7 Months before…

Time is flying by so fast. May is gonna end in a weeks time and it’ll be June. i got a feeling time would be a blur by then. Good thing we are making progress with our supplier bookings, DIYs and commitments. 

Here are our achievements by far: 

1. We have booked our Bridal car at the Megamall Bridar fair last Feb. Initially, we are about to book the cheaper cars of Don Roberts but the lady in their booth was soo unhelpful and unfriendly even if she recognizes us already from previous bridalfairs.:-( It’s ok though. If not because of her we wouldnt have booked the posh Chrysler. It was paid for us by FiL so even if its pricey, its OK. 🙂 
2. On the last week of Feb, we went to Belo to have my recurring pimples checked and fiancee for his nose pimple scars. So far, after two months, my face is better. No more pimples and its smoother and fairer.
3. We’ve also had our Food Tasting. Its a good thing we did because the Salmon entree which we are willing to pay for the upgrade doesnt taste good. So we went back to plain white fish. The beef is superb. The seafood soup and eclairs are also great. 
4. The month of March seems to be very laid back with no accomplishments apart from the Save the Date e-invite which i DIYed. We started sending out Save the Dates last April fools. 🙂
5. We also settled with Fullblooms as our Event stylist and florist. Ms Inah and her daughter, Rachel are both darlings to talk to. They also reply promptly. I am putting my trust in them and i really hope they can deliver well. 
6. We also booked Craft Revive to do woodworks for our Instagram frame and our wooden hastag signage to be used on our prenup. 
7. We also met with our possible entourage gown tailor in Antipolo. I am really hoping lola Enya makes great gowns and I hope she’ll be able to deliver the MOH gown by June. Then we’ll decide if we stick with her or not.
8. April seems to be a fullfiling month. We also had an occular to Pan de Amerikana resto and bakery for our possible prenup location. Like CTK and Enderun, the place had a this is it feeling. Apart from the minimal fee, the place is small but there are lots of areas which are really nice for photo sessions. We’ll do half of our prenup here and the 2nd half at the Grove. 
9. For the month of May, we started doing my origami bouquet for prenup. And slowly progressing on our 1000 paper cranes project. 
10. We went to Mark Brides to have my measurements taken and hopefully, i’ll be able to loose some belly before the first fitting on July. 
11. We’ve bought our entourage fabrics at Dragon8 Mall in Divisoria. Dragon 8 is a newer mall with cleaner toilets and really cool aircon. The chiffon (which they say is high grade) costs 50 per yard, satin – 40 and gina – 20. Its really cheaper in divi. I cannot compare though with the fabric stalls in Taytay as i havent been there. 
12. Tomorrow, i’ll be able to get our first set of special giveaways for female principal sponsors and church readers/commentators/emcee. Its a personalized tote bag from Travel and Trove. 

Whew… Looks like we accomplished a lot for the past 3 months but there are more to be done. Praying to God that he’ll continue to bless us with fine weather, good health and happy hearted people. ☺️

New Suppliers booked:

1. Bridal Car – APerfectDayWedCar
2. Event Stylist/Florist – Fullblooms by Inah
3. Woodworks – Craft Revive
4. Giveaways (tote bag) – Travel & Trove 
5. Ento Tailor – Enya (tentative)
6. Hotel Prep – Aruga the Grove (online reserved)

  
 
   

10 months before….

With aaproximately 10 months before our wedding, we have booked additional suppliers. But we really are having a hard time finding the right Event Stylist. 

These are what we have by far… 

• Church: CTK, Greenmeadows
• Reception/ Caterer: Enderun Atrium and Courtyard
• Photo/Video: East Digital
• OTD Coordinator: Imbitado Events
• HMUA: Val Villarin
• Bridal Gown: Mark Brides
• Lights and Sounds: Soundlevel 
• Emcee: Agri & Ayie
• Invitations: DIY
• Origami Cranes and Roses: DIY

For my bridal gown, we initally booked Desino Dulce but I got scared with so many bad reviews so i search of an alternative. And so we booked Mark Brides during the PICC bridal fair. Sarci is nice and easy to talk to and price is more affordable than the likes of Edward Teng, Bonaobra, Mel Orlina, Gretch Pichay, etc.. The price that was quoted to me is similar to the RTW gown I liked at Ivory&White at Landmark. And unlike landmark rtw, it has complete accesories na with free embroidered silk robe. I just hope they can deliver well. 

As for the things we dont have yet, here’s a list..

