AFTER THE WEDDING

It has been exactly two months, and eight days since I got married.

Nowadays, what keeps me busy is work... work... work...

Right now, I am really looking forward to doing a lot for UNEP, the University where I work. I am in for so much things to do after spearheading the revolutionary strategic planning activity here.

My husband now is an administrator of one of our schools, CCDI in Legazpi City. He is enjoying the challenge so much that it keeps him really busy. The school is now newly painted and new policies are being set. I hope he really likes it coz he has plans of pursuing his career in law in Metro Manila.

My brother Froi who got married July last year is now looking forward to having his first baby. They will have it late June or earyly July. I'm excited too.

As for me, no baby yet. Well see.

31 DAYS

That is the total number of days till "D Day".

31 days left of my single life.

31 days till I wake up every morning of my life with someone at my side.

31 days till I start cooking for someone else aside from me.

31 days from being "WE".

31 days. A month. 744 hours. 44,640 minutes. 2,678,400 seconds.

Hmmm.....

On Budgets, Bridal Gowns and Veluz

I just can’t resist commenting on the abovementioned subjects after much has been posted here regarding it. Maybe, my own experience might add to the wealth of information already found in this little bridal heaven that is w@w.

When h2b and I decided to get married, we immediately mapped out who will pay for what. It was tough trying keep things within our budget as we went along canvassing for suppliers. I had my must haves and nice to haves in mind too. I know what I will splurge on and things that are okay not to be fussed about… or so I thought.

While going about booking one supplier after the other, I found myself (and my h2b included) agreeing on things that we at first thought would not be getting. Like the P5,000.00 flower upgrade at the reception. After booking my florist, she told me that she could transfer the floral arch, and other floral decorations at the reception. Eh di I don’t need the upgrade na pala. Hmp!

The same thing almost happened sa bridal gown ko. Just imagine, my first gown designer was charging me an amount starting at P30,000.00 when my bridal attire budget was just P20,000.00! Pano to? I don’t know where to get the money anymore considering that I already decided not to get an OTD Coord so that I could pay for the over budget items. The thing is, my h2b wants me to wear pina which would cost us an extra 10,000.00. Diyoskopo! At kung magpapagawa ako ng buong entou ko sa kanya a whooping P90,000.00 just for the gowns (wala pang boys dun).

Okay lang sana if I really wanted her design so badly, the thing is medyo hindi ko feel yung designer. I don’t know ha. Pero, tama yung sinabi ni Ms. Benz, mafifeel mo kasi if this is it eh. Parang there was something not right about her. My sister loves this designer so dearly pero ako talaga parang wala kaming koneksyon.

So, I was thinking of going to my sister-in-law’s designer at Binondo. She made a really nice gown for her and super mura at P25,000, kasama na dun yung tuxedo ng brother ko. Okay na di ba? But si h2b ayaw kasi he does not want daw to risk the money sa hindi siya sure na magdedeliver ng maayos. Medyo may konti din kasing palpak tong designer na to pero di naman kasi attributable lahat sa designer kaya okay lang.

Dumaan din ako kay Rosalyn Lagdameo who made the ento and wedding gown of my friend. She told me outright that she can’t make a bridal gown under P25,000. Okay lang, kasi my h2b was not at home with her anyway. Hay! Saan kaya matatapos to!???

So, one afternoon, right after lunch. I decided to text Veluz. All or nothing na ‘to. Luckily, she was free that afternoon. Ang galing! Nagkita kami agad sa Proj. 8 house niya. It was great! Totoo yung sinasabi nila ditto. She is like a good friend who will make you feel right at home. She asked me what I wanted and if I had some design ideas in mind. She immediately sketched three (3) gowns. I chose one with the shrag kasi nga malaki ang arms ko. My h2b was also so at home with her and told her what he wanted in his barong. Veluz commented “Aba, fashionista itong groom na to!” hehehe…

