Supplier Review and More Tips - All

So far I have reviewed our Caterer and our Coordinator and unfortunately, medyo hindi maganda naging experience ko sa kanila.

Now, this time happy supplier reviews naman, lol (although may konti pa ring medyo sablay sa huli).

Score is from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest. 11 means exceed expectations/super love.

Without much further ado. In no particular order. By the way, our color motif is peach with an accent color of yellow. Theme is Travel and Paris.


Judy Uson : For our Cascading Sugar Flowers cake
Score 11/10

click for better view

Ang ganda-ganda ng cake namin! Sinunod nila yung mga details na sinabi ko to the dot. What color combination to use, what kind of sugar flowers to put in (rose, calia, jasmine, etc) , those intricate white patterns on the side of the cake, the grapes, the gold ribbon. It's perfect. Sayang lang hindi ko sya natitigan ng husto. I wish I can order a miniature version of our cake, like a figurine, for souvenir.

 Our cake is a cascading flower cake. The flowers all look real and they all look botanically correct! And at the same time everything is edible (the flowers are all made of gumpaste and sugar) and it taste good! Also, the cake didn't break into pieces, like most fondant cakes, when we started slicing it because the icing is not hard, more like chewy.

We ordered a 4-layer cake, cupcakes (gifts for my entourage), mini cake (gift ko sa ninongs/ninangs, my mom and dad). Even the mini cakes are pretty. Nakakatuwa talaga.

It's just unfortunate na Sir Batch passed away before our wedding but I did get to meet him when I went home briefly to take care of some wedding errands. Ok kausap si Sir Batch. Madali kausap.







Team On Site Studio : Photobooth Extraordinaire
Score: 11/10

for more samples:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoholic/sets/72157632574056621/ 

We love our 4D photo studio! We opted against photobooth kasi parang ang sobrang gasgas na.
It's a Paris themed photo studio. Medyo nag-worry pa ako nun kasi when I met with them personally during my very short visit in the Philippines sabi nila bibigyan nila ako ng picture practice set-up nila, pero wala ako na-receive. When I asked them about it, sabi nila hindi na nila ginawa dahil magastos, because they get real flowers, etcetera. Pero I trust them that they would do superb naman so OK lang. Tapos mga a few days before the wedding, nasa Pinas na kami ni hubby nun, they sent us a picture asking us ano mas gusto naming background. Medyo nagulat nga kami kasi akala namin yung gagamitin nila yung pinakita na nila sa akin dati pa, the one that they used for their Bridal Fair booth. They sent us an indoor and outdoor Paris setting, and both photos are with Eiffel Tower. We really want the inside the house setting, para may sofa, frames, flowers, chandelier, the works, kaya we still chose the indoor photo. And kahit hindi na sya yung original photo na I thought we'll be using e maganda pa rin kinalabasan. My guests love it!

Nagdala nga pala ako ng props. So yung mga boa, hats, glasses, masks, tiaras, etc dala ko na.

cousins, nieces, bro, sister-in-law

Ang pinagsisisihan ko lang, hindi ko naisip to invite my guests to have their pix taken with me and the hubby dun sa photo studio. We do have the table to table pix naman pero mas maganda sana kung ang background yung sa photobooth namin. Team OSS actually suggested that, na dun gawin yung yung table to table kaso, advise ni coordinator parang awkward naman daw kung papalabasin pa yung guests sa reception, tapos pasok ulit to get their food. Kasi di ba, you usually do table to table pix if it's time to go to the buffet na.

Ang medyo sablay lang, which I really don't mind, may mga 5 shots na nakalusot na hindi ko guests, na guests from another event. Siguro pag ganun, advise ko to  ask your guests to bring their invitations at yun papakita nila sa Team OSS for their picture para walang outsider na makalusot.

Pero masaya pa rin! I love Team OSS!
For more sample of the photos click here.




Missy Ferrer : Emcee
Score 10/10

Bilib mga guests ko sa kanya kasi magaling daw sya. Parang professional daw talaga. Sabi ko nga: "eh professional po talaga yun!". Haha, nakakatawa lang mga reactions ng iba guests namin. Hindi ata nila alam na emcee ngayon for wedding for hire na rin. Anyway, yun nga she's good. She exudes authority na hindi bossy ang dating. Like sa games na medyo may pasaway na participants, napapa-follow nya, pero hindi intimidating ang dating. Basta, hirap i-explain. Basta OK sya. She's also very articulate. Sabi nga ni hubby naiintindihan nya daw sya (hubby's an American). She's funny din.

Tuwang-tuwa ako sa mga bachelor/bachelorette games na ni-suggest nya. Halos malaglag ngalangala namin ni hubby kakatawa nung bachelorette game na. Nakakatuwa pa na niwi-wish namin yung bestman ang makakuha ng garter at sya nga nakakuha kaya double saya!








