I saw na a copy last night but it's my friend's so i still need to buy one for myself! grrhhh....im really decided to make it my collection. i emailed marbee yesterday coz i asked for print ads of their Animal Scene magazine. Much to my surprise, here's her email to me (this actually made me so happy!)
~~o~~
Hi jacque,
Sorry I haven't been in touch lately, been busy as usual (especially now that AW comes out twice a month) but have been wanting to write you- so here, :)
Re: your request, surely. And more than that ill ask my boss for a discount na rin for you. Keep your fingers crossed! :)
Re: WE, it's in bookstores na but mabilis maubos. We're actually having a hard time with circulation bec ayaw nila i-display so they only bring it out when customers ask for it, haaay, :) travails of a new player in the market...ay! Dnt buy na pala, I'll give you a copy, :) they give me kasi 10 copies every issue :) did I tell you pala that you're in the issue? I included you in letters to WE. And I'd like to feature your wedding pala jacque!
Cheers!
Marbee
~~o~~
yey! it was more than an answered prayer to us! before our wedding day, we prayed to God that all our guests may be blessed and may be inspired by the wedding. Ang prayer namin was that they will see God's love thru the wedding. true enough, He did'nt fail as most of our guests told us that they felt true love and God. never have we imagined that He will still use our wedding more to share it to other couples. Thanks to Marbee and their team. may they continue to prosper and be of good help to soon-to-be brides...and those who want to stay as brides forever...
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
The one with James Conan Bersig
Is'nt he gwapo?! he's James Conan Bersig, first son of James and Valora! Born in January 27, 2006 at around 8 in the morning. With a little over 5 lbs., he has so much love to give to his parents. They're in NY now.
God bless you James Conan and welcome to the world! you'll love it here!
Monday, January 30, 2006
The one at the top of my head
haaayy...with being a wife to my behbeh, a busy employee trying to launch two products (na super inaabangan na ng lahat) and practicing to be a homekeeper, there are so many things id want to accomplish for the next few weeks...i dont even know where to begin with.
watched Imbestigador last saturday. my heart sank when i saw homeless children who are hungry and with some who actually died because of hunger and malnutrition. i cried having to see a mother of already 9 kids and is currently with a child. Imbestigador was able to shoot while she delivered the baby and surprisingly the baby was of right weight and size considering that most of the time, the mother has nothing to eat or drink but coffee. Imagine, drinking coffee that would last you for the whole day?! i can't explain how i felt. i felt fear of having to raise our child and the difficulty that comes along with it. i felt guilt thinking that i have'nt done anything to help these kids (i give out food when kids beg during traffic but im just helping 3 or 5 kids... ) and i felt anger to the parents who, despite of their "economy", still bore a lot of kids and not raise them the way they should be raised. then, during our sunday service yesterday, the sermon of Pastor Bhabes Pualate was very timely. It was all about helping the poor and the children who are uneducated, malnutrition, and with no future. Now i wonder, how can I possibly be of help to these kids? I can pray for them and by that i know i help...but i want to see me going out of my way to help them, to make them feel that everything will be alright and that they can have a bright future...
In a lighter note, we are going on a incentive trip next week. We'll go to HK, China, and back to HK for 4 days and 3 nights. it's an exciting trip. everyone in the office is very much looking forward to going on an all-expense paid full boarding trip! yahoo! our company deserves every inch of that trip coz everyone really worked hard to achieve the target sales!
Simon has been working his brains out for all the projects he has now. we can't go malling coz of our work pero as soon as he finishes his projects, we plan to go to Tagaytay for a relaxing getaway trip! yahoo! he's planning na rin for valentine's. unfortunately, almost all concerts are scheduled on feb 10 and 11. i will be in manila by feb. 11 and i dont know if i will still have the energy for a Jay-r and kyla concert. oh well...
we also plan to avail the free room reservations we have at the richmonde hotel. a part of the "treat yourself right" that we intend to implement. that's scheduled on a non-working saturday for us. :)
okay, back to work now. later!
yun lang. so much for february! happy valentine's!
watched Imbestigador last saturday. my heart sank when i saw homeless children who are hungry and with some who actually died because of hunger and malnutrition. i cried having to see a mother of already 9 kids and is currently with a child. Imbestigador was able to shoot while she delivered the baby and surprisingly the baby was of right weight and size considering that most of the time, the mother has nothing to eat or drink but coffee. Imagine, drinking coffee that would last you for the whole day?! i can't explain how i felt. i felt fear of having to raise our child and the difficulty that comes along with it. i felt guilt thinking that i have'nt done anything to help these kids (i give out food when kids beg during traffic but im just helping 3 or 5 kids... ) and i felt anger to the parents who, despite of their "economy", still bore a lot of kids and not raise them the way they should be raised. then, during our sunday service yesterday, the sermon of Pastor Bhabes Pualate was very timely. It was all about helping the poor and the children who are uneducated, malnutrition, and with no future. Now i wonder, how can I possibly be of help to these kids? I can pray for them and by that i know i help...but i want to see me going out of my way to help them, to make them feel that everything will be alright and that they can have a bright future...
In a lighter note, we are going on a incentive trip next week. We'll go to HK, China, and back to HK for 4 days and 3 nights. it's an exciting trip. everyone in the office is very much looking forward to going on an all-expense paid full boarding trip! yahoo! our company deserves every inch of that trip coz everyone really worked hard to achieve the target sales!
Simon has been working his brains out for all the projects he has now. we can't go malling coz of our work pero as soon as he finishes his projects, we plan to go to Tagaytay for a relaxing getaway trip! yahoo! he's planning na rin for valentine's. unfortunately, almost all concerts are scheduled on feb 10 and 11. i will be in manila by feb. 11 and i dont know if i will still have the energy for a Jay-r and kyla concert. oh well...
we also plan to avail the free room reservations we have at the richmonde hotel. a part of the "treat yourself right" that we intend to implement. that's scheduled on a non-working saturday for us. :)
okay, back to work now. later!
yun lang. so much for february! happy valentine's!
Saturday, January 28, 2006
The one with sistahs' weddings
W@wie sistahs wella, karla and tin are all getting married today!!!
God is soooooo good talaga! imagine, yesterday ang ulan-ulan, as in malulungkot ka na lang coz feeling mo hindi na sisikat ang araw. But today, oh man! the best weather ever! He is, indeed, the supplier of all the suppliers! He supplied the sun, wind moon, and stars for the day and the perfect evening for them!
happy wedding girls! Pray, enjoy and let go! Muah!
God is soooooo good talaga! imagine, yesterday ang ulan-ulan, as in malulungkot ka na lang coz feeling mo hindi na sisikat ang araw. But today, oh man! the best weather ever! He is, indeed, the supplier of all the suppliers! He supplied the sun, wind moon, and stars for the day and the perfect evening for them!
happy wedding girls! Pray, enjoy and let go! Muah!
The one with oh i see...
I got the chance to be a part of the panel of judges in one of the most prestigious award-giving body in marketing and i was overwhlemed with all the presentations i got from the students. i was blessed enough that my boss used my brand for the case study (at least i get to have info from fresh minds...heheh) although i turned down almost 95% of the entries ( i dont know why, i didnt find the answer i was looking for in their presentations) but a handful stood out and now im thinking...
"my goodness, these kids are just great, they can replace me in a blink of an eye!" im not kidding...feeling ko tuloy ignoramus me. hahaha. and so to boost my ego and self-esteem, im trying really hard to remember my so called accomplishments...hehehe. here are at the top of my head
~ consistent honor student (elementary and HS should still be included coz i worked really hard all throughout my studying years)
~ dean's lister, consistent pa rin
~ graduated ehem, ehem, cum laude at the only Pontifical University in the Phils.
~ ranked 3rd place in thesis, "The effect of abstract appreciation in geometric ability of 3rd year high schools students"
~ now a part of the proud Brand Management group in Univet handling canine lines. Will launch two products this year.
~ An entrepreneur by heart. Selling choco goodies every Christmas season and earning 5-digit net income; an accessory maker that started as a hobby and developed in a small-time business. (unfortunately, na-stop coz i did'nt have time to do it na)
you think, papasa ba???hehehe....not bragging, just want to boost my self-esteem kahit minsan lang...(wala naman nagbabasa nito eh. hehe)
"my goodness, these kids are just great, they can replace me in a blink of an eye!" im not kidding...feeling ko tuloy ignoramus me. hahaha. and so to boost my ego and self-esteem, im trying really hard to remember my so called accomplishments...hehehe. here are at the top of my head
~ consistent honor student (elementary and HS should still be included coz i worked really hard all throughout my studying years)
~ dean's lister, consistent pa rin
~ graduated ehem, ehem, cum laude at the only Pontifical University in the Phils.
~ ranked 3rd place in thesis, "The effect of abstract appreciation in geometric ability of 3rd year high schools students"
~ now a part of the proud Brand Management group in Univet handling canine lines. Will launch two products this year.
~ An entrepreneur by heart. Selling choco goodies every Christmas season and earning 5-digit net income; an accessory maker that started as a hobby and developed in a small-time business. (unfortunately, na-stop coz i did'nt have time to do it na)
you think, papasa ba???hehehe....not bragging, just want to boost my self-esteem kahit minsan lang...(wala naman nagbabasa nito eh. hehe)
Friday, January 27, 2006
The one with the final episode
Main Photographer and Video: Paul Vincent Photography
How we got them: From w@wie yna, my good friend
Contact number: 410-5126/0918-415-3195
Inclusions: Unlimited shots, 8x10 digital storybook album, signature frame, pre-nups, portraint in canvass and frame, 3ccd-video, dvd copy
Peso Power: P39,000.00!
Rating: 10+10+10+10
Album and video: Pending (wala pa results eh)
What else can I say?! Sa lahat ata ng nag-inquire about him, paulit-ulit lang ako ng script about how good he is and how we found our ‘perfect’ photographer. For some of you who know us, we are perky people and we know that we should find a photographer who best suits our personalities (at least man lang maki-ride sa mga corny namin na jokes!) And since a photographer is the last supplier you’d ever have to deal with for your wedding since matagal pa album, important talaga that we jive with them. We found all those things in Paul. After meeting almost all photographers we know, nung na-meet ni Simon si paul, alam nya sya na yun and the following weekend, we booked him right away. As in, magkasundo sila sa mga hirits and jokes that made us so comfortable working with him.
When he posted comments sa pre-nups namin, no exag yun. We really loved to laugh til ma-lock jaws kami, but he was able to capture the ‘essentials’ and made us looked like models kunwari. Haha. He’s meticulous in looking for the perfect angle, and I think that’s the reason why it would take him more minutes than usual to take pictures kasi super taking all the shots he can get for that perfect angle. (which is good kasi it means more pictures!)
He willingly volunteered to come to the hotel early, something na naging concern at first coz feeling ng mga coordinators wala sya makukuhaan ng pics since wala pa flowers or wala pa me make-up. I honestly did’nt mind, feeling ko that’s his style eh. And I think it’s a good decision. The flowers arrived early, pag dating nya he was able to take pictures agad with other accessories and my gown. So marami sya nakuha mga pictures.
He’s particular with the couple’s portraits kasi nga naman this is probably one occasion that a couple will be at their best so gusto nya maraming pictorials ang couple. He favors before-wedding pictorials but flexible naman if ayaw ng couple. Like for us, we really did’nt want to see each other before the wedding and at first he tried to explain the good reasons of having pictorials before the wedding pero ayaw talaga namin eh. Hehe. And we never regret our decision kasi right after the ceremony, retouch na me make-up and pictorials agad so mukhang fresh pa rin.
I understand our coordinator being strict with the time so right after the reception, we still had to take some pictures pa kasi hindi pa sya satisfied sa number of shots that he was able to take. Dito, super give na give na kme. Haha. I’d suggest some places that I like sa Puerta real, he’d be excited and instruct us to do some poses for him. We were never shy posing for him. (o baka, sadyang makapal lang kme) From the solo pictorials before the ceremony, he informed us na that he’ll also do some “model shoots” on us (buti na lang kc this is one of our frustrations in life eh..hehe) and I hope we were able to pull it off. Feeling ko nun model talaga ako, I’d do some poses and sasabihin lang nila, “Ayan…nice…hold it”. They really made me feel beautiful that day, yung kunwaring nag-uunahan sila calling for my name to look at their lenses. Tipong, “O Jacque dito naman…nice!” haha, feeling talaga!
Erwin (the video man) is good too. I never expected id be comfortable in front of a video cam kasi ayoko nung dini-direct ako. Pero he was able to tell me what to do and I hope I did’nt give him a hard time. Isa lang ang hindi ko ginawa na pinapagawa nya…to throw petals while I was on the bed (hehe, hindi po bagay sa ken)
Paul and wife Ivy are good people. We love them and lagi namin sinasabi sa kanila yun. Hehe. Not for anything else, but we sincerely believe that they are on their way to fame and we are blessed enough to work with them.
Coordinator: An Event to Remember
Contact Person: Clarice Aviñante 0920-926-6471
Inclusion: On-the-day coordination (2 months before wedding), RSVP, etc., 4 coordinators and 2 errand boys
Peso Power: 10,000.00
Rating: 10+++++++
Other supplier seriously considered: None
They’re the only coordinators we met…and booked agad. Simon was one of those many grooms na hesitant on getting coordinators. Feeling nya it’s not practical considering pa that we’re running on a very specific budget on everything, plus, we have a support system who could really do all the legwork for us…until he attended a wedding of a w@wie na tinugtugan nya (my forever thanks to you, jane!) and after seeing how organized the wedding was and how relaxed the families were, he called me and told me to book clarice na agad! Hahaha, God is good talaga. J
We found an instant friend, shock and pressure absorber in clarice. Out of all the countless times we met her for meetings, lahat yun magkukwentuhan lang kme of how our wedding preps is going. She made us feel relaxed and assured us always that everything will be alright. When I met abie co, I requested that she’d be on our wedding. True enough, she filed pa a leave para lang mag-coordinate ng wedding ko kahit marami naman pwede mag take over sa kanya. She was the head nung reception na, clarice sa ceremony.
They were so good, wala talaga kme inintindi nung wedding day itself. They were the ones na nataranta for the tents kasi they wanted to add two more, ako kasi ayoko na. Buti na lang hindi na dumating yung tents na additional. While in the hotel, clarice told me, “alam mo sis, we are not this relaxed talaga sa ibang weddings, pero sa inyo super relaxed din kme.” Im glad we did’nt give them much stress during our wedding. We closely coordinated almost everything to her. Kaya nga she kept on telling me not to do her job coz I kept on doing checklists and other things to do for the suppliers.
Ang super na-love na love ko talaga sila was when they fixed our Unity candle. When I made the candles kasi, I wrapped it pa para hindi madumihan. BY the time we were taking it off, sumasama lahat ng beads. Tsk, tsk! Buti na lang I brought all my beading materials and I taught them how to do it and voila…good as new! Bow ako kay abie and kay Au! Super love them for doing that. Wala na yun sa contract pero they still did it. Haaayyy!
Ang assigned assistant ko was Au. She’d carry my things while pictorial ko, carry my train, fix my gown, always telling me to smile and sya rin nakipag-unahan sa staircase ng diamond hotel for pictorials. Haha. We were three brides there kasi and
inunahan nya lahat yun so they’d have to wait for us. Haha. Cool!
They were second to arrive and color-coordinated rin sila. Haha. Super na-appreciate ko how they remembered all our bilins, pati nga KFC flavor na gusto ko naalala nila eh. Haha. OC! Love them. Will always recommend them to friends and everyone getting married.
Concerns: None
Sound system for ceremony: Christian tan, brother of Simon
Peso Power: Free
Rating: 10+++
Syempre, since free to, mahal ko talaga sila. Naka-barong sila nun pero sila pa rin nag set up ng sound system. Ang cool! They arrived there around lunch time pa. Since we had two separate sound systems, we didn’t have to transfer anything.
Tarpaulin “Sa Wakas, Kasal na” : Thrills Digital Corp.
Contact Person: Lardy Calupitan 0917-850-4251
Peso Power: Free
Rating: 10
We originally wanted this for the car pero hindi na nilagay, hinawakan na lang namin. Super nice sya and im sure mura lang. They gave it to us for free since supplier namin sila sa office. Hehe, bait. Surprised nga kme eh. Some w@wies even asked for their number and asked for the rates.
AVP: Friends Mark Yu and Liane de Leon
Peso Power: Free
Rating: 10++
Tuwa talaga kme rito coz the pictures they chose were the funny ones. Haha. We had problems with where to put the projector pero nagawan naman ng paraan. Yung iba tumayo lang para makakita mabuti…Tawanan lahat kasi ang iitim namin nung bata kme. Hahaha.. And kahit hindi naka-march si Mark, masaya pa rin kme with the work they did. Super saya!
Projector: Word International Ministries
Peso Power: free
Rating: 10+++
Hehe, syempre dahil we are members of this church, napahiram nila ang projector sa amin. Engot lang me and one of those things that I forgot was a laptop! Super bait lang talaga ng aking officemates clint and lissa, they brought clint’s laptop and helped us set up the projector. May isang cable na wala so they had to play the audio and video ng sabay na sabay. Buti na lang, maayos lumabas! :)
Bridal Car: Nissan Sentra (latest model) c/o Richmonde Hotel with driver and gas included
Peso Power: P200.00/hour! (50% discount, friend kasi)
Rating: 10+
They do not really rent out their cars kasi service vehicles nila ito for some guests. But since we’re clients and naging friend ko na rin sya, she used her name to rent the car and got 50% off. Galing! For 9 hours namin na ginamit, P1,800 lang ang bayad! Super sulit! Super bait pa ng driver kasi mega assist talaga sa amin to and from the hotel. Best deal!
Singers for ceremony and reception: Friends from church and sisters of simon
Peso Power: Free
Rating: 10+++
Eto out of their love and goodwill na lang talaga siguro. Hehe. They really sing na sa ibang weddings since college si Simon. Yung isa naman, member ng Papuri, Inc. so mala-anghel tlga mga boses nila. Haha. Syempre friends kaya kahit ano performance, biased me. I specifically loved Not your ordinary love, More than wonderful, Til I found you, and syempre ang aking bridal march na All I evern want…haaayy!
Luminaries: DIY
Rating: kelangan pa ba?! :)
Funny story, super promote ako rito sa w@w of offering the luminaries to those who might want to use them after our wedding. At syempre pa, hindi namin sila nagamit! Hahaha. Sa sobrang let go namin ni simon, nakalimutan namin ibigay kala clarice. Kaya andun lang sya sa car the whole time. Good thing, I made 100 pcs. of the paper luminaries also kaya ayun ang ginamit nila clarice to set-up the place. Nice pa rin
naman sya.
Pre-wedding beauty preparation:
Diamond peel and facial sessions: Mendez Facial care center
Inclusions: 5 sessions of diamond peel and facial paminsan-minsan
Peso power: P2,500.00 (70% off)
Rating: 9
Originally, rosy peel ang na-avail kong promo but they used diamond peel on me the whole time. Masarap sya. Kita mo agad ang effect but you’ll appreciate it more pag every week ka nagpapa-ganun. Sakit lang sa bulsa. I only had four sessions, so may isa pa me. Facial nila okay din coz dermatologist talaga ang nag-gagawa sayo, same with the diamond peel.
Whitening cream (hehe): Ellen’s whitening cream, Libis QC
Peso Power: P1,500.00
Rating: 10
Hindi ko pa naman ganun ka-grabe kelangan nito, hindi lang kasi pantay kulay ko plus gusto ko walang lines sa underarm. In fairness, effective sya. As in nakakaputi po talaga. Yun nga lang, I used it ng august and one month lang ang consumption nung cream. I should have started using it around September.
