The Pre-nup

One of the important highlights in every wedding is the pre-nup. Pre-nups could be just a slideshow of your pictures, a music video or a question and answer portion where the couple are asked a few questions such as how they met, how their love started and ends with their message for each other.

Jeff and I were so thrilled when we saw the final shots and enjoyed watching the mini-movie that was played at the reception.

Pre-nups can be arranged by your wedding organizer or by your wedding photographer. Mostly these days, pre-nups are already part of the wedding package and it usually costs more than just having a series of slideshow during the wedding. The video for our AVP was taken the same day we had the pre-nup. If you also wanted to have an AVP on your wedding reception, better inquire first from your weddding ogranizer or from your wedding photographer.

The wedding photographer must know your preferences and the angles or events that you want them to capture. If you just let them do their job, you might end up getting disappointed on the results of the wedding pictures. So it is very important to calibrate and communicate with them.

Cakes and Chocolate Fountain

One of the things that make weddings sweeter is the wedding cake and the chocolate fountain. Wedding cakes vary from styles and designs. Before, the most common style of wedding cakes are the ones that have 3 layers with a miniature of the bride and groom placed on the top layer. Cakes may be just plain chiffon, pure moist chocolate or depends on the couple's preference.

A new addition to weddings nowadays is the chocolate fountain. It's an overflowing chocolate that looks like a water fountain. I guess that's why it's called a chocolate fountain. Chocolate fountains usually ranged from PHP1000-2000 depending on how many kilos of chocolate you prefer.

For our wedding, the chocolate fountain was already packaged with the wedding cake. Our wedding cake was a mixed of chiffon, moist chocolate, and melon. The center cake was 2 layes with a little water fountain at the bottom of the 2-layered cake and then there were 7 islets of cakes surrounding it. There's also a miniature of a wedding couple on the top most layer. And the islets were decorated with fresh flowers on top. (See picture on the left)

And they don't just look delicious on the picture, they really are delicious! yummy!!!

Well, that's all for now. Ciao!

The Bestman, Groomsmen, and our Bearers

Like any other weddings, our best man and groomsmen wore Barong tagalogs instead of coat and tie like the one we see in movies and in other countries. But out of the ordinary, we had 10 groomsmen and 2 bestmen and because of this we were having problems on where to rent the barongs for them at a cheaper price. We also could not afford paying the rent for all the barongs but our whole entourage were so kind to pay for the rent of the barong just like my bridesmaids who paid for their gown. Good thing, Close 2 You only asked for PHP200 for the barong's rent instead of PHP300. Well, that's good enough rather than paying a lot for each barong.

Also for our ring, coin and bible bearers, we decided that they will also be wearing barong tagalog so they'd look more elegant cute little guys.

The Entourage

The entourage is one the important parts of the wedding program. It would never be called a wedding without it. As for Jeff and I, we wanted our entourage to be unique, out of the ordinary. As I’ve told you from my recent posts, we had 14 bridesmaids and 11 grooms’ men. We wanted the bridesmaid’s attires to be elegant and out of the ordinary. I am proud to say that the bridesmaid’s attire was my own design. Though I have 2 designs for my references, the output was all my idea, including the Maid of Honor and the flower girls.

It was hard to get a modist that would agree to make 14 bridesmaid gowns with good quality and for an affordable price. Luckily, Louella’s (my superfriend) mother was a modist herself and agreed to do the gowns for me at a discounted price. We also had belts made for the flower girls to match the gown style of the bridesmaids and maid of honor. The color and belt of their gowns were the reverse of the bridesmaid’s gowns. And I’m very proud of the outcome. Check the pictures to see for yourself.

The Groom’s Suit

If the wedding gown was a token to remember for the bride, the Groom’s suit is something worth keeping for the Groom. Most men nowadays prefer to rent as first users than buy one for themselves thinking that they’ll be only wearing it once and buying their own suit is much more expensive.

Our Filipino culture on weddings has already evolved over the past years and the church is now open for a greater change on weddings. Some men still want to hold on to the old culture and prefers to wear Barong tagalong but most men nowadays prefer the modern American style and prefers to wear a coat and tie either white or black.

