Our Wedding Caricature

I’ve been a sucker of caricatures  lately but due to budget constraint, I opted to create monograms instead to exude a  touch of our personalities on our labels and invitations. Good thing, one of my agents who also happen to be a part of my photographers dream team, gave Mark and I a wedding portrait caricature ☻ 

(Thank you so much Adrian for the super advance wedding gift.)

Thank you Adrian with you kindness, and for giving me enough reasons to alter our wedding invitations again for the Nth time. But to be honest, I like the “newer” version of our invites though. It's now more personalized, and looks even classier. Haha.  

Presenting, our wedding caricature! ♥

I edited the original copy and added Mark's mole ☻☻☻

And here's a glimpse of the newer version of our invitations. Again, I blurred out the pertinent information ♥ 

Dreality Souvenirs - Unique. Affordable. Exciting. Useful souvenirs! ♥

Unique. Affordable. Exciting. Useful

That's the tagline of Dreality souvenirs, and true to it's tag, their souvenirs are really eye catching that your guests would surely love and will truly be treasured.

I am pretty sure that couples nowadays have already gone to different phases, and they no longer want souvenirs  that would end up cathing dust. I've talked to other bride to be's as well of course, each and every one of them, wants to give their guests, something that is worth every penny. A token that would make their guests enjoy and find it very useful.

So if you're looking for  Unique, Affordable, Exciting, and  Useful souvenirs, I strongly suggest you check Dreality Souvenirs. ♥ I am pretty sure you'd love their souvenirs, as much as I do! ;) I just can't decide which design to choose, since all their products are really beautiful. It's just sad that I can no longer buy souvenirs for my PS, since h2b and I already bought wines. If only I knew about Andrea's item (Owner of Dreality) I am pretty sure that our PS would go gaga over our souvenirs! ;) 

An excerpt from Dreality Souvenirs:  Each Dreality™ souvenir you give to your guests, family, and friends let's YOU impart your APPRECIATION with an embodiment of your PERSONALITY w/ a lil sizzle of Dreality™. WE SELL THE IDEA, and the PERSONALITY that comes w/ every SOUVENIR --- not just any ordinary product. It's what makes us DISTINCT. It's the very reason why you should choose us

Here are some sample products I've grabbed from Dreality's Facebook account.

Dreality Souvenirs has a showroom in Themes n Motifs (SMX) or you can check this for more information: http://philippineweddingscenes.com/2332/dreality-personal-care-souvenirs/

Pre - Cana Seminar = Checked! ♥

Yesterday, H2b and I attended our whole day Pre-Cana Seminar. For those who doesn't know what Pre-cana means, this is more of a marriage preparation seminar that is required in every church wedding. The seminar lasted for 9 hours (yes, 9 hours!) but even if the seminar was quite long (as compared to other churches) Mark and I really enjoyed the topics and learned so many things about the life we would have after the wedding. ☻

The speakers discussed abortion, the differences between the two-sexes, how to conceive a baby, infidelity and of course, the RH Bill. They even prepared some activities for the couples to check if the soon to be husband and wife do not clash with their decisions in life - and if in case the couple answered differently, it is a must that we explain in details why we answered that "way". Since h2b and I sat on the front row, the speakers kept asking us random questions. haha!

There were 9 couples who attended the seminar (including us of course) and I can truly say each and everyone of us learned so many things about it. There were a total 7 speakers, who shared their experiences about their married life, and made us realize that no matter what happens and once we say exchange our I Do's in front of God, no one can separate us. So the term Hiwalayan, should really be taken out of the picture. 

Overall, h2b and I were both satisfied with the discussions they prepared for us, but of course, there were some lapses during the seminar. There were some speakers who just read the handout as if we were just listening from the readings during a Sunday Mass. But nevertheless, we enjoyed their topics! Except that the seminar is way too long. haha! Whole day ba naman eh. lol.

Photo grabbed from a someone else's wedsite. ;) This was the same questionnaire we filled out during the 1st activity ♥

Wedding invitations = Checked! ☻

8 days to go and it’s already Christmas Eve. This is the first Christmas that h2b and I won’t be celebrating this special holiday season together .

And since 2012 is fast approaching, we are almost complete with our things to do, and we were able to accomplishment our major tasks. So wedding preps have been going a lil bit slowly these days.

