Date: August 22, 2012, Wednesday
6:30 a.m.
We had a scheduled 6:00 a.m. prenup trial makeup at Mama Val's (Val Villarin) condo unit along Edsa in Q.C. But because of the heavy traffic, we arrived at his condo around 6:30 a.m. (to think we're also living in Q.C.! ). James had a hard time finding a parking slot because the condo's front parking was jam packed! he even drove in circles ( even reached Timog area) just to look for a place to park, but he's still unsuccessful. Good thing mama Val offered the indoor condo's parking slot for us and talked to the guards, Thank God we were able to park inside his condo unit.
It was our first time to meet mama Val in person. Last year, when we went to his booth at a bridal fair, he's not there. I just trusted the good reviews I've researched about him, so even though I haven't done any trial makeup yet, I booked him on the spot. At first, I thought he's masungit because he's very quiet. But after serveral minutes of applying makeup on my face, he's not that quiet after all! When we started talking about the common people we know, he never stopped talking! :)
I liked the airbrush natural makeup he did for me. I've decided to upgrade the package to airbrush makeup, because they say it'll last a lot more. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture with mama Val, oh well, I'll save it on our wedding day. We left mama Val's condo around 7:30 am. So for our next stop, to meet our videographer in SM Fairview :)
8:30 a.m.
After my trial makeup, we immediately went to SM fairview to meet VJ. VJ Matias is our prenup and wedding videographer. I found him when he was just starting in the business, so I got his introductory price which is very very affordable ( lucky me!). He texted me that he'll be late, but it's okay because we're going to be late too hehe. Our call time is 8:00 am but we both got in the area around 8:30 a.m. VJ followed our car going to James' house, and at 9am we started the shoot.
VJ, followed my script, but he also suggested to tweak some scenes ( which made the concept more funny). He's quiet (he's shy at first) but because of James' PR skills, he started talking. The shoot lasted about an hour and a half, and It didn't felt like a shoot at all because we're just like playing. We had two scenes, one was taken at James' house and the other scene was taken in UP. James' dad even questioned us, why we didn't check other venues for the shoot ( he didn't know we already had our first prenup in Subic hehe). Our venues maybe simple, but the concept is awesome! ( well for us it's awesome, LOL).
We decided to have lunch at Chocolate Kiss in UP Diliman, because around 1pm we're going to meet the SmartShot peeps for the photo shoot. Over lunch, VJ told us some of his plans for their wedding ( btw, he's also getting married next year). At 1pm, VJ bid goodbye, and we parked near UP Bahay ng Alumni to wait for Sir Zandro and his team.
2:30 p.m.
Our call time with Smartshot is 2:00 p.m., but they texted us that they'll be late ( So we waited for 2 hours- I was exhausted that time because of the scorching heat and that sucks! ). Sir Zandro Quimson of SmartShot and his partner (Sorry kuya I forgot your name!) arrived around 3:00 p.m. Good thing they are nice and friendly, so I didn't get mad at all ( even though they didn't said sorry and tell why they are late). They first introduced their selves and asked us if we have permit to shoot in UP. I didn't know that UP now requires permit to shoot in their vicinities, so we didn't bother to create one. Sir Zandro told us that they recently had a shoot in UP, wherein the couple also don't have a permit to shoot so the guards told them to stop. Because of that incident, he suggested to shoot in another location. I actually don't like the venue, because it's very common for prenup shoots. Since we have no choice, we decided to follow his suggestion. I just challenged Sir Zandro to produce unconventional shots, so people won't notice where it was taken. The shoot lasted for 2 hours, in the end it was fun but a very tiring shoot.
Note:
- We finally got SmartShot's raw prenup pictures and I like my look :) My skin looks flawless (what I really wanted to achieve because I have an acne prone skin). I'll just tell mama Val that I love to have pink lips on my wedding day, because he just used a neutral colored lipstick on my prenup shoot.
- I thought SmartShot's pics are just simple, but they exceeded my expectation. Most of the shots are creative, but I think they should invest more on new cameras. If I'm going to compare Benjie's shots with theirs, Benjie's have vivid color and creative. Still, I'm still happy with their output :)
