Wedding Venue

Setelah memilih bridal, pada kesempatan lain kami mencoba mencari wedding venue yang cocok dan sesuai budget, tentunya. Pengalaman mencari wedding venue adalah pengalaman yang tak terlupakan. Kenapa? karena ada 1 teknik yang namanya Wedding Crasher. Eh, tapi bukan bikin kawinan orang jadi hancur lowh yah. Wedding crasher adalah dimana kita menghadiri suatu acara pernikahan tanpa diundang (atau bahkan tidak kenal sama pengantinnya). heheh. Tapi ini tahap penting loh. Dengan demikian, kita jadi bisa menempatkan diri di posisi tamu di venue tersebut, Sehingga kita bisa lihat kualitas venue tersebut, baik dari sisi sound system, luas ruangan, makanan, dekorasi, dll. Tapi jangan salah. Biarpun jadi wedding crasher, kita tetep kasih angpao koq.

Nah gw dan Harold udah pernah jadi wedding crasher di beberapa venue berikut:

1. Hotel Orchard Industri
    Sebenernya sih harganya on budget yah, banyak juga bonus yang dikasih sama marketingnya. Tapi, begitu kita datang ke sana, ada beberapa kekurangan yang kayaknya cukup fatal, yaitu lokasi parkir yang agak jauh ke bawah. Jadi tamu harus jalan agak jauh dari parkiran ke dalam gedung. Lalu, ceiling nya juga agak pendek yah. Btw, ruang yang gw cek ini yang ada di lantai dasar. Kalau yang di lantai 2, enggak tau deh. Mungkin bagus, tapi out of budget ah. Pas itu lagi diperbaikin juga sih. Jadi belom sempet liat kalau ada wedding.

2. Hotel Grand Whiz Kelapa Gading
    Dari segi lokasi sih ini hotel enak banget, dan cukup bagus juga ruangannya. Panjang juga sih, tapi kurang lebar. Jadi kesannya sempit. Dan untuk harga yang dia tawarkan di paket, menurut gw ga worth it. Makanan juga pas kita cobain biasa aja. Yang lucunya adalah pas kita lagi cobain makanan sana sini, Harold ketemu temennya dong. Dan temennya itu nanya kita kenal sama bride atau groom nya. Ahahaha. Kita bilang aja orangtua kita yang kenal.

3. Hotel The Batavia Kota Tua
    Hmmmmm... makanan? Biasa aja. Sound system? not really good. Dekor? Wewww kurang banget. Lokasi? macet. Kota tua gitu loh. Sebenernya sih dari marketing kasih kita Free nginep 2 malam. Tapi koq kamarnya enggak feeling yah. Rasanya gimana gitu. Terus kurang nyaman aja rasanya.

4. Hotel Orchard Pangeran Jayakarta
    Budget masuk sih. Marketingnya juga baik, banyak kasih bonus ini itu. Dan katanya ada kolam berenang indoor. Okay, datanglah gw dan Harold ke sana. Makanan lumayan enak sih. Dia ada area utama dan area indoor pool. Jadi, kalau di ruang utama tamu sudah full, bisa geser ke area pool. Tapi poolnya agak kecil dan biasa aja. Terus, area pool sangat dekat dengan dapur. Jadi suara piring-piring bekas yang ditaro di dapur akan sangat terdengar. Berisik. Ruangan juga agak kecil. Enggak cukup untuk tamu undangan kita yang berkisar 500 undangan.

5. Gedung Kirana Two Kelapa Gading
    Lokasi: strategis. Makanan: enak. Dekor: cantik. Ruang pemberkatan dapet, lumayan lebar pula. Cuma sayangnya kurang lebar. Jadi kayaknya terlalu sempit untuk tamu kita. Kita ke sana sama keluarga. Begitu nyampe lokasi, ternyata itu adalah kondangan GURU SMA nya dede gw. Wewww.. Alhasil, ketemulah dia dengan beberapa guru sekolahnya. Ahahahahha.

