i made my Groom cry

June 11, 2011

I've seen enough wedding SDEs to know that there are grooms who cry on their wedding day. I asked Topher if he would cry once he saw me walking down the aisle, his answer -  maybe. I was actually just teasing him. I mean if he was moved to tears once he saw me walking down the aisle, that's awesome, if not that's ok too. While doing our misalette, I asked if we should create our own personalized vow for each other and he declined.  I know him well enough to know that he may uncomfortable with reading his vow in front of hundreds of people. We designed and created the misalette to know how the ceremony will flow. However, God has other plans.

As I started to walk down the aisle and my parents met me halfway, I saw my Tatay crying. It was one of the few occasions that I saw my Tatay cry and that almost undid it for me. I had to tell him jokes about not crying so that I will not cry myself.

Then we started to walk to the altar, to the man I will be marrying again. I am sooo happy to see him. I missed him since we haven't seen each other since breakfast that morning. My parents handed me over to Topher and I kiss Mama and Papa. Then we made our way to the altar and Fr. Allen started the mass.

The homily was incredible. Fr. Allen's words were full of lessons and stories and jokes in between. He even sang a song for us. After the lighting of the candle, it was time for the vows. Fr. Allen asked us if we have any personalized vows that we would be reciting, we told him we don't have any. He then instructed us to think of any message that we would want to say to one another after the vows. This made me nervous but I know what I wanted to tell Topher. So after the vows, I gave him my message "As early as 14 years ago when we first met, I will always be here for you. You are the only person that I cannot live without. I love you." And my Groom starting crying. When he gave me his message "Thank you for being there for me, through good memories and through tough times. I really appreciate it. I love you." I started tearing up too.

That made our vows more special. Although the message is short, it was heartfelt and honest and it is what we were feeling at that moment. It is priceless and I am eternally grateful for Fr. Allen for giving that moment to us.

Next came the blessing of the Arrhae, Rings and Bible and then the Lighting of the Unity Candle. Then it was the laying of the Veil and Cord and then the Nuptial Blessing. After the communion, the ceremony was concluded and we were presented as Husband and Wife in the eyes of our family and friends and importantly, in the eyes of God. And then we kissed and hugged. It was such an amazing moment.

After signing the marriage contract/license (again!), it was the pictorials inside the church and then the recessional. We informed the guest to proceed to the reception venue while we are shooting pictures around Caleruega. It was my parents who waited for us to finish, then we all proceeded to the venue.

Traffic is not as horrible northbound but still the usual 30 minute drive took almost an hour and I'm scared that the guests may have not been able to figure out where the reception venue is. The relief I felt when I saw the number of cars park was so great, I can almost touch it. Guests made it! :) And our OTD team happily reported that people are having fun getting their coffee and photos taken while waiting for us. Awesome! We were led to the room that we would stay the night and my HMUA team is still there. How I love them. They really waited for me, for my retouch. I started eating some appetizers while Ms. Chichi is retouching my make-up. Then we were led to the reception place for the program to start.

We had our Father-Daughter and Son-Mother dance, and then Topher and I had our first dance to Incubus' Admiration. I love that song. And then it was cake-cutting time! Afterwards, it was pictorial time with each table so that the guests can start eating! I'm sure they're hungry because I am. While having dinner, we had the games and the AVP presentation that Topher created was shown. It was our growing up years. Then our SDE was shown, and I'm happy with the output. Topher was almost moved to tears again!

A few messages from our families and godparents and then before we know it, the reception program is finished! We didn't really got to eat since we had photo booth pictures with family and friends. I went over the suppliers who were having their dinner and I'm glad they've got to eat properly. I saw them lining to the Starbucks kiosk too, I'm happy they had a good time too. After all the guests left and most of the suppliers, we retreated to our room and was sooo happy and glad that the wedding is a success. God is truly great to us.

finally, our Wedding Day!

June 11, 2011

For 18 months, I've been planning everything leading to this day. I've had countless dreams and nightmares, experienced stress as I have never had before. And then finally the day arrived. I am so grateful that the sun was shining. It's been raining for the last couple of days and one can only pray for a miracle.

