32 more...

At 32 days to go before our wedding, we have so far....

1. paid almost 95% of our fees for the flowers and gowns
2. paid our cake supplier in full
3. fitted our barongs and bridal gown, respectively
4. asked the entourage to also fit their gowns
5. finished meeting with our officiating pastor
6. started distributing the invitations
7. filmed our pre-wedding video

At 32 days to go before the big day, here are my realizations...

1. Communicate, communicate and did I say communicate?  I had a slight miscommunication with my invites printer, but because we had our invites printed earlier, we had elbow room for delays.  Thank God!  Don't get me wrong.  My invitation designer, Joy Rosales-Tifles of The Monogram Hub and my invitation printer, Print Divas, did an amazing job with our cherry blossom / Japanese-themed invi.  I think I just assumed my printer understood me when in fact my instructions were not that clear.  
2. Always allocate for a miscellaneous fund.  I think we went a little over the budget even if we allocated some slight increases in some of our wedding expenses.  Plus, we didn't foresee that we'll be spending some extra amounts (ie, additional fees for bringing the designer over to our home instead of us bringing the entire entourage to her shop).  I just thank God for His provisions because we are far from being negative, financially-speaking.
3. As fellow W@Wie Ivy Mae Vitanzos-Cervantes perfectly puts it, "There's a perfect wedding for every budget and style."  So true.  I was just so tempted to grab every item on my "want list".  It helps when you have a budget and stick to it.  Just stick to it.  Spend money wisely because there'll be more expenses after the wedding.

And now, for the wonderful news...

1. My generous sister and brother-in-law gifted us with a ref, gas range and LED TV!  As early as January, I knew they'll be giving us a ref and a range, but I didn't know they're adding a TV!!!!! Thank God, and thank you to my sis and brother-in-law!
2. We're done fitting our respective wedding attires, entourage included.  We are just soooooo happy with the outcome.  Excerpt for very minor glitches with the flower girls' gowns, everything, including my own gown, was perfect!!!!! Thank you to Ate Vangie Suva who did an amazing job with our gowns!

Updates as of June 29, 2012

Sixty-two days to go 'til our big day.  Wow.  Crunch time, this is it!!!!!!

To date, we have accomplished the following:

1. Paid almost 85% of our food and beverage expenses at Enderun Colleges
2. Gave the go signal for the production of my customized bridal footwear by Miss Mari of My Perfect Shoes.  I'll be claiming my shoes around second week of July.  Exciting!  In the end, I had it done in my favorite color, pink.
3. Sent Sweetie's barong and pants to our ever-reliable uniform supplier in the officer.  I will post the pictures once I get them.  I gave the barong and pants around two weeks ago, and they finished everything in just a little over a week.  I am sooo confident that this supplier will deliver excellently, like they always do.  In fact, they sew for major companies in our city like Mercury Drug, PLDT, Banco De Oro, among others.  Abangan.
4. Finalized my monogram and invite suite courtesy of the talented Miss Joy of The Monogram Hub, and sent them to Print Divas who will be printing my invites.  Yey!  I'm so happy with our monogram and invitations, plus all the other extra stuff I got from Sis Joy.  She's super nice and super talented too.  Even my AE from Print Divas was so impressed with her work.  

A sneak peak of what Sis Joy of The Monogram Hub came up for me :-)

Oooh, and let's not forget the other things I need to do:

1. Draw up song list for the ceremony and reception
2. Follow up the officiating pastor 
3. Decide whether to get a host or not
4. Draft the program for the reception (if any)
5. Create the AVP of prenup pics
6. Make a mood board of our stage and table set ups
7. Send to Sis Joy the size of our tarpaulin backdraft
8. And so much more!

Panic time! :-)

Dressing Up the Groom

Whoa!  It's only 80 days to go before our wedding, and I can already feel the pressure :-p    I think I don't have any reason to worry about my and the entourage's gowns, or the flowers or our invites, but every so often I am reminded about how close we are to the date, and how much more still needs to be done.  Every time I feel this way, I just do whatever I could with whatever time we had, since we are both neck-deep with our work.

