DIY Place cards

With the long guest list we have, making place cards for each of our guests is totally out of the picture. I find it really tiresome and more complex because aside from arranging the seat plan, we would have to arrange too, who sits beside each other. 

However, on the last minute of sending some of our DIY “printables” to our wedding coordinator, we decided to make place cards for the VIP table. (naks!) With no backgrounds in photoshop, I am thankful that I was able to find a good template that I can edit and add names on it. Here’s the design that I came up with. We’ve matched it of course with our wedding colors, with a little bit of style of our wedding invitations.  

Disclaimer: The design is not wholly designed by me, but I was able to edit it, and add some details on it. 

10 tips from a BrideChilla

Tip number 1: As much as possible, stay away from wedding magazines. You can use them as an inspiration, but not to the extent that you rely on them.  If you know deep inside that you do not have enough budget, try not to look for a supplier from a wedding magazine. (Sorry, just a personal experience) Almost all of the suppliers in wedding magazines are HIGH-END. Take it from me; their rates are one way or another costly.  Look for other resources, there’s the Internet, forums and the Phone Book Directory ! Yes phone book directory- this led me to Great Eastern Hotel! If I get to have my own wedding magazine, I will advertise also the affordable suppliers ☻☻☻ hihi

Tip number 2: Scout. Scout and Scout. Don’t get tempted to book the suppliers you see. Learn how to compare and contrast, and check what they have to offer. Look for reviews first, both good and bad.  

Tip number 3: Ask for a friend who can help you, and not to criticize you. Yes they can share some ideas and advices, but please! Never ever talk to someone who has nothing to say except negative things about your plans for your big day.

Tip number 4: Talk to a former bride and bride to be. Share experiences with them. Take it from me, they can share a lot of ideas and tips with you. 

Tip number 5: Plan ahead of time. Don't be too lax. 

Tip number 6: Learn the art of pencil booking. Price locks are very important with couples who are planning to have a budgeted wedding. Also, if you get to book a supplier 8-12 months before the wedding, chances are you will benefit with their old rates. Most suppliers increase their rates yearly. So example, if you book them on 2011, and your wedding is 2012, your rates are going to be for 2011 rates, even if your wedding is still on 2012. Just make sure to ask your suppliers if they do price locks.

Tip number 7: Buy a clear book, and keep all your contracts handy. Just make sure you do not misplace it. Because if you lose the clear book, then you need to find a way to reproduce the documents and contracts once more!

Tip number 8: DIY. DIY. DIY. If you are really crafty, try to DIY (DO-IT-YOURSELF). IN my case, I am really not that crafty, but due to the means that we have to chomp our wedding expenses, I tried it real hard to DIY things just to lessen our wedding expenses.

Tip number 9: Arrange your guest list way ahead of time. This is one of the crucial things you ought to do a couple of months before the big day. It is not easy to decide whom you need to invite (unless you really have a big budget). So sit down with your hubby to be and discuss with each other who are worth inviting for. Hehe.

Tip number 10: Enjoy the entire wedding planning process. There will be times that you and your hubby to be would fight over small things about the wedding details (haha), but make sure to patch things up. It is not easy to plan for a wedding, so do not carry the entire burden. Both of you should plan for the wedding. Share ideas and support each other. Trust me, planning for a wedding will make your relationship stronger and even better! ☻ 

This is my Dream Wedding

Getting married is not that easy, and so with wedding budgeting. When Mark and I decided to get married, I was a bit anxious about the expenses we might incur all throughout the preparation stage. I am not that confident, and I even thought of that the wedding might not push through since we won’t be able to pay the suppliers in time.

Luckily, or I should say, I am more than thankful that we were able to make it and was able to allot more than what we can. I know for sure that this budgeted, simple and not so intimate wedding (yes we do have a lot of guests) will be memorable even if we didn’t break the bank.

During the early stage of our wedding preps, I thought that a couple need to spend that much just to achieve their dream wedding, and right now, with only 30 days left before our big day, I came to realize that we need not to spend that much just to have our dream wedding. After all, this is my dream wedding! – To get married with Mark. To exchange vows with Mark, and let our families, friend and the MAN up there know how much we love each other.

As early as now, we were able to pay all the suppliers ahead the deadline, and I am very proud to say that this is indeed our wedding. We paid for it with our own effort and hard work. Now that everything is falling in its right place, there is NO ONE, who can make me feel depressed if they say undesirable things about our plans for the big day. 