Spa: Tranquility Spa
Peso Power: c/o W@w as prize
Rating: 8
Syempre, dahil free sya eh di masaya kme! We availed the couple’s room. May back scrub and body massage. Sarap! Feeling namin ni simon ang gaan sa pakiramdam. Im giving them 8 nga lang kasi pinabalik pa nila kme despite the fact that we set an appointment. (Christmas party kasi nila eh)
Other body scrub, hair spa, foot spa: Home Spa Salon
Contact person/owner: Meann Rivera 0918-906-9015
Peso power: body scrub- P350; foot spa-P198; hair spa – P350.00; Massage: P300.00
Rating: 10
Haven to sa ken. Ang lapit lang kasi sa amin kaya super accessible. What’s nice is that they don’t charge that much pero guaranteed ka naman na maganda services nila. Their products are good as well. I forgot lang the website pero you can text her na lang. Kaya kahit magpabalik-balik ako, hindi masyadong masakit sa bulsa. I just had my hair semi-rebonded, sa kanila ko pinagawa. Super straight, ang ganda po!
Shower party hotels: Astoria hotel and Bayview park hotel
Courtesy of bestfriends and officemates
Rating: 10++
Perfect and Astoria for shower parties kasi laki space. They got the 1br suite and ang since wala matutulog dun, I asked my parents to sleep there. Haha. Ang mga lola, pumunta naman kahit naka-pantulog na. Hehe. Sayang breakfast eh.
Sa bayview naman, nice syempre ang view! Although, a little smaller, maganda pa rin naman.
Wedding ideas and resources: Weddings at work.com
Rating: 10+++++++
I’am sure that our wedding will not be as memorable and meaningful as it was if not for the endless ideas I got from w@w. As you can see, almost all our suppliers came from w@w and im just as thankful as the others for benz and john. Thank you so much for coming up with this. You might have heard this a hundred times na, pero thank you talaga. We will remember our wedding as the most memorable and most exciting event of our lives…and a part of that is because you guys made this group. It’s with W@w that I get the assurance that im still normal esp. when I feel neurotic and stressed; It’s in w@w that I met brides whom I’ve seen through their best and worst times (wedding preps-wise) and managed to be friends with. It’s with w@w that you will never get tired of reading stories of brides trying to get the last-minute best deals, best buys and ravings on suppliers. Thank you. Kung pwede lang maging w@wie
forever… :)
Whew! Finally, and I thought I wont see the end of this. Haha. Thanks to everyone for taking time to read my long posts. Ganito talaga ako magkwento…dinedetalye. :)
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or tag sa blog namin. :)
It’s good that Im done with the ratings. Yun nga lang this also means one thing…that eventually, I’ll be making my signing off post. Hehe, tagal pa yun. Marami
pa me inaabangan na kasal!
Happy preps and God bless!
How we got them: From w@wie yna, my good friend
Contact number: 410-5126/0918-415-3195
Inclusions: Unlimited shots, 8x10 digital storybook album, signature frame, pre-nups, portraint in canvass and frame, 3ccd-video, dvd copy
Peso Power: P39,000.00!
Rating: 10+10+10+10
Album and video: Pending (wala pa results eh)
What else can I say?! Sa lahat ata ng nag-inquire about him, paulit-ulit lang ako ng script about how good he is and how we found our ‘perfect’ photographer. For some of you who know us, we are perky people and we know that we should find a photographer who best suits our personalities (at least man lang maki-ride sa mga corny namin na jokes!) And since a photographer is the last supplier you’d ever have to deal with for your wedding since matagal pa album, important talaga that we jive with them. We found all those things in Paul. After meeting almost all photographers we know, nung na-meet ni Simon si paul, alam nya sya na yun and the following weekend, we booked him right away. As in, magkasundo sila sa mga hirits and jokes that made us so comfortable working with him.
When he posted comments sa pre-nups namin, no exag yun. We really loved to laugh til ma-lock jaws kami, but he was able to capture the ‘essentials’ and made us looked like models kunwari. Haha. He’s meticulous in looking for the perfect angle, and I think that’s the reason why it would take him more minutes than usual to take pictures kasi super taking all the shots he can get for that perfect angle. (which is good kasi it means more pictures!)
He willingly volunteered to come to the hotel early, something na naging concern at first coz feeling ng mga coordinators wala sya makukuhaan ng pics since wala pa flowers or wala pa me make-up. I honestly did’nt mind, feeling ko that’s his style eh. And I think it’s a good decision. The flowers arrived early, pag dating nya he was able to take pictures agad with other accessories and my gown. So marami sya nakuha mga pictures.
He’s particular with the couple’s portraits kasi nga naman this is probably one occasion that a couple will be at their best so gusto nya maraming pictorials ang couple. He favors before-wedding pictorials but flexible naman if ayaw ng couple. Like for us, we really did’nt want to see each other before the wedding and at first he tried to explain the good reasons of having pictorials before the wedding pero ayaw talaga namin eh. Hehe. And we never regret our decision kasi right after the ceremony, retouch na me make-up and pictorials agad so mukhang fresh pa rin.
I understand our coordinator being strict with the time so right after the reception, we still had to take some pictures pa kasi hindi pa sya satisfied sa number of shots that he was able to take. Dito, super give na give na kme. Haha. I’d suggest some places that I like sa Puerta real, he’d be excited and instruct us to do some poses for him. We were never shy posing for him. (o baka, sadyang makapal lang kme) From the solo pictorials before the ceremony, he informed us na that he’ll also do some “model shoots” on us (buti na lang kc this is one of our frustrations in life eh..hehe) and I hope we were able to pull it off. Feeling ko nun model talaga ako, I’d do some poses and sasabihin lang nila, “Ayan…nice…hold it”. They really made me feel beautiful that day, yung kunwaring nag-uunahan sila calling for my name to look at their lenses. Tipong, “O Jacque dito naman…nice!” haha, feeling talaga!
Erwin (the video man) is good too. I never expected id be comfortable in front of a video cam kasi ayoko nung dini-direct ako. Pero he was able to tell me what to do and I hope I did’nt give him a hard time. Isa lang ang hindi ko ginawa na pinapagawa nya…to throw petals while I was on the bed (hehe, hindi po bagay sa ken)
Paul and wife Ivy are good people. We love them and lagi namin sinasabi sa kanila yun. Hehe. Not for anything else, but we sincerely believe that they are on their way to fame and we are blessed enough to work with them.
Coordinator: An Event to Remember
Contact Person: Clarice Aviñante 0920-926-6471
Inclusion: On-the-day coordination (2 months before wedding), RSVP, etc., 4 coordinators and 2 errand boys
Peso Power: 10,000.00
Rating: 10+++++++
Other supplier seriously considered: None
They’re the only coordinators we met…and booked agad. Simon was one of those many grooms na hesitant on getting coordinators. Feeling nya it’s not practical considering pa that we’re running on a very specific budget on everything, plus, we have a support system who could really do all the legwork for us…until he attended a wedding of a w@wie na tinugtugan nya (my forever thanks to you, jane!) and after seeing how organized the wedding was and how relaxed the families were, he called me and told me to book clarice na agad! Hahaha, God is good talaga. J
We found an instant friend, shock and pressure absorber in clarice. Out of all the countless times we met her for meetings, lahat yun magkukwentuhan lang kme of how our wedding preps is going. She made us feel relaxed and assured us always that everything will be alright. When I met abie co, I requested that she’d be on our wedding. True enough, she filed pa a leave para lang mag-coordinate ng wedding ko kahit marami naman pwede mag take over sa kanya. She was the head nung reception na, clarice sa ceremony.
They were so good, wala talaga kme inintindi nung wedding day itself. They were the ones na nataranta for the tents kasi they wanted to add two more, ako kasi ayoko na. Buti na lang hindi na dumating yung tents na additional. While in the hotel, clarice told me, “alam mo sis, we are not this relaxed talaga sa ibang weddings, pero sa inyo super relaxed din kme.” Im glad we did’nt give them much stress during our wedding. We closely coordinated almost everything to her. Kaya nga she kept on telling me not to do her job coz I kept on doing checklists and other things to do for the suppliers.
Ang super na-love na love ko talaga sila was when they fixed our Unity candle. When I made the candles kasi, I wrapped it pa para hindi madumihan. BY the time we were taking it off, sumasama lahat ng beads. Tsk, tsk! Buti na lang I brought all my beading materials and I taught them how to do it and voila…good as new! Bow ako kay abie and kay Au! Super love them for doing that. Wala na yun sa contract pero they still did it. Haaayyy!
Ang assigned assistant ko was Au. She’d carry my things while pictorial ko, carry my train, fix my gown, always telling me to smile and sya rin nakipag-unahan sa staircase ng diamond hotel for pictorials. Haha. We were three brides there kasi and
inunahan nya lahat yun so they’d have to wait for us. Haha. Cool!
They were second to arrive and color-coordinated rin sila. Haha. Super na-appreciate ko how they remembered all our bilins, pati nga KFC flavor na gusto ko naalala nila eh. Haha. OC! Love them. Will always recommend them to friends and everyone getting married.
Concerns: None
Sound system for ceremony: Christian tan, brother of Simon
Peso Power: Free
Rating: 10+++
Syempre, since free to, mahal ko talaga sila. Naka-barong sila nun pero sila pa rin nag set up ng sound system. Ang cool! They arrived there around lunch time pa. Since we had two separate sound systems, we didn’t have to transfer anything.
Tarpaulin “Sa Wakas, Kasal na” : Thrills Digital Corp.
Contact Person: Lardy Calupitan 0917-850-4251
Peso Power: Free
Rating: 10
We originally wanted this for the car pero hindi na nilagay, hinawakan na lang namin. Super nice sya and im sure mura lang. They gave it to us for free since supplier namin sila sa office. Hehe, bait. Surprised nga kme eh. Some w@wies even asked for their number and asked for the rates.
AVP: Friends Mark Yu and Liane de Leon
Peso Power: Free
Rating: 10++
Tuwa talaga kme rito coz the pictures they chose were the funny ones. Haha. We had problems with where to put the projector pero nagawan naman ng paraan. Yung iba tumayo lang para makakita mabuti…Tawanan lahat kasi ang iitim namin nung bata kme. Hahaha.. And kahit hindi naka-march si Mark, masaya pa rin kme with the work they did. Super saya!
Projector: Word International Ministries
Peso Power: free
Rating: 10+++
Hehe, syempre dahil we are members of this church, napahiram nila ang projector sa amin. Engot lang me and one of those things that I forgot was a laptop! Super bait lang talaga ng aking officemates clint and lissa, they brought clint’s laptop and helped us set up the projector. May isang cable na wala so they had to play the audio and video ng sabay na sabay. Buti na lang, maayos lumabas! :)
Bridal Car: Nissan Sentra (latest model) c/o Richmonde Hotel with driver and gas included
Peso Power: P200.00/hour! (50% discount, friend kasi)
Rating: 10+
They do not really rent out their cars kasi service vehicles nila ito for some guests. But since we’re clients and naging friend ko na rin sya, she used her name to rent the car and got 50% off. Galing! For 9 hours namin na ginamit, P1,800 lang ang bayad! Super sulit! Super bait pa ng driver kasi mega assist talaga sa amin to and from the hotel. Best deal!
Singers for ceremony and reception: Friends from church and sisters of simon
Peso Power: Free
Rating: 10+++
Eto out of their love and goodwill na lang talaga siguro. Hehe. They really sing na sa ibang weddings since college si Simon. Yung isa naman, member ng Papuri, Inc. so mala-anghel tlga mga boses nila. Haha. Syempre friends kaya kahit ano performance, biased me. I specifically loved Not your ordinary love, More than wonderful, Til I found you, and syempre ang aking bridal march na All I evern want…haaayy!
Luminaries: DIY
Rating: kelangan pa ba?! :)
Funny story, super promote ako rito sa w@w of offering the luminaries to those who might want to use them after our wedding. At syempre pa, hindi namin sila nagamit! Hahaha. Sa sobrang let go namin ni simon, nakalimutan namin ibigay kala clarice. Kaya andun lang sya sa car the whole time. Good thing, I made 100 pcs. of the paper luminaries also kaya ayun ang ginamit nila clarice to set-up the place. Nice pa rin
naman sya.
Pre-wedding beauty preparation:
Diamond peel and facial sessions: Mendez Facial care center
Inclusions: 5 sessions of diamond peel and facial paminsan-minsan
Peso power: P2,500.00 (70% off)
Rating: 9
Originally, rosy peel ang na-avail kong promo but they used diamond peel on me the whole time. Masarap sya. Kita mo agad ang effect but you’ll appreciate it more pag every week ka nagpapa-ganun. Sakit lang sa bulsa. I only had four sessions, so may isa pa me. Facial nila okay din coz dermatologist talaga ang nag-gagawa sayo, same with the diamond peel.
Whitening cream (hehe): Ellen’s whitening cream, Libis QC
Peso Power: P1,500.00
Rating: 10
Hindi ko pa naman ganun ka-grabe kelangan nito, hindi lang kasi pantay kulay ko plus gusto ko walang lines sa underarm. In fairness, effective sya. As in nakakaputi po talaga. Yun nga lang, I used it ng august and one month lang ang consumption nung cream. I should have started using it around September.
Spa: Tranquility Spa
Peso Power: c/o W@w as prize
Rating: 8
Syempre, dahil free sya eh di masaya kme! We availed the couple’s room. May back scrub and body massage. Sarap! Feeling namin ni simon ang gaan sa pakiramdam. Im giving them 8 nga lang kasi pinabalik pa nila kme despite the fact that we set an appointment. (Christmas party kasi nila eh)
Other body scrub, hair spa, foot spa: Home Spa Salon
Contact person/owner: Meann Rivera 0918-906-9015
Peso power: body scrub- P350; foot spa-P198; hair spa – P350.00; Massage: P300.00
Rating: 10
Haven to sa ken. Ang lapit lang kasi sa amin kaya super accessible. What’s nice is that they don’t charge that much pero guaranteed ka naman na maganda services nila. Their products are good as well. I forgot lang the website pero you can text her na lang. Kaya kahit magpabalik-balik ako, hindi masyadong masakit sa bulsa. I just had my hair semi-rebonded, sa kanila ko pinagawa. Super straight, ang ganda po!
Shower party hotels: Astoria hotel and Bayview park hotel
Courtesy of bestfriends and officemates
Rating: 10++
Perfect and Astoria for shower parties kasi laki space. They got the 1br suite and ang since wala matutulog dun, I asked my parents to sleep there. Haha. Ang mga lola, pumunta naman kahit naka-pantulog na. Hehe. Sayang breakfast eh.
Sa bayview naman, nice syempre ang view! Although, a little smaller, maganda pa rin naman.
Wedding ideas and resources: Weddings at work.com
Rating: 10+++++++
I’am sure that our wedding will not be as memorable and meaningful as it was if not for the endless ideas I got from w@w. As you can see, almost all our suppliers came from w@w and im just as thankful as the others for benz and john. Thank you so much for coming up with this. You might have heard this a hundred times na, pero thank you talaga. We will remember our wedding as the most memorable and most exciting event of our lives…and a part of that is because you guys made this group. It’s with W@w that I get the assurance that im still normal esp. when I feel neurotic and stressed; It’s in w@w that I met brides whom I’ve seen through their best and worst times (wedding preps-wise) and managed to be friends with. It’s with w@w that you will never get tired of reading stories of brides trying to get the last-minute best deals, best buys and ravings on suppliers. Thank you. Kung pwede lang maging w@wie
forever… :)
Whew! Finally, and I thought I wont see the end of this. Haha. Thanks to everyone for taking time to read my long posts. Ganito talaga ako magkwento…dinedetalye. :)
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or tag sa blog namin. :)
It’s good that Im done with the ratings. Yun nga lang this also means one thing…that eventually, I’ll be making my signing off post. Hehe, tagal pa yun. Marami
pa me inaabangan na kasal!
Happy preps and God bless!
The one with Episode 3
On to our 3rd part of the ratings… Message #128658 and
Message # 129007 for previous ratings.
Hotel: Manila Diamond Hotel - Roxas Blvd.
How we got them: Corporate account from office ko
AE: Trina Panapanaam 528-3000
Inclusions of stay: 2 nights, 2 deluxe rooms for 1st day and 1 Executive suite and 1 deluxe room for 2nd day.
Peso Power: P3,500.00 net for deluxe room and P7,000.00 net for Executive Suite
Rating: 10++++++++
During the first part of our preps, I’ve always thought that we will have our wedding preps at Westin since we have an AE there who accommodates us for corporate functions. Despite the fact that they really charge you with everything, (read: pati nga ice sabi ni Benz), I desparately wanted that hotel since I thought that’s the best in Manila and of course the picturesque gardens they have.
Until we learned about Manila Diamond Hotel when we attended a friend’s wedding last February. The rates are almost the same as Westin’s, no garden views but the service is the best I got…We are very particular with the services coz we don’t want to be stressed on our wedding day. Here are some reasons why we love
the hotel:
- our in-laws were the first to arrive. Kasama nila grandma ni simon para hindi na mahirapan mag travel sa wedding day mismo. Pag pasok pa lang nila, automatic
may wheelchair agad without anyone asking.
- The rooms are spacious for twin sharing rooms. All their staff are super friendly, and accommodating. Nakakatuwa simon’s dad, inaalam nya all free amenities
and services that go with the stay. He called the Room service to inquire and super bait naman at sinabi sa kanya lahat. Who would have thought sa amin na libre ang shoe shine service. Hehe, o sadyang hindi lang namin alam. ;) also, mineral water is free. Im sorry if I get so mababaw na pati water kino-consider ko but it just goes to show that hindi sila masingil of extra cost. Like sa amin, pag 1st time ka hihingi, you can get 6 bottles of Wilkins mineral water aside from the 2 that you have sa room. tapos, next requests ata dalawa na lang ulit.
- When we checked in, gabi na. We just had dinner sa hotel pero nagpadeliver kme ng food from Max’s! oh yes, pwede po sya magdeliver. You just have to pick it up sa lobby pero the reception people will call you and inform you once the delivery guy arrives. Sa westin, as I’ve said before, Bawal pa rin.
- Pag dating namin ng hotel, Simon and I parked agad without bringing down the things sa lobby (my bad, one of those moments na lutang kme) anyway, we talked to
the bell boy and asked if they can pick up our things from the parking since kakatamad na lumabas ulit sa parking. It’s not really their job to pick it up there kc for one, stairs lang ang dadaanan. You know what, two bell boys volunteered to get their trolleys, asked us to wait for them sa car and maya-maya lang, andun na sila getting all our things, panik-panaog sa stairs with all the maleta, big boxes, wedding gown and mannequin. Wow talaga! I don’t know if its just the Christmas season kaya lahat ng tao mabait, pero pwamis mababait tlga sila. Yung feeling mo that
sincere naman sila sa ginagawa nila.
- On the wedding day itself, I woke up at 6am. Our parents availed the buffet breakfast while Simon and I ordered na lang a sumptuous meal from Jollibee. Hahaha. We actually gave our stubs to them na lang so they can enjoy their stay more. The breakfast is quite expensive (700++) so we ordered na lang outside which we enjoyed, and babawi na lang kme sa 2nd day. Haha. Anyway, while waiting for breakfast to arrive, I called up the front desk agad and inquired lang what time kme pwede mag check-in sa suite and if we can request an earlier check in. This was around 7am and
surprisingly, biglang sabi ng girl na “Ma’am, you may check in napo at Room 2229”. As in ako, “Now na, pwede na?!” and natawa lang sya sa reaction ko. Nagulat ata. Imagine, as early as 7am we were able to transfer na agad. Plus, all our rooms were on the same floor so madali magpapunta-punta.
- Madali mag-ask ng late check out. My in-laws did’nt go to the front desk na when they checked out. They left lang the room at around 3pm ata and automatic
check out na sya. We checked out 3pm of the 23rd din, requested also for late check out.
- Buffet breakfast was superb! Dami food! Inabot na kme ng last call and the waiters served us ng lahat ng klase ng food sa buffet table. Hehe. Para tuloy ang
tatakaw namin (well, true!)
- For pictorial purposes, ang okay sa Diamond is the staircase talaga. Very nice! May kasabay pa nga me na nagpapapicture, nauna lang kme dun so they waited for
us matapos. Mas after talaga kme sa services kc ang pictorials sa hotel was more on solo shots since hindi kme nagkita ni simon nung dressed up na kme.
