Adrian's Aqiqah

Long overdue post on Ian's Aqiqah which we held back in February just a week before he turned 3 months old. Of course, how can we have a party without Aiden crashing it - so we decided to combine both Ian's Aqiqah and Aiden's 5th Birthday into one event. Less headache for this mother of two!

Since we had so many great pictures from our photographer and various other phone cameras, I had to split the event into two blog posts. Even then, there are close to 100 pictures in this post alone, so read this only if you really want to; and with a wifi connection. This post is probably an absolute nightmare to load.

Aqiqah literally means "to cut". It is is defined as sacrifice of an animal on the occasion of a child's birth. It is sunnah to slaughter two sheep for a baby boy, and family members, neighbors, and friends are invited to celebrate the blessed occasion. For Muslims, giving the cooked meal is considered a form of almsgiving while giving it to non-Muslims is considered a gift.

Apart from the aqiqah ceremony, we also hosted the month's solat dhuha and kuliah dhuha for the Cahaya SPK residents, led by our neighbourhood ustaz. Alhamdulillah, we had a great turnout that morning. 

Theme for the event was my favourite tiffany blue. I used a good portion of my maternity leave looking for matching buai, bunga telur, canisters and dessert table props. Fine, I should probably admit that I found my perfect aqiqah outfit when I was just 6 months pregnant, dragged Hubby to Nilai 3 when I was 8 months pregnant to buy the flowers for those beautuful bunga telur; and placed my order for the buai and canisters just a few weeks before I was due! But even with the early preparation, I was baking the whole week before the event and it was a mad rush to get two dessert tables (yes two - including one for Aiden's birthday party!) pretty and ready. Despite my close neighbours and sister-in-laws helping out the night before - dipping pop cakes, constructing the backdrop and photobooth, blowing balloons for the balloon arch and preparing bunga rampai, I think I slept at 2am putting the finishing touches.

The welcome poster.

Aiden giving his brother a big kiss. This was shortly after the tantrum he threw about not wanting to wear his baju melayu as it gave him an itch! Grrrr....

Can you see the Aiden's birthday dessert table in the background?

Even with our mature garden, we managed to squeeze the tents in our garden compound, between various big trees. We even moved our garden furniture beside the porch for additional seating.

The tiffany blue buai, and the bunga telur lovingly made by my stepmothers.

The buai came with matching teddy bears, pillows and lanterns. I added a photo of Ian and erm, disco balls to match the silver tray.

Love the details on the buai. So pretty!

You can't see the spotlights from this picture, but Aiden broke one of them the night before the event. I nearly had a fit, and Hubby had to rush out to buy a replacement. Nasib baik jumpa!

Ian's portrait from his first month photoshoot.

Our neighbourhood ustaz, ready for the ceremony.

Meanwhile, we were busy adding on bunga telur to the pahar.

The men were taking their wudu'/ablution in the garden.

And the kambing golek was nearly ready.

When I saw this picture, I balked - Hubby looked like he was getting ready to lafaz the akad nikah! *grin*

What I love about the neighbourhood is the unity and friendship. Whenever there is an aqiqah, the men would make an effort to attend in white.

Hubby parading Ian around, offering attendees of the ceremony to snip a lock of Ian's hair whilst the men recited marhaban zikir recitings.

Snip snip snip.

My dad snipping Ian's hair.

My father-in-law doing the same, while my father recorded every moment.

By the end of the ceremony, Ian had bald patches all over his head, again!

A candid shot with Papa.

Hubby's turn.

Sempat lagi posing!

And then it was the ladies' turn.

Flanked by my sister-in-law.

Cheeky neighbour throwing bunga rampai on Ian (and Mummy)!

Check out Aunty Awien's face!

Thank you everyone for the 'angpow' Ian received during the event!

Found my firsrborn in the dry kitchen - Aiden kept himself busy with Lutfy's tablet, while Lutfy used Aiden's iPad. 

The men during the ceremony.

