Our Movie Poster errr… Tarp Photo Layout

Dear Online Diary,

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve posted something here but I’m sure you’ll understand why. We’re on the homestretch of our wedding preps and I only have good praises to all our wedding suppliers for being oh so cooperative and helpful. The reception details and program draft are doing great. I can’t ask for more.

As a freebie, Ms. Anj of Ma Del’s will give us a welcome tarpaulin to be displayed at our reception venue. We’re going to set it up at the registration area so guests wouldn’t miss it. Here’s the exact design I’ve sent to Ms. Anj just moments ago.

The Guest List

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Dear Online Diary,

I can’t believe how finalizing the guest list takes forever. H2B and I have been working on it for about five (yes, five!) months now and it’s nowhere near our target head count. Partially because I belong to a huge clan and I’m afraid that people will get hurt when they found out that they are not invited to our wedding (the other part is, yet again, lack of time). Seriously, it’s not easy to tell people that they are not invited without hurting their feelings, right?

Anyhow, I was just rummaging around the net when I came across this cute bridal website. To my surprise, they have a flow chart on guest list decision-making. It’s pretty simple, it’s like telling us that deciding who to send the invitation is the easiest task ever. See for yourself:

{Guest List Flowchart from Today's Bride}

What do you think? It makes a lot of sense, right? :)


PS:
.. and oh, H2B is almost done with his own DIY project. I expect to share it to you next month. Happy preps!

X.O.X.O.,

W@W: The Bride’s Yellow Pages (2010 ed.)

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Dear Online Diary,

The Bride’s Yellow Pages (BYP) is a bag-sized wedding directory containing pertinent information of churches, reception venues, honeymoon destinations and other wedding-related products and services. It is a perfect source of wedding suppliers especially if one would like to get in contact with some of the best and most sought-after suppliers in the industry.

Ms. Benz (of W@W. Thank you po for being so thoughtful :)...) sent a free copy to some of the W@Wies who helped her in completing the supplier’s directory, including me. It was on Monday when I received the copy. I immediately flipped through it’s pages and found loads of wedding suppliers. In fact, I’ll go ahead and make some calls and send out online inquiries to a couple of the suppliers that I found in the book.

{Our Free copy of BYP (comes with a nice W@W envelop) from Ms. Benz of W@W}

The book is also free on selected bridal fairs but if you want to grab a copy of the latest edition, BYP will be available for sale (P100/copy) at The Wedding Library, at the Filipinas Heritage Library (Makati) and at selected bookstores.

X.O.X.O.,

The Wedding Library and White Lace & Promises

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Dear Online Diary,

Did I mention H2B and I love to attend bridal fairs?

Attending bridal fairs is a must for couples who want to make their wedding preps memorable. There are so many things to learn while inside the fair as well as friendly faces to meet, not to mention, the chances of winning awesome prizes.

As if the prizes at stake at the fair weren’t enough, The Wedding Library sent an email survey to the registered brides who attended the Weddings & Debuts 2010 bridal fair. It was their way of thanking the brides who visited the fair as well as to get insights on how to mount an even successful event next year. As a token of gratitude, they gave away 28 White Lace and Promises by Agot Isidro Original Wedding Audio CDs, and 50 Honeymoon Sexy Underwear for the first 78 respondents (CD for the first 28 and sexy undies for the next 50) who completely answered the survey and sent it back.

It was such a lucky break. I received their email while browsing through my inbox, read it, answered the survey and in no time, sent it back to the appropriate email address. The same night, I received a confirmation email that I was one of the first 28 respondents. :)

So, just yesterday, I went to their SM Megamall branch to claim our prizes (the other prize is our trip to Mauritius -- click here for the full story). Here is it:

{Our Free White Lace & Promises Audio CDs: Album cover, two CDs, inserts (Agot's Thank Yous and the people behind the album), booklet (lyrics of the songs) and wedding discount coupons}

The Audio CD is packaged just like a wedding invitation would be. It’s very elegant and as a matter of fact, it gave me an idea on how to DIY our own invites. Awesome.

