Lights, Camera, Action!

We were blessed to have assembled this team to be a part of our special day AND blessed twice over that the process of discerning who to get among a bunch of very talented wedding suppliers didn't become too much of a challenge. Let's just say that for us these guys are obvious picks! Buti na lang libre ang schedule nilang lahat sa date ng kasal namin.

Photography
Foreveryday Photography by Gail Bitoon

Bright and natural. That's how Gail described his photos and that's exactly how we wanted it. Yung kapag tinignan yung mga litrato, they will tell stories of how the couples and their guests had so much fun during the event. Tapos everything is easy on the eyes, magaan tignan. 

We believe that moments are best captured (and treasured) unguarded. Nagustuhan namin yung composition ng candid shots ni Gail. Isa yun sa mga reasons kung bakit sooobrang sold kami sa kanya. Bonus na lang na nag-train siya under the famous Pat Dy.

We met over dinner and they (him and wife, Ching) were really cool to hang-out with. Dahil siguro magkaka-lapit lang yung mga age namin... wag ka nang kumontra Kath [Obi].

* visit their website at www.foreverydayphoto.com 

Gail and wife, Ching

Videography
Andaya Digital Video by Christian Andaya

Moving! That's what came to our mind while viewing some of Christian's work. Sooobrang galing ng cinematography that as early as now we were so excited already to see how our's will look like! Again, bonus na lang that he worked with the top names in the field... Jason Magbanua and Mayad Studios.

We met him and his wife over dinner as well and he has been very accommodating enough to discuss a lot about wedding videography and a number of tips on how to make it more interesting. He even showed us his latest masterpiece. Goose bumps!

* watch his films at www.christianandaya.com

Christian Andaya

Hair and Make-up
HD Touch by Jen Pili

We didn't want to take risks on HMU artists right off the wedding fairs that we've been to. Gusto namin makuha ay yung referred by a friend who has firsthand experience being worked on by the artist, herself. Enter Zen, Kath's college friend and soon-to-be bride as well, who introduced us to Jen.

Nakita namin yung mga gawa ni Jen and we're satisfied with the transformations she did with her clients. As Zen's mom described, magaling siya gumawa ng kilay at mata. We booked her outright the next day and our meeting went out fun, parang typical tambay-night lang with friends.

* check out her work at www.hdtouchbyjenpili.weebly.com/porfolio.html

Jen Pili

Click here for new updates about the wedding.

* photos are stolen off the web... we hope they don't mind ^_^

La-La Land Alert

We found photos online of a wedding reception held at the Daza Park and we counted only about 11 round tables excluding the presidential and buffet tables. That's only around 120 to 130 seated guests maximum and we're originally targeting 200 (that's before we decided to further cut down to 150).

Now it looks like we either cut down again to 130 guests OR we have to look for another venue.

Which is really sad. 
I think the venue, as it is, looks very 
whimsy, private, and perfect for our wedding! 
Stress Drillon! [obi]

The venue easily saved us five-digit worth of money and looking for an alternative will add up to the budget. So we're really weighing our options very well.

Abangan!

*****
Meanwhile, we have new entries on the "Wedding Updates" page.

Click Here

Good Times

A photo dump of the past 3+ years that we're together!

Edited by Kath.

Pail of Flowers

We already have baskets for our flower girls but a visit in Makati changed that plan. Aksidenteng nakakita kami sa mall ng cute na cute na colored tin cans na parang ganito (meron lang wooden handle)...

And our colors (violet and green) are readily available. So insta-buy!

At home, Kath tried to put our felt flowers in it and it's very eye-catching and unique. We'll use smaller felt flowers for the bouquets that we will put in these pails para mas cute.

As of last count, Kath and her sister were already able to finish around 45 felt flowers. Next stop, she'll be crafting flowers for the flower girls and for her own bouquet. Ang galing!

Year-End Update

In three days, we exactly have one year to go before the big day. Here be the things that happened so far...

Felt Flowers

Kat and her sister have 34 felt flowers done for the bouquets. We're looking to do about 20 pieces more before they can start bunching them up for their final arrangements.

Boutonniere

We've been brainstorming for our boutonniere design ever since we thought about using felt cloth for our flowers. It just have to be equally quirky. Then we found this online... 

It's stuffed felt cloth on twigs. Sobrang cute at match sa felt flowers ng mga babaeng sponsors. Of course, we'll apply some personal customization. Instead of a heart, we'll use "call out" shapes from comic strips. We are yet to talk on what can substitute for the twigs, though. 

Nakakatawa nga na hindi namin agad ito naisip when just a few months ago, Kath's sister has a friend who has been doing and selling a similarly crafted stuffed toy at nagpagawa pa si Obi sa kanya.

Yun nga lang, it's another DIY project for Kath and her sister. Makakatipid kami, but it needs some serious labor of love.

