Sis to Sis

[Words by Kat]

A big question for any engaged couple is "Paano nga ba magplano ng kasal?". For us, especially since we're working on a budget, we need to be very sure before booking a supplier. Mahirap magtiwala at maglabas ng pera sa mga suppliers na hindi mo lubos na alam kung paano trumabaho. So after months of searching the net, we came across Girltalk (Gtalk) and Weddings at Work (W@W). Dito kami nakakakuha ng mga guide and feedback para sa mga napupusuan naming suppliers.

W@W is powered by Yahoo Groups. It was established by Abet and Benz in 1999 exclusively for couples that are planning to get married. As expected, mas madalas na mga brides-to-be ang naka-register dito than grooms-to-be. Members can post any wedding related topics so that other w@wies can contribute to the topic. At first, I was hesitant to join the group kasi alam kong di ako makaka keep-up with the amount of posts and I don't want to be swamped with emails everyday. But I got curious and sent a membership request after almost every supplier that we book asked me if I'm a w@wie. Lurker lang ako noong umpisa then when we started to go all-out for the wedding preps, mas naging active ako. We learned a lot of tips and information from it. We shared experiences with our own suppliers to other members as well. It works for us since our suppliers can gain more experience before our own wedding. Also, nakatulong na kami sa mga w@wies, nakatulong pa kami sa suppliers namin.

Girltalk, on the other hand, is a forum that has a dedicated "engagement and wedding” section for couples na nagpa-plano ng kasal. This is open to all na may alam sa weddings, so you'll get to talk with suppliers and couples as well. Madalas lurker lang ako dito. I find it informative and helpful for our wedding preparation pero nahihirapan lang ako mag back-read ng mga posts.

Planning a wedding can be complicated but with these outlets, sure kaming matutupad ang aming dream wedding with a clearer understanding of things. Kaya as much as possible I try to be active sa mga forums na ito to give back to the community those things that we learned during our own preparation.

Toy Cake Story

It has been a tradition to do the cake cutting on a wedding, up to the point na traditional joke na din ang mag slice ng malaking piece para isubo sa partner (sabay traditional na magtatawanan ang mga guests). LOL.

papatayin ako ni kat kung gento kalaki ang slice ko...

at gento ka-swabe ang bigote ko sa kasal [obi]

Initially we planned on just getting a two-layer cake with an edible bottom layer tapos may kasama na lang 50 pieces of cupcakes. When placed around the cake stand, the cupcakes should give an illusion na mataas yung cake namin. Tapos mas madali pa ipamigay sa guests after the wedding. We were pretty much sold with that idea so we started looking for suppliers who can deliver a good package around that concept while being within the budget pa din. 

That changed, however, when we saw an anniversary promo from Chef Kiko of Toy Cakes and Pastries. It's his third year anniversary and he is offering two promos for this month (April, 2013). 

• A dessert buffet promo with lots of freebies, OR
• A 3-layer cake for only 4,000!

Promo Runs until April 31

Ang laki ng savings namin if we get to pick the cake promo, kaya agad agad na kaming nagpa-reserve with Chef Kiko. After settling the reservation fee, we are scheduled to have a cake tasting on April 20 to finalize our flavor-of-choice and how we want the cake to look like.

Chef Kiko replied promptly with our emails, text messages, at Facebook messages din. He's very accomodating and he would even apologize pa kapag matagal syang hindi nakasagot sa mga inquiries namin. He is well-known sa Girltalk at sa W@W kaya di na kami nagdalawang isip na kunin sya. Madami din good reviews kaming nababasa about his work so no doubt at all na sobrang in-demand yung mga cakes niya.

He has a lot of photos of his work in his Facebook page. 

Check it out here.

Down the Rabbit Hole

When we started to plan the wedding, one of the first thing we thought about was the wedding theme. We want it to reflect our quirky personality pero romantic pa din ang dating. After much thinking, 'vintage whimsical' ang napili namin. It well-fitted our personalities and at the same time it's something we can easily work on in terms of DIY's and conceptualization. Tamang kagamitan lang galing sa baul ni lola at dagdagan ng konting contemporary but unique pieces at swak na sa trippings namin. Parang "Alice in Wonderland" but less the extra-crazy stuff.

vintage quirky

After finalizing what we want for the areas that needs styling, next step is to find someone who can execute all these ideas on the wedding. Gusto namin yung may sense of style, madaming ideas at resources, and syempre, can work on our budget. We eventually ended up with three options:

• In-house stylist from our caterer
• Chasing Dreams
• Moki Gray.

We meet up with the in-house stylist for Queensland Catering Services (Madel). That's a week after we did a reservation to them to be our caterer. The meeting went well. We showed her our pegs and discussed how are we going to achieve it. She has tons of ideas and quite reassuring that she can do the job kahit morning wedding pa kami. It's a plus din na kasama na sa isa sa mga packages nila yung payment for the event styling, kaya no need to worry about additional costs.

