The Hotel Preps Ocular Experience

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Dear Online Diary,

It was last Wednesday when H2B and I went to NSO to accomplish several legal requirements but the big story was how we went and chose the hotel where we can do all the pre-wedding preparations. As I previously noted, we planned to visit five, but we felt the “this-is-it-feeling” on the third hotel.

H2B Received His Confirmation Today

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Dear Online Diary,

It’s no turning back. We’re going all the way to the altar.

Today at 9:00 AM, H2B received the Holy Sacrament of Confirmation at St. Joseph Parish Church presided by Rev. Fr. Jo. His closest cousin and our Reader, Ate Eryl, stood as his witness (Thanks, Ate Eryl!).

Documents: CENOMAR

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Dear Online Diary,

It was a good Wednesday for H2B and me because we accomplished two items off our checklist.

We got up early in the morning and head over to NSO Pasay branch to request for another copy of Birth Certificate and to claim the CENOMAR that I’ve requested a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, it wasn’t as stressful as it was when I first went to this branch. We spent a mere 30 minutes on application process but we were instructed to wait an hour and a half to claim the documents.

We were wondering what to do when I saw that there’s a shop of Philippine products across the NSO building. The best part is that the store was holding a sale. The store houses different handicrafts, interesting furniture and awesome souvenirs from various cities and provinces of the Philippines. Just to name a few, they have colorful handmade bags from Vigan, Batangas and Iloilo; handicrafts made of semi-precious stones, shell, wood and paper; furniture made of Narra and Yakal; and house adornments and small decorative pillows. I recognized that some of the items are also available at Kultura Pilipino (SM Department Stores) and Regalong Pambahay but those items we found at the store are available at 50% off. To make the story short, we got some for our wedding:

{Turquoise votive candle holders for our Candle Offertory and a small treasure chest made out of capiz, which we used as our rosary keepsake}

After a blissful "waiting period", we went back to NSO Office and went straight to Releasing section to claim the documents. We gave the receipts to the guards, sat and enjoyed the silent movie (remember Charlie Chaplin?) being shown (for entertainment, I suppose). After a little over 30 minutes, we heard our names called. We joined the queue to claim our documents. Before we left the office, we reviewed the documents for misspelled name and incorrect entries. Thank God, all the documents are error-free. Oh and yes, we are both free to marry. *matter-of-fact tone*

{NSO Documents: CENOMAR & Birth Certificates}

We’re just waiting for H2B’s confirmation certificate (schedule of release this weekend) to complete the church requirements. Meanwhile, we're ready to apply for marriage license (my heart always skips whenever I encounter these words).


PS:

We were having our lunch at a random restaurant in MOA when we decided to do ocular visit at several hotels along Roxas Blvd. We planned to visit five, but we felt the this-is-it-feeling on the third hotel. The story coming very, very, very soon! :))

X.O.X.O.,

We Got Our Mock-Up Invite!

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Dear Online Diary,

I got it just this morning via e-mail from Ms. Jo of Wink (Thanks, Ms. Jo!). It feels great reading and even staring at the invites. I immediately sent a copy to Tita Ehlsa, my MoH, and another copy to H2B to get their opinions and suggestions.

Our caricature, which was created by H2B became the center of attention. The colors were perfect. We just have to see if it’s great on the actual invite when printed. We required minimal changes such as font style and size but overall, it's satisfactory. I had a great time working on the things that can be improved, I just can't wait to get the second mock-up! Here's a sneak peak of our invitation:

{Sneak peak: Our wedding invitation Mock-up version one from Wink}

For those who’d like to know, an Invitation Mock- up is a JPEG file of your chosen wedding invitation set. In our case, Wink required us to submit our preferred invitation wording, members of our entourage, principal sponsors and anything that we would like to include in our invitation. As soon as they received the file, their artist started working on the layout of our chosen design. Once completed, they sent it to me via e-mail for our approval and/or revisions. Wink allows up to five revisions for free. When we’re happy with the layout, they are going to print a copy of the invite so we could check the quality of the print. When we're satisfied, they will then start the production of our wedding invitation.

