KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 ― With less than a week to go, final preparations are in full swing ahead of Shaheizy Sam Abdul Samad and Siti Nur Syatilla Amirol Melvin’s nuptials that will begin on Monday. It’s one that’s been dubbed “Wedding of the Year” thanks to a whopping RM25 million in sponsorship involved, making it the most expensive celebrity wedding in Malaysia todate.
The long list of sponsors include Ceres Jewels Malaysia — tagged at least RM20 million for bridal jewellery alone; Altelia Amani, Lady Arisaa Couture, Lord’s Tailor, Jakel, Arma Couture and Qudyn KL for the couple’s wedding outfits; KL Wedding Ministry, Zaha Wedding Planner, Syikin Kader Wedding Planner & Services, Azasna Design and YSA Event for decor and event settings; Amir Naufal Photography, Moments Photobooth, KAIO Studio and Manggis Production for photography and videography, as well as Laura & Daddy’s Studio, Melting Bites, Casaclo, Jardin Istana and Ausuf Hilman for wedding cake and door gifts. Logistics, transportation and a drone for aerial videography will also be sponsored.
Holding the record for the most lavish celebrity wedding prior to this was the 2013 union between actress Rozita Che Wan and her actor beau Zain Saidin, with about RM13 million worth of sponsorship received.
After a six-year courtship, the 34-year-old movie star is set to end his bachelorhood in style with the 24-year-old Sha Dan Shah starlet starting with a majlis berinai on Sunday, followed by a solemnisation ceremony in the latter’s brother-in-law Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Osman’s residence in Penang on Monday, and a traditional Malay-themed reception by the bride’s family in Bukit Jawi Golf Club, Sungai Jawi the next day.
According to event consultant Fazreen Wahab of Sym Ab Sdn Bhd, the person in charge of the wedding planning, the malam berinai ceremony will see Syatilla, who hails from Parit Buntar, Perak, donning a traditional Puteri Perak outfit by Altelia Amani; and another set of traditional bridal outfit by Arma Couture at the reception on Monday. Materials for the newlyweds’ wedding attires are sponsored by Jakel, worth a total of RM300,000. Sam’s attire for all the receptions except for the solemnisation ceremony are by Lord’s Tailor.
The couple — who has been tightlipped about their relationship — will be wearing Syaiful Bahahim’s designs for the akad nikah ceremony, the only outfits not sponsored. A pair of bespoke white gold diamond wedding rings worth RM128,000 are also not sponsored as Sam would like those to be his personal gifts for his bride-to-be. Sam and Syatilla’s hantaran or wedding gifts for each other will also be at their own expense.
The wedding is made even more special as Monday also happens to be Syatilla’s birthday. The award-winning actor, who recently starred in the country’s all-time biggest selling movie Polis Evo, reportedly chosen the date because “it’s a date for me to always remember”.
The grand celebration will continue with another ceremony, this time by Sam’s family that will take place at Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 14. At least 1,100 guests — including VVIPs and local celebrities — are expected to attend the black-tie reception.
For that evening, the bride is set to have two sets of “head-turning, elaborated” outfit changes — one by Altelia Amani for the bersanding ceremony and another one by Qudyn KL for the cake-cutting ceremony, featuring a “RM12,000 worth of English royalty-style eight-tier wedding cake, with different flavour in each tier”, specially designed by Chef Harry Aberhim of Laura & Daddy’s Studio, who was once a guest judge of Masterchef Malaysia Season 2.
No regal wedding look will be complete without a bridal crown, which in this case would be an RM8million worth of white gold tiara featuring more than 100 carats of sparkling diamonds, custom-made by jewellery designer Yunus Yeo of Ceres Jewels.
According to Yunus, who’s been known to design jewellery for local celebrities for the past six years, the sponsorship came about simply to honour the long-term friendship between the international jewellery house and Sam’s mother, veteran actress Kathy Fauziah. In fact Kathy — or Mummy Kathy as she is affectionately known — is the mastermind behind almost all aspects of the wedding planning, including all the designs for the bridal jewelleries.
“Mummy Kathy approached me in November when the wedding date was set and while I have been in charge of the designs for all the jewelleries, Mummy Kathy was the one to give the final green light — not the couple. In fact even the bride herself has left all decisions to her future mother-in-law,” said Yunus.
Last but not least, Sam, who is close to his legion of fans, will host a special reception for about 3,000 of them on February 20, tentatively set at IDCC Convention Centre in Shah Alam. To score an invitation, all fans need to do is to download Sam’s Ice Cream — a game app similar to Candy Crush — available for free on Google Play and App Store and and those who gain the highest points will be selected. The app, a first by a Malaysian celebrity, received positive response so far with 10,000 downloads within the first week of its launch early last month.
“About 80 per cent of the wedding preps have been done so far — since the time the couple decided to tie the knot in November,” said Fazreen, a family friend of Sam’s and a first-timer planning for a celebrity wedding. The challenges, besides the short notice and last-minute preparations, would be the extensive guest list for the receptions as well as having to manage Mummy Kathy’s “high expectations”, to see her youngest son settling down.
“Mummy Kathy has been waiting for this day to come. So she wants the best for the wedding and God-willing, everything would go accordingly,” said Fazreen, adding that Sam, a workaholic with a hectic schedule, has been busy shooting amidst the wedding preparations.
“It’s hard to even get Sam to approve the guest list, let alone getting him to go for fitting,” said Fazreen. However Syatilla, who recently finished shooting yet another television show, has been more involved in the wedding preparations.
The humble couple is said to feel “extremely blessed and pleasantly surprised” for the overwhelming support from the sponsors, who according to Fazreen, have been cooperative. “They have not asked for anything in return — they’re just happy to be part of the celebration. Also, like Sam said, why tolak rezeki (turn down good fortunes)?” says Fazreen.
