When I was still researching for my prospect wedding gown designer, I had a list according to price and quality. I removed those designers that are not within our budget range ( Hehe I don't want to splurge a huge amount on my gown,but without sacrificing its quality. There are really a lot of good designers out there but very expensive).I also listed some new designers to try them too, until I narrowed my decision to just visit one. I called new designer last May and was scheduled for an appointment to his shop on June 25. (But I canceled it due to Typhoon Falcon)
June 20 around 3pm in the afternoon,Sis Roan texted me that she already found her designer and that is Cecilio Abad, her dream wedding gown designer. I'm really happy for her because for months now, she's having a hard time finding her wedding gown designer and her wedding will be on January 2012. Bride to be's have to book a designer 6-7 months before the wedding day, so she's really pressured and in a hurry. When she told me her story about going and talking to CA, I was encouraged to try him as well. I opened this topic to James and he gave me the go signal to try.
The next day, I decided to call CA for an appointment but somehow my conscience stopped me from dialing his number. I paused for a while, then these questions came into my mind...
"Eh kung bigyan ka nga ng discount ni CA...pero di mo parin keri yung amount, ano na gagawin mo?"...
"Stick to the plan...follow your budget."...
"If you're going to book your dream designer with that kind of amount, you're going to trim down the other expenses for the other suppliers (quality maybe sacrificed)."...
Okay, so my conscience got me,I decided not to call CA anymore. I think it's a good thing because I know I'll have regrets if I found out that I can't still avail his services in spite of the major discount ( if ever there's a major discount) he'll give me. After several realizations, I decided to add another designer to visit in my list. I chatted Libz and Kristell of Allianz Sisters yesterday ( they are my OTD coordinators) and they gave me designer names based on my budget. They gave me, NX Couture, Sohrab Arciega, Joe San Antonio, Gretchen Pichay, Concha Espana, Boy Kastner Santos and Emil Ocampo. From those names, I decided to contact Emil and Boy. Emil's shop is located in Alvarez St., Metro Manila, near LRT Bambang Station while Boy Kastner Santos' shop is located in Cavite. I heard a lot of good feed backs about them, but I called the nearest one first and that was Emil.
Emil's shop was easy to find. If you are from QC you can take the MRT Taft>LRT Bambang, walk across the street and towards the LRT station going to Monumento, if you found the BDO Alvarez branch, beside it is Emil's shop. My mom and I took the other route, we rode a jeepney with a Munoz signboard from Congressional Ave. and then took the LRT Bambang ride. I scheduled a meeting with Emil last June 22, good thing he's still available in the morning.When we got there, there's still a client that Emil was attending to. The girl was trying on this red chiffon halter long gown that Emil created for her and I observed while he patiently accommodated her requests and revisions.Minutes later, the girl and his mom left the shop and not it's now our turn :)
I showed Emil my inspiration pegs for the wedding gown and suit, and he liked my ideas. Minutes later, he started sketching on a bond paper, and while waiting for him to finish we watched Showtime. ( He has this LG slim tv in his shop, it's actually a nice idea). My mom and I were laughing at Vice Ganda's jokes, and when I turned around, he's nearly finished with my gown sketch and I already loved it :D He combined my inspiration pegs and explained to me the type of cloth he'll be using for my gown ( like, satin, lace,organza,crystals etc.).
My mom also fell in love with the sketch, and we were both amazed on how he drew it ( Because of Emil's sketch, I wanted to try fashion designing too hehe maybe someday). I told Emil that I wanted to book him on the spot, but I still need to consult the prices first to James. Emil didn't pushed us to book immediately, and just agreed to what I told him. We went out of his shop with the smile stuck on my face, and still thinking of his sketch. The visit to Emil's shop was quite an experience, but the bad thing that happened after the meeting was when my mom's wallet was stolen from her bag while we were in Walter Mart Roosevelt. My mom bought some medicines at Mercury Drug and we ate at KFC then minutes later her wallet was gone.Too bad, she didn't retrieved her wallet or any of her IDs, oh well sometimes life really sucks.I know something good will happen next,
When I got in the office, I immediately told James about my visit to Emil's shop. Though it didn't exceeded our allotted budget, I still can't convince James about the amount. So I explained it to him further and maybe he felt how happy I was with the sketch, so he agreed anyway. He just told me to make sure that he will perform and deliver well (I know Emil will from the start).
