Country Cottage Arts

Sunday 1 August 2010


Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the 'akad nikah' ceremony of Sharifah Farrah Soraya, the eldest daughter of  Tan Sri Syed Yusof Tun Syed Nasir and Puan Sri Sharifah Sabrina Syed Agil with Raja Arfiz Shah Putera Raja Taharudin,  whose parents are YM Raja Taharudin bin Raja Dato Nong Chik and Puan Faridah bt Abdul Rahman.

The ceremony was held at the bride's residence in Shah Alam on the morning of Saturday, 31 July 2010. 

Having known Farrah from her primary school days - I was her English Tutor - I can truly say that she has grown into a simply charming and beautiful young lady, full of poise and confidence but yet with a hint of childish exuberance.  A most polite young lady with no airs, with a soft spoken voice and  graceful demeanor. Hmmm, sounds like one of those fairy tale princesses, doesn't it ?  Well, if you see her pictures below, you'll certainly agree.


The 'akad nikah' ceremony was held in Farrah's house, which her Dad built just next to his house!  Just shows how much they love their daughter huh. Actually, the house stands in the same family compound, only that since the daughters are all grown up - that's Farrah and her younger sister, Farhana, a separate house was built within the family compound  to provide for their privacy.

It was a lovely morning and the air was filled with the sweet smell of roses and daisies in an  all white theme.  The wedding planner was Rizalman  and the house was decorated in a white theme.  The all white roses and daises swag over the spiral staircase and the the front entrances, together with the huge posies of roses  everywhere gave an air of simplicity and purity which, against the grandeur of the the ceremony and house, bestowed  an aura of taste and decorum.

The groom's party delivered 9 trays as gifts or 'hantaran' in  silver containers and the bride's family presented 11 trays in gold themed containers ( see pictures)  I think I spotted the latest craze - Apple's i phone 4, in one of the gifts.... not quite sure, but I did see one which looked like it...The 'mas kahwin' or dowry was RM1000.00

The house was full of VIP ladies all  in their finery ....... my, I haven't seen so many variations of the headscarf ........................  Most of the ' Mat Sallehs' , mostly Australians, since Farrah went to Perth to continue her studies , were in full force and since her grandma ( on her mother's side) is also an Australian, they filled the foyer and everywhere.......... there was no place to move and I had to squeeze to get through.

Puan Sri Sabrina, as usual, was appropriately dressed in a ' baju kebaya' of  soft white with purplish pink floral knots.  Slim and beautiful in her own right, she was her usual graceful hostess, making sure all the guests were comfortable and well taken care of.  She's one of the few people whom I 'm glad to acknowledge  as a   friend, for despite her beauty,  status and  wealth , ( and that a very lethal combination !) she remains a very down-to-earth person . Farrah has definitely inherited all all of that and more ................................................  

The professional photographers from Rizalman and local dailies were strategically and stupidly  positioned at every corner of the best spaces available, so I had to literally jostle my way, sometimes bending on all fours, to get decent shots , some of which are shown below.

As a picture says a thousand words and I'm already going to exceed the limit , I'll let the picture do the rest.......

The huge rose posies.............





The front entrance to Farrah's residence








Farrah sitting demurely on the dais after
the 'akad nikah' ceremony




The 11 gift trays from the bride's side



Another pic of the beautiful  bride........ the cameramen were all over the place and we ladies had to jostle with them to even get a decent picture!  so kiasu they were !









the gifts from the groom's side - 9 trays... including a diamond bracelet, ring and chain



This picture was taken after the entire ceremony was over, the newlyweds with their well wishers......










This was taken just after the solemnization rites were done.  So sweet............ but I did wish it was the groom who was  kissing the hand of the bride, in the traditional romantic fairy tales way!

The young lady in red is Farrah's sister, Farhana


The proud parents of the bride, Tan Sri Syed Yusof and Puan Sri Sharifah Sabrina


Note the cameraman  again ?



The groom's mum, Faridah and I..... our friendship goes a long long  way back













Puan Sri Sharifah Sabrina and I ...... we've known each other since Farrah was 10 years or so












This was my first attendance at an 'akad nikah' ceremony and how glad I am that it was the joyous occassion of my student to start with.  

The next posting will be the 'berinai' celebrations which was held at the  Ballroom of Concorde Hotel, KL later in the evening.  The dress code was ' Arab'.........

Till then, ciao and happy painting


Lakshmi