So last Saturday, M and I went to Divisoria to buy his barong and some materials for decors which I'll be needing for the reception.  I never liked the idea of having my groom wear a tux, so I was more than happy to know that M feels the same way.  He did tell me though that in case I want him to be in tux, he'd gladly don one (I twitterpated with this!!!!!!)    :-)

Since he's dressing up for me on this day (hahahaha!!!!!!!), I tagged along with him to Divi.  We knew beforehand whom to go to, because M and I and this supplier, Brian, had been church mates since 2008, though we are not close to him at all.  One night while sharing the excitement of wedding preps to his small group, Sweetie mentioned about my preference for barongs.  That's when we found out that Brian's family is one of the major suppliers of Onesimus (yes, that trusted, classy brand you see in malls!), as well as other barong retailers and gown makers in Divisoria.  So it was only natural that we go to his shop when the time came for us to purchase my beloved's wedding attire.  Don't be fooled by Divi.  Yes, the place doesn't look nice at all, and sometimes I just want to declare my latest visit as the last time I will be there, but it's really a good place to find everything you can possibly ask for.  I must say that for the love of Sweetie, I'd gladly go to Divi again and again so we can spend wisely for the wedding :-)  

Here's the piña cocoon barong I chose for him.   Why did we opt for piña cocoon (the 2nd best type of fabric for barongs) instead of piña (the best type), especially since their difference is only Php 500 (cloth only)?   Well, I wanted something that Sweetie can still use after our big day.  Piña barongs are usually worn during weddings or oath takings.  If he'll be attending another wedding in the future and wear a piña barong, he might outshine the groom (and irk the bride!).   Sweetie won't be having any oath taking activity anytime soon (or maybe none at all).  So if we bought him piña, he'll end up using it only once.        

awesome details!

To add a Filipino twist to our cherry blossom-themed wedding, I picked a lavishly-made embroidered piña cocoon barong with coconut tree details.  The entire front of the fabric carried this design.  Happiness!

excellent craftsmanship!

I tried to find out how much a piña cocoon barong costs in Onesimus and SM Kultura, and I was shocked to know that they command as much as Php 6,000 (and to think, that was the lowest priced piña cocoon I saw)!  What a big blessing Brian was to both of us!  We only paid Php 2,500 for Sweetie's barong!  Throw in around Php 600-1,000 for the tailor who will sew it, and still we are way below the price you normally pay for a piña cocoon barong from the mall.  Thank you, Lord, for blessings like this!

Brian's company sells barongs of all types, and not just the top of the line.  If you need piña jusi, abaca or other types of barongs (even kimonas, women's barongs, uniforms, embroidery, logo/label, and RTW), they have them all.  I think grooms and brides who intend to shoulder the cost or buy barongs for their entire entourage would be happy to know that a ready to wear piña jusi barong from them starts at an outrageously low price of Php 900 (and mind you, it's a very, very good design and excellently sewn at that!).  

If you need a reliable supplier for barongs from Divisoria, chances are they are being supplied by Brian.  So please contact:

Brian Ong of Mychelyn House of Barong

Tel # 313-8093 / 986-5005 / 585-5034 / 0933-5880322

Email: mychelyn_barong@yahoo.com

Pas D-60 Ilaya St., Binondo, Manila

819 New Ylaya Textile Market (Beside BPI Savings)

Branch:  Stall 2K-15 2nd Floor, 

168 Shopping Mall, 3 Soler St., Binondo, Manila

Wedding Manicure

I'm not blessed with good-looking hands.  They're short and stout, and add to that the fact that I have skin asthma and a couple of skin allergies which have affected my nails.

Come wedding day, I know my photography team will take lots of shots of me and my engagement and wedding rings.  Hay.  I have visions of myself being captured for posterity with uber ugly hands.  I guess the kikay / vain side of me is acting up again.  Having a french manicure is out of the question already for me, because mine easily break.  I don't grow my nails because I always work with my hands.

Initially, I want to have either of the nail colors from the two pictures below:

Very light and dainty pink

Source:  Managements

Khaki / Beige

Source:  Kris and Make Up

But I'm sure other brides have other ideas.  So one night, I browsed through nail lacquers online and with the help of my sisters at W@W,  I discovered these:

Source:  April Foster Events

Source:  Wedding Tipster

Source:  Metro Beauty

I can't wait to buy my preferred polish and try it on myself.  Oooh, wedding kikay, bring it on!  :-)

Photobooth --- to have or not?

