Moreno Wedding Plans

Life is like a Vintage Box of Chocolates

2007-02-13T13:47:00.000-06:00

Ok. So ever since we got back home, I haven't been able to find the perfect wedding box to stash all our keepsakes in. I went to Target, Walmart, etc and didn't find anything. Then yesterday, at Michaels, I found THE box to have. Ta-dah!!!

These are all the stuff I've had sitting on Hoen's La-z-Boy for a month and that's the box. A vintage-y looking chocolate truffles box that looks like it came straight out of an Antiques Roadshow auction. Haha! Me loving it, me buying it, me using it. =)))

Not quite done

2007-02-06T00:32:00.000-06:00

Let me just say that up until now, there are still a lot of wedding pictures I haven't seen! I just found dozens of really good ones and I wasn't able to upload them! Ugh. I hate being lazy uploading and burning pictures. But most of all, I hate hating it.

Beyond the call of Duty

2007-01-31T14:47:00.000-06:00

This blog has served way beyond its primary purpose.

Now, everytime a friend comes to me, tells me that they are getting married and asks for my help one way or another, I end up leading them to my blog. I just realized that this blog really held my hand while we were planning our wedding and that every marrying couple can relate to what I went through last year. I am just happy to help in any way I can because I know how exciting yet time-consuming planning a wedding is. I empathize to all those who want to have the best of everything and for those who just want to get it over and done with. Whichever situation you're in, I wish you all the luck.

So Norvin, Eva, Lucille, Taray... much luck to your weddings! And yes, I am just here if you need anything.

Gift season ain't over!

2007-01-23T23:33:00.000-06:00

Before we left the US, I sent our invitations to people here who wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding. I sent them the invite along with our questionnaire and a Christmas card. Killing three birds with one stone, if you know what I mean. We are so glad to have some of them still send in their replies along with their Wedding gifts. Just today we got 2 - one from Jeremy, Joen's officemate and friend and the other from Gelyn, my classmate from elementary to college.

It's nice to feel thought of. Of course, the wedding picture compliments still come a'flowin' =)

** Come to think of it, Oona still her gift in SanFo. Hahaha

The Cake Room

2007-01-17T21:01:00.000-06:00

After having a little over an hour of rest in the bridal suite with the make-up crew, the harem, ma and pa and a little later, Jones and Ate Joyce, Joen and I made it to the Baltic Room for our much anticipated Reception. When we got there, we were told by Tisha to wait 10 more minutes, which was fine. We went up to the lobby and chatted a bit with the Bitches who were on their way down. Anyway, as we were about to enter the room, Teody was frantically looking for the room keys as he was supposed to pop the big confetti upon our entrance. Haha. Things still went well with our bubbled welcome as both kids and adults met our entry with bubbles and smiles. I knew the minute we were in that it was going to be a fun night.

To start off, Tisha reluctantly agreed to host the reception with Kuya JJ now that Sam confirmed there was no float from Ormoc before 11 pm that night. Too bad because I made a deal with Tisha long ago that in OUR wedding, she was NOT going to host. I just wanted her to sit down, look pretty and enjoy her food. But such was not the case the night of our wedding. It wasn't like I had a choice. She knew almost everyone important and she had read the program with Sam. Good thing Kuya JJ was ok to co-host with her so she wouldn't feel so alone on the podium. MUCH THANKS, HIJA! MUCH THANKS, KUYA! Going back to how the night started,
Amy's doxology was hair-raising especially on the part when she transitioned towards the "Amen." She really does have a beautiful voice. The food was very good even though I didn't eat very much. We knew almost everyone in the room, which I'm told, is rare in weddings. We took pics of us in each table and we were able to thank the people there for going despite the Typhoon Signal no. 1. Ate Joyce's tagalog song number with John got whistles! Haha. Tito Roy and the choir's song numbers were delivered wholeheartedly and well-practiced and for that, we really appreciated it. The Love Story c/o Kuya JJ was off the script (Eyes pop!) but it was much better because he used his own words based on his "observation" (kuno). An Obsessive Compulsive and a Carefree person, he says, are who make up our marriage. You don't say... Hehe.

A Video of the Harem before and AFTER Joen snagged me was put together by Leg and it made me cry. It made me realize just how much I miss my best friends who have become like family to me all these years. Haaayyy. Further, videos of our Pre-nuptial shots and of our Childhood to Engagement pictures were looped in the Widescreen. It was our first time to have seen the pre-nuptial pictures taken by Tabong, Dave and Charles Buenaconsejo and so were excited to view them. Joen and I formed a little affiliation with the Buenaconsejos while we were in Cebu because it was fun working with them, especially Charles who has an eccentric eye for the camera. The flowers were very pleasing to the eye as well because they weren't too loud or overbearing to the whole decor theme. Much love to the punctual and professional Eddie Dinapo who was a delight to meet with. The cake was a surprise treat, that's for sure! First of all, we had no idea it was going to be that big. Haha! I knew it was going to have a 14-inch base but the rest of the layers really WOW'd us. People commented on the cake a lot and I'm very proud of the design we chose and of the pics we had displayed beside it, which were of our grandparents, both alive and dead. The cute "Laughing couple" caketopper fell and chipped the nose of the bride, according to Tisha. Too bad but it hardly hurt the cake's overall appeal. I gave the caketopper to her for HER wedding. Hehe.

The fun parts were indeed fun. Watching my girlfriends bend over for NOTHING, except for Daphne's case, was very entertaining to me!! They were worried about their cleavagevilles and their dresses but what the hell. As the song goes, "It's my party and I'll LAUGH if I want to.. LAUGH if I want to... LAUGH if I want to!"I had planned to throw it to Daphne but I had hoped she would be at the far side of the group. Unfortunately, she was near me so I had to hit her butt with the bouquet to prove a point! Bwahaha! Sorry Daphens. The Musical Chair game's losers were MY classmates in St. Ben, An and Raymond. Tsk tsk. Sayang. I would've wanted total strangers going at it but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Glad to have finally met An's Fil-Am boyfriend though who was a good sport as An raised the garter up Raymond's leg. Or was he? (Didn't mean to start something guys ok?) Speaking of Raymond, his speech during the toast was baseless, as far as Joen was concerned. But not to me!! I know who HE was talking about. Tisha and I went to school with her and we were friends with her! Haha. Poor Joen... =)

Our first dance was very nice. When Tisha announced "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star as one of our songs, I heard a few gasps. Well, it is one of my favorite songs. Joen and I enjoyed being in each other's arms while dancing to the slow song but when "Happy Together" by the Turtles came on, we enjoyed swinging and winging it! The confetti, which Teody had the hardest time popping, (not in Leg's case, ha!) embellished our pics of the dance. We had fun watching the kids gather the confetti pieces in their arms and throwing it at us or in the air. Megan, Jaja, Juancho and Nino did the rounds in making sure we had bits of paper in our hair. Hehe. Then the round robin dance with the parents began with "C'est si Bon" and a little jazz filled the room. It was all smiles as Papa, Daddy and Joen took turns dancing with Mama, Mommy and myself. But I loved it the most when the rest of the married couples joined us in dancing to "You are the Sunshine of my Life" by Stevie Wonder. I saw the Taylors, the Allegos, the Saniels, but more interestingly, Tito Resil and Tita Sally Mojares! I saw when Tito Resil wanted to sit right back in his chair but I beckoned them to join the group. So so glad they obliged. Hehe. I could see that the couples really enjoyed the dance. Those couples who didn't join in were swinging their hips on their chairs nonetheless. I mean, who couldn't with that classic song? Then it was time for Joen and I to sing while my Mom played the organ. We chose "When I fall in love" simply because it is just one of the loveliest classic love songs ever AND it was a song Joen could sing without much effort. And we nailed it! Joen got a lot of kudos for his "brave" performance. I love my hubby, he's such a sport!

The Chicken Dance... now that was interesting. It was the most uncoordinated but the most fun chicken dance I've ever done. The adults joined in, the circle's rotation was chaotic and Megan was in the restroom when the music was on. However, watching the adults do the dance from a distance, especially my Mom, was fun to watch. Then came the Cha-cha Slide. Right before it came on, Beaver approaches me and mouths to me that she's leaving. I gave her a rather Hitler-y order to "STAY AND DANCE!" and that, she did. The Cha-cha Slide was indeed fun as most of those in the dance floor hadn't tried dancing to it yet so they were still surprised at the switches made by the DJ. The part that went, "Reverse! Reverse!" was my favorite because people didn't know which way to turn! Haha. Anyway, more dancing followed after Joen and I gave our Thank you speech. Ate Debra and Ate Joyce might as well have been in a wacky-off because they took turns flooring us with their kinky dance moves. Hehe.

We were able to talk to almost everyone and as we said goodbye to some of them, we got a lot of comments like, "Lingawa sa inyong reception uy" or "Lingawa ninyong duha uy" or "Very nice wedding. Intimate kaayo" or "Who made your flowers?" or "Ikaw ra akong bride na-ilhan nga nag-ilis sa reception" or "Nice dress!" and "Nindota sa inyong cake uy!" Even Bernardo Flores' team, whom I begged to stay longer than they were supposed to, gave us props for a very candidly fun reception. That truly made us proud.

The night ended around midnight and as Joen and I went through some of the filled out questionnaires and money envelope and greeting cards, we couldn't believe it was all over. We were exhausted since Day 1 and we lacked sleep but the fun we had that night made it all worth it. Thanks to everyone who backed us up all the way from the start of this wedding planning. Tisha for coordinating, hosting and for giving us really good vendors, our parents for sharing their efforts in making sure things were taken care of in Cebu, our families, especially our siblings who were willing to become servants before and during the day, our helpers who joined forces in the assembly of the favors and making sure the chocolate fountain worked, Indira for agreeing to become lector at the last minute, Leg, Doogie, Rexy and Teody for becoming Tisha's eyes, ears and legs, our vendors (Papicture, Bernardo Flores, the Buenconsejos, Jonel and Eddie Dinapo) for delivering more than we expected, my Auntie Pyr for taking care of the chocolate fountain dippings, Dimples for sketching the questionnaire, the Bitches for offering, our readers, my uncle Wendell who was our officiating Priest, those who performed during the reception, and everyone who helped out in one way or the other, behind the scenes. Much thanks to you.

I do have a few regrets that day. I wish the typhoon hadn't happened so a lot of our counted guests would've made it. I wish all the Harem Moms could've were around that night but Tita Emy had to take care of Isa and Tita Cathet was stranded. I wish Chime was able to join us in the dance floor instead of doing the rounds with our relatives and coordinating with the waiters after the event. I wish my brother didn't have an emergency in the office so that he could've enjoyed the reception more. I wish a lot more things to have happened that day but they were all beyond our control. Sickness may not be an Act of God but not the weather. That wass something nobody could have done anything about. And besides, we still had one hell of a party and everybody enjoyed it and that's what really matters!

C'EST FINI! C'EST SI BON!

Pic 1: Our centerpieces
Pic 2: Our bubbled entrance
Pic 3: That cake sure was thick!
Pic 4: Kiss-on-demand
Pic 5: Us at the Vendors' table
Pic 6: An placing the garter higher up Raymond's leg
Pic 7: Bend over, girls!!!
Pic 8: The couples hoard the floor
Pic 9: Pinaka-walay klaro nga chicken dance
Pic 10: The Cha-cha slide
Pic 11: Jaja, Megan and Chime surround the chocolate fountain
Pic 12: Floor shot
Pic 13: Our beverage napkin and kiss bell

DEE THAY

2007-01-13T00:53:00.000-06:00

It was a Saturday, our wedding day was. December 30. The roads were a bit clear yet people were still in Holiday spirits. I was set to wake up at around 8 pm yet something told me to check my phone at 7:30 AM. There was a text from Sam. It went something like that, "Maude, I'm so sorry. I'm stranded here in Ormoc .. da da da... and if I catch this other trip, I'll get there by 5 PM pa."

P A N I C M O D E R E D A L E R T P A N I C M O D E R E D A L E R T

Then I sneezed. 5 times. And you know what they say when you sneeze more than 4 times. It means you are coming down with a cold or a flu or your allergies are triggered. Great, just great. On our wedding day, I get sick. Then I thought of my friend, Tonette Yapha, who had sore eyes on her wedding day. Nah... mine should be ok. Nothing compared to that. Now, back to the Lector and Emcee absence problem.

