Shaza's Scrapbook

Friday’s Feature: Zoreed Raza – La Celebrators

Shaza's Scrapbook — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:58:05 +0000

I came across the work of Wedding Planner & Event Designer, Zoreed Raza, on Facebook last week. Her organization, La Celebrators, does stunning work!

Love!

This would be perfect for a mehendi

Dancefloor

Can you imagine walking down THIS aisle? Stunning!

This isn’t even the stage…

Unique Walkway

*All the above images are via Zoreed Raza’s Facebook Page*

Have a good weekend everyone!

Laal Dupatta

Shaza's Scrapbook — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:52:46 +0000

You’re probably wondering what the heck is up with the cheesy song titles for my posts, right? I have no idea people. No idea.

For those who don’t know, Laal Dupatta means Red Veil.

Photography by Ali K

Wondering what the significance of this post is? You’ll have to check back after my wedding That’s right, consider this a teaser post!

Pardah Hai Pardah…

Shaza's Scrapbook — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:55:30 +0000

We’re just around the 1 month mark to the wedding InshAllah and wedding festivities are in full swing.

Along time ago, Nouman and I decided that we will stop seeing each other 1 month before the wedding. I’m sure you are all thinking one of the following: Are you crazy?! Have you completely lost it?! Or, Omg, you are so backward and traditional.

It’s okay, you can admit it.

Let me assure you, I am not crazy (not completely anyway) nor are we not seeing each other because we believe it brings bad luck or anything superstitious like that (seriously, do people still believe that?).

The reason we’ve decided to stop seeing each other 1 month before the wedding is simply because we think it’ll add excitement and anticipation to our wedding. I know that both of us will be happy to see each other because it’s our special ~~day~~ days, but not having seen each other for one month will be even more exciting.

So yes, starting this week, we won’t be seeing each other! The hardest part? We are attending one of our close friends wedding next weekend! Thankfully, it’s a segregated event so pardah (not seeing each other) shouldn’t be too hard.

I should probably keep a Niqab just incase everyone decides to mingle together at the end of the night….

Flower gajray from our dholki last night. Our family friends made these themselves – SO sweet of them to do so much. I’ll be posting teaser pictures on Facebook, so make sure to check them out!

… Just kidding

Monday’s Munchies: Breakfast for a Bride

Shaza's Scrapbook — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:15:08 +0000

I had an exhausting and fun weekend. Noumans family held a dholki last night; the first event for our wedding – the festivities have begun! YEAY! Alhamdulilah

Anyway…

As you know from my Facebook updates, I’ve been trying to eat healthy before the wedding. It hasn’t been working out to great for me because I give in to temptation way too easily. However, the one change I’ve made to my routine is my breakfast. Every morning, the first thing I eat is a plate of pomegranate and berries. My mom gives me 1 whole pomegranate and a handful of blueberries and strawberries every day. Without fail. She tells me to eat the pomegranate “nihaar mooo” – before eating anything else.

The first time I was fed pomegranates as vigorously as now was during my visit to Pakistan. Every morning, my grandmother would hand me a plate of pomegranates and would make me eat it. She always had it ready for me even if she wasn’t home when I woke up – how sweet is that?

According to my family, pomegranates are great to clear the skin aswell as to get a glow. My mom/grandmother say that it gives rosy cheeks.

Breakfast!

Pomegranates are pretty pricey so eating them a few times a week should also be good enough Another alternative is to buy pure pomegranate juice (no sugar added) – be careful not to drink too much though; 1/4 cup of juice should be equivalent to 1 pomegranate.

Are you eating anything special before your wedding?

Friday’s Feature: Sonia’s Henna Art – My Mehendi Artist

Shaza's Scrapbook — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:57:31 +0000

I have finally found a Mehendi (henna) person for the wedding! If you recall from my Facebook status, I had asked you guys to recommend someone who isn’t too pricey but also knows how to do “bareek” (intricate) kaam – I wanted traditional Pakistani mehendi, not Arabic style. A big thank you to all of you who replied with suggestions!

I fell in love with the amazing work by NJ’s Unique Henna Art. Nadra’s work was exactly what I was looking for. However, I did not book her due to timing/scheduling aswell as her price. I urge you to check her work – it is stunning!

