1st prenup photo shoot: DONE!:)

Disclaimer: You will see a lot of exclamation marks while reading this post. It only shows how happy I am with how our prenup shoot turned out.

Last June 5 was our first prenup photo shoot, and it was a successful one! :) It was held at the Water Craft Ventures Shipping dock in Subic, beside Subic Bay Yacht Club ( It's a a private shipping company selling boats, yachts, speed boats etc.) and we owe it all to our Ninang Ghe for the free access (thanks Ninang we love you to bits!). It was our first time to ride a yacht for a whole day shoot and we felt like living the life of Manny Pacquiao. Our prenup photographer is Benjie Tiongco and my hmua is Uly Sariego. They are amazing! Benjie was really really good in his craft and Uly made me look like a star that day!:)

James and Kevin (James' cousin) arrived at our home around 5:30 a.m. The original plan was to wait for Ninang Ghe, because she will ride on our vehicle ( Thanks Kevin for lending us your sweet ride), but she called us up and told us that she will bring her own car together with his husband, Tito Jojo. After we fetched our suppliers, we'll just meet up at Shell Gasoline Station along NLEX.

We fetched Benjie and his assistant ( Sorry Kuya I forgot your name), around 6:00 a.m. at SM North, The Block. We waited another 10 minutes for Benjie's friend ( a photography enthusiast too) to arrive, but unfortunately he's still in Santolan MRT station, and that's still around 10-20 minutes minutes away from SM North. Since we are in a hurry, Benjie told me to leave him and proceed to Uly's waiting place.

Uly was very prompt. He's already in 7-11 near Jackman, Munoz around 5:30 a.m. Take note, he lives in Fairview .I didn't know he lives in Fairview, If only I knew it earlier I will told him to wait in SM North too. I was surprised to see him when he went out of 7-11, because I thought he was big! because his profile pic in his FB account says so, but no! he's so thin in person. I even told my mom " Mama, usog usog ka dito sakin medyo malaki si Uly." (Hehe bad me), but like I said, he's the other way around. Being the curious me,I can't help asking him what he did to be that thin hehe. He said, when he started dieting, he just ate fruits, vegetables and fish, take note, no rice and meat. But now, he enjoys eating any food he wants but in moderation. Upon hearing those words from him, it motivated me more to pursue my diet and exercise routine for the big day hehe. I am now doing the 1 rice a day challenge and Zumba workout 3-4 times a week, and so far it works for me :)

When everybody's complete, we took the NLEX- Mindanao Avenue route and met Ninang Ghe and Tito Jojo at the Shell Gasoline Station in NLEX. We followed them until we reached the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and arrived at the Water Craft Ventures Shipping dock area. We got there around 9:00 a.m., It took us around 3 hours to get there.

At first look, the place was not that pretty and enticing..it's just a normal shipping dock area. The prettier version of it is the Subic Yacht Club, just in front of us hehe. But when you walk around the venue and reach the end, you could see ships being made and furnished at the steel area. The place for me was perfect for our movie and casual theme so I told James not to worry, because Benjie will unleash all his creativity to make plain areas look unique and pretty...and so he did :D

We stayed on the Water Craft's yacht the whole day. We had our costume changes, make up and photo shoot there. While Uly is applying makeup on my face and James is getting ready with his outfit, Benjie walked around  the vicinity to scout for more prospective photo opp areas. I love Uly to bits! he achieved my desired look for our themes. All the people in the dock ( Benjie, my mom, James, Kevin, Ninang Ghe and Tito Jojo) were in awe and they all asked "Ann Ikaw ba yan?" , James even said " Sana han ganyan ka nalang lagi.." haha. After the final touches, we started the photo shoot on the yacht and later on went around the venue for other photo opps. Supposedly, we should have another prenup venue in Subic, but James got really tired and he told me, he never thought that a prenup shoot would take that long hehe.

Uly was always with me, retouching my makeup and fixing my hair during the photo shoot (except the last shoot because he got lost, he didn't know where we went hehe). Benjie had lots of posing ideas, that we felt we were celebrities that day.I even told myseld, "Ang hirap palang maging artista!" haha. I had a minor accident during the shoot, we had a scene wherein we need to run, but James forgot I am wearing high heels so he ran fast while holding my hand, so I tripped off and got a small bruise on my right leg. Benjie told me, he thought I sprained my ankle because I slide down and sat in a very weird twisted position, but Thank God he didn't let that happen :)

All in all, it was a fun but very tiring shoot. Thank you Ninang Ghe and Tito Jojo for the free access and for accompanying us to the venue, to Kevin for lending us his van and to my mom for the delicious snacks she made for us.To our suppliers, Benjie Tiongco and Uly Sariego, thank you so much for the wonderful and very memorable prenup shoot.Last but not the least, Thank you God for giving us a very good weather on our prenup shoot. Days before the shoot it was raining hard, but on our prenup day it was hot and sunny :)

Below our some pics from the prenup shoot and prenup teasers from Benjie :)

My mom and Ninang Ghe

(L-R) Uly, Kevin. Mom. Moi, Benjie and Hannie :)

Again, last shot for the happy group :)

The Prenup Teasers

Love it! <3 <3 <3

Exactly 6 months to go!

