Wedding Dress

As-Salaamu 'alaykum wa Rahmatullaah,

As the title states, this post will most definitely be about my wedding dress. I went with Noria last week to White Swan to get an idea of the kind of dress I would be interested in. The very FIRST dress that we both saw, we liked. We also chose 3 other dresses just in case the first dress was not as great as we anticipated. When I tried the first dress on, I fell completely in love with it. I was blown away by how well it fit me in the perfect places and hid what I despised.

Since it was only Noria with me, I took my mother and Gulsoma back the next day. As I presented the dress to them on the mannequin, they did not really make the amazed expressions I had thought they would. When I went and put the dress on for them, they were floored! They did not even want me to put on another dress because they all felt that the dress worked very well with my body frame.

I placed an order on the wedding gown, got measured to have it custom-made and informed them of the kinds of alterations I would be needing on the dress. Its a sleeveless dress but I want to add cap-sleeves just to cover up the top a little.

Im very satisfied with the choice alHumdu-Lillaah.

Here's a pic of my dress. The website will not allow me to copy it.

~ Sakina

Dua

O Allah, to you I complain my lack of strength, my lack of strategy and my lowliness before men. O Most Merciful! You are the Lord of the weak and You are my Lord. To whom will You relinquish my fate?! To one who will misuse me? Or to an enemy to whom You have given power over me? If You are not angry with me (If you are not testing me out of anger) then I care not what happens to me, but Your favor is easier for me. I seek refuge in the light of Your countenance, by which all darkness is illuminated.

One of the invitations

As-Salaamu 'alaykum wa Rahmatullaah,

I have the honor of making the invitations for my (Friends Only) Wedding party. Since my sister and I have decided to have a 'British Brunch' themed party, I thought it would only be fit to have a damask styled invitation. I have created the following invitation in black and white, it will be tied with a pink ribbon and then sent in a pink envelope with a damask mailing label. It seems pretty nice in my mind but we'll see how it goes, Insha-Allaah.



Sample of damask invite. Ignore the wording, I haven't decided on how that will be. I also have to get it approved by both my sister and Faiza.

~ Sakina

My Venue

As-Salaamu 'alaykum wa Rahmatullaah,

Before I even got engaged to Qais, I was out looking at venues with my friend Faiza. After speaking to about 28 hotels, the week after I got engaged, I reserved with the Crowne-Plaza in Herndon, Virginia. I was not completely satisfied with the venue because of its bare walls and smaller venue but I decided to go ahead and just book it anyways.

There was also another issue that kept bothering me about Crowne-Plaza. Since I was having a traditional Muslim wedding, there would be a separation of the men and women. When the ballroom was divided into two separate sections, the men's section looked a lot smaller and very crowded. I kept telling myself that it will be alright and that it does not make much of a difference but it did make a difference to me.

Anyways, as time went on I came upon a new banquet hall that had been build near the Crowne-Plaza that I heard about and out of curiosity, I went to see it. After spending only about 5 minutes there, I was absolutely convinced that I wanted to have my wedding there. I got my deposit back from Crowne-Plaza and reserved with Cherry Blossom, the banquet hall.

Cherry Blosson is an Afghan resturaunt and banquet hall so I did not even have to get the food catered! It just saved me a lot of hassle and headaches with the separating as well since their restaurant can be converted into a section of the men. AlHumdu-Lillaah, I am very much satisfied with Cherry Blossom.









~ Sakina

My ring

As-Salaamu 'alaykum wa Rahmatullaah,

My ring has a story of its own which I wont go into, lol. It is under 1.5 carats but looks a lot bigger on my finger for some reason. Qais and I debated over buying a solitaire round diamond or a Princess-cut. We finally settled on a Princess-cut since I felt that the round solitaires have been played out enough by the brides of the previous 3 decades.

I am very much satisfied with my ring alHumdu-Lillah but am looking into what kind of a band I should buy to match. I have been thinking of a pave setting but am not certain yet.

My Ring:




















Pave Setting:


~ Sakina

My Story...

As-Salaamu 'alaykum wa Rahmatullaah,

The reason why I have bothered to start this blog is because I want to cherish the planning of my wedding. My 'engagement' is only about 6 months from today 'til my wedding day. The planning of a wedding may be long and dreadful but its something a bride always looks back on and wishes she had recorded whatever she could. Besides wanting the memories, this blog will also serve letting my frustrations out without harming those around me (lol, my fiance *ahem ahem*).

I am insanely in love with my husband and am grateful in all ways that we will be marrying each other, Insha-Allaah. I didnt even know my fiance, Qais for several days before I knew that I wanted to be his wife. Qais and I have a long and beautiful love-story of how we finally met and got engaged. AlHumdu-Lillaah.

<3 Qais

~ Sakina