I then dialed my good friend, Indira, and told her of my situation. With nary a qualm or a negative reaction, she agreed to be my emergency lector. TUNKS GOD for friends like Indira! A few hours later after we had our buffet breakfast at the hotel and after we had transferred our stuff from the room to the Bridal Suite, I saw on TV that there was a scheduled Typhoon in the Visayas Region and the ENTIRE COUNTRY was on Tropical Depression. JUST GREAT! I remember hearing about rainy days and weddings and that they're supposed to mean abundance. A good excuse? Maybe.

The first person to arrive was the adorable Eddie Dinapo who had a huge box filled with our flowers. I looked at each of them. He got them all right! He got my ideas right! I could've kissed the dude but he was in a hurry to check the Recep room so off he went. Then Bernardo arrived together with John and Jessie. Then Leg and Doogie so Bernardo got busy. Then Tabong, Dave and Charles. Then Yaul, Mamay and Marilyn. Then Mama arrived with Papa and Jones. Followed by Chime, Mommy, Daddy and Megan. Then Buttwipe, Ching, Che and Teody. By 11 am, the room was abuzz with hair dryers, laughter, phone calls, medical emergencies and food. Pictures were taken from every possible (and even ugly) angle. Jown Florido texted. She can't go because she was having one of her infamous migraines! Good thing Sarah can replace her as the proxy OF the Proxy.

Everyone had lunch over McDonald's chicken which we consumed in less than 10 minutes because we had to go, go, go. Dress-up pics of Joen and Papa were taken after Tabong took shots of the rings, the favors and pretty much all the wedding goodies on display. I started dressing up at around 2 pm. Joen was coordinating with everybody regarding the transportation while I tried to float my way to the lobby on my way to the Bridal Limo. PAUSE. Deither Ocampo was there. Now, I'm not much of a local showbiz fan but I do have a thick face so I called out, "Deither Ocampo?? I'm the bride. My name is Maude. Can I have a picture taken with you?" The poor guy had to oblige as Megan, Mama, Doogie and Buttwipe flocked to his midst. Haha!

Chime, Mama and Papa rode with me to Church after my reliable maids tipped their toes despite the rain just to avoid getting my gown soaked by the threatening drizzle. As the driver, Raul, drove us to Church, I could not believe that that was it. A year's worth of planning and yet here everybody was, working to make everything work out fine. A few sponsors could not make it because they were stranded in airports and piers. Signal no. 1 was in full swing. Several other guests texted in that the rain either made them sick or made it hard for them to go. Ngerrr. But as Leg constantly reminded me, "Think happy thoughts. Don't stress." So I just let it go. Shit happens anyway. Before I knew it, Ching beckoned me out of the car, carried my gown with me and cued the church door to open before I walked in. All eyes were on me but the only eyes that mattered were Joen and Tabong's. Haha! He already gave me a count earlier so I knew where to stop and pause for pictures. I tried to glide and KICK! my gown as Tisha told me to. I really am not a girly girl for even with my high kicks, I still managed to slip a little. No one noticed I'm sure. Then I was arm-in-arm with my parents, then we were on our way to the front of the church where my groom and his parents await me. The wedding has officially started.

The mass was ok, the homily hit home and the songs took a bit long but I guess with the wedding march, it was supposed to be just fine. The second I saw Indira and that annoyingly pretty smile she has, I felt sooo relieved. I mouthed a THANK YOU to her and she just smiled back. While the mass was going on, Joen and I couldn't help but snicker over Raymond becoming a Best Man-cum-Sacristan. Sige gyud mi ug agik-ik. Before we knew it, the mass was over, we were now, in the eyes of God and Man, HUSBAND and WIFE. WOOHOO!!! We kissed, we hugged, I wiped his lips of lip gloss. We took pictures, we shared kisses, we greeted people then we did our rather casual recessional. Confetti and a pair of doves were waiting for us outside the church. Cameras clicked, everyone was smiling! It was time to grab the doves out of their cages so we did. Someone cried, "Kiss ang doves!" so Hoen and I bent over and kissed the doves. "Dili kamo uy! Ang doves ang maoy ipa-kiss!" AW! Unsa ba! Rexy goes, "Blooper! HAHAHA!" How embarassing but our doves did kiss and we finally released them. We then rode the car together this time sans Chime but with Mama and Papa still.

We went back to the hotel where we rested in the room and took more pictures. We had 2 hours to just lay back so we enjoyed all the free time relaxing. That free time helped a lot because we both lacked sleep and we needed to rewind for the night.

Pic 1: Sniffling but still having fun during the hair/make-up and dress-up
Pic 2: Hoen wiping his shoes
Pic 3: Garland c/o Eddie Dinapo
Pic 4: Papa helping Hoen get dressed
Pic 5: I love this pic of Leg and Doogie eating McDonald's along the hotel corridor!
Pic 6: Hoen's barong
Pic 7: They're all dressed and I'm... well, I'm not
Pic 8: Love this pic of my Mom kicking it with my veil

Pic 9: Hoen with Ma and Pa
Pic 10: Me trying to "own the aisle"
Pic 11: Me with my folks
Pic 12: Us from the back
Pic 13: He got lip gloss all over him!
Pic 14: Indira. The willing emergency lector
Pic 15: The biggest blooper- kissing the doves!

Toward the Nuptials

2007-01-12T23:43:00.000-06:00

Most of the Wedding business started on Christmas day.

Saturday, Dec. 23
--> Food Tasting at the Waterfront

Monday, Dec. 25
--> Right after breakfast, the Aller household was geared up for assemblying all the favor boxes and the wishing well together. Mamay Vicky, Marlyn, Yaul, Chime, Mommy, Hoen and I busied ourselves for a few hours getting the boxes and the wishing well good to go.

Tuesday, Dec. 26
--> Lunch with Sam, Tisha, Rexy and Leg regarding Reception Program sequence and Magic Mic Testing. Picking of Lassos for Flowers.
--> 3 PM - Interview with the parish priest at the Redemptorist Church --> 5 PM - Ocular inspection of the Bridal Suite

Wednesday, Dec. 27
--> Sunrise - Prenuptial shots with Tabong and Dave Buenconsejo
--> 11 Am - Meeting with Papicture re Videography
--> 12 noon - Meeting with Jonel re cake
--> 3:30 PM - Continue Prenuptial shots with Tabong and Dave

Thursday, Dec. 28
--> 11 AM - Meeting with Eddie Dinapo re flowers
--> 11:20 AM - Church rehearsal with both parents, Tisha, Leg and Chime
--> 3 PM - Family portrait at Colours Studio Ayala
--> 6 PM - Fitting and Hair/Make-up Trial with Bernardo

Friday, Dec. 29
--> Lunch with both families to talk about schedule and transpo coordination on the wedding day --> Check-in at the Waterfront
--> Salon date
--> Put chocolates in favor boxes, get all wedding stuff in the room

Food tasting at the Waterfront; Boxes and Wishing Well factory workers; With Leg and Buttwipe at Chester Enterprises; Bridal Suite Ocular Inspection

With both the Morenos and the Allers; The Allers' "Iryal syat"; The Morenos

Vack biew of my hair at Bernardo's; With Buttwipe at Bernardo's boutique; Family meeting at Resto 27; Chocolate box assembly line at the Waterfront; Dinner with Chime; Megan and her hair of ribbons

Before D'DAY

2007-01-12T22:18:00.000-06:00

Going back home to Pinas was something Hoen and I have been anticipating for over a year! The wedding was the best excuse but what we really wanted was to spend the Holidays with our friends and family. And that's exactly what happened.

However, the journey towards going home took a lot of hard work and savings. As you all know, wedding planning takes a LOT of work. Luckily for me, I had one of my best friends take half the share of the planning so it wasn't as stressful as people thought it was. Then there came the savings. Every month, we would come up with a scheduled budget for ANYTHING wedding-related then I'd distribute it among those months depending on availability of funds and whatnot. We were pretty good at working this out. Then came the ACTUAL trip. Our legs were Missouri -Denver - LA - Korea - Cebu. NOT a piece of cake at all. We started off taking the 6 am trip on Dec 19th and landed Cebu around 1 am , December 21. The first sign of Murphy? They lost one of our huge luggages- the luggage with a lot of our gifts and wedding stuff. We lived everyday on the clothes we sent through the Balikbayan box and I had NO PAIR OF SHOES to wear. I ended up buying P300 sandals. Hoen and I adjusted well to the weather much to our surprise but it was fun experiencing the things we've lived with for more than 20 years of our lives. Like no running hot water on the faucet, heat and ventilation, dogs that bark through the night, HELPERS!!! Haha. I did not have to think of what to cook for 3 straight weeks!

Also, since we asked Tisha to schedule all our wedding meetings after Christmas, Hoen and I were able to enjoy and experience the Christmas rush in the malls (SM was both a good and bad idea). Since we were the first to arrive, we were able to see Chime arrive, Kuya JJ and family arrive, Jones arrive and finally, Ate Joyce et al (Jones, Ate Joyce and our lost luggage arrived at the same time on the same night. Creepy). Good thing Doogie and Leg were at the Waterfront Mactan Hotel to wait with us, hehe. Anyway, Hoen and I alternated sleeping between our houses-- Mandaue if we want to spend the night with my family and Labangon if with Joen's. Christmas was scheduled via a party at our house in Mandaue so the Morenos and the Cordovas were around. We started with dinner then followed it with the chapel mass at the village and then the gift giving then the Noche Buena then the singing and then the pics taking. It was fun fun fun as Hoen and I played Santa during the gift giving. I like seeing the people's faces light up when they got their gifts. Another highlight was the singing spree. Even though the Allers are a musical bunch, the Morenos want to flaunt it more. So Papa, fluent in Spanish and all like both my parents, sang Spanish songs to his delight. Lingaw! Also JOHN, of all people, braved doing Christmas solos in front of anyone as Ate Joyce watched. He really fell in love with our family and kept saying, "You have a beautiful house and a beautiful family." Awwwww. Mama, Chime and I led the group in blending the voices. Ngilngig!

Spending the Holidays at Pinas meant having a Harem night too. On the 23rd at IT Park's Patio Ecila, we had our gift-giving dinner which I missed last year. They made fun of my gift wrapping because it was so skewed and all over the place, I called it Jetlag wrapping. Aside from the little gifties here and there, I gave three of my best friends shoes and fortunately, they all fit and they all loved it. Wacky photos are a part of every get together and, well, here they are...!

I wonder when we will be celebrating the Holidays in Pinas again. Whenever that may be, I'm sure we'll have a blast again.

Pic 1: Hoen at the beautiful Incheon Airport
Pic 2: John at the back of the pick-up the night they arrived. He held on for dear life!
Pic 3: The Moreno folks at the Waterfront Mactan lobby awaiting Jones and Ate Joyce et al's arrival
Pics 4 - 6: Few pics from the Christmas Party
Pics 7 - 10 : The Harem Christmas Night at IT Park

The Best Feeling in the World

2007-01-10T01:44:00.000-06:00

During our 3-hour drive from Kansas City, Missouri, back to Omaha, Hoen turns to me and says, "I love you, Baby. This is it na gyud. We are really married in the eyes of God. Whatever happens, it's you and me. I take care of you and you take care of me." He didn't say it in those exact words but any wife will tell you that these words are music to our ears. THIS is the best feeling in the world and it makes everything... EVERYTHING so worth it. =)

The Worst Feeling in the World

2007-01-10T00:13:00.000-06:00

I know, I know. I'm supposed to be talking about how nice our wedding was and all that but with everything we went through just 2 nights ago, I can't help but rant about all of it. So pardon me peepolz...