6. Taruma Grand Ballroom (Untar)
    OMG!!! Hall resepsinya baguuuusssssss. Itu kan letaknya di lantai atas, jadi dari ruangan bisa lihat City View. Marketingnya Pak Hendra juga baikkkkk. Makanan enakkkk. Dekor bagusss. Budget sangat masuk. Tapi sayang, daerahnya macet. Padahal gedungnya bagus banget,

7. Menara BTN Gajah Mada.
   Ruangan: besar. Ada ruang utama dan ruang tengah. Lebarnya juga lumayan. Makanannya enak, dan memang harus catering in house dari gedung, yaitu Dynasty. Dekorasinya juga cantik. Ada beberapa vendor dekor rekanan menara BTN, seperti Hani Decoration, Tata, Chloe, etc. Begitu masuk, kita langsung jatuh cinta banget sama ini gedung.

Menara BTN Main Hall

Menara BTN  Area Tengah

PLUSSSSS marketingnya, Ci Olive dan Pak Adi yang sangat helpful. Mereka punya banyak masukkan untuk calon-calon pengantin seperti kita ini. Fyi, Ci Olive ini kayaknya adik atau kakaknya Pak Hendra deh. Keluarga lah pokoknya. They are the best. Setelah beberapa kali diskusi dan dateng bolak balik ke menara BTN ini, akhirnya kita memutuskan untuk memakai Menara BTN as our wedding venue. Parkiran juga luas banget. I can't wait for the day to come.

The Proposal (cont.)

Ok, lanjutan dari cerita sebelumnya mengenai Proposal Prank. Jantung berdegup kencang melihat sang pacar memegang tangan dan berlutut. Saat itu dia mulai melakukan sesuatu:

          Dia mengencangkan tali sepatunya!!!

JEGERRRR ternyata bukan proposal, tapi another proposal prank. Sebel banget rasanya.

Kami dan teman-teman memang sudah merencanakan untuk pergi ke Singapur tanggal 29 April - 2 Mei 2015. Selama berhari-hari, berminggu-minggu, dia terus-menerus memanipulasi otak gw sehingga gw mikir "Gak mungkin rasanya dilamar di Singapur. Mau di mana? Moment apa?" Apalagi dia berulangkali bilang "Jangan-jangan di propose nya di Singapur". Lah, pikiran gw, mana ada sih orang mau lakuin suatu surprise tapi bilang-bilang.

Oke, tibalah hari ke Singapur itu. Kita pergi ber 5 (3 cewek, 2 cowok). Beginilah urutan surprise itu terjadi:

Tgl 30 April2015, kita jalan-jalan dan main di Universal Studio. Setelah main ini itu, masuklah kita ke area Far Far Away

Grup cewek asik foto2 di depan, 1 cowok lagi fotoin kita, dan si Harold lagi entah ke mana nanya jadwal acara The Donkey Show (photo isn't captured by me)

Tapi entah kenapa lamaaaa banget tu sih abang ga balik-balik. Padahal cuman nanya jadwal doang. Akhirnya, datanglah dia. Dia bilang, jadwalnya sekarang ada. Oke, kita mulai antri masuk dan rebutan cari tempat duduk. Sayangnya, tempat duduk kita ber2 dan 3 orang teman lainnya terpisah. Kita ber2 duduk di paling tengah, teman kita duduk agak di pinggir kanan. Ok, that's fine. 

Acara pun dimulai, Donkey mulai joget dan menyapa kita, ditemani dengan 1 host lagi yang enggak tau sebutnya apa. Tiba-tiba, si Donkey ngomong "The girl in blue shirt, wearing couple shirt. Yes, You!" Hah? ada apa nih. Gw pun bengong kan. Enggak ngerti ada apaan tiba-tiba disuruh berdiri. Gw pun berdiri, dan begitu gw nengok ke sang calon, hilanglah dia sudah dari kursinya. Ternyata dia kabur ke tempat duduk temen-temennya. Gw cuman mikir "kurang ajar, dia kabur". 

Si Donkey ini ngajak gw ngobrol terus. Dia suruh gw bayangin suara Merlion lah, ini lah , itu lah. Tiba2 si Donkey bilang "oh, the boyfriend is back". Refleks gw nengok ke belakang dan gw ud liat si Harold udah pake Jas rapih dengan tangan di belakang. Saat itu lah gw sadar bahwa this is the moment. Rasanya enggak karuan, happy bgt, tegang, dag dig dug, terharu, dll. Lanjut. Donkey pun nanya "Do you have something to say to Stephani?" and the proposal began

Dia berlutut, kasih gw bunga, dan megang tangan gw. Under the spotlight and in front of audience, he popped the question "Will You Marry Me?" I started to cry happily, and without doubt I said "Yes". He put he ring on my finger. We hug each other and the audience clapped their hands.