However, this wouldn’t stop me from updating my blog with our wedding preps and accomplishments – and this time, let me share the real sample invitations we're going to give out to our BELOVED guests. The way how I am going to tie these with metallic ribbons is still undecided. I'll share the actual "packaging" as soon as we're done with the prototype. hehe ♥

Please note that I have blurred out their names and some pertinent information about the wedding.

So here’s my DIY wedding layout. Yes! I did that layout from Microsoft Word and had someone printed it for me. To eliminate my anxieties cutting out the edges and making sure that the special paper looks like a real wedding invitation, we'll have them printed by a "real" wedding invitation supplier. (Thank you sis simplyme!)

Oh, by the way, yesterday was h2b’s birthday and gladfully, we were able to celebrate this special time together. And since we promised not to spend until the wedding day is finally over, I just cooked his favorite pasta, ordered some homemade cookies and cupcakes while mom bought his favorite Puto Pao.  

Our Wedding Rings ♥

Finally, yesterday morning, I was able to take a picture of the wedding rings we bought from MY Gold SM Sucat. Mark and I can’t help looking at our wedding rings, and yesterday, we practiced how to put the rings on our ring finger. :D (While we uttered: Take this ring, as a sign of my love… yada yada) I just hope fitting of wedding rings, is not as bad as fitting a wedding gown. :D

So here’s the picture of our wedding rings, together with the engagement ring that Mark gave to me last February of 2011. :D (Obviously, the one in the middle is my engagement ring). I took several angles since it’s quite hard to find a good view since I am really not that depth in taking pictures. Good thing my camera has a smart shot and it does the adjustment for me. :D

Katrina

Wedding ring details: 

14 k White Gold

Diamond Cut

The Best Boutonnieres (based from Martha Stewart Weddings)

One of my female network friends (thank you sis Cha) gave me a link from Martha Stewart (if you don’t know her, she’s quite famous and almost all bride to be’s know her!) showing the best boutonnieres that offbeat couples can use on their wedding day.   Proudly, there’s this one boutonniere that is similar with the boutonnieres slash brooches we are going to use on our most awaited day. :D I know I’ve shared this a couple a times already, but I can’t help but smile knowing that the style of our boutonniere has been presented   as the best boutonnieres. There are several pictures shown on the website, and I must say these unique styles are really amazing. I just can’t imagine that there are many couples out there who are really willing to take the extra mile just to have an unconventional style and signature on their wedding day. How I wish my ideas and plans for our wedding day falls in its right place -  Most especially that a lot of our paraphernalias show a great LABOR of LOVE or also known as DIY (Do-It-Yourself)

So here’s a sample picture of the beaded boutonniere I grabbed from their website =) 

Handmade bead-and-wire branches and a chrysanthemum leaf adorned with a decorative pink and bound with waxed linen thread.

Read more at Marthastewartweddings.com: The Best Boutonnieres 

And here's our wedding boutonnieres! ♥ Brown & Pink to match our wedding motif. 

Canonical Interview = Checked! ♥

Finally, after waiting a couple of months, Mark and I already had our canonical interview yesterday. It was really fun, and of course, the agony thinking that we “might” not pass the interview had already ended. 

To be honest, by the time I learned the process of canonical interview,  I never stopped searching questions about it and how it would take place. And now, I just can’t stop smiling about the nuisance I made about it. I even told h2b to re-memorize the 7 sacraments, obligations, act of contrition to be sure that we pass this interview.

H2b and I arrived past three at the church office, and luckily, we didn’t have to wait that long since we were the 2^nd couple who would be interviewed. While waiting for the priest who would interview us, Ms. Ging (the super extra nice coordinator) handed us the questionnaires and a piece of paper that included our schedules in the next few months. Our schedules comprise the following:

Marriage Seminar (whole day!!! From 8AM to 5PM—schedule this December);

Marriage Counseling (half day only – scheduled February next year

wedding rehearsal and confession – which would happen 2 days before the wedding ;)

And so Mark and I reviewed the questionnaire and to be honest, some of the terminologies are quite “unfamiliar” to me, but the priest, was kind enough to enlighten those terms to me. Mark came in first to the parish priest’s office and much to my surprise; my ever loving h2b was smiling after his interview and happily said to me: “Baby, it’s now your turn”

During my turn on the interview, there was a constant dead air which apparently took about 3 minutes, since father was reviewing the forms we filled out last April. He checked and reviewed if the information I provided last time was really accurate. (Father, you really got me nervous there, most especially when your facial expressions showed a bit of reluctance.haha. Maybe it was just a part of the interview, to make the couple get nervous)He even mentioned that Mark’s place was quite far from my place. (but then again, distance doesn’t matter) :D

So after answering the 20+ questions answerable ONLY by Yes Or No (as in no explanation needed; and you have to be firm with your answer) father Tin signed the wedding banns that I need to submit to the parish church and said that Mark and I are already good to go! ;) He even said: “Congratulations.”  