Regarding the budget, I have to admit, Veluz still exceeded ours. But, I decided to give it a go considering that wala kaming kaba sa designer na ito. Besides, the shoes is already included in the package. Sa iba, at 30k wala pang shoes and bag. So halos ganon din ang ending if ever we got somebody else to do it for us. Pwede rin ako ang magprovide ng materials para mas makatipid. Madali siyang kausapin if ever nagtitipid ka. Like, di ko talaga afford mag-pina, besides parang mabigat at stiff for me ang pina. Pero si h2b kasi magpipina so dapat may pina look ang gown ko. Solution: She designed a chiffon gown with a shrag made of pina. Oh di ba! Panalo! Yung unang designer kasi parang di pa nga bumubuka bibig ko na bridal gown ko lang ipapagawa ko sa kanya nag-compute na ng para sa buong entourage.

Just my two cents worth.

My Gourmet Cafe Experience

My cousin who works in the Cavite area has always raved about Gourmet Café. I would usually ignore her ravings until I finally was able to go there, taste their food and experience their service.

It was a tiring Saturday afternoon when we went there. We were immediately greeted by Maricris, the manager, and after the obligatory hellos, she asked us if we were interested to attend mass.

Mass? I thought, may simbahan ba rito?

At the back pala of Gourmet Café is a nice place called The Sanctuary. It seems to be a venue custom made for weddings. It has a nice modern chapel. 10 zen inspired rooms, and a reflection pool with swan. It also has a large lawn that can accommodate up to 200 guests. Grabe talaga! Super ganda ng place!

Sayang nga lang kasi we have already booked Caleruega and Collosian Gardens so di na talaga option yung place. Pero, since the rooms nga are very nice, with a modern, minimalist and zen feel to it we thought it could very well be our wedding preps venue na lang. They have all the amenities pa of a regular hotel kasi they have a butler service and the rate of the room includes breakfast na.

Apparently, it was built pala for retreat and meditation. Hindi din pwede magkaroon ng wedding sa chapel kasi hindi pa authorized. Pwede daw Christian weddings doon pero medyo Malabo ang Catholic weddings. So, okay na din. Mon and I did not feel too bad na. Medyo pricey din kasi ang packages nila for weddings.

After the mass, we decided to have our early dinner na at the restaurant. We had pizza and soup and salad. It was very filling and the Banaba Iced Tea was also very refreshing. I was told that they also have receptions at the restaurant and the al fresco area of the resto. We were about to leave na when the piano man started playing. We stayed some more and then the acoustic band of Gourmet Café “Streamline”, arrived na. I really wanted to leave because we had to go to Collosian pa for the night ocular. But, Mon said we’ll come back to have coffee and watch the band.

Super sulit naman pagbalik namin. This is not your ordinary acoustic band. They can do songs from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s aside from the current r&b hits. They can also sing accapella. Grabe! Pwedeng pwede sa wedding talaga! We also jammed with them after their last set and they are so cool. Mga bagets ‘to sisters, pero they sing classics well.

Sa mga Tagaytay brides, drop by Gourmet Café, I tell you it is worth it! It is along the highway going to Silang from the Rotunda. You won’t miss it. The band plays on Saturdays and Sunday lunch.

Gourmet Café rocks!

More Wedding Prep Stories

It has been several weeks now since I last posted my updates. Here are some more I worked on the past few weeks. You guys might get some nice ideas especially for Taggie brides out there.

Mon and I decided that we need another visit to Tagaytay to see Collosian Gardens (our venue) at night and to also do an ocular of the Flowers of May Resthouse. We also included Ilog Maria Bee Farm in our itinerary and Gourmet Café. We also wanted to visit other resthouses/hotels that I got from Joy’s (another w@wie sister) On-line Photo Gallery.

First stop was the FLOWERS OF MAY RESTHOUSE. There were guests there at the time, however with the help of caretaker Jenny we were able to see the rooms and the interior of the house. It is a big house with three rooms, an attic, a nice kitchen, a living room, a music room that opens to the garden and the gazebo. The garden is big with a lawn that could accommodate up to 150 guests if you will hold a reception there. There are two t&bs. One, downstairs and another one upstairs. The master’s bedroom is airconditioned, all the others are not. There is no need for airconditioning anyway since Tagaytay is cool in March and most of the year.

