James & Ann: A LOVE TO REMEMBER Wedding Suppliers Rating Part 1

It's been a month since our wedding and I can still remember how beautiful and solemn it turned out to be. Our dream wedding came true, the 1 year and 9 months preparation ( including all the ups and downs) were all worth it and it is because of our families, friends, suppliers, and most specially God's help. Every wedding, no matter how organize and grand the suppliers are, there will always be glitches (whether it is a major or minor one). In my case, I can only remember the feeling of nervousness and excitement that day rather than stress. James and Ayeth (Our coordinator that became our friend) joined forces to fix all the problems, so I could be a worry free bride and yes it really happened. I will let you know the mishaps later, but for now I will just start rating our wedding suppliers.

Because of our honeymoon trips, Lipat-Bahay projects, and the holiday season I wasn't able to immediately write our suppliers rating. Even though I'm in the office,  I can now start rating (petiks mode on).

Legend: 1- lowest, 5- highest

Wedding Ceremony Venue: IGLESIA NI CRISTO, TEMPLO CENTRAL
Rating: 5++++

Every INC couple dreams of getting married here and we are very thankful that we had the once in a lifetime opportunity. Templo Central is our main church and you are lucky if you got a wedding date slot here because not every couple's request are granted. We just tried our luck last year, and prayed for it. Thank God he answered our prayers.

Our ceremony was very solemn because guests are prohibited to take pictures with flash during the ceremony and mobile phones are being surrendered in the guard house area before entering the church premises.

Peso power: None! we don't pay fees for wedding ceremony reservations, INC ceremony choir, and officiating minister :)

Bridal Gown And Groom's Suit Couturier: EMIL OCAMPO
Rating: 5++++

What can I say, we love Emil!:) We booked him last year, so we got his old rate for our gown and suit. Of all the designers I've inquired, his price range was the most affordable.  Emil is so patient, quiet, and kind. I had 3 gown sketch revisions (maarte kasi ako) and 8 fittings! yes you read it right, 8 fittings because of my not so proportional back and waistline hehe. He made a very beautiful gown for me (that made me look so slim and fab!) and a dashing suit for James. Up to now, I still hear praises of my gown and James' suit from the guests. I know his rate right now went up a bit, but Emil is still one of the most affordable and talented designers in the Philippines. He will deliver you what you want, just let him know ;)

Pics of our gown and suit from Paolo Feliciano (our wedding ceremony photographer)

Peso power: Undisclosed. Old rate :)

Prenup photographer: BENJIE TIONGCO
Rating: 5++++

I discovered Benjie last year I think around June-July when he was just starting  his own photography business. Benjie was with Imagination photographers before, so yes he is well trained. I was having doubts with our first booked P/V supplier then ( because of a lot of negative comments I've read that time) so we decided to find another one. When we met Benjie, we were still not sure if we are going to totally give up our first booked P/V so we just got his prenup services.

Come prenup day, he's the bomb! for his age, he is young but very very talented. He made us do poses that we never imagined we could do. We had buwis buhay poses, like posing on a dead end bridge ( when you look down the sea awaits), and a running shot wherein James forgot I was wearing 4 inch heels so I slide down the ramp ( thank God I have no scratches, just a minor bruise on one knee).  To know more about our prenup shoot, check this link.

Some pics from our prenup shoot: (I can't wait Benjie to post these pictures in his blog)

 

 Buwis buhay shot 1

 Buwis buhay shot 2

Peso power: 10,000 pesos- His old rate for prenup services only :)

Prenup HMUA: ULY SARIEGO
5++++

Our original prenup hmua backed out 4 days before our scheduled prenup shoot for some LAME reason ( and I was so stressed that time!- PM me if you want to know who it was) thank God a friend of mine referred Uly ( she also got him as her prenup hmua) and he's my saviour. He transformed me into a hollywood star (naks!) during our prenup shoot. One of the employees in the prenup venue even asked if I am an actress haha ( kilig!).Uly is very nice and soft spoken (walang ka ere-ere). To know more about our shoot check this link again and our pics above.

Peso power: 1,500 pesos- Old rate . We provided him transportation (back and forth QC) so Out Of Town fee ( OOT) was waived.


