Today’s BLOGGER WEEK SPECTACULAR special is a testament to the phrase, “grand finale.” We saved the best for last lovelies, as Humara of HumJK and her bae Daanish share their gorgeous wedding celebrations and all the essential details with us! If you’re just joining in on the fun of our blogger week, do check out our brides Anam, Zahra, Sharn, Roli, Riyya, and Alexandra before concluding with our femme fatale, Humara.
Who is HumJK aka Humara?
Born and raised in Downtown Toronto close to the Fashion District, Humara loved keeping up with fashion trends and living the busy life. Launching a few start-ups at an early age gave her a taste of what being an entrepreneur was really like. It also introduced her to the world of marketing well before she had learned anything about it at university. Her blog was created to work as a learning venture. The topics she cover on the blog can sum her up in a nut shell: An online marketing specialist in the day, fashionista, food lover and a beauty expert of 10 years. Her style can best be described as simplistic and minimal, but as a whole, Humara is truly a Jill of all trades!
1. If you could describe yourself in three words, then what would they be?
Loyal, Creative and Passionate
2. What was the inspiration for your blog?
To be honest, I woke up one day and thought ‘Hey! I’m an Online Marketing Specialist, specializing in social media. I tweet, I post, I engage… why don’t I have a blog?’ That was the moment of realization that the foundation of all my digital footprints needed a home.
Wedding Deets:
Humara and Daanish officially tied the knot Islamically back on Christmas Day in 2011. Like my husband and I, they nikkahfied early on and celebrated with family and friends with the big fat desi wedding festivities in the summer of 2012. Their traditional but modern-inspired events, including the mehndi, shaadi and Valima, all took place in beautiful venues all across Toronto, Ontario. And without further ado, I’m going to let Humara describe the events with the glory and vivid detail they deserve!
Nikaah: We chose to do our Nikaah before all of our events, so we could enjoy the events as a married couple. Planning our wedding events was so much easier and caused less worry for our parents when we were out all day and sometimes at night with vendor appointments. We had an intimate event at home with our closest family and friends on Dec 25th (Christmas Day). We both love the warmth and joy surrounding this date and it’s a holiday so it worked out perfectly for our guests. We said our “kabool hains,” exchanged rings, cut cake, and catered in food. There was even an un-planned dance floor that opened up!
Mehndi: I loved the Argonaut Rowing Club for our Mehndi, as it was great for intimate events. The banquet hall faces the lake with a beautiful balcony/patio area. Our guests got some amazing pictures outside, with the lake serving as their back drop. I have to say this was my second favorite event, after my Nikaah. There was so much dancing and great food that the ambiance was set for a magical evening. I did my own make-up for this event as I wanted to be a bit more traditional and keep my make-up more natural and light. I used to be a make-up artist, so I wasn’t nervous about doing that.
*Such a Jill of all trades, cough cough 😉
Shaadi: Most people do their Nikaah on this day and that’s why they do this event or so I was told. BUT I really wanted to be a traditional bride with the red dress and that I was. My mother who has impeccable taste in Pakistani fashion designed my dress and had it made in Pakistan. When I first saw the dress, I was in awe at how sparkly and how perfect the hue of red it was. There was definitely a lot of work that went into it and I was so grateful to be wearing this work of art on my Shaadi day. Thank you mom!
*We love it too! Thank you Humara’s mom!
Valima: This event was the most modern compared to the other wedding events. Typically traditional Pakistani weddings don’t do introductions of the family while they walk down the aisle with music or have an open dance floor. We had a bhangra team perform and live dhol with boliyan that really got the guests off their seats and on to the dance floor.
More Wedding Deets:
3. As a fashion blogger with amazing, daily, high quality pictures, how did you choose your wedding photographer and/or videographer?
I never believed in bridal shows, thinking they would be a waste of time and would involve hearing sales pitches from every booth. I was pleasantly surprised when Daanish and I went to a show and didn’t get hassled. This is where we met the guys behind HD Photography. It was hard to not notice all of the amazing high definition images that were displayed. As for the videographer, we chose based on word of mouth. We did some online research as well and found lots of great samples of their work.
4. Were you particular about your hair and makeup? How did you choose your stylists and/or styles for your events?
I had a vision for each event. I wanted my hair up for the Nikaah, to the side and wavy at the Mehndi, Classic up-do for Shaadi and down at the Valima. For make-up I knew I wanted to do it myself for the intimate events (Nikaah and Mehndi) but got my hair done. For the Shaadi and Valima, it was a no brainer. Everyone here in Toronto knows if you want quality make-up and hair done, you go to the Wu sisters (Shirley and Maggie Wu). Their attention to detail and their eye for perfection is spot on.
5. What did shopping for your wedding entail? Did you have any absolute musts in your quest for outfits, décor, and jewelry?
Shopping for my wedding was easy all thanks to my mom. I gave her some ideas of what I was looking for and she went to Pakistan and brought back even better!
6. What was your inspiration for your outfits? How did you find “the one” for your wedding day? Was your husband particular about his wedding attire?
I looked all over the internet at all kinds of outfits for inspiration. As soon as I had the colors in mind, the ideas for design came easy. He wasn’t particular at all! In fact, shopping for his attire was quick and easy. He knew what he wanted and where he could make the compromise depending on what he could find here locally for a 6 4′ man.
7. What was your inspiration for the colors or themes in your events?
I was inspired by the events and their traditional colors- especially for the Mehndi and Shaadi. We tried to stay within the same color family or complimenting colors for all of our outfits.
8. Were there any distinctly cultural elements in your wedding traditions? How did you fuse these traditions with your ideas for style/decor of the wedding?
We had some Mehndi rasams where family and friends put mehndi in our palms on top of a banana leaf and fed us ladoo and other sweets. (I don’t like ladoo so I really soldiered through this) At the Shaadi, we did the hiding of the grooms’ shoes which was a lot of fun!
9. What was your favorite/most memorable part of the wedding? And what was your least favorite part?
Every. Single. Second. Of the wedding was memorable.
Least favorite memory has to be when I found out my Mehndi decor was nothing like what I had requested. Thank goodness for my friend who was there before anyone arrived to send me pictures and have the vendor fix it.
10. What was it like seeing your husband for the first time on your wedding day?
With butterflies in my stomach. I was taken aback at how amazing he looked.
*Cue Aww-ing
11. If you could go back and re-do one part of your wedding, what would it be and why? (or did you love everything as is)
I wouldn’t change anything!
12. How did you plan all these beautiful events without going crazy?
Taking your time with planning and not rushing into decisions helps a lot! I believe there are no rules when you have to do your wedding events or how. After our wedding, I noticed many couples spacing out their events just so they could take their time and enjoy planning each day or even combine events into one.
13. What is your advice for other brides-to-be?
Take your time, don’t be rushed and enjoy planning with your husband to be. There are a lot more events, trips etc that you’ll be planning with him and your wedding is a great learning experience, so it gets easier and more fun each time.
Keep up with Humara on Social Media:
Blog: www.HumJK.com
Instagram: HumJK
Twitter: @HumaraKausar
Youtube: Hum J.K.
Facebook: Humara Kausar
Vendors:
Videographer: ABCi
Photographers: HD Photography
Venues: Argonaut Rowing Club, Woodbine Banquet Hall, Sagan Banquet Hall
Hair & MUA: Shirley Wu and Maggie Wu
Entertainment: SGPD
