Prenup Supplier Rating #5: Pan de Amerikana Katipunan

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Happy holidays! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break. As for me, it's the usual downtime of the year filled with get togethers and catching-up and, much to my chagrin, eating!!! Bingeing and over indulgence this season is not for me, as I must exert effort not to add to my poundage to avoid any rework and panic dieting weeks before the wedding. Hoho!

For today, I'll be sharing our experience with Pan de Amerikana when we decided last minute to have our prenup in their Katipunan branch. This humble bread shop, with its main branch located in Marikina, is noted for its quirky upside down shop.

Original location for our pictorial is at Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife, but we had to change locations due to the gloomy weather that greeted our morning. Good thing Pan de Amerikana Katipunan was available that day.       

Photo Credit: Panoramio

Rating Scale: 1 - 10 (10 being the highest)

Service: Prenup Venue

Peso Power: Free (You must eat at their place though)

Rating: 7

Pros:

• Highly accommodating. We checked with the shop just freaking 2 hours before the shoot and we were so lucky that they don't have a scheduled shoot that day and so we were approved with our request. 
• Budget friendly. No fees to pay for a shoot. They just request the couple and suppliers to dine at their shop.
• Affordable food. Yes this is counted because this is part of the requirement for any pictorial request.
• Interesting outdoor structure. This will be a good backdrop for a shot from across the street. Sadly we weren't able to do that since it was raining that day.

Cons:

• Katipunan branch is small and limited. This is quite a disadvantage because it directly affects any photo shoot. 
• Quirkiness indoors is not so apparent and hard to capture in photos as most of it (the quirkiness) are hanging from the ceiling -- or should I say floor? Hehe.
• The place is quite dark for a pictorial.

Despite all these, Pan de Amerikana still saved us from rescheduling the shoot once more.

Prenup Supplier Rating #4: Chasing Tales Photography

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Do you still remember the free prenup shoot we won months back? Well, we had the actual shoot last October with Chasing Tales Photography. Initial location is at Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife but we veered away from it due to bad weather that day. Quick thinking and action led us to Pan de Amerikana at Katipunan. We booked the place a few hours before our actual shoot time and thankfully they can accommodate us.

Chasing Tales got there shortly ahead of us and quickly setup their equipment upon our arrival. They are a bunch of friends from school who finished mutimedia arts and decided to setup a photography outfit after. We're surprised to know that Wale, our main contact, is actually a girl. Haha. She came with ER (male), the other photographer, and Maricris as their assistant.

Rating Scale: 1 - 10 (10 being the highest)

Service: Prenup Pictorial

Peso Power: Free!!! 

Rating: 7

Pros:

• Contact person (Wale) is very easy to talk to.
• Flexible and quick to adapt to sudden change in plans
• Able to make good use of the limited venue we have. Each nook and cranny was maximized.
• They provided their own transportation.
• They are perfectly OK waiting in between shoots.
• They take good "emo" shots.
• Aside from "emo" shots, they also take good details shots.
• Good presentation. They took time to wrap the DVD of photos creatively with a nice tag!

Cons:

• The poses they were asking us to do were limited and all too common.
• Wale and ER need to articulate better what they're asking their subjects to do.
• We received the photos later than their committed date. 
• Post processed photos were too dark for our liking and are not natural looking at all.
• A portion of the raw photos in the DVD we received were corrupted. :(

With that, I leave you with some photos from our engagement shoot.

Prenup Supplier Rating #3: Ariel Javelosa Photography

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This is a much overdue post. We've already released our ratings for our prenup venue and stylist, so it's time do a review of our photo and video team. This review will only cover the shoot service that day, together with the raw and post-processed photos we've received so far. Reviews on the guestbook/prenup album and actual Save the Date video are not included since we haven't received these items yet. 

Rating Scale: 1 - 10 (10 being the highest)

Service: Prenup Photos (Team of Mel Labro)

Peso Power: Included in our Photo and Video package

Rating: 8

Pros:

• Contact person (Grace) is very easy to talk to.
• Mel (our lead photo makes natural (not so BS) positive comments that boosts ones confidence.
• Mel is a good director and is able to articulate well what he wants you to do.
• They provided their own transportation (we offered to pay for their gas which they accepted).
• They are perfectly OK waiting in between shoots. We didn’t sense impatience at all.
• Love the shots especially the silhouette ones inside the restroom.
• We got the raw photos immediately (day after the shoot) which has been filtered into good shots only.
• Post-processed photos looks very good and were made available to us after I requested for it.