Thanks to The Wedding Library for being so generous. Please continue on inspiring and helping us, B2Bs, into staging our dream wedding. More power!

X.O.X.O.,

DIY: Save The Date Post Cards

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Dear Online Diary,

Since H2B and I wanted our wedding details to be more personalized, I’ve been trying to design our Save The Date (STD) cards using Scrapblog.com.

Due to popularity of scrap booking, scrapblog.com was developed to give online users the chance to design their scrap book without heading to a bookstore or craft store. It allows users to download a copy of their pictures and book it online before they can have it printed for a minimum fee.

Not only does scrapblog.com helps users to document important events and compile pretty snap shots, it helps us, B2Bs, in designing our wedding invites, STDs, Will You Be cards and a whole lot more. In fact, I was able to design our STD using the online software. Here’s our STD using scrapblog.com:

{STD #1: featuring my engagement ring}

{STD #2: direct to the point}

The site doesn’t need you to be all out artsy, all it takes is a dash of creativity and inspiration. Go to Scrapblog.com to start your own project now. =)

X.O.X.O.,

Best Bridal Blogs Inclusion

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Dear Online Diary,

I was so happy when I opened my inbox today. H2B and I were all over the metro this weekend looking for a good furniture shop for our new condo unit when I have this strong feeling that something’s good is waiting for me.

Weeks ago, I sent an application to BestBridalBlogs.com to include my little documentation cum blog about our wedding preparation. I haven’t heard from the administrators since then.

Until Stacie Tamaki, founder of the BestBridalBlogs website, sent a thoughtful email to deliver the good news. She said that my application was approved and that my blog icon and link is now viewable on the site. Happiness.

{Screenshot of the page where my blog icon (& link) is featured. View other brides' blog here}

To Stacie, thank you for believing in me and more power to you and to your site. =)

X.O.X.O.,

Weight Loss Program Starts Today

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Dear Online Diary,

A lot of brides wanted to look good and feel good on their wedding. As for me, I want to shred some fats before the wedding and keep it away.

I’ve tried a handful of commercial products to control my ideal weight but none of them worked for me. In addition, stress and grave yard shift (read: lack of quality sleep) got the best of me.

I was about to give up when I discovered an online weight-loss program – Belletoday.com. I can’t say that it’s easy but I know I can follow the program with a dash of determination, inspiration, self-control and discipline.

The good thing about the site is that it’s like a personal trainer. It has a program of the day, meal plans, shopping list, exercises and you can find new friends who have the same goal as you do so it can make the experience so much easier.

I enrolled last week and just minutes ago, I received the week 1 program! Yey! This is the start of something wonderful. Aja,aja!

{Source: BelleToday}

X.O.X.O.,

Prep Props: TheKnot.com

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Dear Online Diary,

I've discovered another treasure which can significantly help us, radiant B2Bs, in planning our own wedding. Here are the benefits I have experience while utilizing TheKnot.com.

It’s free.
No subscription needed. You’ll just have to sign-up, create your very own inner bride and you’re ready to take the time of your life. Here, take a look at my inner bride:

{Wedding avatar created on TheKnot.com}

It’s user-friendly.
The topics are outlined on the left column while the main tools are at the top of the page. It’s very organize yet simple to use.

Experience is the best teacher.
The website features real life weddings and engagements of its members. I’ve learn a lot of DIY projects, themes and techniques from these brides to make my own wedding preps an experience to remember.

It’s complete, if not perfect.
Let’s see: it has planning tools such as wedding checklist, wedding budgeter, guest list, website and ticker. We can search for inspiration from the endless list of wedding photos, flowers, reception, vows, cakes, invitations, songs, favors, bridal gown, groom’s suit, entourage dresses and suits, wedding rings… and I can go on forever.

It’s promising.
It promises to guide us from step one all the way to the very minute when we are ready to walk down the aisle to our honeymoon. Sweet.