Enter my mehendi artist. I saw the gorgeous work of Sonia’s Henna Art on Facebook and knew I had to contact her. Her work is exquisite and delicate – exactly what I want. Sonia’s customer service has been great so far – she responds quickly and thoroughly. My mayoun photographer has also recommended her to me as most of her brides have gotten their mehendi done by Sonia. Double YEAY!

*All the images are from Sonia’s Henna Art Facebook Page*

There’s a girl on her arm!

Great colour!

Have you or anyone you know hired Sonia? I’d love to hear what you think of her service, design and colour!

And now, I’m off to start another crazy weekend – I’m meeting alot of my vendors this weekend (I get to test my cake flavours!), dholki’s for our weddings start, I have a furniture shopping date with my mom, I’ll be buying the remaining chocolate for my favours, drop by my shaadi venue to discuss some details – the list could go on, but I’ll spare you guys.

Have a great weekend (I don’t have a long weekend, but enjoy yours if you do!!)

A Desi Bride’s Buy List: Part 2

Shaza's Scrapbook — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:56:13 +0000

Continuing the Buy List, below are my remaining categories – some items I still need to purchase!

Essentials
This includes items such as toothbrush, comb, contacts/solution, hair ties, etc. There are SO many little things and I am so happy that my mom bought most of these things for me. I would have completely over looked this category (surprising, right?) had it not been for my mom.

Intimates
Haha. I decided to call this category intimates because of an episode from Friends. This includes undergarments, lingerie and all sleepwear.

Beauty
All your hair, makeup and skincare products.

Shoes
I divided these into 2 categories:

Formals: to wear with shalwar kameez
Casual: flats and sandals

Honeymoon
Buy outfits while keeping your honeymoon destination (and the time of year you are going) in mind. If you’re going somewhere beachy/tropical, you’ll need dresses, flip flops and all those other summery things. Going to a destination that requires alot of sightseeing? Make sure you bring some comfy shoes!

Homely Stuff
My mom insisted that I must take essentials such as bathrobe, towel, slippers, etc.

Home Decor
I’m probably the worst person when it comes to home decor (Nouman has a great eye for that stuff) so this was at the bottom of my list. Nouman and I (with the help and constant pushing of my mom) purchased our bedset and mattress a while ago. Our essential, must-buy-before-wedding, list was:

Basic Bedroom Set: Bed set, night tables and a dresser
Mattress
Bedsheets, Covers and Pillows: Obviously, keep your bedroom colour scheme in mind
Toilet Sink Accessories(I had no idea what this category was called – I had to go to Ikea’s website to check. I was going to say “Toilet Decor.”): Same as above – match your accessories to your bathroom colours
Storage: Nouman and I have a tonne of possessions between the two of us (don’t judge us!) so we definitely need lots of storage space.

Taking pictures of myself while my mom looks around – this is how much I enjoy furniture shopping

Vendor Review: Exquisite Events

Shaza's Scrapbook — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:10:04 +0000

I’ve been meaning to write this review for a long time. A huge component of South Asian weddings is the elaborate decor – we like things to be bigger and more unique than anyone else. Many of you have asked me to give my true thought on decorators and I’m always hesitant; I want to guide you but unless I have worked with a vendor, I don’t think my opinion is fair. Sure, most decorators seem friendly when you first meet them – but how good is their customer service? Do they deliver what was promised? Is the quality of their products (i.e. fabric) good? When you ask me to refer a decorator, those are the things I’m thinking. Yes, I can send you a list of decorators whose work I like but I can’t give my opinion.

Anyway, before I booked my decorator (you’ll be getting a very detailed review after the wedding – customer service, delivery of product/what was promised, understanding my vision, ability to accommodate, etc), I had contacted Shaheen Iqbal of Exquisite Events. I tried contacting her over a 2 week period but was unable to get in touch with her. Annoyed and flustered, I gave up. A few days before I was leaving on my trip to Pakistan, we were finally able to connect. However, I had already met with my decorator at this point – when I came back from the trip, I let Shaheen know that I had booked someone.

So, when did I use Exquisite Events services? For my sister’s Nikkah! Exquisite Events is the in-house decorator at Candles Banquet Hall – the venue for the event.

Shaheen was a pleasure to work with – she was super accommodating and has a great eye for putting colours together. I love it when vendors go above and beyond your expectation and Shaheen did just that. She used her creative judgment and threw in things that would make the stage look even more exquisite (get it? Haha – I’m lame!). I loved the colour composition and the clean-cut look of her decor; it’s simple but so elegant!

