End of year wedding update

just thought I'd take the time to write out what i have accomplished so far this year in as far as wedding preps are concerned, needless to say, i have just finished revising our task report, something i have not had the time to update.
1. Church - after 10 oculars, I have finally found and reserved our church. For me, the long aisle and beautiful altar of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral are essential and will play a big role in my wedding day. I really like the church, and its very important for me that I've chosen that church.
2. Motif - somehow a lot of people are always asking me what my motif is, I've always wanted it to be orangy in color, with another color as accent. Finally I was able to get to choosing the colors I want, although I've yet to check which shades I will use. Motif: Tangerine and Torquise.
3. Photo-video - narrowed down to cheaper suppliers, pencil-booked one, for confirmation later on, as I really want to see first the output in terms of the video. Video is really not my priority, its something I'll just watch a couple of times and then just keep in a box. I think I already have a pretty good deal with my photog, and add to that I have a secondary photog to shoot the candid shots not particularly captured by my other photog. I think this is way better than buying disposable cams since there is also a photojournalistic approach with my secondary photog. I'm actually excited to have them both. I'm also yet to meet with my secondary photog though.
Was also able to get research on the requirements for the Marriage License, Wedding ceremony requirements, confirmation requirements. Haven't processed them though. Hopefully early next year.
Both tabs and I were also able to tell our parents about our plans. I think this is a relief since now at least it would be easier for them to understand us. No violent reactions on either side of the family, even though tabs side was more enthusiastic. Of courseI'm sure this has something to do with tabs family wanting a baby in the family. :-)
what else? I think I've done pretty well during the past month. There will be more stressful days for sure, but right now I'm happy with everything going on in my life. Yes, despite all the stress. :-)

reserved church.... finally!

whew! after 2 and a half months of searching for that perfect church, i've finally been able to reserve the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao (galing no? Cathedral ako ikakasal!) I really am so happy with the church. it's simple and beautiful, with a nice long aisle, and finally its within the budget.
went there on saturday, asked for the rates, sabay nagpareserve na ko. turns out meron na rin nagbook for december 17 and 30. A few weeks more baka I won't get the date that I want already. So anyway, the date will be December 3, 2005 at 3:30pm. So medyo early dinner ang mangyayari. i think i still have to discuss this with tabs baka naman gusto nila umaga. hehehe.... ang saya-saya! I do hope everything will move forward from here.
i also went to the multipurpose hall just across the street. the rate is 17,000! I don't think that would suit our budget! also, when I looked at the place it was too large, it could fit around 300 guests. I think if I were to have the wedding there it would seem half-filled.
so then, my next item on line is the reception venue. Am targeting to have a shortlist of the possible venues by the end of the week. hopefully i can visit some by end of the year and decide on the reception venue by early next year. As of last checking I think i'm still on schedule, though I have yet to decide on my wedding theme!

prenups

yey!!!! had a blast yesterday with the w@w prenups! I enjoyed it soooo much! Its really funny, because it really wasn't certain that we will be going there, just mentioned it to tabs and he also sort of got excited about it but wasn't sure if he could come. I, on the other hand, was sooo excited that I was contemplating na what to wear! I couldn't study for my Finance finals because i kept on thinking about the prenups. this will be the first time for both of us to pose on location, and its been a few years since our last studio shot.
anyways, i even thought about wearing makeup, but as I did not have any, I had to ask my darling officemates what brand is affordable and nice. So lunchtime I went to the mall, bought myself makeup (2-way foundation- didn't know there was such a thing, blush-on, eye shadow, lipstick) I got 2 lipsticks for free because I spent a whopping 1,600!!!! waaah!!!! i even got a makeover.
i dropped off my things at school first, then met tabs at city hall, luckily he was there on time! he really liked my makeup (yey). I actually washed my face at school and redid all the makeup so it looks fresh (OC!). And I'm glad tabs fell in love with it, i mean with me!
so anyway, we went to gazebo royale (such a nice place!) and was able to get 4 photogs to take our pics! whoopee!!!! we both enjoyed it, its nice because we even got a "posing on the wedding day" orientation from one of the photogs! and we had prenups with my unofficial photog, Frank Dizon. His shots were a bit different, but I particularly liked the idea of the pic at the pond and the one on the mirror.
Too sad we had to go because of my exams. I went back after but I was alone already. Wanted to let tabs rest because most probably he'll be working during the weekend (whereas I plan to do christmas window shopping!).
oh by the way, i also plan to do some wedding preps this weekend... gotta do this now because by jan 4 classes will start again! waaah!!!! i sure hope we'll get the pics soon, i'm praying we get it before christmas, but might be wishful thinking...

wedding preps weekend

yipee!!!! had a pretty productive weekend in terms of the wedding preps. Was able to look at a few stuff when I went to Tutuban and Divisoria this weekend.:-)

Friday evening
Met with Frank Dizon of Imagineer re: Photo-Video package. The package was still ok, i think. Didn't haggle yet because I only just pencil-booked him. I probably need to check out a few more because I might get a better price with someone else and sayang yung dp. I still also haven't seen the video so I'm still not 100% sure of getting him.

