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 :-)