Our Motif: The Elegance of Nature

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Dear Online Diary,

Selecting the color combination for our wedding is a walk in the park. Nature is our wedding inspiration, hence combination of blue, green and yellow are our hands down choices. Blue represents the sky above us, Green represents the plants, trees and flowers and Yellow represents the sun.

Aside from that, online resources gave meaning to these wonderful colors. Let’s take a look of what these colors symbolize:

Blue symbolizes youth, spirituality, truth and peace.
Green symbolizes life, nature, fertility and well being.
Yellow symbolizes happiness, prosperity, wisdom & intellectual energy.

But we do not want to settle with primary colors so we decided to play with these shades. It took us six months before the final color motif was selected. The final choices are:

Teal (#008080) is for elegance. This is our primary color.

100 Euro Green (#86C67C) is a shade so cool that I never thought it exists. This is our secondary color.

Gold (#8B7500) is perfect for detail and contrast. This is the minor color.

Overall styling: Teal and Gold damask.

I’m so in love with teal and gold damask. It spells nothing but elegance. Surely, this is going to be the backdrop for invites as well as church and reception details and programs.

The inspiration board is currently on the works but here’s a sneak peak of what’s to expect:


Next will be the story behind our wedding theme and the final inspiration board. I can’t wait to share it.

{Inspiration board created on Polyvore website}
{Sources:Meaning of Color, Color Hex}


X.O.X.O.,

Wedding Checklist: Honeymoon

-Dear Online Diary,

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"O.M.G."


It was my initial reaction when I saw this blessing-from-heaven email. Checking my inbox is part of my routine every morning. This particular e-mail caught my attention because I am unfamiliar with the sender. I opened it up and read the content…


“Two days before” (Let’s flash back a little bit, shall we?)


I was desperate to work on our budget. Because I am slowing down with our wedding preps et al, I finally faced the pile of brochures and freebies we got from all the bridal fairs that we attended. They’re all in one box waiting for me for almost three months now. Then I saw this elegant white envelop. It hit me. It was the gift certificate we won from Martha Stewart Bridal Fair, which is the first bridal fair that we attended. The voucher entitles us to 4 days/3 nights stay with breakfast for two in one of the premier rooms at the Ocean Wing of Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. It is valid until March 31, 2010, which is only fitting as our wedding was scheduled on March 2010 at that time. We then planned to go there, spend our honeymoon and experience their so-called paradise resort.


After the decision to move our wedding date, this is one of the concerns that H2B and I talked over 2 cold Starbucks strawberry cream shakes. What now? H2B, being the thinker that he is, suggested that we can still push through with the plan and let it be the venue of our pre-nuptial pictorial. We might as well use the nature’s beauty which is perfect for our theme.


For many months, that’s the plan -- the ONLY plan. Until I read the old W@W entries about requesting an extension of suppliers’ GC validity and making sure that you let them know that you are going to use it. I have to quote Ms. Benz when she said, “Suppliers may forgot that they offered that discount. Let them know as soon as you can that you have plans of using it. If you won a GC that will expire before your actual day, you may request for an extension. Malay mo, they like you so much that they can extend it for you.”


This inspired me and gave me the courage of composing an email to Mr. Timothy Wright, Shangri-La’s General Manager. With H2B’s go signal, I told them our story and the reasons why we have to move our wedding including our intention to visit the place and such. In a heart beat, I’m done. I hit the send button with prayers that they will find some time to read my humble email.


“Today, around 9:00 AM”


As I was saying, the e-mail caught my attention. The e-mail came from Ms. Joibi, secretary of Shangri-La’s GM. With my heart beating so fast, I opened the e-mail and read it. True enough, when it’s for you, nothing is impossible. I chose not to rephrase her sentence (while editing the part where our wedding date should be), “As per your request, we are pleased to extend the gift certificate validity up until (the end of our wedding month).”