Saturday pm
1. Wedding albums - I dropped by Acel photography, the one referred to by one of the w@wies, checked out the magnetic album similar to what I'll be getting from the photo-video package, it costs P2,500. Thats not so bad, I guess, the package I'm getting, I mean. hehehe. Was thinking that if I ever need any more albums I'd know where to buy them.
2. Dropped by QP designs and another invitation supplier - Comparing QP with other suppliers of invites, I'd think its because of the quality, the ones sold in Recto are probably ones that I can print out myself. Guess I'd have to scout some more because QP's is not within budget, those within budget, not so good in quality. Well, too soon pa, will dedicate more time on this around March or April when I'm on vacation from school.
3. Dropped by Mrs. Bautista's stall in Tutuban - found a gown I liked (costs P6,000), so I figured I probably won't have any problems with getting a gown from her although I still have to choose from the gowns in the mag. I'm around 90% sure I'd get my gown there because of the good recommendations from the w@wies.

Sunday pm - Tabs and I visited Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao, and finally (after 2 mos.) decided to get the church there... Just came to mind right now, I have no info about the church! Waaaaahhhh!!!! I'll go there probably on Thursday if time permits, to check our requirements, check dates, etc. If not I'll probably go there on a saturday or sunday. Basta, have to finish this na this weekend.

Sunday pm - Met with my best friend and Maid of honor, Karen, and I'm so glad! She's actually so excited to help me with the wedding preps! yehey!!!! She's willing nga to be my coord., pero since I don't think I want anyone else to really handle everything for me, I've just asked her to help me with scouting and stuff like that. She even wants to see the timetable of the preps! Yey!!! Now I can call on someone to accompany me to do stuff, since tabs is quite busy most of the time. Its so touching that my friends are really willing to help me. Minsan I think its also my fault din because I'm too independent, I forget that I also have a lot of friends I can call on for help. Now its refreshing to know that I can spend a lot of time with them! :-)

TGIF

whoppeee!! its a friday already. met with tabs last night. of course i'm happy. we won't be able to spend much time during the weekend because he has work, so i might as well have a productive weekend just the same and do a bit of wedding preps while shopping for gifts for my nieces and nephew and bro-in-laws. Haaaay....
Tonight I'll be meeting with Frank Dizon of Imagineer to see his samplers. I'm kinda excited. I do hope we will get along well so I ca have one thing less in mind. Hopefully things will turn out quite well when we meet. I also hope he can provide me with a video sampler I can show tabs.
Tomorrow i plan to do a bit of scouting for some items that can be bought at quiapo or divisoria.
1. Try to look for mrs. bautista's stall (gown) - Tutuban
2. Try to look at albums - Quiapo
3. Try to scout for invitations - Recto
4. Embosser / dry seal - Recto

If i have time i'd probably go to the world bazaar festival. Nyahahaha!!!!

Here are the gifts i gave tabs for his birthday. cute noh? 

tabs birthday celeb

to continue with the birthday kwento, when we got to tabs' house his mother and sister weren't there yet, so we lied down a bit and afterwards tabs decided to open his gifts. i made him a pick a card and guess what was inside. if he didn't guess it right he'd have to give me a kiss so i'll let him open the gift. i only got 2 kisses. :-( hahaha! my honey is sooo good at guessing. his youngest sister, ivy, even liked the numbers i made and collected them. i know he's really happy with everything because after opening all the gifts he gave me a really tight hug. am just so happy he liked it. in the afternoon we bought cake and ice cream and his sister cooked spaghetti (she was asking me what to give him and i said its better to just give him food). couldn't think of anything else, i myself had trouble building up my list!
unexpectedly his mother had to go to the grocery in the afternoon but just before she left, tabs told her about our plans to get married. her excitement really, really overwhelmed me! she's just so happy and excited for us. that really touched me because it made me feel like she really wanted me to be part of the family.
it feels nice to have made tabs happy yesterday. i feel so happy too, it feels like it was my birthday. now i'm even more excited to go on with the wedding preps because i know i have a support group with his family. :-)
that's it for my kwento. need to work already because this week promises to be a really hectic one. just had to write here so that i can look back on how happy tabs and i were yesterday. :-)