Next stop was Ilog Maria Bee Farm. I was really insistent on this coz I have seen the said farm featured on t.v. once and I had been curious since. Knowing that its location is just near Tagaytay, even though it is actually in Silang, Cavite already, I wanted to include it in the itinerary of our visiting guests on our wedding weekend. Aside from being an interesting place to do an excursion, I also wanted to get some of their products for favors, and gifts for the entourage.

Their products are not only Honey and Honey Cider but also beeswax candles, various organic soaps, and cosmetic products, also health supplements culled from bee products like royal jelly, propolis, pollen, etc… The Mercados, owners of the farm, were very accommodating. They even gave us free soap. There were also many visitors when we went there though they were already almost closing. They have a form you have to fill up if you will do a tour of their farm and there is a fee. They told me to just fax the form a month before the date of the tour. The order for honey is also done around Sepetember coz Honey harvest time is around February and March which is good for me coz my wedding is on March. Even the soaps I am giving out as favors should be ordered three weeks before the date of the wedding so that the soaps will be fresh. They can also stamp a design that you want on the soaps. The soaps cost around P30/each. The honey is P200/500 g. Their website is www.ilogmaria.com

We decided to have our merienda at Gourmet Café. Now, our Gourmet Café experience merits another post but for this post, suffice it to say that we had a great time. We also discovered a really nice place in Gourmet Café and it is called The Sanctuary. It is a really beautiful place. We enjoyed good food, good music and great service. We bought their hazelnut flavoured coffee and Mon is raving about it til now. We decided to include gourmet café coffee in the gift basket we will give to our Principal Sponsors. 250 g. is P220/pack.

After Gourmet Café, we went to the Collosian Gardens. It was pitch dark. But, Mon and I asked the caretaker if he can open the lights of the grounds for us. He obliged us naman and we were satisfied with the lighting. Not all the lights were put on but the caretaker assured us that during night-time functions, Juan Carlo adds some more lights to the existing ones. Good enough for us. We also did an ocular of the Bridal Room and the other rooms in Collosian Gardens. It was okay naman.

Eight months more… so far so good… and everything is still right on schedule.

Peachy ni Mon
March 10, 2006
Caleruega/Collosian Gardens
lisalaw.multiply.com

My Birthday

Just turned 29 today.

Celebrations started the night before at my bar, Tan-aw Bar and Grill. Guests were mostly from our local Rotary Club. These are no conservative bunch, they are... I swear wild people. I had a great time though my handa was very sparse and modest. I made sure though that beer was flowing and I had two Fundadors for them. They consumed three.

My birthday went on uneventful. I am just glad that I have once again survived another year of trials yet full of blessings. I rested most of the day and went to church in the afternoon. Fr. Vincent Yee-Concepcion was officiating with another friend-priest. I felt great. Although I feel that the next year is going to be a little bumpy, with the on-coming wedding next year I feel that at least there is something good to look forward to.

29 and yet I feel 45. Maybe I ought to enjoy life more.

Wedding Updates

1. The Date - 10 March 2006

We had a hard time choosing a date coz most good weekend dates of early 2006 were
already taken. Anyway, to make the long story short, when h2b's brother told him that
Taal Vista Hotel, our wedding preps hotel, will be increasing their rates by the 16th of
March 2006 we finally decided to just pick the best date that we can. So March 10 was it.
Although I had initial doubts about this date considering that it is a Friday, okay na din. I
was thinking that if my friends and family can go to Antipolo on a Friday gimik, why not
consider our wedding as one such gimik since were providing a band naman.

When we nailed the date, everything else followed coz we made most of our wedding
decisions already. The following are our wedding details to date with some of our
thoughts:

2. Ceremony Venue - Chapel of the Transfiguration, Caleruega, Batulao, Nasugbu,
Batangas.

Mon and I knew already that we wanted to get married here when we first visited the place. Kaya lang hirap kaming i-book ito kasi nga dami ang gustong ikasal dito. Imagine, their reservation calendar is until 2008 na. So, to the bride who was asking if 18 months is too early to prepare a wedding, I tell you girl, it might even be too late if you want to be married in a famous church. Hirap din akong i-contact sila so better do your booking when you visit them para makuha mo agad ang venue. Pero, super bait and accomodating ng mga secretaries so okay din lang. Paid reservation fee already.

