wedding cake hunting

i think i already mentioned that our theme is travel with some touch of Paris (please read our "Who is TwoSqrtOfThree" page for some history *blush*)......

anyway....

so i was happily blog hopping when i saw pictures of a luggage wedding cake, i like that!
and then i saw an eiffel tower cake, i like that too!
then i showed them to my h2b he liked both too!

oh well, so much for trying to lower down our wedding expenses, tsk tsk, LOL

now, we're thinking whether or not we'll just offset the free wedding cake from our caterer and just get some other freebie and just go ahead and splurge on the cake we want or keep the caterer's free cake to save on cost.... but then again, it's too early to commit on that cake thing.... so for the meantime i'm going to go scour the internet for wedding cake design ideas that matches our theme and just decide what to do with our cake a few months before the wedding....... so yep, we'll keep looking.....


by the way,
here are the cake suppliers that we've looked into so far:
http://joysangabrielcakes.blogspot.com/
http://www.claycakes.com




photocredits: http://www.dragonsanddaffodils.com/dragonsanddaffodils_thankyous.html

mock up napkin ring

got the DIY napkin ring idea from one of my fellow w@wies (i love my w@w sissses!)


i like crafts and when i saw the napkin ring that one of the w@wies did i immediately put that on my DIY wedding projects.....

and last friday, after i got off from work, i went to A.C.Moore (the cheaper Michael's option) and bought some beads, nylon and ribbons so i could start doing the mock-up napkin ring..... i do mock-ups so i could decide on what design, bead combination, color combination i really want to do for the final product.... i'm hoping to do some this weekend....
(that pic isn't mine)



this is one of the DIY projects that i need to start right away because i have to make one for each of our guests...... it's not like the STD or WYB or invitations that you just have to do it once and just print it how many number of times you want....

anyway, if i pull these off my guests will have a lot trinkets and souvenirs to take home after our wedding!

exciting!


photocredits:
http://lovin2bead.blogspot.com
http://westcoastcrafty.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/holidays-and-napkin-rings/

wedding gown dilemma

i'm you're typical girly-girl... i like accessorizing...i love clothes...i love shoes...i love bags... and usually the peak of all these love for girly stuff heightens when the girly-girls are getting married..

i am drolling over pronovias and maggie sottero's.... i am lusting over cary santiago's laser cut gowns....

when my friend told me that her gown from cecilio abad is Php35,000 i was shocked! i didn't know wedding gowns are that expensive! she said it's because she wanted a really nice gown (she got married 3 years ago).... when i emailed cecilio abad the base price is now is Php75,000, my jaw dropped!

"base"

meaning, not using the high-end fabric, no or very minimal beading, the design is basic...... and don't get me started on *gasp* the cary santiago gowns.... pronovias and maggie sottero is ofcourse another story too....

ofcourse i want to be really beautiful and i want to wear the most flattering and beautiful gown that everyone would envy but i have to keep my priorities straight..... it's not that we can't afford them (and i'm saying that in all humility), in fact i have a LOT of time to save for it.... but whenever i would look at our ever growing excel sheet and peek into the budget tab i just really don't like how our budget just instantly balloons when i put in the numbers for the wedding gown....

i have a list of stuff to splurge on and stuff that are negotiable and the gown is in the "no splurge" column...... i just can't justify the cost.... i don't want to splurge on something that i would just wear for a day and then would just start gathering dust and would just be extra closet space.....

right now, i'm seriously considering divisoria gowns...... i'm thinking maybe i can be that-girl-who-can-pull-off-a-divisoria-gown..... "nasa nagdadala yan", right?....... maybe i should just approach this like how we approached choosing our photographers and videographers which is choosing according to skills and not according to being a famous "brand" name.....

now, i can't wait to come home to the philippines to go to divisoria and tutuban and look for hazel garcia or discover nico mendez or sohrab arcega or one of those divisoria couturiers just waiting to be discovered...... i really think somewhere in that maze-like place called divisoria i would find my perfect gown..... and i think i know just how to keep my mind off those expensive gowns/designers......