I immediately texted Emil that night to tell him that we have decided to book his services. He told me that he'll give me his account number tomorrow because he's in Pampanga. The next day, he texted me that he forgot to bring the account number with him and he suggested to deposit the money next week when he comes back in Manila. June 27, 2011, Emil texted me his number and around 6-7pm I deposited the reservation fee in his mom's BDO account. The contract will be sent via email, so I'm still waiting for it :)
It is really true that when you already found your dream wedding gown sketch or designer, you'll have the THIS IS IT feeling. So I advice couples out there to save enough money if you are planning to get married someday. A well prepared wedding is the first step to a happy married life :)
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Wedding theme :)
Lately, I've been thinking of having a wedding theme. Some couples just have a wedding color motif but since we got a lot of time preparing for our wedding, I decided to start researching this early to prevent the hassle next year.We've already defined our wedding color motif and I think it won't hurt to have a wedding theme too :)
I got a lot of time today to research because tomorrow is a holiday ( no work! yahoo!) to celebrate Dr. Jose Rizal's 150th birthday. Found a lot of inspiration vector files and pegs, got it free online :) it'll be a big help for us, since James and I decided to design our own wedding invitations and other paper wedding outputs (if we can do it all hehe)
As much as I wanted to share to everyone what our wedding theme would be, I also don't want to spoil it :) well, It's not really unique but this is what I wanted hehe ( I'm going to suggest it first to my fiance ^_^) but I know he'll agree to this ;)
That's all for now! :)
I got a lot of time today to research because tomorrow is a holiday ( no work! yahoo!) to celebrate Dr. Jose Rizal's 150th birthday. Found a lot of inspiration vector files and pegs, got it free online :) it'll be a big help for us, since James and I decided to design our own wedding invitations and other paper wedding outputs (if we can do it all hehe)
As much as I wanted to share to everyone what our wedding theme would be, I also don't want to spoil it :) well, It's not really unique but this is what I wanted hehe ( I'm going to suggest it first to my fiance ^_^) but I know he'll agree to this ;)
That's all for now! :)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
HMUA: booked! :)
Today, My mom and I attended the Themes & Motiffs Wedding Summit at PICC, Complex to book my preferred make-up artist- Val Villarin. We had a hard time going to the venue because we don't know how to get there. We took the MRT Taft>LRT Vito Cruz Route from Trinoma, and asked a street vendor along Vito Cruz where the CCP terminal is. It's located on the other side of the street, and the CCP Complex jeepneys are color orange. The jeepney driver dropped us ( my mom, a bride to be passenger with her mom too) at the main PICC building but the event was not there, It was located at the PICC forum building, the first building before the main building. We walked again for a few meters under the uber hot sunny weather to the PICC forum building ( don't ask my mom had her tantrums again hehe).
When we got there, the only thing in my mind to do was to search for Val's booth. I pencil booked him a month before the event, exactly 1 month ( May 18), thanks for my officemate who told me that Val will be in the said bridal fair :) Val was my officemate's makeup artist on her wedding day and I like how he made her look stunning.