O.M.G., right? I still cannot believe it. I wasted no time in calling H2B to deliver the great news even when I knew that he’s at work.*wink. It's worth it. H2B is as static as I am. Who could have thought that an email can also be a blessing? We do and here's something that we will be looking forward here after...

{ the famous aerial view of the island }

{ lovely sunset}

{ Ocean Wing premier room }

{ Relaxing resto bar }

.. and as always, W@W made all this happened. I cannot imagine our wedding preps without W@W. Thank you very much!

Photo Credits: Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort Website

X.O.X.O.,

The Revamp Phase I

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Dear Online Diary,

After I expressed my disappointment with the status of our preps, H2B and I had a little talk. I had him read my blog as well as the comments from w@wies and listened to what he had to say.

We came to an agreement and a couple of resolutions. We agreed to take things slowly and intelligently. We have to be careful when choosing the suppliers and design a workable timeline. We can make the wedding simple with some exceptions. We may consult our friends and family about a certain decision but the final resolution should come from us. Lastly, we should never EVER fret and let stress get the best of us. Just relax, enjoy and count the blessing that comes our way.

This may not be the last stress alert that we are going to encounter during the entire wedding preps. Rather than worry, now I know that I should just charge this to my experience and learn from it THEN find a solution. I have this blog not only to remind me that God is here to guide us but also to let me feel that I’m not alone. There’s my family, H2B and his family, friends and of course, the w@w community. The advices I got from w@wies helped us a lot. Thanks so much especially to Rachel, Diana Grace, Bhey, Christine, Len ni Orj, Pinky, Sai, Blanche, Len ni JR, and Doc Ging Glori for the beautiful advices and support. We owe you one.

Having said all of these, it’s time for me to let it go and move on. I can honestly say that you can expect more cheerful and informative entries after today. Happy preps! =D

{ Photo Source: http://sayingimages.com }

P.S.

If you are following this blog, you may have noticed the new header. H2B took the initiative and created it just for this blog. Thanks, bhy!

Related Topics:

Wedding Preps Mayhem

X.O.X.O.,

Wedding Preps Mayhem

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Dear Online Diary,

"Hold IT!"

That’s what I keep on hearing at the back of my head and it goes on for-e-ver. It seems that I cannot stop it even when I want to.

Someone asked me, “At what stage of wedding preps ka na?” then I stared straight into that someone’s eyes. I tried to say “We’re good!” or “We’re on the right track!” but I can’t utter a single word. As much as I want to extract some ideas deep into my head, I can't. Something's bothering me. I just don't know what it is.

Ours is a pretty long engagement. We have to move the wedding celebration to a later date for a number of reasons, which in a way, helps us in preparing ourselves toward the married life.

How are we doing so far? Here. Let’s take a look at what we have accomplished as of today.

Church: Bamboo Organ Church
Booked on February 2009
Notable Notes: H2B and I love this church so much. This church witnessed some important events in my life while H2B adore it ever since we attended a beautiful Holiday Mass back in 2004. These are some of the reasons why this church is very dear to us.

Wedding Bands: Golden Hills Jewelry
Booked on February 2009
Notable Notes: Three months after the proposal, this is the second major supplier that we booked. We found them at the first bridal fair that we attended. Of all the ring suppliers, they caught our attention with their wide selection of fine jewelry, good customer service and flexible payment terms.

Photo/Video: Photoline
Booked on May 2009
Notable Notes: I was surprised when H2B booked them without my knowledge. At first, I was hesitant to get them because they are unknown to W@W community, perhaps to the rest of the wedding industry. They are best known for photo business and you probably seen their stalls in major malls. Why Photoline? I’ve realized what H2B has been telling me. Photoline has great upcoming photographers that maybe unknown now but will surely grow on their field. We should take advantage on that. A plus factor is the customized affordable package they offered to H2B which includes an 8R photo album (magazine type, hard bound) with 20 glossy pages, unlimited digital shots with DVD copy as proof, 45-mins MTV style video, a GC worth P500.00, 2 photographers, 2 videographers and 1 lightsman. It’s a good deal considering that the average cost of this package from other suppliers is around P40,000.00 to P50,000.00. Another advantage that is worth mentioning is just in case we decided to get a senior photographer or videographer, we can still keep them as back-up photographers and videographer.