Then I realized, our friends were there and captured this beautiful moment. They took the pic and video of our moment. Thanks to our lovely friends. 

Ternyata, pas tadi awal dia ngilang dan bilang mau cek jadwal Donkey Show, dia sebenernya ngomong sama penjaga show nya. Minta ijin untuk propose gw di dalam sana. Thanks for my lovely fiance. I really love you. That was one of the best day of my life. Thanks for the great surprise. Tinggalah gw bertanya2, di mana bunganya disembunyiin. Ternyata ada di tas yang dibawa sama salah 1 temen qt. 

The PROPOSAL PRANK

Sebenarnya gw lupa untuk ceritain tentang proposal ini, dan malah cerita tentang bridal duluan. Maaf yah.

I just can't wait to tell it. Selama ini gw hanya sering melihat dari TV, internet, ataupun foto teman gw yang di propose dari facebook/ sosmed lainnya. Enggak pernah kebayang bakal jadi kayak apa kisah proposal gw. Oke, jadi gini. First of all, my boyfriend is really a master mind. He can manipulate my way of thinking the way he wants. Ini adalah beberapa tipuannya:

1. Dia jadi sering banget nanya gw "mau dilamar kayak ap?"
2. Tebak-tebakkan. Dia sering bilang bahwa dia udah punya rencana khusus untuk propose. Dan dia sering nanya yang bikin orang penasaran, misal "kira-kira, nanti aku propose nya di dokumentasiin atau ga ya? tapi kalau di dokumentasiin, diliat temen-temen donk? Tapi kalau enggak didokumentasiin, sayang juga"
3. Kasih clue enggak jelas dan susah dimengerti. Misal: butuh cuaca yang bagus. Which makes me think that the proposal will be placed outdoor. Dan mungkin itu akan dilakukan pas Anniversary? Mungkinkah?


dan sebagai cewek normal, wajar dong kalau gw mikir proposal itu bakal terjadi di hari Anniversary?

Spt biasa, kita selalu ada tradisi tukeran kado. Dia keluarin kotak kayak gini:

Spontan gw langsung mikir "is it the time?"

Ternyata TIDAK, saudara-saudara. Isinya jam tangan. Bukan cincin, gelang, ataupun kalung. Beberapa hari setelah anniv, dy nanya "kamu pasti mikir kado kemarin proposal ya?" Wew, He knew what  I was thinking. 

Suatu hari, kita lagi berada di suatu tempat, dia megang tangan gw, tiba-tiba berlutut. Asli, jantung gw dag dig dug. Perasaan campur aduk, gw lirik sana sini untuk lihat apakah ada temennya yang rekam adegan proposal ini? Nyesel kenapa enggak pakai baju bagusan, kenapa enggak dandan yang rapihan sedikit. Karena basically gw bukan tipe orang yang suka dandan banget. Tapi gw nyesel. Pas gw liat dia berlutut, ada rasa terharu seperti yang di film2. 

Lanjutannya? Next post.

The Selected Bridal: Cucu Bridal

It was not on purpose. We went to Wedding Exhibition held at JIEXPO Kemayoran just to check the price for each vendor so we can count our budget first. We looked around the exhibition, visited some booths, asked about the packaged they have, and of course tested many foods from many caterings. I'm just a usual woman, so it's not uncommon if I wanted to spend more time on bridal booth. We were looking for Kelapa Gading located vendor.

First vendor that we came was JJ Bride. The dresses were pretty, the price was not too expensive also. And if you paid the booking fee, you can hold the price until 2 years. But, our first intention of coming to the exhibition was just looking around. So, we decided not to take it and continued our journey.

The second vendor was Caca Bridal. My friend used that bridal too for her wedding on the next year (it was 2013 at that time. and we haven't decided the date, day, or year for our wedding to be held). We interested on the price she offered. From their portfolio, the make up is soft (I like soft make up), the dresses were pretty, and the package price was on budget. I hadn't get the chance to try on the dress.

