Wedding Update: Freshcuts Mock Up and Others

With just two days left for August, we’re so proud to blog about our additional accomplishments to our wedding preparation. We made most of the holiday last Monday to work on our preparation. In one day, we were able to squeeze in our meeting with Father Larry Faraon, our officiating priest, wedding ring hunting, souvenir hunting, and our mock up with Freshcuts! We met Fr. Larry in Sulu Hotel in Quezon City with my parents. It had been a secret dream of mine to have him officiate my wedding. Ever since I was young, I always look forward to his enjoyable homilies. He had been a close friend of our family for such a long time now. We had a wonderful chat over coffee. We’re pretty sure our matrimonial ceremony will be full of wisdom and fun. I just feel a bit guilty for he had to cancel his Healing Mass held every first Saturday in Tagaytay for our wedding.

Our next stop is the Gateway Mall. We’ve searched for the right wedding ring for us in Greenhills but we found no luck. JayR won’t close a deal with other suppliers without considering Suarez for he is complacent beforehand with their services. When we got to Suarez, the ring we had in mind is nowhere to be found in their display trays. We browsed over their pictures of rings but still no luck. We tried to discuss the details of the ring to the saleslady. Luckily, they have the right ring hidden. The ring for JayR had the perfect size of stones. Mine had smaller stones than his. Of course I had to object! We must have the same size of stones! Hahaha! After the contract had been made and carefully double checked (especially the size of stone on my ring), we closed the deal.

We then headed for Boni to check out a bakeshop supplier for our souvenirs. It’s the first time I’ve been to this kind of store. I feel so at home! It made me want to bake that right instant. Too bad they don’t have the souvenir that I wanted. The owner was not there so I just relayed my requirements to her staff. We found the exact souvenir I had in mind in the internet. Its online price would seem to be just the same if we had it custom made from scratch. We ordered it together with co-w@wie sis Lorna so we could split the shipping cost in half.

We made a short stop in Makati to have our late lunch. We bought more magnetic sheets for our Save the Dates. Then we’re off to meet Rey of Freshcuts in Alabang. For me, this is the highlight of our day! I’ve been looking forward for that moment for a week. We were more than happy when we saw the mock up! We both gave him two thumbs up for the nice setup! I can’t wait to see the actual setup of our venue come our wedding day! We knew that we made the right decision booking Freshcuts as our event stylist. Below are the pictures. We apologize for some pixelized area for we want to keep that element a surprise for our guests.

As he said, since our theme is an Autumn Wedding, he will use minimal flowers and more on landscaping. We feared that the centerpieces won't be lively without much flowers. Rey proved us wrong! The centerpieces looked very elegant and lively.



On our wedding the three red roses with different length will actually be orange gerbera daisies. Rey don't have gerbera daisies at that time so he made use of roses instead.



The centerpiece from a different angle. He'll add luminaries and kiat-kiat(small ponkan) around the table.



Below is the top view of the table. I forgot the material he used to tie the napkins. Aside from it, he'll have tag based on our motif tied in each ribbon. Ain't it lovely? :D

First Wedding

Last Saturday we had a dry run of our wedding during the wedding of my brother. Since he was the first to get married in our family, we had no idea what will our day be like. They did not hire a coordinator hence we lost track of time. I never really thought how fast time really flies when you’re getting married. We stayed the night before in Best Western Astor Hotel in Makati Avenue. We never had a problem during our stay. Their room service was very accommodating though your request will take them at least 30 minutes to deliver. We woke up at around 7:30am, ate breakfast until 9am, and took a bath, picked up my bestfriend-maid-of-honor-cum-wedding-singer at 10am, back at the hotel at around 10:30am. At that point, I thought we still have enough time. The next time I asked for a time check it was 11:20am already! Suddenly panic struck me. I can’t believe the time. I as well as my mother and sister have no make up yet. We were also informed that the make up artist hired by my sis-in-law (SIL) had no assistant. I’m prepared to do my makeup by myself but at the last minute we were accommodated. There’s a lot of commotion going on in our room for we need to check out before two. My brother, being the most typical guy in the majority seemed so calm. They did not hire a coordinator hence we’re left self-calculating the time in preparations. Good thing we had a lot of relatives who passed by the hotel, we got more hands to help. I’m not sure how this happened but we came on time at the church! Hahaha! Since NSDG has no choir and us neither, I prepared a CD for the entourage march. I was never told by my brother that any CD to be played must be tested beforehand since their player is choosy most of the time. I sighed with relief when it played the first try. As backup, we brought our laptop in case we had a problem with the CD. The rest of the songs sung during the ceremony including the bridal march were sung by my SIL’s friend, my friend, and my sister. All of the songs were accompanied beautifully by my one and only JayR. :D They only had a microphone directly at the speaker of the keyboard since the amplifier was at the back of the altar. Nevertheless, the sound was enough to fill the church. During the pictorial, I had the String Quarter Tributes play at the background. :D Thanks to w@wies for this idea. They did not notice that we were playing slow rocks in string quartets!





