The Proper Wedding Cheer

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Dear Online Diary,

Even since announcing to the whole world that I am about to marry the man I couldn’t leave without, people always say “Congratulations! Saya naman.”, or “Wow! Congratulations!”

Although with pure intention, it’s one of the most common mistakes people make when greeting the newly-engaged couple (or the newly weds, for that matter). Why is this a mistake at all? When you greet the bride with a "Congratulations," it is practically the same as to saying, "Hey, Congratulations... you just got yourself a great man!" What we do not realize is that saying “Congrats" implies that someone has caught something or won a prize, and it is rather improper to imply that the bride "caught" the man who married her. So here's the rule: Say "Congratulations" to the groom and "Best Wishes" to the bride.

{The Proper Greeting}

Likewise, saying "Good Luck!" no matter how pure your wishes are will also sound very inappropriate for obvious reasons.


Note:
Based from the works of John & Benz Rana, founders of Weddings at Work.

X.O.X.O.,

DIY: Couple Bears and Letter Blocks

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Dear Online Diary,

I only got several more projects to finish and I will be able to concentrate on finding the right music for our wedding. We will be very busy next month, what with the document deadline as well as our much anticipated e-session. Weee!!!

For this post, I’d like to share two of my favorite DIY projects. Semi-DIY to be exact because I only enhanced the rather boring items.

Meet our couple bears. Together, they are known as “ElozeL”:

{Our Couple Bears: ElozeL}

Here are the handmade items and trinkets I added to the bears.

{Clockwise from top left: "Engagement Ring", Hat, Fascinator and Pearl earrings}

I first saw a letter block while browsing through wedding-related DIYs. The materials are not common locally so I have to improvise. Once in a mall, I saw letter blocks being sold at around 300 bucks each and I’m not willing to shell out 600 bucks just for 2 letter blocks. Examining the materials used and how it was created, I knew that I can come up with my own version by using the good ol’ scrapbooking materials abundantly available at the National bookstore. Luckily, I was able to find letter blocks at Todd’s (SM Megamall branch) at Php50 each.

Here are the materials I used:

{Letter Blocks and Scrapbooking materials}

… and here’s the finished product:

{Our Letter Blocks}

{DIY: Couple bears and letter block}

X.O.X.O.,

Supplier Checklist: Sweet Blooms Edible Rose Pastillas

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Dear Online Diary,

I have a secret to tell.

As soon as we passed by the booth of Sweet Blooms during the Celebrations! bridal fair, I fell in love with the edible rose pastillas. It’s magnetic. It’s deliciously sweet. And even if it’s a bit ridiculous, it’s well beyond love at first sight.

Yes, this is the first time in a long while that I fell in love (at first sight) to a supplier’s product/services. Take at look at these eye candies:

{Sweet Blooms products: Single stem rose pastillas, flower basket and bouquet}

When I saw the flower girl basket full of edible roses and a cute little bear, I literally imagined our flower girls walking down the aisle. They have innocent, lovely smile while holding these cuties. Hahaha, yeah. I was day dreaming. When I told H2B about it, he agreed on booking Sweet Blooms just for our girls. He, too, knew that they are going to enjoy our treat.

{Smile for the camera: Ms. May of Sweet Blooms and yours truly}

Thanks, Ms. May for a smooth transaction. See you soon! :))

Supplier card:

Contact person: Ms. May de Vera
Landline: (02)4486345/(02)5723161
Mobile phone: 0917-5139300/0922-5904419
Branches: SM North Edsa/SM Makati/Trinoma
Website: http://sweetblooms.multiply.com/

X.O.X.O.,

Bridal Fair Escapade: Celebrations!

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Dear Online Diary,

The Celebrations! bridal fair captured the heart of every bride who’s into wedding theme. It promised to give us Victorian-inspired pieces and ideas. And so it does.

{We were greated by these amazing ensemble styled by Mr. Hardinero. Stage by 4th Wall}

It was nice to bump with a few online buddies, like Emman Ocampo and W@Wie sis Dee.

{Yours truly and sis Dee: Stike a post before the oblivious bridal fair crowd}

The bridal fair did not bore everyone with its featured performers, open bar, product samples and freebies.

{Flower girls dance gracefully}

{Baristas of Wild Cocktails Mobile bar show off what they can bring to the table}

{H2B's cool citrus mojito. Very refreshing}

We booked Sweet Blooms for our flower girl gift basket. It was perfect. Ms. May was easy to talk to. Jaya, who assisted us, was good at sales talk (teehee!!) and their rose pastillas was a hit among the brides and Moms. Even children who were present at the fair raved about their products (more about Sweet Blooms here).