Sweet Cravings goodie ♥

On my previous post, I shared the Sweet Cravings goodies for my abays. Just yesterday, I already received the package I ordered from them! ☻ I am really tempted to open the bottle and smell it, and I feel like ordering more so I get to have my own Sweet Cravings too. 

SAve the date Video

Our save the date Video

Kat & Mark - Save The Date from Francis J Cataquian on Vimeo.

We're getting there! ♥

With only few days left on our wedding calendar, Mark and I are already crunching our weekend rest days to accomplish what needs to be done.  Guest list, payment, props, DIY’s and so much more. It’s such an ease that we have planned way ahead of time so we didn’t have to stress ourselves that much. We are both anti-stress, that’s why we are enjoying every second of our wedding preps. We can still sleep soundly and proud that we didn’t have to experience Lovers Quarrel during the preparation stage.

Right now, we are already finalizing the guest list, (endless finalization) and reviewing the contracts with our suppliers. We have also listed and prepared most of the accessories we are going to bring to the church and reception. We also placed all our wedding paraphernalia’s in one big paper bag so we wouldn’t miss anything. 

Here are the accessories we have organized. The boutonnieres, pens, matches, wedding cord, bouquet, wedding scrapbook/guestbook and rosary. 

Giveaways for our entourage

Since I decided to buy something for my abay’s, H2b and I both decided to buy something for his groomsmen too. We actually had a hard time looking for potential keepsakes for his friends since we were both clueless what to give them. We scouted for neckties, and some key chains, but none of these actually suited our taste, and budget. :D

 We ended up buying the ever famous lighters give away for groomsmen, but what we both like about these useful knick-knacks are the designs. Check em’ out! 

Now, here’s our simple keepsake for our bearers. 

For my flower girls, the keepsake we are going to give them is the stuffed toy they are going to carry as they march down the aisle on our big day. ☻

Strawberry Yogurt Body Scrub keepsakes for my beautiful ladies

Yesterday, I bought one Sweet Cravings, and a good friend of mine noticed that we can give this as a keepsake for my beautiful bridesmaids so with our Secondary Sponsors. This really smells so good and looks really yummy! ♥ Plus it matches our motif. Tee Hee. To make it more customized, I edited some labels and will make it as favor tags. Cute, isn't it? ♥

Picture grabbed from: http://www.pinaymommyonline.com

Here's the tag that I edited ☻

Head bands for our Flower Girls

Originally, I planned to DIY the headbands of my flower girls, but due to time constraints, H2b and I just decided to buy readymade headbands at SM. I have seen a lot of headbands in the malls that match our motif, but I am no way going to spend 150 pesos per headband. That's already beyond our budget.

Good thing the other day, I was able to find cute headbands while we were exploring the busy streets of Baclaran. It’s not just inexpensive but they are really cute!   

With the power of haggling, I was able to buy these headbands for 20 pesos/piece! ♥ 

DIY - Our Oatmeal cookie packaging

As an additional wedding favor, H2b and I decided to give home-made oatmeal cookies for all of our guests. This would also serve as our thank you and sweet favor in 1. I have been very worried about the packaging I am going to do with these cookies because I had to make sure that the paper bag doesn't look too big. 


Good thing, I was able to do a work-around by cutting the paper bag and make it smaller. 

DIY: Table names and favor tags - checked!

Last stop during my 2 day vacation - Meet up with Marj, event Manager of Alpha Events Management

After our appointment with Norly, we went to Megamall to meet up with our wedding coordinator. We talked a little bit about the wedding and discussed their roles on our big day. She also handed us the labels and tags I asked her to print. ☻ 

Norly Dizon - Our Emcee

2nd stop - meet up with Norly Dizon (The SINGING host) 

It was our first time to meet with Norly yesterday, and I can truly say that he is really professional and very good in explaining all the details we need to do and practice before the big day.

He taught us how to cut the cake, the do’s and don’ts during the couples dance and a lot more.

Aside from being a good emcee, he also takes care of doing such things that a wedding coordinator does on a wedding party. Since he gave us one female receptionist as a freebie, there's no need for us to get a wedding coordinator at the reception. 

He gave us our things to do, and things to accomplish before the big day. He even promised Mark and I that all we need not to do at the wedding party is to enjoy.

