So, here’s the story of how I got engaged. FYI, I’m already married as I write this, but while hanging out at my mom’s place (waiting for my husband to get back from his outstation trip), I stumbled across one of our engagement photos on the study desk.
And I thought, why not write about it? Human memory is fragile after all. Better to jot it down before my brain hits delete. One day my kids, grandkids and great-grandkids can read this and get totally cringed out. Perfect.
Now, let’s be clear: there was no movie-scene proposal. No kneeling on one leg with a velvet box, no violins, not even Cinta Subuh vibes. My husband went full mamak-stall mode blatantly talking about marriage and finally there goes the idea of marraige and I give him a yes as an answer. That was it. Romantic? Not really. Efficient? Absolutely.
Since he’d already met my family and my mom kept calling him polite and well-mannered, I knew this could work. And honestly, between the two of us, I’m the more gangster, so balance achieved.
When I told my parents, of course they wanted a ceremony. Me? I wanted it simple. No tents, no big catering, no circus. Just a nice lunch at a restaurant so no one had to stress.
The only problem? My family is HUGE. I’ve got 13 nieces and nephews. If everyone came, my mom’s house would look like a pasar malam. So, after some plotting with my sisters, we set a guest limit: 14 adults, half from my side, half from his. Kids stayed home.
We booked the VIP room at The Roomah, Publika. Proper Malay food to keep the aunties and uncles happy, and no need to decorate the house like a wedding expo. My parents weren’t thrilled at first, they’re old-school, tent-outside-the-house people but since I’m the youngest and my sisters already had their big celebrations, they compromised. We still did hantaran though, 3 trays vs 2, just to keep the peace.
So on 11 May 2024, we got engaged.