3. Reception Venue and Caterer - Collossian Gardens and Juan Carlo the Caterer

At first, Mon and I had a hard time choosing a venue because most of Tagaytay's best venues have in-house catering. I wanted to get a Fernwood caterer, namely vs&f at first, kasi subok na ang galing ng mga Fernwood caterers. My sister had her debut there with vs&f as caterer and I was very satisfied. However, when Juan Carlo the Caterer (JCC) opened their Tagaytay venue (Collossian Gardens) nag JCC na ako kasi sila ang exclusive caterer ng venue. Besides, at that time Collossians ang pinaka affordable at P10,000.00 venue rental only. Garden setting din siya which is what we wanted. Di kasi kami agad nag book (due to the delayed decision on the date) kaya naging P15,000.00 na siya for evening events.

So far, okay naman ang JCC. We can add our lechon and they will put a lechon carving station free of charge. Kahit ano ang idagdag namin okay lang daw basta we should tell them beforehand. Imagine, we can even have a bar. We just have to provide the drinks for the mixes and they will provide the bartender and the accompanying equipments. Not bad... Paid for the venue rental already and dp for the caterer.

4. Photo and Video - Ariel Javelosa

Hmm... Dito nahirapan kami. I really wanted Danny Orcullo for our video. But then, I am not satisfied with his photo service. So during last weekend's bridal fair we aimed to get a photo and video when all the good ones are in just one place. Di na kami kailangan pang mag-iikot sa buong metro manila, especially now when time is so precious to h2b who is reviewing for the bar exams. We got Ariel Javelosa because their promo package of P45,000.00 already includes 2 photographers and 2 videographers, free prenup at the studio but the attendant said we can have the pre-nup at caleruega for free and tuturuan daw kami mag-pose. This is also for us to have rapport with the photo team. They also have 16x20 blow-up with frame and a 16x20 signature frame all included in the package. We can also replace the signature frame with a parent's album if we wanted.

The catch: hindi si Ariel Javelosa ang magtetake ng photos. They do 4 weddings a day and most of the time hindi na daw talaga si Ariel ang nagte-take ng pictures. bummer.... Hmmm... okay na din.

We also got their Video Projector and Wide Screen with a 10% discount. Kasi if you get their projector and wide screen, you can have the wedding preps and ceremony avp played for free. However, its un-edited pa coz they will just play what they have taken raw. Good enough for me already coz if you get an on-site avp it costs around P15,000.00. Fair enough...

They also charged us an out of town charge of P2,500.00.

The thing is, medyo kabado ako kasi wala pang contract despite my dp. They said they will just email me the contract tomorrow. They gave me a receipt.

5. Florist - Flowers of May

Since I met them at NBC Tent Bridal Fair I was already sure I was getting them coz they do not charge out of town (OTC) for Tagaytay and sanay na sila sa Caleruega. Meron din silang vacation house that they rent out and it even has a garden which has been a venue of many a garden weddings. They are also good friends with my caterer so super definite na ako na kukunin ko sila.

So, I was just so happy to see them at the Mega mall Bridal Fair. I immediately asked for a quotation. Affordable siya. Definitely not Mang Boy rates pero good enough coz I was able to save a few thousand from my projected budget. I got yellow tulips for my bouquet. They also offered to transport the church flowers to my reception venue just to spruce it up. So, no need na to upgrade the decorations at my reception venue. Savings din to coz plano namin e-pa-upgrade yung reception decorations. Nagdp na din ako.

They also provide coordination services and other bridal needs. They have a bridal car and also have an affordable HMUA. P7,000.00 lang for 5 pax. No OTC kasi isasama na lang daw nila sa sasakyan pagpunta ng Tagaytay. P700 lang for trial HMU. I am considering him. Magpapa-THMU muna ako.