The Bridal Gown

One of the most important details in a wedding that should be given more time and consideration is the Bridal Gown and the Groom’s attire. For practicality’s sake, most Bride and Groom nowadays prefer to rent their wedding attires from local gown stores in town as first users while some people, those who have more budget, wanted to have their attires kept as a remembrance or a token of this special event that will only come once in their life.

Looking for designs for my wedding gown was quite a challenge for me. Yes, there were lots of wonderful designs over the Internet but the question is, does the design look good on me when I wear it? Can the modist do the job? Can he exactly make the design that I want? Is it feasible and affordable? I keep on asking myself those questions and then finally, gave up on the idea. All I wanted was the gown to be simple but would look good on me, a long white gown with a lot of bead works, tube-type and a long veil. I suddenly started browsing through shops on their ready made gowns, thinking of buying the gown for my own remembrance. 

The Wedding Rings

In choosing the best ring to symbolize your love for each other, it would be best that you canvass first with your partner before finally deciding the right wedding ring. Wedding rings vary from gold, white gold or silver plate to big and thin designs. Some may have diamond stones in it while some just wanted it plain gold or silver.

For Jeff and me, we wanted our wedding ring to be two-toned so it would blend when I’m using gold/silver plated jewelry. Aside from that, we wanted something that is not common and something that’s unique. We search through the pawnshops and jewelry stores in malls and across CDO but we could not find what we were looking for that would fit our budget until we checked out Suarez Weddings Rings in Limketkai Mall. They offer lay away plans that it is payable for 6 months or depends on whatever type of plan that suits you. As for us, Jeff and I paid PHP1000 as down payment and paid for the remaining balance until the sixth month. Here’s a glimpse of our wedding ring:

According to superstitious beliefs that I read online, it is not good luck for the couple to buy the engagement ring and the wedding ring at the same time and that the wedding ring should only be worn on the moment that the couple exchanged their vows. So it is not advisable to fit the ring before the wedding just like it is not advisable to fit the bridal gown/ groom’s suite before the wedding.

My Surprise Engagement Ring

An Engagement ring is a piece of jewelry that symbolizes a man’s commitment to a woman he asked to marry him. The ring is usually made of silver or white gold with a big diamond stone on top of it. With this piece of jewelry visible on a woman’s left-hand ring finger, it automatically means that the woman has accepted the marriage proposal and is engaged to her man who is also known as her fiancé. This is one of those moments that every girl is dreaming of.

It was March 1, 2008, our 19^th monthsary. Jeff called me from my station and asked me to go with him in the locker room. I didn’t know what for but I just followed him thinking that there was something that he wanted to tell me that he didn’t want my agents to hear.

Once we got to the locker area, Jeff handed me a box. It was a black and white box with brown steel on top of it. It looks really nice! When I opened it, I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was an engagement ring! He slipped the ring on my ring finger and asked me again “Will you marry me?” and I said YES! It was a thin ring with a tiny diamond stone on top of it that fits my ring finger perfectly well. Jeff was really clever because when we ordered our wedding rings at Suarez Wedding Rings, he asked the sales lady to take note of my ring size and ordered an engagement ring with the same ring size and I wasn’t aware of that nor even got a hint! Jeff’s really full of surprises and he always knows how to surprise me without me having a hint.

The ring itself was a surprise because I already informed him that I don’t need a pricy engagement ring, as long as it was from him that would be enough for me. I can just wear any fancy ring (even if not real silver), anyway I am not allergic to fancy jewelry. But this was too much for him to give me knowing that we were quite struggling with the wedding preparations. Still, Jeff insisted that he wanted to give me something that’s pricy and something he would be proud to see that I’m wearing. I guess he didn’t want people to say that the ring was from a Silver store in malls which means that it was affordable. Well, pricy or not, the important thing was that we were engaged and will be getting married soon. I believe that is all that matters.

Here's our pictures:

Personalized Save the Dates, Wedding Invitations and RSVP.

