Breaking the silence, more updates!

After 20 days since my last post, here are our new updates :)

• Prenup Venue for 1st prenup shoot on June: Checked!- Thank God, we finally made a decision to just stick to one prenup venue. We will be having our prenup shoot at Subic, c/o our ninang Ghe. The venue is free of charge,( yey thanks ninang!) so all we have to do is to save some amount for food, toll gate and gas.
• Prenup outfits for our theme: Checked!- Yes, we are nearly finished buying and preparing our prenup outfits. James bought more clothes and a couple of shoes than me, because I'm just going to use my old shoes/sandals and I have this dress that I bought last 2008 that I haven't worn yet. We will start creating the props this weekend :)
• Change of reception hall venue: Checked!- James finally saw our reception venue and tasted our reception food, last May 13 at Grand Terrace's food tasting.I booked the Venus Garden of Grand Terrace last year when James was still working abroad.The venue is good for 150-200 guests, but James didn't like the idea of having a balcony. He told me, guests might ask why they were seated on the balcony ( thinking maybe, they are not that special to the couple). So to prevent that kind of issue, we decided to transfer to a bigger hall, the Grand Pavilion, which can accommodate up to 300 guests. The Grand Pavilion costs a lot more than the Venus Garden, but it is more spacious.Our caterer will be VS&F, and they have good food! James loved it :)
• My measurement with Emil Ocampo: Checked!- Earlier, I went to Emil's boutique for my wedding gown measurement. I went alone because my mom is sick ( boo yah vertigo!) and James is at work.  July 7 will be my first fitting, and yes, I can now feel that my wedding is getting nearer...I'm excited and nervous at the same time.My gown is a combination of my ideas and Emil's design expertise, I can't wait to see my gown in full bloom!  I need to loose more on my waist line, yayks! (pressure mode on!)
• Will-You-Be Cards revisions: Pending- I created Will-You-Be Cards ( WYB Cards) for our principal sponsors, bridesmaids, groomsmen, best man and maid of honor, but I have to revise all of it because they are blurry when printed. I will start the editing today, later in the afternoon.
• Ninong and ninang meet up: This Sunday- This coming Sunday, I'm going to meet James' uncle and aunt. They will be one of our principal sponsors, so I'm excited and nervous to meet them in person. We still have 3 ninangs and 1 ninong to fill our list.

That's it for now, thank God plans are being followed/ happening accordingly. Hopefully this will continue until the big day! :)

Details, details, details!

I always dream of going to Paris. Aside from, of course, it is the city of love, I really like the place and its architecture. When I was a teen, I dreamed of my knight in shining armor proposing to me at the top of the Eiffel tower (sorry han, but that was years ago hehe). As I grow up, I've learned that not all your dreams will come true.Well, some may come true but in a different way or execution you never imagined. Since I haven't been to Paris yet, I didn't meet my boyfriend at the top of the Eiffel tower, and we're preparing for our wedding, I came up with this idea to incorporate Paris in our wedding. It shouldn't be that grand, but at least with a touch of french love.

I've been researching lately on how are we going to design our reception in a Paris inspired way, but the challenge here is, we're not going to spend a lot of money (definitely a big challenge!LOL) So I came up with this idea of D-I-Y stuff since it's the craze nowadays and we still have some time (OMG, it's getting nearer!!*panic mode*)

Below are some inspirations that I wanted to incorporate in our reception, but I still don't know what to start and where am I going to buy the things we needed for these projects. All these designs are Paris/french inspired.

images from elizabethannedesigns.com

images from greenweddingshoes.com

image from mydiywedding.com

 images from karentran.com

Wish us luck! we already have a stylist from our caterer, but we only opt to have their standard centerpiece design (cost cutting on floral upgrades haha) so now, I'm thinking of ways on how I can at least incorporate these styles to our reception tables :D 

If you can recommend suppliers where to buy some of these stuff here in the Philippines (specifically in Divisoria) , please do so, we'll highly appreciate it!:D

Two down! :)

Today, I accomplished two things for our wedding. One, I booked our photobooth online and two, I created a Will You Be card for our ninongs using Adobe Illustrator CS5.

For our Photobooth, I saw this photobooth promo at Cashcashpinoy. It really is a good deal because where can you get a 3 hour photobooth service for just 3500 pesos? The name of the photobooth is Snaps n' Inks. A little down side is they are not that popular and I haven't seen any full reviews about them, so I really just tried my luck hehe. I've seen their promo the other day, but I'm still hesitant to get their service, so I emailed and texted them my questions and I'm quite satisfied with their answers.I thought I was too late, because I knew that their promo ended early but lo and behold, I was surprised to see that the promo is still up. So for the very last time, I called their number and I was able to talk to Ms. Amy and she answered my questions. She sounds nice and I hope that their output and service is also good *cross fingers*

For the Will You be cards, I created a french inspired vintage postcard for our ninongs. I'm thinking of printing and giving it to them personally. I have to finish each DIY one by one coz I hate cramming hehe. Next WYB for ninangs, bridesmaids, maid of honor, bestman, and groomsmen and another Save The date design ;)

I'll post each DIY I made as soon as they are printed ;)

2012 here we come!

