For Purpose of Posterity

At this point in my late pregnancy, I thought it would be nice to 'post' for posterity my non-pregnancy photos.
These two are from my wedding day. Or should I say 'night' since it took place around 8:30 p.m.
True to Malay traditions, the bride and groom don traditional clothes, preferably in white, during the so-called oath ceremony. Right here in Malaysia, it is called the solemnisation process whereby the groom will hold (or grip if you like) the hand of the bride's father while uttering the formalised words that he wants to take the bride (her full name) as his wife with a state-fixed 'token money' or 'mas kahwin' in Malay language.
The procedure must be officiated by a state-appointed religious cleric or 'kadi' and it must be witnessed and concurred by two appointed male witnesses who happen to be my dad's friend (an old neighbour in Shah Alam) and my mom's cousin.
The pictures were taken before the kadi arrived. He was late having to officiate another wedding before mine. Despite the serene quality of the photos, we were actually a nervous wreck. His delay worked up our feelings even more.
As tradition, at least within my maternal family circle, the bride will stay in her finely-decorated wedding 'boudoir' until the solemnisation ceremony. She will then come down to witness the process at a separate corner of the room but within view of her husband-to-be (who will not even get the chance to glimpse at his beloved since he is busy perspiring profusely and memorising important religious commandments lest the kadi asks him).
After it is completed, the bride will then be ushered back to her room and await her husband's arrival for the ring-wearing ceremony.
Before that takes place however, it is 'sunnah' or preferable that the couple perform a short prayer or 'solat' together as a sign of thanks to God for the marriage.
That night, we exchanged rings and kisses before shaking hands and hugging our parents and other relatives that were present.

In actuality, it was a nerve-wrecking night. (Or should I say 'day' when I had to run errands even to the last minute due to the lack of able-bodied people with access to a car) There was a power outage for half an hour or so (which seems like eternity!) during which my husband and his entourage just arrived at the doorsteps of my parents' house. This was attributed to the overloaded electricity usage in the numerous makeshift tents erected on every available ground of my parents' residence. Thankfully, the blackout only hit certain areas of the house.

The bad news was it did affect the wedding room where my 'make-up artist', who was late in the first place, had yet to do up my hair. We had to finish up in another room which was crammed with my siblings and other relatives who were getting ready for the night.

It was helter-skelter pandemonium!

Fortunately, the power did come on full course again before the solemnisation ritual.

Our wedding 'night' turned out fine and blissful in the end. My husband's presence managed to calm my nerves. (I think we calmed each other) Beforehand, I was unnerved by all the commotions and unforeseen scenarios that had transpired.

The next day, however, when the daytime 'sanding' ("SUN-DEENG") or fullblown celebration took place is a different story. That, I will save for my next entry.