X.O.X.O.,

Change of Heart

Dear Online Diary,

With much thinking and consideration, I’ve made a change of heart involving one of our major suppliers. I’ve consulted those people who care for me before arriving with the decision that could also mean hurting other people.

In God’s time, I’ll share the reasons why we have to do what we did ( I've learned that in everything we do, we have to justify the means). For now, while trying to fix our broken hearts, we’re looking for a strong replacement – someone who can deliver within 3 months, a blink of an eye in Wedding world.

With God’s guidance, I can only hope that everything will fall into places.

*** Read the Whole Story HERE ***

X.O.X.O.,

100 Days To Go, So Many Things to Do

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Dear Online Diary,

We hit the 100 days mark. Now, I’m pressured. Here are the things that we have yet to complete:

Invites
1. Need to make few more calls for PS confirmation. Some of these people are really busy.
2. Sent the invites wording to Wink for the first draft today.

Misalette
1. Working on the first draft.
2. Will drop by the parish church on Wednesday for approval.

Gifts
1. Still looking for PS gifts but already got prospective supplier.
2. Still looking for Jr. GM gifts. Got prospect.
3. Send photobooth layout design to Photobot.

Church
1. Canonical interview.
2. Pre-Cana seminar.
3. BC and CENOMAR (schedule of release on Wednesday).
4. H2B’s confirmation (scheduled on July 24th).
5. Marriage Banns.
6. Songs.
7. Needed permit for some aspects of the church.

Reception
1. Final detailing (scheduled on August).
2. Finalize menu.
3. Follow-up with Sweet Affair (free Choco Fountain) – to be assigned to OTD.
4. Finalize floor plan (waiting for Ms. Anj).
5. Finalize games.
6. Meet with Emcee.
7. Finalize Program flow.
8. Draft music and song requirements and endorse to Excellent Audio.
9. Prenup and Family AVPs in progress (H2B in-charge).

Hotel Preps
1. Finalize hotel. Got prospect. Will choose this weekend.
2. Finalize on-the-day itinerary with Beth of Special Events.

Transportation
1. Got prospect for the bridal car supplier. Will meet by the end of this month to see the actual car.
2. Got van rental supplier. Needed to finalize by the end of this month.

Honeymoon
1. Confirm flight booking with Air Mauritius (although this can be done after the wedding as our target date is February).
2. Finalize Kota Kinabalu itinerary.
3. Need to get Kota Kinabalu map. :(
4. Got prospect for airport pickup van rental. Mama Betty being the point of contact.
5. Have yet to receive my passport (scheduled delivery on July 21st). H2B's passport still on process (because of that BC booboo, no thanks to NSO).
That’s a long list. May God bless us while we work on these items. Aja! Aja!

X.O.X.O.,

Our Awesome Wedding Announcement

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Dear Online Diary,

Kasal.com is one of the helpful wedding websites when it comes to planning your own wedding. I frequent the site to know the latest bridal fair events. I’ve learned so much about Filipino wedding tradition through the articles that brides like me submitted to their site. One of the coolest features of Kasal.com is the Wedding Announcement page where in they allow couples to announce their wedding on the web. Here’s ours:

{Our own space at Kasal.com}

Thank you, Kasal.com. Keep on inspiring us!

X.O.X.O.,

Wedding Checklist: Special Events by the Planner

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Dear Online Diary,

Getting a wedding coordinator is something that we never heard of until I join the W@W community. Based on the experiences that the “graduates” (now, N@Wies) shared, hiring an efficient wedding coordinator on the day of the wedding is a must. More often than not, they will make or break a wedding, thus, they are the “heroes” of the big day.

Remember Marion St. Claire of the Bride Wars movie (2009) fame? She said that a wedding marks the first day of the rest of your life. She’s a great wedding coordinator (save to her secretary who messed up big time).

{Marion St. Claire of Bride Wars (2009)}

Here comes the question: What Can a Wedding Coordinator Do For Me?