A breakdown of our experience:

Customer Service: Shaheen was easy to get a hold off – I had been skeptical at first because I had a hard time getting in touch for my own events. However, she always replied to phone calls/emails promptly.
Understanding the Vision: My sister and I were impressed; Shaheen understood my sisters’ vision perfectly
Flexibility: One of the best qualities of Shaheen is that she is very accommodating. I have dealt with enough rigid vendors – Shaheen was a refreshing (and much-needed) change. I’ve been dealing with one very rigid wedding vendor for our wedding – I hope they pull through.
Timeliness: I’m always paranoid that vendors, especially decorators, might run late and not appreciate the importance of time. Shaheen was great – the hall was ready well in advance of our event; I went to the hall to have a look earlier in the day and it was perfect
End Product: Very satisfied – we got exactly what we wanted – yeay!

Based on my personal experience, I would absolutely recommend Exquisite Events – especially for events such as a Nikkah, Engagement or Mehendi.

Exquisite Events at Suhaag
Photography by Shaza’s Scrapbook

Purty!
Photography by Shaza’s Scrapbook

Photography by Shaza’s Scrapbook

Such vibrant colours

Candles transformed to give a “lounge” vibe

My sisters Nikkah
Photography by Ali K

*All the above images are owned by Exquisite Events unless otherwise stated*

If you’re interested to read more vendor reviews or want to share your experience with future brides/grooms, check out our friends at YourWeddingFolder.Com

Wedding Entrance Songs

Shaza's Scrapbook — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:52:57 +0000

Since we’re getting close to the wedding, I figured I’d start finalizing my entrance songs. I’m not a huge bollywood fan (the last movie I watched was either Om Shanti Om or Jodha Akbar – whichever is most recent) so my song choices are limited. I need your help – especially for the Mayoun/Mehendi entrance songs. Please give me suggestions

Here’s what I’m thinking:

Mayoun
I really want a classic mehendi song – the type you sing to at dholki’s

Mehendi
Something upbeat but not punjabi. I definitely don’t want an overplayed song such as Mehendi Hai Rachne Wali - do people still use that song?!

I like dholki’s – My right hand looks really straight for a clap

The shaadi entrance song should be easy enough – there are enough mushy desi songs out there. I do have some songs shortlisted

Monday’s Munchies: Mother’s Day Treat

Shaza's Scrapbook — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:54:52 +0000

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend. Mine was super hectic… but that’s old news now, right? On Friday, we finished making most of the Mehendi Thaals (trays) – yeay! Saturday was mostly wedding related errands – grooming (if you know what I mean), met my decorators (you’ll be getting a full review of their services after the wedding), and mumma and I took out all the pending mehendi/favour things. On Sunday, I went to a bridal shower and celebrated Mother’s Day!

In our family, it is our tradition to take our mom out for a Mother’s Day brunch and shower her with lots of flowers. My mom loves flowers, so we always surround her with lots of them (check out all the flowers she got below MashAllah).

Ever since we were kids, my dad has always encouraged us to look to our mom as a role model – she is the heart, the rock and the bond that ties this family together (he calls her the Queen of our house… cute much? MashAllah). She is such an awesome family maker – her relationship with her own siblings is strong obviously but even more admirable is how she handles her relationship with her inlaws. Some of my cousins on my dad’s side of the family consider her their second mom and look to her for advice – as I get closer to my wedding, I can only hope that I learn to be as graceful with relationships. I love that my mom is so independent and strong – I am so thankful that our parents have brought us up to think for ourselves and be strong just like her Alhamdulilah.

Enough of the mushy stuff… onto the pictures of our brunch at Cora’s

Mine!

My parents love hollandaise sauce

Flowers from us three, my dad and the 2 son-in-laws I love velvetty flowers

From Nouman to my mom

On a side note, Cora’s is alright – an average breakfast place

Friday’s Feature: Aysha & Murtaza

Shaza's Scrapbook — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:56:11 +0000

I love colourful mehendi’s so today’s feature is a gorgeously stunning mehendi. The energy at the mehendi seems contagious.

*All the images are from Ali Khurshid’s Facebook page.

How gorgeous is this?! Got to love weddings in Pakistan for their stunning decor

So adorable – he’s singing to her

Awww!

To have a look at how vibrant and fun their mehendi was, check out their video on my Facebook page.

Just a reminder, it’s Mother’s Day this weekend so make sure you pamper your mommy!