When we arrived at his booth, there's no Val in sight,not even a single makeup-artist. Because one, we're early and second Val has a wedding service today. We asked first their receptionist Mitch and she gave us the regular rate. My mom told her " Ay hindi ganyan ang usapan nila, pwede makausap si Val sa phone?" hehe,so Mitch immediately called Val on his cp. I talked to him but he's busy doing a client's makeup (bride) so he gave the phone to Mike. Mike was easy to talk to and he gave me afforable package rate and freebies.:) After booking Val's services, we checked other suppliers like photo booth, bridal cars and wedding rings. I'll just wait for James to get back here before we book these suppliers, I want him to experience the bridal fair thingy hehe. I envy couples roaming around the fair looking for suppliers, but I know when James gets here, It's worth the wait :)
We already booked a lot of suppliers this early, and I'm glad to say I got a lot of good deals :) hopefully we're not going to exceed our target budget :)
Just happy to have my preferred makeup-artist :)
When we got there, the only thing in my mind to do was to search for Val's booth. I pencil booked him a month before the event, exactly 1 month ( May 18), thanks for my officemate who told me that Val will be in the said bridal fair :) Val was my officemate's makeup artist on her wedding day and I like how he made her look stunning.
When we arrived at his booth, there's no Val in sight,not even a single makeup-artist. Because one, we're early and second Val has a wedding service today. We asked first their receptionist Mitch and she gave us the regular rate. My mom told her " Ay hindi ganyan ang usapan nila, pwede makausap si Val sa phone?" hehe,so Mitch immediately called Val on his cp. I talked to him but he's busy doing a client's makeup (bride) so he gave the phone to Mike. Mike was easy to talk to and he gave me afforable package rate and freebies.:) After booking Val's services, we checked other suppliers like photo booth, bridal cars and wedding rings. I'll just wait for James to get back here before we book these suppliers, I want him to experience the bridal fair thingy hehe. I envy couples roaming around the fair looking for suppliers, but I know when James gets here, It's worth the wait :)
We already booked a lot of suppliers this early, and I'm glad to say I got a lot of good deals :) hopefully we're not going to exceed our target budget :)
Just happy to have my preferred makeup-artist :)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Backup videographer: booked!
Before I start my blog for today, I want to greet first my partner a Happy 6th monthsary! ^_^ regular na tayo partner congrats! love you :-* So enough for the mushy stuff, let's now proceed with the real story :D
Today I booked our backup wedding videographer- The Rockin Videographer. Yes, you read it right, we have a backup videographer for our wedding.You could hear a lot of couples saying they hired a backup photographer but this time we hired a backup videographer because we wanted a pre-nup video and a HD ( High Definition) Same Day Edit video. My friend Michelle will be our backup photographer, so minus the expenses, that's a great gift for us :) We have a video package in Smartshot but our AE said the SDE video included is not in HD format. We should add some amount to convert our semi-HD to HD, but it'll gonna cost us a lot. For weeks now, I've been watching SDEs made by different videographers but they are too expensive, until I found The Rockin Videographer from a w@wie (weddings @ work member). After several email exchanges, I finally decided to meet VJ.
I met VJ and his gf Sheli today, at Mcdo, Trinoma around 7:30 pm. I thought VJ was old (hope VJ won't get mad at me if he reads this haha) I dunnow, maybe the way he politely replies at my inquiries and text messages, but honestly I thought he's really older than me ( well I didn't really confirmed his age, but he really looks young hehe). My first impression to them was, they were like college or HS students playing with their craft while earning money not bad huh :) I also thought VJ and Vinz was just one person, I didn't know that Vinz is the Rockin Photographer and VJ is the Rockin Videographer and they are brothers.
