Pictorials and the Reception

Right after the ceremony, Lourd started doing the necessary retouches to my makeup and he also fixed my hair because a few strands fell loose. Mimi and Karl had set up a chair nearby while waiting for Lourd to finish.

It was so much easier to pose with Danz around, although we still felt a bit stiff and were a bit serious during the pictorial. Mimi was teasing us that we were married already, so we should be happy!:)

The church actually has quite a breathtaking view, so we had a couple of shots with the mountains in the background. Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy, but the view was nice just the same.

We had pictorials both at the church and at the reception area. I loved these shots at Balay Indang:

Mimi and Karl also did a great job of capturing the small details in our wedding...

The Place Cards - It was so funny because people actually used the place cards as name tags as well.

The Guest Cards - We had a blast reading the guest cards after the wedding. We used these 10 sentence starters that I found in Weddingbee:

1) When he snores you can always...

2) When she steals the blankets you can always...

3) Before going to bed you must always...

4) When you wake up in the morning always...

5) One advantage of marriage is...

6) You'll discover that real love is...

7) A great way to apologize...

8) The best relationship is the one that...

9) When things are going less than perfect...

10) Now that you are married you must...

The table setups by Kaye Cunanan:

The cake by Gervy Santos:

Cupcakes by Yumi Castrillo and Cream Puffs by Christine Galang

DIY Candle Arrangements surrounding the pool:

Our program was relatively simple - a couple of speeches, AVPs, a trivia game, and the dances. In between, our emcee read some of the funny answers to the guest cards and we also did the model a kiss.

Speeches:

Dances:

Model a kiss:

I managed to hold myself together throughout the day. But when it was time for us to say our Thank You's, I finally cracked! I know it seems a bit weird, but I was just overwhelmed with happiness because of all of the people who were there. As I said in my speech, it was the people who were with us that made the whole celebration meaningful.

The Big Day - Preparations and the Ceremony

I woke up at 7:00am to the sound of my phone ringing. It was Gervy, asking for directions to the reception venue for the cake delivery (apparently, she didn't receive my email of the map the day before). I gave her the directions then tried to go back to sleep, but I then received a message from Lourd around 7:30am that he was already near. I literally jumped out of bed to take a shower before he arrived.

It seemed surreal that the day we had been looking forward to for so long had finally arrived! By 8am, I was ready to start the day.

While waiting for the suppliers to arrive, I started arranging all my stuff so that all my bags were ready to be loaded into the car before going to the church.

At 9am, Lourd finally arrived (apparently, his message earlier meant he was already near Tagaytay...hehe!). He took a look at my hair and said "Girl, ang haba ng hair mo". Then he said to his assistant "May gunting ka?" and then let me sit down to cut my hair. It took all of 5 minutes for him to get the length (and style) he needed for my chosen hairdo. We then proceeded to having my hair set, then it was makeup time! We were just talking and exchanging stories while I was being made up.

Soon after, one of the coordinators, Marese, showed up. It was so funny when she arrived, because her husband was with her. And it just so happened that her husband looked a lot like Danz, so I was panicking because I thought Danz was on his way inside the house!

Anyway, I lost track of the time because I wasn't wearing a watch, but the suppliers started showing up one after the other - Playback, Mimi and Karl, Ria and her team, Veluz and Flower Stories. The house was pretty big, so things weren't chaotic. But every now and then I received a phone call from suppliers asking for directions or from my brother who apparently got lost in Canyon Woods. I tried to get a bite to eat, but somehow I couldn't eat more than a few spoonfuls of rice and chicken.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to get dressed. Veluz and Niko helped me get into my gown and shoes, while Mimi started clicking away. The pictorial was really hard for me since I didn't know how to pose, and I didn't do any research on what I could do. It's a good thing that both Mimi and Karl were very patient and tried to guide my movements.

I had to take a quick break after some of the portraits to get a drink because I was so thirsty by this time. Good thing Niko still had some Mountain Dew left! Otherwise I may have just fainted again!:)

We left Canyon Woods at 1:30pm and I was at the church by 1:45pm (Danz was actually outside the church when we arrived, and he hurriedly went back inside when he saw the car approaching). I was left alone inside the car, where I took the time to pray and rehearse my vows. Every now and then, some of my friends or relatives would approach me just to see how I was doing.

2:00pm came and went and I was still in the car because our officiant had not arrived! We were able to contact him though and he was already in Tagaytay. One of my Titos went to the car and jokingly asked me if I still wanted to push through with the wedding. The coordinator seemed to be more nervous than I was because she kept asking me if I was doing okay.

Finally, at 2:30pm, Bishop Ted arrived! So I was finally able to get out, and Lourd had to do some last minute retouches because my hair got messed up while I was in the car. Veluz and Niko fixed my veil, and I made my way up the steps to the Chapel. My Dad and I stood outside the church for a few moments, waiting for the chorus of my bridal march "Come What May". This was it!

