How Much Does A Garden Wedding Cost?

Over the last few months I have managed to put aside some cash for rainy days. What i mean by cash is some coins stashed in a can, and what I mean by rainy days is a 42-inch plasma TV. If it's a storm and not just rain, it means there could be a home theatre set thrown into the package as well. If all goes well as planned, by the end of the year at the latest, there's a big chance that you'll see me lounging on the sofa with a remote in my hand, a plate of baklava on the side-table and a big smile on my face enjoying the HD quality picture emanating from my new shiny monster screen TV.

The thing is things seldom go as planned in my neck of the woods. It could be for a lot of different reasons, although most of the time they are caused by the three lovely girls whom I played a big part in bringing into this world. This time though I blame it on the weddings that we were made to go to over the last four weeks. Weddings mean there would be smartly dressed grooms and shiny sequin-covered brides. To a five-year old, these shiny brides look just like beautiful princesses from magical castles far far away. And who wouldn’t want to be a beautiful princess from a magical castle far far away?

On the way back from one of the weddings, Nuha my five-year old angel suddenly said that she’s a princess too and she’s going to have a garden wedding at a hotel. I almost choked on the asam boi that I eat to keep me from dozing on the wheels. Somebody, press the Panic Button please! My five-year old is thinking about her own wedding already.. and a garden wedding that is. I turned around trying to find some quick answer from Supermama who I was sure would be as panicky as I was. But instead there she was, trying to stifle a big laugh when she’s supposed to go berserk and be on panic mode like me. This was definitely not right. I had to do something quickly to clear my eldest daughter’s head from all these wedding ideas.

I managed to compose myself enough and told Nuha in my calmest possible voice that she’s only five and she’s not going to be in any wedding of her own for many many many years. I think I did say the word “many” quite a few times. Nuha immediately answered “I know lah Abah, Nuha cakap je, ni masa Nuha besar nanti lah”. Aaaaah! It was such a relief to hear that from her. I don’t think my heart could take it if she had mentioned a boy’s name instead. I also asked Nuha why a garden wedding and why at a hotel? She said a princess should be surrounded by flowers hence the garden theme. And the hotel is for Mama and Abah to stay comfortably during the occasion. That’s very thoughtful of her though I bet I won’t feel comfortable at all at my own daughter’s wedding. Suddenly the song butterfly kisses comes to mind.

Remember the coins I stashed for rainy days.. Well rainy day no longer means 42-inch plasma TV. Goodbye new shiny monster screen. Goodbye universal remote. Goodbye 1000Watt Home Theatre System. Rainy day now means a garden wedding with lots of flowers in a hotel somewhere that is fit for a princess. Come end of the year, it’ll be just me and a plate of baklava trying to watch some movies on the small 21-inch screen with smudges from the twin’s saliva coated fingers. Hmmm. anyone knows how much does a garden wedding cost?

Nuha loves flowers..

The saliva factories