cute no? wala lang.  

Updates

Date: November 24 this year.

Venue: CasaBlanca, Intramuros. paid downpayment

Caterer: Had two food tastings already, tho i've been contacting and exchanging emails and text inquiries na with two other caterers.

Photo/Video: Researched already, visited websites of prospective suppliers. my choice down to one, which is Paul Vincent. i like his photos. done extensive inquiries and spying, spoke to him na rin directly. asked a friend to go visit his studio na rin. will sked a visit to his studio myself one of these days.

Coordinator: Haaay, would you believe... i've been meeting with different wedding coordinators na every week! merong taga pasig, may taga cainta, taga shaw blvd, taga sta mesa, taga antipolo, taga qc. i like the qc girl the most. even right now, na wala pa kaming commitments, unlimited texting and consultations na kami. her fee is also the pinaka-minimal among the others, to think she's highly recommended and popular sa wedding websites and sa yahoogroup ko.

Hair and Make-Up: I'm thinking of my friend Ching Aves (beauty queen, professional make-up artist). but getting good feedback on Fronda. nakausap ko na rin si Fronda last week.

Gown: Dami nire-recommend ng mga tao! though i'm leaning towards Dennis Macarandang. affordable pero ganda mga creations niya. suki na rin ng mga taga-vcf galleria. i'm planning of setting a meeting with him next week.

Entouarage Gowns: Same, baka Dennis na rin.

Florist: Either the famous Mang Boy Mahusay of Dangwa, or this girl buddy of a coordinator-friend. mura daw pero maganda. will meet with her next week.

Music: Friends and sister to sing. but thania is recommending someone, too. might consider that.

yun pa lang. well, i'm kinda bland tonight. tired sa preparations, endless meetings, emailing, texting, inquiring, taking notes, researching, surfing, going to wedding specialty shops, etc etc etc. :(

our coin bearer, my genius pamangkin, simon te. and that's one of our ninongs, my very reliable and another computer genius, uncle tony te 

our flower girl, my favorite niece andrea 

our bible bearer, romy's nephew john-john 

Thanks to my Yahoogroup

my weddings@work yahoogroup is such a hulog ng langit. you've all been very helpful and supportive. i can ask you anything anytime and there's always somebody who is eager ang prompt in replying. last night's query which i posted at 1am got a quick reply at 1:15am! thanks to you, mare! you know who you are! :-)

thank you for the honesty in commenting on my ideas, for the applause whenever my ideas and inputs are found brilliant, for being close girl-buddies even if i've been a member only two months ago. thank you for the private emails even during the wee hours of the morning, for understanding my being oc-oc, for being friends who can relate 100%. thank you for the creativity, for the tips and even contact numbers of prospective suppliers.

thank you for accompanying me till even as late as 3am, ah basta, i cant thank you enough.

Prayer Request Number 1

to my dear readers,

i'm posting this entry coz we want you guys to cover sana our wedding preps in prayer. romy and i both believe in the power of prayer. romy and i, and our families have been praying naman but of course i'd like you to be part of this exciting time of my life, kasama na dun ang pagiging prayer warriors. game? :-)

so far, we've booked the venue. november 24 this year, sa casa blanca, intramuros. ang saya-saya... God gave us the date and venue that we really want. as in hindi kami nahirapan mag-book. the date being a thurs is a big advantage. wala halos kinakasal ng weekday. hehe.

i'm at peace with my venue, too. we've done oculars for three weeks, studied the pros and cons of each venue. happy ako sa casablanca kasi maluwag (for 150 pax) at maaliwalas. may veranda pa siya adjacent to the ballroom, kaya baka dun ko gawin yung ceremony.

next step is the caterer and photo-video. we've done two food tastings na. parehong masarap ang food and parehong swak sa budget. magkakatalo lang sa set-up. am particular kasi sa look. and sa flower arrangements.

so ang prayer request number one ko po, mga kapatid... ay sana ay maka-decide na kami ng caterer. yung wise decision. hindi kami lampas sa budget, and that sana, maganda set-up ng place, masunod requirements ko sa set-up, sarap food, ok service, good deal, and may freebies.

yun lang po... muna.

to GOD be the glory!

Preparing for a wedding is a 24-hour job. Believe it or not, it is! Aside from the hours of research and scouting for suppliers and meetings with the wedding coordinator and ocular visits and browsing of magazines and actual closing of deals, there are also the endless checking out of bridal fairs and magazines when I’m out in the mall. I was watching TV kanina and saw this blouse that’s colored orange and mint green. And I thought to myself, ok kayang motif yon? I watched a movie kanina in Robinsons and passed by a wall that’s painted yellow and lime green. And I said, hmm, cool sa mata. Baka magandang motif yan.

I was riding the FX and spotted a furniture store and saw a dining table setting. And I said to myself, uy, tiffany chairs! Saka, di ko type ang centerpiece. Yaiks! 3 months ago I don’t know what a tiffany chair is, and I don’t care a bit about centerpieces! Ngayon, I drink, eat, breathe, dream wedding preparations!

Dream… oh yes. Believe it or not, napapanaginipan ko yan! Last week I dreamt of color motifs. I was with some female friends and we were talking about choices in motif. The next night I dreamt of caterers! I was choosing between two caterers. The first one highly-recommended by my coordinator, and the second one highly-recommended by my weddings@work yahoogroup. Indeed, even outside the dream, I’m torn between those two caterers. Sila talaga ang pinagpipilian ko, at nadala ko yun sa panaginip ko!

Last night naman, I dreamt of the venue. Because I’ve booked na Sunday afternoon, natulog akong nag-iisip kung paano ide-dress up ang venue. Tipong, where should I place the presidential table? How about the gazebo for the cake. Where do we hold the ceremony, inside the ballroom or out in the loggia? How about the posts inside the ballroom, maybe we should surround them with flowers.