A copy of the misalette they gave to us. 

Ms Ging! :) 

DIY - Our wedding map

Doing the layouts for wedding invitations is probably the most challenging part of my DIY’s. I have to think very carefully the positioning of the names, and everything must be aligned correctly to look well-ordered. This has been a demanding task for me most especially that I am not apt in Photoshop or even MS Paint. I just love how our final invitations looked like, and my friends, even noted that my layout looks quite astonishing!

We’ll be having 4 pages for our invites. 1 for the main page; 1 for the bridal entourage; 1 for the map then for the RSVP.

Apart from thinking of the design that we used for the layouts, one of the most difficult part in creating our invites is the wedding map. We all know that women and maps do not match. I don’t know where to start and it really is hard to explain the directions thru a map. Good thing there is Google Maps & Microsoft Powerpoint. These tools are just so powerful! Oh and by the way, I did this for 5 straight hours. I am too OC and I wanted the lines to look perfect and real straight. Hehe. But unfortunately, the lines do not look perfect yet. I still have to adjust as to remove the edgy corners.

For the benefit of the other brides who are so into DIY's and clueless how to make a wedding map, let me share the steps how to work on this tricky part of the wedding invites. 

·         Open Microsoft powerpoint. Just use the blank slide ;)

·        Open Google Maps then click Get directions

·         * Type in the ceremony and reception venue. In our case, for Text Box A, I typed in St. John Bosco Parish, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines then for Text Box B, I typed in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

·          Click Get directions

·         * Once the map has been generated, ensure that you zoom in/zoom out so you’d get a perfect area of the map that you’d want to trace

·         * Press Print Screen on your Keyboard

·         * Then paste it on your Blank Powerpoint slide. Crop the areas that you do not want to trace and resize the pictures so it would fit in the blank slide.

·       *   Using the shapes (like lines, curve tool) start tracing the roads that you would like to put on your wedding map. (Remember, this step is quite tedious most especially if you’re a bit OC like me. I actually had a hard time tracing the lines since my right hand is shaky. :D Once you’ve traced out all the lines, do not forget to add the labels for each landmark. Just key in the landmark that you would like to appear on your map. Putting too much landmark might confuse your guests. You can add the text by using the “Text Box” tool.

·       *  Once you’re done tracing and labeling the maps, you can now delete the Google map you have pasted in the background. =)

·         * Once deleted, do the finishing touches. You can re-do the lines, and delete the extra edges to make it neater.

Here’s the finish wedding map I have created. Simple yet understandable. haha. ♥

You can also try wedding mapper if you want your guests to view your map online. ♥

http://www.weddingmapper.com/

If you're having a hard time creating your own wedding map, let me know, I can help out! 

Bridal Entourage Gowns for Rent ♥

Little by little, our wedding plans are already falling in its right place. Our wedding attires have been procured, hotel accommodations have been confirmed and our wedding accessories are almost complete. In less than 6 months, everything’s going to change and most likely, articles in this blog will no longer be updated. 


They say that once a bride starts fitting her wedding gown is most likely the best feeling she would ever encounter during the wedding preparation stage. But this is somehow different from my experience. I didn’t feel giddy at all when I tried to fit my RTW wedding gown, but rather only a *bit* excited. I was actually a bit worried how to conceal my baby fats and how to hide my big shoulders. hehe :D But aside from that, what keeps me from worrying are the negative reviews I have read about our bridal gown supplier. There was an instance wherein one of their previous clients emailed me and gave me the link to her blog which clearly defined how stressful this supplier can be.  One of my friends also mentioned that they really have a problem in terms of time management but then again, this didn’t stop me from booking them, but hence, 100% trusted them. I am not even sure if Mark and I made the right move, but then again, there’s no harm in trying. And we're hoping that these reviews may be just an isolated case, and we’re hoping and praying that we wouldn’t encounter the same dilemmas their previous clients have experienced. Mind you, even if I am super addicted planning about our wedding, I wasn’t that excited about my wedding gown, since I am not the type of bride who would spend too much for a dress that I couldn’t even wear most of the time. To believe it or not, my wedding gown was just a part of our miscellaneous expenses :D