The moment I stepped into our meeting place, I already felt an aura that VJ will deliver well on our wedding day (I hope he really is reading this blog LOL). He's nice to talk to and he explained everything to me. I actually don't have any prepared questions in my mind that time, I only had one question and it was answered. VJ was kinda shy but I know he's really funny when you get to know him better. He has a lot of ideas in mind for our prenup video and we can't wait for the shoot next year :)
Rockin Videographer is our first supplier without an office address ( at may nakalusot kay h2b hehe), I'm confident that he'll deliver more than what we expected :) like they say, just trust your suppliers :)
Today I booked our backup wedding videographer- The Rockin Videographer. Yes, you read it right, we have a backup videographer for our wedding.You could hear a lot of couples saying they hired a backup photographer but this time we hired a backup videographer because we wanted a pre-nup video and a HD ( High Definition) Same Day Edit video. My friend Michelle will be our backup photographer, so minus the expenses, that's a great gift for us :) We have a video package in Smartshot but our AE said the SDE video included is not in HD format. We should add some amount to convert our semi-HD to HD, but it'll gonna cost us a lot. For weeks now, I've been watching SDEs made by different videographers but they are too expensive, until I found The Rockin Videographer from a w@wie (weddings @ work member). After several email exchanges, I finally decided to meet VJ.
I met VJ and his gf Sheli today, at Mcdo, Trinoma around 7:30 pm. I thought VJ was old (hope VJ won't get mad at me if he reads this haha) I dunnow, maybe the way he politely replies at my inquiries and text messages, but honestly I thought he's really older than me ( well I didn't really confirmed his age, but he really looks young hehe). My first impression to them was, they were like college or HS students playing with their craft while earning money not bad huh :) I also thought VJ and Vinz was just one person, I didn't know that Vinz is the Rockin Photographer and VJ is the Rockin Videographer and they are brothers.
The moment I stepped into our meeting place, I already felt an aura that VJ will deliver well on our wedding day (I hope he really is reading this blog LOL). He's nice to talk to and he explained everything to me. I actually don't have any prepared questions in my mind that time, I only had one question and it was answered. VJ was kinda shy but I know he's really funny when you get to know him better. He has a lot of ideas in mind for our prenup video and we can't wait for the shoot next year :)
Rockin Videographer is our first supplier without an office address ( at may nakalusot kay h2b hehe), I'm confident that he'll deliver more than what we expected :) like they say, just trust your suppliers :)
Monday, June 13, 2011
Wedding Color Motif: DEFINED
Wow it’s June already, time really flies so fast. I can still remember the first time James and I talked about weddings, and now we’re into wedding planning. I feel that our wedding day is getting nearer and nearer, to think it is December next year. Okay enough for the ramblings, I’m here to talk about our wedding color motif. Yes, finally we have decided the colors we really wanted for our wedding, and it’ll not be just be two colors, but four ^_^
I love the color red. At first, I thought of using red as our main color, but when my friend told us that it’ll be their color motif for their December wedding this year, we’ve decided to change it. I remember deep purple was my color motif on my 18th birthday, so why not use the same color on my wedding day.I asked James if he likes the idea and he said yes. Actually, he really doesn’t care what the colors will be, his only main concern is as long as it would be colorful on our wedding day then he’ll agree to it. My challenge was to find the perfect partner/s for purple.
First combination: Purple, light blue and silver gray
It looks good, but I think any shade of blue is a very common wedding color.
Second combination: Purple, Teal and Silver gray.
I thought this second combination was THE ONE. Purple + Teal= peacock theme, but no,I don’t want a peacock theme; I just like the color teal because it’s refreshing to look at. When I sent the mood board to James, he said it would be nice to have a touch of pink to it (No, my fiancé is a straight guy). I imagined how it’ll look like on our reception venue, and yes he’s right, nothing beats a touch of pink. Light pink/carnation pink for me is the best shade of pink to match our three chosen colors.
Third combination: Purple, Teal, Carnation/light pink, Silver gray.
This is our final wedding color motif. The colors in the style board were from the Pantone selection.They are not the usual colors, but they are still from the shades of purple,teal, light pink and silver gray.
I love how we ended up with this combination. For me it’s unique and it’ll look good on our wedding day. It’ll be the perfect combination for our indoor garden wedding reception setup.
Now for our wedding theme, French or Grecian garden setup? Hmmm…
Photos from: Dessgroup.com
Photos from: Dessgroup.com
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