May 1 - Labor Day... and hard labor we did! nyahaha!!!

My day started with me, my dad and my mom going from Las Piñas all the way to Silang, Cavite to have (this time) MY measurements taken by my aunt Tita Beth, who will be making my gown.. When we got there, she was still on her way home from CAGAYAN(!?), so we had to wait for her first. While waiting, my mom, my other aunt Tita Dahlie (also our PS*) and I discussed what I want for my bridal gown. I showed them my gown inspirations (see below, mostly taken from Brides.com). After arguing here and there (*sigh*), we more or less came out with something we all agree on. Since Tita Beth is not really a designer, I don't have a sketch/drawing to show you.. But like I said, these are my gown inspirations:

I told them I really want a "sexy" back (this I get my inspirations from Veluz), and a skirt with "bustings" (term I learned from Christine Go). To be perfectly honest, I'm still not 100% "sold" with the design we picked... but it's really pretty... It's just me.. I don't know what design would compliment my body built.. May pagka insecure lang rin po kasi talaga ako...:( But hopefully I'll have my 1st fitting this July 18, and I'm hoping once I see the gown on me, I'll get more excited and confident with my gown..:) If not, then there's still more time and I can still look for a designer! ahaha!!

Btw, I also brought the gown I bought from Tutuban for a little alteration. So after my Tita took my measurements and noted the alterations needed, we left for our "lunch date" with Tonio's family.

Pamamanhikan is a Filipino custom, where (if I'm not mistaken) the two families meet, get to know each other, and basically discuss all the wedding preparations. Usually the guy's family brings gifts and food to the girl's house. This is also (I guess) the time for the guy to formally ask the girl's parents for their daughter's hand in marriage.

However, since Tonio and I have already started with our wedding preps and are handling almost everything, we didn't have the "typical" pamamanhikan. We just wanted the two families to meet. And since I didn't want my mom to worry about the food preparation and clean up that comes after a gathering, I asked Tonio if we can just go to a restaurant with a secluded area so that we'll have some privacy while we have lunch and talk about whatever...:P ehehe!!

Tonio and I went for ocular inspection and to reserve tables the previous day. At first, we considered Luk Foo, it's a Chinese restaurant, and we both loved the food there. However, they wanted to place us on the main area, with the rest of the other customers. I told them we needed/wanted a bit of privacy. They (almost unwillingly) led us to their 2nd floor, where there are a lot tables empty. I wanted to stay at one of those tables where you can close it, to look like it's a separate room, but they said they can't. Then the place was also a bit dark, because the lights are off. And there were no aircons open. But still, I know the food is great there, and the prices reasonable, so I asked to reserve us tables.

Then, after our shoot with Wally Gonzales, we went to Hula Hula Seafood and Barbque House at West Gate to check the place out. They also didn't have any secluded area, but I was really pleased that they were willing to accommodate us and move tables around just to create a separate space that will give us some privacy. So we called Luk Foo to cancel our tables, and pre-ordered our food. We ordered: Jojo's Chicken Wings for Appetizer, Hawaiian Molo Sensation for Soup, Baby Shrimp Fried Rice, and then for the main dishes: Mess of Steaks, Mess of Fish, and Crab Maritess. Here are some pictures:




After lunch, we all went to my house for desserts. Then, Tonio and I went with his family to Duty Free for some shopping. After that, Tonio and I went back to Alabang for a courtesy call with one of our PS*. My mom and dad went with us. We chatted for a while, and quite surprisingly enjoyed the visit. It wasn't at all awkward nor was there any prolonged silence like I thought there would be..:) We even planned on just staying for 30 mins, and turned out we stayed for more than an hour at the least! After that, Tonio and I went straight to our main photographer, Paul Vincent's house in Quezon City to finalize and get our contract. We paid our balance for the DP. We also discussed our plans for the prenup shoot with him. And of course, again, a LOT of fun fun fun conversation!:)

We were not able to do an ocular check of hotels in Ortigas for our wedding preps venue becuase we left Paul Vincent's house very late already. But before going home, Tonio and I stopped at Amici along Tomas Morato for dinner.