• Event Stylist & Florist
• Tent
• Bridal Car & Van(s)
• Cake
• Souveniers: Customized Katya bags and wines maybe?
• Prep Hotel: Grove Aruga is yet to open on March 

To cut out costs, we decided not to have a live band and photobooth. We thought we could find a very affordable event stylist but now were having a hard time finding the right one. Sigh*

Wedding Preps: Venue/ Caterer

I took us a whole to finalize our reception venue and caterer. Nakadami den kaming libreng buffet. 🙂  Since we’ve considered a lot of venues and caterer, i would make use of bullets to enumerate them. 🙂 

• Mango Farm – This is the first venue we’ve been to. It’s easy to remember when we went here because it’s right after the Pac-May fight. We were at Marikina to watch live streaming of the fight so we decided to visit Mango farm right after. When we are there, i didn’t feel anything special about the place. I didn’t like the slanted ceiling, and the grass wasn’t really that grassy. And it concerns me that December to January is harvest time for mangoes; it might be malangaw and malamok on Dec.28. Its also quite far from CTK. It might take 30-45mins of ride without traffic. It located on the farthest end of Kingsvill subd pa yata kase. What i liked about the place is that they only hold 1 event per day. So solo ang lugar na pagkalaki-laki for the whole day. Suppliers wouldnt be rushing on ingress and egress. 😦 

• CTK Events Hall – It doesnt have a “this is it” factor but I am ok to hold the reception on a function hall. Its more practical and easier for older guests. The function hall is only 20,000k for 4 hours. There are no accredited caterers so we can choose anyone. But we are late in our inquiry. The wedding who booked the 10am slot ahead of us, also booked the events hall. They only accomodate 1 event per day, so sadly, it means we have to look for another. 

• Glass Garden – Since i first saw Glass Garden on somebody else wedding pictures i guess last 2009 or 2010, i also wanted to have a reception venue similar to Glass garden. So this is my 2nd pic after mango farm. But when we asked for their packages, we found out that Hizons were no longer on their accredited caterers and the KbyCunanan GG package is way above our budget, we didnt visit it anymore for occular. We instead looked for another venue.

• Lights of Love – We went for Josiah food tasting. And i just wasnt awed by the place. And apart from that it’s far and the routes going here is a bit complicated compared to Mango Farm and Glass garden. On our way back, we passed by Oasis, since I didnt like the route to Lights of Love, i didnt inquire in Oasis anymore. 

• Blue Leaf (BGC)- We went to blue leaf for Hizon’s food tasting. The place was easy to find and it looked clean. But the venue rental is not cheap. In fact its again way above our budget. And i didn’t like the idea that the events place can hold up to 3 events simultaneously. 

• Decagon/ Cai Events – Good thing about these two is the location. Very near from the church and walking distance from where I stay. I just don’t like the place and that it. I didnt inquire at all. 🙂 

• Jardin de Miramar – When i go to Antipolo and visit Ed’s home, i would pass by Jardin Miramar. Its a walled events place. One time, the gate was open and saw that the place was actually good. I just don’t like the location. Apart from the fact that its far, there are shanties right infront of its main gate. 😦 I just cannot splurge money on a wedding venue and see not so fortunate people next to it. 

• Casa Real – This is recommended by an officemate. The posters of Casa is just wow. The old building when lightes at night looked so glamorous. The venue rental is manageable, and just like function halls, there are no accredited caterers so we can choose any. So we went there for an occular. Only the caretaker was there, so nobody sales-taked us to renting the place. Since its interior walls and floors are made of wood, it’s a bit musty and dark. I don’t know but I have this thing that when I view houses, i just dont like dimly lit or dark places. Dimly lit place for me should be a bathroom conducive for poop. Lol. Kidding aside, i considered this place because of its rental rates and I can get Hizons as caterer. It’s a bit far though and should pass by two guard houses. Visitors might be confused where to go and where to leave and claim their IDs. 🙂

• The Grove – The Information Center of the grove is one of the prettiest. More glam than casa. High ceiling and all glass house. Its actually big if they remove all the showrooms inside. But last year when I inquired for a friend, they said they are not renting it out anymore. I called them again this week and they said, they might reconstruct the glass house to pave way to the new retail center behind it. But they said, they would be putting up a similar events venue but nothing is definite until by end of this year. 😦 Too late for us though. By the end of this year, prices might increase again. And there is no assurance that it will be as big as the current glass house. I would have loved it here in the grove because its very near to the church and my family is already familiar with the place.  