This is really great and I’m having a blast. The only down side is that it's US-based so the registries and wedding suppliers are, needless to say, from the US. Nevertheless, it's still a great tool. Happy preps! =)


X.O.X.O.,

Wedding Budget 101

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Dear Online Diary,

Married life after the wedding ceremony is as important as the wedding day itself. That’s why H2B and I decided not to splurge our hard-earned money on our wedding day alone. I know my parents and parents-to-be would certainly agree.

This is the main reason why we want to get married on a budget. Lucky for us, practical brides, wedding experts give these random tips on how to intelligently allot our wedding budget:

Tip#1: Know who’s paying.
Talk with your families about who will pay for what. To bring up the conversation, talk to each family separately to have genuine open discussions.

Here are a number of strategies to determine the initial budget:
1. Ask both of your folks to commit to a specific amount, and then add up all the contributions to create your budget.
2. Alternatively, it may be easier to ask each set of parents to finance a particular aspect of the wedding (such as the catering, honeymoon, or wedding ring) instead of just committing to a particular amount.
3. Decide how much you two can contribute between now and the wedding.

Tip#2: Determine how much you actually need.
Here’s a general rule in allocating the budget:
Reception: 48%-50%
Photography/Videography: 10%-12%

Attire: 8%-10%
Flowers: 8%-10%
Entertainment/Music: 8%-10%
Stationery: 2%-3%
Wedding Rings: 2%-3%
Ceremony: 2%-3%

Parking/Transportation: 2%-3%
Gifts: 2%-3%
Miscellaneous: 8%

To avoid stress, allot about 5% of your budget for an emergency fund. If you're financing your honeymoon, remember to include that on your budget, too.

Tip#3: Learn how much you can save.
As soon as you're engaged, start putting aside as much of your income as you can for the wedding. Saving 20% of your monthly income is a good yet painful goal. The longer your engagement, the more you'll be able to sock away.

Here are some ways to save:
1. Limit your spending to things that you truly need. These changes will hardly affect your quality of life, but after a year, the extra cash will cover some wedding essentials.

2. If you have the resources, do not be afraid to experiment and do some DIY projects. Depending on your enthusiasm, this could be a good investment even after the wedding.

{photo source: tableandhome.com}

I hope you learned as much as I did. Happy preps! =)



X.O.X.O.,

Prep Props: Wedding Magazine Addict

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Dear Online Diary,

Since the start of our wedding preps, magazine stalls in the shopping center has been part of my errand, even if it means dragging H2B inside the store. I got to check what’s new and whatnot.

Can’t imagine how many reading materials I got so far? See for yourself:

{wedding magazines and reading materials as of June 2009}

... and oh no, this is not the final count. I'd get more, that's for sure! =)



X.O.X.O.,

Prep Props: Plan Your Dream Wedding Video

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Dear Online Diary,

Planning a wedding should be a walk in the park especially now that there are many wedding resources available such as, but not limited to, online websites, virtual wedding sisterhood, bridal fairs, wedding magazines and videos.

Speaking of which, I’m currently hooked with Plan Your Dream Wedding video hosted by Tintin Bersola, now married to Julius Babao, two of the country’s public service and entertainment personalities. The video is produced by Viva Video.

{Plan Your Dream Wedding DVD hosted by Tintin Bersola}

The video promises to turn B2B’s wedding day into a real honeymoon. It features an interview done by Tintin with well-known wedding coordinators in the country, bridal gown designers, caterers, wedding seminar facilitators and other wedding suppliers. It also features some of the clips taken from Tintin and Julius’ wedding as well as Tintin’s personal clearbook, which aided her in going through the thousand and one details, last minute changes and mountains of worries before that long walk down the aisle.

As I am on the early stage of our wedding preparation, I cannot say that it's going to be smooth after watching the video but it helped me anticipate the issues that may come our way during the wedding preps and how to handle it.

Tintin says, “Planning my dream wedding was one of the most important and biggest task in my life.” I couldn’t agree more. =)

X.O.X.O.,