wedding album

My husband always tease me about being paranoid and always thinks of the worst scenario. Around late 2002, our place got burned down. My old report cards, magazine collection and pictures were gone or at least heavily damaged. Hence, I'm attaching our wedding album as part of my disaster recovery procedure.

wedding paraphernalia ...

• antique coins used by Biboy's parents
• Bishop Soc's christmas gift (2003) - hand-made rosary
• our favorite bible - Christian Community Bible

wedding preparations at the Astoria Plaza with my hair and make-up artist, Anna Paniza

strike a pose!

such a happy and handsome groom!

last family picture as a single guy.

some more shots before the ceremony. our cute entourage a few minutes before their march =)

supplier ratings - cake and rings

Cake: Sugar Box
Contact: Emily Uy – 0917.534.8074
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· We really liked our cake. It was soooo cute! The cake was not a priority for us and we didn’t want to spend much. Sakto si Emily kasi maganda yung cake and masarap at syempre swak sa budget.
· We liked the apple rum (our cake flavor) and choco walnut more than the pound cake and carrot walnut.
· She is very creative. Ganda nung ginawa nyang island namin sa top layer Ü
· She’s also very warm and friendly. Sobrang okay kausap!

Things to look out for:
· Hectic ang sked ni Emily so better make your appointments 2 weeks in advance. Dami nyang client kaya hindi pwedeng biglaan magmeet Ü

Rings: Golden Hills
The Jewelry 2nd Floor Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan
Contact: 726.5189
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· The people we talked to really know how to make jewelry. Involved talaga sila sa production and not merely sales people. They made suggestions to our design to make it better and more practical.
· The price is very reasonable. Got extra discounts because we booked sa bridal fair.
· They would adjust for free up to 2 sizes and lifetime free cleaning.
· You can have the design altered anytime … although hindi naman to advisable pero gagawin nila if u want to have a new look for the rings every year hehe
· We had our rings made in March but decided to claim it later for safekeeping. When we claimed it in August, the bride’s ring was half a size too small. We returned it and they readily made a new one, since they were sensitive to some people’s belief that cutting rings was bad luck.

supplier ratings - photo/video, hair and make-up, gowns

Photo and Video: Little Dreams
Burgundy Place, Katipunan Ave.
Contact: Mel Cortez/ Jocelyn - 434.9047/ 0919.268.6891
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· Our photographers were Edu Cortez and Alex They came in early and when they arrived, they have eaten already. But, of course, we offered them snacks naman. They really worked their ass off, dere-deretso trabaho, very professional.
· Very easy to work with. Professional, punctual but very warm and friendly photogs. Non-disruptive style of taking pictures (photojournalistic).
· Ok yung terms of payment, very budget and cash flow-friendly.
· The account officers (Joan and Jocelyn) for Decisive Moments/ Little Dreams are also very accommodating and warm. They remember your special requests and makes sure they write it down in the contract.

Things to look out for:
· Iba pa rin if Mel Cortez was to shoot your wedding. Wala masyadong WOW shots but we got what we paid for =)
· They tend to forget to follow up on your deliverables. Although the couple should be the one to have initiative in submitting their selection/feedback, we didn’t see any effort on them to check on how we were doing with the things we need to submit to them (photo selection/comments on video). This is probably because of the volume of their work.

Hair and Make-Up: Anna Paniza
Contact: 0927.873.2768 / 0918.906.7641
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· With Anna, hindi ka maiilang. Masasabi mo yung gusto mo which is very important sa HMU.
· She loves her craft and it shows in her work.
· Sanay sya magmake up for pictorials so ok yung itsura sa camera.
· She was able to make us beautiful all by herself.

Things to look out for:
· Wala naman. Happy talaga kami kay Anna. I even asked her to do my make up again for a friend’s wedding Ü

Gowns: Mila de Leon
Contact: 641.0251
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· Reasonably priced.
· Hindi kami nagworry na hindi magagawa yung gowns on time.

Things to look out for:
· The gown of one of my nieces (not part of the entourage) medyo hindi maganda yung workmanship. Bawat gown iba kasi yung gumagawa, out of the 14gowns made, 1 lang yung medyo hindi outright good.

supplier ratings - music, flowers, venues

Hotel: Astoria Plaza
D. Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig
Contact: Mara – 687.1111
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· We liked the big space. It was a steal since we could not get a space that big for the same price we paid. Mara, our contact, was easy to talk to.
· We got the platinum club card for discounts. Unfortunately, wala na raw nito starting this 2006. Iba na yung offer nila. They have this time-sharing scheme.

