Invitations

My invitations are done! I just bought the blank invites from Gourdo's (can be purchased at wiltonprint.com directly), the gold board from National Bookstore and the seal from The Write Impression (http://www.thewrite-impression.com/). Printed out the invites ourselves using a laser printer and voila! Clean wedding invites :-) Total cost: P20/piece :-)

Entourage's Dress Part II

Okay, here's the second fix to the dress. My jurassic camera was not able to capture the three colors of the dress correctly so this picture doesn't do justice to the dress at all. I'd like to think that the Entourage's dress is really nice :-) indulge me as I am like any mother to her child, or any bride-to-be to her wedding: likes to praise her own. Except for the sleeves part, I'm having that fixed again. here goes:

Return of the Mad Bride

back back back from the UK! Scotland was absolutely beautiful!

today the fixed bridesmaid dress will arrive. i'm so excited!

UK!

greetings from Scotland! the land of William Wallace :-P won't be able to update my wedding blog for a while because i seldom get connection.

I went to the Marks and Spencer along Princes St on our first day in Scotland and what are the odds, they don't have a stationery department in Edinburgh! phooey! so I have to scrounge for that diamante wedding planner in London instead. darn darn. (i didn't see any M&S in Glasgow :-( )

on the upside, Alec and I was able to go visit Loch Lomond. i know, out of topic. but it's beautiful can't resist blogging about it. hee hee.

Somebody's Inspiration Board

Oh Look! Somebody has the same color palette as ours! from http://www.stylemepretty.com/:

cerulean blue and orange-y gold. and the embroidery too! eek!

Repertoire

We're coming up with one! Stay tuned!

Wedding Planner

Recently, I was window-shopping online at www.marksandspencer.com to check out stuff that I could buy when I go to the UK next week when I chanced upon this wedding planner:

From Marks and Spencer dot com:

"An elegant planner with diamanté detail which has all the necessary checklists leading up to and including your big day.

Includes: month by month checklist, pages to record wardrobe, ceremony and reception details, essential diary countdown and notes pages, plastic wallets for storing fabric swatches etc. Costs 7GBP"

For less than P700, I call this a steal! Can't wait to get my hands on this!

The Write Impression

Alec and I went to The Write Impression this morning to see the mock-up of our envelope seals. Too bad I wasn't able to take a picture.

Alec HATED the mock-ups. To quote him, "it looks like somebody spat on our invites." Trust a guy to say such comments. Anyway, since this is not just MY wedding, it's OUR wedding, I had to give in to my husband-to-be. Anyway, it was easy giving in because I myself was not uber-ly impressed with the seals too.

So Alec and I looked for more samples and we finally found one that suits our taste. It's a classic rectangular gold, goldleaf in color. yun nga lang, our invites are ivory and gold, it looks like we're holding a golden anniversary celebration, haha!

Will post na lang when I get the seals na. Excited na kami ni Alec to distribute the invites!

Inspiration II

How cute are these candy pin-ups? (image from martha stewart weddings)

or these bride and groom chocolate-covered strawberries? (from strawberrydreamsph.multiply.com)

On the Day Wedding Coordinator

So, like I said, Alec and I decided to book "A Magical Event". They're actually the first On the Day Wedding Coordinator that we met, but we both felt comfortable towards them right away so we decided to get them.

Marjorie Dizon was very professional. She and her husband, Carlo, arrived at the meeting venue early. She started out by explaining what they do as coordinators, and what's included in the package. She was too professional at first, it took time for us to warm up. When we finally did, Alec and I felt that the "chemistry" was genuine, that it wasn't the usual client-customer faker relationship. So we decided to get them right away.

We'll see how they will actually perform as OTD coordinators. Will keep you posted :-)

On the Day Wedding Coordinator

alec and i found one!

Marjorie Dizon of "A Magical Event"

http://amagicalevent.multiply.com/

Bridesmaid's Dress

this is not yet final. it's just a mock-up, but our mananahi already used the fabric we are going to use. i was thinking of making the neckline more closed, and obviously the skirt to be longer, has to be floor-length.

the bridesmaids dresses

i got the first bridesmaid dress today, but Curl hasn't tried it on yet.

