Looking back: Ratu Wedding

Speaking of Cut Marlyn, my biggest concern was their bridal make-up. Therefore, I decided to use Ratu Wedding instead, with their main make-up artist, Mbak Tanti.

Mbak Tanti is this young-looking, very pretty, very soft-spoken lady who is nice to be around with. She arrived earlier than me in PTIK, so that's a good beginning. Exactly at 1 p.m. She started to do her thang, and about 90 minutes later we were done. I like what she did for my akad, with the headpiece and the soft-yet-very-Sumatranese-kinclong make-up.



Make-up and hairdo by Mbak Tanti and team

 In the afternoon, she and her two assistants retouched the make-up and made it more eye-catching for the reception. I like it too, but I think it was a bit too thick. But hey what do I know, heavy make-up for me is colored lip balm, one-layer mascara and thin eyelines. I absolutely love the bindi she put on my forehead, though. Pretty.

Waiting for our par-tay to begin

They also put a soft layer of foundation (or was it powder?) to Bangun, and I think it was of the right amount. I often see grooms are overly made-up in weddings, and thank God mine was not one of them.

All in all, with the low price and high-quality service she presented, I give 5 out of 5 stars for Mbak Tanti of Ratu Wedding, despite the over-layering for the reception. Tapi kan katanya kalo nggak menor bukan manten Sumatra...

The person to contact is Lili or Ami at 021 4788 1712

Fifty three days before

Welcoming two new vendors in our list: First is my good friend from high school, Laili, and her band. As I once said, music is an important aspect of our life. Therefore, when it comes to wedding singer, I don't want to pick random jazzy band to perform random Jason Mraz/Michael Buble songs on repeat with bad pronunciation.

After an even more mind-boggling hunt, our choice fell on Laili. We (I, Bangun and Laili) went to the same class for a year in high school, and I know her taste in music and her singing style.

And so it's a deal. Now I'm just hoping she'll accept my song list without crossing my name from her list of friends.

Second vendor is Ratu Wedding for my makeup. Have I mentioned before, I'm not quite sure about Cut Marlyn's makeup? They are not bad, but they're just not my taste. I worship the quality of their décor and traditional costume collection, but if there is one flaw of the vendor, it's their bridal makeup.

Naturally, I started looking for another vendor. It wasn't easy. Since Cut Marlyn didn't want to deduct the package price even though we took out the makeup service (which is a bit evil, if I may add), we of course had to expand our budget for this. And tell me, dear readers, tell me any easy way to talk a man into spending even more money for a look that will last five hours on top of bulging expenses to throw a "party" for 1,200++ guests?

But thankfully Bangun understands.

I guess.

He said he understood how makeup is the most important thing to me (can I get a hell yeah, fellow brides?) but still reminded me to look for someone with a sensible price tag.

After a few weeks of browsing, calling, getting frustrated, considering going back to Cut Marlyn, and some more browsing, I found out that Ratu Wedding offered a very friendly price. Long story short, we made a deal and life is starting to look good again.

It's D-53, people, let's all show our steady hands and breeeeeeeeeathe!