The 3rd bridal was Cucu Bridal. I am the loyal customer of Cucu Bridal (my family actually is). We always get Cucu Bridal to take my Sweet 17th Birthday, graduation, and even just a casual picture of our family moment. I've experienced the make up, hair do, and their photography team. The package price was on budget. If you paid the booking fee, you can hold the price until 2 or even 3 years. WOW. We also loved the offering package. We are so tempted to pay the booking fee, but still unsure. PLUS, they gave us more discount cause I am a loyal customer of them. And we decided to take it. We chose Eternity 2 Package which includes:

          Diamond Gown new design
          Bridesmaid gown (1 for adult/ 2 for kids)
          Bridesmaid make up& hair do
          Prewedding photo (indoor in studio and outdoor in Bidadari Island)
          Pre wedding photo (35 pics) printed in Seamless Album
          The Day Photo
          The Day Video (Cucu's partner)
          Groom's suit (Voucher: Rp 1.000.000,- )
          Wedding Cake (Voucher: Rp 1.000.000,-)
          Wedding Car
          Wedding invitation (voucher: Rp 1.000.000,-)
          Mom's make up and hair do
          Wedding ceremony's gown
          1 hand bouquet
          4 corsage
          Pre wedding dress, suit, make up, and hair do
          Facial treatment
          2 canvases

The package price at that time was Rp 23.500.000,- (it was supposes to be Rp 26.000.000,-). Thanks for the special discount. Another review of Cucu Bridal will be posted next.
         

         

How I Met Your Father

We are all the main actors and actress in our own lives. Like I told you in the last post, we went to our previous church together, studied at the same school while he  was having his previous girlfriend too, and our mother are friends.

There was someone I like at that time. And also, there was someone who liked me and confessed but got rejected by me of course. Cause that guy is not my type. I also made a commitment to my self: 1 time relationship and will get married to that person. So, I don't want to waste my time to some random guys. So, this was happened.

He just had been curious about the thing that the other guy liked from me. Therefore he became more attentive to me, often paid attention to me to find some attractive side of me. ahahah. Without knowing how, the time went by, he loved my reaction when being disturbed/ annoyed by him or our friends. Then he started to annoy me. Took my stuffs, said annoying things about hair/ my short body. And the flower blooms in our heart. One day he asked me to go to the mall, accompanied him to buy something (just an alibi of course). And at night, he confessed to me. He asked me to be his life partner, not as his girlfriend. I realized that he is serious about relationship and didn't want to play around. With that, we started our journey. And not so long after that, we bought a cute couple doll which will be our icon. This couple doll will also be displayed in our wedding day.

And next post will be the story of THE PROPOSAL. Perhaps that will be a great idea if you want to propose your girlfriend.

Introduction of Crown Diaries

Please let me introduce my self. I make this to capture the moment of my and my soon-to-be husband relationship. I want to write all the process, from the moment when he proposed to me, our wedding preparation, and the moment when we will live together as husband and wife, etc.

Why do I name this blog as"Crown Diaries"? Here is the explanation.

My name is Stephani. It means "Crown". And my soon-to-be husband is Harold, which means "Army Ruler" or "Great Leader". It seems like our names are so perfect each other and meant to be together.

                    The Crown fits to the Great Leader


While I'll be the crown that will be put on an army ruler's head. It shows dignity. Like what Bible says, a woman should be a helper for her husband. I, too,want to bring him to the next level, the leader, a strong and gentle man.

And that also is our mission. We've been lovers for 7 years now, and will get married soon on August. This is the story of  how 2 of us met. We went to the same church every Sunday, and joined in the same Youth community. We studied at the same school (but he already had the previous girlfriend at that time). Our parents know each other for a long time, since we were a baby. ooohhh..and my mom even often brought me to his house back then.  Ahahaha it really feels like faith and magic. I never expected us to fall in love to each other though.

I remember when we came to Junior Church, we were at Junior High School too. I really didn't like his attitude towards our mentor. I took everything seriously, didn't laugh too much, didn't have many friends. While he was a very extrovert boy. When Junior Church Service was about to start, he just disappeared and went to play online game at the place that we call "Warnet" here in Indonesia.

Who can guess that it will turn out we are a lovely couple now?

okay, can't wait to write about the day he confessed to me for the next post.

C u