Marry Monogram

On top of all the things to do that are yet to be done, there are some small details that keeps on popping into my head and my email inbox. Now, it's the Marry Monogram courtesy of a nudge from an email of W@W's John Rana. To think, I don't even have a motif yet much more, an invitation and I am now checking out marry monogram haha! Super sabog heheh! No wonder my h2b commented that I am working on the preparation from the least priority to the major priorities :C.

So far, the major things are wrapped up already like the venue, church and the photographer... Off to the next, florist and cakes. Gown for engagement is in the process already :) Still so much to do and so much more suppliers which means no time to waste...Sigh* It's tiring sometimes but very rewarding when I finally finally close one area of the preparation. Till here, and many progress to com. CHEERS!

Checklist for Chinese Engagement (Girl's Side)

An update on what status I am on my engagement planning...

CHECKLIST FOR GIRL’s SIDE
(Engagement… My Little Kanchiu Book)

THE JEWELRY (can be prepared earlier)
• Watch- done
• Medallion- done

THE CAKE
Still canvassing 10”- girl; 12”- guy w/ their names on the cake

THE LOOT BAG
Pouch bag for my side…done :)

Contents of the loot bag… too early to prepare. (asstd. goodies)

FOOD (prepared on the latter part)
• 4 Pomelos
• 2 kilos uncooked rice
• I-SIT CHAO HU (available at DEC)
• Yan Chi Tiak Sim (Available at DEC)
• 120 pcs. Raw eggs w/ Sang hee stickers
• Chinese Hopia Set
• Red juice or fruit punch/ orange juice or soda to be served as ceremony starts
• Tea in tea cups to be served as soon as ting hun ends
• Sweet Tea soup- each bowl 2 eggs, 2 pcs ang cho and 2 pcs tang kwe
• Cooked misua to be served for main engagement party
• Chopsticks
• Chinese soup spoons

OTHERS
• Red Table cloth- done
• Bridal Satin Set
• Sang Hee stickers to be placed in any gift to be given to the boy’s side- SM department store… cheaper than he one sold in New Victory- done
• New Fabrics for the groom to be
• Girl’s Gown, shoes and accessories

The search for the perfect makeup for Chinita eyes

Having wrapped up with the gown designer, I am moving on for the next supplier crucial for my engagement…The MAKEUP. If I am preparing for a wedding, the next step would probably the coordinator but since it is the Engagement first. I can skip the coordinator until I have ore or less finished my engagement preparations. Needless to say, there are LOTS of bits and pieces that need to be attended to. Nothing crucial to prepare comes to my mind as to what I should prepare because I have all the important things covered…Uhm, I think…

Crowne Amenities

Since we haven’t decided on the food we were going to get for our wedding. Our 2nd consultation was solely based on the amenities and other questions (which I personally think was a few because I absolutely have no idea what my concerns should be except for the corkage fee hehe!). With regards to the floral, cakes and strings that are included in the crowne package…I asked for the price deducts per categories and their portfolios so I can finally decide if we are going to get the package or book for an outside packages. Listed below are the amenities and noted in (*) are the crowne affiliate suppliers and notes I have made…

ROYAL WEDDING PACKAGE
(Minimum of 100 Persons)

AMENITIES:

