Our Divilandia Experience: Ready, Get Set, DIY!

Dear Online Diary,

Yesterday, H2B and I spent one whole day at Divisoria, Manila, aptly called "Divilandia" because it is considered by many as the haven of everything you need at very affordable prices.

The night before, I listed all the items that we need to finish all our pending projects. Then, as early as 8 o’clock in the morning, H2B and I were on the road leading to the two most popular streets in Divilandia -- Ilaya and Tabora streets.

It was raining when we reach Divilandia but even the rain did not ruin our excitement. We decided to check out a few stores inside the Tutuban Mall while waiting for the rain to stop. We got a few (wedding and non-wedding related) things, including two Beatles shirts for H2B (oh, he’s a huge fan of the Beatles, that I can tell you.)

At 11:00 AM, we were on our way to Ilaya St. to look for tulles, particularly, French netting. It was a bit disappointing to repeat myself a couple of times because ALL vendors gave me a puzzled look when we asked for it. Honestly, I was dumbfounded to know that they do not have any idea what French net, Russian netting and Birdcage Veil are. Most of them showed me tulles for petticoats after I described what I was looking for. One of the vendors even corrected me, rather impolitely, that the tulle I was looking for is FISH NET and not FRENCH NET (quite honestly, it’s ridiculous!). Another vendor directed us to another street to get a birdcage. H2B and I laughed our hearts out when we heard her convey to her friend what we were looking for. Turned out, she directed us to the street where most pet stores are located (for us to get a cage for birds [pet]). Next time, I will definitely bring a sample and/or a photo of the fabric or tulle that I'm looking for.

Since our Ilaya St. visit wasn't as fruitful as what we expected, we went to Tabora St. and visited two of the trusted craft stores – Morning Glory and Wellmanson. We FINALLY found French netting in Morning Glory (Thank God!). We bought feathers, more tulles, and faux crystals from Wellmanson.

I should also mention that Christmas season had begun at Tabora St. because of two things – there are many Christmas décors to choose from AND I noticed that the prices of the items increased considerably (around P10 to P20).

On a happier note, we did get ALL the items that we need for our wedding. I’ll start with the fascinators and head dresses for our female entourage next week. Here are some of the raw materials:

{Different types of feathers, felt fabric, headband, faux flowers and crystals}

{Different types of tulles, ribbons, lace, silver thread, pins, needles, glue sticks}

I love that I've finalized the design for each of the girls. Meanwhile, here are some of the inspirations I've found from etsy.com (please click the photos to follow its source):

{the perfect (color) combination}

{simple yet elegant}

{she's the cutest I've seen today :)}

X.O.X.O.,