Things to look out for:
· If you are looking for a hotel with a lot of picture worthy locations, this is not for you hehe. It does not have a grand stairway and lobby :P but it worked for us Ü


Music and Sound System: Eileen Miguel and Jamsy Professional Sounds
Contact: Eileen Miguel – 0917-8241188
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· Eileen and the rest of the choir are our friends in Singles for Christ. We wanted people close to us to have parts in our wedding. Touched talaga kami that they did all those songs for us. Alam namin na they had to squeeze in practices for the wedding. May surprise pang violinist! Ito yung nagpa-angat ng wedding talaga. We really felt so blessed.
· Eileen’s credentials are very impressive having a wealth ofexperience in the music industry! She belongs to a network of highlyskilled musicians and can arrange for you an ensemble that will suit your requests.
· Eileen recommended Dennis and we trusted her. Galing! We met Dennison our wedding day na. He brought everything. Sound quality was good, andthey worked perfectly with the choir/ musicians. Perfect synch sa sound needs, whether it be live instruments or pipe-in music. No problemwhatsoever =D

Flowers: 1816
Meralco Ave., San Antonio Village, Pasig City
Contact: Robert Blancaflor – 0918.897.1816
Rating:
· I was disappointed with this supplier. The bouquets were beautifullymade but the flowers were wilted. Buti na lang hindi masyadong halata sa pictures hehe pero when I saw the flowers nalungkot talaga ako. I was expecting na least of my worries na yung flowers kasi nga may pangalan yung florist … The offertory flowers and the toss bouquet were nice though.

Reception: Valle Verde 6 Clubhouse
Contact: Shirley – 631.3970
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· We didn’t have a difficult time with this supplier.
· Very affordable.
· Good for a maximum of 250 people.
· Ample parking space, safe and private environment.

Things to look out for:
· You need to know someone from Valle 6 to endorse you. Thank you, Anna for all the trouble!

supplier ratings - food!

Caterer: Hizon’s Catering
Sanville Subd., Tandang Sora, Q. C.
Tel. Nos. 928.3672, 925.0103
Contact: Ella – 0915.995.3911
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· Easy to talk to
· They were not too tight with the payments. Although this is reallyimportant hindi sila nangungulit about it.
· Our account executive, Ella, really made extra effort to satisfy our requirements. She gave us a lot of freebies and readily offered help and suggestions. She even agreed to meet us in Galleria which was near our office so we didn’t have to go all the way to Tandang Sora. Plus, lagi pang pwede mag-food tasting basta may meeting kami ng Saturday Ü At thattime kasi, they were having negative comments sa w@wies so they paid extra care if you are a w@wie couple. They were able to effectively redeem themselves and went on to be one of the top ten suppliers for 2005.
· The waiters were very attentive to the couple’s needs. Very experienced sila sa food service kaya no worries talaga! They were able to deliver/ attend to most of our special arrangements.
· Sobrang daming freebies!
· They fixed the venue well. They did not scrimp on the flowers. Hindi kami nag-upgrade pero maraming bulaklak.
· They gave us the signature frame kahit pinatanggal namin. Pero wereturned it naman kasi sayang lang at baka magamit pa ng iba.
· Masarap syempre yung food and nauwi naman ang mga tira. They evencalled us the following morning for the lechon leftover (head and bones) na hindi namin nauwi =)
· For some strange reason, our bridal car which was supposed to be a Benz Sedan was upgraded to a 6-door stretch limo. Probably the original car became unavailable so they replaced it with a better one, at least hindi downgraded. That’s a big plus!

Things to look out for:
· Although there were a lot of flowers, they only used local chrysanthemums and mums. For us, this was not too big a deal but for thosewho are particular with flower arrangements, they might get OC on this. But Hizon’s does pretty decent flower arrangements if you’re willing to pay extra.
· Make sure the lay out of the venue is correct. They weren’t able tofollow exactly the floor layout that we agreed on so some guests who weresupposed to be in adjacent tables were too far from each other. Again, forthose who are very particular about the table arrangements, this may become a problem. Be sure to conduct oculars or have accurate room dimensions to avoid this.
· We had wines served pero hindi kasi to napagusapan beforehand. May mga tables na hindi naserve-an ng wine for toasting but all the unopened bottles were returned naman. Hindi lang to na coordinate properly.

supplier ratings - one year in the making

Our wedding is one of the events in my life that I definitely want to remember. I guess it is fitting to make it part of my first blog entry. My husband and I would like to give credit to the suppliers who had a hand at making our wedding extra special.

Here it goes...

Church: Mary the Queen Parish
Madison St., Greenhills West, San Juan
Contact: Jojo – 722.9711 to 15
Rating: Highly Recommended

Good points:
· We chose this church coz the bride wanted a relatively small church with just 1 main aisle.
· From reservation ‘til we got our wedding certificate ok na to talaga.
· We originally wanted the 330pm slot but was given the 2pm kasi may nauna na nagpa-book. When the 330 slot was freed, they immediately called us to ask if we want to book it. Somehow we felt it was God’s affirmation of the marriage because he granted our very desires!
· Enriching sobra yung Pre-Cana. We really appreciated the service of the couples in the parish. They take time to give talks to soon-to-wed couples. They even give their numbers if we need some advice. Katuwa talaga!
· The assistant, Dennis, during our wedding sobrang bait. Pati yung Maid-of-Honor natuwa sa kanya and insisted na bigyan naming siya ng tip. Hehehe…
· We got our certificate the week after kaya lang may typo so inayos nila. Sept 13 pa lang nakaregister na agad sa San Juan.
· It so happened that our wedding date is the birthday of the BlessedVirgin kaya sakto talaga Ü
· It was also the birthday of the officiant, Fr. Hart. Ang cool talaga pag si God ang nagplan ng wedding =)

Things to look out for:
· Hindi advisable kung pawisin ang couple, hehe. No aircon kaya baka masyadong mainit for the summer months pero ok sa tag-ulan at Christmas season Ü