12 Apr 2011

Wan's wedding

Well, the main ceremony is over or should I say the main ceremonies, since there were two. But the most important, which is the nikah ceremony (taking the vows) went well.  It was held at Emma's house after the Friday prayers and my family assembled at my apartment in Melati before we all drove there in a convoy. We had to take with us all the "hantaran" or the gifts to be presented to the bride. These were: the money in the form of a banker's cheque (11,111); the mas kahwin or dowry which is according to Muslim law and the state the bride resides in (in this case KL which is RM300); the groom's gifts to the bride - a pair of shoes, a handbag,  a set of perfume and body lotion, jewellery and prayer clothes. These are optional and it is up to the groom to give them or not and up to the bride's family to ask for them or not. Normally these gifts would be presented creatively - beautifully designed and arranged so that they look like flowers, birds or some such thing.

The "mas kahwin" or bride money


         
When we arrived at Emma's house we were really surprised - they had put up tents and decorated the house. Everything looked beautiful. They even had a pelamin or bridal dais! Normally, among the Malays, the nikah ceremony is the most simple. We usually have it either at the masjid (mosque) or at the bride's house. This is performed by the local kadhi (priest). The vows are first vocalised by the groom  and the words are quite similar to the Christian version of it - the priest asks the groom - "Do you .... take .... as your lawful wedded wife with the bride price of ( certain amount of money is mentioned)" The groom has to answer in one breath - the whole phrase, without stuttering or repeating his lines. If he cannot say it in one breath, he has to repeat it until he can say it in one go without stumbling over the words.

Wan had to repeat the vows at least three times! The first time he got it correct but he forgot to mention the mas kahwin so he had to do it again until he could say it correctly. We had a laugh over it because he thought he wouldnt have to repeat.
I think the pictures below tell their own story.



The perfume set
 


Wan presenting the mas kahwin to Emma
 
The bridal dais


Emma, looking beautiful in her wedding finery

The prayer dress is arranged in the shape of a flower


Emma, looking beautiful


The jewellery set is put in here

Emma putting on Wan's ring

3 comments:

DIGITAL WORLD PAGES ARCHIVE said...

Happy life to them!

Kat said...

Thank you Amin!

The Bookworm said...

Congratulations and best wishes! Her dress is gorgeous. What a beautiful couple.