On the other hand, we learned about the events group, Chasing Dreams, through W@W (the wedding forum). I read about this review from a supplier regarding their work and it got me interested after I checked photos of their outputs. Madami din silang good reviews from fellow w@wies kaya we decided to drop an inquiry to them. We sent sample pictures to them and also mentioned our budget. Okay naman ang usapan namin and what got us more interested is their confirmation that the budget is workable.

Feather Centerpiece by Chasing Dreams

Si Moki Gray naman is fairly new sa wedding industry. Wedding registration styling and invitations suites are some of the services that she specializes on. Sinubukan lang namin mag-inquire sa kanya kung kaya nya mag full styling kasi sinabi ng coordinator namin na sya ang nag-style ng W@W booth sa isang wedding fair. Sobrang pretty nung W@W booth na yun at pasok na pasok sa theme na gusto namin kaya nakipag-usap agad kami kay Moki. Next thing we knew, we are pencil booked. Napaka hassle-free niya kausap at mabilis sumagot ng inquiries.

an actual setup by Moki Gray

With all that, hirap na hirap naman kami ngayon mag-decide kung sino ang pipiliin. Isa ito sa mga pinakamahirap desisyunan thus far during our preps. So sino ang pipiliin? ABANGAN!

* If you didn't notice the links on their names, well... now you do. Those are linked to their respective Facebook pages. Also, all photos are stolen off the web. Pahiram po.

Imbitado Ka

After booking some of the major suppliers, our next stop is to look for an on-the-day coordinator (OTD). Originally, we were not really keen on getting an OTD kasi naisip namin na savings din yun and for sure we can rely on our relatives to willingly do the coordinating for us. Kaso, later on, naisip namin na dapat kasama namin silang nagsasaya sa event at hindi sila dapat haggard sa pagiging punong abala on that day. We also heard a lot from other couples that OTD's are almost a must-have to take a huge chunk of the things to worry about from sa mga ikakasal. Sulit na expense kumbaga.

As soon as we decided to get one, we asked our soon-to-wed friends about their own OTD's. One of Obi's friend, who is also having his wedding soon, referred Imbitado Events. As usual, takbo agad kami online para mag research about the team. They have a lot of good reviews and positive testimonials, at affordable ang rates nila. With the amount of bookings they have (it's all listed on their website), we are quite sure that experience on the field should not be an issue.

We had several correspondence with Ayie (she's the one running Imbitado Events) before we eventually decided to book them. Mabilis syang sumagot with our inquiries and it sounds like she knows what she's doing kaya kinuha na namin sila agad before we even did a meeting with them. Buti na lang din at open pa sila sa aming wedding date.

Ayie of Imbitado Events

Eventually, we met with Ayie over coffee. We discussed a looot about weddings: her past events, the Imbitado Events team and what they offer, information about our wedding, madaming madaming tips at supplier recommendations,  and yes... even wedding horror stories! We feel really blessed that we got Ayie. We see that she loves what she's doing kaya sobrang ramdam namin na nasa magandang kamay ang kasal. Peace of mind!

* Visit their website at http://www.imbitadoevents.com/

Click here for new updates about the wedding.

Traje de Boda

Di na mabilang ang designers na kinausap namin for a quotation on this wedding gown concept that we like. The figures went from as low as 30K up to a whooping 150K! Since we are working on a pretty much fixed budget, medyo kelangan ng konting tiyaga sa paghahanap ng designers na kayang mag-trabaho from that budget without compromising the quality and beauty of the piece. 

After months of searching, Jen (our HMU artist) referred Roxy Bagano. As usual, we immediately did a research on photos of her bridal gowns online and we instantly loved her designs. It was a breeze contacting her, mabilis siya sumagot sa mga tanong namin and very accommodating. She said she can give us a sketch of what we have in mind so we grabbed the opportunity and paid her a visit last weekend. 

The meeting went well and we started by showing her some photos of the wedding gowns we prefer and discussing the details of what we eventually like and don’t like to be on the gown. She was doing the sketch on the fly and after presenting the image to us (together with her plans for it... from beadworks to appliqués to the works), agad agad nagustuhan namin lahat and booked her straight away. 

Actually, nag-decide lang kami within three seconds... ganun namin sobrang nagustuhan! LOL. [kat] 

Roxy and Kath

She was very fun to talk to and para lang kaming matagal nang magkakakilala. It’s just a bonus that she’s just within our age-bracket. Agree, ako dyan! [obi] 

Her cute and chic shop is located on Paco, Manila.

* Visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/baganocouture

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New updates on our "Wedding Updates" page. Click here.