Before I start, I wanted to greet everyone first a Happy new year! :D It's already 2012 and we are back on track. I'm very happy and excited because James is now with me (literally), helping me with the wedding preparations. FYI, it's exactly 11 months until our wedding day, yayks!

Yesterday he came by our house and we started filling up the form our wedding coordinator gave us. The form is an excel sheet with different wedding categories. It has a category for the number of guests, wedding suppliers, there's also a budget sheet tab and notes tab where you can write down reminders for your coordinator on your wedding day. I didn't answer this form before because I wanted James to be with me so that he would also know what's in it.

Now, I'm currently researching about monogram design ideas and on how to make a fascinator tutorial. We still have a lot of things to research, do and suppliers to book. I'm going to list them here so I could track it down next time:

Do-It-Yourself Projects:
-Monogram
-Save The Date Cards
-Will You Be Cards
-Invitations
-Guest Note Frame
-Table number cards
-Table number names
-Escort cards
-My reception fascinator and for the bridesmaids
-Souvenirs for the guests

Suppliers to book:
-Bridal Car
-Photo Booth
-Entourage gown maker ( for MOH, bridesmaids and mothers of bride and groom)
-Suits for the Bestman, groomsmen and fathers of the bride and groom
-Wedding Rings
-Honeymoon destination
-Hotel for the wedding preps
-Crew meals

Prenup concept/location/costume- By April or May this year


Condo or apartment for rent- This is actually an after the wedding project, but we need to research this early because we're going to leave our houses right after our big day- I'm really going to miss my family.


Wheww! that's all I can think for now. I know as the wedding becomes nearer, more expenses will come our way, but we're hoping to save more than to spend more.

So, help us God -_-

Wish (Part 1)

It's now October, and I'm starting my countdown for James' arrival. In 31 days he'll be here again (Yey!) and thank God he'll be working here in the Philippines for a year to be with me and help me with our wedding preparations.

 I've been researching and preparing for our wedding since February this year. I'm confident and happy with all of my chosen suppliers, except for one,I'm still having some doubts with our main photographer and videographer.They are actually our second P/V,we decided to change our first P/V because of the ultimate negative feedback I read about them in a wedding forum ( I let go of the non-refundable downpayment (DP) I had with them). I thought after changing our P/V I'm going to be okay, until I've read this another long negative feedback with our 2nd P/V (in this wedding forum again), that made my high spirits sink (again). This time, I can't just let go of the DP because it is big compared to the DP I made on our first P/V. So, even though I really wanted to jump into another supplier, I can't just do it anymore -_-

I'm really an art and photography enthusiast, I wanted to have my own DSLR and someday create my own photo and video business. Ever since I started researching about weddings, I really became an addict looking for wedding pictures,e-sessions (engagement sessions) and SDE videos ( Same Day Edit). Unfortunately, those high-end photo and video suppliers are waaaayyyy over our alloted budget. -_-

If given the opportunity to change our photographer (which will happen only in my dreams) and have the best one out there, below are my top favorites:

Pat Dy

I thought this photographer was a girl! but no, he's a guy hehe. I though Pat is short for Patricia, but then I'm wrong hehe. I fell in love with his wedding shots for the couple Anielle & Rapha. This is my favorite set among his works. How am I going to describe his shots? I can't describe it, because I just simply LOVE it!

Below is my Pat Dy's favorite couple shot:

Metro Photo by Oly Ruiz

What I like about this photographer is his classy and dreamy style. There's this sort of dreamy appeal whenever I visit his website ( maybe it's his website color composition), but whatever it is, it makes me wonder how it feels to be his subject.

Below is my Metro Photo's favorite couple shot:

 Paul Vincent

What I liked about Paul Vincent is when he captures sunny and happy moments. I really love seeing people's smiles, because it brightens up my day.

Below is my favorite Paul Vincent couple shot:

Blacktie project

I found this P/V supplier when they were just starting in the wedding industry. I like their shots and angles and they were pretty good for starters. I really wanted to book them before, but for some reason (actually it's not my reason), we didn't get them.When I finally decided to inquire and get their services, their rates became high :( 

I just wish I got them when their still affordable.

Below is my favorite Blacktie project couple shot:

TheRockinDuo

The Rockin Duo is the youngest supplier among my top favorites. They are really new but their talent spread like wildfire among soon-to-be married couples. I already booked our 2nd P/V when I found them, I just wish I have found them earlier. Thank God, I was still able to get them as our backup videographer(When Rockin Videographer is still independent and in its starting rate), so at least I have a piece in one of my top favorites. They have P/V packages like Blacktie so if you don't have enough money to hire for a separate videographer, you could check their sample SDE's, and they are really good. I haven't chosen my best couple shot from TheRockingDuo yet, I guess I'll just have to post it next time.

My tip for newly engaged couples? SAVE A LOT OF MONEY and CHOOSE YOUR SUPPLIERS WELL. If you want to have your dream wedding suppliers, you have to save more and book early so that you could still get their old rates.

I just hope that inspite of the negative feedbacks I've read regarding our Photo/Video supplier, they would still deliver well on our wedding day.

My next blog will be about my favorite videographers ( If I get the chance to write again, hopefully).

Want to know what is inside my head right now?I wish I have enough money (my own money) to change our Photo/Video supplier...but I guess I'll just put this off to sleep.Zzzz...-_-

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 18^th 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