Mayone Bakunawa : HMUA
Score: 9/10

mayone doing retouch & fixing my veil

I really like how she did my make-up both sa trial and wedding itself. I don't have a good skin pero nagmukhang flawless ako! And it's true na she stays until reception pero until before the grand entrance lang and not til the end. Ewan ko nga bakit naisip ko until the end of reception. I like it din na pag tinatanong ko sya about make-up at pano gagawin pag ganito-ganyan she shares her tips.

the loose strands

Ang medyo ayoko ko lang yung sa hairstylist nya. Ok yung ginawa sa buhok ko pero yung sa mom ko parang mabilisan ang pagkagawa. May specific instruction si mama kung pano gagawin sa buhok nya (her religion is dating daan so sobrang haba ng buhok nya), which is pusod lang pero naka-curl and fold yung whole length tapos pusod sa ilalim yung end. Nakita ko yung buhok nya ang daming loose hair na nawaka sa fold. Not sure kung nilagyan nya yung spray net o hindi.









Pronovias : Wedding Gown
Score: 10/10

the detachable one-shoulder (left)

this used to be a zipper back

I decided against getting a gown from famous designers in the Philippines because it's more expensive. So when I finallt decided I want to wear a Pronovias gown, I went looking for a premium bridal store for Pronovias (Van Cleve Wedding Pavilion). Then,  I ordered my 6-yard veil from Tito Boy Kastner, who is also my couturier for my entourage....

Medyo na-stress ako sa gown supplier ko kasi ine-expect ko gown ko na dumating 3 months before pick-up time pero hindi dumating until 1 1/2 months, which is still OK pero yun nga lang gahol na sila for alteration. My gown is originally a zipper closure but when I placed my order I told them I want it converted to corset (so it would still look OK even if lose or gain weight) and I want a detachable one-shoulder strap (because I'm crazy over one-shoulders, lol). The detachable strap is easier to do but I'm not sure about the corset. Needless to say, they were able to give me my gown two weeks before I left for the Philippines. Pinakaba nila ako sobra!

My husband just hand carried my gown, and since he's flying business class the steawardess were more than willing to help him stow my wedding gown in a safe place. I have friends who hand-carried their gown from the U.S. too and even if you don't fly business class and tell the steawardes you need a place to hang your wedding gown they were still very accommodating.

I bought this bag nga pala (see pic below) to make the carrying of my gown easier. Got it from Amazon. But I didn't fold it until after the wedding. They said the rollers inside the bag would prevent folds but I don't want to take any chances kaya I asked the hubby to carry it like a bride, lol.






Boy Kastner Santos : Groom's Coat Barong and Female Ento's gown 
Score: 8/10

We got hubby's black coat barong, my dad and my brother's barong and all the female ento's gown. I also got my 6-yard veil from him. We're supposed to get my mom's gown from him too but she didn't attend the measurement appointment that she ended up getting her barong dress from SM. The barong dress at SM are also nice but my mom "customized" it and it didn't turn out the way I would hope it to be. Hindi ko nagustuhan, but as long as she's happy with her gown then, Ok.

Anyway, Tito Boy was kind enough to go to our house in Makati to get the measurements of the wedding party. He agreed to do the same for the fitting but come fitting time busy raw sya so I ended up renting a van to take all my ento to his shop in Cavite.

I saw the initial design thru FB pix that my ento posted and was a bit disappointed about the straps. Mukha kasing leigh. I guess, masyado lang ako maarte, kasi sabi naman ni hubby OK lang. Anyway, dahil hindi ako mapakali, I emailed him and gave him samples of what I was hoping the straps to be. He didn't reply after I sent those emails which kinda got me worried but I decided to let go of that part. That time kasi I was worried din with my wedding gown so I just chose which items I should stress over and I chose my wedding gown, lol. Fortunately,  he fixed it naman. I was slightly disappointed when I saw the gowns doesn't have embelishments on them (beads, etc) and I emailed him about it too. I was willing to pay extra to put some beads sana but again, he never replied, haaay. Buti na lang maganda pa rin kinalabasan.

the "before" strap

the "after" straps

one of my favorite pix with my girls

All my secondary sponsors have the grecian design while the bridesmaids all have different starap design (one-shoulder, off-shoulder/u-shoulder, tube). Lahat sila sweetheart neckline.  My main color is peach and the accent color is yellow. So I asked Tito Boy to give the bridesmaids a yellow shawl dahil sila lang ang walang yellow accent. One of my Bridesmaids thought of putting the shawl as belt and it turned out nice din.








