One year ago

It was 1st May in 2010 where we had our merisik. Merisik is an important ceremony in Malay families. It's sorta like asking permission from the girl's side whether it's ok to befriend their daughter and it's also asking for their blessings in the relationship that is about to bloom. Some couples might have been committed to one another for years while some might be for months before they had this merisik ceremony. Most importantly, it means that the guy is ready to tie the knot with the girl and that the budget for getting married is there (or maybe on it's way there). It is also to indicate how serious that dude is and that he's not in it just for the fun of it.

Personally, I thought it would be a waste of money, time and energy. Hehe. I used to think so.

I would rather have an intimate akad / solemnization ceremony attended by close family and friends, followed by a feast for all. That would have been very cost effective (provided the menu is something simple - beehun goreng, anyone?)

But it all changed when Ammar's grandmom said that it is important to have this merisik ceremony and as headstrong that I am, I fell prey. :-p I listened to her explanation and agreed with most of her views.

And so we had our merisik ceremony on May 1st, 2010. Not many people know of this and I intended it to be so because as bubbly as I am (at times :-D), I am rather secretive.

It was a nerve wrecking experience because I had to cook for my future in laws! My absolutely darling mom was being her usual darling self, insisted on me preparing chicken rice for the future in laws. I prayed hard that the food won't taste bad. If our dishes really do represent our feelings and emotions upon preparing them, I sure hope that whoever eat my Nasi Ayam won't be fidgety with intolerable anxiety.

Luckily they turned out nice.

I put on my baju kurung and was very quiet and reserved.

My mom had my makcik as well as my paklong and aunty Aneesa (Paklong's wife - who is not Malay and was persistent in attending this ceremony -she wanted to know about all these things so that when her daughters' time has come, she would know how to handle them. Hehe.) to accompany her. Being the first daughter, this means that this is the very first time for things like these to occur in our family. We were so inexperienced and didn't know what to expect of.

Ammar didn't come though, it wasn't customary for the guy to attend this merisik ceremony. We were texting away while the elders did the negotiation on the coming events. It was all but a blur to me until the moment where we read our prayers (led by Ammar's Granduncle ) and this was followed by a ring given to me. A merisik ring. A very simple gold ring that symbolizes 'this girl is almost engaged - almost booked.' :-D

I was so happy when it ended. We were one step closer to being united for good.

We had about 3 weeks after that before my booking day ceremony or better known as bertunang. I was in a frenzy buying things for the gifts -hantaran as well as booking things that needed to be booked. It was going to be a simple but neat ceremony and I had everything DIY except the cooking part. Nah, that has got to be handed to the caterer.

Merisik was fun and definitely something to be remembered with a smile pasted on my face. Not for long now, it will be our one year anniversary since we said I do. Gosh.