Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Supplier Ratings

Came here to discuss my suppliers with their hits, some misses, costs and stars. May this be handy to other upcoming brides.


DJ Eljhay Picks Hosting and Event Planning for our on-the-day coordination. Owned and led by Marilou, a common friend of ours. She is a very charming and funny lady who made sure there's no dull moment during any meeting.


  • Hit: The emcee, who happened to be the owner too, was a professional disk jockey few years ago, she talked confidently and handled the whole reception program very well.
  • Hit: They were on time during the preps and we did accomplished everything on time.
  • Hit: I was reminded the night before of things to bring and it was very effective.
  • Hit: All of our wedding stuffs and gifts were neatly organized after the reception.
  • Miss: Some of her staffs lacked initiative. They had to be instructed before doing essential stuffs (eg. assembly for picture taking right after the ceremony, making sure the gown and veil were always perfect).
  • Miss: There was this one time where we set-up a meeting and the she cancelled the last minute. I got so frustrated that I threw a little tantrum through text. 
  • Cost: 15,700 Php. Stars: 8/10


We are Seekers Photography. Well, what can I say, I love our photographers, said that more than a couple of times before, and until the end, I haven't changed my mind about them.
  • Hit: Genuine passion and talent on photography. I know a lot of people who just happened to own top of the line cameras and they assume right away that they're photographers. Well, they're not one of them. These guys know their thing, that I assure you. 
  • Hit: Prenup, postnup, teaser and SDE - free of charge. How awesome is that? 
  • Hit: They're brothers and they have this unique chemistry that makes working with them never awkward.
  • Hit: Candid and dreamy shots. I don't know how to exactly describe their style but the shots are never stiff, never traditional and never dull. 
  • Miss: Yeah, I miss them (corny!!!)
  • Cost: 15,000 Php. Stars: 10/10




Chris- Mont Digital Photography and Videography. We had a nice deal with their HD single camera service. I haven't watched the whole video yet, but something tells not to expect too much. Anyway, here's their hits and misses:


  • Hit: They're updated equiptment-wise. HD cams, cranes, blu-ray discs.
  • Hit: Everything flowed smoothly during the wedding day.
  • Miss: I was kinda confused with our transaction when I reserved them. It wasn't that smooth which made me rant about it here before. 
  • Miss: Heavy traditional shots. Not sure it it's fair to call this a miss, but personally it is. Well, I should have known, seeing their previous works. Anyway, I'm just not a fan of trad shots. But who knows, it won't be that bad, I have yet to see the final cut.
  • Miss: Their main man (owner) just makes the final editing. Meaning, he doesn't take the shots personally. 
  • Cost: 21,500 Php (including 2hrs photobooth), Stars: 7/10
Century Resort HotelThis venue was free if the food was to be catered by their resto, The Peking House.
  • Hit: Very affordable menu packages. 
  • Hit: Friendly and accommodating staffs. The manager always texted us personally for any updates and suggestions. 
  • Hit: Complimentary room. Although we had a separate accommodation somewhere else for the wedding preps, this room became very handy during my make up retouch.
  • Miss: The function hall was smaller than expected. We were told it could fit 300 guests and to my surprise, other guests were seated on the garden area. Too bad for them they didn't have a chance to watch the program.
  • Miss: Ventilation was kinda poor especially when you're seated in front with spotlights melting your face. 
  • Cost: 107,000 Php (300 heads), Stars: 8/10
Flowers and Beyond. Honestly, I had serious doubts for this one. The florist was just on the beginning of  a solo flower arranging career. But when you're on a tight budget, you'll learn to trust other people with everything. Good thing, I trusted the right person. 
  • Hit: I was surprised with the VIP table. It wasn't heavily designed yet it looked elegant.
  • Hit: The florist himself is very friendly and jolly. 
  • Miss: I haven't asked why yet, but I'm wondering why another company handled the church decoration. Yes it was beautifully done, except that they forgot to put a carpet. Must be a communication error between them. No matter how pretty it looked, it still seemed incomplete without the carpet. I just found out about it right before the entourage was about to march so I had no plans and chance of bitching about it. 
  • Cost: 33,000 Php (Church and Reception), Stars: 7/10


Dan Jose Hair and Make Up  "The most gwapo and sophisticated make up artist I have ever seen" - my husband.
  • Hit: Judging by the number of compliments I fished (it was my day, forgive the narcissism), I can say he really did a great job! 
  • Hit: He didn't just made me pretty, he built my confidence too. Also, he told me my husband really treats me like a princess, hearing that right before the wedding meant the world to me. He just knows the right words to say. 
  • Hit: Very professional. He and his assistant came on time. Plus, he never bad mouthed any competitors and never talked about himself - he's there for pure clean business. 
    • Cost: 13,500 Php (5 heads package and retouch), Stars: 10/10
Sound Impact Lights and Sounds. These were the last supplier I booked. I never thought I'll get one until I realized I needed to. It would be bland not to have ambient lights and a professional sound system, right? During the reception, I realized I made the right choice.
  • Hit: Very smooth transaction. Every transaction was made online. We exchanged e-mails, I deposited the reservation fee, he sent me the acknowledgement slip, then we're booked! 
  • Hit: Affordable. The company is from Manila and we're from Pampanga. Their price is way more affordable than the local ones here, even including the out of town fee.
  • Hit: Overall, they're good. No dead time for the sound system and the lights were great.
  • Cost: 16,000 Php, Stars: 10/10
Laser lights during the supposed "party", we danced for like one minute then rushed to the actual after-party to drink booze!
K Tribu Band. This band is truly a blessing. We agreed on 10 songs for a very minimal fee (we're friends with the manager) but they managed to perform 20+ songs to fill the long break (during our post nup photo shoot and make up retouch) with no additional charge. Their genre is bossa, setting a warm and relaxing mood during program breaks. No miss for these guys, I love them and they're totally recommended. You can watch their music video here.