Thanks to the wonders of extended banking hours, internet, email, and text messaging, H2B and I have already reserved and paid the down payment for our non-negotiable suppliers.  I know that the wedding budget will keep on getting bigger so as early as now we need to be focused and stick to it.  As I have said previously, we need to think clearly and not be overwhelmed with the many choices out there.  Couples should clearly define what are their must have's and just the mere nice to have's.

Let me now write about one of my nice to have's.  As a shutterbug myself, I am thrilled with the idea of having more photographers in my wedding.  I'd gladly hire a different team of photographers to work with Noel if I could.  So getting a photobooth will be a dream come true for me.  It has also become a staple in weddings very recently.  However, let me be quick to say that as of now, this is just a nice to have.

Last Friday, I attended a thanksgiving dinner cum birthday party for one of the respected DepEd officials in our city.  She was also about to retire, so this dinner meant so much to all of us who work in Pasig.  Guess what was one of the features of her day?  A photobooth from Picsteria, lovingly shouldered by some people from the Division!

Picsteria offers four packages:
2-hour standard package for only Php 7,500
2-hour deluxe package for only Php 8,500
3-hour deluxe package for only Php 9,500
4-hour deluxe package for only Php10,500

Should I get one for our big day?  Let me pray about it first.

Meantime, let me end this with a sample print-out.  It's super clear!

From the H2B.....

H2B and I are set to attend the first of a seven-week series of wedding seminars in our church tomorrow night (yey!!!!).  One of the prerequisites was to answer a 10-page questionnaire which believe it or not, turned out to be such a joyous task despite the fact that we barely made it to the deadline set for the completion of the questionnaires  ;-)

Because H2B asked me to be the one to submit it to the church last Sunday, I was able to take a peek of his own answers. [Insert big smile here]   ;-)

Pardon the cheese, but hey, this is my blog! Hehehe  ;-)  Here are some words from the soon to be groom:

List 3 best memories from your dating experience with your partner:

1.  Visiting her house for the first time, during which they had no electricity and we ate dinner by candle light
2.  Getting to know her mother for the first time during a dunner date in Podium with both of them
3.  My partner staying beside me at the hospital after my sinus surgery.  She took care of me then.

How did you know that your partner is the one for you to marry? What guidelines did you use?

I had been praying for a Godly life partner who will be caring and loving to me.  God gave her to me as an answer.  The super sign that confirms this in my life was how she never left me when I returned home to the Philippines ---- jobless and how she stayed beside me when I got hospitalized due to sinus and had surgery back in year 2009.  As an added bonus, she seems to cherish me and is very sweet.  She looks forward to speak with me and to share her life experiences with me everyday.

Awww ;-)

I found more answers that are equally kilig-inducing and makes me twitterpat.  But let me just reserve them for myself for now hehehehe ;-)

I really am one lucky, lucky, blessed girl  ;-)

Japanese Theme?

Weddings these days revolve around a certain theme that the couple has chosen. Ours may be a full year and a half from now, but this early I'm already trying to narrow down our choices for a theme. The earlier we could plan for the wedding, the better, right?

There are some things that are common between me and Mr. M.  We both love dogs although ironically, neither of us own one now.   Definitely, I wouldn't want a pack of dogs or puppies running around in our church or in our reception area --- that will be too chaotic.  I can probably have two dogs as cake toppers, or have my flower girls carry dog stuffed toys, but the latter is going to be an additional cost for my Sweetie, so I won't go for that.  We'd like to stay within our budget, so I hope we could come up with something that wouldn't be hurting our pockets.

We're both techies, and according to our families, we're both internet junkies and school nerdies.  But I can't come up with ways on how to translate that into little things I can incorporate in our wedding.  Except for the laptop and a mouse which we can use as icons or be included as part of our monograms, my list of things related to this theme end there.  And yes, I'm a teacher, but I find it corny to use a report card as the inspiration for our invitation (I've seen this executed very well in other weddings, though).  And the last things I want to see on my wedding day are things that will just remind me of work (such as report cards, lesson plans, blackboards which other brides use as inspirations), no matter how much I love it.

