72. Making the hantaran (Part II)

For part I, click http://latteandfrap.blogspot.com/2014/01/71-making-hantaran.html 

Sorry guys, have been busy with a new job, cleaning up houses, cat problems, wedding plannings etc. I'm sad to say that my photographer didn't capture pictures of the hantaran individually, just as a group, so there's no pictures that focuses particularly on every hantaran. A bit sad, as the hantaran arrangements were really nice and these pictures doesn't really do it justice, but it was miscommunication on my part too. She still did an amazing job with the photos.

By the way,  if you are look for dulang hantaran arrangements, on a budget, contact me at 012-6355432 :) We can work out a budget, I'm sure of it. Whatsapp or SMS me!

Anyway, here's the gist of the hantaran:

(Top shelf L-R: Fruit basket, Ferrero Roccher, two books - Ibn Al-Arabi's Bezels of Wisdom & Bounty of Allah; Bottom shelf L - R: Macaroons tier, cookies  and pineapple tarts, and sireh junjung).

As you can see, the decoration was very simple, but sweet and romantic. Here are some shots of the dulang, pre-decorated, with some details.

1. Sireh junjung

I really wished there was a picture of the sireh junjung as it was made the night before with Sheila and my stepgrandmother. One of my best friends, Sheila, was supposed to bring fresh roses for the sireh junjung, but due to complications, we ended up using a mix of fake roses for the hantarans. Doesn't matter, still looked beautiful. It was RM 6 for a stem of 5 flowers. I bought 6 stems, along with some fake lavender stems (RM 5 per stem) and two bunch of hydrangeas (RM 3 per stem). No pictures for this, the base was just the  base polystyrene covered in lilac silk fabric.

2. Macaroons

The counter lady lied too, and said that the macaroons wouldn't melt. Well it did!! It was like RM 4 per piece and wouldn't fit into the container I had  prepared earlier. It came in an ugly box where you couldn't see anything. Ugh I would have changed this idea if I had the chance. Future brides, please don't get macaroons. They meltttt. The stand was borrowed from Sheila, polished by a best friend, Sarah, using coca cola haha. That stuff works.

3. Fruit basket

My best friend, Cellene, made the arrangements of the flowers on the fruit basket - it looks so sweet, right? I forgot to take the glass container from my house, so we had to arrange the fruits carefully, less the cherries and grapes fell out. Thank you to my mom for buying the fruits, she insisted on paying Alhamdulillah. The trick is to pour some minyak masak (I used olive oil LOL) onto tissue paper and wipe all the fruits with it. TQ Sheila for helping me with every little cherry.

4. Ferrero Rocher

We were scratching our heads to present the ferrero rocher because the box was wider than the hantaran tray. I sawed off some polystyrene somewhere and pinned it to the base using pinheads, and managed to "artfully" arrange the chocolate box. There were two circular stickers on the top casing (now covered by the white flowers) which said something like Merry Christmas LOLOL so my stepgrandmother managed to cover it. Yay!

5. Cookies and pineapple tart

We cut circles from the balance of the lilac silk fabric used to line all the trays and glue-gunned it to the top of the container head, which was an ugly red (if you live in Malaysia, you know what I'm talking about...). Then we gluegunned some ribbons (90 cents from a shop!) and some beaded flower decos. I loved the deco for this tray (Cellene decorated it) but there's no close-up shot of it.

6. Book

Two books, purchased from Kinokuniya - the total was almost RM 200. I love this dulang too.

7. Cake

The cake stand was basically half of Cellene's vacumn cleaner box, cut in half, then covered with layers of shimmering white and lilac organza paper, with the flowers gluegunned to death on it. I think the cake box was a bit overdone to be honest, but we learn from past mistakes. If you are planning hantaran ideas, please do not get Secret Recipe cakes. Originally I had planned to get cheesecake, but upon the cashier's advicement - she told me cheesecake would melt and chocolate cake would last the whole day - the cake had melted and sagged a mere few hours later.

Conclusion

Maybe I'm 'syiok sendiri' (full of myself) for saying my hantaran is cantik, but I think it was beautiful because my closest and dearest helped me with decorating it :) The dulang can be re-used for my future solemnization event. I'm always thinking of ways to cut cost and diy-ing everything myself so my friends and family become victim to my project haha. Learned a lot, so I'm more prepared for my wedding hantaran now. I actually enjoy my time doing this, so if you are look for dulang hantaran arrangements, on a budget, contact me at 012-6355432 (whatsapp/sms/call) :) I loved trying to find the flowers, matching the color combos etc. and I know how stressful it is, so do contact me!