My wake-up time is scheduled at 7am. I'm already awake at 5. Maybe it's because of the feeling of namamahay or just my brother doing his ninja moves while I'm sleeping next to him. I blogged how I was feeling that time here and then I woke up Chai, asking her to take a bath first since she takes forever to get ready. Then I called Topher and asked him to meet me at the breakfast lounge. I know that we need to eat properly and now is the only time we can do it. I'm pretty happy that we get to have together before all the craziness began. We took our time with our breakfast and we enjoyed almost everything on the buffet.

After breakfast, we went back to our separate rooms to get ready. I was about to take a bath when my OTD team came. They were sooo early! They're supposed to be there 9am and they showed up before 8:30! They advised me to take a bath and make sure I do all my business while at the restroom. They started preparing my dress and all the wedding paraphernalia on the bed. Just as I was leaving the bathroom, my photo team came! It was my first time meeting Puy and Chie.

A few minutes before 9am, my HMUA team came. It was also my first time ever meeting Ms.Chichi and her team. They went around the room, looking for the perfect spot with natural light to setup their equipment.  Ms. Chichi and I talked about the look that I wanted and how I wanted my hair to be, I showed her and Steph some photos and then we started getting ready.

Ms.Chichi started with me and my eyebrows. It's funny because it took her a while to style my eyebrows properly, I can confess that my eyebrows are not that greatly shaped. All the while, my Nanay is getting primped and one of my SS's hair is being done. After my eyebrows were groomed, I'm called to Steph's chair for my hair. It only took a few minutes for Steph to do my hair, and around this time, Ate Yhoan came with our flowers. I was sooo happy on how my bouquet look and my entourage's flowers! They're beautiful, the flowers were vibrant and fresh! My make-up took the longest time to finish, my butt kinda froze but it's all worth-it. I love my make-up and how it registered in the photos.

Before 10am, the video team came and then started taking videos of the wedding accessories. Once I'm finished with my make-up, I changed into my wedding dress and then it's time for the photos. Me getting ready, wearing my wedding dress. Putting on earrings and accessories.  Topher's sister helping me put on my shoes. I feel comfortable with Puy and how he directs the poses! "Very Nice, Perfect and Wow!" are what I usually hear from him! I feel really happy at the time and it does show in the photos.

We took some pictures at the hotel veranda and with my parents and immediately family. Next was with the entourage team, then my OTD informed me that we need to leave ahead of time. There is a long traffic queue going to Caleruega. Note that this is about an hour and a half earlier than the supposed time we're leaving for the church. Our regret is that we're not able to get photos with the Taal volcano at the background.

When we got on the road, the end of traffic was just before Bag of Beans. OMG. Super layo pa. And the traffic is NOT moving at all! Both sides are not moving. This is around 1:30pm. By 2pm, we just reached Residence Inn. We learned that DPWH had closed one of the lanes which basically means that traffic is stop-and-go. What we did is we counter-flowed with the incoming traffic, which I think is a very smart decision on my Tatay's part. See, he's the one that drove us to the church. 2:30pm we are still at Splendido/Royale Tagaytay. A few more miles to go. Ate Pia informed me that my groom is already at the church but our officiating priest is not there yet. We arrived at the church at 2:55pm. Just at the nick of time. We were not able to start with the bridal march immediately since my in-laws got lost somehow going to the church. We started the march at 3:15. I was suppose to do the long route for the bridal march but because of time constraint, I had to settle for the short-cut next to the church.

While I was waiting for the entourage march to finish, I was at the pathway leading to the church when my little cousin came and  started talking to me. I got anxious around this time, since I know I'm about to do my march any minute now. Then I heard the entourage song, U2's All I Want is You ending and finally my bridal march, Beatle's Here, There and Everywhere is blaring at the speakers. I started to walk.

Supplier Ratings

click the picture to view the complete post

3 days before the big day...