I'm excited! wheeee! will post pics of how it looks like ;-)

Centerpiece Inspiration 1

Pew Flowers

I'm in love with what the stylist did to Donald Trump's wedding, and my florist will try to copy this! I love Sunday!

Musicians

oh my gosh!

alec and i were so shocked when we got the rates for the quartet! P24,000 for a Tagaytay wedding, as opposed to P12,000 if we're holding it in Manila. these people are extorting us.

on a lighter note, Isi Miranda (our violinist) was really understanding. for an Out of Town wedding, we'll just pay P8,000 for a duet, that's violin and keyboards. they'll play at the ceremony and the reception. yay! happy happy!

(i just wrote something and started with "I" again, I should really start writing in the "we" mode...the "I" has to go real soon). We're planning to meet with Marj Dizon of A Magical Event soon. We're thinking of getting her for our On the Day coordination.

everything's so expensive! grabe! after I get married I swear I'll put up a business that has something to do with the wedding industry. it seems very lucrative.

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we already paid Sunday Cabagay to be our florist. this is his website:

http://kablooms.multiply.com

bouquets that I showed him, as inspiration:

Panic Mode Part II

I don't know what else to panic about because it seems like I have a supplier for everything that I need for our wedding already...but yes, I am still panicking.

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My chosen OTD is no longer available on March 15, so she said she's going to refer another one.

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I'm meeting our violinist tomorrow in Megamall, and our Chapel coordinator in the afternoon at Club Filipino.

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Meeting with Sunday, our florist, on Sunday ;-) (http://kablooms.multiply.com)

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Hand-made seals' mock up are ready for viewing on Monday. yay!

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Leaving for the UK on 28 Nov! waaaaaaaaahhh!!!!


Panicking yet excited!

Music Mess

We're scheduled to meet with our violinist tomorrow evening, but when I texted to confirm the meeting, our violinist informed me that she was going to come from Sucat and if we could just meet up on Friday night instead, since she'll be in UP anyway. I didn't really see it as a problem so I said okay, until she asked me if we could meet up near UP because it's difficult to commute to where I work.

It's fine, her reason is valid, but it's not very impressive customer service. We're trying to meet up on Saturday night instead somewhere accessible for both her and me.

Not a very good first impression but I hope when we finally meet up with her she'll change my mind.

Oh, we're having a string quartet in our wedding! yay!

Accommodations

Yay! We've finalized the rooms on March 15!

we still have one extra room though, the Andalucia Suite. any takers?

Our Chapel

On the Day Wedding Coordinator

I don't have one yet!

I'm looking for an On The Day Wedding Coordinator that:

1) Can execute my plans tastefully, tactfully and beautifully.

2) Is organized

3) Exceeds expectations

4) Easy to talk to

5) Professional

6) Dresses appropriately for the event

If you know of a group that satisfies this list, do let me know :-)

Photographer

www.davidhansonphotographer.com

Invites and Prices

They say that in weddings, the Invitation can make or break your guests' first impression of what your celebration is going to look like. So the ribbons matter, and the skyrocketing P200 letterpress prices matter. But in reality, do they really?

I went to check on invitation prices and oh my god was I shocked to my bones. The simplest (and ugliest) ones were selling for P50 a piece. Others are at P300 per piece and the decent, not so expensive ones (yet not very pretty) are selling for P160 and up. That's my lunch allowance, down the drain :-(

It was such a blessing that Alec's mom is fond of going to Gourdo's once in a while and found these uber-chic ready-to-print-on wedding invites at P10/piece. Man was I relieved. That, to me, is how much an invite should cost. I did add a clay seal though that costs about P12 a piece, which is fine because it adds a little bit of funk to a very classic, ivory-colored invite.

I got the clay seals from: www.thewrite-impression.com.

I will post the invite picture here as soon as we have completed assembling it.


I'm so excited!