- On our wedding night, nagugutom kme ni simon bigla kahit madami kme nakain from the reception. Ang tira lang na food was the KFC. Ni-ask naming kung pwede pa
reheat yung food. Pag balik sa amin, may presentation pa yung food: nasa plate with 2 sets of spoon and fork, with pepper and salt. Haha. KFC lang naman. Katuwa lang and fyi, this was at 2am po.
- Our cake was delivered at the hotel. Nagkaron ng miscommunication ata. Nung magche-check out na kme, nilagay nila sa plastic wraps and big plastic bag. Yun
lang.
- Gusto ko lighting and ambiance ng room. Well-lit, they both have yellow and white lights.
Basta, until now, we are still raving on that hotel. When our parents thanked us for a wonderful stay they had sa hotel and how much relaxed they were because of
a good sleep, we’re glad we chose Diamond. (naks! Parang pang-promotion ha. Hehe)
One minor concern though: Since I want to be as objective as possible, I will also have to inform you about one little thing. It did’nt bother us naman, sana lang na-inform kme earlier. I used kc my credit card for the deposit. A certain amount will float sa credit card mo pero it will automatically be cancelled after 14 working days. After settling the payment thru the same credit card, di ko na sya nagamit for
our next purchases. Kc muntik na mag-max out credit limit ko. Should we have known earlier, eh di sana pala we could have used another card for the deposit. Pero okay rin lang, I think na-cancel out na ata ngayon yun eh.
Cake: Emily Uy of Sugarbox
Contact number: 0917-534-8074 (memorize ko yan by heart)
Inclusions: 3-layer castle fondant cake, biggest layer edible; carrot-walnut flavor; 24 mini-cakes with castle design for ninongs and flowers for ninangs;
Cookies with our initials on all guest tables
Peso Power: P8,475.00 (with 10% discount)
Rating: 10+++++++++++++++++
Other supplier seriously considered: None
Kung pwede lang po kme magpa-ampon dito para kme lahat mag taste test ng mga cakes nya, gagawin po namin. Hahaha. OA!
We met her sa NBC Bridal Fair last March ata. After several texts, ang bati ko pa sa kanya that time, “Hi, Im Jacque. Ako yung may limited budget for a cake.” Haha. Narinig pa nga ako ni Mai ni Paul eh. Hehe. We only allocated 5k for the cake and this is one of the few suppliers na nag-exceed kme pero happy naman kme of the decision we made. No regrets, feeling ko pa nga kulang yung binayad namin eh. So anyway, we sat down, discussed and negotiated muna with the budget. After she presented her package and the fact that we can avail 24 mini-cakes, Simon agreed agad on getting the 8k package. Hehe.
When we started talking about the cake, I explained to her our working theme that time. Parang enchanted/ever after type pero in a not-so-formal way. We are not the serious type of people (obvious diba from all our grins sa pics?) and we want the cake to be the mirror of how our wedding should be and a mirror of our personalities. She asked me if I want a castle. At first hesitant me at baka maging Goldilocks bday cake. Hahaha. Pero when I saw a pic from a mag, I showed it to her. She made a sketch for me and after some consolidations and additional details, we have our cake na on paper. Since ayaw ko ng 3 layers na magkakapatong lang, we decided paghiwa-hiwalayin and make a little village of castles, tapos yung 2 smaller
castles are connected by a small bridge. Yung topper ni simon nasa isang layer holding a guitar (kunwari nihaharanahan ako), tapos ako sa kabilang layer holding my bouquet. Very nice. I think eto yung nagpalabas ng personalities namin coz simon’s a
musician…ako naman, wala lang. Hehe. More reasons why we love her dearly:
~ Physical Dimensions: the biggest layer ang edible, tapos ang dami pang castles na nakatayo. She added a square na styro pandagdag over the round cake para ata mas lalo tumaas. If you notice sa pics ni paul Vincent (pic 76), mas nagmukha sya mataas coz of the extra layer na yun. Nice! All our toppers did’nt melt, break or whatever deformation na pwede mangyari considering that it was an outdoor venue. Ive wanted to preserve it sana kaya lang after ilang days, nahanap sya ng mga langgam at pinapak na. Sayang!
~ I specifically loved the beads, pink, gold and transparent ones. At ang fur, hindi ko kinaya! Haha. Basta sabi ko lang sa kanya nun, lahat ng kaartehan at kung ano-ano pa isaksak nya lang sa cake ko…and it was tastefully done. Sabi nya kc it was every cake artist’s dream daw to make a cake castle. I kept all the paraphernalia she used, para pang scrapbook.
~ She added another free mini-cake na nakasingit dun sa layer nung cake ni simon. Haha. When we found out nga na edible pala yun, hala, we poked all the other
layers at baka edible din…di lang namin alam! Hahaha, OA tlga kme. So all in all, 25 mini-cakes yun!
~ The mini-cakes are cute esp the castle ones na we gave out for the ninongs. The roses naman for the ninangs. They never want to eat it daw kc ang ganda. Sabi ko kainin kc mas masarap.
~ She made cookies for us with initials J and S, two cookies per guest table. Akala rin ng guests hindi sya nakakain. Additional na pang-munch together with the
crinkles. The cookies she made for us was her gift. Touched nga ako eh. I’d still want to pay for it kc nahihiya na me. Abusado na ata ako.
~ Taste buds dimensions: The fondant icing, accordingto our families, is not matigas unlike sa ibang cakes we’ve tasted. Very easy to slice and hindi nag-crack
~ The carrot-walnut flavor…hmmmm!!! Sarap-sarap talaga! It’s moist, malambot and hindi kaumay. We also liked the choco-walnut pero settled for the carrot-walnut kc baka nga magtinga sa ngipin at Makita sa pics. Favorite rin ng dad ko yun and simon’s family kaya hindi masyado nagtagal ang cake sa mga refs nila. Hehe.
There was this day that we were texting our suppliers and thanking them for all the efforts and a job well done, I asked Emily kung napuyat ba sya sa cake namin. She texted back and told me na kme ang last client nya before Christmas kaya lahat na ng powers nya nilagay nya sa cake na yun. Hehe. Days after, she asked for a picture of us with our wedding cake, she will make a new brochure and wants to include our
wedding cake sa brochure nya. Happy lang kme coz we know she is a success in the making.
Caterer: Robert Camba Catering (Connie and Robert Camba himself)
Package inclusions: All silver wedding package
(5-course meal, 3 desserts, Pedestal for couple’s backdrop, gazebo for cake and for the couple, dove, champagne, ice carving, gold fountain for the buffet table, sound system, emcee (Mallory ferrer), purified water, bubble machine, torch parade, gues book, signature frame, live butterflies; Ceremony Set up – altar, 50 pcs. chairs plus additional 50 pcs (with P15per chair additional), posts with tulle, carpet
Peso Power: 58,000.00 for 150 pax plus ceremony set-up P5,000.00
Rating: 8.9
Feeling namin para makatipid kme ng konti and since one venue lang kme, we want a caterer na aside sa masarap ang food eh maraming amenities na free. Hehe. That way, marami ma-aadd sa wedding namin na free.
Pros:
~ We did’nt have problems talking to them. Open sila to changes or suggestions. On our last meeting with Connie, I had the organza ribbon na originally for tiffany chairs be converted to table runners. Ayoko kc nung table cloth nila eh, parang OA na kc super pink tlga. So we had white table cloths and gold na runners. Simple pero ok for us.
~ The head waiter, according to our coord, did a marvelous job. They kept on raving about him on our post-wedding evaluation. Kasi may pinabago ata si clarice na set-up ng VIP tables, after 5 minutes lang daw, tapos ang set-up. Galing!
~ We specifically marveled on our gazebo. Natuwa po kme dun kasi ang ganda sa pics.
~ Bow din kme sa freebies nila. Butterfly release that we used sa first kiss. Katuwa! Bubble machine na ginamit at least three times ata. (first dance, entrance to reception and closing time); torch parade – this added to the ever after theme;
~ Sound system: We thought parang karaoke lang ang sound system nila, yung parang pang-emcee lang. Tuwa kme coz malaki sya talaga. Rinig na rinig sa buong puerta real. Im not sure about the specs nun kc si simon ang nagkuha ng specs…but knowing that simon is particular sa sounds and pumasa yun sa standards nya, it must be really good.
~ All tiffany chairs – Syempre tuwang-tuwa pa rin ang guests dito coz the chairs really added elegance to our set-up.
~ Food: The best ang roast beef mushroom nila…ang daming guests raved on it. Some even had 3 servings. Hehehe.
~ Ceremony set-up: Since Mang Boy did na the ceremony set-up (which was so good), we put the posts with tulle sa reception na. We still needed to pay them the ceremony set-up since we got the altar from them and chairs, flowers lang kc kay mang boy eh. Ganda kinalabasan nung separate ang ceremony sa reception, feeling namin we have maximized Puerta Real to the fullest. J they also gave us free red carpet to be used sa reception, since sa ceremony na namin ginamit yung kasama sa package.
Cons:
~ We give tips to all suppliers pero ayaw namin ng hinihintay kami at naka-abang sa amin na bigyan sila. While we were having the post-wedding evaluation, nakatayo lang yung waiter sa tabi ni clarice. Clarice had to tell him to wait kasi hindi pa kme tapos.
~ Prior to the wedding, I got some valuable information about their service from w@wies also. We took note of all those pero was not able to check closely on the food allocated for the event. We had 150 guests but approximate 140 lang were there and super sagad ang food namin. I understand that some were able to have 2 servings pero sa buffer that they put, dapat may sobra pa rin ng konti diba? Okay rin lang naman coz lahat naman nakakain…oh except for a guest who arrived nung nag-closing speech na kme. Hahaha. Di na sya nakakain.
~ The set-up nung ‘dirty kitchen’ nila, hindi man lamang nila tinakpan or nilayo ng konti. Sa laki ng puerta real, they should have set it up somewhere na hindi nakakagambala sa guests. My officemate kasi shared that they were seated at the back and they can almost hear the kwentuhan and the ligpitan ng mga plates and glasses. Yun lang.
~ The tents for the VIPs, buffet, and cake are so simple. I expected lang siguro na kahit lights meron sana. Buti na lang, maliwanag sa puerta real.
~ The cake gazebo was not set-up na kasi Emily didn’t want it there na rin coz she was afraid of a possible rain or drizzle nga. Hehe, not Robert camba’s fault
actually.
~ Some of the details were not implemented pero if we will base it on the overall set-up, I’d still say that they did a great job. Kung baga, some things are not
as important as we thought it would be (like white flowers lang ang nasa centerpiece where in fact it should have been pink and yellow), we were still satisfied with their service.
Emcee: Mallory Ferrer
Rating: 10+++
I love her. We were’nt able to meet her. We just talked on the phone, discussed some little things and done. She was so good. Our guests were a combination of people from all walks of life. As in, may mga makyanders, mga hyper na yuppies, mga ka-age namin (mid-20s) and mga may pamilya na. But she was able to draw the crowd to her attention and made them all laugh. Haha. We loved how she pulled off our game. Simon wanted a trivia game from the start and ang mechanics is they’d have to answer and text it to clarice’s celphone number. Ang saya! I practically saw everyone opened their bags and prepared their cellphone texting fingers. Hahaha. Pati mga ninongs and ninangs, nakilaro! Ang price lang naman, P100.00 each. hahaha. It was fun. I also loved how she managed to implement the garter-bouquet game. Katuwa
sya!
Ceremony and Reception Music: JJS Wedding Symphony
How we got them: W@w
Contact Person: John Santos 0918-507-4709
Package Inclusion: String trio for ceremony and
reception
Peso Power: P7,000.00
Rating: 6 :(
Other supplier seriously considered: Velvet Mood, Senti Groove
As I wrote down before, almost all our suppliers delivered at par excellence except for one. And it is to our disappointment na of all suppliers pa, musicians pa ang sumablay considering na musically-inclined kme pareho ni simon. (esp Simon who
is a keyboardist). We gave them the benefit of the doubt at first pero merong mga instances that we cannot take sitting down.
Pros:
~ On our first few discussions thru texts or phone calls, we found him really nice and really flexible sa rates. Originally, we only asked for a string trio for the ceremony and I gave him a budget of 4k lang. Pumayag sya agad. Kaya super tuwa talaga ako sa kanya nun.
~ Everything that I asked from him, okay sa kanya. I requested kc that we have our own singers and kung okay lang yun. Okay naman daw. We have some songs that are not in their repertoire and he agreed pa rin naman sa mga songs na yun which we appreciated very much.
~ I appreciated their music nung ceremony.
Concerns: (minor muna)
~ We understand that December is such a busy month talaga. We never got the chance to meet him in person. Sa demo, he sent his staff to show us a video of their works, okay lang naman. We did’nt mind at all. We tried to meet up with him pero hindi sya pwede or minsan ako naman ang hindi pwede. Until one day he texted me and asked if we could talk on the phone na lang. While on the phone, we discussed
almost all the songs na and I told him that we’d meet him na lang so we can give the CD and the arrangement of how we’d like it played. He then suggested to have it mailed na lang thru LBC since lahat daw busy ngayon. I understood him naman nung una coz as I said, I gave him the benefit of the doubt na busy talaga lahat. So I mailed the three copies of the CD together with the misalette and the songs to play and anong mga songs dun ang may singers.
~ We requested for a rehearsal with our singers kahit yung keyboardist lang nila. Unfortunately, that did’nt happen. Simon even told john na kahit dagdagan na lang ang payment for them or charge us with a rehearsal fee, okay lang basta ma-practice lang ang singers. Hindi pa rin daw kc busy na talaga. Okay, so what happened was the weekend before our wedding, Simon had to rehearse the singers. We understood pa
rin naman coz we knew na hindi sya kasama sa package and he told us naman that the performers will arrive an hour before the ceremony so dun na lang daw ang practice…and okay pa rin kme dun. Simon called him ata regarding some changes sa songs and ang sabi nya lang is OK.
~ Sa buong discussions namin sa kanila, everything was okay…I mean literally Ok. Everytime Simon would text, lagi ang sinasabi lang Ok. I kept on assuring simon
that they are professionals and most likely wala nga problem.
~ Two weeks before the wedding, we have to extend their services to reception since something came up with our friend who was supposed to play sa reception. We texted him about that and since may copy naman sila ng reception songs, he texted Ok pa rin. We asked him if he can play all the songs para kung hindi man, we can adjust. He answered, Ok pa rin. Kaya kinakabahan na si simon kc puro Ok lang daw reply.
~ Come our wedding day, the keyboardist WAS late! He arrived 15 MINUTES before the ceremony. Eto yung hindi ko nakayanan. Imagine, three of the singers were included in the entourage. They chose not to have their pictorials with me before the wedding so they could rehearse their songs. They arrived at the venue at 3:30 p.m. The flutist and the violinist were on time. My SIL kept on asking them what time
darating yung keyboardist. Natraffic lang daw. My SIL said, “Kme kc ung singers and kelangan namin mag-practice” They’re not professionals so admittedly, they really had to rehearse diba kahit man lamang bridal march ko. When the keyboardist FINALLY arrived, ang sabi daw nung isang performer, “Oh, sila daw yung singers, papractice daw sila” My SIL was shocked sa ganung reaction nung girl.
~ They WERE’NT able to play all the songs requested. Sa ceremony, wala problem. Na-play nila lahat (as far as I know). Sa reception, cguro mga at least five songs yung hindi nila na-play. Madali lang kme kausap as in. Should they have told us na merong hindi mape-play sa list, no problem sa amin yun. We wont take it against them. Kaya lang kme nag-rant ngayon is because they kept on saying “Ok” tapos hindi naman pala okay. They could have easily told us or texted us na “sorry, pero ganitong songs lang ang pwede” and it will be fine with us. I know na short notice sila for the reception songs, pero we are just a text away.
~ Siguro sa disappointment na rin, I did’nt even text John to say thanks for the performers. I sent him an email to address our concerns...wala reply.
I would always say this to other brides that each supplier is to his own. It’s a case-to-case basis. Feeling ko nga, baka ako pa ang unang client nila na sumablay sila. I have’nt heard their side so this rating is more on our perspective and how we assessed the situation.
Back-up photographer: Roj Amado
How we got him: Another w@w supplier
Contact number: 0917-388-3702
Inclusion: Unlimited shots from hotel to venue; 3CDs
for master copy
Peso Power: P3,000.00
Rating: 10+
I love this guy. He is quiet at first pero super sensible kausap. He was the first photographer I met, and for the price he was offering then, akala ko I’d end up getting him. I had some concerns about his layout, so I got him as our back-up photographer instead.
Feeling ko ang mura rin ng rate nya for the service he rendered. We were viewing the pictures last night and grabe natuwa po ako sa kanya. He really was the back-up photographer I was looking for, yung pati Manila paper with the names of entourage to help them line up easily, kinunan nya. Pati yung mga moments na serious ako, nakatingin sa labas ng hotel na feeling siguro ng iba hindi na dapat kunan kc hindi naman ako naka-smile, kinunan nya pa rin! That was so important coz I was praying that time and when I saw the picture, I was reminded nung special moment na yun. (anxious nga kc ako of the rain) Tapos according to my SILs and friends, madali daw sya hatakin for extra shots kasi you’d see him everywhere, lakad-lakad taking pictures ng mga expressions ng guests, etc. basta, masaya po kme sa kanya. Bow!
Message # 129007 for previous ratings.
Hotel: Manila Diamond Hotel - Roxas Blvd.
How we got them: Corporate account from office ko
AE: Trina Panapanaam 528-3000
Inclusions of stay: 2 nights, 2 deluxe rooms for 1st day and 1 Executive suite and 1 deluxe room for 2nd day.
Peso Power: P3,500.00 net for deluxe room and P7,000.00 net for Executive Suite
Rating: 10++++++++
During the first part of our preps, I’ve always thought that we will have our wedding preps at Westin since we have an AE there who accommodates us for corporate functions. Despite the fact that they really charge you with everything, (read: pati nga ice sabi ni Benz), I desparately wanted that hotel since I thought that’s the best in Manila and of course the picturesque gardens they have.
Until we learned about Manila Diamond Hotel when we attended a friend’s wedding last February. The rates are almost the same as Westin’s, no garden views but the service is the best I got…We are very particular with the services coz we don’t want to be stressed on our wedding day. Here are some reasons why we love
the hotel:
- our in-laws were the first to arrive. Kasama nila grandma ni simon para hindi na mahirapan mag travel sa wedding day mismo. Pag pasok pa lang nila, automatic
may wheelchair agad without anyone asking.
- The rooms are spacious for twin sharing rooms. All their staff are super friendly, and accommodating. Nakakatuwa simon’s dad, inaalam nya all free amenities
and services that go with the stay. He called the Room service to inquire and super bait naman at sinabi sa kanya lahat. Who would have thought sa amin na libre ang shoe shine service. Hehe, o sadyang hindi lang namin alam. ;) also, mineral water is free. Im sorry if I get so mababaw na pati water kino-consider ko but it just goes to show that hindi sila masingil of extra cost. Like sa amin, pag 1st time ka hihingi, you can get 6 bottles of Wilkins mineral water aside from the 2 that you have sa room. tapos, next requests ata dalawa na lang ulit.
- When we checked in, gabi na. We just had dinner sa hotel pero nagpadeliver kme ng food from Max’s! oh yes, pwede po sya magdeliver. You just have to pick it up sa lobby pero the reception people will call you and inform you once the delivery guy arrives. Sa westin, as I’ve said before, Bawal pa rin.
- Pag dating namin ng hotel, Simon and I parked agad without bringing down the things sa lobby (my bad, one of those moments na lutang kme) anyway, we talked to
the bell boy and asked if they can pick up our things from the parking since kakatamad na lumabas ulit sa parking. It’s not really their job to pick it up there kc for one, stairs lang ang dadaanan. You know what, two bell boys volunteered to get their trolleys, asked us to wait for them sa car and maya-maya lang, andun na sila getting all our things, panik-panaog sa stairs with all the maleta, big boxes, wedding gown and mannequin. Wow talaga! I don’t know if its just the Christmas season kaya lahat ng tao mabait, pero pwamis mababait tlga sila. Yung feeling mo that
sincere naman sila sa ginagawa nila.