My pre-wedding rating for Norly? 5 stars as well! 

http://www.kasal.ph/kasalv3/weddresource/profile/9576/10234/43

My Wedding Gown - checked! ♥

It has been a very busy week for h2b and I. We were able to complete a lot of things and even if there were some glitches, everything went pretty well!

Our first stop last Tuesday:

We went to Rosy’s Bridal shop to claim my most- awaited wedding dress. I was really surprised with all the freebies they gave me; and even if I have read negative reviews about them in the past, as early as now, I’d like to give them 5 stars! They were able to meet the time frame I gave them, and overall, I love the way how they took care of everything! Plus, they gave h2b and I a lot of favors! :D I just couldn’t thank them enough for giving us a superb service, even if we had to haggle them a couple of times. They even gave us a very low price for our dad’s barong. Tee Hee! As over-rated as it may seem, I consider them as one of our best Major supplier!

Here are the “freebies” that came along with the wedding gown we have bought from them. 

*Wedding Cord

*Secondary Veil

*Wedding Veil plus tiara

*2 Pillows

*Arrhae

*Throw Bouquet – made of ribbons only

*Wedding Cord

*and last but not the least, MY WEDDING GOWN!!! 

We won't be able to use the accessories they gave us, because we had some of our wedding accessories, customized. 

We really got a good deal with them, and up to now, I cannot thank them enough for wiping away the doubts I had about them. ♥ So if you have read some not so good reviews about them, it could be an isolated case only. Just a piece of advice when you book them, talk and negotiate with them 4-5 months before the big day, so they get to have ample time making your wedding attire ☻

Your Invite Shop

The wedding invitation is the first impression your guests will have about your wedding! So as much as possible, couples should invest effort to make their wedding invitations stand out among the rest. While, there are a lot of wedding invitation suppliers who can take care of crafting your invitations, you should also look for a supplier whose rates are affordable.

So if you’re looking for a supplier who can make wedding invitations, now’s the time to check “Your Invite Shop”.

I find their services really convenient for brides to be and most especially that they do offer Free Delivery within Metro Manila. They also have a live chat system wherein customers can communicate with their reps so they can instantly follow up with their orders/requests. Isn’t that great? ☻ And last but not the least, their rates are really reasonably priced! 

They are continuously expanding their choices of designs, so keep posted! ☻ Having a wedding invitation is easy, no need for DIY (If you're not that good in DIY :D) , very much affordable and easy to order. Your Invite Shop is only a click away and they will deliver the package right at your doorstep. 

Here are their sample designs. Simple yet ELEGANT. 

For more information, here's the link to their website: http://www.yourinviteshop.com/index.php

Like their facebook page too! ☻ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Your-Invite-Shop/177092792307210

PS. Had I known this website was around,  then I wouldn't have to undergo the stress of making my own wedding invitations! ahaha!  

DIY: Hubby to be's boutonniere

I really love how my friend was able to come up with a very dainty packaging for Mark's fabric boutonniere. I wasn't expecting her to pack it; but when she gave me the finished product, I was really surprised how well she decorated the red box. ♥ Hazel, I couldn't thank you enough for exerting too much efforts with the products I have forced you to do so; thank you - big time! ☻☻☻

DIY: Mint Candies Label

Few months ago, I have been raving about mint candies giveaways; but due to the "packaging issues"; I then decided to decorate the container, than re-packing the mints individually. (Gee, I just wasted the 20 mini baskets I bought from Uniwide) hehe. 


So let me share the mint labels we are going to stick on our Mint candies giveaways. 

And here's my peg! ♥ Beautiful, isn't it? :) 

http://www.beau-coup.com/wedding/personalized-wedding-tic-tacs-favor.htm

Once I am done with this DIY, I'll share the picture ASAP ☻ 

My Hello Kitty Wedding Bouquet

Finally, we were able to put Hello Kitty on my Wedding Bouquet! I really love the finished product, and I can no longer wait to use it!!! ♥♥♥ 

Can you find Hello Kitty on my bouquet? Tee Hee. 

Hand Made Pink and Brown Fabric Boutonniere

I really want to match hubby to be’s boutonniere based on our motif.   However, I don’t think he would be that happy if he finds out that the boutonniere I DECIDED him to wear is color pink, with only a touch of brown. Ahaha!