15-58 : Florist
Score: 7/10

Sinunod naman nila yung instructions namin pero parang tinipid kami sa flowers and to think na nag-upgrade kami. Cute lang yung post na ginamit nila for the aisle pero yung flowers parang naghihingalo na at kalbo ang dating. Tapos parang lanta-lanta na  yung flowers na ginamit for the bridesmaids bouquet. Buti na lang hindi ako kumuha ng bouquet sa kanila. My bouquet nga pala is brooch bouquet that I made myself. Same brooch bouquet that I used on our civil wedding. Note nga pala na hindi sila ang provider ng flowers sa reception tables, from Josiah na yung flowers na yun.



Notre Dame De Vie : Church
Score 9/10

9 lang score kasi pinahirapan kami sa requirements. Although I think lahat naman ng church ganun. I like Notre Dame De Vie kasi very photogenic din. Medyo may kaliitan pero (short lang ang aisle) pero carry na rin! The drapes on the ceiling are very dramatic.

click for better view

click for better view

Photographer : Filmtastic
Score: 9/10

Ok yung photographer namin. May malasakit. Very creative. Most importantly, it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Hindi naman kame brand conscious, kaya ang pinili namin yung feel namin ung pix sa portfolio nila.



Videographer : DLS
Score: 9/10

We love our SDE. We also like how their so easy to work with and how their team are very very very creative. Medyo nagka-problema kami sa hard disk ng raw videos pero na-remedyuhan naman. Like our photographer, we opted for the non-famous “brand” pero yung BILIB kame. We chose well.



Fernbrook : Reception Venue
Score: 8/10
update: new name is Palazzo Verde

click for better view

Eto pasaway sila nung una. Talagang lagi ako naha-highblood na muntik-muntik ko na talagang i-cancel yung booking namin. Kung hindi lang talaga sila sobrang ganda talagang hindi ako magtityaga. Yung una kong AE kasi talagang inuugat ako bago sumagot. Nakaka-praning kaya lalo na kung ang tanong mo ay kung na-receive na nila bayad mo at nag-aantay ka ng resibo.

Tapos malaman-laman ko hindi na pala sya connected sa Fernbrook. Ang naging bagong AE ko si Ronica. Nung sya na naging AE ko naging smooth na dealings ko with Fernbrook. I recommend Ronica for AE, mabilis sya sumagot at i-inform ka nya kung mawawala sya ng ilang araw at hindi sya makakasagot sa emails. Karamihan sa guests ko first time nila sa Fernbrook and they're all impressed by it. Photogenic kasi masyado Fernbrook na kahit ang tagal-tagal namin mag-pictorial feeling namin they didn't mind kasi busy siila kaka-picture around Fernbrook (at nakatulong din yung onsite photo studio). Pag sa Fernbrook ka nag-book automatic pede ka na dun magpa-prenuptial photos. At kung ano yung amenity na pinili nyo pede nyo rin sya gamitin sa prenuptial photos (in our case pati prenuptial video). We got the gondola kaya we were able to use that din sa prenuptial photos/video.

the pocket garden where we have our cocktail area set-up

onsite studio set-up just outside of byzantine 2

We booked Byzantine 2 nga pala. Which is good kasi may small pocket garden for cocktail. It's also big enough that we were able to accommodate the onsite studio set-up. Eto nga pala video ng Byzantine 2 kapag empty: Byzantine 2



Jo Acierto : Caricature Artist
Score: 10/10

jo made the caricarture with the airport background
i added everything outside the airport background

Ok sya. Very accommodating kahit ang kulit ko at kung anu-anong details pinapabago ko. I used his caricatures sa door hang tags namin (bride & groom's), sa STD sa church wedding namin sa Pinas at sa wedding site namin.

Figgie Shoes: Custom-painted shoes
Score: 11/10

click for better view

click for better view

Now, I just bought a red shoes from Amazon.com then I shipped the shoes in Canada (where figgishoes.com is based), gave her the personal items i want painted on my wedding shoes and that's it. For a more detailed shoe story read: not your ordinary wedding shoes.





Trinkets and Favors by Design Avenue : Wedding Paraphernalia
Score: 10/10

I just told them our motif is peach and yellow and then i sent them our logo and that's it! A few weeks later we already have our bible, unity candle, offertory candles, secondary's sponsor candles, couple's candles, ringbearer pillow, arrhae pillow, cord.








Aljoe Mix: Lights and Sounds

Score: 5/10

ambience lighting

We like our lightings. Ang naiinis lang kami sa kanila they promised to give us free bubble machine tapos biglang wala at hindi man lang nagpa-aberya. Para naman sana nakahanap kami ng ibang bubble machine supplier. Eh para sa first dance dapat namin yun. Sa choice of songs at caliber ng sounds OK naman. Pero wala sa guests kong sumayaw after the program.