There we were in Seoul, Korea, tired enough just thinking what on earth we are going to do in the 9 hours that we are going to be there for. But we got both a hotel and meal voucher and so we went. After sleeping it off for a couple of hours, we availed of the hotel's free lunch (which was horrible, by the way). Hoen chose CURRY so they served rice AND curry sauce ONLY. I chose VEGETABLE RICE so they served rice AND shredded cabbage ONLY. Sidings were the usual Kimchi and pickles. Hello!!! "Where are the meat... send in the meat..." to sing ala Barbra Streisand. We ate anyway because we were hungry. We decided to walk around South Korea without our beanie hat (which I will regret for the rest of my life) in its 20 degree weather. Our ears and hands froze but hala sige, lakaw lang gyud. When we got to the airport again, and we got checked in to different flight itineraries, and we'd settled in the plane, I was still fine. We looked at our pictures and ooh'd and aah'd over it. About an hour later, I started feeling sick and feverish. When I woke up after my sleep, my fever had already gone so high I started begging for a lot of orange juice, tylenol and TLC from Hoen. We were seated pa gyud in the middle of the middle row so I had to keep excusing myself from my guy seatmate who didn't want anything else in the world except peace and quiet. I must've given a million apologies. Anyway, Korea to LA was a gruesome 10-hour flight. When we landed LA, fever was still high but I had to be up and about to Immigration and Customs. Our Korea flight got delayed which meant we would miss our LA to Denver flight. Because we had to run 4 terminals away, we got bumped off TWICE to a much later flight! So instead of leaving at 13:36, we would get the 15:45 flight! When we were checking in at LA again, I sat on the floor, pretending to be ok when all I wanted to do was just pass out and let my body rest. But noooo... our olympic sprinting wasn't over yet. We had to rush to the Gate, leave me to sleep, buy some food and coffee because the LA to Denver flight was a Beverage service only flight. Imagine my delight! What a worst time to get sick!

Our seats may have been upgraded and I got a lot of legroom but because of my temperature, I was curling up like a fetus and just hugging myself in order to break a sweat. All that running in the warm LA weather made me perspire but it wasn't enough. I woke up 40 minutes before our 4-hour flight was over, which was good. Put more ice on my head, alternated between ibuprofen and tylenol, had all the fluids in the world and just prayed to God. "Lord, let me get through this night. Let me get through this flight. This, too, shall pass." We made it to Denver all right but our adventure wasn't over. We only had a 45-minute window so chedeng... MORE RUNNING! I ran to find soup, Hoen ran to check us in. When I made it to the Gate, I ate my soup right away only to have boarding start. I felt myself, fever was still there and my nausea was telling me to just "SIT DOWN and EAT!" "Easy for you to say, you ill monster, I have to fly home!!" So I braved the walkway, ate as much as I could of the turkey soup I ordered and again, slept. I woke up and we were half an hour away to Missouri. My fever was gone but I was still as lightheaded as ever. I didn't stop praying. Hoen was exhausted from all the baggage carrying and transferring in LA. When we landed in Kansas City, Missouri, I sat down on the floor by the conveyor. The place was spinning in my head but I didn't want to worry Hoen so I just played it quiet. Good thing our shuttle was on time and all our luggages were secure. We may have lost the tapa and the chorizo at LAX's Customs but the officer was so nice, I didn't say anything nalang.

When we hit the sac at Tita Belen's place, we slept for 10 hours straight. My fever came and went but the antibiotics I bought from Pinas helped a lot to rid me of serious tonsillitis. But the rush wasn't over. I was scheduled for Urgent Care in Omaha 'til 10 pm in order to get prescription antibiotics so we had to go, go, go nasad. But our 3-hour drive was NOTHING compared to our hell-acious, exhausting, body-beating, TIRING 18 hours of flight. I told Hoen, "We are NOT doing this again. Next time, we are going to fly to LA then fly directly to Cebu, I don't care if it's expensive. The convenience is worth it." I guess that weather change in Korea and our demanding schedules in Cebu did it all. After all the Holiday obligations, the wedding preparations, the post-wedding dates, the family affairs, my body couldn't take it anymore. It took a toll real fast and at the most inconvenient time.

Now, I'm feeling better and I'm so lucky to have a hubby who never left my side the entire time and whose massaging skills have grown better and better! Vicks Vapor Rub, White Flower, Advil and Tylenol... maraming salamat din po!

PAHABOL: I ate like a pig on the plane and I finished all my food. Just this afternoon I weighed myself. 100.2 lbs. AHAK NALANG! Mao nay gitawag nimo ug MALAS.

Emenems!!!

2006-12-17T01:12:00.000-06:00

Ze M&Ms have arrived!! Yummy yum yum looking...

4 MORE DIZE!!!

Getting a cake at it

2006-12-14T11:01:00.001-06:00

The other day, Tisha told me that she found another cake maker who can copy the original cake we wanted that we saw on the magazine. All 4 layers of it, not just 3. So she asked me to make a sketch of a cake to give to the cake maker.

Here's what I drew.

Music geek

2006-12-13T12:09:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this but a couple of weeks ago, I was going through my 5,000++ songs folder and heard this song that I've always loved for years and years. I realized that Hoen and I can actually dance to this song and then to Happy Together. But it would be too long! I let Hoen hear it first and he liked the idea. So now, for a song editor / cutter. All the cutters I found online were MP3 song cutters, not AAC. And since the song is now on this format (thanks but no thanks to iTunes), I had to look for AAC editors.

I searched, I downloaded a couple, I called a few tech supports, 2 hours passed and NOTHING. I was very frustrated! I finally settled for a shareware app called Bearshare, kind of like Kazaa and WinMX, downloaded the song in its MP3 format then cut it using that MP3 song cutter I found online. MAJEEK! It took me all of 5 hours! Hehe.

See? I will go to lengths to have the best music. =)

BAGgage

2006-12-11T23:36:00.000-06:00

ITE MOE DIZE!!!

Cheerleader: Ready?
Cheerers: NOT Ok!

Let's see how my packing skills get me to pack dis and pack dat. Pack!

Countdown...

2006-12-09T00:28:00.001-06:00

ELEVEN MORE DIZE!!!!

Siren visit

2006-12-09T00:27:00.000-06:00

YEY!! Amy is at our house now, practicing her song number with Mommy. She is doing the invocation.

Thanks Ame!!!

The Witch of Redempt

2006-12-09T00:18:00.000-06:00

There is this woman who works at the Redemptorist Church. She wants to give people hell. My mom has been avoiding making arrangements with her simply because this hag takes pleasure in making things, including the lives of all Redemptorist's clients, hard. But on that HATEful day last Wednesday, our driver went to the Church office while she was on duty. He gave her some docs for our wedding and asked for an Acknowledgment receipt. She yelled at him, asking him why we keep on asking for ARs. "Di mo mosalig nako??", she said. Our beloved and loyal driver, Yaul (bless his manners) with all of his patience and common sense, told her that it's "part of your job..." and that it's "protocol." (Hahahah!! Naahat ug ininglis!) He told her not to take it personally and that he's just the messenger and that because the documents are all valuable and important, an AR should be issued as confirmation of receipt. Anyway, she gives him an ever harder time by telling him that we should have a letter of permission from our parish priest that the bride is going to marry at the Redemp Church. So Yaul had to drive all the way to the Basak Fatima Parish from Redemp (!!!!!!!) to obtain this letter only to learn that this should only be forwarded after the priest has had a one-on-one with us on the 26th. SAMOKA!!!

My dad wanted to pull out from the church but Mommy, Tisha and I decided to just deal with this other girl, Rochelle, instead of the ugly shrew to avoid any conflict. I hope there will be no annoying glitches next time or somebody will really have to pay.

To all those who want to get married at the Redemptorist Church in Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines, please avoid dealing with a certain woman whose name starts with an A and ends with an E. But phonetically a T.

Heck!Tick!

2006-12-06T23:49:00.000-06:00

I've done a lot of things lately that I don't even remember each one of them. Here's taking a stab at my memory:

1) I ordered 25 more of the invitations and the recep cards (had a lot of rejects for the entourage list) for our US relatives and friends

2) I order 25 more of the chocolate brown envelopes

3) I bought my Mom the bag she is going to use during the wedding

4) I have coordinated with Tisha on coming up with our schedule when we're in Cebu (Heck!Tick! no doubt)

5) We have started packing

Can't remember anymore now but we really can't believe that in 2 weeks, we'll be in Pinas na! YEY!!!!

Pack this, pack that!

2006-12-04T20:22:00.001-06:00

These past few days have been quite busy and hectic for both Hoen and I. We went and bought stuff needed for Kuya JJ's visit this Thursday. We bought an inflatable bed, the pump, guest towels, etc. We also bought stuff needed for our much anticipated trip in a little over than 2 weeks. We bought new luggages, storage stuff, bubble plastics, last minute pasalubongs and whatnot. When we got home, we did some preliminary packing. We also called up United Airlines and clarified a few things regarding our luggage weight considering we'll be taking Asiana Air from LA to Korea then Cebu. We have to be picky with what we bring because from how things look, our combined luggage size is just enough for all our stuff. Good thing we took care of some of that with our Balikbayan box 2 months ago. We tried putting my gown and slip inside Hoen's huge Samsonite case and it does fit. I guess we'll just leave it in Missouri when we go there this weekend.

Also, since it's year-end, I did some general cleaning/disposing of our fridge and our medicine cabinet. I would hate the thought of having to do that when we get back next year (puhon2). I didn't buy too much winter stuff because we're escaping it for 3 weeks. Hehe.

MacJenny

2006-12-03T12:32:00.000-06:00

Per Beaver's request... (the most demanding yet adorable blogmenter! Haha!)

Here's MacJennyyyy... oh MacJennyyyy... here's MacJenyyyy so wittyyyy and whiiiiiite!

** By the way, didn't include it here because this is not wedding related. So I placed it there on my other blog which you OBVIOUSLY haven't visited! :P **

It's so pretty

2006-12-03T12:27:00.000-06:00

It's so prettyyyyy... oh so prettyyyyy... it's so prettyyyyy and wittyyyy and brooooown!

Palit, palit, palit!

2006-12-01T22:15:00.000-06:00

David's finally has that bag I've been eyeing on stock. It was the only one shipped to the store so I bought it last Wednesday. I also bought my reception earrings at Von Maur after an hour of trying everything on. Hehe. The pair I bought was Blair de Monico but incidentally, its crystals are Swarovski as well so payter! Also got my bridal earrings yesterday at Borsheim's. Took me a while to decide which pair to get but I got help from several people.

Ear day err.

Candy snapper, candy snapper...

2006-11-28T17:33:00.000-06:00

... aren't you just dapper?

Last night I got us 3,400 pieces of customized M&Ms. I was disappointed to know that they can't customize on their brown ones so I got the cream ones with the light blue instead. Hoh well. I did a trial on one of my favor boxes and apparently, 2 Hershey's mini-bars, 20 M&Ms and 5 Hershey Kisses are enough to fill up the box. Joen and I agreed to buy the kisses in Cebu already. 23 days to go!!

Shoe'd up!

2006-11-27T22:46:00.000-06:00

I have found it! I have found it! I have found the espresso / chocolate brown shoes I'm going to wear for the reception! After all these months, YIPEEDEEDOODAH!!! I am sooo relieved! I went online later not expecting too much anymore because all I've seen are "okay" shoes and not really the shoes that I want AND need! Shoes that will get me dancing the hours away!

Here she is... (background music: "Isn't she lovely?" by Stevie Wonder. Hehe)

Shoes, shoes, shoes

2006-11-25T19:25:00.000-06:00

More shoe options...

A month to go!!!

2006-11-21T14:57:00.000-06:00

Exactly a month from now, we would've just landed in Philippine soil! YEY!! Can't wait!

Tump-tadump

2006-11-20T22:33:00.000-06:00

I thought the music part was going to be the easiest but boy, was I wrong. You see, it was much easier deciding on the wedding music during our beach wedding because there were only 40 people. Plus, we knew we wouldn't be spending a lot of time outside so dancing under the sun wasn't an option. This time, people are going to have to dance, we have 150 guests from 4 generations and we have different sections in the program. So... how do I do this? I would love to play Cocteau Twins and Barry White and Grant Lee Buffalo and Tony Bennett and I can go on and on. I even asked Dimples about the two Tori Amos songs I was thinking of including in the playlist but I really am not sure. I have a preliminary list already but I keep revisiting it. Aarrrgghh. Things would be so much easier if I wasn't a music nut.

Why, Laura??

2006-11-13T17:22:00.000-06:00

I saw these really really REALLY lovely shoes! I loved the suede, I loved the heel, I loved everything! But when I fit it at a size 7M, it was a bit loose. When I tried the 6.5M, it was a bit too tight. So I asked for a 6.5W which this pair doesn't have.

NGER. NGER. NGER. Hoh well, here's the pic. Nice, eh? They were Laura Ashleys by the way.

And it goes on...

