Monday, October 30, 2006

Etch a sketch

No, not the 70s hand toy. I'm talking about the sketching I did today to help the new florist of our wedding visualize things for THE day. His name is Eddie Dinapo, by the way, and his magic according to Tisha, is stretching one's budget while still accomodating the couple's floral wishes. And as you know, I am aaaall for that.

Here they are. These are not it definitely as certain innovations will have to be made but this is the ballpark idea of how things are going to look like.


Gowned out

I had previously wanted to rent or borrow my pettislip from Cebu as Tisha suggested but the tailor told me that the gown length depended a lot on the slip poof and length. So I decided to get my pettislip here.

I had my second fitting yesterday, Sunday. The gown fit very well as I don't think I gained a single pound from the first fitting which was 3 months ago, I think. The problem was, I didn't recall anymore which of the slips I had on when I had my gown altered. My tailor, Megan, wasn't around so I had to rely on feel. They had 2 kinds of slips so I tried on this tiered slip. I tried wearing the gown over it and it was ok but I kind of knew something was off. I just couldn't put my finger on it and I knew I had to go home to figure things out. So later when we got home, I checked the previous pics and I realized that I DID wear the OTHER slip during the first fitting. I had 4 pics of me with the slip on and the difference was apparent. So today, I called David's again and scheduled another re-fit with the right slip this time. I will be doing that on Friday when Megan will be around. They can cut the slip then.

**Funny thing w
hen we got home. I had previously hung the gown and veil by our window because it had to be high up. Come bedtime with the lights out, I got so scared of it. Thanks to a terrifying experience my sister had with a jacket hung by the doorknob when she was little, I dread the sight of anything hanging or draping in my bedroom. In my room in Cebu, all towels, hangers, etc. would be folded in a chair nearby. Until now, I still get pre-nightmares over hanging clothes or fabrics. I know it's stupid but it's my thing. Middle of the night, I had to lay down both my gown and veil on the living room couch and eventually transferred them near the heater closet. I mean, look at it. Doesn't THAT remind you of the Corpse Bride?

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Unplanned Accidental Impromptu Surprise Instant Purchase!

Joen and I love going to this store called Borsheims. They sell expensive watches, gems, stones, accessories, glassware and hundreds of other exquisite home decors. Although we don't go there that often, we love visiting the place because we salivate over our "future watches" and our "dream gem sets". Hoen, being a watch guy that he is, loves going there to revisit his "future watch" which will be the IWC. Just looking at it gives him a sense of joy that one day... ONE DAY... "YOU WILL BE MINE!! Bwahahaha!!"

Anyway, last Saturday, we had wanted to eat at this place called Bonefish Grill which was right beside Borsheim's. The resto was closed so we opted for Whole Foods instead which was right across. This slight change of plans didn't cloud our mindset to visit good old Borsheims. So there we went and we do our usual circling around the place when, just right when we were about to leave, we decided to check out the back of the store. I then told Joen, "Hey, I wonder if they sell Swarovski. Their website didn't say so though so most likely..." and before I could finish my sentence, I saw their display area. Lots and lots of Swarovski crystals. So we checked it out not expecting to see the necklace I fell in love with online. Lo! It was there! Waiting for me to arrive, after all! This necklace reminded me so much of that necklace Carrie got from the Russian on Sex and the City during their last episode (It was even accidentally pulled out from her neck when he wanted to get a hold of her. She ended up getting the crystals from her cleavage). This necklace was neither in Von Maur or David's Briar so I wasn't that hopeful about it. Hennyway, after trying it on and "ooohhh"-ing and "aaahhh"-ing over it, we decided to buy it there. And since I could not decide which earrings to get yet, we settled for a piece-meal purchase.

I was sooo happy to have finally bought a piece of my jewelry. And did I mention that their price was cheapest because of their usual 20% discount? The best in life may not be free all the time, but it doesn't hurt if they're at least marked down.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Brrr...

This is not related to the wedding but I just wanted to post this because it's getting on my nerves LITERALLY! Haha. I'm talking about the cold, cold, cold kisses of Autumn. Time to layer, wear gloves, boots, scarves, caps or ear muffs, and bury my feet deep deep into my UGGs which buoy me while I brave the outside breeze. I should say, I'm coping with the weather so much better than I did last year but I still have the same animosity toward the wind chill. I am just so so happy that we are spending 3 weeks of the winter back home in Pinas!!! YEY!!!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Money and Card Box

Instead of walking around with envelopes of well-wishes, Joen and I decided to have a Wedding Chest or receptacle or Wishing Well or more bluntly, the Money and Card Box for cash gifts and greeting cards. I saw one when I got a catalog and now, we're looking for more online. Here are two I've seen so far.



The only problem is the size. These two seem too big but we'll see.

The Purse Burst

It's unbelievable how out of the thousands of Bridal Purses I've seen I only like 2 of them. Much of this has to do with size and the price. Anything too small wouldn't cut it as I would have to have myself a stash of very useful thingamabobs such as mints, wet tissue, dry tissue, perfume, etc. Anything too big is out of the question either. It's not like I'll be island hopping or anything. Here are what I have seen and liked so far. Also, I'll only be using this for 2 hours tops so really no need to spend a lot.

The first one is from David's. It's an ivory/champagne purse and I just love how that goes perfectly with my ivory/champagne gown. Unfortunately, this will be on stock on November 29 yet. Should I wait? I don't know.

The second one is something I saw online. It's a cute champagne purse. Cute. Cute. Cute!



Monday, October 16, 2006

I shey, You shey, We shey, Hershey!

Boxes arrived! Two, actually, and packaged together by a tape. They were from Carson, the company I ordered the Hershey chocolates from. I didn't open them right away since I wanted a lasting suspense so I asked Hoen to open them the next day (and at such an unGodly hour, he grumbled, hehe). I saw our lovely little bars of chocolates! Whoopee!