June 08, 2011

We woke up very early today. We're scheduled to have our precana seminar and canonical interviews today at St.Francis Xavier Parish in Nasugbu, Batangas at 7:30am. You may be wondering why we need to come all the to Nasugbu for both seminar and interview, see St. Francis governs our church, the Transfiguration Chapel in Batulao. It was a good thing that they do offer both precana and canonical for couples every Wednesday. We didn't have any other time to complete these 2 requirements aside from this week. Merely 3 days before the wedding day.

From our place to Nasugbu, it would take us about an hours and 30 minutes to get there. We left our place at around 6am. It was almost 8am when reached St. Francis church since it started raining really hard and there were road constructions going there. When we got to the church, we went straight to the office where we listed our names. Couple#10 it says. We then went to the waiting room and waited for our names to be called. It was an individual interview, it's usually the bride that go in first and then the groom follows. When it was my turn, I was just asked simple questions like date of the wedding, where is the church,  our job and where we worked. And then I vividly remember the priest thanking us for still deciding to receive the sacrament of marriage although we have been civilly married before. That's very special to me.

The precana seminar was administered by one of the church's nun. It was about marriage, sex and family. She explained the symbols of marriage like the ring, candles, veil and cord and what it signifies. She was also very opinionated on the subject of family planning and that every child is a blessing from God.

We left Nasugbu after 12nn but before we went home, I asked them if we can visit Caleruega first since it was within the route. It's been years since I last visited the church and that had been my first and last. When we got to Caleruega, the church was already being preparing for a wedding. Flowers are being adorned on the pews and on the altar. It's exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time, only 3 more days and I will be here again to be wed. :) We stopped by Mile-Hi Diner before going home and that was when the heavy rain started pouring in. I thought about the wedding in Caleruega, I prayed and hope that the rain would stop for them. God have other plans anyway, the rain poured until the next day.

wedding updates

According to The Knot.com reminder, we have 421 days before the wedding. Yup, that's only 421 days before June 11, 2011. So what have we accomplished so far? We'll we have the major suppliers already booked! Yey for us! And they are as follows:

The Church. I think I've blogged before that the church was the first one that we have booked. We'll be having the wedding ceremony at the Transfiguration Chapel in Caleruega. We got the 3pm slot, which I think is the ideal time for a wedding. The wedding party gets to prepare without waking up too early, and the guest can enjoy the reception dinner even until 9-10pm and still have plenty of time to head home.

The Reception Venue. After countless hours of research and even making a list of the possible reception venues, we finally have a venue! It's the Moon Garden. I admit, I do have my reservations about the place at first since (1) it's far from the church. Moon Garden is situated near the Tagaytay Rotonda. (2) The place have a tendency to scatter the guests since it's not one huge hall. However, after my family did an ocular visit on the place, they said that it's the perfect place. It's just right to accommodate our 150 guests.

The Caterer. I've been dead set on getting K by Cunanan since the very beginning. I admit, I did check other caterers' package but K stood out from the rest. I must admit that the food and style totally won me. Our AE, Lace was also very nice and accommodating. I guess she's used to brides being makulit. :)

 

The Photographer. Topher is particularly picky with the photos. He likes lively and crisp photos. When we saw Mimi+Karl's website, he immediately liked it. However, it's way too pricey. I considered getting their just services, but we still find it expensive. It was then that we learned about Redsheep. Although they are still fairly new to the business, all I've read are great feebacks about them. And true enough, they are really easy to deal with. I initially inquire to get both their photo and video services, however, Guj informed me that if we get the them as photo and video, he'll be handling the video and Puy would be the main photograher. I had no issues with that, it's just too bad that Guj will be visiting here in US by June 2011. He was kind and honest enough to inform me immediately so that I can find other options. With this, we are officially a Redsheep RAW couple.

The Videographer. This one is still not booked. I know, i know, but it's been hard to find one that is good and won't charge atrociously. SDE (Same Day Edit) are all the rage right now, and I figured, what the hell, we want one too! We've already have a short-list of the suppliers which we are looking into (read: video, oh video) when we learned about NextGen through w@w. I've inquired about their services and they all seemed really nice. I've heard nothing but good reviews regarding their services and we love their SDEs as well. I'm just waiting for their reply and this one may be it!

