The Search for the HMU Artist

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I've been on this for weeks now. Since we already booked most of our major suppliers, I'm finding myself staring at our wedding planning spreadsheet/checklist, thinking which item to tick off next. I know that the next big item in there is our wedding attire. I'm already eyeing some designers and been in touch with them so I'm just waiting for my work to clear up a bit then we can proceed onto meeting them.

Even if we attended last weekend’s wedding fair at World Trade Center, I feel that we haven't been productive at all. Let’s just say that we did not make the most out of that event; not even to research properly at the least. Sigh.

And so, to make up for that guilt (and not to feel stuck in the rut), I sorted out all the flyers we collected and segregated those for the HMU suppliers, with the plan to check each one out over the internet. Lo and behold, for 4days now, I've been shooting email inquiries here and there and am constantly on the lookout for their replies.

The more works I see, the more I get confused. I've even created a new excel sheet to tally inclusions of the packages that I get. This makes price and value-for-money comparison a breeze but it does not entirely address the selection process difficulty because you'll not choose based on price alone of course. 

I think I need a couple more set of eyes to look into the portfolio of these artists. Any volunteers? 

Cheers!

The wait is over-- Church: Booked!

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Finally, we were able to make a reservation with our church! I’m so giddy and happy writing this post for we have been waiting to accomplish this ever since we started our preps. We are officially a SAC couple --  

San Agustin Church that is.

     Some Church Facts

     [Source: Wikipedia ]

• It is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines; no other surviving building in the Philippines has been claimed to pre-date San Agustin Church. 
• In 1993, San Agustin Church was one of four Philippine churches constructed during the Spanish colonial period to be designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, under the collective title Baroque Churches of the Philippines. 
• It was named a National Historical Landmark by the Philippine government in 1976.  

June is the month that we’ve been waiting for because according to our previous inquiries with SAC, this is the month that they’ll complete their 2014 logbook and accept reservations. Being too preoccupied with work the past weeks hindered me from inquiring on June 1 on the dot. It is only last Thursday that I had some spare time so I grabbed the chance and called the reservation office right away to confirm if the moment we’ve been waiting for has come. During my call, I heard what I wanted to hear and with my delight, I totally forgot to check if our date is still available. I just realized my booboo when Adrin asked me about it. Haha. So right that moment, before I headed to my afternoon meeting, I tasked him to call again and check for our date. I know, I know… the odds are slim that our date is already fully booked this early, but I still wanted to be sure.

We went to the church earlier today, finally saw the most-awaited logbook, and made our reservation. The 3PM slot was already booked since last week. This is okay since we are targeting the slot right before the scheduled daily mass which is at 5:30PM. And so, our reservation is at 4PM.

 

Clockwise: (1) The log-book. (2) Before reservation. (3) After reservation.

After completing the reservation at the office, we went outside and lingered for a bit to watch a bride walk down the aisle and to take some pictures.

The San Agustin Museum

San Agustin Church: Facade

San Agustin Church: Inside

San Agustin Church: Altar

So there, the church where Adrin and I will make our promise of forever to each other. Cheeeessssy!!! =P

Cheers!

Wish #2: Can Someone Identify These Flowers Please?

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I've been searching for pretty blue flowers for quite some time now. Apparently there are very limited flowers in that color and most of them are considered as wildflowers (read: beautiful for a meadow but not for a bouquet). I was able to note a few and have been considering to have them as entourage flowers together with the bright and yellow ones. And in my recent trip to Japan, I saw these lovely flowers in the hue I'm looking for. It's planted in a pot in that tiny flower shop together with other kinds and colors

It's just sad that I don't even know its name since there was no label. And even if there was, for sure it would be in Japanese. Now I tried looking it up in the internet but I just can't find it. I hope that once I show it to my would-be florist, he/she'll be able to identify what these flowers are.


Cheers!

Wish #1: Cupcakes as Wedding Giveaways

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Along with my new found hobby--baking, came a few orders. Two weeks ago, a friend called me up to inquire if I can make 200 cupcakes for her friend's upcoming wedding since they plan for the sweet treats to be the giveaways. This is the first time that I was commissioned to bake that much, and so I was a bit reluctant but still decided to accept the job. 

Adrin has always been supportive of this hobby of mine and consistently cheered me on whenever we receive orders from time to time. We’re partners in this venture; I do the baking and packaging preparation while he does the packaging preps, cupcake boxing, driving, and other thinking parts.

We shopped for the ingredients and cupcake boxes a week before the event. That same weekend, my supportive family helped me assemble majority of the boxes. On the other hand, Adrin printed and cut the tags that we’ll stick on each cupcake box.  He also prepared the makeshift delivery boxes that we’ll use to transport the goodies.

The day before the event was spent baking and boxing. It took us a really long time to complete everything. These giveaways surely are out of labor of love, and I hope that the guests will truly enjoy and savor eating them.

Now, if only we can do this for our very own wedding. It would be really nice and fulfilling to give our guests something they can enjoy and produced out of our own effort. Much more so since we want to digress from the usual giveaways of small what-nots with no other use but to gather dust. It would just be very hard to do that because surely we won’t have the time to bake and prepare the goodies anymore since we’ll be focused on the wedding preps. Even if we do, I don’t like the idea that we’ll be so tired heading to our wedding. Oh well, I guess I’ll just be content with baking for other people’s events for now. 

Cheers,

Photo/Video Supplier: Ariel Javelosa

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We finally booked our photographer and videographer! When I first did my research, this supplier immediately landed to our top 3 choices because of good reviews, reasonable rates, and quality output. After our first bridal fair experience, where we diligently made rounds to each photo/video supplier out there, we’re won over by their works and by the cheerful gentleman who entertained us during our inquiry.

And after a few months of waiting, in the hopes of booking our church first, and finding out (through an online article) that the man we talked to was Mr. Javelosa himself, we finally decided to book Ariel Javelosa Photography. We see no more sense in waiting since we’re no longer looking at other options. Aside from that, we know that booking them early will give us the advantage to lock their current rates.

The Man And The Wisdom
Behind Ariel Javelosa Photography

So last Saturday, after booking our venue, we went straight to NBC Tent for the Weddings ‘n Beyond bridal exhibit for another reservation agenda. Upon entering the hall, we immediately saw their booth and headed there. We were hoping to see Sir Ariel so we could actually make the reservation with him. But to our dismay, we did not see him there and was entertained by an unpersuasive lady staff instead. After several minutes of talking to her about their packages and deals for the day, Sir Ariel came out of nowhere and proceeded to assist some other clients who just arrived at their booth. With no more questions to ask to the lady staff and with Sir Ariel still engaged with another client, we decided to go around the hall first and just return to their booth later. Walking around the cramped tent, we discussed which package to book and which freebies/discount to avail.

As soon as we’ve come to a decision, we went back to Ariel Javelosa’s booth and were happy to find Sir Ariel free to entertain us. He immediately recognized us as the couple inquiring a while ago, and asked us if we have further questions. We just threw him a few questions and he in turn asked about our wedding details. It was also very nice of him to give us tips regarding photography style and prenup pictorial process even if we hadn’t expressed our intent to book them yet. Talking to him for the second time just convinced us more that we’ll be in good hands with his team. :) Next, we said that we’ll be getting their services and shared the package and freebies we’ll be getting. Sir Ariel’s generosity was not limited to tips and advices as he gave us additional free services!!! It was a smooth and effortless transaction for a very sulit deal. We completed the forms, gave our reservation payment and went out of NBC tent with such big smiles on our faces.


Cheers!