Overnight stay for two (2) in a Bridal Suite on the wedding day
*I’ve seen pictures… Looks nice but haven’t seen the actual yet.
~
Fruit basket
~
Breakfast for the couple served in the room
~
Overnight stay in a deluxe room valid on 1st anniversary
~
Complimentary bottle of champagne
* Bottle for toast. 1 bottle of Asti
~
String Quartet or 75 pcs. Miniature Fondant Cake
* String Quartet- Bernie Pasamba/ accdg to Susanna (the one handling the events, fondant cakes are quite expensive so this will amount to a string quartet… We both think that we will need strings more than the mini cakes…besides 75pcs of fondant is not enough for souvenir…I think)
~
Bridal car with floral décor
* Trans abi. They have a portfolio of bridal car to choose from. We were asked to choose 2 cars since it was first come, first serve daw.
~
Floral Centerpiece for the Backdrop, Buffet Table, Presidential Table
and Guest Tables
*Angelo Flowershop. 920-1126. If you opt to get a different florist… Deductions wll be around P4,000.00
~
Name cards for the Presidential Table
* FREE- plain paper
~
Menu cards for set menu or buffet food labels for buffet menu
*FREE- plain paper
~
3-layered fondant cake
* Cake Concepts- 723-2533 to 34. 3-layers Fondant Cake. 16” base.
For Upgrade: 4th cake edible- plus P2000. 5th cake edible- plus P7,500
Opt for another cake-maker- deduct around P4000
~
Decorated wedding cage with doves
*Accdg to Susanna- this is purely for decoration
~
Ice carving at the entrance of the function room
*If you want to remove the ice carving… Deduct P200-300 only
~
Guestbook with pen
~
Decorated cake table
~
Inclusion of one (1) round choice of Iced Tea, Lemonade, Softdrinks,
Chilled Juice or Pale Pilsen
*Corkage Fee= P1200+/ bottle
~
15% discount on services by The Suriya Spa
~
10% discount on services by David’s Salon

• What are the other questions I need to straighten out?
• Projector Rental Fee: 6500 Lumens = P12,100. 3200 Lumens= P8,800
• Free Parking Tickets = Guaranteed table

Our 2ndsssssssss...Venue and dress

We went to crowne for our second consultation. This time, I got the prices of the floral, cakes...etc and how much will be deducted in case we didn't get their service. Pretty small amount. I saw their portfolio and theyare pretty typical especially the flowers... :O Maybe I got this upside down because we paid our down and it was only yesterday that we went to look around for the places to take our pics... Oh well! I only marrying one time so I guess I can't be an expert this first time hehe!

Another second for us was our consultation with Ms. Veluz. She made 4 sketches of gowns for my engagement. She was as accomodating as the first time we met her. So is her assistant Nico but it was Ms. Veluz who we were collaborating with for the two meeting so I'll reserve judgement after a few more meetings...:)Price-wise, her engagement turned out the most expensive compared to all the designers I had consulted with. She agreed to lower costs which will turn out to be almost the same as Loretto's. We finally decided on trying her for the engagment to see her work to help decide for our upcoming wedding.

Almost final...

I 'almost' got a final gown designer... VELUZ! I decided last sunday that I finally want her because she doesn't gives me any funny feelings that worth getting alarmed about...plus all those raves about her. :))) hehehe! I even went as far as to put her name in my list of final suppliers... BUT, we have'nt finalized anything yet because I haven't receive her contract up until now. My h2b doesn't have any objection and even commented that she looks easy to talk to... (like Popo)

I went to Larry Espinosa yesterday for measurements on my being an entourage for h2b's sister's wedding. My last walk as a single gal on the aisle... :O

Wedding Tidbit...

02-10-06
Yesterday,I had another meeting with Popo today... I introduced him to my h2b :) since he wasn't with me when I first went to Popo.I guess he got tired of tagging along after the first 3 (or was it 4!?) designer sketch... hehe! Anyway, his verdict on Popo? He looks easy to talk to...
Today, My supposed meeting with Gown-maker Veluz got cancelled due to flu. Her assistant nico texted this am to tell me that the meeting won't push thru :(. Sigh*I realy need a designer! I am in time-constraint... hehe! Drama!? But I am more or less sure that I'll have Popo do my engagment dress.
So far, no progress on the flowers and cakes still...

02-12-06
I got an early birthday gift... :))) A dangling earrings with pearl and small diamonds for chains...