2006-11-11T00:54:00.000-06:00

It's time to get the "little" things going such as setting our Cebu schedule which has A LOT to do with appointments and meetings-- meeting with the florist, the video people, the photography people, the priest, hair and make-up trial, wedding rehearsal, and others. Time to put together our tentative program too which will comprise of speaking, singing, playing and dancing. I agree with Tisha. Weddings back home DON'T have a lot of dancing. People just want to sit and watch people make a fool of themselves. Well, we, WE will be dancing and we would want people to let their hair down and kick it. Since both of our families are very musically inclined, there will be singing. I just want our reception to be UNstiff, UNboring, UNserious, UNformal and please, pardon my word murders. So if you are a guest and you are reading this, please don't let me drag you out of your table because I don't want to be liable for possible hospital bills over twisted and bent ligaments and joints as I try to tug you away as you hold on for dear life to the table cloth. Do I make myself clear? :D

Ear me out

2006-11-10T00:32:00.000-06:00

Since I chose my necklace first before the earrings (and it was supposed to be the other way round), I have been looking for the perfect earrings to go with it. I have been looking around and online as well and the only perfect thing to go with a Swarovski necklace is a pair of Swarovski earrings!

So here are my choices. As usual, I would need WEEKS to decide which one I'll get. Hehe.

I actually saw a picture of J Lo wearing the second one (it was a Swarovski) and I loved it. It didn't dangle too much and looks just simple and exquisite. I'm kind of leaning toward this but we'll see.

And a MAJOR decision has to be made!

2006-11-04T00:44:00.000-06:00

Today, I had my third fitting at David's. My favorite tailor was there, Megan, and so I went there geared up to fit everything with the right pettislip this time. So I wore my bustier, the CORRECT pettislip, my shoes and then finally my gown. Just by looking at it, I knew the flow of my gown looked so much fuller and smoother. I was happy to have trusted my instincts. Also Susie, the old lady who helped me out the last time, didn't really do a lot of helping. I think because she was old she didn't want to have bend down to fix anything on the gown whilst Megan, young and robust, is willing to crawl through the floors to get everything right.

So we rechecked the bustle and the snaps that need to come together after. I studied it and spent a lot of time just staring at it and bickering over the symmetry and the alignment and how the "wings" by the sides seem to appear. So I asked Megan to remove the snaps from coming together, then I asked her to just keep it bustled. It looked ok and I thought to myself, this is it. But I saw a little something wrong which wasn't really WRONG but it was just off to me. I can't even explain it. Anyway, so finally, in my intention to try out ALL MY OPTIONS, I asked her to remove the bustle. She let the train out and let it just flow on the ground. I looked behind me and I actually like what I saw very much! See, I have never been the train person but when I saw the effect of that train on my gown, I fell in love with it somehow. Also, the train turned out to be a not-so-long one after all- it was a chapel train, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'm just relieved that I don't have to deal with it for too long since I'm changing into something more comfortable for the reception. So Megan teaches me how to walk, how to lift my train (in the off-chance that Chime, my sister or any of the maids are occupied), how to kneel and sit down with my gown. She also taught me how not to entangle my slip with my heels. She was very helpful. It got me thinking of Tisha. She, being a girly girl, would've gotten this down to a T. I, on the otherhand, sooo not the girly-girly type, got it to a popular umlaut. I left David's with two options-- keep the train or having it bustled. I can always decide on the day itself as long as those those 3 little thread hoops were in the gown. So if I decide to bustle it up, I can just have them pulled out. Otherwise, I'll just let everything go. So we'll see!

**By the way, Megan just got engaged last October 13, Friday the 13th. And they're getting married on the next Friday the 13th which is on April next year. He proposed to her at her workplace there at David's and she shrrrrieked. What's more, his last name is Right so he really IS her Mr. Right. She told me more stories about them and I just couldn't over their fairy tale story! It's nice to see the love that Joen and I have for each other reflected on other people's eyes because I can so relate and I just want to gush and laugh and smile over it silly. For sure, I'll be sending her a little something because she is such a sweet hardworking girl.

Can I ask a favor... box?

2006-11-03T11:08:00.000-06:00

I was going to order the favor boxes at the end of November yet since we're managing our budget for all our expenses. I emailed myjeanm about the delay but since the boxes come directly from Italy as they are made there, they had already shipped it before they could get my email. So the other day, we recevied all our favor boxes ALSO to be assembled. Somehow, the thought of the entire household assembling the boxes together and putting the chocolates inside it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

UPS is my best friend

2006-11-03T10:55:00.000-06:00

And more deliveries are made! 4 days ago, the bzzzzzt-ing of the buzzer downstairs brought forth another deliveryeth for mine weddingeth. Hehe. It was something I've sort of forgotten about. It was the Wishing Well which was my alternative for the Card Chest. Something I snatched up at some site (I can't believe I don't remember which one) and the words "to be assembled" were do-re-mis on the G-clef. I right away bought it thinking it would easily be thrown in to our luggage without us worrying about it. (I can already imagine the people back home assembling it). Hehe.

Etch a sketch

2006-10-30T17:51:00.000-06:00

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

2006-10-30T12:24:00.000-06:00

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 when 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?

Unplanned Accidental Impromptu Surprise Instant Purchase!

2006-10-29T23:31:00.000-06:00

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.

Brrr...

2006-10-26T12:31:00.000-05:00

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!!!

Money and Card Box

2006-10-18T19:11:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-18T18:42:00.000-05:00

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!

I shey, You shey, We shey, Hershey!

2006-10-16T13:05:00.000-05:00

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!

Top this!!

2006-10-12T15:28:00.000-05:00

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?

Our Engaged Encounter

2006-10-09T14:11:00.000-05:00

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.

POP-a-fetti!

2006-10-03T17:15:00.000-05:00

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!

2006-10-03T14:43:00.000-05:00

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!

Not-so-desperate Color

2006-10-02T01:27:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-02T00:49:00.000-05:00

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.

Busy bodies

2006-10-01T00:32:00.000-05:00

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!

Purchases, purchases, purchases

2006-09-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

Today, I just bought the cake topper, the wedding bells and the wedding bubbles which surprisingly, cost much less here than in the Philippines. I bought a case of 24 each for the bells and bubbles. Here they are.

I figured I'll just change the ribbons of the bells to the ribbons we already have. I was also glad to know that the bubble bottles already come with the bubble solution which is, MOST importantly, non-staining. Tisha warned me about stains when bubbles are involved so this makes me really happy. =)

Un-friggin-believable

2006-09-29T16:05:00.000-05:00

I am done getting mad. I am too tired of being angry over other people's abilities to just commit the simplest mistakes. At least that's what I thought yesterday BEFORE getting Myjeanm's third installment. And guess what I found. 75 prints of the FIRST PAGE of the Entourage List! Not the second page which was REALLY the one that needed changing but the FIRST! Yes. There are 75 sheets / cards of the first page of our Entourage List lying on our living room carpet. They're not totally useless as we'll be sending invites to our US relatives who cannot make it to the wedding but man. What a waste. Not only did they cost me money and time, THEY cost themselves money and time.

So after some really really good and sonorous lecturing over the phone partnered with a bite-your-nails-I-might-get-fired not-bitchy-still-professional email, Myjeanm offered to credit back to our account 50% of our total purchase AND 25% off our next purchase. HA! This does not appease me at all because I am still in utter disbelief of the entire three-times-in-a-row oversight but AT LEAST we are getting some of our money back which is always good.

So the goods have just arrived and FINALLY they got it right. Off we go to Kinko's again tonight to do some serious paper-cutting but I'm sooo glad this ordeal is over!

Aaarrgghhh

2006-09-27T23:16:00.001-05:00

I can't believe how stupid and irresponsible people are!

So I did receive the second version of the second page of the entourage list yesterday. And there is STILL that misalignment! Obviously, they fixed the right line but the left one is still waaay to the left. Like, HELLOOO!!! That's a huuuuuuge blunder! How in the world did this get through your editor, uber OC officer or not-so-supervisor?? Did your type-setter decide to really determine just how much printing ANOTHER 75 cards PLUS shipping costs?? Did they suddenly decide to pull this prank on this customer who has been telling them to "Please hurry up. I need to ship these to the Philippines already!" OR... OR.. they decided to ignore the screen shots of my email DIRECTING them to fix the problem of THIS line and THAT line to move them THIS way and THAT way. IDIOTS!!!

This time, they sent me a Proof over email which, thankfully, was right. I mean, they got things right THE FIRST TIME which was like, over a week ago. How can they make a mistake like this, THIS OBVIOUS, the second time around??? Are they so big a business that they're not focused anymore?? Are they hiring bling type-setters?? NGERRR. If we weren't in a hurry to get this done, we wouldn't want to do business with them.

YES. I'm talking about www.myjeanm.com. This is indexed by Google so if somebody enters "Myjeanm" and searches for you, my blog will come out somewhere in there and read about just how much you've screwed up something as simple as moving a line a couple of spaces to the right.

Filling in

2006-09-26T13:32:00.000-05:00

These past few days, I've been quite busy getting everything together. Last week, I believe it was on a Thursday when we received our invits. We counted, we checked and I found this misalignment in the second page of the Entourage List. I wrote to Jeanm write away to have it rectified. They replied promptly and promised to fix it. Also, Hoen and I found out that the size of the invits were just a bit longer than they were supposed to. I measured the envelopes and they were sized right. The invits, not so much. So with a plastic ruler, I made lines on each side of the card (which took me about an hour) then come 11 o'clock, Joen and I went to Kinko's and hogged two of their rather HUGE paper cutters. Haha! The next day, put them all inside and now they fit. I also placed the names and the number of seats we reserved for each invit as well as the RSVP details. Everthing's in place now except for that second page which I had just learned will be arriving today. I guess it's another trip to Kinko's before we can finally ship this out to Olga in Jersey.

Random updates

2006-09-20T21:04:00.000-05:00

Things have been a'hectic in Planningville lately.

1) Tisha tells me that the cake we had wanted all along can actually be done!! YEY!! Scrap that flowery one we designed, our cake is going to look like the one we set our eyes and hearts on some months back. Here they are again. The wordings will still be there and it will just be 3 tiers. But Joen and I really like the whole un-uniform-tier thingy. Also, it might come out cheaper than we had previously budgeted. YEY! to Tisha's powers!!

2) Turns out the Package we had wanted to get at the Waterfront was the old one. So we chose another one last night and laid out a new Menu plan.

3) The Stretch Limo c/o Deca Sales has been reserved already! YEY!! It will be our first time to be in one so we're excited.

4) I got all the names, formal and informal, from both Mommy and Mama. Decided to go informal for those we are close to and formal for the rest. I'm glad Mama and Mommy promptly replied because that made our job so much easier.

5) And we just picked up my veil! It's all stiff and rigid so gotta have it steamed when we go there next for my 2nd alteration appointment.

The Cat's OUT!

2006-09-20T20:54:00.000-05:00

I have been witholding a rather vital information for a month now. This "information" is about us deciding to transfer reception venues from the Marriott Hotel to the Cebu City Waterfront Hotel. I don't want to get into details here but truth be told, we made our decision based on solid and actual experiences which greatly influenced us to take back our paid for reservation and move over to another establishment. It was a rather stressful weekend for us last month as we needed to furnish the letter, to call 3-4 other venues, to wait for quotations and to consider the now changed budget for the reception. Luckily, Waterfront Lahug still had their Baltic Room available for December 30th (thankeeyoo Lord!) and so after much much, MUCH much ado, the cheque is due for release today. Big sigh of relief.

The reason why I didn't tell people this right away was because judging from all the times Murphy seemed to be kissing our foreheads this past 2 months, I didn't want to pre-empt the official transfer until our cheque was released. And now that it is to be, I can finally tell everyone about it, especially our guests who read this blog. YIPEEDEE!!!

Paste in Haste

2006-09-20T20:45:00.000-05:00

Last night, Joen and I glued and pasted all the invitees' names on the envelope. I should say, our envelope looks rather cute and unique.

Here's a pic of my hubby helping me out. Hehe.

More shoeses

2006-09-20T20:38:00.000-05:00

Figured I'd make the rounds first while it's not snowing yet. I saw only two pairs of evening dress shoes that just might fit the bill. I'm going to ask Tisha's help on this since she'll probably see my dress before I do.

Brown Sole

2006-09-18T17:55:00.000-05:00

And now, the search is on for the perfect shoes to go with my Reception dress. Better start looking now before winter rears its ugly head. Also, feet tend to shrink during the winter so I wouldn't want that to happen. I might get one online but while I'm at it, I better make the rounds and try them out for myself because, let's face it, I'm going to be on this those shoes for HOURS.

So far, here's what I've found.

Eet ees decided...

2006-09-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

We are going for the Chocolate Fountain we had ordered online. The one we saw at Dillard's was a bit bigger so a lot bulkier for our box. And if we had to return it, we had to pay for 15% worth the price AND retain the shipping charges. So, the iKitchen one it is then.