- On the wedding day itself, I woke up at 6am. Our parents availed the buffet breakfast while Simon and I ordered na lang a sumptuous meal from Jollibee. Hahaha. We actually gave our stubs to them na lang so they can enjoy their stay more. The breakfast is quite expensive (700++) so we ordered na lang outside which we enjoyed, and babawi na lang kme sa 2nd day. Haha. Anyway, while waiting for breakfast to arrive, I called up the front desk agad and inquired lang what time kme pwede mag check-in sa suite and if we can request an earlier check in. This was around 7am and
surprisingly, biglang sabi ng girl na “Ma’am, you may check in napo at Room 2229”. As in ako, “Now na, pwede na?!” and natawa lang sya sa reaction ko. Nagulat ata. Imagine, as early as 7am we were able to transfer na agad. Plus, all our rooms were on the same floor so madali magpapunta-punta.
- Madali mag-ask ng late check out. My in-laws did’nt go to the front desk na when they checked out. They left lang the room at around 3pm ata and automatic
check out na sya. We checked out 3pm of the 23rd din, requested also for late check out.
- Buffet breakfast was superb! Dami food! Inabot na kme ng last call and the waiters served us ng lahat ng klase ng food sa buffet table. Hehe. Para tuloy ang
tatakaw namin (well, true!)
- For pictorial purposes, ang okay sa Diamond is the staircase talaga. Very nice! May kasabay pa nga me na nagpapapicture, nauna lang kme dun so they waited for
us matapos. Mas after talaga kme sa services kc ang pictorials sa hotel was more on solo shots since hindi kme nagkita ni simon nung dressed up na kme.
- On our wedding night, nagugutom kme ni simon bigla kahit madami kme nakain from the reception. Ang tira lang na food was the KFC. Ni-ask naming kung pwede pa
reheat yung food. Pag balik sa amin, may presentation pa yung food: nasa plate with 2 sets of spoon and fork, with pepper and salt. Haha. KFC lang naman. Katuwa lang and fyi, this was at 2am po.
- Our cake was delivered at the hotel. Nagkaron ng miscommunication ata. Nung magche-check out na kme, nilagay nila sa plastic wraps and big plastic bag. Yun
lang.
- Gusto ko lighting and ambiance ng room. Well-lit, they both have yellow and white lights.
Basta, until now, we are still raving on that hotel. When our parents thanked us for a wonderful stay they had sa hotel and how much relaxed they were because of
a good sleep, we’re glad we chose Diamond. (naks! Parang pang-promotion ha. Hehe)
One minor concern though: Since I want to be as objective as possible, I will also have to inform you about one little thing. It did’nt bother us naman, sana lang na-inform kme earlier. I used kc my credit card for the deposit. A certain amount will float sa credit card mo pero it will automatically be cancelled after 14 working days. After settling the payment thru the same credit card, di ko na sya nagamit for
our next purchases. Kc muntik na mag-max out credit limit ko. Should we have known earlier, eh di sana pala we could have used another card for the deposit. Pero okay rin lang, I think na-cancel out na ata ngayon yun eh.
Cake: Emily Uy of Sugarbox
Contact number: 0917-534-8074 (memorize ko yan by heart)
Inclusions: 3-layer castle fondant cake, biggest layer edible; carrot-walnut flavor; 24 mini-cakes with castle design for ninongs and flowers for ninangs;
Cookies with our initials on all guest tables
Peso Power: P8,475.00 (with 10% discount)
Rating: 10+++++++++++++++++
Other supplier seriously considered: None
Kung pwede lang po kme magpa-ampon dito para kme lahat mag taste test ng mga cakes nya, gagawin po namin. Hahaha. OA!
We met her sa NBC Bridal Fair last March ata. After several texts, ang bati ko pa sa kanya that time, “Hi, Im Jacque. Ako yung may limited budget for a cake.” Haha. Narinig pa nga ako ni Mai ni Paul eh. Hehe. We only allocated 5k for the cake and this is one of the few suppliers na nag-exceed kme pero happy naman kme of the decision we made. No regrets, feeling ko pa nga kulang yung binayad namin eh. So anyway, we sat down, discussed and negotiated muna with the budget. After she presented her package and the fact that we can avail 24 mini-cakes, Simon agreed agad on getting the 8k package. Hehe.
When we started talking about the cake, I explained to her our working theme that time. Parang enchanted/ever after type pero in a not-so-formal way. We are not the serious type of people (obvious diba from all our grins sa pics?) and we want the cake to be the mirror of how our wedding should be and a mirror of our personalities. She asked me if I want a castle. At first hesitant me at baka maging Goldilocks bday cake. Hahaha. Pero when I saw a pic from a mag, I showed it to her. She made a sketch for me and after some consolidations and additional details, we have our cake na on paper. Since ayaw ko ng 3 layers na magkakapatong lang, we decided paghiwa-hiwalayin and make a little village of castles, tapos yung 2 smaller
castles are connected by a small bridge. Yung topper ni simon nasa isang layer holding a guitar (kunwari nihaharanahan ako), tapos ako sa kabilang layer holding my bouquet. Very nice. I think eto yung nagpalabas ng personalities namin coz simon’s a
musician…ako naman, wala lang. Hehe. More reasons why we love her dearly:
~ Physical Dimensions: the biggest layer ang edible, tapos ang dami pang castles na nakatayo. She added a square na styro pandagdag over the round cake para ata mas lalo tumaas. If you notice sa pics ni paul Vincent (pic 76), mas nagmukha sya mataas coz of the extra layer na yun. Nice! All our toppers did’nt melt, break or whatever deformation na pwede mangyari considering that it was an outdoor venue. Ive wanted to preserve it sana kaya lang after ilang days, nahanap sya ng mga langgam at pinapak na. Sayang!
~ I specifically loved the beads, pink, gold and transparent ones. At ang fur, hindi ko kinaya! Haha. Basta sabi ko lang sa kanya nun, lahat ng kaartehan at kung ano-ano pa isaksak nya lang sa cake ko…and it was tastefully done. Sabi nya kc it was every cake artist’s dream daw to make a cake castle. I kept all the paraphernalia she used, para pang scrapbook.
~ She added another free mini-cake na nakasingit dun sa layer nung cake ni simon. Haha. When we found out nga na edible pala yun, hala, we poked all the other
layers at baka edible din…di lang namin alam! Hahaha, OA tlga kme. So all in all, 25 mini-cakes yun!
~ The mini-cakes are cute esp the castle ones na we gave out for the ninongs. The roses naman for the ninangs. They never want to eat it daw kc ang ganda. Sabi ko kainin kc mas masarap.
~ She made cookies for us with initials J and S, two cookies per guest table. Akala rin ng guests hindi sya nakakain. Additional na pang-munch together with the
crinkles. The cookies she made for us was her gift. Touched nga ako eh. I’d still want to pay for it kc nahihiya na me. Abusado na ata ako.
~ Taste buds dimensions: The fondant icing, accordingto our families, is not matigas unlike sa ibang cakes we’ve tasted. Very easy to slice and hindi nag-crack
~ The carrot-walnut flavor…hmmmm!!! Sarap-sarap talaga! It’s moist, malambot and hindi kaumay. We also liked the choco-walnut pero settled for the carrot-walnut kc baka nga magtinga sa ngipin at Makita sa pics. Favorite rin ng dad ko yun and simon’s family kaya hindi masyado nagtagal ang cake sa mga refs nila. Hehe.
There was this day that we were texting our suppliers and thanking them for all the efforts and a job well done, I asked Emily kung napuyat ba sya sa cake namin. She texted back and told me na kme ang last client nya before Christmas kaya lahat na ng powers nya nilagay nya sa cake na yun. Hehe. Days after, she asked for a picture of us with our wedding cake, she will make a new brochure and wants to include our
wedding cake sa brochure nya. Happy lang kme coz we know she is a success in the making.
Caterer: Robert Camba Catering (Connie and Robert Camba himself)
Package inclusions: All silver wedding package
(5-course meal, 3 desserts, Pedestal for couple’s backdrop, gazebo for cake and for the couple, dove, champagne, ice carving, gold fountain for the buffet table, sound system, emcee (Mallory ferrer), purified water, bubble machine, torch parade, gues book, signature frame, live butterflies; Ceremony Set up – altar, 50 pcs. chairs plus additional 50 pcs (with P15per chair additional), posts with tulle, carpet
Peso Power: 58,000.00 for 150 pax plus ceremony set-up P5,000.00
Rating: 8.9
Feeling namin para makatipid kme ng konti and since one venue lang kme, we want a caterer na aside sa masarap ang food eh maraming amenities na free. Hehe. That way, marami ma-aadd sa wedding namin na free.
Pros:
~ We did’nt have problems talking to them. Open sila to changes or suggestions. On our last meeting with Connie, I had the organza ribbon na originally for tiffany chairs be converted to table runners. Ayoko kc nung table cloth nila eh, parang OA na kc super pink tlga. So we had white table cloths and gold na runners. Simple pero ok for us.
~ The head waiter, according to our coord, did a marvelous job. They kept on raving about him on our post-wedding evaluation. Kasi may pinabago ata si clarice na set-up ng VIP tables, after 5 minutes lang daw, tapos ang set-up. Galing!
~ We specifically marveled on our gazebo. Natuwa po kme dun kasi ang ganda sa pics.
~ Bow din kme sa freebies nila. Butterfly release that we used sa first kiss. Katuwa! Bubble machine na ginamit at least three times ata. (first dance, entrance to reception and closing time); torch parade – this added to the ever after theme;
~ Sound system: We thought parang karaoke lang ang sound system nila, yung parang pang-emcee lang. Tuwa kme coz malaki sya talaga. Rinig na rinig sa buong puerta real. Im not sure about the specs nun kc si simon ang nagkuha ng specs…but knowing that simon is particular sa sounds and pumasa yun sa standards nya, it must be really good.
~ All tiffany chairs – Syempre tuwang-tuwa pa rin ang guests dito coz the chairs really added elegance to our set-up.
~ Food: The best ang roast beef mushroom nila…ang daming guests raved on it. Some even had 3 servings. Hehehe.
~ Ceremony set-up: Since Mang Boy did na the ceremony set-up (which was so good), we put the posts with tulle sa reception na. We still needed to pay them the ceremony set-up since we got the altar from them and chairs, flowers lang kc kay mang boy eh. Ganda kinalabasan nung separate ang ceremony sa reception, feeling namin we have maximized Puerta Real to the fullest. J they also gave us free red carpet to be used sa reception, since sa ceremony na namin ginamit yung kasama sa package.
Cons:
~ We give tips to all suppliers pero ayaw namin ng hinihintay kami at naka-abang sa amin na bigyan sila. While we were having the post-wedding evaluation, nakatayo lang yung waiter sa tabi ni clarice. Clarice had to tell him to wait kasi hindi pa kme tapos.
~ Prior to the wedding, I got some valuable information about their service from w@wies also. We took note of all those pero was not able to check closely on the food allocated for the event. We had 150 guests but approximate 140 lang were there and super sagad ang food namin. I understand that some were able to have 2 servings pero sa buffer that they put, dapat may sobra pa rin ng konti diba? Okay rin lang naman coz lahat naman nakakain…oh except for a guest who arrived nung nag-closing speech na kme. Hahaha. Di na sya nakakain.
~ The set-up nung ‘dirty kitchen’ nila, hindi man lamang nila tinakpan or nilayo ng konti. Sa laki ng puerta real, they should have set it up somewhere na hindi nakakagambala sa guests. My officemate kasi shared that they were seated at the back and they can almost hear the kwentuhan and the ligpitan ng mga plates and glasses. Yun lang.
~ The tents for the VIPs, buffet, and cake are so simple. I expected lang siguro na kahit lights meron sana. Buti na lang, maliwanag sa puerta real.
~ The cake gazebo was not set-up na kasi Emily didn’t want it there na rin coz she was afraid of a possible rain or drizzle nga. Hehe, not Robert camba’s fault
actually.
~ Some of the details were not implemented pero if we will base it on the overall set-up, I’d still say that they did a great job. Kung baga, some things are not
as important as we thought it would be (like white flowers lang ang nasa centerpiece where in fact it should have been pink and yellow), we were still satisfied with their service.
Emcee: Mallory Ferrer
Rating: 10+++
I love her. We were’nt able to meet her. We just talked on the phone, discussed some little things and done. She was so good. Our guests were a combination of people from all walks of life. As in, may mga makyanders, mga hyper na yuppies, mga ka-age namin (mid-20s) and mga may pamilya na. But she was able to draw the crowd to her attention and made them all laugh. Haha. We loved how she pulled off our game. Simon wanted a trivia game from the start and ang mechanics is they’d have to answer and text it to clarice’s celphone number. Ang saya! I practically saw everyone opened their bags and prepared their cellphone texting fingers. Hahaha. Pati mga ninongs and ninangs, nakilaro! Ang price lang naman, P100.00 each. hahaha. It was fun. I also loved how she managed to implement the garter-bouquet game. Katuwa
sya!
Ceremony and Reception Music: JJS Wedding Symphony
How we got them: W@w
Contact Person: John Santos 0918-507-4709
Package Inclusion: String trio for ceremony and
reception
Peso Power: P7,000.00
Rating: 6 :(
Other supplier seriously considered: Velvet Mood, Senti Groove
As I wrote down before, almost all our suppliers delivered at par excellence except for one. And it is to our disappointment na of all suppliers pa, musicians pa ang sumablay considering na musically-inclined kme pareho ni simon. (esp Simon who
is a keyboardist). We gave them the benefit of the doubt at first pero merong mga instances that we cannot take sitting down.
Pros:
~ On our first few discussions thru texts or phone calls, we found him really nice and really flexible sa rates. Originally, we only asked for a string trio for the ceremony and I gave him a budget of 4k lang. Pumayag sya agad. Kaya super tuwa talaga ako sa kanya nun.
~ Everything that I asked from him, okay sa kanya. I requested kc that we have our own singers and kung okay lang yun. Okay naman daw. We have some songs that are not in their repertoire and he agreed pa rin naman sa mga songs na yun which we appreciated very much.
~ I appreciated their music nung ceremony.
Concerns: (minor muna)
~ We understand that December is such a busy month talaga. We never got the chance to meet him in person. Sa demo, he sent his staff to show us a video of their works, okay lang naman. We did’nt mind at all. We tried to meet up with him pero hindi sya pwede or minsan ako naman ang hindi pwede. Until one day he texted me and asked if we could talk on the phone na lang. While on the phone, we discussed
almost all the songs na and I told him that we’d meet him na lang so we can give the CD and the arrangement of how we’d like it played. He then suggested to have it mailed na lang thru LBC since lahat daw busy ngayon. I understood him naman nung una coz as I said, I gave him the benefit of the doubt na busy talaga lahat. So I mailed the three copies of the CD together with the misalette and the songs to play and anong mga songs dun ang may singers.
~ We requested for a rehearsal with our singers kahit yung keyboardist lang nila. Unfortunately, that did’nt happen. Simon even told john na kahit dagdagan na lang ang payment for them or charge us with a rehearsal fee, okay lang basta ma-practice lang ang singers. Hindi pa rin daw kc busy na talaga. Okay, so what happened was the weekend before our wedding, Simon had to rehearse the singers. We understood pa
rin naman coz we knew na hindi sya kasama sa package and he told us naman that the performers will arrive an hour before the ceremony so dun na lang daw ang practice…and okay pa rin kme dun. Simon called him ata regarding some changes sa songs and ang sabi nya lang is OK.
~ Sa buong discussions namin sa kanila, everything was okay…I mean literally Ok. Everytime Simon would text, lagi ang sinasabi lang Ok. I kept on assuring simon
that they are professionals and most likely wala nga problem.
~ Two weeks before the wedding, we have to extend their services to reception since something came up with our friend who was supposed to play sa reception. We texted him about that and since may copy naman sila ng reception songs, he texted Ok pa rin. We asked him if he can play all the songs para kung hindi man, we can adjust. He answered, Ok pa rin. Kaya kinakabahan na si simon kc puro Ok lang daw reply.
~ Come our wedding day, the keyboardist WAS late! He arrived 15 MINUTES before the ceremony. Eto yung hindi ko nakayanan. Imagine, three of the singers were included in the entourage. They chose not to have their pictorials with me before the wedding so they could rehearse their songs. They arrived at the venue at 3:30 p.m. The flutist and the violinist were on time. My SIL kept on asking them what time
darating yung keyboardist. Natraffic lang daw. My SIL said, “Kme kc ung singers and kelangan namin mag-practice” They’re not professionals so admittedly, they really had to rehearse diba kahit man lamang bridal march ko. When the keyboardist FINALLY arrived, ang sabi daw nung isang performer, “Oh, sila daw yung singers, papractice daw sila” My SIL was shocked sa ganung reaction nung girl.
~ They WERE’NT able to play all the songs requested. Sa ceremony, wala problem. Na-play nila lahat (as far as I know). Sa reception, cguro mga at least five songs yung hindi nila na-play. Madali lang kme kausap as in. Should they have told us na merong hindi mape-play sa list, no problem sa amin yun. We wont take it against them. Kaya lang kme nag-rant ngayon is because they kept on saying “Ok” tapos hindi naman pala okay. They could have easily told us or texted us na “sorry, pero ganitong songs lang ang pwede” and it will be fine with us. I know na short notice sila for the reception songs, pero we are just a text away.
~ Siguro sa disappointment na rin, I did’nt even text John to say thanks for the performers. I sent him an email to address our concerns...wala reply.
I would always say this to other brides that each supplier is to his own. It’s a case-to-case basis. Feeling ko nga, baka ako pa ang unang client nila na sumablay sila. I have’nt heard their side so this rating is more on our perspective and how we assessed the situation.
Back-up photographer: Roj Amado
How we got him: Another w@w supplier
Contact number: 0917-388-3702
Inclusion: Unlimited shots from hotel to venue; 3CDs
for master copy
Peso Power: P3,000.00
Rating: 10+
I love this guy. He is quiet at first pero super sensible kausap. He was the first photographer I met, and for the price he was offering then, akala ko I’d end up getting him. I had some concerns about his layout, so I got him as our back-up photographer instead.
Feeling ko ang mura rin ng rate nya for the service he rendered. We were viewing the pictures last night and grabe natuwa po ako sa kanya. He really was the back-up photographer I was looking for, yung pati Manila paper with the names of entourage to help them line up easily, kinunan nya. Pati yung mga moments na serious ako, nakatingin sa labas ng hotel na feeling siguro ng iba hindi na dapat kunan kc hindi naman ako naka-smile, kinunan nya pa rin! That was so important coz I was praying that time and when I saw the picture, I was reminded nung special moment na yun. (anxious nga kc ako of the rain) Tapos according to my SILs and friends, madali daw sya hatakin for extra shots kasi you’d see him everywhere, lakad-lakad taking pictures ng mga expressions ng guests, etc. basta, masaya po kme sa kanya. Bow!
