Engagement Dinner...finally!

Whew! Engagement dinner finally came, and we all sat down and talked . Okay, honestly?

Nobody really talked about the wedding, because we were all laughing our hearts out over my two uber-cute nephews who were both running amok around the lounge, chasing each other. Save for the moments when my older nephew would innocently "ruin" the Lao Lianben abstracts, we were all merrily entertained by the two hobbits who had so much energy to spend on replays and replays of boom tarats tarats. It was a night to remember.

My Fiance and I agree that the night was a blast, the food was PERFECT, everybody loved the menu I had lined up for the eve.

Everybody had nice little chits and chats, my Fiance announced our big (bang-ful!) news that the venue is to be moved to another location...(a secret place in the meantime -- i know i know this wedding is still so secret). Theme has been changed because of venue change.

I'll post pictures of the Engagement Dinner soon.

argh!

i don't know where to start! a lot of people tell me to start with the venue, but that's kind of taken care of already. My Fiance and i already have an idea of where we want to hold it, except for the fact that we haven't booked it yet.

requirements for booking:

1 letter of intent
2 letters from endorsers (the venue is a members-only place and we need one endorser per 20 guests)
3 P20k non-refundable, non-rebookable, non-transferable one-time reservation/booking fee.

as to when we're nailing the booking, we haven't decided on that yet. My Fiance is convincing me to do it in January, but 25 out of 31 days in January he'll be out of town. So I guess we'll be doing this in February, hopefully nobody will book the exact same venue on the exact same date. Sigh.

Dec 27

okay, it's lurking around the corner. 27th is coming too fast.

i'm kind of panicking because i'm a seasoned host (i hope you sense the sarcasm), and I'm not sure if everything's in place already. i mean, i want this night to be puuuurrrfect because 'tis the dinner when families from both sides are complete and will finally see each other. The Brother and The Sister-in-Law and The Nephew and The Mom are all flying in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i double-checked everything: Cirkulo (www.elcirkulo.com) and the menu, check. Menu cards, check. I ditched the snickers cake from Mocha Blends, called up Delize instead for this scrumptious Pistachio Sansrival (photo source: http://dessertcomesfirst.blogspot.com or to read the article about this yummy dessert, visit this link):

so dessert, check. i hope everything will be okay because i personally organised and arranged everything for this night.

The Theme Part II

My Sister just informed me that she has another brilliant theme idea! I don't know what it is yet, though. I'll keep you posted.

The Engagement Dinner II

I was talking to our OJT the other day and she told me that Ebizu in Eastwood has an Eat-All-You-Can grill buffet every Mondays-Thursdays. The set up is like Shabu-shabu, you grill your own food in front of you, but the grill is smoke-less so you don't end up smelling like your neighborhood barbecue-man (not that I have anything against barbecue smells...in fact, i love the smell of barbecue...only when i'm hungry). So anyway, the price is not bad for an EAYC grill. It's P495 per head + tax so it'd end up something like P600 per head. Like I said, NOT BAD. It got me thinking, maybe I should hold my engagement dinner instead at Ebizu. I don't think my guests will starve because it's EAYC, and it's quite near to where my fiance's family lives. AND MOST OF ALL, we're gonna save a lot! Woohoo!

So last Saturday, My Sister, Brother-in-Law, Fiance and I had lunch at Pasto Eastwood and hung out at Starbucks (I don't really like *bucks, but my sister only needed two stamps to get their posh planner, so it was just okay with me -- i really really think Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is so much better!). My brother-in-law had Toffee Nut therefore my sister only needed one more stamp. I told her I couldn't take anymore caffeine (eventhough it's Toffe Nut Latte) so I could just buy the coffee and she could drink it, but apparently that was what she was thinking too. She ended up getting an Iced Mocha for the price of a Toffee Nut Latte. Sheesh. But at least she was happy she got her planner.

Anyway, I'm talking about coffee shit now when I'm supposed to be talking about my supposed-transfer of engagement dinner venue. I mentioned Ebizu to my sister and my brother-in-law and they all frowned in disapproval. Apparently, non-smoking area is open-air! Geez! Plus the place is cramped so no, no, no. In the end, we're back to Cirkulo.

This is what you get from planning too ahead of time. Apprehensions, doubts, hesitations. All in the name of more time to spend.

wedding blues

it's not that i'm not excited with the wedding preps, it's just that i feel that the wedding is still TOO far away. i'm not pressured into deciding anything, not pressured into making any reservations, in fact, i don't feel pressured at all.

The Invitation Part I

My Creative Director/Wedding Coordinator/Matron of Honor aka My Sister and I decided that we'll just be the ones who'll make my wedding invitations. Scrimping on anything that we could scrimp on, we figured I could save on invitation costs if we only bought the materials and make the invitations ourselves. Anyway we have more than a year to create invites.