The Menu

AMUSE BOUCHE

SALAD

Organic Arugula Salad with Parmesan flakes and Warm Bacon-Balsamic Vinaigrette

SOUP
Potato and Chive Veloute

FISH
Grilled Snapper and Tiger Prawns with Rustic Tomato Spaghetti and Saffron Veloute

SORBET
Calamansi Sorbet

MAIN COURSE
Australian beef tenderloin with pommery mash and green peppercorn sauce

DESSERT

Season Fruits
Chocolate Marquise
Assorted Panna Cota

Chef: David Pardo de Ayala of Discovery Country Suites

view pictures of the menu here.

Theme, Dress and Shoes

November! Oh time flies so fast!

We had our entourage dress measurement last Sunday and I would like to think that everyone had a blast. We're having my dress and my entourage's dresses made in Lumban, because Alec's dad is from there and it's the capital of embroidery in the Philippines.

The Theme and Color Motif

Our wedding theme is Country Vintage. And the picture above is the inspiration for the colors we have chosen, Cerulean blue and rust orange-gold. (I wanted green but Alec, being a true Blue Atenean, threatened to dye everybody's gown blue if our color theme is green :-P )


The Dress

I got the inspiration for my dress from one of Oscar de la Renta's bridal collections. I just had a few details tweaked. Instead of tulle, my dressmaker will use Piña cocoon, as Lumban dressmakers are better at handling Piña fabrics than tulle. And I personally believe that pina will give this dress a nice texture, more than tulle ever will.

The dress will be fully embroidered.

The Entourage's DressesThis is the inspiration for my bridesmaids' and secondary sponsors' dresses. The skirt will be in cerulean blue with a wide gold belt and off-white brocade top.

The Shoes

My shoes will look similar to this. It will be custom-made in Liliw, Laguna; this time, a town famous for shoe-making :-)

i'm back!

wow it's been a while!

i woke up two nights ago panicking. i realised we only have nine months left before That Day. phoooey!!!!

we already have a reception venue and a chapel. we'll get married in Our Lady of Grace in Tagaytay. it's a small chapel at the back of Gourmet's Cafe. it's a little "hidden" but it is a part of its charm as a retreat place.

we also already have a videographer. of course nothing beats Mayad Studios ;-)

we're still deciding on our photographer. i'm still researching on my make-up. wedding gown is to be started this month, because of its detailed embroidery we need lots of time for it. we have a guest list already. entourage is also already done. so far, so good.

will update again soon, i'm sleepy already! =)

My Venue

So it's official. Country Discovery Suites.

www.discoverycountrysuites.com.

venue and videographer

the original venue was Peninsula de Punta Fuego for the wedding rites, and Terrazas de Punta Fuego for the reception. (www.puntafuego.com)

(left picture: the chapel in Peninsula de Punta Fuego, bottom left: the gazebo overlooking the sea at Peninsula).

asking about wedding packages was not really easy, we had to call them several times before they finally sent the document (email became snail mail! i swear!). the package at first glance is not that expensive, you can have a reception for as low as PhP75,000 for the first 50 guests. For our number we would spend about PhP120k for reception. Not bad. But looking at their menu, the price is so NOT worth it (though I'm sure you can have the menu tweaked), so my Fiance and I thought of bringing in extra food for the guests, maybe a chocolate fountain and lechon. after taking into consideration the other factors, we crunched numbers and we were surprised that the total amount was so high it reached the ceiling. what we haven't considered were corkage fees and accommodations. Corkage fees suck!

Anyway the new venue is still a little far away but we're kind of sure we're gonna get it this time. It's a small place that can only accommodate 80 guests but it has the best view and the best menu line-up I have seen so far. I am still torn between having a buffet or a sit-down dinner but more or less we're gonna have the latter. although dessert's definitely gonna be buffet (it will rain desserts in MY wedding reception).

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My cousin Raphael put up a videography company in Iloilo called Mayad Studios. Now I have videographer, for free! (di ba raph? :-P).

To check out their latest wedding video, click this:

http://alvin5k.multiply.com/video/item/36

my sister wrote about the engagement dinner

since my sister wrote about the dinner at el cirkulo...i'll just redirect you guys to her blog so you could see that night's pictures:

http://oodlesofgoodles.com/blog/2007/01/06/back-in-the-blogging-loop/