Lay off me, Murphy!!

2006-09-13T16:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a crappy day. There I was, at Borders, looking through Bridal Magazines to look for ideas for Leg's Godiva Dress and my phone rings. It was from Jeanm. They called to tell me that there was NO way my Entourage List could be listed on one sheet of the paper size I chose. I was infuriated by this simply because of the fact that I had gotten their GO since March of this year. I sent the file with the format I wanted to their Customer Service and got a prompt thumbs-up which provided much relief for Joen and myself at the time. All this, last March. And now, six months later they tell me it can't happen. They right away gave me two solutions. Either order two sheets more to accomodate all the wordings ($174.00) or order a sheet of program ($130.00). NOOOO WAY. Ha-uh. No way I'm paying for something more than what THEY assured me 6 months ago.

So I had to speak with their manager, Heather, who blatantly pleaded with me to be "logical" that I should've seen and figured out for myself that all those words would not fit in. I asked her if she was implying I was stupid, and she said no, and I told her that's because I was UNstupid enough to consult their Customer Service since I am no expert and not a part of the Printing Industry. Also, for some reason, my really complete, thorough, no-stone unturned email did nothing to appease her that YES, I did the liberty in attaching this 6-month-long correspondence I had with their Customer Service. I wasn't about to go ahead and order directly without asking them first if it could be done. If I had to copy and paste my email here (which I really am thinking of doing), EVERYONE would agree just how thorough it is. For Heather, somehow, it wasn't. So we agreed that I would forward to her every single email exchanged between me and their supposedly "huge company" (term c/o Heather) that can't seem to clear the hazy fiber optic channels leading from one department to another. Also, I told her, whatever charges they intended to incur on my account, that they take it out of THAT Customer Service's paycheck for being so reassuringly tanga. She insists that no way would their CS have given a "GO" if she had seen the file I sent. I go, "You can't speak for her. You can't speak for any guy who crosses the street!" I was sooo pissed especially since I knew I was right from here all the way to the shores of Italy.

I felt victory right after we spoke on the phone and couldn't WAIT to send all those emails.

Turns out, the email address she gave me was bouncing back so that I had to wait 'til the next morning so I could call them up and ask for the correct email this time. The email addy she gave me was indeed wrong. Hoh well, I had to get my butt out of bed and on the computer chair. I sent 13 emails in one minute. As soon as she got them, Heather called me and told me that their office only got the list up until the Little Hershey Girls. WHA??? I checked my file, the one I made last March, and sent it to 3 different inboxes. And I opened it as an HTML file and even downloaded them. They all turned out OK- complete, intact, just as I had made them. I cannot, however, have any solid proof whether or not they really ONLY saw that much of the list even if I asked for a screenshot. At this point, I was desperate for time since my cousin-in-law has to have it before the month ends and I still have to do the addresses on the envelope.

So to make a long story short, Heather emailed me the proof on their "solution" however, the Hershey Girls line was right on top of the second page. I called them back, spoke with Deverie who was just so cooperative in helping me figure out how we can include The Little Hershey Girls in the first page since they're still part of the Entourage. We went back and forth on which part should be pushed up, which spaces to remove, da da da. My first solution was to have the Godiva Maids' names in one line. Then I remembered Joen's suggestion earlier. He suggested that instead of having the labels in B11 font and the names in S11 we do it the other way round. Jeanm forwarded to me the second proof and it worked indeed! The Hershey Girls were now a part of the primary list! YEY!! I proofed again and just gave 2 more minor changes on the alphabetization of the names and spacing on the 2nd page. Heather wrote me back that after that's done, production will be on the way.

I was sooo relieved! And I appreciate the discount they gave me AND all their efforts. I have been supressing my maldita-ness in the name of being more like my calm and collected husband but sometimes, a little verbal snapping works. We're in business here after all and mistakes on wedding invitations? INTOLERABLE. My mader duck would kill me. I, the daughter of a language teacher, cannot make these mistakes.

An advise to Brides-to-be out there. Never EVER settle when it comes to something as novel and lasting as your wedding invitation. Take it from me. *wink*

Singing out my Enveloped Ideas

2006-09-11T18:39:00.000-05:00

If you didn't get the title then you don't know or didn't like "The Dawn". They were the Best OPM band of its kind in the 80s.

What a segue.

Hennyway, the invitation envelopes just arrived today. YEY! So cute!

Time to pay a visit to the Office Depot soon so I can start writing the names and addresses.That is, IFF I do find the perfect pen.

Vhich Van?

2006-09-11T17:08:00.001-05:00

Joen and I went to Dillard's yesterday to check out their chocolate fountain. See, even if we had already gotten one online, we still wanted to check out the fountains here in Omaha in case we see something better, cheaper or cuter. This was what we found over there. This is actually a bit taller. Plus, this is the only one left out of the ten they sold out for the last three weeks.

This is the one we got online.

Ngyerrr. We love both! I guess we'll just have to wait for the iKitchen fountain we ordered, make a comparison and decide.

Misa Let's

2006-09-11T00:42:00.000-05:00

There's one thing I have missed out on mentioning here in this blog and that is how my this-wedding-is-more-important-than-anything-this-year Mom has has our misalette ready and set for the Priest of the Redemptorist Church to review. Yes, this early, after emailing back and forth about 5 times, the re-re-re-revised misalette is almost ready and more polished than ever. I always knew that the Ceremony part was going to be the easiest for us because of our parents' background in Church service. But my Mom always likes to put things together in the name of worshipping the Church and the misalette was just a walk in the park for her. It's actually the recycled version of my brother's wedding with several touch-ups here and there so I'm glad it wasn't too much work.

Muchas gracias, Mommy! Mwah!

Progress Shmogress

2006-09-08T18:26:00.000-05:00

Made a lot of progress last night, more like this morning, as Tisha and I chatted 'til 4 o'clock in the snore-ning.

1) The downpayments for the Videography, Photography, Florist, Cake and Make-up were now scheduled for Mid-October. Full payments for the Godiva Maids' Dresses will be forwarded this month too. Very relieved to finally get a sched AND a figure so Joen and I can set the budget.

2) A tentative schedule for the Pre-nuptial shots have been set. December 27, Sun-up to Sun-down. Earlier this year, I looked at other people's Pre-Nuptial shots and saw nothing but beach shots and other scenic locations. I didn't want that. I told Joen even then that I wanted ours to be real like eating fishballs or balut or us at the driving range. You know, shots of us doing what we really do instead of having the perfect wind touch our faces with the sea breeze as our ambience. Joen agreed. Being a photographer himself, he's probably sick of seeing those too-perfect pictures himself. I was so glad when Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss told me that these could indeed be done. YEY!!!

3) Tisha also told me that she got a me ANOTHER Free Video service added to our existing package. Another YEY! So now we have a montage of pictures from childhood to engagement, actual pre-wedding and wedding ceremony shots AND this Free video. I told Tisha I would've wanted that one to be for the Harem to do something for me but she said, "No." I had to utilize it for some other video stint. Mayhaps interviews with Friends and Family? Let's see. I would want to talk to Beaver, being the video producer that she is, for ideas.

4) Tisha is also thinking of getting us another florist who can do deliver everything we want for cheaper. She just has to see how they do on a wedding this month before making any decisions.

We are always happy to move forward with a few things just so we could get them out of the way and be able to focus on other things.

Oh and, how could I forget?

2006-09-08T02:01:00.000-05:00

We just bought the chocolate fountain the other day! Last Monday was Labor Day so Joen and I decided to invest all our gas to travel the distances between all the Houseware stores in our search for the right chocolate fountain. Lowe's only had a 2-tier fountain, NFM was closed, Home Depot and Williams-Sonoma only sold it in stores on December, Sears didn't have one and I forget the others already. So Joen and I decided to get the one online because for one, it looked way cuter than what we saw. It was also a bit cheaper than what we would've ended up buying had we set our eyes on that one at Lowe's. So we are happy.

Also, we are having a balikbayan box sent to Pinas within this month to put in our summer clothes to wear over there (approaching Fall / Winter now in the US) as well as all our pasalubongs. That's why Joen and I have been in a pasalubong frenzy lately. We figured everything pertaining to the wedding, save the fountain, we will just have to carry ourselves. We really plan to travel light and even with the balikbayan box, all the wedding stuff we bought here is a bit more than enough.

We are so excited to see this fountain! We intend to test it here just to make sure it works. THAT would be so much fun for the both of us! (But oh so unhealthy...)

I'm as high as a kite...

2006-09-07T15:15:00.000-05:00

... 'coz I just ordered the invites! For the past few weeks, I was waiting for a few more elements to be finalized before I could place the order. Complete names, special titles, confirmations of attendance... all this with the help of my mother and my mother-in-law. I was ready to order last week but we still lacked the middle initials of two names, both of which were Joen's frinds. After much prodding, he finally doubled up on his efforts and got the last middle initial last night. Phew! After forwarding the lists to my mom and mom-in-law, and after my mom told me to alphabetize the order, to move a couple of things around, I got my "Go" and made the order.

I had to spend half an hour at least on the pc just making sure I got all the spelling right, the format perfect, and took care of all the other splits I needed to trim. I've been communicating with Jeanm's Customer Service since March of this year just to make sure they could customize things the way I wanted them to. And they've been very cooperative and prompt at replying. 7 days to order, 2-7 days to deliver. I had just bought the chocolate brown envelopes the other day too so as soon as they arrive, I'ma start with the invitees' names already. (I previously decided on using light blue envelopes but changed my mind when I saw the Belgian chocolate-y goodness of the paper, hehe).

I had tried printing light ink on dark material before and Joen laughed his ass off trying to NOT tell me, "I told you so" when I couldn't read anything on the paper. He is a Bosconion after all so he already knew the outcomes of small technicalities like these. Two options now. I write the names on the chocolate brown envelope with special light blue ink or I just encode the names, cut them out and print them on paper. I haven't actually decided yet but I'm thinking I'll go to Office Depot, brown paper in hand and sample all their special ink. If I do find one, I just hope they come in light blue. Otherwise, it's Option no. 2 for us.

For now, I'm just glad this makor expense is out of the way so I can finally mail them to Jersey where my cousin-in-law, Olga, is going to take them with her as she goes home to the Phils. come October 28. Invites should then be sent and distributed by first week of November.

*I just hope Jeanm doesn't screw things up or that they don't find anything undoable with the format. So once again, I'm crossing my fingers and eyes.*

The sun always shines on TV

2006-09-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

Joen and I have pretty much made up our minds as to who is going to take care of our Videography. Last week, my cousin-in-law gave me a link to some of the videos they took. When I watched the first out of maybe ten videos out there, the first word that came to my mind was "drama." The shots were taken in slow-mo and the songs were either operatic or orchestraic. Immediately, I KNEW this wasn't the type of video we wanted for our wedding. So I asked Tisha if we could have a more fun and real-time movement sort of video. Good thing, she said they can and that all we had to do was to sit down with the video people and tell them what we want and how we want it down. In her experience, the couple usually just leaves everything up to the Video team. Maybe that's why on their website, the format is the same almost all throughout and I guess, the primary objective was to make viewers cry. I mean, it worked on Tisha. Hehe.

Just today, Tisha sent us this link of one Videography company who just won an award in Vegas. I saw the winning video and THERE I saw exactly what I knew we wanted for our wedding. It started out slow and easy and after a few seconds, flashes of scenes one after another were shown timed with the perfect percussion interval. I liked it! Conceptualizing within oneself is one thing, seeing the concept come to life is another, and I'm just glad I had something to work and base on.

And speaking of that Recep Dress...

2006-09-05T13:43:00.000-05:00

... here it is. Actually, this is not IT but a simplified version in a lot of ways. Already gave this to Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss since she will coordinate with the designer.

Have two ideas though. One with the bustline trimming, one without. I will leave it up to Bernardo to decide.

Sodium bulb moment

2006-09-05T12:42:00.002-05:00

I have to admit, I have learned a lot of things about myself while on the course of this wedding planning bit. One is that Joen and I were really meant to be together. No need for explanation on matters as sublime as this one. Another is that music plays a much bigger part in my life than I ever thought it has. No need for explanation on THAT one either. But the biggest realization I had was about how my fashion sense says a lot about me.