Here are my top picks:

You don't see my invite here though, because not one of them is apt for my secret theme. Hehe.

Bridal Fear

I'm sure this won't happen to me because I don't wear thongs.

Origins of Wedding Traditions

from: http://www.decidio.com/wedding-invitations/wedding-traditions.htm

The circular shape of a wedding ring symbolizes endless love.

The placement of the wedding ring on the third finger of the left hand came from the Egyptians, as they believed that the vein in that finger ran directly to the heart.

The wedding tradition of the bride and groom not seeing each other on their wedding day stems from the ancient tradition of the bride not showing her face to the groom before the wedding.

Tossing the garter was a medieval tradition in which wedding guests invaded the bridal chamber to steal the bride's stockings for good luck. Grooms would toss the garter to his friends to prevent this from happening.

Using white as the color of the wedding gown is popular today because white was a color of celebration to the ancient Romans.

Tossing the bouquet - centuries ago, wedding guests would tear at the bride's flowers and clothes to share her happiness, so she tossed her bouquet to her guests instead to ensure she got away in one piece.

Groomsmen were friends of the groom that in ancient times were needed when the bride was often captured by force, as the new husband needed allies to help him fend off her family.

The bridal train dates back to the Middle Ages when the higher the bride's social standing, the longer the material she dragged down the aisle.

The bride's veil was originally designed to hide the bride's face and intended to preserve her modesty.

Grain was originally believed to symbolize fertility, so throwing rice over the bridal couple ensured they'd have many children.

Husbands carrying their brides over the threshold after the wedding comes from an old superstition of avoiding any evil spirits that would invade the bride through the soles of her feet when entering the threshold of their new home.

Apprehensions

Are all the expenses of a wedding celebration actually worth it?

This is the question that I asked myself this morning, following the listing of expenses that me and My Fiance did last night. Can the hundreds of thousands of pesos that you will spend on your Big Day actually pay for the experience and fun?

I told My Fiance this morning that maybe we could just dress up nicely on our wedding day, and get married in a small chapel. I won't wear a wedding gown, just a nice designer dress. He could wear a designer barong, too. Only our immediate family's allowed to attend the wedding rites, no bridesmaids, no ring bearers, none of that. Just immediate family witnessing the exchange of vows. Immediate family can wear anything that they like.

After the small ceremony we could have a small reception right after. Maybe we can have a nice restaurant (such as Chateau 1771) closed down for lunch, just for us. Close friends are invited for this, of course. I tried to calculate everything in my head and for a maximum of 50 guests, we'll only be spending about 100k, and that's already inclusive of Church fees + food. The designer dress and barong won't matter, we can spend for that separately, besides we can still re-use those so they don't really count.

The thought of having a small wedding is tempting, especially for a practical person like me. But early this afternoon I figured why a lot of brides-to-be still opt for a semi-lavish, if not totally lavish wedding: women are naturally inclined to beautiful things, they naturally like to be the center of attention, they are born wedding coordinators, believe it or not. Nothing excites us women more than planning a very lavish event, especially one that will have us as the STAR. Being queen is every woman's dream.

The Date

You're probably wondering why we chose March 15, 2008 as That Date. Well the reason is pretty common, it's our anniversary date and March 15 happens to be a Saturday in 2008. Other reasons include:

1.) March in numbers is 3, which is a good number because the tail goes up. Three is also a good number in Christianity as it represents the Holy Trinity (hehehe).

2.) The number 15 according to numerology represents LOVE, SEX and MONEY. I guess number 15 pretty much covers everything.

3.) 2008 is a good year as it has lots of zeroes, and has one eight. In feng shui, a date that has lots of circles (0s and 8s) signifies prosperity and peace. The number 8 also signifies infinity.
To a person who isn't superstitious, these things might be insignificant, even funny. But to me and My Fiance, the date of our wedding is just as important as the tastefulness of the food that we will serve on our wedding day, or maybe as important as the name of our child-to-be.

The Theme

Browsing through piles and piles of wedding magazines is enough to induce a headache. Wedding choices are as wide as the universe, it's so impossible to choose JUST ONE.

Helping me stay sane until That Day is my self-appointed Creative Director/Coordinator/Matron of Honor aka My Sister. My Sister and I decided to come up with a theme for the wedding, so we could narrow down my choices. I originally wanted a beach wedding but after browsing through all the magazines, I discovered that having a beach wedding in the Philippines is not so unique after all. A LOT of Filipino couples decide to say their vows on the beach, so I ditched the idea. And since a beach wedding is all i've been raving about since Day 1, dropping this theme made me jump back to square 1. BOO. guess what, i'm back to endless possibilities!

WEDDING CHOICES = A UNIVERSE OF OPTIONS.