GQ : Mobile Bar
Score: 4/10 (4 for effort)




We booked Flair-up mobile bar but according to Fernbrook and our wedding coordinator, Flair-up hasn't settled their accounts with Fernbrook yet that they prohibit them from operating their bar inside the Fernbrook facilities. This is why they got GQ instead.

the lonely GQ bar, lol

What I don't like about GQ (and I'm not sure if this holds true for all mobile bars) is that when a guest want something from the bar na hindi kasali sa menu they would tell the guest that they have to pay. I guess this is an oversight on our part, na we could have made arrangements na pag may guest na gusto ng certain drinks just give it to them, tapos singilin n lang kami later. Kasi I still cringe at my guests stories about how they saw my sister-in-law (hubby's older sister) trying to get a glass of wine (kasi nga di ba, Josiah didn't provide wine sa VIPs) at biglang pagpunta nya sa bar biglang sinisingil sya. Nakakahiya lang. Sobra.


Isa pang ayaw namin ay parang hindi kami naaliw sa lasa ng mocktails/cocktails. Ang tabang. Parang one molecule lang ata ng alcohol nilalagay nila.




SJT Strings : 
Musician Score: 8/10






We booked for Set A. Piano, Violin, Flute, Double Bass (4 instruments)
Pero nag-upgrade kami at nagpadagdag ako ng sax at female singer.
Pero nag-suggest ang SJT na imbis na mag-book na extra tanggalin na lang yung flute at gawing sax na lang. So ang Set A naging: Piano, Violin, Sax, Double Bass (4 instruments).

Tapos naging 2 singers ang naging upgrade, one male, one female. Now, we paid extra for Donnie. Kaso come wedding day, nawalan na raw ng boses si Donnie and had to get another male singer. What they did is they just added an extra violin na lang daw (as you can see from the photo there are 5 musicians na). I'm very disappointed kasi I really like Donnie's voice pero ano naman magagawa mo di ba? Kung totoo ngang nawalan ng boses si Donnie (at hindi dahil na-overbook lang, or they got a better offer) hindi naman magically babalik boses nya.
Anyway, ang napansin ko lang parang puro piano ang mas madalas kong naririnig during reception so parang ang lugi na may sax kaming ni-book tapos parang 1 to 2 times lang nagamit. Maybe because the songs I chose walang sax arrangements? So, I don't know. Or baka I'm just too busy to listen. I did record them pero, haay, palpak yung nag-record, puro piano lang ang narinig.  Pero so far, Ok naman sila.
About the wrong timing sa Bridal March song, I don't think sila may kasalanan nun. My coordinator should have given them the cue. Pero for future brides, make sure you inform both parties about your Bridal March song timing and by both, I mean, Coord and Musicians.


SkyLanterns : Flair up
Score:N/A

This is hubby's request. Ilang beses nya akong kinulit-kulit jan that's why we ordered 30pcs. Problem is it was so windy that we weren't allowed to light them. We were so disappointed. We can't refund the money so what happened was we just have to give them away to our coordinator because we don't want extra stuff in our luggage. We were able to take home 6 skylanterns, though.  Now that I think about it. Sana pala kinuha ko na lang at binenta sa w@w peeps. Ang mahal kaya nun.Php250 isa. (We're supposed to light those 6 skylanters in El Nido, but on the first attempt hindi pwede dahil the area we chose has lots of dry leaves, second attempt nalimutan naman namin dalhin sa boat, oh well. )


This is still a work in progress. For the rest of the teeny weeny details please read: because details matter

For more wedding details photos: M & R Wedding Details
For more behind the scenes photos: Behind the Scenes

Guestlist-o-logy - an art

I  have underestimated the stress impact of a guest list. I didn't know this tiny little list that we have would give us so much grief and stress.

We are planning two weddings. Civil wedding here in the U.S. and church wedding in the Philippines. At the back of your head you maybe thinking: "why two weddings, you squandering idiots". I'll tell you why. First, because it would be less civil requirements in the Philippines if we get married civilly first before the church wedding. Time is of essential to us. The less time we need to spend in the Philippines to take care of wedding requirements, the more time we have to go beach hopping! Second, because the hubby's family cannot all go to the Philippines' wedding so the civil wedding is like a tribute for the hubby's family.

Now, let's go back to this semi-sensitive issue called the G-list. Since we're planning two weddings we have to watch out our expenses, which means we have to limit the number of guests and that limit is 40. The other constraint is, because Peter Shields is small and even though it can accomodate up to 100 guests we don't want to start displacing guests by having them seat at the other side of the wall (for those who've been to Peter Shields Inn,  you know what I mean). So we decided to stick to 40.