Then I remembered something:  we both love Japanese food!  So maybe if our budget could accomodate it, I might suggest to Sweetie if we could have sushi, sashimi, rice bowls, onigiri or any other Japanese food served during the reception.  But wait.  I got excited for this.  Our similarites do not end there.  Mr. M took up Nihongo as his elective during college, loves watching anime, and speaks a little of that language.  As for me, I love eating in Japanese restaurants and I do teach Japanese language and culture!  Voila!  A theme was born.

I found these pics on my hard drive as I searched for Japanese objects and inspirations in case we end up with a Japanese-themed wedding come 2012:

Tea ceremony items

Ideas:

1. Instead of wine for the toast, use Japanese ocha (tea).  It's a green tea powder (see green bottle with green lid in the picture below).  A bottle like the one in the picture may suffice for 200 pax already since a cup just needs two to three tiny teaspoons (see the tiny Japanese teaspoon placed on the white and green table napkins used in the picture below).
2. Use Japanese ceramics as cups for the tea.
3. Buy mochi (Japanese sweets) which go well with the tea.
4. Use the cherry blossom graphics and incorporate it in the invitation / set design (see 7th picture from the first).      

 

Food

Ideas:

1. Collaborate with the caterer to serve Japanese food.  I could suggest to our future caterer to serve something Japanese-inspired for the cocktails, like the bacon-wrapped green veggies in the pic below.  Then maybe because that's already heavy for starters, we'll just skip the appetizer, soup and salad and just have the main course and desert.
2. Reduce the main courses by having rice bowls served (for example, gyuniku rice bowl or tonkatsu rice bowl).  At least, even if not all the food served are Japanese-inspired, the rice bowl is.

Food pics courtesy of our dates @ Teriyaki Boy

Tanabata

Ideas:

1. Display this "wishing tree" near the couple's table, or at the entrance to the reception area.  Prepare pieces of paper for guests to write their messages to the couple.

 

Yukata, Obi and Geta

Ideas:

1. Use Japanese silk (?) or Japanese organza (?) for my wedding gown (Sorry, I know nothing about textiles.).  Well, I've got to consult the designer regarding this.  I don't want a very elaborate gown, but I do want a nice ribbon for my back  :-)
2. Ask the designer to make me an awesome obi sash for my wedding gown.  This is something I really, really want.  If I can't get the obi sash, then I'd like some flowers on my back.
3. Have my entourage (bridesmaids, secondary sponsors and flower girls) wear yukata-inspired gowns.
4. Wear a yukata as my make up artist is beautifying me.  Or better yet, together with my groom, change into a yukata for the reception (I wonder if Mr. M would agree!).
5. Incorporate Japanese fabrics (fabric and cherry blossom/floral designs) in the table cloths, napkins, etc.
6. Wear a geta (Japanese slippers) for the reception (Nice idea to give my feet some rest).

Pics courtesy of my Nihongo classes

Origami

Ideas:

1. Fold hearts and cranes and place them on the tables as decors.  I can also hang multiple cranes on the ceiling.
2. Display origamis on the Japanese-inspired wishing tree.

Image Source for the Cranes:  Wikipedia

Cranes, when put together as a one thousand single-strand decor, are traditionally given as a wedding gift by the folder, who is wishing a thousand years of happiness and prosperity upon the couple.

Japanese Lanterns

Ideas:

1. Buy Japanese lanterns and use them as decors for the ceiling.

Kanji and Katakana

Ideas:

1. Use kanji characters (for example, for security, happiness, love) instead of table numbers.
2. Inscribe our names in Katakana in our invitations, thank you cards, save the date cards, etc.

Japanese kimono

Ideas:

1. Wear a wedding kimono for prenup (hahaha -- this is outrageous!  Where would I get one?).
2. Incorporate the color black, which is a color associated with Japanese weddings.

 Image Credits for these two pics:  Japaneselifestyle.com

I got excited just making this list.  I'm okay with the Japanese theme, but I have to check with Mr. M whether or not he agrees with me (I'm not too sure whether he'll find this gimmicky or not).  Or I'll explore other theme options and suggestions that also suit us.

Any other ideas?

:-)