No To The Bouquet Toss

We received a lot of praises regarding our reception program. Many of our guests congratulated us, saying that they were impressed and truly enjoyed it a lot. It was neither too long nor too short. It was just perfect, they said. Again, thanks to our wedding planner. She did a wonderful job in organizing the flow, advising us on what to do and what to avoid, and recommending the best people (emcee, sounds and lights) to make it work. Truly, she is an expert.

Here are some bits I picked up. I hope these tips will help you plan your wedding reception program.

Read more...

Valentine's Day

Yesterday I woke up to the sound of someone banging on our door. When my flatmate informed me that there’s an Island Rose delivery outside for me, I was genuinely surprised. I had thought such sweet gestures would stop when we got married. But apparently my hubby is just inherently romantic. Truly, lucky me :)

I really do hope it would be his last purchase with Island Rose. Not because I am dissatisfied with their merchandise, it is because it would mean that next Valentines I get to finally celebrate it the proper way. With him. Now where the h**l is my visa?!

Read more...

A Photobooth Is A Sure Winner!

It was a very good call we hired Partypics photobooth during our wedding reception. Since Filipinos just love having their photos taken, it was selling like hotcakes. Oh boy, our guests totally loved it! I could notice them queuing not just once at the Partypics corner. And they treasure the pictures. I even suspect they treasure it more than our official souvenirs because when we visited our relatives’ homes days after the wedding we could see their Partypics photos proudly displayed in the living room. Some friends immediately uploaded and used theirs as Facebook profile photo.

Read more...

Our Gorgeous Wedding Pictures

Just 4 days after we got engaged I immediately inquired if Mimi and Karl were still available for our wedding. They were not only still available but Hana, their very efficient studio manager, kindly informed me that they were not yet open for 2009 bookings. (Well of course! Our big day was still a year and a half away. Haha!) Hana then assured she would email me when they do.

As soon as I got the email from her that they were now accepting 2009 bookings, I immediately wired the money for the reservation fee. I remember being so ecstatic when I received the confirmation that yes, we booked them.

Read more...

Our Midsummer Night's Dream Themed Reception

Though I had every confidence that Ms. Pinky Chang's team of Pink Flora and our very dear wedding planner Ms. Cielo Villegas of Blushing Bride would effectively pull off our desired Midsummer Night's Dream themed reception, still the moment I walked into the Shangri-La Marquee I was totally blown away. Our reception was magical, enchanting, surreal... like walking into a  very wonderful dream.

And the beautiful and very tasty cake created by Ms. Marissa Unchuan was the perfect complement.

Read more...

My Wedding Dress + the Shoes + My Groom's Suit + Our Entourage

I told Jun Escario I just wanted an elegant lace wedding gown with a silhouette that would add inches and would not overwhelm my petite form. I love what he created for me.

Read more...

Our First Dance

It was literally our first dance because we never went dancing before. Being in a long distance relationship, having only the chance to meet twice a year, it had never crossed our minds to go dancing. Besides, though I love him so much I don’t want to lie and say he’s a brilliant dancer...

Okay I am not much of a dancer too.

But there’s no escaping it. As customary in weddings, we had to dance our first dance as husband and wife. We ruled out dancing waltz as I wouldn’t want to bore our guests (and me) to tears. Or Swing, as I am awfully clumsy in anything ballroom. So we opted to copy the style of some first dances we saw in YouTube. A mix of slow dance first and then the music would suddenly change into a jolly or "dancy" tune.

Read more...

Married at Last!

Yes I am finally a missus :)

And not only did our December 28, 2009 wedding went by without any glitch, it was everything I had hoped it would be. From the church ceremony to the reception, everything was magical.

They say that to a bride's point of view her wedding day is usually one big blur as so many things happening seemingly all at once. But mine was not one big blur. Not at all. Believe me, I remember every minute, every second of it. I was able to soak it all up. A gorgeous friend of mine even commented that I must be the most relaxed bride she has ever seen. True. Not because I am good at suppressing my nerves but because from the moment I woke up that day I was already confident everything would fall into place. Our big day would be perfect. We were in good hands. We had an excellent wedding planner (Ms. Cielo Villegas of Blushing Bride). And true enough, she delivered... more than 100% even! I enjoyed our big day so much that I was sad it had to end.

Read more...