So like I said, it was a LOOOONG and tiring day, but we sure had a LOT of fun and laughter this day!!...:)

For DAY 3, mission: (slightly) ACCOMPLISHED!;)

* PS - Principal Sponsor or more commonly called Ninang sa Kasal for Filipinos

xoxo,

Coming from a VERY tiring and full day 1, day 2 had a much lighter schedule..:) We only had my trial make up in the morning, and our prenup shoot with Sir Wally in the afternoon. The day started with me being a little irked at Tonio because I thought he's leaving his house in Cainta by 10 am so he can pick me up in Las Piñas by 11 am to go to the salon. It turned out he almost just woke up at 10, so I had my mom bring me to the salon and wait for Tonio there... anyway...

I arrived at Leo Priagola's salon a little past 11 am. I showed him pictures of the hairstyles I wanted during my wedding.. yes, I want a different hairstyle during the ceremony and the reception! ahaha!! Of course, during the ceremony, I want the classy, elegant and sweet look (left picture**). For the reception, I want a more laid-back look (right picture**)..;) For the make up, nothing too fancy for me... Maybe just a little "arte" on the eyes, but that's it for me... ehehe!! Here are some pictures:

Of course, I really made sure our prenup with Wally Gonzales comes after the trial hair and make up so that it's like killing 2 birds with one stone, right?.. ahaha!! Had our prenup shoot in Fernbrook Gardens, and the place is just nice on pictures. Before that day, our (me and Tonio) idea for the shoot is just to do poses and candid shots around the cars and carriages of Fernbrook. Because our outfits are just trendy casual, and we felt that Fernbrook is too grand a place that we'd have to wear formal attire to "match" the place. But when we got there, we let Sir Wally lead.. and we just enjoyed ourselves during the shoot! He was very funny and friendly, and he sure made us do a lot of poses. After the shoot, Anthony and I are just very excited to get a copy of the pictures. And when we did, we loved a lot of them! It was so hard for us to pick just 40 pics for the prenup album..:) Below are a few of the unedited (RAW) pictures that we did not pick..;) Of course, the pictures for the album is a surprise for now..:)




For DAY 2, mission: (successfully) COMPLETED!!!;)

** Pictures courtesy of Brides.com

xoxo,

Just to share with you guys what we did last Apr 29 - May 2. I won't be able to do it in one blog because it will be looooooong, so I'm doing a blog a day..;) And as promised, there are LOTS of pictures!;)

For April 29, we (more or less) were able to do everything we wanted to do. From the airport (thank God our flight was on time!), we went straight to Divisoria.. or rather Tutuban Center and Cluster Building in our case...;) Anthony's mom and brother were with us so we stuck to the no-crowd, airconditioned places..;) We first had an early lunch at Bodhi Vegetarian Restaurant (Anthony's brother is a vegetarian, so he wanted us to try out this restau), then started with our (window) shopping!;)

I was able to get swatches for the female entou gowns... We were also able to buy a bridal gown for our TTD shoot with Paul Vincent (love the gown, can't wait for the shoot!;) )... I was not able to buy the materials for our DIYS though, because I still wasn't sure what I needed and wanted, but I did look around to check what my options were... We didn't look for the boxes for our invites anymore... and lastly, we were able to get some souvenir ideas, but we didn't finalize/buy anything.. again, still checking our options (and budget!), before we decide on anything...;)

We ran later than expected, so we arrived at Market Market pretty late already. Here we met with our OTD, Events Manila! We discussed some details of our wedding, and asked a few questions.. Basically we just went there to meet Ms. Rose, because we feel it's easier to interact with someone you already met in person, don't you think?:) We were pretty happy with the meeting, even if we realized we still have a lot of pending matters that we need to attend to ASAP.. ahaha!! But I guess that's the whole idea of having your coordinator, right?..;)

After that, we went to our modiste Tita Juliet's house in Quezon City for the girl's measurements. Initially, I only asked my BM's and SS's, I totally forgot my FG's! Nyahaha!! Good thing 2 of them were able to go with us..:) The final quotation for my whole entou was a bit higher than expected, but still quite a bargain!:) Here are some photos taken:

Attendees were: Joymari (BM), Mahal (BM), Ate Risa (SS), Rein (FG) and Julia (FG). And then, Anthony's mom will also have her gown made by Tita Juliet. After the fitting, we treated the girls to dinner at A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante along Visayas Ave.

So, for DAY 1, mission: ACCOMPLISHED!;)

xoxo,