*chants to self* isipin ang surpresang regalo na gusto nimong ihatag sa imong bana -- aman***o

Update: i got my gown from Pronovias and they're on sale! it's like best of both worlds, branded name and cheap ($1,500  includes customization/alteration costs or Php60,000 + )


photo credits:
http://sangmaestro.com/tag/inexpensive-wedding-dresses/

we got our final caricature

yes, i admit, i'm an OCD bride and i salute jo for being very very patient...

i have requested for a lot of changes and additions like background, the flower color, the hair accesories, the hair, just to name a few but he patiently listened and agreed to make the changes..

i'm one happy camper!

thank you jo!

now, we can start working  on our WYB and STD DIY cards..

offsetting stuff

i pride myself as a very good haggler when i was stiill in the philippines..... in tagalog "makapal ang mukha", lol
take me to baclaran or divisoria and i can get a store lady/man go after me agreeing to my price and getting something for half or even quarter the original price..... i also know how to spot a bargain from a 1,000 mile radius, LOL
and this, uh, talent? came in handy during our supplier bookings....


here's what we got so far....

1. our **worry-free package is supposed to be priced at Phpxxx,xxx but we got a Php50,000 discount plus some freebies...

2. we have a free hotel as part of our **worry-free package..... i told our AE that i don't want to get that anymore and if we can offset that and can we just get the string quartet instead..... had to haggle for a bit and we got the our String Quartet for just Php9K...... original price is Php20K...... and they'll play for both the ceremony and the reception.....

3. our caterer package includes the emcee....  i asked if we could off set it and and if we can get the bridal car instead....  and we got it! they gave us the Mercedes Benz E220....whatever that is, LOL

4. we also got our suppliers food for free! (good for 10 people)

5. and they upgrade our desserts from just 2 desserts to a desserts bar which also includes the fondue....


sometimes being "makapal' pays off, really, LOL




** venue, caterer, florist (ceremony, reception), string quartet, mobile bar (cocktails, mocktails), basic lights and sounds, 1 free amenity (we got the gondola)

PAR vs LED for mood/ambience lights

our lights and sounds supplier finally replied about mood/ambience lighting add-on and my h2b and i are scratching our heads wondering what the difference between PAR and LED is.....we're familiar with LED but what on earth is PAR? and google wasn't much help.....

fortunately, someone from w@w was so kind to share with us the knowledge that her friend lighting director told her (special shout out to miss janice! and to her friend macky mangasi)....

read on...


"Pars are widely used in theatre, concerts and motion picture production when a
substantial amount of flat lighting is required for a scene. Pars produces an
intense oval pool of light. Colors would depend on the Type of color filter you
would use for the purpose.

LED Pars however, use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a light source. LED
instruments are an alternative to traditional stage lighting instruments which
use halogen lamp or high-intensity discharge lamps. Like other LED instruments,
they have high light output with lower power consumption. You can interchange
colors without using a color filter. color mixing is done using three or more
colors. primary colors are RED, GREEN and BLUE. However, LED instruments cannot
be used to create a hard edged beam.

***I primarily use LEDs to color the stage, for backlighting and to set the
mood. I use the PARS to accentuate and as Frontals. :-)  " - from janice lighting director friend


here are the choices that our sounds and lights suppliers gave us......i think we know which one to get now.....again special thanks to my fellow w@w janice....


Add on/Upgrade For Reception
Ambiance/mood lights and effects
24 – unit PAR 64 10,500
16 – unit PAR 64 9,500
12 – unit PAR 64 7,500
8 - unit PAR 64 3,500
2 – unit moving head 3,500
1 – unit follow spot 1,500
12 – LED lights 3w 7,500
2 - unit moving head wash 4,500
16 - unit led lights 3w 9,500



for additional reading: http://electronicsb2b.com/news/how-led-players-can-participate-in-govt-projects/




photo credits: http://electronicsb2b.com

Hiding suppliers for security reasons

there was this one w@w sis who shared her story about someone posing as her husband-to-be and cancelling their reservation to this certain major supplier.....it's a good thing she learned about it (the supplier CCed her when the supplier replied to the email cancellation).........

that's scary.... the last thing a soon-to-wed couple wants to happen is to realize their major suppliers won't show up on their wedding because someone  so evil  decided to mess up with their reservations and canceled it....

so no suppliers names and other certain wedding details for now.....
paranoid? fine, but better safe than sorry.....

suppliers update - ambience light

so we were trying to block our date with the FG suppliers, right?
so far here are the suppliers who replied.