• Enderun Atrium & Courtyard –  This is actually our last option in my list. First choice would be The Grove, second is CTK clubhouse, then Glass garden and lastly Enderun.  Enderun is not really an events place. It is actually a culinary school. Good thing December 28 would already be school holidays so the place would be deserted by then. 🙂 There is no venue rental however the food should be inhouse and buffet meals are bit pricey. But since we went to their free food tasting event, there are some perks. Our AE, Iyett  gave us a 10% discount, included the courtyard (usually the courtyard should be rented out for 25k), and upgraded the iced tea to bottomless. Its actually a fair deal and she did not rush us to book on the day just to avail of the freebies. She gave us 5 days to decide. 🙂  The place is really nice and clean. It has enourmous windows, high ceiling and red-bricked walls. The place doesn’t look like Metro Manila at all. I first thought that Enderun would be so high end and people here would be so classy and “sosyal” that we would feel intimidated. But no, mas sosyal pa sa Blue leaf and the those in the Grove and in Rockwell. So yes, we are finally choosing our reception venue to be Enderun Atrium and Courtyard. I am not sure if the place is just plain pretty and unconventional but i think it had the “this is it” feel that i was reading from blogs. When we are scrutinizing the place, i have this feeling of excitement that I really wanna get married already. 🙂 Ed liked the place as well. 🙂 

As for the caterers, we’ve done 3 food tasting and went to an event catered by Bizu. 

• Josiah – I expected too much from them just because I liked their green logo and they are from Marikina which is near. But came food tasting, the food is meager. Tasting lng talaga. I didn’t like all the appetizers and deserts. The main course is good most especially the slow roasted beef. Being a sweet tooth, good dessert is must for me though.

• Hizons – Ed and I both loved Hizons. We are both impressed with the food tasting. Unlike Josiah in which waiter will serve you meager portions of the menu to taste, here in Hizons its a real buffet complete with carvery, taco station, pasta station and mobile bar. The main course are good a bit better than Josiah. Though the Josiah beef is still better. But I like their taco station and the creme brulee is really good. The supervisor EA who assisted us is also very helpfull, so when she told us that they are no longer accredited by Glass Garden, I was soo disappointed. 😦 we really tried to find a nice venue and get Hizons but nice venues near CTK, is scarce. Because we cant find a pretty and affordable venue we had to let Hizons go and move on.

• Bizu – There was an event in the Grove and the cocktails were provided by Bizu. Everything looked so appetizing. And I was like “Wow, they got french macaroons, wow they got scallops covered in bacon, wow that pasta looked different…” But when I tasted the french macaroons, it was too sweet and too airy. The bacon covered scallops is too salty and the mushroom shell pasta is too earthy. The flavours are very strong and it just doesnt suit my taste. 

• Purple Dish, K by C, Albergus – We didnt consider K by C because its way beyond our budget. I inquired at purple dish via Facebook but they didnt email me their packages. We found Albergus at a bridal fair and their menu looked really good but then they are not also accredited by Glass Garden. So there is no sence in scheduling a food tasting with them if we cant find a venue yet. 

• Enderun – The Food Tasting is very private because it’s held in Restaurant 101 and its quite small. Limited persons were invited and they gave us time to really eat. Our AE, is very accomodating and told us that we can swap dishes in the buffet menu. I am not 100 sure about this though because she said it will be upon the Chef’s approval. We didnt like the lamb. Call me “probinsyana” but i really dont like the smell of the lamb. We loved their soup, the main course were comparable Josiahs and Hizons (Josiah’s beef is still the best though). But their desserts were good. I loved the cheesecake. I hated the calamansi tart which have a very eggy flavour but Ed like it. So maybe its just me.  🙂 

 So that’s it! We chose Enderun Atrium and Courtyard for our Reception. 

Ed trying out the buffet

        

Events Styling by Beng Villanueva

    

photo grabbed from Enderun Facebook page

 

Starting a new blog…

Hello Everyone! As I am preparing for a new chapter in my life, i would be writting a new blog. It would contain details of my wedding preps and some posts of recipes from my kitchen. 🙂

Wedding Preps: OTD Coordinator

Others may think that On the Day coordinator is just an added expense. That they are not really needed on a wedding. I think otherwise (though I did not expect them to be that expensive). 

I’ve attended weddings here in Manila and in La Union and the success of an event can be attributed to proper coordination. 

Some weddings can go tupsy turvy because everyone or no can wants to be a coordinator. Some weddings put additional stress to the bride if she has to be in charge and think of a lot of things during wedding day. Thus, as they say, wedding coordinators can make or break the day. 

