The Beautiful Solemnization Ceremony of Shereen Bahawi & Sheikh Hafeez

I witnessed the beautiful solemnization of my dearest sister Shereen in the morning and then the Minang reception for relatives and friends in the afternoon (her engagement you can read about in my previous posts The Engagement of Shereen Bahawi & Hafeez and Shereen & Hafeez:Part II).

Like I've mentioned before, Shereen and I are like sisters in that we are both the only daughters in our family, and we share a lot of things from clothes to other things that I'd rather not mention here. :p As classmates and cheerleaders together in high school, we have both seen each other grow; we remained close friends even when distance and our life path tore us physically apart. And I still cherish the fact that we went on a random trip just to see Coldplay in Melbourne Australia together too, with a banner made with lots of love from Malaysia (our efforts were not in vain because Chris Martin spotted it!) and our hilarious determination to get as closest to the stage as possible! Finally, we managed to stand at the second row near the stage, so we got a close up view. That is a story for another day :)

Today, the story is solely Shereen's. A year ago, she was one of my pengapit (maid of honour) and bridesmaids for my wedding reception. On this ocassion, I was hers. I felt extremely honoured.

The wedding was a beautiful event and every single touch was stamped with Shereen's signature. It was, in many ways, organized to perfection like only Shereen can do, but yet it felt very simple yet meaningful and not one of those posh events. Not one thing was out of place, or felt unnecessary. It was an emotional affair for a lot of us tray-bearers, and I cried uncontrollably the moment Shereen was walked down the aisle by her father, during the aqd itself and also when her father gave a heart-felt speech afterwards. (We realized that 4 of us Scorpios were the only ones who cried the most). Everything went well and it was just lovely. I had so much fun being crazy with my girlfriends too. :D

I wish them all the best, in the start of their new journey together..!

Hafeez, you better take care of Shereen okay! I love you very very much Shereen! ♥

I will let the pictures do the talking now and I shall blog about the Minang reception soon! :D

Me and Ruzana "Doll-face" Ibrahim.

The rest of the tray-bearers. Glowy trays. Wait, how did we get here and where is the bride?

Okay, let's just rewind a few steps back and show you some behind-the-scenes pictures. Here is the beautiful bride in the changing room.

A bundle of nerves. But understandably so. Looking respondent in her nikah dress by Rizalman and her make up was done by Khir Khalid

The tray-bearers behind the scenes. We couldn't contain our excitement

Helped kill off Shereen's nerves.. by taking lots and lots of photos!

Me with the gorgeous bride

And now back to the event..

The bride, walked down the aisle by her father accompanied by a mellow and heart-tugging song that made us (the emotional ones) cry.

Just love the whole decor and the 'floating flowers' look

The nikah is concluded

Officially husband and wife :)

Shereen and Hafeez with their families

The men and women tray-bearers

The gamelan group providing most of the beautiful live melodies for the day.

The nikah concluded, the dust settled, and the tears all dried (hehe), we took the opportunity for some quick snaps before she had to get ready for her Minang reception.

We look good on you, Shereen! :p hehe

It's a wonder how Shereen can keep her composure surrounded by such crazy vibes from her crazy friends!

Hafeez helping his wife to prepare for the Minang reception. Stay tuned for the Minang reception post, girls.