Save the Dates, Wedding Invitations and RSVP’s are three important things that should be carefully picked out in a wedding. It should give a brief description about your wedding and what type of wedding you will be having. It could be romantic, elegant, formal, by the beach, melodramatic and etc. It should reflect the theme or the “feel” that you and your partner want on the wedding. This would give your guests an idea on what to wear that is adequate and fit for the occasion.

Jeff and I always wanted to add our personal touch on the entire wedding preparation. Well, mostly, I’m the one who wanted to be involved in all the areas of the wedding planning. I guess you can’t blame me. I am just like any other bride out there who wanted the best part of their life to be perfect and unforgettable.

Sweet and Personalized Wedding Favors

This time we will be talking about the wedding favors or commonly called as wedding souvenirs. As I was doing a research online for unique ideas on wedding favors, I stumbled into this certain website where a bride shared all about her wedding experience from the wedding planning to the wedding expenses. It was on this site that I got the perfect idea for a wedding favor. But first, let’s define what’s the difference and similarity between a wedding favor and a wedding souvenir. Actually, they serve the same role in weddings. They are wedding tokens given to guests as a symbol of the couple’s appreciation for their presence on this special occasion of the couple’s lives. Yet the difference is a wedding favor is something sweet and edible like a chocolate that is placed on the guests’ table for them to eat. A wedding souvenir is something that is given to the guests to remind them of the couple’s wedding. These are carefully designed souvenirs with a Thank You note and the guests can bring it at home and decorate/use it in their homes. Examples of these are scented candles, lamps, picture frames and more. You can search for it online to get a variety of wedding souvenir ideas.

The Wedding Preparations

This is where all the tension and stress comes in. We don't know where to start off with all the preparation and we want to make sure that everything is PERFECT on the day of the wedding.
Jeff and I browsed through a lot of online sites and read about how other couples prepared their wedding. At first, we wanted the wedding to be simple with only a 100 guests. But how could it be a simple wedding when we have 14 bridesmaids, 12 groomsmen, 2 maid of honors, 2 bestmen and 17 pairs of Ninongs and Ninangs. From that alone, we already have 47 guests, almost 50 guests excluding our friends and relatives. So we can't help but make it a big wedding. The only mistake that we had during the planning was we planned first before having the budget. We should have had a budget first then plan the wedding. One tip for those couples getting married, "Have a Budget first and then Plan". We only had a few savings on our joint account but its what helped us in starting off with the preparations.

The "Pamalaye"

The common norms and practices that we have in our country when a couple decides to get married is the pamalaye (in Visayan Dialect). This is when the family of the guy goes to the house of the girl (where their parents meet) and discuss the details of the wedding. As for me, the so-called Pamalaye was held last February 8, 2008 with my lola (my father's mom) as the one who presided the event. This was the second time that our parents met face to face and they were so civilized with each other. (good thing!) Jeff and I were so nervous for fear that our parents might get into a conflict while discussing the details of the wedding just like what we see most in movies.

Decision Making

So it was planned.

January of 2008, we finally decided the date. We finally decided that August 8, 2008 would be the perfect time for us to exchange our vows. And it seemed to us that our parents were ready and open to the idea of us getting married. Even though it shocked them of the sudden announcement and even thought that I was pregnant (but happy to know that I was not) they already saw it coming and that's why they supported us with our decision. Well, Jeff asked his parents first and when he had their blessing, we both talked to my parents and he asked for my hand in marriage. We were all so emotional and my mom was crying. L She couldn’t believe that her baby girl was getting married in 7 months! It wasn’t that easy blurting the news out to them and we had to practice every single reason on what we had to say. But in the end, the words came out so easily and after ensuring them that this is what we wanted and we were ready to get married, they finally gave us their blessing. Of course, part of what we assured them was that we already have our savings and a house in the making! So who wouldn’t say that we were not preparing for it?

The Marriage Proposal

Since this blog is all about weddings, I guess it would be best to start with my own wedding. We actually went through all the natural/normal way of getting married, from marriage proposal to asking our parents, pamalaye, shower and stag party, and all the important events that every getting married couple should go through not to mention all the stress.

So let’s start off with the marriage proposal. I guess every girl would want a perfect moment wherein the guy of her life would ask her to marry