The one with Episode 2
WARNING: A VERY LONG POST
dami kc kwento on the side, i cant help it po eh, kunwari nagbabasa na lang kayo ng diary...
we're done with our flowers, gown, and barong ni simon. (Message# 128658, Ratings Episode 1) now, we're rating our mommies' gowns, daddies' barongs, ento gowns, stationery and other paraphernalia. sorry po sa mga nag-reply and asked for contact numbers of the suppliers i rated before...my bad, i totally forgot. eto, may contact number nato. :)
Mommies' gowns: Ysabelle's Fashion
Contact person and number: Rhoda/Lawrence - 321-0374
or 0917-812-0819
Rating: 10++
Peso Power: P7,000.00 for two gowns
Other supplier considered: Tet Hagape
2 pluses kc tig-isa from our moms. they sooooo love their gowns, they don't wanna change anymore nung wedding. hehe. kc mom ni simon sews gowns din and tuwa sya when she knew na she wont be sewing her gown this time. haha. my mom naman seldom wears formal wear kaya excited din sya when we told her na papagawa rin kme gown for her. we kinda spent some money for them kc gusto namin masaya sila sa susuotin nila. that's why may hand paint pa yung gowns nila and fully beaded. the designs complimented their figures. off shoulder for my mom since she has nice shoulders and maputi. kay MIL naman yung parang may tupi-tupi sa harap na gilid. haha, im not good in describing things. basta ganun, super nice also. and ang color di ko kinaya,
rustic orange and yellow with matching bronze sandals. hehe. ang gaganda nila. :) when they got their gowns, super happy sila showing it to me. ang saya ng feeling
when we make our parents happy kahit sa small things lang. tapos nung nasa hotel na kme, andun kme sa room nila simon lahat, my mom got her gown and showed it to my MIL. we were all laughing at them kc ang cute nila tingnan, nag-uusap sila what kind of hair to go with it and sabay ang mga daddy sasabat na good luck daw sa kanila if the gowns will fit them pa. hahaha...twas a really good moment. :)
Mommies' hair & make up - Angie Cruz and Ogie
Contact number: 0916-386-8307
Rating: 10++ pa rin!
ganda ng mga mommies. yung mom ko Sharon Cuneta daw, yung MIL ko naman Mel Tiangco daw! hahaha. kakatuwa when they're so made up and all. at eto pa, before mag-march, ni retouch din sila ni angie before ako i-retouch. hehe, bride rin daw sila eh! ;)
Daddies' barong, and 2 brothers' barongs - Rey Casedo
How we got them: W@w also
Number: 0916-575-3448
Package: 2 pina barongs with camisa chino for the dads; pina jusi for my brothers
Peso Power: P6,000.00 for two dads' barongs; P1,000 each for my brother's
Rating: 10
Other supplier considered: None
Dati pa, since ive been hearing a lot of good feedbacks about mang rey, set na mind ko to get him for simon's barong as well as the dads'. kaya lang, since gusto tlga ni simon sa exclusively his, yung mga daddies lang ang kumuha dun. ok si mang rey. he went to our house, straight from lumban. tapos, brought with him a big bag of materials to choose from. nakapili agad ang mga daddies and after a week, punta
sya ulit sa house and fitting na sila. all the barongs fit perfectly. as in wala ng alterations ha. gulat nga kme eh. kc my dad had some designs na ni-incorporate
sa barong nya, parang yung cuffings iba, pang-americana type ba yun. basta, weirdo yun eh. hehe. pero na-gets ni mang rey and he delivered well. katuwa! they love rin pala the embro nung barong, malinis daw ang pagkakagawa. sa ken, parang pare-pareho lang eh. hahaha.
Minor Concern: we ordered the camisa chino a month after we got their barongs pa. di namin na-ask what material. when he delivered it sa office, hindi pala cotton katulad nung camisa chio ni simon. para syang mukang mainit, so mejo nalungkot me nun. pero on the wedding day, when i asked naman my dad kung mainit barong nya, hindi naman daw. yun lang, nabother lang me dun dati. :)
Entourage gowns: Catahay Dress Shop - Cainta, Rizal
How we got them: SIL Skokie
Contact person and Number: Florence Catahay,
0927-466-9642
Package: All ento gowns with pouches, Made to Rent
gowns
Peso Power: P400.00 for every gown
Rating: 8
Other supplier considered: Tet Hagape pa rin (hehe)
When we got them to do the gowns, feeling ko panalo ang kuha namin sa kanila. when i asked our ento kung ok lang pagawa kme gowns, as in design namin, sukat namin, and first user kme, kaya lang rent lang namin at P400, okay naman sa kanila. kc syempre once rin lang naman nila susuotin yun so practical-wise, ok sya. we got designs from various mags and a certain famous designer, tapos incorporated it with ento's own ideas.
I would want to rate them sana 10 kc nagaya nila most of the gowns we asked from them pero 8 lang kc they had some palpaks na di pwede palagpasin. Pero overall, for the price na P400 pesos, with beadworks and kme ang first user,it was a steal. di sila nagtipid sa tela, malinis rin magtahi. yun nga lang, sa sobrang kamadalian siguro, yung isa kong SS, may parang mark sa blouse nya na number 37 (hehe, bust
size ata nya to!) promise! buti na lang sa may gilid kaya hindi halata. tapos, mejo kelangan sila kinukulit parati. so if you live near their shop, i can recommend them to you pero kung hindi, naku! baka mahirapan kayo. kc ako, super lapit lang sa amin, so every now and then, id go to the shop and check out the gowns. they kept on forgetting some details kc eh. pero nung natapos na ang mga gowns, nabilib ako. did'nt expect na magagaya nila designs. may isa nga lang na BM ko, since gusot pa yung gown, pinaplantsa nya. tapos, nasunog! kaya tinahi pa nila at buti nakahabol sya sa march! grabe, kaloka tlga yun! super clueless ako nun nung wedding...may nasunugan na pala ng gown, hindi ko pa alam! hahaha. another blooper. ahhh..at chaka yung isa kong barkada, the zipper of her skirt kept on opening! yikes talaga! during our pictorials before wedding, nakikita ko na panty nya! hehehe. ;) buti na-pin ata nila. :o
I specifically liked the flower girls' gowns! kakatuwa! parang two shades of pomelo pink, lighter yung skirt tapos blouse yung dark shade. tapos may flowers na ang cute. hehe. all the FGs loved their gowns, esp. my pamangkin na ayaw na rin magpalit ng gown. hehehe.
Bridesmaids' make-up: Body Shop, Podium
SS hair and make-up: Ferdie of Greenpark village
Peso Power: dunno eh.
Ratings: 9
For the BMs, steal to kc they have free coupons na make-over ng body shop! they scheduled for dec. 22 sa podium. magaganda make-up nila esp. for my SIL jane. as in, nag-compliment sa kanya, may mga glittery effect pa. hehe.
our SS were so made-up. katuwa! ang aga daw nila kala ferdie. they came a little late kc natagalan ata sa hair pero ang fresh nila tingnan pag dating sa hotel. :) check out their pics sa website ni paul. :)
Invites: Printed Matter
How we got them: W@w supplier
Contact Person & Number: Phoebe and Kerwin
0920-426-2222 or 715-5124
Package: Booklet type of invite, thank you sticker,
Simon and Jacque sticker, one-page invite for pahabol
na invites, Save the date card
Peso power: P55 each invite, P2 for 'Simon & Jacque'
sticker, P4 each for Save the date card, P12 for the one-page invite
Rating: 10 for the Booklet invites and other printed matters; 7 for the one-page invites and the envelopes
Other supplier considered: Unifair printing (malayo lang kaya we didnt go there na)
I first knew them thru W@w classifieds. catchy yung ads nila kc nakalagay dun as low as P20 and can be done in less than a week. kaya parang wow! that's super okay ha. i then talked to phoebe on the phone (kala ko nga at first mommy na eh kc malalim voice), yun pala ganun lang tlga voice nya. hehe. after our meeting with them, super nagustuhan tlga namin sila. their invites are non-traditional, plus very flexible pa when you want to change this or that. ang layout fee pa nun is P500 lang and minimum lang ang mock-up invite. im just not sure ngayon kung magkano na prices. our design was the first "enchanted" type of invite they did. simple lang sya. when we came back nga, sabi nya may nagpagawa daw na couple dun as in ginaya daw lahat nung contents nung invite namin...hehe., pati yung quote na nasa back page kinuha rin daw. haha. we did'nt mind naman kc mauuna naman wedding namin eh kaya okay lang. natuwa lang cguro sa booklet type, kc nga naman andun na lahat, map, ento list, and the RSVP so walang extra pages. and may mga nag-comment rin na kakaiba ang invites.
the save-the-date card was the size of a calling card, matte-finish. it was supposed to be as simple as that, parang calling card na pwede lagay sa wallet. kaya lang, when my SIL found na the magnetic sheets i asked for, kinareer ko na at ginawang SDD magnets. our guests loved it. super functional daw, ganda tingnan. sarap ng feeling na til now na tapos na wedding namin, hindi tinatanggal ng mga ofcmates ko sa mga PC or whiteboards nila yung SDD namin kc ginagamit din nila pang-post ng mga notes nila. :) plus, many asked kung magkano daw pagawa kc mukang mahal nga daw (coz of the matte-finish cguro). sabi ko "pagawa na lang kayo sa ken.hehe" and when the guests received their invites, tuwa sila kc terno daw sa SDD. hehe,
babaw! :0
the thank you print naman, nakalagay was 'Simon Jacque God's best'. pina-print ko lang sa paper nila. P70 per sheet (25 pcs.), tapos ni-cut ko to pattern the souvenir box na heart-shaped, pasted it and poured sugar beads over it and voila...instant jewelry box na lalagyan ng bracelet na souvenir namin sa ladies. when phoebe saw this, natuwa sya kc mura lang yung capiz na box eh. yung nabibili sa tabora na P4 ata. tapos, pinaganda lang namin ng konti. hehe, super fragile nga lang. kerwin accidentally poked one (haha, pero ginawa nya naman) the sugar beads did it all i must say. nagmukang sosi nung nalagyan nun eh. hehe. check outthe pics from paul's website. ;)
the other Simon-Jacque sticker naman na P2 each, ginamit namin pang-seal sa mga envelopes when we're settling payments sa suppliers chaka gift tags for the suppliers, and ento. hehe, sabi ni simon, "pati ba naman eto, motiff pa rin?!"
Concerns: i've been hearing not-so-good feedbacks lately about printed matter. cguro case-to-case basis nga lang tlga. sa amin naman, the one-page invite naman pinahabol lang namin yun. nagkaron ng miscommunication sa size that's why they printed a smaller size na as far as i know, they did'nt consult with me. pero di ko na sinabi kc im sure papabayarin rin sa ken yun. chaka hyper me nun kc nameet ko si april (hi there!) kaya di ko na masyado nabigyan ng pansin. ginawan ko na lang paraan. what i did was pasted it over a fancy paper na mas malaki tapos
nag-print rin kme ng ento insert. i tied it with a gold string with beads and okay na! mukha na syang invite at hindi postcard. hehe. thanks to my friend jannet who helped me a lot with this project. :)
ang hindi ko lang kinaya was the envelopes we bought from them. namahalan talaga ako dun sa cream envelope nila na walang flap, P10! eh that time, mejo we're rushing things na, kaya bumili na rin me ng ganun. nalungkot lang me coz i wont be able to use the seal na regalo ng friend namin. we bought 20 pcs. lang kc nung metallic gold nila na envelope with flap na P18 each for the PS and VIP. tapos, on our way home, dumaan me sa National. i saw this nice paper na parang nagiiba color, Star ang brand. P40 per pack of 10. di ko natiis, bought some 4 packs and made envelopes all by myself!!! hahaha. as in, naghahanap tlga ako ng sakit ng katawan sabi ni simon. pero ang saya ko nung nagawa ko yun. i patterned it dun sa P18 envelope nila and turned out na P4 lang COG nya for the materials. (pero syempre higher cost na if i factor it with salary and labor, right glo?hehe) tapos, yun ang ginamit namin and nagamit ko yung seal! the no-flap envelopes nagamit pa rin naman. at eto pa pala, some of the envelopes were a little dirty and gusot. naku po, nagulat nga me eh. nasa house nako when i checked them kaya di ko na rin mababalik kc baka sabihin rin
nila na malay ba nila at baka nadumihan ko lang. la lang, did'nt bother to raise na my concerns with them kc nagawan ko rin nga ng paraan. sayang lang money for the envelopes na hindi nagamit.
but i'd still recommend them. they did a very good job on our invites and for the price we paid, i think ok pa rin tlga. sana nga lang, masettle na any not so
good feedbacks sa kanila.
Souvenirs, Save-the-date, souvenir boxes - DIY
Souvenirs for ladies - pearl-swarovski bracelets
How we got them: streets of Divisoria and Quiapo
Peso power: COG P50 per bracelet (swarovski mas unti kc mas mahal. hehe)
Rating: syempre labor of love kaya 10+++++
Dati pa, mahilig na me magkutingting ng kung ano-ano.pinagtyagaan kong maghanap ng best buy fresh water pearls sa divisoria and quiapo. i remember the time na naging thread sa w@w yang swarovskis and pearls. hehe. gusto ko pa nga dati, may earrings kaya lang di na kaya ng powers and lalagpas nako sa budget nun. when our coordinators were gving away the bracelets, sinisingit nila na gawa ko yung bracelets and labor of love daw. parang nag-promote pa sila noh. kaya ka-touch lang na right after they open the box, sinuot na nila ung bracelets nila. tapos funny pa, may isa kmeng guest na korean na hinabol pa si clarice at nanghihingi pa ng isa kc daw yung nakuha nya maluwag sa wrist nya. hahaha. nahiya tlga si clarice nun kc
the girl approached her while nasa VIP table sya. yikes!
the boxes naman, na-share ko na rin to before. we bought capiz-like boxes in tabora for P4 each. bought the sugar beads sa Craftsworld in galleria. P100 per bottle to make 60 boxes na and had the label from printed matter. katuwa, favorite ko yung boxes kc terno pa rin sa invites. :)
Guest sheets - DIY c/o my brother
Materials: Photo paper size 4R and ink ng printer (black only), embosser na simon-jacque
Rating: 10+++++
syempre, labor of love pa rin ng aking younger brother. he did this 3 days before lang ng wedding. since titipid na kme sa ink, pero ayoko naman mag-suffer ang quality, i told him to use black ink lang tapos yung mga side lang ng photo paper ang may print para unti lang magagamit na ink. hindi naman halata daw na tinipid. one of my ofcmates even asked me kung san ko daw pinaprint. sabi ko sa bahay namin.
hihi. tapos, ni-embossed ko lang nung pinagawa namin kay rene santos. since photo paper sya, we used pentel pens for the dedication. ung fine ang tip nafaber-castell. downfall lang, different colors ang ginamit kc you cant buy them na isa-isa ng black lang ang color...set sya talaga. pero pag ginawa nama ncollage yung mga guest sheets, colorful sya lalabas coz of the ink. hehe.
Embosser: Rene Santos
How we got him: nachismis rin sa W@w
Contact number: 830-8000
Peso Power: P500.00
Rating: 10
When i called up mang rene, after three days lang, ready na for pick-up ang embosser. i did'nt expect na nagagaya pala tlga nila yung font na ibibigay mo. we maximized it and used it sa guest sheets, tissue napkins sa guest tables. hehe, OA noh? this is one of those moments na mapapailing si simon at sasabihin na, "pati ito?!" hahaha. sayang kc eh, mukha ngang pinagawa sa labas yung tissue eh. hehe.
Arrhae and ring box - Oceanic
How we got them: Sale sa Megamall
Peso Power: P200 for the arrhae box and P112 for the
ring box
Rating: 10
Kaya lang me napabili nito is aside sa rhinestones and pearl-finish nya, my officemate told me a story na tuwang-tuwa ako. naalala daw nya pag nakikita nya yung
jewelry box ng mommy nya na ginawa rin daw dati na arrhae box nung wedding nila ang ganda daw ng sentimental value. everytime na makikita nila yung box,kinukwento ng mom nila yung wedding and love stories nila ng daddy nila. when i heard that, sabi ko
its a wonder how small things as those can remind us of the most important part of our life. yun lang, nag-emote na naman ako.
Wedding Cord - DIY ko! Class A Swarovski crystals, size 6
Rating: do i have to rate, syempre perfect 10 din. ;)
the swarovski-cord making was one of the w@w threads i followed on. lahat ng inputs, sinaksak ko sa maliit kong utak. where to buy the cheapest swarovski and the tools needed. since i make earrings and bracelets out of genuine swarovski dati pa, i kinda had an idea na where to find good buys. sa may quiapo rin namin to nakita. was with wella, chris, and charie. Class A lang sya pero mabigat and mukhang genuine crystals unless you look closer. i alternated it with 5 transparent japanese beads para hindi masyado mabigat. one string is P50. i think i used 6 strings for the cord. kala ko super luwag yung nagawa ko. come our wedding day, sakto lang sya kc may veil nga pala ako. be careful na nga lang if you want to use the loop wire kc sumabit sya once sa veil ko, buti natanggal ko agad kc lapit na first kiss nun...baka hindi mabuksan ang veil ko pag andun pa rin ang cord. hehe.
Bible: Bride's Bible
How we got it: bought it in one Christian bookstore in Cubao
Peso Power: P1,375.00
Rating: 10
Costly for a bible, yes pero i specifically wanted to have one. bago lang sya dating nun dun sa store. i was not looking for it at that time pero pag dating ko
sa counter to pay for a book, nakita ko sya and bought it agad. may special meaning sya coz yun na tlga ang gagamitin kong bible ko for life. sabi ko nga sa blog, a new chapter in life, a new bible. if we can spend on the littlest things or kaprichuhan that we want, why not invest on a Bible that will nourish your spirituality? o nga naman. :)
Gallery of pre-nups and personalized liquid soap: DIY
Rating: 10 for pictures ng pre-nups, 8 for the set-up
I had it printed sa w@wie friend kong si Mai ni Paul. thanks sis. ang ganda ng print kahit sa printer lang. hindi makalat and full yung colors. i just asked her to choose from our pictures, print and delivered it thru LBC. P200 lang ata nagastos ko dun.
My mom and I, in one of our countless Divi trips, saw this pabitin while i was buying party poppers. hindi namin na-resist dahil nalaman namin na P18 lang sya.
bumili kme ng dalawa without even knowing what to do with it. hahaha. we then used it for the gallery, my dad wrapped it with brown untwirled paper (ano nga ba tawag dun?), tapos pasted the pictures on it. abie co even commented on it, kakaiba daw ang concept. di nya lang alam, wala ng mapag-gamitan.hehe. 8 lang rating ko kc sinabit lang sya near the gift table kc wala kmeng lagayan. :( wasnt able to get the easels eh.
About the liquid soaps, sa ladies and men's CR namin pinalagay. bought it at Watson's buy one take one. printed a little quote and thank you note sa computer
sticker and put it sa container. hehe. babaw ko tlga.
Party Poppers: Divisoria Mall, 2nd floor dulo
Rating: 10
we bought 2 biggie, 12 medium, and 30 small ones. lahat to pinaputok namin sa recessional. come to think of it, ang saya ko nitong moment nato. kc nag-gather talaga sila, may nakikita pa nga ako tumatakbo at humahabol para magpasabog, tapos ang dami pala nya! sinabayan pa ng rose petals. parang twice nga nangyari eh. after sa bandang gitna nung maraming party poppers, may mga humabol pa at pinahinto ulit
kme sa dulo at nagpasabog ulit sila. one of the unexpected sweet moments kc naremember ko yung symbol nya eh na the guests would want to bless and celebrate
with you.
