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Saturday, December 8, 2012

A Gift of Love


A set of perfume as gift
A watch in a 'garden' of fresh flowers

Marriage is a lifetime journey which deserves celebration in any culture. Apart from the solemnization, it is customary in the Malay wedding, the bride and the groom exchanged gifts (hantaran) as a symbol of love and new relationship sealed on the special day. The gifts need not have to be expensive but what is more important is the message delivered in the "hantaran" (from the Malay word "hantar" which mean to send). The gifts can range from the cheap chocolate and cookies to the massive amount of dowry!

From the groom, the gifts include among others the dowry to the bride, a wedding ring and other gifts.  While the bride will be presenting more trays of gifts than the groom, the focal point of families and friends is the presentation of the gifts which can be delightful to the eyes. If the groom send 5 trays of gifts to the bride, she will reciprocate by sending 7 trays in return and the number of trays are usually paired in odd numbers. I'm not sure of the logic! 

Some families take the pain of preparing the trays of gifts themselves, while others would engage professionals to do the job. Just look at the work of art and heart by Maya Puri Creations (http://www.facebook.com/maya.puri.creations), who has appeared in the local magazines for her splendid work. The creative lady Safinaz always uses fresh flowers and she cleverly blends her palette of colors to come up with fascinating presentations. Doing away with complicated creation (gubahan), her work portrays simplicity yet fresh and natural!

A set of pens
Fruits can be one of the gifts on the tray
The Sticky sweets presented on the tray
The fresh flowers were recycled for home decoration
Gift of cuppies


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