Cons:

• They tagged a trainee photographer along without consulting us first. This translated to additional food, entrance count, transpo. We would have appreciated an advance notice of the number of persons shooting us.
• Erdie (the videographer) doesn’t direct too well.
• Erdie needs to articulate better what he wants to achieve.
• There are very limited portrait shots outdoors.
• Not much candid shots while outdoors. 
• Apparently they don't normally give post-processed photos. Post processing is solely intended for the guestbook/prenup album. We had to request for a copy of those photos. 

Working with Ariel Javelosa Company in general is a good experience. We haven't had any hard time dealing with them and they ensure that client's requests are taken care of. Their style is very traditional though and it would be good if they can inject some modernity into their craft for it to be a healthy mix of classics and contemporaries.   

Cheers! 

Photobook Philippines - A Review

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I've been hooked into Photobooks lately. It started with the gift I gave Adrin on our 4th anniversary. I've longed to give him some sort of love story scrapbook way back early into the relationship. I just couldn't get myself to manually select pictures, have them printed, mount them on a craft album, and put little artsy craftsy decors as a final touch. That's why when I saw a voucher for Photobook Philippines in one of the group buying sites, I decided to try it out and make a digital scrapbook instead.

Here's how it goes:

- Create a digital photobook via their free downloadable software

- Electronically send the completed photobook to the production site (they are having it produced in Malaysia)

- Receive your photobook at your own door step

Their products back then were an array of softcover and hardcover photobooks in different types, sizes, and orientations. I first created a Medium Landscape Imagewrap Hardcover photobook. After following the tutorial in their software, I was able to complete my layout in several days. I uploaded it to their system to start production and my photobook was delivered to me in roughly a week's time.

The end product appears to be meticulously made and is evident to be of high quality. It's heavily bound and stitched at the spine to ensure that the pages won't tore loose. Quality of their standard paper (170gsm premium silk matte paper) is also very good. It's thick enough and doesn't crease immediately. Actual print of images on the paper is 99% color accurate. The item was also packed neatly to avoid the risk of it being damage while in transit.

With similar specs, I next ordered for a book to document our Japan adventure earlier this year. One has full liberty on what design or image to use for the cover.

Imagewrap Photobook

Contents are highly customizable too. You can do it scrapbook style with girly designs...

Or with funky and fun designs.

And if you want to maximize the space, then you can just opt for a straightforward album layout. :)

For my boudoir photos, I decided to try the debossed type and ordered a matching slip case. There are several cover options for this type of photobook, and for this one, I chose leather. Since I want a higher quality paper for that very memorable experience, I also upgraded for this book to use 220gsm premium silk matte paper.

Oh why, hello there? | My debossed book and the sturdy slip case in Leather

Since we already had our official prenup shoot last June, a photobook is also in order for those lovely photos. Again, I made a debossed book, but with a buckram album cover this time. I've heard good feedback regarding the photo paper so I chose that type of paper for this photobook. And boy was I so glad with that upgrade because the photo papers are so nice. At 190gsm, it's thinner than the ones I used for my boudoir album, but the texture and print is better than on the silk matte variants. Probably because it's, yeah, a PHOTO paper. Haha!

Debossed book in Buckram

See the weaved texture?

Here's a better comparison of the paper types I've tried so far.

Top: 170gsm Premium Silk Matte; Mid: 220gsm Premium Silk Matte;
Bottom: 190gsm Photo Paper

There are several other companies offering similar services and products but I haven't tried them yet. Never did I thought of changing suppliers because I'm satisfied with my transactions with Photobook Philippines so far.