The event highlight was the Victorian-inspired bridal fashion show by the country’s new and upcoming designers. We saw the works of Emil Ocampo, Happy Andrada, Olan Roque and Sammy Amante as well as the bridal collection exclusively designed and executed by Fashion by the Wedding Designers of the Philippines (FWDP). Here are some of the gowns presented at the fashion show:

For those who’d like to visit the event, Celebrations! A Bridal Show and Events Expo is still ongoing today, May 23, 2010 at SMX Convention center beside SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. You may still have a shot of going home with these cuties:

{Bride's Yellow Pages 2010 from W@W, Rose pastillas from Sweet Blooms, Red enviromental-friendly bag, Victorian heart locket and One Life, One Love Wedding Music CD from the event organizers}

X.O.X.O.,

Featured Supplier: RTJ Photography

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Dear Online Diary,

The best things in life are free.

RTJ Photography is composed of husband and wife team, Russell and Thet. The team is pretty new in the business but just because they are new in the industry, they offer so much passion and dedication in their craft. They want to be known for the quality of their work and not just affordability of their services. Russell is in charge of their clients from U.S.A. while Thet handles Philippine clients.

Don’t you love a couple who shares the same passion? They give love, dedication and joy to their works. Here are some proofs:

{Photos from Engagement Album of RTJ Photography}

I came across their works when several W@Wies posted their FREEnup (free engagement session) done by RTJ photography. It was surreal. It was fun. It was natural. Something in me said that I’d like to get them for our e-session but I didn’t know how. They’ve been announcing free sessions but it did not fit our busy schedules.

Until yesterday, I was browsing through our W@W e-group forum when a certain post caught my attention. A free back-up photography service. I clicked on the link and some W@Wies are raving that they were able to get some of the available slots. I followed the link, which brought me to the blog of RTJ Photography. There are a few slots left so I immediately composed an email message for Ms. Thet. After sending it, I buzzed Ms. Thet on YM to make sure that she got my email. I then received a message from her verifying which email address did I use. Then, after several exchange of messages, she confirmed our date (adding that another bride who's wedding date is same as ours inquired but I'm three minutes ahead of her). Weeee!!!

It was a bliss talking to Ms. Thet over YM. She’s kalog and fun and all. I can’t wait to meet her in few months time...

To you Ms. Thet, Thank you so much for sharing your talent. Big, big cyber HUGZZZ!!! Happiness!!! :))

X.O.X.O.,

Wedding Cake: The Search is on!

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Dear Online Diary,

It's five months to go and the search for the wedding cake is (seriously) on!

We initially want a cupcake tower because we wanted to be practical but we’ll get a 3-layer cake package that’ll go with our wedding theme if the price is right.

Minimalist yet thematic. That's how we like our cake to be. Here are some pegs I found from the wedding cake collection of TheKnot:

{Minimalist and..}

{... Nature-inspired with bride and groom topper}

PS:
We’re also working on finalizing our guest list in time for the meet-up and initial detailing with our caterer, Ms. Anj of Ma Del’s, later this month. Oh, boy I’m psyche! :))

X.O.X.O.,

Our DIY Nature-inspired Pillow is Featured in We ♥ Weddings!

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Dear Online Diary,

We ♥ Weddings is a blog version of Wedding Essential magazine, one of the best bridal magazines in the country. It is the brainchild of Marbee and Cynthia, former brides and, to borrow their own descriptions, magazine slaves. :)

Their blog is beautiful, oozing with eye-candy wedding related themes and things. That is why I’m so proud that they featured my DIY nature-inpired pillow. Here’s a screenshot of their post:

{Screenshot of We ♥ Weddings: Click on the link to view the post}

Thank you for featuring my DIY project. Cheers to beautiful weddings! :)

X.O.X.O.,

The Road to our E-Session Photoshoot

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Dear Online Diary,

H2B and I are currently working on our Engagement session theme and itinerary. So far, we’re having a blast. As much as I want to relay every bit of details, I’d like to keep mum and let this sweet little page taken from our story board do the talking:

{Our E-session Storyboard: Fun, Colorful & Romantic}

I’m so excited to put all of our story board details into reality. I hope we can pull it through. :))

X.O.X.O.,