for a separate wedding, you'll need another decor vendor, a wedding car and some vendors charge extra for separate events.

Amount I was sponsored: $1,300.

// Do note that these are 2013 quotes. Prices go up every year.

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❤ Do you really need that?

Thursday, October 23, 2014 @ 12:01 PM

If you're just starting to plan your wedding and is on a tight budget, settle the things that is most important to you. I know some parents can be a pain in the ass but try and push them, most of all if they think they wanna show off to others, tell them not to be selfish and waste your money. Or you can tell them every cent you waste because of their selfishness will convert to dosa unless they wanna sponsor you those things. Hahahahaha! Remember try not to be rude no matter how pissed off you are!

There are some things that I wish I didn't have at my wedding, most of them are not important at all. We could have stayed longer in Maldives. Lol.

• Photobooth, you can diy if you are extra rajin and wanna save money. I didn't invite much people and it was the eve of hari raya haji so this was a waste of $850 for me.

• Bunga Pahars, I could diy my own but because we changed to a combine wedding, we had to used the $470 deposit for something else. Such a waste of money, bad bad service somemore. Pfft!

• Sireh Junjung/Dara, the higher the thing is the higher your worth/whatever it is. We didn't have any, since our vendor decided to stop her business, we didn't bother to look for anyone else. I mean come on, seriously?! Save your $200-$400 for something else!

• Favors, stick to towels or other practical items. Those small glass are pointless. We usually throw them out so don't waste $1000 extra for something most people will throw away!

• Gubahans, please do not go overboard with your list of items. Both me & my husband spent around $3000+ each including our rings. We both bought things that we really want, he offered me a Chanel but I rejected because I wanna get it from Europe myself. I asked for a $455 Michael Kors which I have been wanting for sooooo long! That extra $5500 could give you additional 4 days stay at the beach in Maldives!

Another way to save is TRY to get your own wedding outfits. This can save you alot of money + you get to keep or resell it. I like simple outfits, I don't like over blinged top to toe outfits. I'm selling one of my outftis, so plus size ladies, keep a lookout yeah!

I'll try to post as much as I can wedding related. I don't think I'll be converting this blog to anything personal as I'm a low profile boring person. Lol. Back to work today, super lazy you know?

Labels: Budget, Wants

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❤ Honeymoon @ Angsana Velavaru Resort, Maldives.

Friday, October 17, 2014 @ 8:30 PM

Disclaimer: Every couple should go to wherever the want to and what the can afford. Do not go in debt just for a few days of fun. I’m posting this to share with everyone because I know what it’s like to wonder how much it really cost for a whole trip. Checking flight and hotel rates are not enough, there’s always tax, gst and extra cost like spa and food. You can always go to another resort that you like and stay in any room you want too.

Check out all the photos in my Facebook!

Here’s how our journey was like:
Changi Airport -> Male International Airport -> 5 minutes Bus ride to Terminal A -> 40 minutes Seaplane ride -> Drop off in the middle plank -> 5 minutes Speedboat ride to our Land Villa -> 5D4N -> 5 minutes Longtail boat ride to InOcean Villa -> 5 minutes Speedboat ride to the middle plank -> 40 minutes Seaplane ride to Terminal A -> 5 minutes Bus ride to Male International Airport -> Changi Airport.

I really wish we could stay for 2 weeks there but I think 9 days is enough because you’ll get bored of doing nothing, no convinience stores or shopping. Just you, your husband and the resort. BUT I would do it all again, maybe a few years down the road after going to Europe, America and South Africa. Hehe.

We took 2 rooms, on the beach and in the ocean. InOcean Villa Room is literally in the middle of the ocean, it’s across our Beachfront Jet Pool Villa which was really beautiful! The stars decided to show up on our last night, it’s our first time stargazing and there’s hundreds of them shining so bright. We were in awe! I spent my days swimming in the ocean and in our pool while my husband snorkelled out alone because I is ze pengecutx! Hahahah.

Our flight home got cancelled and rescheduled to 2:35am (Singapore time). Everyone was sent to a nearby hotel blabla. Super tiring and horrible experience with Singapore Airlines!

Okay let’s go into the details!

// I booked everything myself, no travel agencies. I compared prices and we would have had to pay additional $1000++ if we booked through a travel agency. So save time and money!

Weather : Slight rain, mostly in the early morning and late night. If it rains in the afternoon, it’ll be around 5 - 10 minutes only. So no biggie!

Flight : Singapore Airliners
Cost : SGD 2374 (2 pax)
Hotel : Angsana Velavaru

Date : 7 - 11 October
Room : Beachfront Jet Pool Villa (link)

Seaplane Transfer x 2 : USD 1,092

Accommodation 543
Bed tax 16
Service Charge 54.30
GST 8% 47.78
Half-board Meal x 2 110
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USD 771 / night

5D4N USD 3,084

Date : 11 - 15 October
Room : InOcean Pool Villa (link)

They upgraded our room to Sunset InOcean Pool Villa which has this wooden deck extended out from our room. My favourite spot to lay and chill!

Accommodation 1123.25
Bed tax 16
Service Charge 128.33
GST 8% 112.92
Half-board Meal x 2 130
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USD 1,510.50 / night

5D4N USD 6,042

Other add ons:
Angana Spa Package 462
(180 minutes + 30 minutes relaxation)

Private Snorkelling Trip 180

Angsana Gallery 300
(souveniers, tea and scrubs)

We spent on others things such as lunch and room service so our total was
USD 4414 + USD 7627 = USD 12,041

I have no idea what the exchange rate is but according to my bank statement,
we spent a total of SGD 15,843

Total cost for 9D8N @ Maldives flight + seaplane + resort + food + extras = SGD 18,217

If you want a much more detailed post on every single thing, check out Farhana’s post on Maldives! Her post did helped me out when I first started planning! Hope this will help you couples to plan your honeymoon trip to Maldives! (link)

Labels: Angsana Velavaru, Honeymoon, Maldives

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