Since the civil wedding is really the "hubby's wedding", his family and close friends are the priority and I am supposed to invite just those people who are part of the wedding party and/or my relatives in Canada. The only time I can invite extra on my side is when guests from our priority list declined our invitation.

Simple enough right?

No.

Because some in our priority list didn't RSVP right away and because of that we had to wait and wait until we realized we only have a month left before the wedding. We were able to send out our second wave of invitations alright but because it's just a month before the wedding our second priority guests got insulted and thought they were just "panakip butas" (filler) and declined our invitation. But what can you do? You can't expect people to just drop whatever they're plans are just to celebrate the most important event in bob and I's life as a couple. Our invitees are all special to us but we can't expect that to be mutual. Sure, some have valid excuses, but some you'll know right away if they're just making fake excuses not to go.


Now, we can live with that. The other worst part of managing your guest list is when you have guests who are 50-50 and can't really give you a straight yes or no answer. We have that situation and they sent us their final answer two weeks before the wedding. Yep, this is right after we submitted our headcounts and guests' meal preference to Peter Shields.  Ofcourse we just let it go.  No big deal. They have priorities. The only problem is since it's two weeks before the wedding we can't invite anymore because that's when would-be guests would really start feeling offended because it would be too obvious that they are at the bottom of our list. You're right, maybe we should give them more credit than that and I'm sure those who have planned a wedding know the deal about priority list but we didn't risk it.

Ofcourse there's this business about doing the seating arrangement that also messes up everything when guests RSVPs right away or they cancel late. But I won't talk about that anymore. That deserves a separate blog, lol.

Anyway, but there's a prequel to this G-list thingie. The hubby and I were fighting over who'll make it to the second priority list. I mean, it's no brainer who needs to be in our A-list, it's the second priority list that's actually trickier.

Cause you see, we have to strategically invite our guests. We need to make sure that if we invite, say, couple A, there wouldn't be another couple in couple A's circle (that we are friends with too) who'll feel left behind. We want to make sure that the couple we invited won't trigger a domino effect that now we also need to invite, couples X, Y and Z so we won't offend them and they won't think we have favoritism. This is the reason why we didn't invite anyone from our work. Although we only have a few close friends at work but if we invite one of them, we have to invite coworker 2 and 3 and 4 and 5, and my list could go on and on, just so we won't offend anyone from that circle. To avoid that, we just simply didn't invite anyone from that circle. Also, that way we were able to contain our tiny headcount limit.

The hubby and I also had to argue over who gets a plus 1 and who doesn't. Man, that's one tricky item too, so what we came up with was, if they're not married there won't be any plus 1s unless if the unmarried couple is really serious. Basically all single guests don't have plus one's.

I’m getting a migraine just remembering all those stressful nights so I’m stopping here.

Here’s my one advise though, do not overthink. If you’re 50-50 about inviting that person, then do NOT invite him/her. You are paying for this wedding not them, so you have the upper hand.

How about those taking forever to RSVP, don’t be shy to call them. Tell them you have to call the caterer tomorrow and you need the headcount today.

Good luck. You can do this!!

Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated our first year anniversary. We decided to make the civil wedding the official one because one, the January 19 is too controversial (2 exes got
married on that date) and two, we just thought it makes sense because that's the first wedding and that's when we started living as husband and wife. The church wedding is just for formality sake.

So anyway, I was doing this wedding anniversary countdown thing on my tumblr site and figured I should compile all those posts there here.

So here you go.


----------------------------------

1st wedding anniversary countdown: day 1 - monogram

countdown to our first wedding anniversary starts today!
excited! excited to eat the frozen wedding cake, haha, babaw much.
anyway, starting today til our anniversary date, i’ll be posting 1 DIY (do it yourself) project that i did for our civil wedding…i’ll start with our monogram…

----------------------------------

1st wedding anniversary countdown: day 2 -  WYB = “will you be”

i made this “message in a bottle” necklace WYB to ask our civil wedding’s female wedding party to be part of our entourage… also sent this to one pinoy groomsman…
here’s how i did it: http://2sqrtof3.blogspot.com/2011/11/messeage-in-bottle-necklace-wyb.html

----------------------------------

1st wedding anniversary countdown: day 3 - WYB for male entourage..

and here’s how i made them:
http://2sqrtof3.blogspot.com/2011/11/yet-another-diy-wyb.html

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 4 - sand brush

since we had a beach wedding and we were encouraging the guests to go barefooted during the ceremony, i decided to make the sand brush…
as you can read from the label, it says : “to keep the sand off your toes”..
i ordered those cheap paint brush in bulk. printed the label sticker with our monogram printed on it (by the head) and explaining what the brush is for (at the handle) and
just tied a blue ribbon (because our motif is turquoise blue)