26 gifts

yesterday was tabs' birthday! though we didn't go somewhere and just stayed at his house, i felt really happy to have stayed with him for the day. the surprise i made for him, which was to give him 26 GIFTS FOR HIS 26TH BIRTHDAY really paid off because my honey was really very happy with the gifts. a lot of effort really came with planning that. kasi up until monday, i really didn't know what to give him. was thinking several gifts, had a budget, pero it wasn't organized and yet i wanted to make it special. come tuesday i went with cathy to bench and i bought the hair gel. Wednesday i finally came up with the idea for the 26 gifts so i rushed off to greenhills lunchtime to buy the controller and the ps 2 converter so he can use the controller in his pc, i remember they were discussing it with a guild-mate (online game MU) the weekend before and i knew tabs was thinking about buying one. i also though of giving him food, like snacks for when he stays at the office during the night, even texted him if they had a microwave oven at the office, he must think i was giving him one. heehee. when i got back to the office i built the list and to my horror i only had aroung 13 gifts! panic! panic! i emailed my closest officemates and friends asking for suggestions, thanks to them i got a few more items to my list: snoopy stuffed dog for mouse, pillow, cup noodles, mrt card, movie cards, aftershave. tabs asked for the shirt or polo and the shorts so that went to the list too. i even met tabs wednesday night and i wouldn't let him carry the stuff i bought because he might peek. heehee. i spent thursday lunchtime completing the list. when they asked us to go home easly on thursday i finally finished shopping for the 26 items. friday i was making the cute numbers and the gift cards so he can guess. i finished all the wrapping friday night. by saturday i was worry free. we didn't meet on saturday because i knew i'll be at his place on sunday. was planning on surprising him sunday but since he spent the night at the office we just met at went home together, which was ok since the gifts were bulky. all i can say was that i knew he was really happy with the gifts when he was opening them.

2 days to go

yey!!!! two days to go till tabs' birthday! am so happy because i'm nearly finished with my surprise. just a few more hours worth of work. hahaha... its so fun to be doing it. wish i could prepare surprises for him every birthday but of course that's not possible. its just nice to think that i've done something really nice for him and something i think (?) he'd appreciate. my next problem is actually bringing it on sunday. might be too heavy! :-( well, just have to make it work!

Super Typhoon Tonight

Looks like its going to be rainy the whole day. Waaah!!! I've so much to do during the lunch break! Need to go to SM to buy something. Wedding preps are on hold, what with the rainy days, and of course its because i want to prepare for my surprise to tabs! hehehe.... won't say anything more because he might visit the blog site today. hihihi...
Its so sad to see so many people affected by the last typhoon, and more casualties are expected for Typhoon Yoyong. I do hope our countrymen already realize how much harm illegal logging and indiscriminate throwing of garbage does... I was especially affected by the news I saw yesterday of the evacuation center that collapsed. Its so sad that such a tragedy happens to the lesser fortunate. I'm thinking now that if I was well-off, I'd give a huge sum just to see the families settled again in their homes...
In the end I think its also a good time to thank God for the things we do have, because most of the time we just ask and ask favors from him and forget to thank him for the simple miracles we get each day. :-)

missed blogging and updates

whew! its been 4 days since my last blog! missed writing! i spent the last weekend doing nothing "wedding preps" in nature! hehehe.... i'm now addicted to the online game MU (which for me is the only way to communicate with tabs these days). and i bought some more gifts to (older) officemates, and now i realize tabs birthday is 4 days away! gawd!!!!!!! no gifts yet (panic! panic! panic!)
church preps! still haven't confirmed. i'm having second thoughts with booking sta. rita because i think the aisle is too short. i've got a new church in mind, Our Lady of Consolation Parish. It looks nice in the pics and I've heard its just the right size, with a nice long aisle where i can enjoy my bridal march. I'm probably going there soon for my peace of mind, and then i hope to invite tabs to see the church if i like it, probably on dec. 18, in time for Clarice's wedding there. so at least we can both see the set-up. I honestly want to watch the ceremony to see how the unity candles and the unity coins are incorporated. but then again might be too soon.
Receptions? If we're gonna do it in OLCP, Balay Kalinaw seems to be a logical choice, or even albergus. have to schedule an ocular with albergus also.... i do hope i'll get through the church and the reception by the end of the year. hope to have confirmed also with photo-video by the year, or at least be able to make a wise decision and advise them in january when we have the money to pay the downpayment.