Wedding Rings: Goldenas or Golden Hills jewelry, 14k white gold with combination of matte-finish sa sides and non-matte sa middle
How we got them: Megamall bridal fair
Contact Person: Tita Connie and Tito Boy
Peso Power: P11,880 (30% off from original price)
Rating: 10++
No, we're not related to them, yun lang tawag ko sa kanila. they extended the bridal fair discount to us kahit bumalik kme sa greenhills shop nila 2 or 3 weeks after the fair. bait-bait! the rings are simple pero classic ang design. what's nice about them is dami sila nice services na free like lifetime cleaning, resizing and restoring of rings. parang if ever kunwari na iba na itsura nya from the time you bought it, pwede mo paayos at NO extra cost. katuwa lang. and of course, we loved working with couples also kaya love rin namin sila. malinis rin pala ang engraving
nila. we chose the print kc hindi bagay sa amin ang script eh. haba nga eh, name of partner tapos God's best tapos date ng wedding. nagkasya naman. :)
dami kc kwento on the side, i cant help it po eh, kunwari nagbabasa na lang kayo ng diary...
we're done with our flowers, gown, and barong ni simon. (Message# 128658, Ratings Episode 1) now, we're rating our mommies' gowns, daddies' barongs, ento gowns, stationery and other paraphernalia. sorry po sa mga nag-reply and asked for contact numbers of the suppliers i rated before...my bad, i totally forgot. eto, may contact number nato. :)
Mommies' gowns: Ysabelle's Fashion
Contact person and number: Rhoda/Lawrence - 321-0374
or 0917-812-0819
Rating: 10++
Peso Power: P7,000.00 for two gowns
Other supplier considered: Tet Hagape
2 pluses kc tig-isa from our moms. they sooooo love their gowns, they don't wanna change anymore nung wedding. hehe. kc mom ni simon sews gowns din and tuwa sya when she knew na she wont be sewing her gown this time. haha. my mom naman seldom wears formal wear kaya excited din sya when we told her na papagawa rin kme gown for her. we kinda spent some money for them kc gusto namin masaya sila sa susuotin nila. that's why may hand paint pa yung gowns nila and fully beaded. the designs complimented their figures. off shoulder for my mom since she has nice shoulders and maputi. kay MIL naman yung parang may tupi-tupi sa harap na gilid. haha, im not good in describing things. basta ganun, super nice also. and ang color di ko kinaya,
rustic orange and yellow with matching bronze sandals. hehe. ang gaganda nila. :) when they got their gowns, super happy sila showing it to me. ang saya ng feeling
when we make our parents happy kahit sa small things lang. tapos nung nasa hotel na kme, andun kme sa room nila simon lahat, my mom got her gown and showed it to my MIL. we were all laughing at them kc ang cute nila tingnan, nag-uusap sila what kind of hair to go with it and sabay ang mga daddy sasabat na good luck daw sa kanila if the gowns will fit them pa. hahaha...twas a really good moment. :)
Mommies' hair & make up - Angie Cruz and Ogie
Contact number: 0916-386-8307
Rating: 10++ pa rin!
ganda ng mga mommies. yung mom ko Sharon Cuneta daw, yung MIL ko naman Mel Tiangco daw! hahaha. kakatuwa when they're so made up and all. at eto pa, before mag-march, ni retouch din sila ni angie before ako i-retouch. hehe, bride rin daw sila eh! ;)
Daddies' barong, and 2 brothers' barongs - Rey Casedo
How we got them: W@w also
Number: 0916-575-3448
Package: 2 pina barongs with camisa chino for the dads; pina jusi for my brothers
Peso Power: P6,000.00 for two dads' barongs; P1,000 each for my brother's
Rating: 10
Other supplier considered: None
Dati pa, since ive been hearing a lot of good feedbacks about mang rey, set na mind ko to get him for simon's barong as well as the dads'. kaya lang, since gusto tlga ni simon sa exclusively his, yung mga daddies lang ang kumuha dun. ok si mang rey. he went to our house, straight from lumban. tapos, brought with him a big bag of materials to choose from. nakapili agad ang mga daddies and after a week, punta
sya ulit sa house and fitting na sila. all the barongs fit perfectly. as in wala ng alterations ha. gulat nga kme eh. kc my dad had some designs na ni-incorporate
sa barong nya, parang yung cuffings iba, pang-americana type ba yun. basta, weirdo yun eh. hehe. pero na-gets ni mang rey and he delivered well. katuwa! they love rin pala the embro nung barong, malinis daw ang pagkakagawa. sa ken, parang pare-pareho lang eh. hahaha.
Minor Concern: we ordered the camisa chino a month after we got their barongs pa. di namin na-ask what material. when he delivered it sa office, hindi pala cotton katulad nung camisa chio ni simon. para syang mukang mainit, so mejo nalungkot me nun. pero on the wedding day, when i asked naman my dad kung mainit barong nya, hindi naman daw. yun lang, nabother lang me dun dati. :)
Entourage gowns: Catahay Dress Shop - Cainta, Rizal
How we got them: SIL Skokie
Contact person and Number: Florence Catahay,
0927-466-9642
Package: All ento gowns with pouches, Made to Rent
gowns
Peso Power: P400.00 for every gown
Rating: 8
Other supplier considered: Tet Hagape pa rin (hehe)
When we got them to do the gowns, feeling ko panalo ang kuha namin sa kanila. when i asked our ento kung ok lang pagawa kme gowns, as in design namin, sukat namin, and first user kme, kaya lang rent lang namin at P400, okay naman sa kanila. kc syempre once rin lang naman nila susuotin yun so practical-wise, ok sya. we got designs from various mags and a certain famous designer, tapos incorporated it with ento's own ideas.
I would want to rate them sana 10 kc nagaya nila most of the gowns we asked from them pero 8 lang kc they had some palpaks na di pwede palagpasin. Pero overall, for the price na P400 pesos, with beadworks and kme ang first user,it was a steal. di sila nagtipid sa tela, malinis rin magtahi. yun nga lang, sa sobrang kamadalian siguro, yung isa kong SS, may parang mark sa blouse nya na number 37 (hehe, bust
size ata nya to!) promise! buti na lang sa may gilid kaya hindi halata. tapos, mejo kelangan sila kinukulit parati. so if you live near their shop, i can recommend them to you pero kung hindi, naku! baka mahirapan kayo. kc ako, super lapit lang sa amin, so every now and then, id go to the shop and check out the gowns. they kept on forgetting some details kc eh. pero nung natapos na ang mga gowns, nabilib ako. did'nt expect na magagaya nila designs. may isa nga lang na BM ko, since gusot pa yung gown, pinaplantsa nya. tapos, nasunog! kaya tinahi pa nila at buti nakahabol sya sa march! grabe, kaloka tlga yun! super clueless ako nun nung wedding...may nasunugan na pala ng gown, hindi ko pa alam! hahaha. another blooper. ahhh..at chaka yung isa kong barkada, the zipper of her skirt kept on opening! yikes talaga! during our pictorials before wedding, nakikita ko na panty nya! hehehe. ;) buti na-pin ata nila. :o
I specifically liked the flower girls' gowns! kakatuwa! parang two shades of pomelo pink, lighter yung skirt tapos blouse yung dark shade. tapos may flowers na ang cute. hehe. all the FGs loved their gowns, esp. my pamangkin na ayaw na rin magpalit ng gown. hehehe.
Bridesmaids' make-up: Body Shop, Podium
SS hair and make-up: Ferdie of Greenpark village
Peso Power: dunno eh.
Ratings: 9
For the BMs, steal to kc they have free coupons na make-over ng body shop! they scheduled for dec. 22 sa podium. magaganda make-up nila esp. for my SIL jane. as in, nag-compliment sa kanya, may mga glittery effect pa. hehe.
our SS were so made-up. katuwa! ang aga daw nila kala ferdie. they came a little late kc natagalan ata sa hair pero ang fresh nila tingnan pag dating sa hotel. :) check out their pics sa website ni paul. :)
Invites: Printed Matter
How we got them: W@w supplier
Contact Person & Number: Phoebe and Kerwin
0920-426-2222 or 715-5124
Package: Booklet type of invite, thank you sticker,
Simon and Jacque sticker, one-page invite for pahabol
na invites, Save the date card
Peso power: P55 each invite, P2 for 'Simon & Jacque'
sticker, P4 each for Save the date card, P12 for the one-page invite
Rating: 10 for the Booklet invites and other printed matters; 7 for the one-page invites and the envelopes
Other supplier considered: Unifair printing (malayo lang kaya we didnt go there na)
I first knew them thru W@w classifieds. catchy yung ads nila kc nakalagay dun as low as P20 and can be done in less than a week. kaya parang wow! that's super okay ha. i then talked to phoebe on the phone (kala ko nga at first mommy na eh kc malalim voice), yun pala ganun lang tlga voice nya. hehe. after our meeting with them, super nagustuhan tlga namin sila. their invites are non-traditional, plus very flexible pa when you want to change this or that. ang layout fee pa nun is P500 lang and minimum lang ang mock-up invite. im just not sure ngayon kung magkano na prices. our design was the first "enchanted" type of invite they did. simple lang sya. when we came back nga, sabi nya may nagpagawa daw na couple dun as in ginaya daw lahat nung contents nung invite namin...hehe., pati yung quote na nasa back page kinuha rin daw. haha. we did'nt mind naman kc mauuna naman wedding namin eh kaya okay lang. natuwa lang cguro sa booklet type, kc nga naman andun na lahat, map, ento list, and the RSVP so walang extra pages. and may mga nag-comment rin na kakaiba ang invites.
the save-the-date card was the size of a calling card, matte-finish. it was supposed to be as simple as that, parang calling card na pwede lagay sa wallet. kaya lang, when my SIL found na the magnetic sheets i asked for, kinareer ko na at ginawang SDD magnets. our guests loved it. super functional daw, ganda tingnan. sarap ng feeling na til now na tapos na wedding namin, hindi tinatanggal ng mga ofcmates ko sa mga PC or whiteboards nila yung SDD namin kc ginagamit din nila pang-post ng mga notes nila. :) plus, many asked kung magkano daw pagawa kc mukang mahal nga daw (coz of the matte-finish cguro). sabi ko "pagawa na lang kayo sa ken.hehe" and when the guests received their invites, tuwa sila kc terno daw sa SDD. hehe,
babaw! :0
the thank you print naman, nakalagay was 'Simon Jacque God's best'. pina-print ko lang sa paper nila. P70 per sheet (25 pcs.), tapos ni-cut ko to pattern the souvenir box na heart-shaped, pasted it and poured sugar beads over it and voila...instant jewelry box na lalagyan ng bracelet na souvenir namin sa ladies. when phoebe saw this, natuwa sya kc mura lang yung capiz na box eh. yung nabibili sa tabora na P4 ata. tapos, pinaganda lang namin ng konti. hehe, super fragile nga lang. kerwin accidentally poked one (haha, pero ginawa nya naman) the sugar beads did it all i must say. nagmukang sosi nung nalagyan nun eh. hehe. check outthe pics from paul's website. ;)
the other Simon-Jacque sticker naman na P2 each, ginamit namin pang-seal sa mga envelopes when we're settling payments sa suppliers chaka gift tags for the suppliers, and ento. hehe, sabi ni simon, "pati ba naman eto, motiff pa rin?!"
Concerns: i've been hearing not-so-good feedbacks lately about printed matter. cguro case-to-case basis nga lang tlga. sa amin naman, the one-page invite naman pinahabol lang namin yun. nagkaron ng miscommunication sa size that's why they printed a smaller size na as far as i know, they did'nt consult with me. pero di ko na sinabi kc im sure papabayarin rin sa ken yun. chaka hyper me nun kc nameet ko si april (hi there!) kaya di ko na masyado nabigyan ng pansin. ginawan ko na lang paraan. what i did was pasted it over a fancy paper na mas malaki tapos
nag-print rin kme ng ento insert. i tied it with a gold string with beads and okay na! mukha na syang invite at hindi postcard. hehe. thanks to my friend jannet who helped me a lot with this project. :)
ang hindi ko lang kinaya was the envelopes we bought from them. namahalan talaga ako dun sa cream envelope nila na walang flap, P10! eh that time, mejo we're rushing things na, kaya bumili na rin me ng ganun. nalungkot lang me coz i wont be able to use the seal na regalo ng friend namin. we bought 20 pcs. lang kc nung metallic gold nila na envelope with flap na P18 each for the PS and VIP. tapos, on our way home, dumaan me sa National. i saw this nice paper na parang nagiiba color, Star ang brand. P40 per pack of 10. di ko natiis, bought some 4 packs and made envelopes all by myself!!! hahaha. as in, naghahanap tlga ako ng sakit ng katawan sabi ni simon. pero ang saya ko nung nagawa ko yun. i patterned it dun sa P18 envelope nila and turned out na P4 lang COG nya for the materials. (pero syempre higher cost na if i factor it with salary and labor, right glo?hehe) tapos, yun ang ginamit namin and nagamit ko yung seal! the no-flap envelopes nagamit pa rin naman. at eto pa pala, some of the envelopes were a little dirty and gusot. naku po, nagulat nga me eh. nasa house nako when i checked them kaya di ko na rin mababalik kc baka sabihin rin
nila na malay ba nila at baka nadumihan ko lang. la lang, did'nt bother to raise na my concerns with them kc nagawan ko rin nga ng paraan. sayang lang money for the envelopes na hindi nagamit.
but i'd still recommend them. they did a very good job on our invites and for the price we paid, i think ok pa rin tlga. sana nga lang, masettle na any not so
good feedbacks sa kanila.
Souvenirs, Save-the-date, souvenir boxes - DIY
Souvenirs for ladies - pearl-swarovski bracelets
How we got them: streets of Divisoria and Quiapo
Peso power: COG P50 per bracelet (swarovski mas unti kc mas mahal. hehe)
Rating: syempre labor of love kaya 10+++++
Dati pa, mahilig na me magkutingting ng kung ano-ano.pinagtyagaan kong maghanap ng best buy fresh water pearls sa divisoria and quiapo. i remember the time na naging thread sa w@w yang swarovskis and pearls. hehe. gusto ko pa nga dati, may earrings kaya lang di na kaya ng powers and lalagpas nako sa budget nun. when our coordinators were gving away the bracelets, sinisingit nila na gawa ko yung bracelets and labor of love daw. parang nag-promote pa sila noh. kaya ka-touch lang na right after they open the box, sinuot na nila ung bracelets nila. tapos funny pa, may isa kmeng guest na korean na hinabol pa si clarice at nanghihingi pa ng isa kc daw yung nakuha nya maluwag sa wrist nya. hahaha. nahiya tlga si clarice nun kc
the girl approached her while nasa VIP table sya. yikes!
the boxes naman, na-share ko na rin to before. we bought capiz-like boxes in tabora for P4 each. bought the sugar beads sa Craftsworld in galleria. P100 per bottle to make 60 boxes na and had the label from printed matter. katuwa, favorite ko yung boxes kc terno pa rin sa invites. :)
Guest sheets - DIY c/o my brother
Materials: Photo paper size 4R and ink ng printer (black only), embosser na simon-jacque
Rating: 10+++++
syempre, labor of love pa rin ng aking younger brother. he did this 3 days before lang ng wedding. since titipid na kme sa ink, pero ayoko naman mag-suffer ang quality, i told him to use black ink lang tapos yung mga side lang ng photo paper ang may print para unti lang magagamit na ink. hindi naman halata daw na tinipid. one of my ofcmates even asked me kung san ko daw pinaprint. sabi ko sa bahay namin.
hihi. tapos, ni-embossed ko lang nung pinagawa namin kay rene santos. since photo paper sya, we used pentel pens for the dedication. ung fine ang tip nafaber-castell. downfall lang, different colors ang ginamit kc you cant buy them na isa-isa ng black lang ang color...set sya talaga. pero pag ginawa nama ncollage yung mga guest sheets, colorful sya lalabas coz of the ink. hehe.
Embosser: Rene Santos
How we got him: nachismis rin sa W@w
Contact number: 830-8000
Peso Power: P500.00
Rating: 10
When i called up mang rene, after three days lang, ready na for pick-up ang embosser. i did'nt expect na nagagaya pala tlga nila yung font na ibibigay mo. we maximized it and used it sa guest sheets, tissue napkins sa guest tables. hehe, OA noh? this is one of those moments na mapapailing si simon at sasabihin na, "pati ito?!" hahaha. sayang kc eh, mukha ngang pinagawa sa labas yung tissue eh. hehe.
Arrhae and ring box - Oceanic
How we got them: Sale sa Megamall
Peso Power: P200 for the arrhae box and P112 for the
ring box
Rating: 10
Kaya lang me napabili nito is aside sa rhinestones and pearl-finish nya, my officemate told me a story na tuwang-tuwa ako. naalala daw nya pag nakikita nya yung
jewelry box ng mommy nya na ginawa rin daw dati na arrhae box nung wedding nila ang ganda daw ng sentimental value. everytime na makikita nila yung box,kinukwento ng mom nila yung wedding and love stories nila ng daddy nila. when i heard that, sabi ko
its a wonder how small things as those can remind us of the most important part of our life. yun lang, nag-emote na naman ako.
Wedding Cord - DIY ko! Class A Swarovski crystals, size 6
Rating: do i have to rate, syempre perfect 10 din. ;)
the swarovski-cord making was one of the w@w threads i followed on. lahat ng inputs, sinaksak ko sa maliit kong utak. where to buy the cheapest swarovski and the tools needed. since i make earrings and bracelets out of genuine swarovski dati pa, i kinda had an idea na where to find good buys. sa may quiapo rin namin to nakita. was with wella, chris, and charie. Class A lang sya pero mabigat and mukhang genuine crystals unless you look closer. i alternated it with 5 transparent japanese beads para hindi masyado mabigat. one string is P50. i think i used 6 strings for the cord. kala ko super luwag yung nagawa ko. come our wedding day, sakto lang sya kc may veil nga pala ako. be careful na nga lang if you want to use the loop wire kc sumabit sya once sa veil ko, buti natanggal ko agad kc lapit na first kiss nun...baka hindi mabuksan ang veil ko pag andun pa rin ang cord. hehe.
Bible: Bride's Bible
How we got it: bought it in one Christian bookstore in Cubao
Peso Power: P1,375.00
Rating: 10
Costly for a bible, yes pero i specifically wanted to have one. bago lang sya dating nun dun sa store. i was not looking for it at that time pero pag dating ko
sa counter to pay for a book, nakita ko sya and bought it agad. may special meaning sya coz yun na tlga ang gagamitin kong bible ko for life. sabi ko nga sa blog, a new chapter in life, a new bible. if we can spend on the littlest things or kaprichuhan that we want, why not invest on a Bible that will nourish your spirituality? o nga naman. :)
Gallery of pre-nups and personalized liquid soap: DIY
Rating: 10 for pictures ng pre-nups, 8 for the set-up
I had it printed sa w@wie friend kong si Mai ni Paul. thanks sis. ang ganda ng print kahit sa printer lang. hindi makalat and full yung colors. i just asked her to choose from our pictures, print and delivered it thru LBC. P200 lang ata nagastos ko dun.
My mom and I, in one of our countless Divi trips, saw this pabitin while i was buying party poppers. hindi namin na-resist dahil nalaman namin na P18 lang sya.
bumili kme ng dalawa without even knowing what to do with it. hahaha. we then used it for the gallery, my dad wrapped it with brown untwirled paper (ano nga ba tawag dun?), tapos pasted the pictures on it. abie co even commented on it, kakaiba daw ang concept. di nya lang alam, wala ng mapag-gamitan.hehe. 8 lang rating ko kc sinabit lang sya near the gift table kc wala kmeng lagayan. :( wasnt able to get the easels eh.
About the liquid soaps, sa ladies and men's CR namin pinalagay. bought it at Watson's buy one take one. printed a little quote and thank you note sa computer
sticker and put it sa container. hehe. babaw ko tlga.
Party Poppers: Divisoria Mall, 2nd floor dulo
Rating: 10
we bought 2 biggie, 12 medium, and 30 small ones. lahat to pinaputok namin sa recessional. come to think of it, ang saya ko nitong moment nato. kc nag-gather talaga sila, may nakikita pa nga ako tumatakbo at humahabol para magpasabog, tapos ang dami pala nya! sinabayan pa ng rose petals. parang twice nga nangyari eh. after sa bandang gitna nung maraming party poppers, may mga humabol pa at pinahinto ulit
kme sa dulo at nagpasabog ulit sila. one of the unexpected sweet moments kc naremember ko yung symbol nya eh na the guests would want to bless and celebrate
with you.