I’ve seen a couple of pictures of groom on the Internet wearing the same color of boutonniere. And I must say that it really looks good on a coat and tie attire. But my hubby to be is not a big fan of pink + flowers. I am now wondering what’s going to be his reaction if he sees this. :D  Surprise babbyyyy! 

My Crystal Wedding Bouquet

I am a non-traditional bride and I would opt to wear and hold something unique on our big day. Ever since I figured out that having a wedding full of flowers is costly, I have always wanted to have a non-floral wedding. But due to limited means and props (sorry, I am really not that good in DIY’s), the only thing that h2b and I were able to pull-off with my fantasy to have a non-floral wedding is my wedding bouquet and boutonnieres. 

Nevertheless, I am still very happy with the outcome. I really love our wedding paraphernalia's; most especially my wedding bouquet. I may not have the Hello Kitty Bouquet I have always wanted, but I am pretty sure that one of these days, I will find a way to have Hello Kitty on my bouquet. ♥ Purrr! 

The Laidback Bride to Be

Just 46 days to go before the big day. Exciting, isn't it?

I’ve been wondering for a couple of days already why I am not getting these so called wedding jitters? I am not expecting to experience it though, but it's as if I am not experiencing the stress that a bride to be is usually going through? Is this normal? Or am I just being too laidback and could be missing a lot of things already? Hhhhhm ☻ 

Our Photo Booth Layout ♥

Can't stop sharing ideas and our plans for the wedding. H2b always reminds me to be a little discreet about some of our DIY's, but I just can't stop sharing them. Haha. After all, most of our guests are not aware of this blog, so I'm still on the safe side. Tee Hee. 

On that note, let me present to you our photo booth layout! ♥

Our Rachebeli Wines Label

As early as June of last year, hubby to be and I already booked Rachebeli wines just to get the freebies included on their summer sale promo. We were able to get such a great deal from them, and was too happy with the decision to give out wines for our PS, even if this souvenir is quite ‘gasgas’ already.

What I really love about this kind of souvenir is we don’t have to think about the packaging and labels we need to do; most especially that Rachebeli takes care of this task. Their clients just need to provide the materials such as the soft copy of their invitation and their favorite pre-nuptial picture on a high resolution.

I am satisfied with the output, because it’s as if our labels were created to match our wedding invites. I showed it to one of my officemates to get constructive feedbacks, and they said that it is really lovely and Rachebeli did a good job editing our wedding invitations. Now I am wondering how they were able to do it since the file I sent them was a PDF file. Tee hee.

Overall, I would give them 5 stars for being consistent and for fulfilling the lead-time they have committed. Our next step would be the delivery of the items, and I can no longer wait to see the finished products. I’m excited how the layout would fit on the wine bottles and custom labeled chocolates! 

And here's our DIY wedding invitations. ♥ haha

Rachebeli contact info: http://rachebeliwines.weebly.com/contact-us.html

Thank you and Favor Cards ♥

Mark and I both wanted to save printing costs, so instead of printing Thank you and Favor Cards separately, we then opted to create a 2 in 1 card. ♥ 

Courtesy of: weddingchicks.com ♥

Crystals & Beads

Dreaming of being a unique bride on your own wedding? Imagine yourself getting the attention of everybody, in awe of your presence, sparkling & so beautiful while walking down the aisle? Then add sparkle on your wedding day! 

CRYSTALS & BEADS offers personalized wedding paraphernalia & accessories, elegantly made & carefully hand-crafted with beads & crystals which would surely add uniqueness on your special day!  Pieces are created with the maker's passion for the craft & beauty.  Reasonably priced, these bead/crystal bouquets, bouttonieres, wedding cord & rosaries, unity candle set & matches, offertory candles, bible cover, pens, etc are all custom made to harmonize with your wedding theme & color/motif...

Budget bride-to-be? budget wedding?

Don't let anyone tell you that creating a dream wedding on a budget is impossible.  We can customize the materials & try to squeeze them in to your budget :)

For inquiries, you may send an email at azel1106@e-mail.ph

We are the PLANKING couple ♥

Hubby to be and I really wanted to show what’s US during our pre-nup pictorial session. We made sure to enjoy every second, minute & hour of it!

With tons of guts and thousands of powers of being a “cowboy” couple, we never missed the chance to plank! Ahaha ☻