There, our dream team. Whoever says a beautiful wedding had to cost a million peso is wrong. I managed to collect very talented people and stayed on budget. 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue...

Ever since childhood, I've been hearing this phrase when it comes to weddings. I was never traditional, but it seemed fun to do. So yeah, I collected each of these for my wedding outfit.


I just googled the full meaning of this tradition just now, hahah. And apparently, I missed one. It should be:

Something old, something new

Something borrowed, something blue

And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

Ugh, how can I have a sixpence in my shoe when I didn't even wore one? I wore open sandals. And I have no clue where to get a silver sixpence. 'Di ba pwedeng piso nalang? So yeah, nvm. 


Here's my Something old, something new, Something borrowed, something blue plus their meaning and some few stories behind them:



  • Something Old - Something old, according to my research, represents continuity. It symbolizes a link between a bride and her mother (or grandmother). For me, it was my mom's old silver brooch. My father bought it from Indonesia and gave it to her when I was in early highschool. It's not that antique, but I simply loved it the moment I saw it. It looked perfect as I attached it on my bouquet's handle. 
  • Something New - Something new represents good luck and success and the bride's hope for a bright future in her new married life. The wedding gown is often chosen as the new item. My gown gathered so many praises from that actual day and from photos as well. As a polish-lover (not yet an addict though), my new Deborah Lippman Today was a Fairy Tale was also one of my favorite 'new item'. It should not be that big of a deal, except that, it was bought by no less than Ms. Pam Pastor. Yep, the craziest polish addict I've known. My wedding polish was personally brewed by her. Barry M. Blue moon with Today was a Fairy Tale on top. Blue Moon is the next story.
  • Something Borrowed - it is to represent to the bride that friends and family will be there for here whenever help is needed. My 'something borrowed' was Blue Moon by Barry M polish. I borrowed it from a blogger friend and a fellow polish lover, Pam Pastor. No, actually, I didn't borrow it on the first place, she lent it. She's that awesome! It means a lot considering how much she values her polishes, especially the Barry M. collection which she's trying to complete. It's heart-warming how she trusted me with that polish. 
  • Something Blue - Something blue is the symbol of faithfulness, purity and loyalty. This isn't too hard. Our motif is blue so naturally, I had something blue on my bouquet. But my favorite blues are my shoes! Look how vibrant they are. And they're very kind too for not giving me any aches and pains during and after the party (which seldom happens with new pair of shoes, right?)
got their meaning here

Monday, January 9, 2012

Details...details.. details

Weddings are not just a day-long celebration. It's the whole process of preparation that makes it very memorable and enjoyable. I'm so proud to say me and my husband had a solid team work in organizing our special event. Everything was customized to our own taste. Every little detail were either personally made or chosen by us. 





  • A - That was me, measuring, cutting, pasting the invitations. I can't take all the pride for my husband designed the whole thing and I just helped mass producing, lol.
  • B - Finish product, yay! Yes, that's Santori and not Poro Point. We wanted a Grecian, particularly Santorini theme. 
  • C - VIP place cards. My husband made all 41 of them in just one night. He's amazing.
  • D - Rice for tossing. These were my favorite. I made them from scratch from metallic construction paper, tracing paper, stickers, ribbons, rice and glitter confetti.
  • E - VIP table set up. Color, design and arrangement, personally picked by us. Our florist was wonderful enough to have properly interpreted it.
  • F - Children's headdress. Again, our florist made them according to our choice, to add just a little Grecian feel to our entourage.
  • G - Table numbers. 30 pieces, all made by my husband. People were wondering why we can't just ask someone from the restaurant or our florist to do these little details. Well, it was fun doing them! 
  • H - Blue water, blue flowers. Ugh, these were my last minute decision. I first opted with simple white flowers for the round tables, but these came into my mind the last few days, so I asked the florist to make 15 of the tables pretty and the other 15 simple. That's how fickle I've been.
  • I - Envelope for the invites. Originally, we didn't plan of having any envelopes for the invites. Until we were condemned by our parents, saying invitations must have pretty envelopes and must have ribbons too. So there. That's our take on the 'traditional' invitation look.
  • J - Bouttonniere. That's me struggling to be artistic. That's the prototype, I'm glad the actual one I've made were more decent than that one, lol.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

I Badly Need to Blog Again

I'm back from a month-long hiatus. I feel like my head is about to explode, I need to write write write. I need an outlet, I'm already a little embarrassed of obsessing my wedding to my family, friends and husband. Yes my dear blog, my dream wedding already came true. 


At last!!
It was a beautiful one, exactly how I envisioned it to be. It had minor glitches but overall, I can say it still is perfect!


For the next few days, you'll be reading a lot of wedding-related posts, honeymoon, suppliers, bliss and giddyneess.


And now I don't even know where to start. This is my very first quiet moment since December. I have no plans of hurrying up again. So let's just let the information flow by itself. Let's start with the little details before the wedding.