The weather was nice and cool. Raindrops started to fall little by little before the bridal march and just finally poured during the ceremony. It stopped after the ceremony and poured once again during the reception. Once again, we played the String Quartets during the reception. There were no empty tables and all guests were seated. I’m not aware if all the invited guests arrived. The food tasted great. Everybody had been well fed. JayR and I joined the couple’s game and lost. Hehehe. When the garter and bouquet throwing was just about to start, we decided that we won’t join the game for there may be a chance that only of us will get it. But when my brother called JayR’s name, he stood and joined the guys. I was watching from a far and I can see that my brother threw it to his direction. I think since he had no plans of catching it, the garter fell of the floor the first time. The second time my bro threw the garter to his direction, he had no choice but to catch it. Afterwards, almost half of the crowd’s eyes were on me. I had to get the bouquet. This is the first time I joined this game that I’m confidently in front of the ladies! Talk about pressure! Hehe.. My sis-in-law did not bother to throw her bouquet for she just happily handed it to me. I think this was planned by the couple.

Weddings are good occasions to see old friends and relatives that we have not seen for a long time. I was able to distribute our Save the Dates to some of our family friends who lives abroad and who we don’t see often. The time of our wedding is the same time as theirs next year. We’ve picked up some lessons learned on the day of their wedding. As much as possible we want to feel relaxed for the rest of that day. With prayers, we know that everything will run smoothly.

Wedding Update: Strings and Style

There’s just merely 4 months to go but technically, it’s only 3 months to go for we want to book all our suppliers by the end of November. December will breezily pass by as always. Our wedding date is just a week after the New Year which leaves us no time for more wedding preparations. So far, we’re a bit confident that we’ll meet our deadline. Just this month we booked the last two major suppliers we’ll need, String Quartet and Event Stylist.

Velvet Mood

I’ve tasked JayR for the assessment and booking of our wedding music. A very musical person that he is, he is very particular how it’ll be played. He wanted to ensure that we will only deal with professionals. My share is only limited to resource string ensembles in the market, and accompanying him to live demos. After assessing the type of music we wanted to have for our wedding, we closed the deal with Mr. Edwin Silangcruz of Velvet Mood. Velvet mood is another W@W find, thanks to Sis Bhe. We heard them play at one wedding in Vivere Suites. The ambience of the reception was very light and warm. The music that filled the room is very soothing, perfect for an indoor reception. Mr. Edwin is very easy to talk to and very accommodating. The best thing I liked about them is that they arrange music they’ve never played for free! I gave him a copy of my bridal march song for them to work on. They would also play during the ceremony and reception as many songs as required. We knew that we made the right decision booking them.

Freshcuts

Earlier this month we almost close a deal with another event stylist. Unfortunately we didn’t. Nevertheless, we know that God give us some misfortunes to let us see other wonderful things better for us. Had we booked the other stylist, we won’t be able to have a chance to work with Rey Darroca of Freshcuts. Freshcuts is another W@W find! Just as I feel low in finding the right stylist that would meet our requirements, Freshcuts came to the rescue! I am not expecting much when we first met him for I feel tired explaining what I wanted over and over again to different stylists. But when he started to draw his visualization, I became more and more interested. Since our theme is “Autumn Wedding”, he’ll use less flowers and more landscaping. The flowers he’ll use are roses and gerberas in the shade of reds, yellow, and orange. The centerpieces will have a unique element that I opt not to reveal at the moment. I want it to be a surprise to all our guests during our wedding. It’s very unique that I’ve never been to a wedding with that kind of element on a table. I just wish I’ll be able to keep this a secret for long! Hahaha! Rey also does wedding coordination. Since we already have an On-The-Day coordinator, he volunteered to be our backup coordinator! How cool is that?!! I would highly recommend this guy any future brides out there.