The doors opened, my veil was flowing and I finally made my walk towards Danz. My Dad stepped on my gown twice and I had a hard time walking because the floors of the chapel were uneven.:) At the middle of the aisle, my Dad commented out loud "Bakit lahat kayo nakatingin sakin?" (Grrr!) But I just smiled and kept walking.:)

When I got to Danz, I had no idea what to do! Do I hold his hand and let him lead me to my place? I decided to go to my seat on my own, and at this point I was thinking to my self "Do I keep holding my bouquet or do I put it down?" I ended up holding it up to the homily.

The ceremony was very light-hearted, especially because of Bishop's jokes during his homily. He skipped a few parts of the ceremony, like the Unity Candle and our exchange of personal vows, but it was fine with us, since these weren't really discussed fully with him.

When it was time to light the nuptial candles, my friend Bless informed me that there were none! So she and my brother Francis had to improvise and used the candles that were supposed to be for the Unity Candle ceremony. It didn't fit properly though, so they had to wait for some of the wax to melt so that they can somehow make the candles stand.

The rest of the ceremony went perfectly well. When the veil and the cord were placed on us, I whispered to Danz "Don't move, the cord might break!" He in turn whispered to me "My knees hurt!"

It isn't obvious in the pictures, but I was perspiring for the most part of the ceremony! I could feel the sweat gathering on my forehead and trickling near my ears.:)

Anyway, when the mass was over, it was time for the most awaited moment. We were looking at each other because Bishop didn't say it right away. He explained to us, "Lets sign the contract first before the kiss ok?". Haha, I guess he sensed our eagerness. So when we finished signing, he finally told Danz "You may kiss the bride"

Pre-Wedding Happenings

The weeks leading to the big day were extremely busy! From the distribution of the invitations to attending different parties (I had 4 bridal showers) and fixing all the details. Things were so hectic that both Danz and I got sick a week before the wedding!

November 9
Our anniversary! This year, we celebrated by having dinner at Tony Roma's. Danz then told me that we were going to Manila Pen for some much needed rest. But little did I know that my sister (the Maid of Honor) had planned a surprise Bridal Shower for me, so it was another late night for me.

November 13
My gown was ready for pick up, so Danz drove me to the shop of Veluz. However, when she and Niko saw me, they commented that I seemed to have gained weight and insisted that I try on the gown again. It's a good thing that they were satisfied with how it fit, otherwise we would have all probably panicked by then.

In the afternoon we met with our coordinator and the band to finalize some details.

November 14
We went to Sta. Clara to offer eggs for good weather (this really works!)

November 15
We headed to Tagaytay to submit our church requirements. It was raining so hard so we decided to get tents for our reception. Luckily, our coordinator was able to find a supplier for us at the last minute.

Here are some of the photos we took during our trip. It was so foggy (and super cold!), it felt like we were in Baguio.








We didn't stay too long in Tagaytay because we still had so many things to do - printing of the guest cards and place cards, finalizing the seating and packing all our stuff. We went to sleep at around 2am, with tons of stuff left unfinished.

November 16
We woke up early to look for a church where we could have confession. Our first stop was Don Bosco Makati, but we just missed the morning mass. The next confession was scheduled during the 12:15pm mass. So we headed home and I made deposits for the payment of our cake and videographer. We had planned to leave at 10:30am to make sure we would make it to the mass on time, but my manicure and pedicure took so long, and we ended up leaving the house close to 12:30pm already. We raced to the church, and we were lucky to make it there just in time.

Our next stop was Glorietta to pick up Danz's sister and to email the seating to our coordinator. By 2:30pm, we were finally able to leave and go to pick up the cupcakes I had ordered. At 3:30pm, we were off to Tagaytay!

We arrived at Canyon Woods at around 6pm. My brother, his girlfriend, sister-in-law and nieces arrived shortly after. We all had dinner at the house where Danz and his family were staying, then later went to our house to start unpacking all our stuff.

When everything had settled down, I proceeded to work on rounding the edges of our guest cards and putting together the place cards. My sister and her boyfriend arrived around 10pm and they all helped me assemble everything. By 12am, I was finally satisfied with everything and was exhausted! We all got ready to go to bed, though it took a while for me to finally relax and fall asleep.

The Other Invitation

We decided early on to have two sets of invitations - a formal one for our relatives and a "fun" one for our friends.

Danz's brother Chris was the one who designed these invitations. We didn't have any mockups done for this...we just approved the caricature design and Chris did the rest. I loved it so much, and actually felt insecure about the invitations Danz and I made. Too bad we only had a few of these printed.

Front

Expanded

Map (at the Back)

The Product of Our Blood, Sweat and Tears

This is a long overdue post, but things were so hectic in October and November that I hardly had time to email or blog.

After many sleepless nights, getting sick and a couple of fights, our invitations are finally finished! This was the hardest part of our preparations, and at times I wondered what I was thinking when I decided to go the DIY route. But I am really happy with the outcome, so I think all the hard work was worth it. Would I do it again? Not even if you paid me!:)

So anyway, here it is!