See, I realized that there were hundreds of other much prettier, bigger, lacier and anything-er wedding gowns out there that I could've gotten for myself. But somehow, I stuck with the most simple, no-frills one. I could've easily grabbed those designer gowns, some of them for a bargain price, but I just didn't see myself in them. Same with my reception dress. I have been on the lookout for the best dress for me but I seem to shy away from anything that looks too busy even if I knew it would tell me apart from the rest. All these gowns and dresses look very good on paper but bad on me. Why? Because if I wore them, I can imagine forcing to carry myself the way the gown/dress would want to carry ME. And the other way round is not the way to work it. I could never pull-off wearing some Vera Wang-ish gown because with all that money, I would rather grab a roundtrip ticket to Europe or better yet, invest it wisely. It's just not practical in the world I live in (which is nowhere near Paris Hilton's planet). Also, if I grabbed something that looks as busy as Wall street, will anybody even notice the huge smile I have on my face? Or will people end up ogling at every inch of the gown and miss out on all the other details? If I got something bulky, ball-y, train-y and with ruffles here and there, instead of shaking hands or kissing people, my two hands will now be occupied lifting my gown up and adjusting every bit of foreign obstacle out of the way. In the end, I wouldn't know how to carry myself in these kinds of gowns. Other girls would because they're ok with it. And I, well... I am NOT ok with it. That's not to say that I compromise quality for price. Nuh-uh. I probably just don't want anything superlative, I guess.

Furthermore, Leg and I were chatting the other night about my reception dress. So far, all those I had in mind seemed too simple for her. Leg, my lovely fashionista friend, who is a no-frills dresser too, mind you, is one of the most fashion-savvy people I know. And she has both an opinion and a sharp eye for fashion, even for those clothes she doesn't wear herself. Anyway, this lovely best friend of mine, in her sincere efforts to help me look for the right dress, told me that she wanted me to wear something that would "stand me out." As soon as she said it, I saw the light. There it was, the phrase that made me open my eyes. BINGO! I got it! I now know what it is! I finally realized that I am not the type to want to "STAND OUT", or "STICK OUT FROM THE CROWD"! I mean, I've probably always known this about myself but when you have this BIG day ahead of you and being totally selfish is supposed to be accepted since you're "THE BRIDE", I didn't find any change of heart for what I truly am comfortable with. And that is to be one with the crowd, to mix with the peeps, to mingle in. No wonder my favorite color has always been brown! Brown is probably the most ubiquitous color, don't you think?

Bottomline, I really realized that I am not the type to compromise my comfort level when it comes to fashion. And that applies even on my biggest day. See, some people go to lengths to look their best even if it means hurting their feet, itching, scratching and putting themselves through uncomfortable states. Not me. Not on my biggest day. On that day, I am going to float with comfort and glow with happiness. My smile will be the currency of the event, and the hand I hold, the foundation. On that day, the only person I would want to please aside from myself, is Joen. And I know he thinks I'm beautiful regardless of what I (don't) wear. Maybe it's because I've reached the age of not having to prove myself to anyone? Maybe I am now more financially savvy and even more practical that we have a future to save up for and think about? Maybe I have always been secure about myself that no matter how people see and judge me for what I'm wearing, I know deep inside what makes me distinct? Maybe I just don't give a rat's ass about image because I have always carried myself the way I should?

It's probably one thing or the other. Nevertheless, I thank Leg for incidentally making me know myself even better and making me want to embrace my limits. At 28 years old... nay, 29 this Saturday, I still have a lot of things to figure out. Good luck to me!

*Thanks indeed, Hija! Love you. Mwah!*

Here comes the GOWN!

2006-09-03T02:23:00.000-05:00

So this is how my gown is going to look like. (Taken during the gown alteration earlier today)
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Seriously, I don't think showing my gown to everybody 4 months prior to the date is a good idea. Sorry, Darlene!

Here's what I can give you though.

*Oh and, my shoes looked Eff Eye Enn Ee with the gown.*

Sweet, sweet Life!!!

2006-09-02T01:35:00.000-05:00

Joen and I have been wondering about where we can get the chocolate for the chocolate fountain. We thought about buying here but it would just be added luggage. So I opted to call the contact info of this Chocolate Fountain rentor c/o Beaver. After how many attempts, she couldn't hear me so I texted her through Chikka. Turns out, they rent out the fountain WITH the chocolate as a package. Good thing though, this Judy person suggested Caro and Marie to me. Since Beaver and I were chatting over Yahoo already, she volunteered to give me C&M's number. So I called them and learned that they DO sell the chocolate only and for cheap! P79 for every bar which is half a kilo! YEY!!! Beaver's friend only had 2 kilos and they finished the whole thing halfway through the party. We would want ours to last 'til the end so we don't mind buying 10 bars worth of chocolate.

My sister, Chime, is the MOOOOOST excited about this chocolate fountain. We would be emailing each other about some other topic and she would always ALWAYS inject about being so excited for the fountain. Hehe. Beaver is the second MOST excited. I can imagine these two people standing by the fountain like statues. Hehe.

I just need to call C&M a week before we fly so we can make an appointment. The person on the phone was very helpful indeed. She even gave me tips on what questions to ask C&M when I see them. Hehe. All the more we can't wait for this fountain thing to work!

More pledges!

2006-08-30T12:02:00.000-05:00

More people are bringing in their pledges. YEY!!! These are very much appreciated. My groovy Auntie Pyr is taking care of the dippings for the chocolate fountain. Strawberries, Crackers, Brownie squares, banana slices, and other stuff. I'm not sure if this will be a solo role for Auntie Pyr but for now, I'm glad she's taking care of it. See, she's that type of Aunt who is so updated, so into the IN, groovy and ageless and she loves me to bits! She's a keeper, eh? Hehe. Oh, and she's Dimples' mother. The artistic streak never leaks, what can I say. She even plans to color coordinate Baby Zaiid's stroller to Dimples' outfit. Can't wait to see that! Thanks so much, Auntie! Mwah mwah! Love you too.

Mama and Papa will also be taking care of the wine. Red and Sparkling required. I don't know if any other type of hard liquor is going to be brought in but I would want everyone to enjoy everything sober. *Hint hint*

Thanks for everything, peepols!!

To have our cake...

2006-08-28T13:30:00.000-05:00

... and eat it too! Sandra Lim is making our cake and she is famous for making the most sophisticated cakes in Cebu. Tisha wanted us to move forward with this already so after viewing thousands and thousands of cake for weeks, we had started to get tired. US and UK magazines feature cakes that are smaller than what we want(guest lists here rarely go beyond 100) and we wanted to find that one cake we could just show to Tisha and Sandra and tell them, "Here it is. This is what we want. Follow that." But we had no such luck. Tisha sent me pictures of several of Sandra's works. They were all very nice and sophisticated but most of them were too tall, too high, and too ornamented and that's fine, if you are that type of couple who wants everything big and bloomy. But Joen and I aren't. We are two equally simple people who want things elegant and classy, but at the same time describe who we really are. A lot of cakes really really look good on paper but if you know us and you take one look at these cakes, you will never see us in there. That's something we don't want to happen.

That was why we decided to design our own cake. One of the pictures Tisha sent us gave us an idea on the size we would ideally want for our cake. This was the cake for a silver wedding anniversary she organized (attached). I then got a piece of paper and started drawing. I came up with two designs and showed them to Joen. He gave his input so I did some changes here and there. But the one thing I really like about our cake is that we are trading height for meaning. See, we are inscribing the lyrics of our first dance on the cake and that is... just... so.. US. Hehe. I forwarded the idea to our families and they loved it.

Moreover, Joen had originally wanted to have light blue fondant with chocolate accents. I have always wanted it the other way round but I just gave in to Joen's wishes. Turns out Tisha and I thought alike (Sistazzz!) so Joen says to me, "Go ahead with it. I am outvoted." (Told you he was very easy to deal with, hehe.) Tisha also assured me that the flowers on the cake will be like the actual flowers we will be using. So that should be good.

So here's what I made. I showed these to Tisha and she's ok with it. Very doable indeed. Don't worry, this is a far cry to the end product. I'm sure Sandra will use really really nice flowers and have the absolute perfect fondant to go. Tisha mentioned marble as the cake but I'm not sure. Joen would NOT want the cake to be chocolate and that's ok. As long as the fondant is chocolate-y looking then it should be fine.

Shoe, fly! Don't bother me!

2006-08-28T00:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Saturday, Joen and I went to Oakview to check out their shoe stores. I have been on the prowl for the perfect bridal shoes for weeks now since I have to wear it already by the time my gown gets altered next Saturday, Sept 2. My mindset was to go to as many places as possible, online including, and narrow down choices to three and finally buy it within the week. I've been to the Westroads mall and no luck there. I had wanted to check DSW first even but Oakview was nearer to us so there.

We entered Dillard's and of course, I gravitated to my favorite spot with all the Antonio Melanis while Hoen trailed behind me trying to look for something interesting to emasculate his lonely soul. It only took me a minute to find this shoe, this abandoned shoe placed right behind another pretty shoe (but it was red). I took one look at it and immediately I knew it was IT. It was soo pretty and very... shall I say "bride-y!" I looked at the back and it said, "6 1/2." Great. I tried the right pair on, FERPECT. I went to the cashier and asked exactly what color it was and if I could get away with wearing an ivory/champagne gown with it. The cashier said it was "Bone." I wasn't too pleased to hear that knowing that BONE was not what I was looking for. But I tried the left pair anyway and man, did they fit even better! (In the US, I encounter more "loose left foot" problems than in Pinas). I walked in them, jumped, skipped, tiptoed and twirled in them. They loved my feet and my feet adored these shoes. Melanis have always been very comfortable and even more so today. I was willing to just have it reserved for a few days while we circled the block but even Joen liked it. No, LOVED it! He loved them so much he wanted us to get them right away! Haha! I was happy to oblige, excited to place the Melanis beside my gown and assess the color effect.

Now THIS was my problem!
"The pearl might go with the ivory but the edging is champagne."
"But the gown is long so people would hardly see the shoe."
"Oh, but the pictures! What if I go wrong with the pictures?"
" Sus, who cares really about the bride's shoes? Nobody'll see them. "

Joen is convinced that they go well together. I emailed Tisha, my dear friend, my loving coordinator who happens to be a shoe horse since the age of 5 (not kidding). She says that although it's hard to judge over photos, it should be ok. And that if things go wrong, we buy shoes in Cebu. And that who cares really? She's probably right and I'm slowly beginning to think that it'll be okay.

Anyway, here are a few pics. Sorry, these pics were taken in our kitchen which is the only white-lighted area in our apartment.

Choo$ing the right Word$

2006-08-26T15:56:00.000-05:00

Joen and I decided before that we should make it clear on our reception card that we are unable to accept gifts in kind because we will be flying back to the US a week after the wedding. So earlier this year, I asked my dear friend Joan Florido to come up with the right text to put in the card. This was what she came up with.

"We are honored to have you share in our love and happiness, and will look back at your presence on this day fondly as we bring back with us all the good wishes, thoughtful gifts and unforgettable memories when we go back to the United States shortly after our wedding."

This was ok until Joen and I revisited this issue last week. This was what we came up with:

"We are unable to receive gifts in kind as we are immediately going back to the US after the wedding. We will look back at your presence on this day fondly as we bring back with us all the good wishes, thoughtful gifts and unforgettable memories. Thank you."

Again, I went to Jown for help and told her that Joen wanted the text to be more specific in case, and it happens often, guests don't "get it." So this was what Joan came up with, in jest of course:

"We are unable to receive gift$ in kind a$ we are immediately going back to the U$ after the wedding. We will look back at your pre$ence on thi$ day fondly a$ we bring back with u$ all the good wishe$, thoughtful gift$ and unforgettable memorie$. Thank you"

HAHAHA!! I love Joan! SPOT ON!

I LOVE YOU, DIMPLES!!!!

2006-08-26T01:48:00.000-05:00

Here is a work of jeeenyuz. My cousin, Dimples, is an artist-slash-magician. I asked her to work on that Guest Questionnaire I had and look at the outcome. This just made our day (after hours of settling venue transfer, see previous entry). I LOVE YOU GOVINDA JAKOSALEM TRAZO leadsinger of MOOD, TORI AMOS fanatic, wife and mother GODIVA GODESS!! Mwah! Mwah! MMMMWah!!!

* Revised 4 times. THIS is the final-est. =)

Unconditional Support...

2006-08-24T02:05:00.000-05:00

is invaluable. Priceless. And just this week, very much appreciated. My sister, Chime, and my brother, Kuya, have just pledged to support our wedding through cash "donations". YEY!! Love you, guys! Mwah mwah mwah!!