Wedding Rings: Goldenas or Golden Hills jewelry, 14k white gold with combination of matte-finish sa sides and non-matte sa middle
How we got them: Megamall bridal fair
Contact Person: Tita Connie and Tito Boy
Peso Power: P11,880 (30% off from original price)
Rating: 10++
No, we're not related to them, yun lang tawag ko sa kanila. they extended the bridal fair discount to us kahit bumalik kme sa greenhills shop nila 2 or 3 weeks after the fair. bait-bait! the rings are simple pero classic ang design. what's nice about them is dami sila nice services na free like lifetime cleaning, resizing and restoring of rings. parang if ever kunwari na iba na itsura nya from the time you bought it, pwede mo paayos at NO extra cost. katuwa lang. and of course, we loved working with couples also kaya love rin namin sila. malinis rin pala ang engraving
nila. we chose the print kc hindi bagay sa amin ang script eh. haba nga eh, name of partner tapos God's best tapos date ng wedding. nagkasya naman. :)
The one with Simon and Jacque's Day of fun - Episode 1
it's been almost two weeks since our big day and we are still in shock and literally 'lutang' pa, cant believe that were married na. after almost seven years of referring to each other as boyfriend-girlfriend, di pa siguro talaga kme sanay na mag-asawa na kme ngayon. i just told simon kanina, "beh, imagine pag pinakilala na kita sa mga makikilala ko, husband na tawag ko sayo?!" hahaha...
in fairness, mahirap pala pagsabay-sabayin lahat. doing some post-wedding stuffs, moving in to our apartment, honeymoon, and celebrating holidays! waaahh! para kmeng mga robots...hehe. pero super fun tlaga, id want to do everything again. hehehe
it took us exactly a year to prepare for the big day...sabi ng iba masyado daw matagal, pero for us kahit gano ata tayo kaaga mag-prepare, there would still be last minute wedding errands we'd have to attend to and that's what happened to us din. (we almost forgot to fill up our marriage contract..hahaha)
our wedding day was so fast di ko tlga namalayan na tapos na. i remember when benz was sharing their anxiety attacks of possible rain nung anniv nung parents nila...i can totally relate! :) the only prayer we made that day was that kahit ano mangyari,
that wedding will be for God and kahit umulan man, it would still be the wedding we've always wanted. pero in fairness, mahirap ha. hehe. yung feeling na najejebs na me sa kaba coz it was so gloomy that day. tapos bigla na lang sisilip ang haring araw at didilim na naman after a while. and from dec. 16 to 21, it was raining or drizzling...promise! pero God is good. ni isang patak wala talaga. sabi nga nung mga nagbabantay sa IA, ang ganda daw ng panahon namin at pinagbigyan daw kme ni Lord. hehe.
being a w@wie, i think it's a must that we share our ratings to other w@wies in search for their perfect suppliers. as always, 10 will be the highest and 1
lowest (pero wala naman kmeng 1 na ni-rate) in a nutshell, "almost" all our suppliers delivered well, i must say. and singit ko na rin mga kwentos ko ha para
di mahirap magkwento. :) i also included other suppliers whom we considered pero did not get at baka makatulong with your decisions. :)
if i were to describe our wedding, ang masasabi ko lang was that everything fell into its right places. there were glitches, mga comedy na eksena, bloopers at
kung ano-ano pa. pero all these added more meaning to our special day. :) if you have questions on our ratings, feel free to PM me. i will start muna with my
flowers, gown, and shoes. :) backgrounder lang, we've set aside lang a very practical budget for 150 guests kaya lahat ng suppliers namin, piling-pili. as in
promise! you do the math when you see the peso powers! :)
Flowers: Mang Boy Mahusay
How we got them: Famous W@w supplier
Package: Bridal bouquet, ento flowers, mothers, PS
flowers, throw-away bouquet, madaming loose petals,
bridal car bouquet, and Ceremony set up that includes
6 pedestals with tulle, 3m na calla lilies for the
aisle, unity candle set-up.
Peso Power: P10,500.00
Rating: 10+++
Other supplier considered: None
He was the first to arrive. our wedding was at 5pm and he arrived at the hotel before 10am. i was in the shower nun and si simon na ang nag-entertain sa kanila. shortly after them, clarice and her team arrived. nag-uunahan ata lagi yung dalawang yun eh. hehe. anyway, pag labas ko sa shower, grabe napatalon ako sa tuwa sa bouquet ko. simple lang naman request ko, basta deep red roses with swarovskis. the swarovskis ako na lang nagbigay sa kanya nun pero he covered it pa ng green na paper ata yun para ganda tingnan. super ganda nga! the ento flowers were also great. wala ngang malaysian mums, puro button mums and gerberas na love ko tlga. yung moms' flowers, grabe yung stargazer...mukha na syang plastic sa sobrang fresh. hehe. and super yellow lahat ng flowers that it gave a good blending sa pomelo pink gowns. katuwa!
ang super hats off ako sa kanya was the ceremony set-up. he turned the small garden of puerta real into an all-white garden wedding. the callas sa aisles were great, the tulles sa pedestals gave elegance (and akala pa naman namin dati magmumukang OA...pero hindi pala) the original package included 4 pedestals lang. eh mejo naalangan si clarice so she requested to add 2 more for the ceremony and lots of loose petals. she was the one who bargained for P500 lang for the additional pedestals. hehe, galing! kaya nga sabi ni clarice, if we can pay him a visit daw, (which we will) eh let's thank him daw tlga. :)
up to now, the flowers are still intact. mejo mabigat nga lang pala sya coz super siksikan ang flowers at mejo nangalay ako holding it. hahaha.
Cons: NONE. the thing about mang boy giving the same rates kahit magkakaiba ng number ng ento?...i'd still think underpaid sya sa services that he gave us, so love ko talga sya. MAHUSAY tlga in every meaning of the word. :)
BRIDAL GOWN: Bridal Factory / Ysabelle's Fashion
How we got them: W@wie friend Yna and SM mega fair
Package: Gown, veil, cord, arrhae, 2ndary veil, 3
pillows, garter, tiara, petticoat
Peso Power: P9,000.00
Rating: 10
Other supplier seriously considered: Tet Hagape
(budget reason)
As i would always share, i love working with couples pag sa wedding. kc we can easily share with them the joy and the excitement we feel while preparing. when
we met them the first time a week after the feb. megamall fair, natuwa nako sa kanila especially to lawrence who suggested so many things for my gown. and
na-appreciate ko yun. i told them i want the empire, ever after gown look. yung parang may gown pa inside. hehe, di ko madescribe masyado pero they actually
understood me naman. they made a sketch, i loved it and booked them. originally, the price was 8k dapat pero since i have an extra tela inside, 9k sya. the
tela kc are really doble, hindi daya. basta, di ko ma-explain. check nyo na lang sa pics. hahaha.
i had like 4 fittings of the gown na. the first time i fitted it, mejo di pako masyado masaya coz maluwag tlga. pero after the 3rd fitting, love ko na sya!
lawrence was not satisfied, he suggested to add colored beads all over the gown. di na sya halata cguro sa pics pero sa personal, it added more glow. the additional beads was free. :) i didnt use na their tiara kc something borrowed ko yun.
i also rented their mannequin for 150 pesos only. tapos, they sent two of their staffs din to help me with my gown. ang natuwa kme, pag dating ng mga
staffs, they brought with them a steamer ba yun to iron out wrinkles on my gown. bilib kme as clarice and i know na bihira sa designer nagdadala ng sariling steamer or whatever you call it. hehe.
Minor concern: the only thing na diko nacarry cguro was hindi ako sanay na walang bra. rhoda specifically told me not to wear a bra na coz meron na yung gown. pero despite the fact that i gained weight, mejo nacoconscious ako at feeling ko bumababa sya ng konti. sabi naman nilang lahat, hindi daw at feeling ko lang yun. kc nga cguro hindi ako sanay ng walang bra underneath kaya ganun. i asked them pa rin to fix it and di naman sya bumababa, feeling ko lang ata tlga. naconscious lang ako kaya minsan nag-slouch ako. hehe.
We seriously considered Tet Hagape since same village kme and i liked her sketch on me. it's just that she gave me a 16k quote na di kinaya ng budget. we even came to a point na ok na kay simon pero ako yung ayaw ko since i want to stick to the plan tlga...yung budget. pero up to now, i still recommend tet coz sa lahat ng niturn down ko na suppliers, sya lang ang nag-reply ng thank you and no problem daw kahit na 3 times ko na sya binulabog. hehe. i know she's also good. :)
BRIDAL SHOES: SM Department Store, Elegance brand
How we got them: while strolling sa SM megamall (hehe)
Peso Power: P600.00
Rating: 10+
Other supplier considered: Mang Ben of Marikina
(cannot be reached sa fone, by the time he replied,
nakabili na me shoes)
Of all the possible places, who would have thought na dito ko rin pala mabibili shoes ko. for the price ng shoes and the comfort it gave me...waaahhhh!!! super
steal sya! di ako nipaltos; when simon saw the shoes sabi nya, "beh, ikaw na ikaw yang shoes na yan" which is true, simple sya pero rock! hehe.
BRIDAL ACCESSORIES: Karutora at Robinson's galleria department store
How we got them: strolling sa galle
Peso Power: P649.75 (Sale price, original price is 2k plus)
Inclusion: Necklace and earrings
Rating: 9
Again, akong ako rin yung accessories ko. i originally wanted a simple stud earring pero when i saw the dangling earrings and nalaman ko na swak sya sa budget...panalo! hehe. i didnt wear na nga lang the necklace kc feeling namin mejo makinang nako masyado with the gown and the earrings on, tas may necklace
pa. hehe.
Tiara: Something borrowed from my officemate, Lissa
Rating:10+
Other supplier considered: Rio Tiaras
When my officemate showed me the tiara na gusto nya pahiram sa ken, i got goosebumps kc it was the same as in same nung tiara na ni cut-off ko from a mag! as in! no exag! gulat tlga ako, i even showed her the pic and nagulat din sya. the original price was 1,500.00! super nice sya kc simple rin lang and when i had my hair changed for the reception, nabebend sya easily so ginawa sya ni ogie na parang hairband. cute! galing!
Hair and Make up artist: Angie Cruz and Ogie
How we got them: W@w supplier also
Package inclusion: Bridal make-up plus 2 pax (for the
mommies), stayed til reception
Peso Power: P5,000.00
Rating: 10++++
Other suppliers considered: Anna Paniza and of
course, Madge Lejano
Waaahhh! I super love these two! as in tandem talaga sila. when i had my tmu dati, mejo nakapalan me and i just gave her some notes to remember for my make-up. pero super minor lang naman yun. the day itself, angie was kinda late pero that's because napa-aga ang call time nya. eh since stay sya til reception pa, she felt na maaga nga ang nabigay na call time sa kanya. i didnt mind naman coz mabilis sya mag work. niuna nila ako make-up para sa pictorials and then mga mommies na. while in the process of the make-up, laging sisilip ang mga mommies, tas magcocomment na maganda
daw. hehe, mga stage mommies tlga o! she was able to cover my peklat sa likod (due to rashes days before the wedding), i love my make-up so much na-carried away ata ako sa pictorials. kc feeling ko talga girl ako nun! haha. when ogie did my hair na, ang sinabi ko lang basta clean ang face, walang bumabagsak na pasaway na hair at kahit ano na gawin nya sa likod, ok me. he did a very good job! dami mga pasikot sikot sa likod ng hair ko. hehe. parang umayos bigla! tapos kahit anong galaw ko, hindi talaga nalalaglag. eh malikot pa naman ako. super sprayed on tlga sya.
thanks to my w@wie friend, abi, for giving me a tip na i can request them for a change hairdo come reception since one venue lang naman kme. they dont often do
that alam ko, pero since one venue nga lang, ok lang sa kanila. as in right after the recessional and lumilipat na ang guests sa kabilang garden, hatak sila ng chairs, saksak ng mga blowers, at tanggal ng mga hairpins. mejo masakit nga lang kc may spray net, pero after the hairdo change, i asked agad for a mirror and happy me sa nakita ko. pang party look na! and ang haba na ng hair ko! hahaha. we were retouching outside lang kc masikip sa CR pero carry pa rin naman. angie just added some lipstick and powder, ganun lang kadali kc di naman masyado natanggal make-up. :)
di na nga lang sila kumain sa reception kc may party pa daw sila. hehe.
Cons: NONE
Other suppliers considered: I considered Anna Paniza coz of good feedbacks here in w@w, yun nga lang didnt try her na kc she was hired by loreal na eh. And of
course, the ever famous Madge Lejano. sino ba namang aayaw dito diba? yun lang nga, we only alloted a certain budget for the make-up kaya no puedo. pero was lucky enough na that she did my studio pre-nups make up and happy na me dun! super love her, i and concon ended up being friends with her na feeling ko blessing talaga.
Groom's Barong: Exclusively His, Shaw blvd. branch
How we got them: famous naman sila and near office
Package: Pina barong plus camisa chino
Peso Power: 5,000.00
Rating: 7
Other supplier considered: Mang Rey Casedo
Hmmm...This rating came from simon talaga. mejo na disappoint sya coz mataas ang expectations nya sa exclusively his. when we got his barong, masikip sa chest as in masikip and sa neck din. parang body fit na barong. hehe. napunit nya nga ng konti kc di nya masuot. after altering it, mejo natagalan pa before namin na pick up. the tahi na napunit was still visible ng konti. tapos, mejo masikip pa rin sa neck pero can do away with it na naman.
well, we really have to give credit sa embro nung barong as we really want the rayah type. yun nga lang di kme masyado tuwa sa services nila coz di sila ganun kachicka. imagine, di ko nga sila nakilala by their names eh. (which is unusual kc lahat kinikilala ko tlga)
Other supplier considered: Rey Casedo. when we got the dads' barong, late na nabigay ni mang rey yung material na rayah na gusto namin so naka-order na kme sa exclusively his nun. pero ok lang naman coz gusto tlga ni simon sa xclusively his, and i also want to give him the same budget as i have for my gown...para fair! hehe. ;)
Groom's shoes: Wade Shoes, SM Megamall
How we got them: while strolling pa rin
Peso Power: P1,800.00
Rating: 10+
Other supplier considered: None
this was an unexpected buy since kala namin mahal sa Wade, they are actually reasonably-priced. leather talaga and yung mejo pa square sa harap. di naman daw
sumakit paa nya. when we bought it, lagi na gusto suotin, sabi ko wag na and wedding shoes tlga yun. haha.
Groom's pants and belt: SM Megamall pa rin
Peso power: 400 for the belt and 500 for the pants
Rating: 10
Other supplier considered: G2000
iba tlga megamall, love ko tlga to! the belt is reversible, brown and black. the pants, Chancellor 9000. soft and fabric at ganda bagsak. pa-alter P30 lang. hehe. :)
in fairness, mahirap pala pagsabay-sabayin lahat. doing some post-wedding stuffs, moving in to our apartment, honeymoon, and celebrating holidays! waaahh! para kmeng mga robots...hehe. pero super fun tlaga, id want to do everything again. hehehe
it took us exactly a year to prepare for the big day...sabi ng iba masyado daw matagal, pero for us kahit gano ata tayo kaaga mag-prepare, there would still be last minute wedding errands we'd have to attend to and that's what happened to us din. (we almost forgot to fill up our marriage contract..hahaha)
our wedding day was so fast di ko tlga namalayan na tapos na. i remember when benz was sharing their anxiety attacks of possible rain nung anniv nung parents nila...i can totally relate! :) the only prayer we made that day was that kahit ano mangyari,
that wedding will be for God and kahit umulan man, it would still be the wedding we've always wanted. pero in fairness, mahirap ha. hehe. yung feeling na najejebs na me sa kaba coz it was so gloomy that day. tapos bigla na lang sisilip ang haring araw at didilim na naman after a while. and from dec. 16 to 21, it was raining or drizzling...promise! pero God is good. ni isang patak wala talaga. sabi nga nung mga nagbabantay sa IA, ang ganda daw ng panahon namin at pinagbigyan daw kme ni Lord. hehe.
being a w@wie, i think it's a must that we share our ratings to other w@wies in search for their perfect suppliers. as always, 10 will be the highest and 1
lowest (pero wala naman kmeng 1 na ni-rate) in a nutshell, "almost" all our suppliers delivered well, i must say. and singit ko na rin mga kwentos ko ha para
di mahirap magkwento. :) i also included other suppliers whom we considered pero did not get at baka makatulong with your decisions. :)
if i were to describe our wedding, ang masasabi ko lang was that everything fell into its right places. there were glitches, mga comedy na eksena, bloopers at
kung ano-ano pa. pero all these added more meaning to our special day. :) if you have questions on our ratings, feel free to PM me. i will start muna with my
flowers, gown, and shoes. :) backgrounder lang, we've set aside lang a very practical budget for 150 guests kaya lahat ng suppliers namin, piling-pili. as in
promise! you do the math when you see the peso powers! :)
Flowers: Mang Boy Mahusay
How we got them: Famous W@w supplier
Package: Bridal bouquet, ento flowers, mothers, PS
flowers, throw-away bouquet, madaming loose petals,
bridal car bouquet, and Ceremony set up that includes
6 pedestals with tulle, 3m na calla lilies for the
aisle, unity candle set-up.
Peso Power: P10,500.00
Rating: 10+++
Other supplier considered: None
He was the first to arrive. our wedding was at 5pm and he arrived at the hotel before 10am. i was in the shower nun and si simon na ang nag-entertain sa kanila. shortly after them, clarice and her team arrived. nag-uunahan ata lagi yung dalawang yun eh. hehe. anyway, pag labas ko sa shower, grabe napatalon ako sa tuwa sa bouquet ko. simple lang naman request ko, basta deep red roses with swarovskis. the swarovskis ako na lang nagbigay sa kanya nun pero he covered it pa ng green na paper ata yun para ganda tingnan. super ganda nga! the ento flowers were also great. wala ngang malaysian mums, puro button mums and gerberas na love ko tlga. yung moms' flowers, grabe yung stargazer...mukha na syang plastic sa sobrang fresh. hehe. and super yellow lahat ng flowers that it gave a good blending sa pomelo pink gowns. katuwa!
ang super hats off ako sa kanya was the ceremony set-up. he turned the small garden of puerta real into an all-white garden wedding. the callas sa aisles were great, the tulles sa pedestals gave elegance (and akala pa naman namin dati magmumukang OA...pero hindi pala) the original package included 4 pedestals lang. eh mejo naalangan si clarice so she requested to add 2 more for the ceremony and lots of loose petals. she was the one who bargained for P500 lang for the additional pedestals. hehe, galing! kaya nga sabi ni clarice, if we can pay him a visit daw, (which we will) eh let's thank him daw tlga. :)
up to now, the flowers are still intact. mejo mabigat nga lang pala sya coz super siksikan ang flowers at mejo nangalay ako holding it. hahaha.
Cons: NONE. the thing about mang boy giving the same rates kahit magkakaiba ng number ng ento?...i'd still think underpaid sya sa services that he gave us, so love ko talga sya. MAHUSAY tlga in every meaning of the word. :)
BRIDAL GOWN: Bridal Factory / Ysabelle's Fashion
How we got them: W@wie friend Yna and SM mega fair
Package: Gown, veil, cord, arrhae, 2ndary veil, 3
pillows, garter, tiara, petticoat
Peso Power: P9,000.00
Rating: 10
Other supplier seriously considered: Tet Hagape
(budget reason)
As i would always share, i love working with couples pag sa wedding. kc we can easily share with them the joy and the excitement we feel while preparing. when
we met them the first time a week after the feb. megamall fair, natuwa nako sa kanila especially to lawrence who suggested so many things for my gown. and
na-appreciate ko yun. i told them i want the empire, ever after gown look. yung parang may gown pa inside. hehe, di ko madescribe masyado pero they actually
understood me naman. they made a sketch, i loved it and booked them. originally, the price was 8k dapat pero since i have an extra tela inside, 9k sya. the
tela kc are really doble, hindi daya. basta, di ko ma-explain. check nyo na lang sa pics. hahaha.
i had like 4 fittings of the gown na. the first time i fitted it, mejo di pako masyado masaya coz maluwag tlga. pero after the 3rd fitting, love ko na sya!
lawrence was not satisfied, he suggested to add colored beads all over the gown. di na sya halata cguro sa pics pero sa personal, it added more glow. the additional beads was free. :) i didnt use na their tiara kc something borrowed ko yun.
i also rented their mannequin for 150 pesos only. tapos, they sent two of their staffs din to help me with my gown. ang natuwa kme, pag dating ng mga
staffs, they brought with them a steamer ba yun to iron out wrinkles on my gown. bilib kme as clarice and i know na bihira sa designer nagdadala ng sariling steamer or whatever you call it. hehe.