Sealed with an "S"

Expanded


Layers


Main Invitation

Project Costs:

Pocketfold

Illustration Board - P133 x 12 pcs = P1596

Specialty Boards - P30 x 14 packs = P420

Taffeta - P90 x 6 yards = P540

Shantung - P70 x 8 yards = P560

Fabric Glue - P250 x 3 bottles = P750

Spray Glue - P200 x 3 cans = P600

Invitation Inserts

Specialty Boards - P50 x 14 packs= P700

Specialty Paper - P20 x 7 packs = P140

Others

Ribbon - P200 for 1 roll (used only about 1/2 roll)

Stickers - P80 for 70 pcs

Total Cost = P5586 for 70 pcs (around P80 per piece)

Other Useful Tools:

- A good paper cutter

- Xyron Sticker Maker

Tips to save on costs:

- Use Chip Board #50 (P19.50/pc can make 5 pieces of invitations) instead of illustration board (I like the weight consistency of illustration board better though)

- Use Box Board or a thinner piece of Chip Board instead of specialty board for the inner portion of the pocketfold (but the specialty board is easier to cut)

Fainting Spells

Have you ever fainted in your life?

Prior to last Friday, I had never experienced it. I have had near blackouts because of dizzyness (I have vertigo), but have never really fallen down or anything like that.

I had the final fitting for my gown last Friday. It was a tad too tight for me because I had gained some weight since Danz arrived (so I'm on a bit of a diet now). Anyway, everything was going well - we were all laughing and sharing stories and just admiring the gown - until suddenly I felt that I couldn't breathe. I asked if we could unzip the gown for a while, and that helped for a bit...but then I started to feel dizzy. I had barely gotten the words "I'm feeling a bit dizzy" out of my mouth when I suddenly blacked out. I heard someone calling me, and when I opened my eyes, I was lying on the floor. It was soooo embarrassing!!!

After giving me some pillows to lie on, some ointment and a glass of water, I was OK. We had a pretty good laugh about it, but I know that I will never live that incident down. I'll always be "the bride that fainted"...hahaha!

I don't really know what caused it...perhaps a combination of not being able to breathe properly and just plain exhaustion from all the stress and late nights.

I'm going back on "The Abs Diet" for the next few days and will fit my gown again before they have it dry cleaned. I don't want to have it adjusted because it really is so pretty and I'm confident I can lose the excess weight. So I'm looking forward to eating grilled chicken sandwiches for the next week or so.:)

Engagement Photos with Mimi and Karl

A few days after our last trip to Tagaytay, we headed back there for our Pre-nup Pictorial with Mimi and Karl. For lack of a more imaginative place to have our photos taken, we settled on Tagaytay Highlands. (Note to Mimi & Karl couples: Highlands is the most popular choice of location for pre-nup shoots in Tagaytay. Apparently, M&K shot pre-nups there for three straight Tuesdays!)

I had my makeup done by Am Yap-Joco (who was kind enough to accomodate me with just a day's notice).

Anyway, I was pretty apprehensive about the shoot because I'm not good at posing or being in front of a camera for a long time. Plus, I have been in awe with the work of Mimi and Karl and I didn't want to let them down! Hehe.:) Here are some of the pictures I liked:

Video Shoot With Playback

Last Friday, we had a shoot for our Pre-nup AVP with Playback. We didn't want the usual interview-type AVP, so Bim and Chester came up with a movie trailer concept for us. (I'm really thankful that we scheduled the shoot on Friday, otherwise I could have been at Gloriettat that day!)

Anyway, our shoot lasted from 11am up to 9:30pm! Mostly, the shots were taken at our condo, so it was a bit cramped there and so we had to move the furniture and adjust the lighting every now and then.

Side Story: We wanted to shoot at a coffee shop, so we stopped by Seattle's Best at Harrison Plaza after lunch. We weren't sure if they would allow us to shoot, so we NICELY asked the barista for permission. He in turn asked their Manager, who promptly said "HINDI PUWEDE". I asked why they wouldn't allow us because it was just for personal use, and asked if I could speak to the manager. But before the barista could even call her, she loudly said through the door "HINDI TALAGA PUWEDE". How rude! And if that wasn't enough, while I was waiting for my coffee, she came out and was looking at Bim, Chester and Danz (who were outside waiting for me, but they weren't shooting yet), and saying "Sinabi ko nang hindi puwede eh". I coldly stated to her in a loud voice "They are just waiting for me" (I had to stop myself from saying "b - - - h"), though she was still staring at them to make sure that they weren't sneaking any shots. I would have understood if she had calmly spoken to me stating their reasons (I'm not the type to plead anyway), but to be treated like that was just plain rude and absolutely unnecessary. Before leaving, I commented to the baristas that their manager was "mataray" and they were actually really nice and said "We're really sorry ma'am". Needless to say, I'm never going back to that cafe....I'm more of a Starbucks girl anyway.

Anyway, going back to the topic...I really don't want to say too much about our AVP because I want it to be a surprise.:) But it was a fun experience, especially since Bim and Chester were cracking jokes during most of the shoot.

Here are some pictures during our shoot:

Would you have any guesses as to what we were doing in this shot?