The Wedding Gown. Before I was thinking of having the dress done back home, then I realized, why should I not grab the chance to try on gowns first and then decide if I really want to have it done in Manila. Right? I have the option  to buy the dress straight from the bridal salons if I've chosen otherwise. I know I'm lucky that I have the option to choose, most brides in back home, they use these gowns as inspirations and I get to see and try on the real thing. Anyway, I'm schedule to go for a wedding shopping trip this Sunday and I'll be telling everything about it after!

As per the checklist that I have and from the tips that I've read from wedding forums, these are the major things that we should accomplish asap. I'm happy that we are making progress 421 days before the wedding! Yay!

a bride... again

Yes, I'm a bride again. And yes, we are getting married again! (insert BIG smile here) I actually revived this blog for the purpose of writing and expressing rants, thoughts, ideas and feeling with the preparations. I had a glimpse experience of the love-hate feeling of wedding preparations when we had our civil wedding last June 09, 2008. This time I know that the wedding preparations will be more extensive, crucial, exciting, nerve-wracking and gratifying. It's a huge project that I know most women love to take on.

When the topic of wedding preparations came, we started with the basics. When and Where. When. We have both agreed on that it will be sometime next year (2011) since we still have to save for it and at the same time, he would still need to finish his doctorate degree this year. If it would be up to me, I'd like to have it on our anniversary as bf/gf which luckily falls on a weekend! However, that date is on a rainy month of August. And being in the place that we've chosen, I'm not sure if it will be advisable. So we opted for the next best. The month of our civil wedding. Since our civil wedding date falls on a weekday, we chose the nearest weekend to it. Wedding date will be June 11, 2011. Where. It was like a non-verbal agreement that we will be having it on Tagaytay. Since we are both from Cavite, Tagaytay is the nearest venue and the place has sentimental value for us.

Picking the church is not as hard as I though it would be. After reading forums and groups, I've learned that there are more or less 5 churches to choose from. They are:

1. The Transfiguration Chapel in Caleruega
2. Our Lady of Lourdes
3. Chapel on the Hill
4. Ina ng Laging Saklolo
5. San Antonio de Padua

Although the Transiguration Chapel in Caleruega is technically in Batangas (Batulao, to be exact), we still opted for that church. It was very serene and tranquil. We both feel that it was a great place to re-declare our love for one another with Christ as our main witness.

We have already booked the church as it is one of the sought-after churches for couples who wants to get married. Booking early means that I was able to get the date and time that we wanted. After church comes the reception. Several options are available for the reception It can be done on restaurants overlooking the Taal like: Josephine's, Sonya's, Antonio's, Max's, Leslie's, RSM, Taalena etc. Another option is to look for a venue and then hire a caterer. I have my heart set on getting K by Cunanan as our caterer. Although their rates may fall on the mid-upper rates, I love their style and I've read raves about their food. Getting them as caterer means that I won't have to spend on styling the place.

 

 

(Photos grabbed from KbyCunanan)

As for the venue, I would loved to get somewhere overlooking Taal but I know that it does not come cheap. I'm thinking that since most of our guests will be coming from Cavite, a view of Taal is not a requirement. At the moment, I have 3 venues in mind. Plaza de Aza, Balay Indang and Moon Garden.

Plaza de Aza

(photos grabbed from d-cat-dat-got-d-mouse)

Balay Indang aka Red Ginger Farm

(photos grabbed from Andi's Mommy)

Moon Garden Tagaytay

(photos grabbed from 80 breakfast)

From the 3 venues, I would want to have the reception in Balay Indang. I've seen photographs of weddings that were set there and it was truly beautiful. Although I haven't been there yet, it seems like the place was magical. I've asked my parents to visit the place and they said they would this weekend. I'm anxiously waiting for their feedback.

So far, we have only accomplished booking the church. I'll be booking KbyCunanan on the PICC wedding expo on March 13-14. I'll be asking my sister to drop by to make the booking for me. We still have to find a photo/video supplier before the wedding expo. It's best to book suppliers on expos since they can provide the best price possible and gives freebies. I want to finish the major suppliers as early as possible to lock the price and make sure that they will be available on our date. Happy preps to me!