02-14-06
HAPPY HEARTS DAY! :)))my personal day as well...for this is my BIRTH date...
Had dinner date...upon my insistence since my date doesn't plan on having himself stuck on traffic...:C

Sweet Tooth

Yesterday...Veering temporarily away from my gown search. My brother set up a meeting for me to meet a friend of his who is into making cakes...

They got a small bakeshop near Mojo gym which they closed down recently due to the reason that the landlord needs the area tha they were leasing... (bummer!)

I saw their portfolio and they did quite a lot of cakes already. Simple designs considering they are just young but quite impressive naman. They rate at around P12k for a 3-layer cake (I forgot to ask if that is butter icing or the fondant.)

Their tinghun cake range from P1500-P3000 a pair.

Today, while checking for my sched this Saturday weekend, I realized that I had 2 meetings after lunch with gown designers which might overlap... Sheesh! I have to shuttle myself from one location to another in oreder to make it. Crossing my fingers... :)

Wedding Announcer

...I started out with 1 wedding blogspot with all my ramblings of preparing a full-fledge wedding for myself... now my private blog is not so private anymore... hehe! From my w@w emails exchanges for the past few weeks...I have upgraded my blog to another site... Karl and Mel's Wedding Announcer . I guess I am beginning to get into the wedding bug... :O

Techie progress for today: I finally got to change the default picture of our wedding announcer to a picture of us both... :) he finally conceded to having his picture in my website... Actually, he doesn't have a choice hehe! I am so happy that the site is veering away from the default setting and is taking shape into something personal... I guess having a wedding girl pals like W@W brings out the techno-side of a wedding preparing gal... Thanks W@W!

Power Weddings...

Our First bridal fair attended...Saturday, the first day of the Power Weddings Bridal fair,year 2. The admission was free and the real bonus was in getting the kan chiu book and Bridal yellow pages for FREE! Actually, I was a little disappointed that the kan chiu book was given away for free when I bought it for 75pesos. But then, on the other hand, it was quite a book anyway so it was not big a deal and gave it to my boyfriend's sister which is also planning her wedding :)

One more thing that I was very happy about the fair was I was able to get the issue of about weddings that I missed 2 weeks ago as well as the present issue for that day! Talk about real luck... :)))

Today, Interplay floral texted me to inform me that she has sent her quotation for her floral creations... I am crossing my fingers that the figures would be in my range and hopefully the portfolio will be more than what I expected... heheh!

Song sheet and suppliers...

For Today, I did my song sheet since I spent a day at home in front of the PC. I have arranged a meeting next week for several designers...

On Suppliers...

Gown

Contacted the W@Wie fave:Veluz

Cake

Courtesy of my brother, he arranged to have a meeting with a friend of his whom he has been raving about that's great in the kitchen and has spent a good deal of time (...and I guess money) learning his stuff in Switzerland...
I already got a quotation form Alex Franco , and from the list of flavors that he mentioned....YUMMY!

Event Stylist

I have contacted the much raved about Event Stylist Just like Ours and An Event to Remember.

Floral

It's Interplay and Enchanting Bloom. So far, no package sent to me through email...yet!


I seem to be multi-tasking and should have been doing big steps with the rate I am doing...But I don't think I am... I haevn't finalized anything yet...huhu!

Basing on the sketch....

I learned a lesson today. It's 'Don't judge a book by its cover...' Not really the literal book but when it comes to gown, don't judge the Skill of the designer by it's sketch, which I almost did basing on the awesome drawing that a designer did for me. I almost had it finalized when I decided to check on the designer and regardless of the source, bad comments should be listened to and if there are bad feedback, there MUST be something wrong with the supplier, right? Or am I a wee bit paranoid? Well, it's not my fault right? A wedding gown is one of the things that will stand out in a wedding unlike the other stuffs. This particular thing will be the focus from the march to the endof the reception. So it should be something that I really want...

Enough about the gown. Right now, I am thinking of letting Popo make my ting hun gown because so far, there is no bad feedback about him plus the fact that I saw his workmanship and mukhang ok naman. Actually, the reason why there is no feedback is because I guess no one knows him yet... Is that a good sign or what!? sheesh!