One other boutonniere design that made it to our fancy is by using blank soda crowns as base. May nagawa nang prototype yung sister ni Kath and it looks interesting enough. Our next challenge now is to pick what among these two designs to use.

Entourage

The number of people walking down the aisle with us is down by a soul when Obi's father died four months ago. He was one of our most eager supporter (booked our church and discussed most of the logistics with us) and we know he'll be really happy for us to be finally wed. It's just sad that he didn't make it to be with us on our special day but he will sure be present in our hearts.

He always manifested to Obi's family as a butterfly so we are thinking of getting butterflies and releasing them at the venue. He'll love it.

Dress

I think we just solved our problem with the female entourage's wear. Enter the Infinity Dress...

Pros:

* Can fit any body shape and personal taste

* Cheaper than shouldering the cost of a tailor-made dress

* Comes in different colors

* Stores that sell them are accessible

Cons:

* Textile is usually made of jersey material so it's thin

Kelangan talaga merong linings yung mga parts where it could expose their unwanted areas due to it being thin. So what we are thinking is to have our female entourage fit the dress ahead of time and determine what style they will be using for the wedding. From there, we can have a couturier put the necessary adjustments for the linings, paddings, or whatever fixes required.

Schedule

We are booked on a morning but we are now considering making it at night. Abangan!

La-La Land

We found our whimsical world!

welcome to la-la land!

Early this month, Obi and his family went to check this other events place inside Camp Aguinaldo. AFPCOC, our first choice, is just too huge and expensive for our wedding. It's also disheartening that they charge extra for catering services outside their accredited suppliers and we are fairly sold with Queensland already so we have to look for other options.

Enter, Daza Park. It was recommended by Obi's dad. A 250-seater function hall (AFP Daza Park Pavillion) sat in the middle of the amply wooded complex which has just been renovated last year so both the interiors and exteriors are kept in good condition.

lights on, introducing sir ker-tekker

After a thumbs up from Obi's first ocular, we scheduled another visit last weekend. It's perfect!


Everything looks a whimsy: yung gazebos, yung fishpond na ala moat, yung bridge way going to the entrances, yung mga lampposts, yung greeneries ng paligid, pati yung layout ng floor area na parang maze (medyo lang) dahil madaming access. Bonus na lang na may malaking kanyon (display) at grotto nearby for photo opportunities.

view from the grand gazebo with extra parents

bridge way over the pond to one of the minor gazebos

the pavement to the main entrance, featuring the father

our lady

ground to air defense, just in case

While we walk around the place, andami na naming naiisip na design ideas. Kath liked the interiors, especially when it was lit up. Wala na daw kelangang baguhin. Dadagdagan na lang ng konting palamuti and that's it. Nai-imagine na din namin kung ano ang magiging itsura ng final layout. May ready nang platform yung hall kung saan andun kami, syempre. May sariling music booth at bar area yung place. Pwede din mag set-up ng mga extra tables doon sa mga nakapaligid na gazebo. Naiisip din naming gumawa ng "memory lane" on one of the bridge ways with our pictures and/or memorabilia lined along the path. Andaming possibilities.

view of the platform

and this is what's behind that wall... the refreshers

this goes to the pool

It also has an adjoining swimming pool area that we can rent privately for an extra fee. Umaga naman ang kasal namin so pwedeng buksan yung pool for the guests after the event. Pag-iisipan pa namin yan but that's one possibility to make the wedding more interesting.

Speaking of fees, sooobrang mura nung place. Of course, it might be because the dad is a military officer but still, even if they add another 10K on the cost, it will be cheaper than the average rent of venue places around the area. What a blessing!

wikimapia tags it just beside the Corinthians-White Plains highway

Fancy Felt Flowers

Kat and her sister, Kaye, is making good progress with their felt cloth and buttons bouquet. Nakaka-excite makita kapag naka-layer na yung flower-shaped cutouts and ready for stitching and design.

layering the cutouts and where the buttons go

Variations in stitches and button designs will make the flowers on each bouquet unique but using similar color tones (violet, green, and beige hues for us) will maintain its unified look. Kaya pasok pa din sa motif.

after stitching the cutouts together

At first, matagal gawin yung mga bulaklak dahil madaming kelangang isipin: what flower combinations to layer, anong stitches ang gagawin, anong buttons ang gagamitin, at paano ang layout. Matagal din (at masakit sa kamay) mag-gupit ng flower patterns at tahiin yung actual stitches. Surprisingly, for Kath and Kaye, it got faster after their first few flowers. Just a jump-start of creativity and they were set.

bunched up

Ang ganda ng kinalabasan nung unang bouquet! We can't wait to see everything done (three more for the secondary sponsors) so we can move on to doing Kath's own bouquet. Dapat mas standout than those of the entourage's (maybe bigger? more flowers on it? more radically looking buttons?). May mga ideas na kaming pinag-lalaruan. We'll see.

take two