Also, dati, if I visit newstands and bookstores, magazines and fiction books ang hinahanap ko. Ngayon, puro magazines and books on weddings na! Haaay, the engagement period indeed changes one’s life. How much more the married life itself!

The God Who Funnels

Wonderful how involved God is with our wedding preparations. So far, twice He’s saved me and romy from making the wrong choice--- first was with the wedding coordinator who seemed nice and very accommodating. Good thing there’s internet, I was able to ask around for reputation and professionalism of that wedding coordinator. Apparently, said coordinator isn’t professional at all. I mean, with all his dealings, he’d appear friendly and creative at first. But once you’ve given him the downpayments, that’s the time he’d start being difficult to work with. Worse, hindi binabayad sa suppliers yung downpayment mo. Yes, God who created the internet, uses it to communicate with me His will as well! Imagine God in front of his computer, haha!

Secondly, I feel at peace with my wedding venue now. Yes, by the way, we’re finally booked! Haha! It’s Casa Blanca in Intramuros na talaga. Paid the downpayment directly to the intramuros office na yesterday. Whoah, totohanan na talaga ‘to! I cant believe Romy and I even considered Teatrillo. You see, the first time we did an ocular in Intramuros, we were considering both Casa Blanca and Teatrillo. Pero buti na lang, God answered our prayers for His choice of venue. He funneled out our choices and gave us the pros and cons. Obviously, dami nega sa Teatrillo. The feel of the place, the smell, the dungeon-ambience. Romy’s leader Richard told us that he was able to attend a wedding there and even during the wedding itself, amoy na amoy pa rin yung kulob. And yesterday when I went back with my family, ayaw agad ni papa, pababa pa lang kami to the ballroom. Si Belle hindi makahinga, may kakaibang aura daw. We went to Casa Blanca and saw the difference… maaliwalas, maliwanag, maluwag, plus we can use the loggia/veranda pa! For the same rate, I’d opt for Casa Blanca.

So, isn’t it great to have The Lord Almighty do the funneling and weeding out of bad choices? I believe that He who began a good work in us will continue it till the day of Christ Jesus… and in this case, till the wedding day. May all the choices we make be in accordance to His will and delight.

Pastor Rey, Ate Menchie and Belle during the Pamamanhikan last Saturday. it was a fun time.  

We're finally booked! Casa Blanca, Intramuros it is! 

haaay, parang kelan lang, we were just developing the concept of mulawin... next week, last week na namin! btw, look at richard g... funny! 

just in case we decide on casa blanca intramuros na, eto, post ako map ng intramuros. wala lang! hehe 

wala pa kaming motif... how about orange and green?  

Orange looks happy and festive, right? what do you think, honey?  

ang jimrod... sino kaya tine-text? :-) 

see the guy? that's gerald... hmmm, nagmumuni-muni! :) 

here's another option. the Casa Blanca in Intramuros. ok din pala pag may set-up. reminds me of the parties sa Noli Me Tangere.  

another option is the Teatrillo in Intramuros. see how high honey romy jumps! sabi niya: yipeee! 

this is one of our options: wack wack banquet hall b.  

Sa totoo lang?

Sa totoo lang, semi nagpa-panic na ako. been reading all the posts in my weddings@work yahoogroup and everybody seems to be accomplishing/deciding on something na. and here am i still scouting out venues. ok, i can hear readers rebuking me for lack of faith. it's not lack of faith, it's just the fact that 24 days have passed since the proposal and all we have decided upon is the date! plus the fact that i'll be writing na again starting tomorrow! i feel so helpless and frustrated! busy na ulit ako! huhu.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.

Food Tasting

Tomorrow Romy and I are going to our first Food Tasting. good thing we can squeeze it in during lunch time coz the venue/office of the catering service is just near Romy's office building. the person i made an appointment with said they have sample set-ups there so we can see if they're elegant or what. been getting negative feedback on this caterer but i'd like to give it a try. eto, lumalabas na naman pagka-perfectionist ko, dapat excellent lahat. big deal sakin ganda set-up and masarap food. i'm tired of hearing "good", "turned out good". who said i want something good? minsan lang ako ikakasal, ayoko ng good. gusto ko excellent.

diba will naman ni God that we be excellent? that we have victory in every area of our lives? :)

Venues

Up to now, Romy and i have not decided on a venue yet. and i must admit, i fell a bit fRUstrated with the slow turn out of our decisions. i know we still have 8-9 months to go, but being the organized and list-happy person that i am, medyo nababagalan ako. not that it's anybody's fault, definitely nobody's. hindi lang kami makapag-decide agad. so now we're down to three options: Casa Blanca in Intramuros, Teatrillo also in Intramuros, and Wackwack along Shaw Blvc. romy and i decided to hold it indoors. we're still praying for God's voice. i want everything to be perfect, kaya mas lalo akong nagiging oc-oc. haaay

God Saved Me From...

from closing a deal with one seemingly nice, reliable, ultra creative and helpful wedding coordinator! hay, thanks to the internet! nakakapag-inquire ako sa mga brides 2bes, and newly-weds! God saved me from headache and stress! thank you, Lord! kakampi talaga kita!

with Bro Eddie and Sister Dory. in the midst of my wedding preparations, God faithfully blesses me with writing assigments. one of them is an interview with Bro. Eddie. watch out for his life story which i wrote a script of, and will be aired in Magpakailanman soon.  

on the night my honey proposed, there were rose petals on my bed... sweet! 

one of the first ever bouquet romy gave me. dami pang sumunod diyan! mahina ang 20 dozens all in all! 

romy's accomplices jim and seth.