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/

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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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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!

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

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* 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!

*****
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Good Times

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

Edited by Kath.