Thursday, October 12, 2006

Top this!!

We got our cake topper last week when we were on our way to the weekend Engaged Encounter so we had to bring it along with us. I just opened the package yesterday and just loved it. However, the bride had sunset blonde hair and, well, I don't. So I took a black Sharpie and marked it. Traced it, colored it, shaded it and made it... BLACK. Hehe. My hair is brown-black by the way but who cares? The groom had already brown hair which is perfect for Hoen because he has brown hair. So here's the before and after.



Ain't that geenyuz?

Monday, October 09, 2006

Our Engaged Encounter

Joen and I had just come from the weekend long Catholic Engaged Encounter. We went there not knowing what to expect but no regrets. It was a rather enlightening and inspiring weekend as brave stories of the facilitating couples made us appreciate our blessings more. We also made friends with the other couples who had their own stories. My roommate, Monique, pretty and nice as she is turned out to have been widowed 3 years back and met the mother of her future husband now through one of the Widowed sessions she attended. She is 30 years old and has her life ahead of her. I liked her very much actually. Joen's roommate turned out to be HER fiance so we constantly joked about "arranging" a special overnight visit. Hehe. I would recommend the Engaged Encounter to any couple-to-be as it makes for some much needed learning about each other. It was cakewalk for Joen and I since we've always prided ourselves for keeping our communication channels open but even with that, there were some things we wrote down which we weren't able to verbally relay to each other. I was just grumbling over my lack of sleep since I find it hard to doze off when I'm in a strange or new place. What's worse, I couldn't rely on Joen's warmth and sonorous snoring beside me so I was not in my sleeping element. Good thing, my Lemony Snicket book and iPod kept me company as I stared up at the ceiling, waiting for the sun to rise. Hehe.

Here are a few pics.


This is my roommate, Monique.


Coooold... Brrrr...


This is me on my bed.



And Joen in his.


I'm gonna sue you Paparazzo!



Toothbrush break



Our name tag.


Our certificate.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

POP-a-fetti!

I've been looking for Wedding confetti when I remembered popping a small one at Dimples' Wedding not too long ago. I asked her how much those small poppers were but alas! She and Auntie Pyr don't even recall having those during the wedding. Haha. I seem to remember popping one of those while on our table. Anyway, Dimples' office is near Hannah's Party Supplies so she checked on the price. Turns out it's Php 22.95 a piece and the big one's Php 129.95. Seems those poppers are much cheaper here.

There's a store here called Mangelsen's and it's just this huuuge place with all the party supplies you could possibly want and some paper materials, artsy-fartsy stuff and quite surprisingly, kitchen stuff. They even had a baking class going at the back of the place when we were there (fondant decorating!) We'll probably go there soon. There's a lot of cheap stuff online but the shipping costs so much more than the product. Not worth it.

Ding-dong!

I am usually not at home during the day but when I am, I just love the sound of the downstairs buzzer and the knock on our door. That can only mean, "Wedding stuff delivery!" Hehe. Now that I am on a purchasing frenzy, those buzzes and knocks make my day (aside from Joen's hugs and kisses, of course).

The bubbles and bells have arrived. So cute!


Monday, October 02, 2006

Not-so-desperate Color

Desperate Housewive's episode today was of Bree's wedding to the suspect dentist. And whaddyouknow. Her three blooming Bridesmaids were wearing nothing less than... CHOCOLATE BROWN! Haha! It's so nice to see our wedding colors shown on screen and elegantly too. Can't wait to see all our Godiva Maids in their chocolate-y glory!


To crystal or not to crystal

These past few days, I've asked several people whether or not it's tacky to wear Swarovski as wedding jewelry. So far, all of these helpful people have said that it's totally fine. The thing is, I had never actually thought a lot about what jewelry I'd wear on my wedding day because I really am not a huge jewelry person. I remember my Mom having to have sets of diamonds, sapphires, rubies, jades, etc. She had it all in her overnight bag. I guess I didn't inherit the gem gene. Anyway, a few months ago, I learned that my ear-pierce allergy is back. My mom told me many, many years ago that I could only wear "real jewelry" like real gold and real silver. Nothing coated, plated or whatever. Of course, as a kid, this meant pffft to me but now, I realize just how important it is to be able to wear whatever you want in your ear. A few years back, I became an earring-philiac when the allergy went away for a time. It would come back sometimes but they never got as bad as they used to when I was still a kid. Imagine going to school having to wear those genuine sapphire earrings my Mom gave me. It was burdening to say the least.

Many years and 20 something pairs of earrings later, I have to accept that I cannot wear any of them until my allergies go away again. The entire summer I hadn't accessorized my ears that much and I am such an earring person! So this is quite an issue for me. I don't want to have to spend so much on jewelry (record shows I've been very good at missing a stud or two from time to time) so I'm taking the practical route right now. Thankfully, I saw these really really nice Swarovksi pieces at Von Maur a couple of weeks ago. I figured, if I wear chandeliers, I'll have to do away with the necklace and just wear a bracelet instead. If I wear a drop earring, I can wear a simple necklace with the bracelet. I've pretty much decided on wearing my hair long, twisted and waved, with half of it tied on the back (I believe the popular Filipino term is "half moon"). I've been twisting my hair a lot for quite some time now and I should say I've become a Master of it! Haha!

Anyway, here are a few pics I took 2 weeks ago while spending an entire hour trying things on.


Who knows? I just might get a Pearl set in the end. Hehe.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Busy bodies

Here's Joen at Kinko's utilizing those biceps to cut through the excess sides of our invites.







And here I am inserting those cards into the envelope.








Busy, busy, busy!