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown day: day 5 - door hangtags

my wedding coordinator friend appreciated this because it was easy for her to locate all the rooms of the entourage when distributing breakfast and knock at their doors when it’s call time…

the whites are made of thick glossy photo paper while the colored ones are card stocks… we didn’t use the colored ones and i reprinted the bride and groom’s using white paper..

we reused the white bride & groom’s door hang tag for our church wedding too to make it easier for photo & video & other suppliers to find our rooms…

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown day: day 7 - shell buotonniere


i also did our groomsmen (and bestman’s) shell boutonniere… it was easy to do but very tedious. gluing fabric is not a walk in the park, let me tell ya.

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown day: day 8 - barefoot sandals

i made my female entourage’s barefoot sandals. took me a while to decide on the beads to use.. they were all barefooted during the ceremony and they were just wearing the barefoot sandals i made them.

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown day: day 9 - beach-theme escort cards


since it’s a beach wedding, i want our escort cards to be beach themed too.

we used sand dollars & starfish, sand is decorative sand mixed with cape may shore’s sand… these were easy to do…it’s the actual card that’s tedious because i need to mark it with the guest’s dish preference (seafood, pork, beef or fish)… it’s tedious because each piece is customized and there are 45 of them…

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown day: day 10 - wedding favors

i forgot to post yesterday so this is for yesterday & today.
we made our wedding favors. ordered those empty apothecary glasses and designed and printed the label.
chocolates are from dove chocolates.

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown day: day 11 - parasols instead of flowers
instead of flowers, i opted for parasols. it’s cheaper (bought them from koyalwholesale.com).

trivia: our wedding color motif is supposedly tiffany blue but i can’t find tiffany blue parasols with patterns on it and i can’t find a decent tiffany blue sash. i found these turquoise parasols with patterns online and liked it so much i bought 6 of them (extra 2 just in case it got blewn away or got ripped)… the parasols ended up dictating what our final color motif would be.

p.s.
the white one is mine


----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 15 - luminaries table numbers

instead of the usual cardstock table numbers propped into a metal card holder or framed up, i got these luminaries instead… it’s made up of thick vellum paper with the ocean-like design, our names, date of the wedding and ofcourse table numbers on it…custom ordered them from etsy.com….it came flat and all i had to do is roll it up and remove the sticker cover found at the edge of the paper and stick the ends together…
then i bought those cheap battery-operated tealight candles that i placed inside the assembled luminaries…

it looked like a frosted vase with candles from a distance…really cool specially at night…

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 16 - message in a bottle guestbook

we want our guestbook to be somehow beach-related too so we have this “message in a bottle” guestbook where guests write something on a recycled paper, roll it and tie it with a raffia string (that has trinket tied at the end) and then place it inside the bottle….

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 17 - wedding programme

wedding program is also beach themed.
unlike in the philippines, here you put the names of the entourage as part of the programme.
in our programme, you actually have the ceremony sched (intro, exchanging of vows, when’s the sand ceremony gonna start, etc), reception sched (ie: cocktail is from what time til what time, 1st dance

----------------------------------
1st WA countdown: day 18 - aisle decorations

i bought several paper lanterns online, some shepherd’s hooks (from jo-annes fabric), dozens of red roses (from produce junction, and i also requested our bridesmaids to each bring a dozen roses) and yards and yards of white tulle to use for our aisle decoration…

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 19 - gifts for the female ento

custom bag for the female ento carrying some goodies. goodies include: faux fur coat, black sequenced clutch bag, parasol, the programme, sandbrush, towellette, “minimergency for her” , the barefoot sandals inside a $1 blue jewelry box, wawa card..

WA = wedding anniversary



----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 20 - civil ceremony layout

i have visualized what our civil ceremony aisle would look like while on a train going to work and drew it on a notebook…

with the help of my friends & hubby, the layout that i have envisioned materialized…

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 21 - wedding cake
our civil wedding cake, like all the other elements in our wedding, is beach themed, ergo the shells and everything…

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 22 - bride hanger

bought this “bride” hanger from etsy….meaning to use this but used my dress form instead…

----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 23 - musicians

we hired a violinist and guitarist to play by the beach…
makes a whole lot of difference when you have musicians playing by the beach during the wedding ceremony… if you’re planning a beach ceremony do NOT skip the musicians…

(they played while guests are finding a seat & waiting for the ceremony to start, during the ceremony & during recession….. then they went inside the reception venue to continue serenading the guests during cocktail hour & reception…. they also played our first dance)

WA = wedding anniversary



----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 24 - cape may luvin'

no photo this time, but a video…

on our wedding day, we booked a “capemay moonlight” trolley tour for our guests…the tour showed them rows & rows of victorian houses, learned about courtship during the victorian era and some history about the famous victorian houses…. it was a perfect way to end our wedding day…

attached is a video bob & i took around christmas time (2011) in cape may, to give you an idea what our guests saw during the trolley tour…the last part of the video is our wedding’s reception and ceremony venue


Cape May Video from bluemarlinfish on Vimeo.