Though it may seem that we’re almost done with our wedding preparations, there are still some minute details that require our attention. Our next project is finding the right wedding rings and our souvenirs which we won’t blog about to maintain its secrecy.

God bless everyone!

Wedding Update: Final Save the Dates

Yeah, yeah, I know. All of us ( yep, including me :D ) thought we’ve already finalized and chosen our save the dates. I even created a poll to help us decide the design for it. In return a friend improved it for us. Though we loved the revised invite, I can’t seem to match it with our theme which we just decided upon afterwards. I’ve been reading a lot of posts in w@w showcasing their boarding pass Save the Dates. Good thing one sis gave the link to the site of Aylee. Aylee willingly gave me a template to start with. I searched the net for images I could use that is fit for our Autumn theme. And after a few days, here is our final Save the Date!



To add more spice to it, we decided to make it a magnet. We had it printed in Digiprint and glued it on the magnet sheet we bought. I had to cram this one for we need to send it to the US by weekend. We plan to distribute these invites to our principal sponsors and members of our entourage as well.



Thanks Aylee for gladly sharing the boarding pass template.

Wedding Update: One Busy Weekend

Saturday(August 11, 2007): Pre-Cana Seminar

JayR and I just had a very busy weekend. Last Saturday, we attended a pre-Cana seminar at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Pasig. We were the second to the last couple to arrive. Hehe.. There were a lot of group activities which made it fun. We thought that we’ll just seat and listen throughout the seminar. We even came prepared to be bored for the whole day! Hahaha!

That day made me realize that at this early stage we are not two individuals anymore. We are starting a new life together as one! Believe it or not, I’m not scared at all! I’m confident that we’ll have a wonderful life ahead of us and I can’t wait for that to happen. Now, I’m trying to chew in the fact that I won’t be a baby anymore. I won’t be just a daughter to a family but a wife and mother to a family we’ll build together. And we know that with the Lord at the center of our life, we will not fail.

Sunday(August 12, 2007): Pamamanhikan

To complete the busy weekend, last Sunday naman was the scheduled pamamanhikan. The whole family of JayR(father’s side) came to our house and traditionally brought food. With so much food on the table, they even asked us to call our neighbors to eat. Parang birthday namin dalawa! As expected, they found their trip to be looonngg!! With the South Luzon Expressway under rehabilitation, their travel time doubled. And it’s understandable for they came all they way from Taytay, Rizal and found themselves in the town of San Pedro, Laguna. I only have one of my Tita come over as our representative. Our other relatives unfortunately can’t make it. Nevertheless, the pamamanhikan went well. We are both clueless on what will happen or what must be done. I just knew that both of our families must somehow get to know one another. It took a while before we had everybody gathered inside the living room. Thank goodness for my chikadora mother! They started to listen to her stories which later turned into a good conversation among them. JayR and I just stood in one corner listening. We need not tell them our wedding plans for both our families are aware of it.
Another star shone during the pamamanhikan, our newly bought Lazee Boy with massager. I tell you guys, if you need to find a common thing among parents and relatives, grab one now! Each one of them took turns to try it out! It’s one entertainment everyone will love! At the end of the day, we both knew and happy that the pamamanhikan was a success!

Wedding Update: Sta Clara de Montefalco Parish

I can’t think of anyone who can be happier with just a mere presence of a door other than me! I literally jumped for joy when I saw our church locked up. Mind you it’s not really a solid door but just a well crafted metal door! Who cares! It still is a door for me! Prayers do pay off. Now I can have the drama effect I’ve been dreaming about. It’s so funny how many weird dreams I have just thinking the drama effect for my emergence before the bridal march. Once, I dreamed of myself riding a white carriage similar to the carriage of the Snow Queen pulled by a white horse. In my dream, the horse entered the church all they way to the altar! Nice idea huh! ;) Here are some of the pictures we took. We are still hoping for more improvements in time for our wedding. But I’m more than happy and contented having this door!