Minor concern: the only thing na diko nacarry cguro was hindi ako sanay na walang bra. rhoda specifically told me not to wear a bra na coz meron na yung gown. pero despite the fact that i gained weight, mejo nacoconscious ako at feeling ko bumababa sya ng konti. sabi naman nilang lahat, hindi daw at feeling ko lang yun. kc nga cguro hindi ako sanay ng walang bra underneath kaya ganun. i asked them pa rin to fix it and di naman sya bumababa, feeling ko lang ata tlga. naconscious lang ako kaya minsan nag-slouch ako. hehe.
We seriously considered Tet Hagape since same village kme and i liked her sketch on me. it's just that she gave me a 16k quote na di kinaya ng budget. we even came to a point na ok na kay simon pero ako yung ayaw ko since i want to stick to the plan tlga...yung budget. pero up to now, i still recommend tet coz sa lahat ng niturn down ko na suppliers, sya lang ang nag-reply ng thank you and no problem daw kahit na 3 times ko na sya binulabog. hehe. i know she's also good. :)
BRIDAL SHOES: SM Department Store, Elegance brand
How we got them: while strolling sa SM megamall (hehe)
Peso Power: P600.00
Rating: 10+
Other supplier considered: Mang Ben of Marikina
(cannot be reached sa fone, by the time he replied,
nakabili na me shoes)
Of all the possible places, who would have thought na dito ko rin pala mabibili shoes ko. for the price ng shoes and the comfort it gave me...waaahhhh!!! super
steal sya! di ako nipaltos; when simon saw the shoes sabi nya, "beh, ikaw na ikaw yang shoes na yan" which is true, simple sya pero rock! hehe.
BRIDAL ACCESSORIES: Karutora at Robinson's galleria department store
How we got them: strolling sa galle
Peso Power: P649.75 (Sale price, original price is 2k plus)
Inclusion: Necklace and earrings
Rating: 9
Again, akong ako rin yung accessories ko. i originally wanted a simple stud earring pero when i saw the dangling earrings and nalaman ko na swak sya sa budget...panalo! hehe. i didnt wear na nga lang the necklace kc feeling namin mejo makinang nako masyado with the gown and the earrings on, tas may necklace
pa. hehe.
Tiara: Something borrowed from my officemate, Lissa
Rating:10+
Other supplier considered: Rio Tiaras
When my officemate showed me the tiara na gusto nya pahiram sa ken, i got goosebumps kc it was the same as in same nung tiara na ni cut-off ko from a mag! as in! no exag! gulat tlga ako, i even showed her the pic and nagulat din sya. the original price was 1,500.00! super nice sya kc simple rin lang and when i had my hair changed for the reception, nabebend sya easily so ginawa sya ni ogie na parang hairband. cute! galing!
Hair and Make up artist: Angie Cruz and Ogie
How we got them: W@w supplier also
Package inclusion: Bridal make-up plus 2 pax (for the
mommies), stayed til reception
Peso Power: P5,000.00
Rating: 10++++
Other suppliers considered: Anna Paniza and of
course, Madge Lejano
Waaahhh! I super love these two! as in tandem talaga sila. when i had my tmu dati, mejo nakapalan me and i just gave her some notes to remember for my make-up. pero super minor lang naman yun. the day itself, angie was kinda late pero that's because napa-aga ang call time nya. eh since stay sya til reception pa, she felt na maaga nga ang nabigay na call time sa kanya. i didnt mind naman coz mabilis sya mag work. niuna nila ako make-up para sa pictorials and then mga mommies na. while in the process of the make-up, laging sisilip ang mga mommies, tas magcocomment na maganda
daw. hehe, mga stage mommies tlga o! she was able to cover my peklat sa likod (due to rashes days before the wedding), i love my make-up so much na-carried away ata ako sa pictorials. kc feeling ko talga girl ako nun! haha. when ogie did my hair na, ang sinabi ko lang basta clean ang face, walang bumabagsak na pasaway na hair at kahit ano na gawin nya sa likod, ok me. he did a very good job! dami mga pasikot sikot sa likod ng hair ko. hehe. parang umayos bigla! tapos kahit anong galaw ko, hindi talaga nalalaglag. eh malikot pa naman ako. super sprayed on tlga sya.
thanks to my w@wie friend, abi, for giving me a tip na i can request them for a change hairdo come reception since one venue lang naman kme. they dont often do
that alam ko, pero since one venue nga lang, ok lang sa kanila. as in right after the recessional and lumilipat na ang guests sa kabilang garden, hatak sila ng chairs, saksak ng mga blowers, at tanggal ng mga hairpins. mejo masakit nga lang kc may spray net, pero after the hairdo change, i asked agad for a mirror and happy me sa nakita ko. pang party look na! and ang haba na ng hair ko! hahaha. we were retouching outside lang kc masikip sa CR pero carry pa rin naman. angie just added some lipstick and powder, ganun lang kadali kc di naman masyado natanggal make-up. :)
di na nga lang sila kumain sa reception kc may party pa daw sila. hehe.
Cons: NONE
Other suppliers considered: I considered Anna Paniza coz of good feedbacks here in w@w, yun nga lang didnt try her na kc she was hired by loreal na eh. And of
course, the ever famous Madge Lejano. sino ba namang aayaw dito diba? yun lang nga, we only alloted a certain budget for the make-up kaya no puedo. pero was lucky enough na that she did my studio pre-nups make up and happy na me dun! super love her, i and concon ended up being friends with her na feeling ko blessing talaga.
Groom's Barong: Exclusively His, Shaw blvd. branch
How we got them: famous naman sila and near office
Package: Pina barong plus camisa chino
Peso Power: 5,000.00
Rating: 7
Other supplier considered: Mang Rey Casedo
Hmmm...This rating came from simon talaga. mejo na disappoint sya coz mataas ang expectations nya sa exclusively his. when we got his barong, masikip sa chest as in masikip and sa neck din. parang body fit na barong. hehe. napunit nya nga ng konti kc di nya masuot. after altering it, mejo natagalan pa before namin na pick up. the tahi na napunit was still visible ng konti. tapos, mejo masikip pa rin sa neck pero can do away with it na naman.
well, we really have to give credit sa embro nung barong as we really want the rayah type. yun nga lang di kme masyado tuwa sa services nila coz di sila ganun kachicka. imagine, di ko nga sila nakilala by their names eh. (which is unusual kc lahat kinikilala ko tlga)
Other supplier considered: Rey Casedo. when we got the dads' barong, late na nabigay ni mang rey yung material na rayah na gusto namin so naka-order na kme sa exclusively his nun. pero ok lang naman coz gusto tlga ni simon sa xclusively his, and i also want to give him the same budget as i have for my gown...para fair! hehe. ;)
Groom's shoes: Wade Shoes, SM Megamall
How we got them: while strolling pa rin
Peso Power: P1,800.00
Rating: 10+
Other supplier considered: None
this was an unexpected buy since kala namin mahal sa Wade, they are actually reasonably-priced. leather talaga and yung mejo pa square sa harap. di naman daw
sumakit paa nya. when we bought it, lagi na gusto suotin, sabi ko wag na and wedding shoes tlga yun. haha.
Groom's pants and belt: SM Megamall pa rin
Peso power: 400 for the belt and 500 for the pants
Rating: 10
Other supplier considered: G2000
iba tlga megamall, love ko tlga to! the belt is reversible, brown and black. the pants, Chancellor 9000. soft and fabric at ganda bagsak. pa-alter P30 lang. hehe. :)
Sunday, January 22, 2006
The one with superman!
it's our first monthsary!!! grabe, can't believe that one month has passed since our wedding day and super saya talaga! we're still not done moving in some of our stuffs, di pa kme nakakapagpa-bless ng apartment, still trying to adjust with the traffic and many other things.
we celebrated our monthsary by helping my future Sis-in-law threw a party for her boyfriend christian. it was a blast! despite the fact na kami-kami lang ang andun dahil hindi nakapunta yung ibang friends nya, masaya pa rin kme!
we were into our party outfits, we played our national game, Pinoy Henyo. haha. nahulaan ng behbeh ko hamburger, galing-galing talaga! tapos, tawanan lahat dahil init na init na kme dun sa isang sulok while waiting for them to open the gate.
but the most surprising news was that my SIL jane and oliver broke the news na...FINALLY! hahaha..kung hindi pa sila na-corner ni lanlan and rey, they would'nt say a thing. they will get married na on december 10, 2006 at Coconut palace. something that we've been hiding for the longest time and we're glad na that it's out in the open! she texted me thanking me, sabi ko, it's about time and i think it was the perfect moment. terno pa nga sila ng damit eh. hehe.
advance congrats and best wishes jane and oliver! we love you!
we celebrated our monthsary by helping my future Sis-in-law threw a party for her boyfriend christian. it was a blast! despite the fact na kami-kami lang ang andun dahil hindi nakapunta yung ibang friends nya, masaya pa rin kme!
we were into our party outfits, we played our national game, Pinoy Henyo. haha. nahulaan ng behbeh ko hamburger, galing-galing talaga! tapos, tawanan lahat dahil init na init na kme dun sa isang sulok while waiting for them to open the gate.
but the most surprising news was that my SIL jane and oliver broke the news na...FINALLY! hahaha..kung hindi pa sila na-corner ni lanlan and rey, they would'nt say a thing. they will get married na on december 10, 2006 at Coconut palace. something that we've been hiding for the longest time and we're glad na that it's out in the open! she texted me thanking me, sabi ko, it's about time and i think it was the perfect moment. terno pa nga sila ng damit eh. hehe.
advance congrats and best wishes jane and oliver! we love you!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The one with the tip of the iceberg
The pictures in paul vincent's website is just the TIP of the iceberg. we got our CDs the other night pero was able to view everything last night. lo and behold, ang saya po! as in ang gaganda lahat. waaahhh!!! good luck to us in choosing the pics. hahaha. i texted him adn thanked him for wonderful, wonderful shots! yey! ang ganda ko dun...mejo malaki nga lang braso pero ayos pa rin! haha. may mga shots pa dun na kitang-kita my brown eyes. hahaha. feeling mestisa! :)
WE 3rd issue has FINALLY come out. im buying one even if i dont have anything to do with it anymore. haha. i can lend it to friends naman eh. it's a collection i intend to complete. thanks marbee for emailing me. :)
hmmm...i think i struck a nervous string for some w@wies when i posted my feedback on JJS. wala lang, i just thought lang that i should share what happened to us and that yes, each supplier is to his own pero mabuti na yung maingat ka and always on the safer side. i hope i was able to enlighten them.
today is our fourth week as husband and wife!! i wont sleep at home, first time maiiwan si simon. had to go to tagaytay for a training. :( pero balik agad tomorrow. i plan to take him out. :)
WE 3rd issue has FINALLY come out. im buying one even if i dont have anything to do with it anymore. haha. i can lend it to friends naman eh. it's a collection i intend to complete. thanks marbee for emailing me. :)
hmmm...i think i struck a nervous string for some w@wies when i posted my feedback on JJS. wala lang, i just thought lang that i should share what happened to us and that yes, each supplier is to his own pero mabuti na yung maingat ka and always on the safer side. i hope i was able to enlighten them.
today is our fourth week as husband and wife!! i wont sleep at home, first time maiiwan si simon. had to go to tagaytay for a training. :( pero balik agad tomorrow. i plan to take him out. :)
Friday, January 13, 2006
The one with Don Hen night
Haayyy...super saya ko talaga when i see my friends. i texted them and asked that we have dinner naman. jannet and naan were there. jason kasi is still in japan, jill and jhon are in nueva ecija and isabela naman. had a great time! we went to our apartment and viewed the wedding pics by roj amado. saya!
love you girls! thanks for coming over. muah! it was'nt a friday the 13th for me... :)
love you girls! thanks for coming over. muah! it was'nt a friday the 13th for me... :)
Thursday, January 12, 2006
The one with the 3rd weeksary
It was a usual day. Spent the after-office hours meeting up with concon and achie for a business proposal. i did'nt eat anything na coz wala kasama kumain si simon. as soon as i got home, na-surprise me to see candles lit up, cozy living room with our christmas tree and boracay lights on. tapos, simon cooked pa a simple special meal, chicken with mongo sprouts and crispy tofu with sauce on the side. sarap! grabe! touched talaga me...and a little nakonsensya coz i didnt prepare anything. haha.
when we were about to sleep na, he borrowed my sanday. so i got it ang gave it to him. then he borrowed my big pillow. when i got it, i saw a gift under the pillow. hehe, tactic nya lang pala. he gave me a "Tikim" recipe book. nice kasi simple dishes na pang-everyday meals talaga and easy-to-cook.
love you beh and happy 3rd weeksary!
when we were about to sleep na, he borrowed my sanday. so i got it ang gave it to him. then he borrowed my big pillow. when i got it, i saw a gift under the pillow. hehe, tactic nya lang pala. he gave me a "Tikim" recipe book. nice kasi simple dishes na pang-everyday meals talaga and easy-to-cook.
love you beh and happy 3rd weeksary!
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
The one with favorite pictures
These are just some of the pics we like best...from Paul's website pa lang.
feeling ko nasa mag ako ng Wedding Essentials, volume 3. haha.
ang super gwapo kong asawa...:)
pang-portrait!!!
this took my breath away...haaayy...super nice tlaga nung set-up.
puros kme si bungisngis, ngayon ko lang na-realize. hahaha.
la lang, sadyang maganda lang ako dito. hehe.
feeling ko nasa mag ako ng Wedding Essentials, volume 3. haha.
ang super gwapo kong asawa...:)
pang-portrait!!!
this took my breath away...haaayy...super nice tlaga nung set-up.
puros kme si bungisngis, ngayon ko lang na-realize. hahaha.
la lang, sadyang maganda lang ako dito. hehe.
The one with nilagang baka
For the first time, I knew how it feels when your husband loves your cooking! hahaha. I cooked my first nilagang baka last night. it's simon's favorite and nag-grocery me of the ingredients. all along, i knew I got the beef broth cubes, tapos biglang chiken cubes pala. hehe. pero masarap pa rin sya! as in, ang dami nyang nakain, ubos ang kanin namin. ang saya lang. :0 ano kaya ulam namin mamaya? hmmm....
Saturday, January 07, 2006
The one with being a wife
Wow! it really does feel good! going to bed and waking up with the man you married, washing dishes with him, cooking and cleaning the house, watching DVDs with him and doing some shopping for house stuffs. ang saya-saya pala talaga!
~ when the first time i wrote my name with a Fermin-Tan...hahaha. natawa talaga me. parang ang saya naman. :) i still havent practiced my new signature though
~ when we had our first breakfast at our apartment. we did'nt have the luxury of time to buy a dining table pa nun so we piled up gift boxes and placed our breakfast there. we'd have to use the cordless kettle, electric griller since we still did'nt have gas at that time. haha, funny story we will surely share to our kids.
~ on our first night at the apartment, we had to sleep on the mattress lang (may cover naman) hahaha. we still have'nt delivered our bed frame eh. excited lang talaga kme to move in there.
~ Nakakatawa of how masipag we are in cleaning the house. it's new kc, you dont wanna leave some dirt lying around. although super tambak na ang maduming pambahay namin. hahaha.
~ I wanted to have everything in tune with the laid-back theme we're working on. pero hindi kme nakahanap ng white or neutral colored na pails and basin eh. hehehe. so he settled for red.
~ For Christmas eve, we prepared chicken adobo and fried chicken. hahaha. we cooked all 1 whole chicken since the ref has'nt been delivered yet. (we'd have to cook and eat everything agad)
~ it's a wonder how much we can save when we eat at home compared to when we dine out...no kidding! sometimes we'd eat one viand for two-three meals kc hindi pa ubos. (pero hindi pa naman panis)
These are just things that happened on our first few days at home. things that made us feel that we are really maturing, and getting more responsible of things...kc mag-asawa na kme!!!
~ when the first time i wrote my name with a Fermin-Tan...hahaha. natawa talaga me. parang ang saya naman. :) i still havent practiced my new signature though
~ when we had our first breakfast at our apartment. we did'nt have the luxury of time to buy a dining table pa nun so we piled up gift boxes and placed our breakfast there. we'd have to use the cordless kettle, electric griller since we still did'nt have gas at that time. haha, funny story we will surely share to our kids.
~ on our first night at the apartment, we had to sleep on the mattress lang (may cover naman) hahaha. we still have'nt delivered our bed frame eh. excited lang talaga kme to move in there.
~ Nakakatawa of how masipag we are in cleaning the house. it's new kc, you dont wanna leave some dirt lying around. although super tambak na ang maduming pambahay namin. hahaha.
~ I wanted to have everything in tune with the laid-back theme we're working on. pero hindi kme nakahanap ng white or neutral colored na pails and basin eh. hehehe. so he settled for red.
~ For Christmas eve, we prepared chicken adobo and fried chicken. hahaha. we cooked all 1 whole chicken since the ref has'nt been delivered yet. (we'd have to cook and eat everything agad)
~ it's a wonder how much we can save when we eat at home compared to when we dine out...no kidding! sometimes we'd eat one viand for two-three meals kc hindi pa ubos. (pero hindi pa naman panis)
These are just things that happened on our first few days at home. things that made us feel that we are really maturing, and getting more responsible of things...kc mag-asawa na kme!!!
Friday, January 06, 2006
The one with finally blogging again
We're married!!! hahaha...after almost three weeks of no blog at all, I have a lot of catching up to do grabe! the wedding was a blast. i made some kwentos na rin sa w@w and started my ratings na rin. will try to remember some major events that transpired over the wedding, days before and after. :)
December 16 - i started taking a leave na from work. we went to Puerta Real to pay in full and Robert Camba to make some last minute reminders and notes.
December 17 - we went to Tranquility Spa to have a massage and body scrub. We werent massaged coz wala na daw masseuse. :( we went to buy some things na lang for wedding and some gifts ata.
December 18 - our last Sunday as singles. ;) went to Pastor Bong's house for last meeting and sharing time na rin.
December 19 - Went to the spa na, this time tuloy na. sarap, kakarelax! dropped by at both of our offices for some last minute ekek. we also attended our christmas party. i won bed sheets! :)
December 20 - we picked up my gown and my mom's. and pati the mannequin. packed all wedding stuffs and did some last minute thingys
December 21 - checked in at the hotel. filled up marriage contract sa office. hehe, we almost forgot to do this. ordered Max's for our parents and us. saya! ganda ng rooms namin. katuwa! tapos, nanood pa kme ng show sa lounge coz friend ni simon yung band dun. tapos, nag pray kme ni simon.
December 22 - Simon and Jacque's Day of Fun! have a different post for this one
December 23 - still at the hotel! cant believe that we are finally married. stayed and had a late check-out. picture-picture kme! went straight to the house na. Nahuli kme ng pulis! hahaha. but we explained na kakakasal lang namin ang we're not familiar with the place (while i was holding my bouquet) hahaha. effective ang charms ng hubby ko. we started opening the gifts na nagpuno sa buong bahay namin. hehe. liit lang kc house eh. jane, skokie and oliver were there to share with us the joy :)
December 24 - had dinner with my family, then dinner again with simon's family, then celebrated the eve at our apartment. haaayy! saya! we had adobo as our main viand. the ref kc has not yet been delivered kaya ayun, dapat yung mga hindi napapanis agad na food ang nipe-prepare namin.
December 25 - Christmas day! Church day! our first sunday service as a couple. :)
December 26 - preparing na for Bora trip. went to SM cubao and used our GCs.
December 27 to 30 - Our honeymoon getaway! have another kwento for this. :)
December 31 - had dinners in both families' houses and celebrated the eve at our apartment.
January 1 - first new year as husband and wife! waaahhhh!!! saya-saya! lutang pa rin kme nito. we cook together, clean the house and watch dvd together. saya! you'd never wanna go out sometimes. ;)
January 2 - preparing na rin for the next day's pasok.
January 3 - 1st day at work! got more pahabol gifts from officemates. ka-touch! dami rin nagkwento of what they think of the wedding and how much they cried. hehe.
will finish muna supplier ratings then will make our wedding and honeymoon kwento. all in all, God is so good! He's to be praised for all the things He has done for us. It was really a testimony, something that we hope and prayed have witnessed to our guests.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)