Did not FORGET

2006-08-24T01:35:00.000-05:00

We are now done having our one-on-one (or more like, one-or-two) with Fr. Forget!(Pronounced FOR-zhay) For those of you who don't know, Joen and I were to fulfill all the pre-wedding Eucharistic Obligations here in Omaha. This obligation included taking a 156-question Survey categorized into different aspects of the marriage-- financial, spiritual, sexual, family background-related, etc. Every inconsistent answer between the two of us was to be discussed and elaborated on in the presence of a priest. Our priest of choice was Fr. Tim Forget of the St. Leo Parish. It was easy choosing because he really is our favorite priest- young-ish, funny and knows pop culture. So for 3 days within over a month, we would go to his office at the Parish and cover each inconsistently answered question. We did this one hour at a time and our third and last session ended last Monday, August 21. Fr. Forget facilitates very well and does not intervene in our discourse. He gives his guidance and enlightens us from time to time on the key areas Joen and I need to work on as individuals and as a couple. Our sessions with him were very much enjoyed.

The only thing we need to do now is to go to this Engagement Encounter weekend which is scheduled for October 6-8. It's sort of our version of the Discovery Weekend. After that's done, the parish will furnish a certificate of sorts addressed to the Redemptorist Church in Cebu. The Pre-Marriage Preparation here is very much different and in a lot of ways, more structured compared to what we have in the Phils. Hopefully, we would adapt the same program to nforce into , at least in some ways, those engaged couples the commitment that marriage entails.

Caked out

2006-08-23T02:24:00.000-05:00

I have never looked at these many wedding cakes before! What happened was that since we are in the US, we are limited to the Wedding Magazines and References that are showcased here. Case in point, our Wedding Cake. For a very long time now, Joen and I have decided that we will have a fondant cake. Check. We also decided that the number of tiers on our cake should only be 3. Check. Basing on these magazines and websites that I've mentioned, the sizes of these cakes were usually quite small, probably something good for 30 - 50 people only, because US weddings don't usually have cakes that go that high or big unless you're a celebrity. So all the while we thought that we were going to have the same sized cake.

Until last night when Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss sent me pictures of some of the cakes our cake supplier, Sandra Lim, has done. I felt stupid! Of course the cake would have to be big enough to feed our 150 guests! Hahaha! (One more proof that I really have never been the wedding person). Yes, we make a cute pair of ignoramuses. Hehe.

So now, our immediate mission is to find our perfect cake! We don't want something too big, too high, too decorated and too... inedible looking? You know those cakes that look too fancy you don't even want to touch them? We don't want those. We want something pleasing to both the eyes and ESPECIALLY to the palate.

I guess back to flipping through magazines and clicking on websites like crazy.

(I just pity my Mom who won't be able to "Have her cake and eat it too" as the adage goes.)

People we should never forget

2006-08-23T02:15:00.000-05:00

All four of my grandparents have passed away, the last one being my Lola Cering, who passed away 2 years ago. Joen's maternal grandparents are still alive (and kicking like 20-year-olds too) while he lost his paternal Lolo and Lola many many years ago. We want them to be a part of our wedding in spirit and that is why I suggested to Mommy and Mama that we place pictures of them by the Wedding Cake table. Moreover, I have also asked Mommy and Mama to set aside a picture of their wedding for us to place by the Wedding Cake Table. If all these pictures can be made into sepia shots, so much the better.

YEY!!

2006-08-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

My second cousin, Dimples, is always reliable when it comes to executing anything artsy, fartsy and anything else that rhymes with it. I have just asked her to "work on" the Guest Questionnaire by making it look much much betterer than that embarassing draft I made. As useless, she is excited about being given an "assignment"! So excited that she refuses to share with me her thoughts. She says it's a secret. Here we go. Haha! But I trust her completely and I haven't seen an ugly output from her.

Anyway, I'm just glad to be surrounded by family and friends who constantly support us. Can't wait for the FINAL look of the Guest Questionnaire. I'm sure it'll be lovely! Thanks, Dimps! Mwah mwah mmmwah!

The Fountain of Hope

2006-08-20T22:08:00.000-05:00

During the earliest parts of this year's planning, Tisha had mentioned to me that she might be able to give me a Chocolate Fountain for free. I was ecstatic! I see a lot of chocolate fountains here wherever I go and that would've been the most appropriate thing to have in the wedding- it's fun, it's spectacular and of course, it's chocolate-y. The stupid thing is that I totally forgot about this so that last night when my good friend Beaver told me that her friend who just got married had chocolate fondue, I instantly remembered about that fountain Tisha had told me about. So she and I chatted (we've been doing a lot of that recently) and turns out she won't be able to arrange for it since the chocolate fountain, being not so popular yet in Cebu, needs to be rented from Manila and it costs like P20K a month. WHOAH. Tisha said that her July client bought a fountain themselves here in the US and took it with them in their trip. What's better, it cost only about $50. So I went online and in 5 minutes' time, found these really cheap yet cute chocolate fountains. It actually costs as low as $30 but the question is, are we still able to transport it from the US to Cebu? We already have so much to carry here as it is. Looking at the thing, it sure makes for a rather bulky baggage. 2 options to think of. First, I wrote to my friend Maybelline and asked her if she had her own chocolate fountain, being the hostess extraordinaire that she is. If so, I could just rent it from her and take care of the chocolate and dippings. If not, maybe she knows someone who has one? Secondly, if my brother-in-law indeed pushes through with coming over to the US, maybe we can ask him the favor of including it in his luggage. But he still isn't sure yet so we have to wait for confirmation. For now, we would want to go around some stores and check the appliance out ourselves. There are a lot of cheap ones around and it sure would pay to check them out. In the meantime, I hope I hear from May. Here's a pic of what I found online.

Another oops

2006-08-18T23:26:00.000-05:00

Olga asked me for the number of Narciso and Charles Buenaconsejo so I revisited my files on our Photography package. And there I saw the contract which we have been furnished last April 24, 2006 yet. Yikes! I totally forgot about this one! Good thing I looked into my photog folder again and saw the document. I texted Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss right away and I was so relieved to know that there was no real urgency just yet. Phew! Close one. I hate missing out on details like this. I guess I have learned my lesson.

Hoen and I have this file called "Schedule of Expenses" and in that file are major expenses for the wedding which are further categorized as either Credit Card or Cash purchases. Those contracts that require a down payment first are good for us because at least, we'll have less amounts to work out for when we're actually there.

Ack!

2006-08-18T15:27:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I regret looking at wedding stuff online because I see something I like and oh... the confusion that comes afterward. For example, I was bent on narrowing down my options for my reception dress but Tisha, being one of my Godiva Maids, wanted me to forward to her some images I had of the Maids Dresses. So aside from the first batch of pics which I've stored for months, I went online to look for dresses for HER. Of course, I ended up looking for something for (thumb pointing to self). So aside from this Sarah Jessica unlayered balloon dress and this light blue satin dress I found from Alvina Valeta, here are two other dresses I found at Watters and Watters.

This first one is actually very girly. Very... UNmaude. But I like how and where all the embellishments (if they are INDEED embellishments) and patterns fall and are placed on the dress. I'll probaly have the tube version of this and trust Bernardo with the accents. Oh and of course, it would be light blue instead of the tan. The choc brown remains.

This fourth one I found at Watter and Watters as well. I don't know how but I seem to have had an eye for those patterns today. They look like thick threads of spanish ropes twisted on top of the fabric, don't they? Again, it would be light blue and choc brown. I saw tons of stuff online but my bodice is shorter so I need to get something that will make my body look longer. Also, I've been seeing some progress in my tummy since I've been doing 600 abs a day. Hopefully, this will make me and my body look better in a satin dress. (You know how it is with satin. A tiny bulge can look humongous with how the light hits the fabric so have to be careful else, I'd look pregnant).

When I'll be able to decide? I don't know. When I'm supposed to decide? SOON! Keep you posted.

Entourage File

2006-08-18T02:32:00.000-05:00

I made this file of all those included in the Entourage, their nicknames and their pictures. This is for Tisha and her assistants to be able to identify the important people in the wedding and to be able to call out to them to take their positions without much bother. I was looking for pictures of these people earlier and I just realized how few pictures there are of people facing front. They're always facing the side, exposing only one side of their face or making faces. Or.. in most cases, their faces were too small to be recognized. It took me 2 hours to finish the file and I still have 5 people to go. Will need help from my Mom and Mama in helping me fill out the photo-less ones.

Alteration Shmalteration

2006-08-17T23:09:00.000-05:00

I scheduled my gown alteration today. Saturday, September 2 at 11 am. Before going there, I am to bring my own bustier, slip and shoes. The bustier and slip I have decided to get in Cebu so that I don't have to travel with more items. I already have a lot ordered from here as it is. I can just bring my 2-inch high shoes because that's most likely the height I'm going for. 2 1/2 the highest. I'll take pictures then. =)

Oops... back-up, back-up

2006-08-17T23:02:00.000-05:00

Two oops for today. First, turns out my parents weren't big fans of "The Prayer" being our Bridal March. They just told me today that it's been a very common wedding march and that it might be too long for the actual procession even if my wedding will be held at the Redemptorist's Church. I had wanted Ave Maria but they said it's common too. Also, that was the song played when Papa's mother died. So scratch that. Secondly, I just realized today that the bridal shoes I've been determined to buy are 3 1/2 inches. No WAY I'm wearing a 3 1/2-inch heeled shoe that day. I can't walk that hight and with a gown at that. Nuh-uh. Ever since I purchased my gown, I have carried it straight to the closet, untouched for months. Today, while looking at bridal shoes (see previous entry), I had to take it out and take a look at it for the first time since it's been there to help me decide which shoes to buy. I've been through this before and now, I have to do it all over again.

So I guess it's time to rethink these two objects of my wedding.

Making it up

2006-08-15T21:53:00.000-05:00

Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss has been at the hospital for a week and so the wedding planning has been coursed through her assistant, Ching. She just printed out those unreplied emails I forwarded to her for her to send to Tisha. I worry for my dear friend and organizer's health but I guess things have to move forward with the wedding since it's 4 months away. We text a lot so that helps. =)

For now, I have asked Doogie to ask Wenwen Zaspa for his rate for hair and make-up for the bride and the two mothers. The rest of the entourage- the Godiva Maids, Lady Ghirardelli and the Hershey Girls will be taken care of Bernardo, Tisha's suki. I hope Wenwen's rate is good as Doogie vouches for his craft.

I am lucky

2006-08-10T15:35:00.000-05:00

to have a hubby who makes wedding planning a walk in the park. What happens is that I am tinkering away on the pc or on stacks of magazines, looking for ideas, vendors, links, images and what not. As soon as I find something I like, I save it in a file along with all the other potential ideas. Then, I show them to Hoen- the images, the budget, how it goes with everything else and all I need is his Yes or No. If he gives me a No, that really means a No. I mean, this is OUR wedding so everything should be OUR decision. A YES from him means he really likes it. I then do more research on how to order, how long it would take to order, shelf life, etc. That's about it. I guess that's why we have gotten a lot of things done sooner than we thought we would because aside from the fact that I love getting things done soonest, I have a partner who is so easy to confer with.

I have heard of bridezillas and brides-to-be who can't seem to make simple decisions or who KEEP on changing their minds every five minutes. I also know of some brides who don't want to plan with their partners because they have a concept all their own and are afraid to bring it up with their fiances becaude of the budget or the fanciness of the whole thing. There are also those whose decisions are very much dictated by their friends. Like their friends literally discourage them from doing what they want simply because they find it inconvenient. Hello... it's THEIR wedding. Back-off and stop trying to stir your influence. Leave them alone, for chrissakes. Anyway, these couples-to-be should know that taking time is different from wasting time.

So I am just proud of how fluid this whole thing has been so far. Let's hope it stays this way until we've marched and all the cake's gone and all we can think of is celebrating the Holidays with family and friends. *crossing fingers and eyes*

Swing your hips and clap your hands...