Speaking of wedding gown, Mark and I went to our gown supplier last Sunday and asked for a formal quotation for our entourage gowns. Since this would be just a one day affair only and my friends who are included on the entourage are shouldering the expenses for their gowns, we opted to rent the gowns, instead of buying them. What I really love about this supplier is we can have their gowns made-to –order but instead of buying them, it will only be rented . (first users)  

To give you an idea about the prices, I am going to share the rates they quoted me last time (This is applicable for Made to order rental services

Maid of honor: 925 (Chiffon)

Mothers: 1200

Father: 1200 (Pina Cocoon Barong)

Secondary Sponsors and bridesmaid: 795(Chiffon)

Coin, Ring, Bible Bearer’s Barong: 150

Flower girls: 695 (this one’s a bit pricey, I’m not pretty sure why, but they also have other FG gowns for only 395 depending on the design.

Before they quoted me, I showed them my sample; however, I didn’t find their quotation quite practical so I had to ask them to show me some of their designs wherein the price ranges from 600-900 pesos only. This is for the benefit of my entourage too since we don’t want them to shed that much for our wedding. So they showed me a long gown and the type of cloth they used was chiffon, which I am really eyeing for. So pasok ito sa banga! My BM’s and SS are going to wear cocktail dress, while my MOH would wear a long gown. Same cut (empire), same color (pink gown and the lining would be brown). Less complexities. 

Let me share the 2 pictures I took during our 2nd visit at RBC –  ;) Thank you Kuya Elmer for being so nice and very patient with me. :D Disclaimer: the 2 pictures below are not the actual gowns we are going to rent from them - but rather theinspiration :D 

My Maid of Honor, bridesmaids and Secondary sponsors gown color would be pink and  the lining would be brown ♥

For flower girls - my little girls gown would be brown and the of course, the lining and the flowers would be pink ;) 

So if you're interested to book my supplier, here's their contact info. My take on it? Keep on calling them and ask for an update. We're still the customers, and we're always right ♥ This is also one of the major reasons why Mark and I decided to book them earlier and demanded that ALL our gowns must be finished on March 2012 ;) That's 2 months before the wedding! 

Contact info: Rosy's Bridal Shop - 8321616

Wedding Rings - Checked! ♥

Last weekend, h2b and I already bought our wedding rings at SM Sucat, My Gold. However, before we decided to buy the wedding rings, we were just eyeing for simple plain wedding bands only. Simple rings to the extent that we mutually decided to buy stainless steel rings in lieu of white gold. We both believe that it's not about the price that matters if you are going to buy a wedding ring, but rather the blessing of the rings. After all, it will still be called a wedding ring after the wedding whether it's expensive or not. 

And so we decided to go to Imono (they were on sale that time) and saw this very elegant ring that made us feel the “this is it moment again”. But since they were on sale, the only available items were the only ones on their racks. Unfortunately, since the sizes of our ring fingers are not that big, we weren’t able to get the rings we wanted to buy from them. By the way, these rings have diamonds too, so it just looks perfect to my eyes! ;)

Their rings are such a great steal and are highly recommended for couples who are looking for a very affordable wedding ring! Who would even thought that elegant looking rings would only cost as much as 700 per pair up to 2500 (pair). Yes! Super super tipid talaga. It may not be as expensive as the other wedding rings, but other couples can opt to buy these rings if they are on a really tight budget.

Not convinced that you can use stainless steel rings for your wedding? See for yourself:

http://www.justmensrings.com/Stainless-Steel-Wedding-Bands_c_160.html

http://www.gemologica.com/stainless-steel-created-diamond-ring-band-jewelry-p-345.html

http://www.ross-simons.com/jewelry/rings/stainless-steel/navigate.jsp

Aside from stainless steel wedding rings, couples who are on a very tight budget can also check Sterling Silver wedding rings. Unisilver, SilverWorks and Filigrenesia offer wide variety of wedding rings at an affordable rate. Mind you, if you don’t know anything about jewelries, you can’t even tell the difference between silver and a white gold.

If you’re not into silver, or stainless steel; tungsten wedding rings are also in nowadays. Silverworks has their new line of tungsten rings and the price only ranges from 1,200 to 3,400. Some of these rings have diamonds too.