8 Reasons why I love Photobook Philippines:

1. Software is very user friendly. It even shows tutorial prompts which you can turn-off whenever you want.
2. A lot of layouts, backgrounds, frames, etc. to choose from. I haven't even fully maximized all the stickers available for the users.
3. Lots of photobook types and sizes to choose from. They have it in hardcover and softcovers; small to extra large; landscape or portrait.
4. Lots of cover choices. There's imagewrap, debossed (with further more options), and designer books. They even have proof books and pofessional photobooks!
5. Ease of sending the finished book to the printing facility. From doing the layouts, to actual ordering, uploading, and payment -- everything is triggered from the free software. You just need to ensure that you have a reliable internet connection once you're ready to order your photobook.
6. Tracking of order status is easy. Once you've successfully uploaded your order, they'll send you a link so you can check the status of your order whether its still In Production, Bindery, or Final QC.
7. Partner courier is reliable. All photobooks I've received so far were produced in Malaysia. They were sent to me via DHL which is one of the largest couriers worldwide. As soon as the book has been shipped out, you'll also receive a notification with a link to the DHL site where you can check the location of your item. 
8. Very good customer service. I received my boudoir photobook with several damaged prints. When I reported it to their customer service, they just asked for pictures to see the damage and immediately informed me that they will reprint my order and send me a new one. In just one week (normal order lead time), I received my replacement photobook. Not bad right? No need for long arguments and follow-ups.

Aside from photobooks, they now offer other products:

• Poster prints
• Photo cards

I'm set to order some poster prints for the wedding so I'll keep you posted on that.


Of course I'd want to try out other photobook suppliers out there but I'll probably save that for occasions other than our second prenup and our wedding. Photos from those occasions are far too memorable to risk with a new supplier. I'm sticking with the tested and reliable for now. :)


Photobook Philippines
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Cheers!

Prenup Supplier Rating #2: Jardin de Miramar

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Many are asking why we held our prenup at Jardin de Miramar. There's no specific personal reason. It just so happened that it on the auction list of w@w auction last year. I researched about it, took my chances, and  won it. 

Rating Scale: 1 - 10 (10 being the highest)

Service: Photo and Video Shoot Venue

Peso Power: Php 4,600 (auction = 2,500; OTD = 2,100)

Rating: 8

Pros:

• Contact person (Daisy) is easy to talk to. The package we got from the auction is for 2hrs photoshoot only, but when I requested for an additional free hour, Daisy agreed and that's what has been specified in our contract.
• All communications done via email. Sometimes Daisy would even call me for some clarifications.
• Adrin didn't have a hard time rescheduling our shoot with them.
• The lounge we used was clean and spacious. Aircon was cold too.
• They let us use their props for free. Our picnic set wouldn't have been possible if not for them. They also setup the native hammock just for our use.
• Then lent steel ladder to our P/V team which was used to climb trees and get some good top shots.
• When it started raining, the staff immediately brought us big golf umbrellas. This is well appreciated since we didn't have enough umbrellas for our party.
• We ran past the allotted hours and stayed in the premises for 4.5 hours but they did not charge us of extra fees anymore. 
• They sought feedback (through a survey form) after the shoot. This is a plus for me as it signifies that they would like to know the opportunity areas in their venue and service. I just hope that the survey results are taken seriously and they take actions on noted improvement areas.

Cons:

• We had to pay additional Php 2,100 on the day of the shoot because they they charge higher if you'll also do video shoot. Plus they only allow 5pax for the normal package, we were 7. 
• The wooden ship at Galera area is a restricted area due to safety reasons. It was old looking and was not well maintained. The swings in the same area were also taken down. 
• The gardens doesn't look very well maintained. The place would be a lot nicer if they can keep the plants and grass well-trimmed.
• When we were shooting for our last layout, they did not turn on the electricity switch for the indoor hall despite the request of our photographer. Reason they gave is because we're already over time. They did not even ask if we're willing to pay over time charges. 

To summarize, dealing with Jardin de Miramar was a good experience. We didn't have any hard time caused by the venue or the staff. They were even attentive to our needs and we really appreciated them lending us props. I just hope they take my feedback seriously and renovate Galera area and dutifully maintain the gardens. =)

Cheers!

Prenup Supplier Rating #1: Styling by Aira Franco with Fritz Mortel

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Okay, this is my first time to rate a supplier so I'll try to give as much info as I can remember, and as accurate as my memory serves me. I'll use a scale of 10 for more leeway on minor items impacting the ratings. 

Rating Scale: 1 - 10 (10 being the highest)

Service: Prenup Styling with HMUA

Peso Power: Php 7,000 (but became Php 1,400)

Rating: 9

We booked Aira as our prenup stylist last March. Shortly after the booking, we had our pre-production meeting to discuss the concept. It was a short meeting since Adrin and I do not have a specific theme in mind. Our only requirement is to have formal and fun sets. She asked for our venue and photographer and then started showing us pegs. Right then and there we were able to agree on the overall feel of our shoot. 