I had the chance to blog today while in the office, because our "BIG BOSS" is blabbing around and hearing his voice gives me a headache. So to shift my mind off, I decided to post a blog while hearing his voice :D

Today is exactly 6 months to go before our big day! I'm nervous, knowing that in a few months I'm going to leave home and miss my family but at the same time happy, because I'm going to spend the rest of my life with the man I'm going to marry. So for our progress, tomorrow will be our first prenup photo shoot with Benjie Tiongco and his team. We prepared  three themes based on our common interests. The first one will be a movie theme ( from one of our fave movies),second a casual beach theme ( a.k.a kulitan blues habang nasa tabing dagat hehe) and last but not the least the music inspired bohemian theme. We prepared three different outfits per theme, but my friends suggested to bring a fourth outfit just in case my photographer suggested to change. I am also going to bring lots of props and accessories to accentuate each theme.

Before I end this blog, I wanted to share my experience with my ex-prenup hmua. She was referred to me by a friend, saw her portfolio, and booked her last year. Now,six days before our long time scheduled prenup shoot she called and told me that she can't go to our prenup shoot anymore because the scheduled arrival of his dad ( which she hasn't seen for 16 years) was rescheduled to June 5 instead of the original plan of going home on June 7. She reassured that her friend will replace her instead. Upon hearing the replacement hmua, I still kept my cool because I know that she'll give me someone she trust. Two days after, she texted me again that her "replacement" friend backed out too because she didn't agree with the amount I booked with my original prenup hmua, so she told me she'll find one within the day. Upon hearing those words, I panicked. I don't want to spend my weekend thinking who will be my new prenup hmua, so that day I decided to research for myself.  I got angry with her because she gave me stress that day, a major stress. I

After several hours of researching, my friend Jen noticed and asked me my sad YM status so I told her the whole story. I'm very thankful for her help because she recommended me her prenup hmua, Uly Sariego. Uly is nice and very prompt in answering my questions. He even texted me earlier reminding me not to put conditioner on my hair tomorrow ( so that he could curl my hair better). I promise to post my prenup suppliers review after the shoot, when? I still have no definite date, but I promise I'll post my review with pics.I've been also praying for a good weather..hopefully tomorrow God will answer it :D

Hoping to get some good sleep tonight,coz tomorrow Subic here we come! :)

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! :)

Prenup Venue Hunting Part 1

A lot of things happened at my work lately, that's why I had less time to write here. Last week, our office had been gloomy and emotional. A lot of people left us, but they will never be forgotten. Like they say, it is business as usual. I know God has other plans for them, and I know it is for the better.

Well, enough for the sad part, now on to our wedding updates :D First update, we got our rings and we love it! :) I just have some minor comments on the wedding date engraving inside and the two lines holding the diamonds on top of my ring, but all in all it is worth the wait and every penny :) I'll just have a separate review about our wedding ring supplier later on.

Now for our second update, we will be having our first prenup shoot on the first week of June. At first, I thought everything was all set. We will be having our first prenup shoot in Subic, because we have a free venue there c/o our close friend/ ninang. But my father gave me an advice, to just rent a place here in Manila or QC instead of going to Subic, because it'll still be more cheaper to rent in nearby places instead of going to Subic for the shoot ( including the food, gas, toll gates etc). So James and I thought about the whole idea and accepted my father's challenge, To find a nice place in Manila/QC for our prenup shoot. Knowing James he's not really into researching like me, so again the task of finding a new prenup venue is now my burden T_T

If I only know someone who owns an old mansion around Manila, or any place that's free but not a common prenup venue, is fine with me. Hope we could check one this weekend...*sigh*

Hello wedding prep bumps! *sigh*

Updates! Updates!

Today, is exactly 7 months, 3 weeks and 2 days to go before our BIG day and I'm getting more nervous as it gets nearer. We have been very busy with work lately, that's why I lack time to update this blog.

For updates, we recently booked our last major supplier for our wedding rings. We're going to get it next next week and we're so excited to see the finished product :)

My focus now is for our prenup shoots. Yes, we have not just one but three prenup shoots! and we're still on the process of researching and looking for venues, concepts, and outfits. The first prenup shoot will be on May or June, the prenup video by July or August and the last prenup shoot by September. We're having one free prenup venue in Subic, c/o a close friend who's working there. So right now, I'm looking for another venue there to make the prenup shoot worthwhile. For the prenup video and second prenup photo shoot, we'll just look for free venues here in QC and Manila area.

I don't know if this is normal, but I feel relaxed with the preps now. We're going to have DIY invites, souvenirs, boutonnieres and head fascinators but I haven't started one yet, all just concepts in mind hehe. I just hope, I won't be so rattled as the wedding gets nearer.

*sigh*