Since I and Ed are both based in Manila there is no need for us to hire a full time or partial events coordinator. We can search for suppliers that fits our requirements and can search for reviews before actually booking them. For the DIYs such as save the date, invitations and stuff like that, we can handle it on our own. Even the program and games for reception, i can draft it ahead of time. Payments to be made during reception, some family members can handle that. But what concerns me is who would organize photo sesh at the hotel? Who’d organize our entourage during church procession? Who would usher our guests to their tables at reception? Who would make sure that everything we need is complete? 

Expensive as they might be, every bride would thank them for the role they’d take part during the wedding. I just hope that we would be able to hire an OTD which would ease the stress level and not put additional stress to us.

An officemate recommended the OTD at her own wedding but they are already booked during our wedding date. Didn’t expect others would be as early as we do in booking suppliers.

I searched FN and w@w forum and decided to inquire at Imbitado Events. I wanted to wait for bridal fairs to book them for discounts so I just pencil booked at first but then some couple having the same wedding date as ours are also inquiring. So we decided not to wait for the bridal fair and we deposited our reservation fee.

Based on the OTD coordination rates that we are getting at bridal fairs, Imbitato Events are reasonable. They are actually slightly cheaper from the one recommended by my officemate. The head coordinator, Ayie responds promptly to emails. She can even reply as late as past 11pm. 🙂 

That’s it! Imbitado Events is the first supplier (not including the church) we booked!  

They would be helping us organise our guests make our lives easier on December 28, 2016.

  

Wedding Preps: Church

Everytime Ed & I pass by Greenmeadows and Whiteplains subdivision, we would notice Christ the King parish. It looked small, homey and peacefull from the outside. I once told Ed that it looked nice to get married there and he agreed. 

This year when we started planning for our wedding, a lot of church came into consideration but we only inquired at CTK and eventually booked.

It is every woman’s dream to get married at a nice church. Long isle, vaulted ceiling, high altar and a grand door for a magical entrance. To get all that, Manila Cathedral would be it. Apart from its architecture, it is where popes celebrate mass. I searched for rates and it can cost up to 32k for aircon weddings. So off to search the next church choice, i searched Christ the King and Blessed John Paul Parish. BJP is a bit cheaper. So I was leaning on to BJP but then i wasnt in awe of the church facade and interior when we had mass there one time. I also thought of Edsa Shrine because it’s the church where I always go to mass with. After office hours i would go there. And i have a lot emotions poured out on this church. I would go there if i feel bad at work. I even went there to ask if Ed would really be the one. I loved the jade cross at the altar, it has a therapeutic aura that makes me feel better. We felt though that it is not that ok for a wedding because it is dimly lit, no doors at the center and Robinsons galleria is just right beside. So I search for churches in Mandaluyong, Pasig, Marikina and Antipolo area and the favourite is still Christ the King (which is actually part of QC already but its still very near to where I stay in Pasig). 

At first we went to inquire at CTK (around last weeks of april 2015 yata), if our wedding date is still open. They said somebody booked the 10am slot but 1pm and 3pm is still available. We didnt book yet at that time because we are not yet decided on where our wedding reception venue would be. 

We also considered a Tagaytay wedding but then we are worried of the traffic. Last year (2014), on December 28, we went to Tagaytay from Dasmarinas, Cavite and the traffic made the supposedly 40mins drive to almost 3hours. 😦 

Finally we decided to book CTK because we cannot find any church which is pretty and easy to find. They also dont have specific perks for parishioners which is good. 🙂 

What i find amusing is that on May 17, the day we booked the church, it seemed like everything is falling into its place beautifully. Sometimes it takes time to wait for direct to Antipolo ride infront of my place. But that day, it was very easy. We talked to Ed’s nanay first before booking the church; Just for a heads up that we are already starting our wedding preparations. While we are at Ed’s place, we lost track of time and packed a bit late going to church. I thought we might not make it there by 5pm, but actually we were there by 4:15. It was the first time, commute from my place to antipolo and back is both fast and easy. Even Ms Dodo, the church contact person, was nice and happy that time. I’ve read from blogs that she is a bit masungit (and yes, she is when we first met her). 

We attended the 5pm mass and it was our first time to enter the church. It has plenty of natural light coming in from the glass doors and the altar looked grand. I dont know if its just the “this is it” factor but the church is more magnificent at that moment than from what I see in photos. The altar also has greens which would match our motiff. It’s perfect. I could already imagine myself walking down the aisle.

That’s it! The first and foremost downpayment or reservation we made is for the church. 

Ed and I will tie the knot on December 28, 2016 at Christ the King Parish, Greenmeadows, Quezon City. 

 

Photo not mine. Grabbed from pixart.