----------------------------------

1st WA countdown : day 25 - wedding gown

my civil wedding gown is from
maggie soterro but i got it cheap because it was about to get phased out and the bridal store i got this from is having a year-end sale… i just added a removable one shoulder strap and bought a brooch to add on the strap…

WA = wedding anniversary



----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 26 - message-in-a-bottle wedding invitations

we made our own (civil ) wedding invitation and our guests loved it because they thought it’s unique…. we were able to pull this off because we only need to make 26 of these “message in a bottle” invitations…

bob was the one who put the shells in (and made sure all bottles have equal amount of colored shells in it), i glued the ribbons, printed, rolled & placed the actual invitations inside the bottle & wrapped the boxes (where the bottle should go) with exotic paper that i bought from a tiny craft store in philly

here’s my blog post on how we made this:http://2sqrtof3.blogspot.com/2012/03/message-in-bottle-wedding-invitation.html


WA = wedding anniversary



----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 27 - wedding rings

i bought the hubby’s wedding ring and ofcourse the hubby bought all my rings (including the paris ring that i now use as my everyday wedding ring)

more of our ring stories below:
i got proposed at twice: http://2sqrtof3.blogspot.com/2011/07/got-engaged-twice.html

i bought someone a wedding ring :
http://2sqrtof3.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-bought-someone-wedding-ring.html
WA - wedding anniversary



----------------------------------

1st WA countdown : day 28 - custom-painted wedding shoes

i ordered this custom-painted wedding shoes from figgieshoes.com…. painted on it is part of my vows and some of the drawings on the shoes either reflects our personality or tells our story....

more about the where, why, how & what about this wedding shoes at our wedding blogsite : http://2sqrtof3.blogspot





----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 29 - wedding site/announcement
wedding site: mywedding.com/bobmarlin

no pic today. just our wedding announcement wedsite containing, civil wedding details, supplier reviews, entourage list, about capemay, etc.

WA = wedding anniversary.




----------------------------------

1st WA countdown: day 30 - DIY brooch bouquet


i made my own brooch bouquet that i used on both civil & church wedding…this is my favorite among all the DIYs i did for our wedding…

for videos on how i made my brooch bouquet visit the link below:
http://2sqrtof3.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-make-your-own-brooquet.html



----------------------------------

1st WA countdown : wedding anniversary day!!


no pic, just a video of the bridal highlights that i stitched together:

Cape May Video from bluemarlinfish on Vimeo.

…and that was how our civil wedding was a year ago….
WA = wedding anniversary

and gown award goes to....

a few blogs ago, i posted about the church wedding gown hunt..... like i did with our civil wedding, i'll also post about how i found my "this is it" wedding gown for our church wedding....

it happened when i was looking at pronovias gowns.... i have a friend, who used to live in Morocco, told me about how his wife and him were strolling in the streets of spain when they saw a pronovias store....they went in and the wife decided she wants a pronovias gown for her wedding in the Philippines.... that was the first time i heard about pronovias.... i don't think i have a boyfriend yet that time but i do remember i started devouring their website  and salivating over their wedding gowns....

the pronovias gown that got the
hubby too mesmerized

fast forward, i was looking for wedding gowns.... one for the beach wedding appropriate gown and one for the church wedding....now, there's just one store near where i live that's a pronovias premium distributor and that's van cleve wedding pavillion in paoli.... tip: you would want to get your branded gowns from "premium" distributor to make sure it's not a knock off..... it was still kinda far from where i live but the next pronovias store is in New York, which is 2 hours away..... so i went there, with the hubby, fiance then.....yes, i was with the hubby, here's why..... but that didn't last long, we got yelled at about him helping me find my wedding gown and so i fired him as my wedding fashion consultant and signed up my girl friends to help me with my gown hunt, lol.... anyway, i wasn't sure how much pronovias gown would cost because they don't post the price online but what i do know is i want to try on some of their gowns, even for just the experience of having worn one....

i tried on a lot of pronovias gowns in all silhouettes and there was one that the hubby particulary likes (see photo on right).... i didn't like it though because it looks more like a red carpet or black tie event kinda gown and not weddingy.... and see that belt on that gown? that's $400, that's almost the price of my civil wedding gown.... there's one though that when i tried it on i just fell in love with it, that's the eresma.... but i still want to try on more gowns.....