1. caterer - confirmed
2. string quartet - confirmed
3. florist - confirmed
4. lights and sounds - confrimed
5. bar - confrimed

still need to know what PAR and LED lights mean so we would know what mood/ambience lights to get for the reception....

here are our choices for mood/ambience lights:

Add on/Upgrade For Reception

Ambiance/mood lights and effects

24 – unit PAR 64                10,500

16 – unit PAR 64                  9,500

12 – unit PAR 64                  7,500

  8 - unit PAR 64                   3,500

  2 – unit moving head            3,500

  1 – unit follow spot               1,500

12 – LED lights 3w                 7,500

 2 - unit moving head wash      4,500

16 - unit led lights 3w             9,500

new addiction...

i started hoarding these pretty babies as soon as i made up my mind about what i want to do with my bouquet...
unfortunately, it looks like these would cost more than what the real flowers would cost....i just had to keep reminding myself that at least it won't wilt and can turn into an heirloom...

did some mock-up bouquet today and realized it isn't as easy as i thought it would be.....wiring is a challenge since not all brooches are the same...... i'll try again as soon as i have enough "colors" that i want for my bouquet....

that's another advantage if you have enough time to prepare...... you have enough buffer time to collect the materials you need to use for DIY projects...... i had to bid these vintage brooches on ebay  and i only bid on certain colors and have to make sure i don't go over my bid budget....  the brooches would initially start at  $.99 but never stays at $.99 and can go up to  $30! ...... you also have to take into consideration the shipping fee.....shipping fee adds up specially if you're buying from ten different sellers or sellers  who are too greedy and don't give you shipping discounts and they'll charge you shipping fee for each individual item when what they'll actually do is to put your items in one single package, what a rip off..... shipping is just $2-4 for a single package with 1-5 brooches, just an FYI....

photo above shows my slowly growing collection of vintage enamel metal brooch .......some are signed and some unsigned..... some are clean, while some are not.....my favorite so far are the white enamel brooches and the milk glass ones..... i'm trying to collect peach brooches but that color is hard to come by.....

first monogram attempt

i tried using photoshop elements but i don't know how to combine layers and copy-paste them into a new blank canvass with a transparent background....


this is the result.... a non-transparent background monogram.....

i'll try again when the mood strikes....

frustrations

we didn't know that we are the one who should contact our chosen suppliers included on our FG package to block our dates.... and here we are thinking "ah, let's just get worry-free, for less hassle booking"..... there's nothing worry-free about it.... more like worry-full!

so i emailed our chosen caterer, chosen florist, chosen string quartet, the mobile bar to request to block our date.... and from the way they replied to my email it looks that was the first time they heard about us.......

this is an exercise of frustration!

but anyway our chosen string quartet replied and said they just blocked our date, same with our caterer and the mobile bar..... no news with the florist yet......

woooosahhhh..... inhale.... exhale.... then fart....

we also emailed the supplier for lights and sounds.....FG has just one accredited supplier for that.... hopefully they'll reply soon too...


and did i mention FG is too slow to reply.... i had to wait for a week before i get a reply to any of my question...... it even took them forever to give me our contract and deposit payment receipt......... *sigh* i wish there's a place where i could buy patience, i'll definitely need a lot!

i'm not being a bridezilla..... you have to understand we are an overseas couple and we can't just call our suppliers anytime nor can we visit them..... everything is done via email so its really frustrating when the response time is really slow......

there.... im done venting..... for the day, haha

divisoria ToBuy list

sinamay - brown
paper twist narrow rope
plastic headbands - kid size
sinamay flowers - peach, yellow, white
big bottle w/ cork
parchment paper (recycled)
beads
nylon strings
rolls of ribbon - peach, yellow, white
embroidery circle - what do you call that thing where you place the cloth before you start your embroidery?
tulle
lace
parasols
blue tsinelas
stringed capis for the arbor



<to be continued>