I’ve put up a little research about the duties and responsibilities of a wedding coordinator. Here are some of the duties that we, brides and grooms, can expect:

• Help you to create the type of wedding you want. With that knowledge you'll be able to pick your venue, vendors, color scheme, theme, music, etc.
• Help you create a budget sheet.
• Suggest vendors that fit your budget and ideas.
• Make a wedding planning schedule so that you know what you've done and what still needs to be done.
• In most cases a coordinator can save you money because of their connection in the industry.
• Take care of any emergencies that arise.
• Create, execute and supervise the wedding day schedule.

The list can go on forever but the last two are the most important to me.

Now, ON to the search for THE wedding coordinator. This goes way back late last year when Ms. Benz announced that there’s going to be a W@W Auction. Incidentally, one of the coordinators that we have shortlisted (by recommendation of W@Wies, no one else) donated their Reception coordination to the Auction. Perfect. Needless to say, I fight with my perfectly-manicured-nails until the very last second of the auction to get their services. Even when another W@Wie seemed to be determined to get them as well, I won the battle. Teehee.

Many months have passed, we’re so glad to finally meet the duo behind Special Events by the Planner to upgrade the reception coordination package that we’ve won from the W@W auction to On-the-Day (OTD) Coordination package. Beth and Love are a joy to exchange email and text messages with. They’re even more enjoyable to talk to in person. We had a blast (and several good laughs).

{Smile for the camera: Love, yours truly and Beth}

They’ll do a lot of thing for our wedding but here are few things that I like most about them after our first meeting:

• They are spontaneous, easy to talk to and pretty.
• They are organized. They sent me a checklist and planners of all kinds related to wedding to help me organize our time, budget, songs, reception programs, honeymoon, etc.
• They have a lot of experience under their belts.
• They have worked at our church
• They have worked with most of our suppliers.
• They will review our supplier contracts.
• Ms. Beth presented their duties and responsibilities clearly, and I must say, with flare. I like what they presented and what they can do on the wedding itself.
• They remember their clients.
• I love that they have worked with some of the W@Wies who created loads of DIY projects. I love their reaction when I told them that I, too, have a lot of DIYs to endorse to them. It's priceless. :))

To Ms. Beth and Ms. Love, thank you very much. You're both fab. Ms. Beth, I knew you'll rock our wedding. Ms. Love, I sure hope you'll be there, too. We're ecstatic to know that our wedding day is your birthday. Cheers!! :))

X.O.X.O.,

Wedding Checklist: Entourage Gowns

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Dear Online Diary,

Yesterday was fun, fun, fun!

Choosing the person who’s going to create the gowns of our female entourage was a breeze. Mama Betty and Tita Ehlsa (my MoH) told me months ago that they talked to Mommy Cora to see if she can do the job. You see, she created Mama Betty’s gown when she married Papa Noel (and Tita Ehlsa was a flower girl) so it made a whole lot of sense why they suggested Tita Cora to make the gowns.

It’s just not too easy to pass this opportunity. When Mommy Cora expressed that she can make the gowns but she can’t bead, I thought it’s perfect. I like the gowns free of beads so they could use it all over again. Yey!

So yesterday, we set an appointment with Mommy Cora and went to my grandparent’s place. It was easy to gather the girls since most of them are my cousins, save to Lory, my bestfriend and Veil sponsor. It was indeed a short notice but almost all of them showed up with excitement as I presented the gown inspiration and details. I was just too happy to know that they like the gown inspirations and excited to take part on our wedding (not to mention, the donuts we brought for merienda). And oh, can you imagine their excitement when we showed them our WedSite? It’s chaotic but in a good way. LOL

Here are some of the pictures we took of yesterday’s fun event:

{That's me (left) and Lory (my veil sponsor) discussing about the details of the gown}

{Mikha, one of my bridesmaids, is giggling about something}

{Our "behaved" flower girls}

{Lanie, one of my bridesmaids, while enjoying the the donut.}

{Best of friends: Eyzel and Lory}

{That's Mommy Cora taking Lory's measurements. Vital stats please. LOL}

{... it's Monique's turn}

{Yes, we're all here.}

I can't wait for their first fitting. As for the wedding checklist, Entourage Gowns = CHECKED!

PS:

It's Mama Betty's birthday today. We had a simple dinner last night to celebrate another milestone of her life. Happy birthday, Mama Betcha!!! We love you! :))

X.O.X.O.,