Exactly a month before our pictorial, Aira sent to us our lookboard. We requested for one month lead time so Adrin and I have enough time to shop and gather our wardrobe. Fast forward to 3 days before the shoot, I received an urgent call from Aira. I was told that there seems to be a double booking for our shoot date and she's saying that it started when her phone (and calendar) crashed. It so happened that the other couple booked her in January so they are the priority. She was very apologetic as we talked and gave us three options:

• Proceed with the shoot BUT only her styling assistant and HMUA will come with us; Remaining balance to be waived.
• Reschedule the shoot so she can be with us; Remaining balance to be waived.
• Cancel the agreement with full refund of payment made.

With those options, I told her that I'll just get back to her within the day for our decision. The next hours were full of panic on my part especially that I was only able to talk to Adrin after lunch.We decided to try rescheduling the shoot with all other suppliers, and luckily they all agreed to move our schedule. In that same day, Adrin was able to fix the glitch and set a new schedule, while I was in back to back meetings. Haha.

Fast forward to the day of the shoot, we were late for our call time with Aira and Fritz. I was expecting that they'd be a bit irate but I didn't sense any of that. Aira agreed that we'll do the HMU at her place before we do our studio shoot, then we'll just meet her and Fritz at Jardin de Miramar for the outdoor part later that day. I've split my comments into 3 sections and are outlined below:

Hair & Make-up (Fritz Mortel)

• Fritz really did a great job on all of my 4 looks - both hairstyling and make-up
• She was able to hide well my pimple marks, eyebags, and blemishes 
• Make-up is fresh looking and not overly done. A lot of people who saw our pictures liked my make-up that day.
• Hygienic: sponges, powder puff and brushes used on me were all clean and/or new. She doesn't even let her hands touch my face. It's always with a sponge, brush, puff or cotton tips.
• She works fast on styling my hair
• She's also nice to talk to, although a bit shy at first
• Fritz patiently retouched my make-up and styled my hair as I eat or as I chat. I know she had a hard time doing that but I kept on forgetting that she's tinkering with my face. Hahaha. 

On-the-day Styling and Assistance

• Aira and Fritz doesn't have any qualms being our personal assistants for the day
• Our clothes were meticulously sorted out and paired together
• Once it's on us, Aira checked for loose or ill-fitting areas and she'll put binder clips to make the clothes fit better.
• Aira even folded Adrin's shorts and assisted me when I changed into the gown.
• While shooting, they frequently fixed my hair (almost after every pose) and kept our faces dry from perspiration (lots of tissue on hand)
• Since it was raining, they dutifully carried the umbrellas for us and ensured that we stay dry and clean
• Dutifully wiping out our face and arms of water droplets from trees
• They bugged us to eat snacks in between shoots
• They carried drinks into the shoot area for us and for the photographers as well
• Aira reminded me constantly to walk carefully ang slowly because I might trip on the muddy garden or slip due to the puddles of water. She'll even grab me when I'm walking ahead of her just to support me as I walked.
• Aira coordinated with Jardin when she learned that the venue offered their picnic props and native hammock for our use.
• For added detail for the picnic setup, Aira plucked out flowers from Jardin de Miramar's garden. Hahaha.
• Since we're already 1 hour overtime at Jardin de Miramar, while shooting the last layout, Fritz packed away all of our things so we'd just quickly change and leave the premises immediately after the last layout.
• Aira was true to her word of waiving our remaining balance for their services. We were intending to still pay, and actually offered it before leaving Jardin the Miramar, but she just wouldn't take it.

Gaps

• Of course the panic and stress we got after learning of the double booking issue. I believe she already addressed the concern of mixed bookings by getting someone to fix her calendar for her.
• I forgot my belt for my shorts and was banking on Aira that she has belts with her as part of the accessories. No belt. I had to un-tuck my blouse and just tie it in front.
• My bra straps were always peeking from my dress but it wasn't fixed while we were shooting. It's such an eyesore in the photos.  

 All in all, it was still a good experience working with Aira and Fritz. They did their job beautifully on the day of our shoot and were attentive to our needs. However, a miss is still a miss hence I can't award her a perfect 10. But the good thing about her is the humility to accept her booboo and willingness to rectify her miss by providing us all possible options that we can get. In Adrin's words "at least she's not like our local airlines who do not give anything to the passengers whenever they inconvenience them". =)

Hope this helps!


Styling by Aira Franco
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Makeup by Fritz Mortel
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Cheers!