As of my wedding gown and the entourage, I am still scheduling designers to talk to and hope that by the near future, I will get the kick of intuition that will tell me to "Go for this designer"...

...and more designers (hehe!)

Went to see Peter lim the other day for another gown comparison. He was the most xpensive one compared to the other designer that I've been to. Experience-wise, he is no doubt very experience in doing dresses seeing that his portfolio contains involvement in fashion shows.

I have heard good comments about Edd Sy's gown... I am still thinking if I should schedule an appointment as well before I finally decide on a gown maker.

Flowers... I tried to check on April and Karen Yu regarding their availability for our wedding. I have heard from a fellow W@wie that they are quite good especially on Oriental theme motifs which happens to be my motif for the wedding... At least that's the motif I have been eyeing on based on the venue... :) Oh well, I am quite disappointed and a wee bit worried that maybe the suppliers I like would be hard to book...(Still a long way before the date and the suppliers are already getting booked!)

W@W Toolbar

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
Uhmm...They say that the year of the Fire Dog is a very lucky year to get engage and married. So maybe this is one good omen to start with... :) To all those brides out there, whether you believe auspicious dates or not,at least, you got those dates working for you and not against you. CHEERS!

Techie progress! I know this is not a biggie for some of you but I finally had a W@W Toolbar installed in my PC. Considering how my PC acts up, this is a big progress... hehe! I tried the toolbar and super convenient talaga siya... AS IN! I am so happy with the progress I am having. Both in my wedsite attempt and supplier hunting for my ting hun but so far venue palang din ang final. I hope that I can finally decide on something by next week to continue with other to-do lists... My friend had her engagement today at Gloria Maris... I missed the ceremony but I saw the stuffs they prepared...I think i have a long way to go pa... :O

Sketches...

4 designers ...2 take-home sketches... Still undecided...

I have gone through four designer and am still analyzing the pros and cons of each in order to finalize and have the designer category done and over with... So much more to do and I guess I am not that time-constraint...YET! I have taken a pic of those sketches and will be posting them here as soon as I got them uploaded... Any comments will be welcome. :)

D-I-Y Engagement Loot bags

I have made a mock-up loot bag for the sweets which I will be using for my ting hun. I didn't literally made it but i thought that since we do kids clothes...a loot bag would be an easier task...hehe! Anyway, I got the cloth from somewhere in Manila last time I went there and here's the sneak preview of that loot bag :)

Fuchsia body color; White one-color floral print with glitters


...more gowns
I forgot to mention that I went to more fashion designers last January 24th (Tuesday)namely: Jerome Ang and Yi Fu's Allan. Both of them were quite accomodating. Uhmm...Personality-wise, Jerome Ang came across a little bit snobbish when he first walk in but as the time pass...he was getting more ok. Allan was friendly fromstart till the end. Both of the sketches were left with them unlike Loretto who agreed to let me keep the sketch of the gowns he made for me. Price-wise, Yi fu was the lowest followed by Jerome Ang then the most expensive between the three was Loretto.

TMU

What is TMU???!

Getting to be a newbie in a new community entails some adjustments one way or another. So this is what is happening to me, being a new member of W@W :P. It is like going into the basics of chatting when the first time I log in I had no idea there are languages shared by chatters and in the W@W(I don't know for sure if other Wedding communities share this universal acronyms...) TMU= Trial Make Up... Do you know how many emails I had to open just to get what is the meaning of this three letter word? Let us discuss the Universal Acronyms at another time.

Anyway, I am getting out of the supposed title of this entry. I used this title because today is my first TMU. I haven't really plan to doing the rounds on HMUA (Hair and Make Up Artist...) yet! But since there was the opportunity for a free trial... Naturally, you grab that chance. That was the reason I got to my TMU category even without finalizing my Fashion designer first.