on one of my many visits at van cleve

the first time i tried on the eresma

after that first visit at van cleve (the last visit to a gown store with the hubby) i still tried on more wedding gowns from different wedding stores and different gown brands.... i was able to find other church-wedding-gown worthy that i like but somehow i'm just not feeling it..... i went back to van cleve wedding pavillion the second time and this time with my friend Jet and her mom.... i tried on more pronovias gown..... they have new ones that day and tried on the hubby's fave and the one i like - eresma, to show my friend Jet and tita Helen.... there's another one that looks like eresma, called pamela, but it's pricier ($2,300) than eresma and heavier and it doesn't shimmer like eresma (haha, i like a few blings, lol)..... my friend and her mom agreed that the eresma is the better choice so on that day i told the girl who's waiting on me that i'm ordering eresma.....



so they got my measurements, i told them i want to add a detachable one-shoulder strap and that i want to change the back from zipper to corset (so i won't worry too much about gaining weight or losing weight), then  paid for the deposit.... and the best thing? since i bought it in december (dec 18, 2011, on my birthday!) they were having their year-end sale so i got it for $1,000..... for a pronovias gown, that's a steal!

changed the back from zipper to corset

that's me and my gown's side view

i didn't get to see my gown a year later....remember, i ordered it dec. 18, 2011 and my gown arrived some time in december 2012....i was supposed to have my first fitting in June but that didn't happen....so in short my wedding gown was late and it gave me too much stress but the important thing is it arrived before we left for the philippines (we left jan 11, 2013) so i'm good.....

now, now, i know what you're thinking..... that the hubby saw this already..... you're right but i was banking on the thought that he saw me wear too many wedding gowns and he heard me say "i like this gown" too many times that i was hoping he won't remember what eresma looks like.... and i did ask him after the church wedding and he said he vaguely remembered it so at least my wedding gown is still a surprise, lol.....

i customized it by adding the detachable lace shoulder

peach and yellow... with my female entourage

not your ordinary wedding shoes

Our church wedding's theme in the Philippines is travel and Paris and that's the theme of my custom-painted wedding shoes too.

The hubby is always the first fan of my figgie shoes. He was so proud of my first figgie shoes that when he saw my second pair for our church wedding in the Philippines he was in awe! He even took the shoes with him to show off some of his female friends.Lol.

I was actually supposed to just use my civil wedding figgie shoes again, that's why if you look at my white figgie shoes you'll see two dates (may 12, 2012 and january 19, 2013). But I fell in love with my first figgie shoes that I decided to order another one but this time with heels and yeah, red. Red because I love contrasting colors. White (my gown) and red goes really nice together.

Like my first figgie shoes, each images on my second figgie shoes also has a story.

click image for better resolution

On the shoes you'll see our names and the date of our church wedding. You'll also see an image of a structure, that is Fernbrook Gardens, our reception venue.

On the shoes you'll also see the Eiffel Tower. It's not there for cosmetic reasons. It's there as a symbol, that's where the hubby proposed (which you might have already known by now if you saw my blog about my first figgie shoes).

If you notice there is some kind of a pattern image behind the main images, it's a lace. Since, like I mentioned, part of our theme is Paris, I have to add some Parisian touch to it and what more to represent that but with french lace (well, and the Eiffel tower of course).

click image for better resolution

On the other side you will see some numbers. They are actually dates and coordinates. Coordinates of where the hubby proposed and coordinates where we had our civil wedding.

On that other side you will also see more travel theme images. There's a compass and a globe. Those aren't there just because our theme is travel, it also represents the hubby and i's love for travel.

On that same side of the shoes you'll also see an image of my brooch bouquet and the image of my first figgie shoes. It's a flat white wedding shoes that was also hand-painted by figgieshoes.com for my civil wedding. If you want to know the story behind my first figgie shoes click me.

Again, the lace pattern is there.

click image for better resolution

The back has images too. Here you'll see the words "i do" painted on each side and a rose pattern.

I love love love my figgie shoes. If I have enough money, I would love to give all my female entourage a pair of figgie shoes as a present *sigh*. Unfortunately, we're working on a budget and can't afford it.  Anyway, below is a photo of my first figgie shoes with our luggage tin and chocolates wedding favors and an eiffel tower props. Notice the January 19, 2013 date.

my first pair of figgie shoes with the january 19 date on the other side
(click image for better view)

If you want to order your own figgieshoes below are the links:

1. website
2. facebook
3. twitter

p.s.
bought the red shoes from amazon.com
brand name: bordello - violette

p.p.s.
below is the inspiration for my red and white shoes

more here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=326921150688153&set=a.250349895011946.61401.124267694286834&type=3&permPage=1