6. Unity Coins - Weddings at Work

I bought Unity Coins already coz sabi tataas na daw ang price nito. I bought mine at Themes and Motifs at The Podium. Hindi alam ni h2b kung ano ang arrhae so I had to explain pa.

7. Hair and Make-Up Artist - Bhambie Magistrado

Bhambie is my gay friend from elementary days. He has been my make-up person since I moved back to Bicol in 1996. He has a very light hand and malinis at pulido ang pagkaka-make up niya sa akin. Always pretty ako and confident when he does my make-up. I will definitely get him for my wedding. I was already able to talk to him and he said yes already. I will be setting my trial make up on my brother's wedding on July 17.

8. Souvenirs - Ilog Maria, Gourmet Cafe, The Flower Farm products

I want a Tagaytay/Country themed wedding and what best souvenir to give but items that are already available in Tagaytay. These are bee products from Ilog Maria, salad/gourmet products from Gourmet Cafe and maybe some dried flower products from the Flower Farm. I have also included these as places to go during the destination wedding that I am currently planning. Hmmm... Excited na ako!

9. Officiating Priest - Bishop Manolo delos Santos

He has been a family friend since I was a baby and he is the ninong of my brother. He always officiates important massses in the family. My aunt is in charge in contacting him. I haven't received the confirmation yet.

I am practically half done already yet my wedding is 9 months away. Why? Coz I want to book while most are still affordable and within my budget. I do not want the sinking feeling I had when I learned that Collossians increased their rate from 10k to 15k. The 5k should have been spent somewhere else. Sayang din... all because we could not yet book coz we do not have a date. kakainis noh!

H2b is also very busy studying for the bar exams. Actually, I had to practically drag him to megamall last Sunday. Naawa naman ako to burden him pa with wedding preps when the bar is getting nearer and nearer. So, we're booking the important details while he still has the time to spare. October, when the bar exams are over, is too late na to book. I'm sure all the good ones will be taken by that time.

We still have so many things to do, but most of it are things that I can decide on by myself so okay lang. I hope my update helps those who are still deciding what to do. Sorry sa sobrang haba.

Super excited na!

peachy ni ramon
march 10, 2006
caleruega/collossian gardens

10 March 2006

The Value Added Tax (VAT) did it.

Months ago, Mon had already decided that our formal pamamanhikan will be on October 2005. Right after he takes the Bar Exams for lawyers on September 2005. However, that was it. For several months now, I had been content with this. At least we were getting somewhere and we were not just vaguely planning our wedding.

Then, last week, I got a text message. Apparently, his parents visited him in Manila and they had time to talk about his plans. I do not really know what went on with the conversation but it prompted him to text me that I should be in Manila on the 26th of March, on his brother’s birthday. It was only a couple of days before the said date that it became clear to me that we would be going to Tagaytay and already set some certainty to our plans.

So, on the 26th of March, I decided to go to Manila. In my car, alone, it truly was a nerve wrecking eight-hour drive to the Petron Station at the South Luzon Tollway at Muntinlupa area where we agreed to meet. We immediately proceeded to Tagaytay where we went to Caleruega near the Tagaytay-Nasugbu boundary.

In Caleruega, we decided to hold the wedding on a Friday, considering that all Saturdays before March 16, 2006 were already taken. It was a choice between the 3rd and the 10th of March. After first deciding that its going to be the third, I decided to make it the 10th after a conversation with my Mom who said the 10th is more auspicious.

What’s with March 16? Apparently, Sev, Mon’s brother who is working in a travel agency said that accommodation rates go up after the 16th of March.

Why the sudden rush after a long idle lull? Well, Mon wanted to beat the skyrocketing of prices recently. Fuel prices go up almost every week and consequently with that the rates of suppliers. We also have to consider that our suppliers might charge extra considering that ours is a destination wedding.

So, eventually, the VAT did it… Hmm… there goes another incidental advantage to the rising of taxes.