Best Part of the Wedding Preps

...has to be the food tasting!

It's our first food tasting last week at Ysabel's Garden, BF Resort (c/o Queensland Catering Services) and we are quite enjoying the experience. Queensland is known to be generous with their servings and they did not disappoint, nabusog kami kahit supposedly "tikim" lang siya dapat. LOL.

some of the dishes from the Regular package

The food selection ranged from their Regular package up to some of the Premium ones. Sa Premium package kami madaming nagustuhan (as expected) pero may mga nagustuhan din kaming mangilan-ngilan sa Regular (not because they didn't taste good, but because the Premium ones just tasted great), so baka mag mix-match kami from both line-up. Pwede naman daw.

from the Premium package

masarap pero medyo malansa

seryosong delicious

ano daw??

We paid for reservation that day. Sure na kami sa Queensland. No head count yet (we are still to finalize the guest list) but more or less we knew what dishes to pick. Sakto din yung mga additional amenities sa arrangements na gusto namin at higit sa lahat, pasok sa budget.

Peborit ni Kath sa Menu: Sotanghon in Garlic 

Peborit ni Obi sa Menu: Pork Humba

The following week after the food tasting, we went to their office in Citadella, Las Pinas for follow-up inquiries and to discuss more about their package options. Gusto namin kuhain yung deal na kasama na pati yung decoration ng lugar so we have to set a separate appointment with their stylist to finalize everything.

We hope the stylist can pull off what we have in mind of a vintage whimsical setting. Abangan!

Hashtag North Greenhills Clubhouse

Matapos dumaan ang ilang nakakakabang araw ng paghahanap para sa isang disenteng reception venue, sa wakas meron na kami! Booked and finalized!

*deep sigh of relief*

Konting history muna:

• First Quarter of 2012 - We decided to have the wedding at the St. Ignatius Cathedral in Camp Aguinaldo, so it's imperative to find a venue inside the camp as well.

St. Ignatius Cathedral at Camp Aguinaldo

• Second Quarter of 2012 - Ocular at Tejeros Hall. The place is really beautiful but too huge for our target number of guests. Also, the price gap between getting their accredited caterer versus paying for an unaccredited one is significant and frankly, unjustifiable.

• Third Quarter of 2012 - Obi's dad found a more decent option, Daza Park. Too early to have a permanent booking, we were advised to go back on a date closer to the wedding.

• First Week of January, 2013 - Based on visual estimates, it looks like Daza Park can't accommodate 170 pax and so planned to check back on the venue. Let the stress begin!

inside Daza Park

• Second Week of January, 2013 - At the Daza Park, we confirmed that it can never hold as much guests. The caretaker said it can even barely do 150 pax (kung magaling daw ang caterer, kakayanin). Still, we pencil-booked the place, just in case. We need a Plan B and so inquired at the AFP Theater for their Function Room 3. PROS: can rent the room (and virtually the entire 3rd level) for the whole day; within budget; and lots of spaces we can exploit para sa mga pakulo. CONS: needs major decorating; ang taas ng stairs; and there are two obstructing pillars that doesn't sit well with me. But, again, we pencil-booked it too.

inside the AFP Theater, Funky Room 3

• Third Week of January, 2013 - We started considering places outside Camp Aguinaldo (i.e. gave them calls and looked for reviews/photos online). Our initial choices are the clubhouses of West Greenhills (booked on our date), North Greenhills (needs sponsor), Valle Verde 4 (saw negative reviews online), and Christ the King Parish Hall (not within budget).

Before January ended, we further trimmed down to two options: North Greenhills Clubhouse (with recommendation/sponsorship from Obi's friends - Tim and Garrick) and Valle Verde 4 Clubhouse (no sponsor required). We are supposed to compare both first before booking but immediately fell in love with the North Greenhills Clubhouse after seeing it yesterday and reserved the place right away!

spaced just right for our guests

The Good:

* The steps leading up to the second floor hall is spaced just right for Kath (and her knee injury) to ascend without much effort.

* The floor area is huge and can even go up to 200 guests based on my "guess-timate".

* They only book one event per day. The place, on December 7, is OURS alone!

* We can use several satellite rooms around the premise: a staging room for the catering services, a smaller adjoining space where we can pass through for a grand entrance (or maybe for the on-day video/photo editing team), the ground-level area can be used for registration, and the corridors are wide enough for our planned "memory lane" decor.

*  It's within our budget!
* We were given up to four hours of prep time (and ingress) free of charge!

* The place is newly renovated, with glass panels on one side of the wall that makes the place look even bigger.
* There's a readily available platform included among the perks.
* The office personnel are very accommodating!

the glass panel

aprub! (with Treiz, at the NGH Association Office)

Thanks God for Angels on Earth!