2006-08-10T13:48:00.000-05:00

... to the beat of luuuv. For our beach wedding last year, I compiled some of the best wedding songs ever. And for those who don't know me well, music is just about as important to me as the air I breathe. It was a hodge podge of the most groovy oldies to the familiar contemporaries. But I don't know, I'm just partial to old songs because they are just so pure, crisp and simple. Take Billie Holiday for example. She didn't need those saxophones and pianos, she could carry the weight of the song all by herself. She makes me wish I were living on a treehouse overlooking the ocean. I can listen to her in my sleep. Barry White makes me want to dance while brushing my teeth. The Turtles songs are the most melodic and singable while Frank Sinatra... well, Old Blue Eyes is just on a league all his own. George Harrison is my excuse whenever I forget to pray every night. Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Heatwave, Van Morrison, The Beatles, Roberta Flack.. I can go on and on. And I haven't even covered Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, The Byrds and other artists yet. A dash of acid jazz, dance, 70s funk will make it more memorable.

One thing I learned about choosing your wedding music. You may like a lot of songs but if your guests won't enjoy it, the whole place will be dull. I was glad to see people singing to our songs, humming and dancing to it. I plan to have the same thing happen on our Church Wedding. And with all the song numbers planned and the Cha-cha slide, I'm confident people will be having fun.

Hair to the Throne

2006-08-10T13:35:00.000-05:00

To viel or not to veil. I still haven't decided yet. Somehow, I am not so sure I'd be comfortable wearing a veil on my head but at the same time, it goes with gown. Oh but it might be hot and I might be itching all over. I also like the idea of just exposing my neck and back in case it gets really humid. A chance maybe to spruce up my hair with some pins and other pieces here and there? I still don't know. I'm up for a trial on the hair and make-up when I get there. BUT... but but, ifever I decide to wear a veil, I have to buy it here because it has to match my gown. Ngerrr. I hate this part. I guess we'll know when my gown gets altered next month.

In the meantime, here's something simple I found online.

Ze Cock

2006-08-10T03:08:00.000-05:00

I love "Father of the Bride." What's more, I loved Martin Short as the French wedding planner. "Ze cock" for "The cake." Hehe. Looking for a cake design was not that hard because we pretty much knew what we liked to have. Chocolate, of course, with some light blue on them. This one I fell in love with and I asked Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss if the price was going to be sky-high if they followed every bit of it, save the pink of course. She said this cake design is considered complicated and that it might be very expensive. However, she is going to ask whatsthestoresname to come up with a design for me which might be close to this one. I was all for it. Still waiting for the design. Hope it's as regal and yummy looking as this one:

I am also getting the cake topper here as Tisha said there are no unique or funny cake toppers in Cebu. Here are my choices:

Aren't they cute? Still haven't decided which one to get yet. As usual. Hehe.

Sientate, por favor

2006-08-10T03:00:00.000-05:00

Seat placement is somewhat important and that is why after consulting Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss, I came up with our own Hall arrangement as well as the Seating arrangement for the VIPs. Tisha modified it a bit and this is what we came up with.

No word yet on this being final but I'm hoping this is it 'coz I kinda like it. =)

In the words of Nancy Sinatra...

2006-08-10T02:23:00.000-05:00

"These Boots are made for Walkin' and that's just what they'll do." I'm really talking about my bridal shoes but I just couldn't help but include the song here in this entry. After all, come to think of it, those shoes ARE just made for walking and nothing else.

I have browsed through stores in my search for the perfect bridal shoe and of course, I still haven't decided yet and I better and like, soon, since I'm going to have to wear them by the time of the alteration. Here are a few of what I've liked so far.

The first one's actually my favorite. Where I found it? I forget. Better believe it. I'll be looking at website after website searching for this one again. The second one is from Nina. I actually found this at Younkers just two days ago. I liked the look of it, very bridal indeed, but just not sure about the crystals. Oh and, they only had the size 6. The third one is so-so. Not really into it, just like the fourth one, but I figured since I'll be doubletiming on my search for the perfect shoe again (it's been MONTHS since I've had these images!), might as well remind me of those I had already saved. Hehe.

*Half an hour after posting of this entry, I found the link of the first shoe. Might need to get them reeeeal soon. Hehe. *

Why settle for a Guest Book...

2006-08-10T02:09:00.000-05:00

... when you can have a Guest Questionnaire? I wanted to do away with the whole traditional Guest Book signing because, come on, it really is boring. I wanted something unique (no, not a platter) and something Hoen and I can appreciate. So I did some research on several wedding websites and came up with something- the Guest Questionnaire. I looked into it and this is how it works. Guests will be given a sheet of paper to answer during the reception. This sheet of paper will be placed on top of the table on each of the guest's placement (since it's going to be a buffet dindin, no plates will be placed on the table). Several ballpens and pencils will be placed on the tables. Questions will include the ff. questions:

1) Are they two peas in a pod or did opposites attract?
2) Your Predictions
Birthyear of first child
Number of children
Names of children
3) Draw your own picture of the Bride and Groom
4) How do you know Joen or Maude?
5) What are your comments about the Ceremony and the Reception?
6) Where do you see them in ten years?
7) And advice for the newlyweds?
You should ...
8) Your special Wish for Us

This is how it just might look like. Did this by myself and I'm not done with this yet.

*Note: Some of these questions are my brainchild..ren*

And the search is still on...

2006-08-10T01:53:00.000-05:00

... for my reception dress. I have already conferred with Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss that I might just have to let Bernardo make my Recep dress. Since I will have my gown alteration first week of Sept, I will just have to ask the David's crew to take measurements for me to email to Tisha. Now... what design to go for. As usual, and yawn if you want to, I want something simple and lightweight. I mean, the reason why I wanted another dress for the reception is so I could dance and move and walk and jump and do anything without having to drag my gown with me.

I've been looking at websites, magazines, but I haven't seen one that I really like so far. I remember seeing the Garnier Nutrisse ad of Sarah Jessica Parker slipping out of her fabulous dress to dye her hair anew. I just LOVED that dress! I had to wait in front of the tv for the ad to come out and that was usually during Who wants to be a Millionaire, the Ellen Degeneres Show and the daily SATC reruns. I would sit there, wait for it, then click click click my cam away. Check how uncouth the pic looks. Haha!

Here's another one I like too. I was thinking of following everything in it except make everything black in that dress chocolate brown. Not sure how it's going to look but... ngerr.

And now this one. The third one. This one really caught my eye. Sarah Jessica Parker wears this very well. She seems to be going up and down those stairs quite breezily and that is just the kind of mobility I want. This might have to be in light blue with a chocolate brown sash on my waist. A flower maybe? I'll leave it up to Bernardo. I also don't want to do the scallop neckline since my boobs are, well, bubbly and jello-y so I'm going for a straight cut. Leg said that for a simple dress like this, a lot of weight goes to the kind of cloth and I totally agree. I hope Bernardo comes up with a really nice fabric to spruce this simple little thing I'll be wearing while dancing the Cha-cha slide. OR... I'm going to have to scrounge for more dress ideas somewhere. Readers... HELP!!!

The Aides of March

2006-08-10T01:08:00.000-05:00

Hoen and I are marching the aisle together instead of just me. There really is no point since we're already married. And I would rather have a hand to hold while 200 people are staring at me, scrutinizing (admit it) what I'm wearing, how my hair and make-up are done, my shoes, my walk. At least there's Hoen to share the spotlight with. Hehe.

Deciding the Bridal March theme is tricky. I mean, I am my mother's daughter. And if the songs to be sang in church does not have her approval, I will have to face the possibility of having a long-faced bridal mother lurking in a corner in church and I won't have that. So I researched and researched and finally, I found it. "The Prayer" by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. I love this song, my mom loves this song, Mama loves this song, EVERYONE loves this song! Now, who can sing it? I then thought of Amy, one of the Bitches. She then agreed but was hesitant at the thought of possibly singing it alone. She said she either had to look for a guy to sing it with OR to sing another song. I was ok with it until I spoke with my Mom tonight. Turns out, my uncle, Tito Roy Allego, who is a part of the choir, sings "The Prayer" regularly with one of his students at Cebu Doc. So my Mom is going to ask him if he can do it. If not, my Mom is going to call one of Megan's teachers, Dennis, who just impressed me with his voice the last time I heard him at Royal Oaks. He actually sang "The Prayer" with another female teacher but she's in Dumaguete now. So my Mom is going to have to do some arm twisting. Hehe. I guess Amy is now the third option. But nothing final yet until confirmed.

Talkers are gems

2006-08-10T00:59:00.000-05:00

Samantha Lazarte is one of the coolest people I know. She also happens to be one hell of a host, emcee and livewire extraordinaire. I had asked her to be the Lector (for the ceremony) and the reception host. She readily agreed. Even said it would be an honor (hmm, she likes me. She really likes me! Hehe). Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss suggested that she host the recep together with Grease so all the more perfecterer! I have no fear with Sam on the mic. She speaks fluent Visayan, English and even Nordic fairyspeak if spanked on her left butt cheek. She can do impromptu but in this case, I would require for myself, her and Tisha to come up with a program so that everything goes fluidly. I told Tisha that as far as games are concerned, I would like to make one up for the guests (not sayiiiiing) and they'll take care of the rest of the pakulo , unlike what happened on our Civil ceremony where the game portion was planned by me. I trust those two to collaborate well. I have total confidence in them.

I just emailed to Sam the tentative missalette my Mom sent me. I hope she's ok with the format.

More favors

2006-08-10T00:51:00.000-05:00

Here are our Luncheon Napkins which contain the text "This day, I will marry my friend" with a foil of a backview of a boy and a girl walking hand in hand on some grassland. The girl is in overalls. Very midwest. Hehe. We will have one luncheon napkin per person. Ordered 200 of these just last month.

Here are 12 disposable cameras to be placed on each guest table. As usual, guests are asked to become random photographers in order for us to get more pictures taken from different angles. These cameras will be left on the main table when the night is overand will be developed by yours truly. I hope y'all take good photos!

The flavor that's inside the favor

2006-08-10T00:18:00.000-05:00

Very easy, right? Chocolate brown and light blue. I wish. Although this was a common theme for the year in the US, finding the right favors which really reflected our theme was hard. There were a lot of fancy stuff like candle holders, plate decors, bottle openers, none of which reflected our personalities.

Then, as again, I saw at Jean M this really simple favor box which we can put anything in. By the month of March, we had set our sights on the box and it was pretty easy to fall in love with it, but it took us a while to decide what to put inside the thing. A month after, Hoen found this ad somewhere about customized Hershey's and M&Ms. We checked out the site and we just adored the idea! We thought about how we can possibly transport all that chocolate and we opted to just let it be and get the flight attendant's help when we're on board the plane. It will be winter here but still hot in cebu. How will that be? I guess they will be placed inside the cooler right away and placed in the box the day before the wedding. I can already imagine Yaul, Mamay, Megan and Marilyn helping in getting these into the boxes. Quality time, eh? Hehe.

I had just purchased the customized ribbons last month. I cut them into 28 inches which is enough to cover the box. These ribbons have our names and the date on them. Light blue ribbons with Chocolate Brown foil. I cut around 170 ribbons. Wanted to cut 200 of them for safety but the rest of the ribbons might be used for something else, say, the flowers or whatever. So I'll wait 'til we get there to decide.

Flora and Found-a

2006-08-09T02:16:00.000-05:00

Same magazine. InStyle Weddings. That was where I saw the flowers I wanted to have. And being the girlscout that I proclaim to be (should I just name this blog "The Girlscout Bride"?), I took pictures of these magazine images through my newly bought phone. Here they are:

1.) My Pomander bouquet

2) Aisle flowers hung by wrought iron fixtures

3) Flowers for the Godiva Maids and Lady Ghirardelli

4) Reception Ceiling works

By June, I was told by Tisha of WeddingsbyBliss that Lush Blooms will be taking care of my Flowers and that Sheila Ruiz will be sending in sketches of her ideas. She did but she needs to send in more. Hoen and I will just wait for it.

I am proud of myself because...

2006-08-09T02:03:00.000-05:00

... it is still the month of April and I had already found my gown! YIPPEE!!! It was quite a surprise actually. Such a surprise that we didn't bring a camera. Hoen took pictures of me in it in his sucky phone camera. So sucky they aren't even worth posting. Anyway, it's very simple in the front, twirly in the back, A-line, ivory, strapless and just plain elegant. I could carry it for two hours with nary a complain. I just have to have the gown cut and bustled instead of having it completely altered. I am to make an appointment with David's Alterations by Sept 1. We purchased the gown by the month of May and I haven't seen it since. It's just in my closet (see pic). I don't even want to try it on until I have it altered.

Like I always say in here, "I just wanted to get it over and bandwidth!" Hey! The thing actually looks like a dumped body bag. Mayhaps the corpse bride is inside? Hehe.