Reception venue and caterer: THE GRAND TERRACE AND VS&F CATERING
Account Executive (AE): Val Jamora
5++++

I chose The Grand Terrace (TGT) as our reception venue because it's very near our ceremony church. We didn't visit other venues, and thank God we made the right decision. Come wedding day, TGT and VS&F delivered more than what what we expected, and it is because of the high efforts our AE, Mr. Val Jamora exerted.

A brief side-kuwento, Val was not our original AE. We had two AEs before we are turned-over to Val. Our first AE was Clarice Enriquez, but all of a sudden she resigned without informing us. I just knew about her resignation, when one day I decided to call VS&F for some reception decor inquiries. Ms. Maricel Tupas ( I think she was Clarice's supervisor) apologized and told us she instructed Clarice to inform all her clients before leaving. Starting that day, Ms. Maricel handled our account. My mom was still not satisfied with our AE,  because she wanted the AE who handled her friend's son reception in TGT before ( and that was Val), so even though Ms. Maricel was nice, my mom called VS&F and requested for Val. That time Val was still on-leave so for the meantime Ms. Maricel handled our account. I think a month already passed, and my mom still insisted of changing our AE so she called again VS&F and finally talked to Val. Val happily accepted our account, and accommodated our every request.  I know sometimes he gets annoyed because of my mom's frankness and "kakulitan" but now looking back, I am thankful that my mom was makulit and I have so many requests because our reception was very beautiful! We even changed our venue from Venus Garden to The Grand Pavillion of TGT ( it was bigger that it can accommodate 200-300 guests) though changing venues means extra charge, in the end it was all worth it.

Val meticulously designed our reception area. He exceeded my expectations and he even added a surprise Eiffel tower centerpiece in the buffet area  as a gift to us with no extra charge! ( Yes, James and I had a Paris inspired reception theme). From the table covers, table centerpieces ( I didn't expect that my centerpiece will be that pretty because it was just twigs and some flowers on top, but indeed it was rustic chic!), table napkin fold, cake, olympic drapings and crystals etc.

Our guests loved the food! a friend of mine, who was one of my bridesmaids told me that they heard guests raving how good our food was while they were retouching inside the bathroom. From the start until the end of the reception all guests were full, happy, and satisfied :)

Note: If you are looking for a great reception area around Q.C. visit The Grand Terrace. They have different function rooms that can accommodate your desired number of guests and their food? superb!. Though TGT have a small parking space, but no worries because they rent out Isuzu's front parking lot during occasions. The guards will lead you to proper parking spaces :)

Peso power: Undisclosed. Old rate :)

String Quartet: LEGGIERO STRINGS AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA 
Rating: 5++++

In 2011, I was looking for a string quartet that can perform modern/pop songs. I liked this particular quartet but their price was not within our budget range so I let them go and searched for another. While researching, I found Leggiero's website and they definitely caught my attention! they have sample performances in their website, they can perform Katy Perry, ColdPlay, Bruno Mars, Maroon 5 songs and etc. James is very meticulous when it comes to music, when I emailed him their website he suddenly texted me and told me to book them immediately.

During our reception, I listened carefully and they perfectly played every song in the list that I gave them (The song list was a combination of modern and ballad songs that James and I love hehe). I didn't know that one of their members is an INC too!so cool :)

Note: They bring their own floor monitor so you don't have to rent one  :)

Peso power: 10,000 pesos. Old rate :)

Wedding photographer: PAOLO FELICIANO
Rating: 5++++
From w@w auction

How am I going to start? hmmm...Okay so I got 3 photographers! haha. One is Benjie Tiongco for our prenup, the 2nd one was our original photographer ( we decided to change them for some reason-PM me if you want to know them) but we still availed their prenup services so our DP won't go down to waste, and finally Paolo as our wedding photographer.

I won the w@w auction last 2011 and got Paolo's wedding photography services. At first, I really don't know him and his works only if it wasn't for my w@wie friend Roan. She introduced Paolo's website to me, and suddenly I became a fan. It was my first time to join an auction, and hell it was so good to bid! I read the rules and Roan gave me tips ( because his hubby always bids at ebay), so there I suddenly received an email that I won!:)

At first, I thought because I only paid half of his original price, his team will also be half on our wedding day hehe ( meaning less photographer to shoot), but I was wrong. Paolo and his whole team came on our hotel in full ( they are 6 in the team including the Photo slideshow maker). They shoot here, there, and everywhere! Paolo made me look like a cover model of a wedding magazine :D During our reception dinner, they played our Photo slideshow and everybody loved it! all the pictures in the slideshow are RAW (meaning unedited) but we are stunning!:) I'm going to get the pictures from Paolo anytime soon, so for the meantime here are some teasers from our wedding :)

  

 

 I only exchange FB, email, and text messages with Paolo after the auction  and it was our first time meeting him during the w@w Xmas Party 2012 at Blue leaf. He's really very nice (good looking too hehe) and accommodating.