To have a backgrounder, I got this great opportunity reading my email... (From a fellow W@wie) who has a friend name Michelle Lim, who gives free 6 makeup trials and photo shoot. I thought that reading my emails late would probably mean that I had no chance to try the freebies but finally did text the number and to my surprise, and maybe with the help of being in weekday and all, I got a slot...(Yey!) The finish trial was ok but I can't say the final verdict because I want to try others first to have a basis for comparison... I'll post the updates when I have a final HMUA :P

Weekend Recap

Saturday was my day of relaxation from any wedding preparation :) I had a home massage after lunch and stayed at home with my family and boyfriend... The only downer was that I totally forgot to buy the copy of Manila Bulletin's 'About Weddings' :(

Sunday...I finally bought myself a copy of the newest Wedding Essential Magazine.Full of GREAT ideas and new love stories to gush over... Went to Glorietta and window shopped for dresses that might look good for my frame. The only wedding thing I bought today was some foot beauty products which I plan to add for my Ke Cheng...

I have a resolution. I plan to at least do something, even something super small for my preparations just to avoid the rush when the time is finally near. I realized last night that while I tried to wrap a basketfull of footie goodies that it's not that easy to to make it and I need to adjust things like the materials for container...fillers...plastics...etc. I have to buy things that are lacking and try again... and hopefully this time, all the things will come together and when I get the hang of things... Packing will be a breeze! hehe!

Gown Hunting...

I have officially started my gown canvasing this afternoon by making an appointment with Loretto of Maria Orosa, Malate. I am trying to get some feel on what designs they would suggest and what would it costs me to have them made. So far so good, Loretto was accomodating and chatty which made us quite comfortable to posts questions. He made 2 sketches of a ting hun dress. I did not like the first one with the low square neckline which I think wouldn't suit my frame... the second sketch was better but I have some doubt on having the top part off shoulder because I was thinking more into the line of tube type or something silhoutte to soften the over all look. Anyway, I am going to check on other designers this coming week just to have someone to compare it with then probably make a final decision soon to move on to the next list to complete...

I hope that I make the right decision with my supplier... I am, according to my mom, a ll bit obsess in thinking of the every bit of problems that can happen, even after I finalized with a supplier, (paranoid paminsan....thinking that the suplier I didn't get might be the right one...DUH!) therefore giving more to think about other than accomplishing something once the contract is signed.... I guess I have to loosen up a bit on this wedding planning... According to another friend of mine: "It's just for one day, Work on the marriage, not the wedding... and it too shall pass (!?)" haha!

A day in Downtown, Manila…

I spent a day in Manila to check out the things-to-prepare for my upcoming ting-hun (Chinese Engagement). I also got myself a copy of the book entitled,

My Little KanChiu Book,

which is a big eye opener on how much work it would entail to prepare for this one day engagement. This little book surprisingly is an easy read and is a BIG help with helpful hints on making it as hassle-free as possible.

I go through the http://www.weddingsatwork.com site regularly, way back when my closest friend started preparing for her wedding last 2004. I sure enjoyed the site but did not join any discussion groups and all that because I was just an onlooker then. Now, it’s a different story… I joined the newsletter and end up getting lots of helpful hints on different topics and possible hassles on this supplier just on my FIRST day as a member! I decided to start my wedding blog that day to store all the information that may be helpful to me in the near future.

Now, back to my day in Ongpin, Manila…
Actually, it was not just Ongpin that I went to but I just refer to the whole place as Ongpin maybe for the reason that I am confused with all those streets there. Hehe! Well, I went to the area near Tabora (I guess this is still manila part but not Ongpin…right!?) and went inside all those endless maze of tiangges that sells wedding related items to even gowns and barongs! Pretty affordable… very affordable! You can get a dress at a little over thousand bucks. I got myself a nice organza for my loot bags, I am so excited! I can finally say that I am having a progress… ;)