Coming up with a theme for a wedding is not easy. There are several questions that you need to answer, like, is the theme appropriate for a wedding? Will the theme offend anyone involved in the wedding (family of the groom, family of the bride)? Etc. So to help us keep the options to a minimum, I thought of what I want the wedding to look like and my fiance's interests. I felt that our theme should reflect at least, our personalities. Here's what I came up with:

Bride-to-be:

- I want my wedding to be giddy but not cheesy, stylish but not expensive.- it (the wedding) has to be unique and FUN

Groom:

- Originally wanted a Lord of the Rings-themed wedding (HELP ME GOD!!!)- likes unique stuff too- likes fantastic and gangster movies- likes battles, wars, and other topics related to testosterone

Hmmmmmm....putting them all together makes me think of James Bond (and well, what with all the commotion on the latest James Bond movie, I'm not surprised). I asked My Sister:

Theme No. 1: How about James Bond? Me and the female entourage can dress up as Bond girls. Fiance and the male entourage can all dress up as Bonds (I don't know what I was thinking, really).

My Sister's reply: "It's okay but it's kind of not appropriate, isn't James Bond a renowned womanizer and commitment-phobe?"
Idea was flushed.

Theme No. 2: To my self: What about Star Wars-inspired? I'm afraid the only character my ring-bearers can assume is Yoda. But I like coming as Padme Amidala though, HAHA.
Okay forget Star Wars.

Theme No. 3: Old Haute Ton Manila. Venue and Reception is Villa Escudero. Instead of Bridal Car there's the good old Kalesa. Hmmmmmmmmm...thinking. What's the groom's interests have to do with it though? K whatever.

Theme No. 4: The Jungle Book. HAHAHAHA! YOU WISH!

After one week of theme-scrounging, we finally found one that's perfect: stylish, simple, unique and fun! What is it? It's definitely not Lord of the Rings.

I'm Finally Engaged!

BIG NEWS.

My boyfriend of one and a half year finally proposed, and after the happiness on the engagement has trailed off, I am now faced with the overwhelming thought of planning for the you know, That Day.

That Day is tentatively scheduled on the 15th of March, in 2008. We are looking at 80 guests maximum, and venue and reception somewhere a little far from the bustling city. But of course, before all the That Day Details, there's the engagement dinner to plan and execute. I'm very very particular when it comes to details (Virgo at Heart), so a lot of tasting and oculars happened. I started this blog rather late in the Engagement Dinner preparations, so i'll just give you a rundown of what happened:

Our initial plan was to hold it in Italianni's, we were looking at a place where we could spend only about P500 per head, good for 15 people (Engagement Dinner for our immediate family only). Italianni's in Eastwood seemed like the perfect place, not too expensive, quiet on the second floor...but I didn't exactly think of it as perfect because Italianni's is well...Italianni's. It's a little casual for what I am trying to achieve.

Then I remembered Minggoy's. My nephew's baptismal rites reception was held there two years ago and the food was okay, and Twist is only about P500 (net) per head, buffet! But two days later my sister called me up to say that I have to cancel my reservations because they just ate there and yech, that place spells DIZZAZTER.

Exhausted, I shoved the venue for the Engagement Dinner on the side first for more pressing matters like My Work. Last week My Work required me to attend numerous dinners, three in a row to be exact, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We had dinner at Portico in Serendra last Thursday, and the food was okay, the service was TERRIBLE, but i liked their function room on the second floor. The function room was good for 15 people, and its ambience was perfect for family discussions. If only for the function room, i reserved the place. The day after, we had dinner at Cirkulo along Pasay Road. Food was SCRUMPTIOUS!!! And it's PERFECT because they also have a function room good for 15 people. The trade off was the price, we'll end up paying roughly P900 per head, but I don't really care because Cirkulo is exactly the place where I want my Engagement Dinner to be held. So I approached the owner, Malu Gamboa, and reserved a seat for 15. Luckily, despite the place being so full on the 27th of December (70 people already reserved for that day...geez!), I managed to secure the function room. What's more, the owner was so hands-on with helping me pick out my menu for the night, she willingly suggested items on the menu, and carefully opposed me if she thought my orders were a little too...well, excessive. EXCELLENT EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. So there, landslide vote from myself went to Cirkulo.

Here's my menu for the Engagement Dinner:

Appetizers

Croquetas
Hojaldres de Espinacas

Salad

Insalata di Gorgonzola w/ apples and walnuts - change cheese

Main Course

Paella Montana with Portobella Mushrooms
Slow Roasted U.S. Beef Belly
Pan Fried Fillet of Apahap with Lemon Buerre Blanc
Gambas al Ajillo

Dessert
yay! waived corkage fee for my Snickers Cake c/o Mocha Blends :-)