And since we weren’t able to get the rings from Imono, we then decided to go to My Gold and bought a pair of White Gold wedding rings. It may not be as affordable as compared to the first ring we have canvassed, but still we were both happy because we just loved the simplicity of the wedding ring. ;) Mark and I are both excited to wear them already. I can’t stop looking at them, and of course, inserting them on my ring finger! :D  Their wedding rings rate starts at 5600 per pair. We got ours at 15,000k but only paid 12K (pair) since we paid in cash. They offered us the lay away plan, but Mark and I were after the discount so we decided to pay it in cash instead. Yet, we still find this affordable, since some of the rings that were sold inside the mall starting price would be 35K.  (and we just can't afford that) hehe. :D 

Let me show off my engagement ring too which Mark gave me last February of this year ;)  The two -toned ring is our promise ring. haha. 

More of trial make up pictures

Trial make up by: MV- Balo (Make up Artist for Mac) ♥

Last Sunday, I already I had my trial make up with MV- Balo and to be honest, I am 100% satisfied with the way she handled the entire trial make up session. Aside from her being professional, she has this charm that would make her clients feel very at ease.

To give you a brief background, MV was referred to me by a bride to be to, who also happens to be my friend whom I met from one of the support groups over the Internet. That was the time when I was still scouting for suppliers that wouldn't hurt our pockets yet provide a very good service. I am not too fussy with HMUA suppliers, and I am not even very particular with the brands of make-up they are going to apply on my face, HMUA’s  since I I have no allergies with make ups. But luckily, MV is a make-up artist for MAC, so I am pretty much lucky to get her services at a very reasonable rate. ;) 

Sharing the unofficial photo's that h2b took during the trial make up session. I promise to post the pics once MV uploads them on her Facebook account. :D 

More trial make up pics:  http://bloggingb2b.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-of-trial-make-up-pictures.html

KikongManlalarawan for Photo and video services

Last night, I had a smooth conversation with my photographer, and we discussed the packages I am going to get from him. I must say that he is proficient and professional with they way he deals with prospected clients. (ehem!) Here's a rundown of the packages we're going to get from him.

 a whole day of pre nuptial photo/video session*

-          post processing of all shots (photo and video)

-          3 professional photographers, 1 videographer and 1 editor on wedding day with Kiko as the main photographer

-          one framed  photo canvas print at least 16 x 20 in size

-          one main album with at least 150 photos mostly in 5R (5x7) prints

-           DVD(s) containing all photos (printed and not printed)  in JPEG and edited video

-          delivery of album, prints, DVD within Metro Manila**

Audio Visual Presentation featuring photos and videos from pre nup sessions, wedding ceremony. Includes additional two

            featured video (either slideshow,  MTV, short film or documentary)              

-          Full HD video coverage on including editing (wedding ceremony          

and reception).    


What I am really raving about is the Onsite video (SDE) he's going to present at the wedding reception. SDE nowaday's costs 15000 and above, and we got this at a very good rate. Such a steal! ♥

To give you a brief background, my photographer is my former- agent (but still my office mate) that’s why I was able to get a big discount to his professional services. With all the videos he showed me last night, I must say that he is adept in editing films and I feel really thankful to meet this person not just because he will be my PV but of course, with the major discount he gave us. hehe  The rates he gave me was his rates way back year 2010.

An Excerpt from Deuxcats.blogspot.com about KikongManlalarawan

Francis had been a part time professional photographer for three years shooting portraits, weddings and other events in support particularly of independent music artists.

He had worked with bands like Makiling, syalaM, Bailan, Kinaiya, Diwa De Leon and David Sicam shooting performances, album launch and exhibits providing photos for their sites, portfolios and album covers.

Since 2008, he has been a part of Damayan, Interaksyon, Yamang Pinoy (D.I.Y), a collaboration with Filipino artists of world music genre showcasing the bands’ music while exhibiting his photography.

He is a product of Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation (FPPF) with veteran photographers Ador Pamintuan, Vic Sison , Ed Santiago and graphic artist Frando Culata as his mentors.

In his desire to pursue film making, he trained at Philippine Center for Creative Imaging (PCCI) under multimedia expert Dennis Lucero, director Dale Custodio and cinematographer Paul Pangan.

Upcoming projects include MTV's for Kinaiya, wedding videos and short films teaming up with budding screenwriter Rodel Catapia. 

Here are some pictures I grabbed from his multiply site: Sorry Kiko, I grabbed the pictures without your permission. ;)