Hubby listening intently to the ustaz's doa.

The men in white.

Intense concentration.

My family who came all the way from Ipoh.

My sister-in-law and I in the garden.

Hubby inviting everyone to adjourn for lunch in our garden.

The food setup in the garden. The line on the left was for the kambing golek, sushi and ais kacang, whilst the line on the right was for the nasi minyak with ayam masak merah and kurma daging. Guess which line was filled in first?

Of course the left! Men can never get enough of kambing!

Our favourite tender kambing golek with salad and mint sauce.

The line on the right had practically no one!

Our favourite sushi came from my cousin's Japanese restaurant, The Talk in Bangsar.

Freshly prepared sushi, sashimi and rolls.

Air batu kacang to cool everyone down in the hot sun.

Pulut kuning in the shape of a duck, and rendang ayam courtesy of my neighbour. I just gave her the duck baking tin and gave her the free reign to decorate as she please. I was so happy with the end result!

Ian sleeping after the ceremony.

I love the milk bottle pin on his jubah.

Still sound asleep.

But being the light sleeper that he is, he opened his eyes shortly after.

Poor Ian, one of his hand was stuck in between the buai bars!

Curious eyes.

Before he wailed his lungs out, I took the opportunity for a photo with my neighbours who attended the morning kuliah and solat dhuha. Thank you for coming ladies!

Still curious with his surroundings.

Getting ready to cry.

Check out the pout.

Ian checking out the intricate white butterflies.

Finally, he had enough. "Pick me up, Mummy!!!"

Posing without Daddy and Aiden.

Another pose whilst my poor sister was frantically looking for Hubby to join us.

Aiden was nowhere to be found. We found out afterwards he was turning his room upside down with his friends!

Just the three of us.

Check out Ian's adorable pout.

Ian muka masam.

Squashing Ian with our lips.

Last family pose.

Finally we found Aiden! Family photo with my dad.

The entire Ipoh clan dressed in matching colours. Except the couple in yellow on the left... *grin*

Sending my dad home.

The Subang clan, now with a new brother-in-law!

Freestyle! Poor Aiden got cropped out.

What party would be complete without the dessert table and matching decorations?

The decorations for the photobooth,

The dessert table.

Managed to reuse a lot of the tiffany blue props from my sister-in law's wedding.

But instead of tiffany blue and black, I switched the theme to tiffany blue and white to give it a lighter touch, to suit a party for a baby.

I love the platters and macaron bowls, courtesy of my neighbour. Baby blocks and candy from our last trip to Houston.

Personalized cookies. Miniature baby carriages and matching napkins from Houston too.

Mini cookies in the shape of baby bottles!

Red velvet cake in the shape of a Tiffany box.

Heart shaped cookies with embossed fondant, adorned with 3D butterflies.

Personalized milk chocolate and kit kat. I printed the chocolate wrappers together with my SIL's wrappers back in November, and I mistakenly posted a picture of the printables in the family whatsapp - which was how the in-laws found out about Ian's name even before he was born!

Tiffany blue lollipops, rock candy and macarons.

Apothecary jars filled with marshmallow, candy sticks and gum balls. They ran out of tiffany blue gumballs so I had to settle for pearl white ones.

My neighbour's beautiful clear cupcake stand, filled with swirl cupcakes decorated with flowers and mini bottles.

Macarons with chocolate ganache, and rock candy,

Table centerpieces.

Last but not least, canisters and bunga telur as favours for our guests.

Stay tuned for Aiden's 5th Pizza Birthday Party, which followed Ian's aqiqah ceremony.

Vendor credits:

• Buai aqiqah: Make A Wish Babies
• Bunga telur: Artificial flowers from Nilai 3, individually crafted by my stepmothers
• Canister: The Functions
• Sushi, sashimi and rolls: The Talk Japanese Bistro
• Balloons: KiddyBounce
• Dessert table candy: Party City
• Dessert table baked goods: From my kitchen oven, of course - lovingly baked with my KitchenAid!