Peso power: 16,000 pesos only for service thanks to w@w auction! and additional 3,500 pesos for the SDE photo slideshow.


That's it for now, wait for my suppliers review part deux! :)

2nd Prenup shoot:DONE! :)

Finally! I got the time to blog about our second prenup shoot, but this time it's a combination of a video and photo shoot.

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 :)

October Updates!!!

Wow, I still can't believe that we started planning for our wedding 1 year and 7 months ago, and now it's only 51 days to go before our wedding day! *still in panic mode*

October is our busiest month. We hope that by November we are in * finishing touches* mode with our preparations.We still have a lot of things to do, and so far here are our accomplishments:

OCTOBER MADNESS LIST:

A. DONE List:

1. October 5- Get Marriage License- DONE!
2. October 6- Last Divisoria trip- DONE!
3. October 8- Go to MMN District for James' requirements and follow up couple's backdrop to  Ms. Veron- DONE!
4. October 9- Go to Main Church for the form signatories -DONE!
5. October 10- Meet our emcee, Ms. Jem Santiago- DONE!- I'm going to have a separate blog for this!
6. October 12- Wedding Seminar @ Church PART 1- DONE!
7. October 14- Visit Ninong Benny in Valenzuela- DONE!

 Of course, if there is a DONE list, there's also a TO DO list ( actually a lot of to do list!)

B. TO DO List:

1.   October 16/17- Book our hotel in Boracay
2.   October 20- Derma session, 4th wedding gown fitting, 2nd suit fitting
3.   October 21- Entourage fitting
4.   October 22- Send invitations to ninang Divina and to Ilo-ilo relatives
5.   October 23- Buy Blank Acrylic Ref magnets *Optional
6.   October 27 Final detailing with the caterer and file turnover to our coordinator
7.   October 28- Meet Ninong Edwin * Tentative Sched

C. DIY TO DO List:

1.   Invitations- In  progress
2.   Guestbook- In progress
3.   Fascinators- In progress
4.   Table numbers-  In progress (will choose design)
5.   Boutonnieres- Not Yet Started
6.   Canvass Portrait- To follow PVP
7.   Door Knob signages- Not Yet Started
8.   Pictures for the reception area- Not Yet Started
9.  Souvenirs for principal sponsors- Not Yet Started * still canvassing
10.  Souvenirs for Guests- *Optional- if none, There's already a PhotoBooth!
11.   Just Married Sign- Not Yet Started
12.   Paris inspired movie table posters- Not Yet Started*Optional

D. Pending Supplier to book:

1.   Crew Meal Supplier- *still scouting 

And that's how we are going to end our October! Wedding preparation is fun, but tiring. I know after our wedding I'm going to miss all of this. It's stressful but I love every bit of it <3

Now, time to do our November Craze list! :)

DIY Update: STD Posters

It's 78 days before our big day, and we decided to start sending our STD (Save The Date) posters to our chosen guests today. I did three STD designs to choose from, but our fave is the In Time STD poster. (The pictures we've used were shot by our very talented prenup photographer, Benjie Tiongco.)

Our In Time STD poster

Our Casual STD poster

I will post our vintage retro STD movie poster, once we released our invitations to the guests. The main reason is we'll be using the same design for our cover page :)

DIY Update: Our Monogram~officially DONE!:)

If you've been following our blog, I already created several monograms last January ( you can check it here ). Though I like some of it already, I'm still not satisfied. I don't want it to be the usual bold letter + curl letter monogram, I want some twist in it. So after hundreds of revisions and discussions with James, we finally finished our monogram.

I want our monogram to have a Parisian twist while James likes it classic. We incorporated our color motif- Plum/Purple, Silver Gray and Antique Gold.

So here it is!, I'm happy to present our classic Parisian inspired monogram :)