On a Positive Note : At the Crossroads

Crossroads, as applied to the streets is a point where a choice must be made. Eiter to turn right, turn left, go straight ahead, make a u-turn, etc.. Similarly, in our life journey, we encounter many crossroads in which at one point in our life, we need to make vital decisions and major turns which may totally lead us to another destination or sometimes it can be just a detour or shortcut which at the end will still bring us to our original target place, faster and easier. But sometimes, it may also lead us to dead-ends.

But one thing is for sure ~ no matter what direction we may take, no matter where the road may lead us, as long as God is on our side, we can always be assured of a safe journey. And as I come closer to another crossroad in my life, I'm putting all my trust and faith to the Lord, because with Him by myside, I know I can never go wrong. God bless!

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.." Psalm 32:8

Wedding Update: New Florist

Last week, we thought we are done with a month long search for our florist and event stylist. Just as we are about to schedule an appointment to make our downpayment with our chosen florist, we received a news from him that we are not the only couple inquiring on the same date as ours. An isolated case it is to him, he would accept two styling event in one day. Though he confirmed that we will be given priority, JayR did not approve. One way or the other, one client will be affected. We don't want to take that risk. We are getting married for the first time ONLY once! Since we've turned down the other florists we inquired to, we are once again in search of florist.

Today, I was surprised when my father told me that we will meet my ninang in Dangwa. What a good place to meet her. It's such a great timing! We need not schedule another trip to Dangwa to scout for florists. Though JayR is not with me, I braved the Dangwa street and looked for the stall of Mang Boy - special thanks to Golda for texting me his stall number. Mang Boy is very famous in W@W egroup. He has a small stall only so when we arrived there, they had me look at their photos of flowers in the middle of the street right under the heat of the sun! Good thing it's still a bit early that time so the rays of the sun didn't hurt much! If you'll look at Mang Boy, you wouldn't think he's a florist. Sobrang maton nya! hahaha! Anyway, I found his quotation a bit pricey. I told him that I would still have to show his quotation to JayR for approval. While waiting for my ninang to arrive, my mother and I looked around the flower shops. Just right in front of Mang Boy's stall, we found Jojo. Jojo is very accomodating. He had us sitted once we stepped inside his stall. He showed his portfolios to us. His quotation is lower than that of Mang Boy's. Plus I got big discount for he gave in to my budget. I'm really not good in haggling, so I really felt good afterwards! Aside from a lot of freebies which came along with the package, he made a sample of my maid of honor's buoquet and gave it to me for free. Check it out below!



Finding a new florist may be a blessing in disguise for us! For the reception styling, we might get the service of the florist second to our list. I just hope that she didn't felt bad about us after we turned her down a week ago. Ouch!

Have a nice day everybody!

Wedding Update: Reiman Francisco

The Wedding Congress we attended last Saturday had been fruitful to us. Since we’ve accomplished almost 80% of our wedding preparations, our target supplier in the Congress were String Ensemble, and Hair and Make Up Artist. Too bad there are not much Strings Suppliers in the congress. I expected to see some group to practically play during the congress but there was none. If there was, too bad we missed it.

Prior the congress, I’ve already contacted numerous Make-Up Artist that fit our budget. I’m amazed that as early as this month, all of them are already booked. I was actually looking for the booth of another Make Up Artist when we passed by the booth of Reiman. Their air brush package caught my attention. It’s almost half the price of other artists who uses air brush. I took my chance to have a trial for it’s free! I was able to save at least a thousand bucks just for trials. I was told by his staff that unfortunately they have no air brush equipment at the moment but Reiman, overhearing it told us that they do. Before we started the make up, I told him that usually my face becomes unrecognizable with makeup on. He assured me that his makeup won’t do that and would actually feel like it’s your second skin. He only used liquid foundation on my face. He used gold eye shadow on my eyes. I liked the output and so did JayR. We booked him on the spot. His package includes another hair and make up trial for free. I’m posting some pictures taken after the trial to get comments, either good or bad, so that I may inform Reiman for improvement when we have our next trial.




God bless everyone!