Caterer: Lady Leigh Catering Services
Booked on May 2009
Notable Notes: Lady Leigh is another supplier that is unknown to W@Wies. They were referred to us by an officemate. The story of how we discovered this caterer and our food tasting adventure with them can be read here. My major concern about them is that I’ve read some negative feedbacks about their service and food. I brought this up with Ms. Emie, our AE, and she was able to explain to me the truth behind it. Does “crab mentality” sound familiar? Yes, at least on this business. Despite all this, I trust them. That’s what we need to do at this point. TRUST that they are going to deliver and exceed our expectations.

That’s what we have so far. Don't get me wrong. I'm proud of our accomplishments. The big question that needs a huge answer is --- WHAT'S NEXT?

This is where the problem starts. I suddenly feel that we’re on a huge maze. It’s either we started too soon or we come up with SO MANY ideas that we (more specifically, I) do not know where to start. Imagine this. The original plan is to have a simple wedding – the simplest wedding there could be. But now we (again, more specifically, I) forgot all about it. I listed down all our wedding plans and projects. As expected, the nice-to-have items overpowered the must-haves.

It's only now that I've realized how we badly need a major revamp, ASAP, before I end up like this...

{ Photo source: http://images.veer.com/ }

X.O.X.O.,

Wedding Checklist: The "It" Rings

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Dear Online Diary,

Finding the right wedding ring was not an easy task for H2b and me. We want a ring that will last forever as it’s the only remembrance we could carry for the rest of our married life. It’s the symbol of our love and promise to each other. It’s the symbol of fidelity. It’s more than just a fit. It’s not just another piece of jewelry as it will not often leave our finger. Hence, the quality of the material is of utmost importance. It was a good thing that we chose the right supplier who patiently guide us and answered all our queries in almost every bridal fair that we attended.

More and more wedding ring suppliers today offer customized wedding rings to suit the needs of every couple. Having an extensive choice of styles and designs is just overwhelming so it took us six bridal fairs to find which suits both of us the best.

As soon as we saw the pair of rings, we both feel the “This is it!” feeling that B2Bs feel when they have found the right bridal gown for them and I know that W@Wies can relate on this matter. The pair may not be one of our initial choices as what I have posted on my previous post and I cannot stress how hard it was but I’m glad that we have found the "it" rings. Here's the pair:

Each ring has a .14 karat vs1 eye color diamond, channeled, flat finished, 14k italian white gold in matte finished with smooth lining. This is just a sample pair from Golden Hills. Our actual rings will be like this except that the lining is in yellow gold.

The good thing about this is that it has lifetime warranty which includes free cleaning, engraving, resizing and a cute arrhae.

What a great way to end this entry is to share five helpful tips in choosing one's wedding ring that we learned from a seminar that we attended:

Tip#1
Consider your lifestyle in terms of work and sports. Bear in mind that you’re going to wear the ring every single day for the rest of your life after you say “I do”.

Tip#2
What is your personality? Is it simple, artistic or elegant? You can definitely find a ring that will match your personality to a “T”.

Tip#3
Think about the comfort you can embrace and match it with the width of the ring.

Tip#4
Matching design is a personal preference. Couples need not to get matching rings these days. Some couples, if not all, prefer to get a pair of ring wherein the bride’s diamond ring matches her engagement ring while the groom prefer to skip the stones.

Tip#5
Will you consider it as part of the wedding cost or more of an investment? Remember that wedding rings are made of gold, platinum or carbide, which are precious metals.

Related Topics:
Wedding Rings Galore

X.O.X.O.,