Mobile Bar: Booked!

Alcohol has always played a big part in our relationship. If you read our love story, you can see that Mox and I became a couple with the help of some alcoholic drinks. One of our favorite things to do is to go to Tiendesitas to listen to a few bands and drink some beer. Sometimes, we would even go to videoke pubs to sing our hearts out, and yes, drink some more booze. Lasingero lang ba ang dating? Haha!

That is why we decided to book a mobile bar for our wedding. Since we have a band, we thought serving some alcohol would help bring out the party vibe. Also, it would entice our guests to stay and enjoy themselves even after the program has ended, especially since most of our friends are drinkers.

At first, I thought of just buying beer kegs from San Miguel since most of our male guests prefer beer, but I wanted to offer other choices of drinks, especially to those who want hard drinks and cocktails. Of course, a mobile bar is another nice-to-have, so I had to look for those that are within our budget. When we booked Richgold, our mobile bar was already included in the package, but they only serve cocktails, and getting another bar that would serve shots was another expense that we couldn't afford. It's a good thing though that we moved to Purpledish because the savings that I got from them allowed us to pick a mobile bar that offers a variety of cocktails, shots and shooters.

I was all set to booking one mobile bar that offered 25 mixed drinks for only P10,000, but there were no recent reviews about them. Also, I had to schedule a private tasting just to try their drinks, and I was too lazy to do that. Haha. Then Tine told us about GQ Mobile Bar, which she booked during a bridal fair. She said she got a great deal from them, and the drinks were delicious too! :) So Mox and I went to the Getting Married Bridal Fair to check them out.

Their bartenders at the fair were very nice and accommodating. They explained to us the difference between unlimited and free-flowing drinks. They even gave us advice what package to pick since not all of our guests are drinkers. And I love the drinks that they mixed for us: Screaming Orgasm for me and Screwdriver for Mox. You can barely taste the alcohol in them, but there is still that "alcoholic punch". In short, traydor siya. Haha! Just the way I like my alcoholic drinks. :)

We didn't book them immediately. Instead we went around to try the other mobile bars in the fair. One mobile bar offered a cheaper package, but I didn't like their drinks at all. They didn't mix their cocktails well enough so all the alcohol was left at the bottom of the glass. Yuck.

And so, after much deliberation, I got the go signal from Mox to book GQ. We went back to the booth to pay the downpaynment and sign the contract. This was actually our first bridal fair booking ever! Whee! And because we booked in the bridal fair, we got two additional cocktails for free! :)

And yes, I sampled more drinks at their booth, along with Tine and Adrin. :) It's a bad idea though to mix cocktails because I got tipsy afterwards. Sakit sa ulo! Haha.

GQ MOBILE BAR
0999-8813496, 0920-9614240
gqmobilebar@gmail.com

Florist: Booked!

When we started planning for our wedding, one of our least priorities was our wedding flowers. While others were looking for florists that could arrange the most beautiful bouquets, I would research on those who would offer the cheapest packages. I just don’t find it practical to spend thousands of pesos for flowers that would wilt in a few days, sometimes even in a few hours. 

Deep down, I guess I didn’t want to use real flowers for our wedding. I wanted something nontraditional, something that I could keep as a souvenir of our wedding. In short, I wanted a non-floral bouquet, more specifically one that is made of felt flowers. 

At first, I was so confident in my so-called DIY skills (feelingera lang ang peg) that I decided to make my own bridal felt bouquet. After all, with all the tutorials available in the Internet, how hard could it be diba? I even planned to make all our entourage’s bouquets. I thought they could be cute souvenirs for our entourage as well. Ganun ako kabilib sa sarili ko. Haha! But after a few failed trials (and burns from the glue gun), I gave up because I thought my creations were atrocious. Plus, with all the felt cloth that I kept on buying because of my numerous reworks, I could end up spending more money than what is necessary.

So, I went back to the original plan of sourcing the cheapest vendors of fresh flowers. I inquired with some of the popular florists like Amante Fleurs, but their cheapest package was still too expensive for us. I already thought of going to Dangwa to book any florist there who would fit our budget. Ganun na ako kadesperada. Haha.

Then sis Czy of GirlTalk sent me a private message advertising her new business, Do It Myself by Xheng. She is also a bride, but she makes felt and brooch bouquets as her sideline. I have seen her works before, but I didn't take note of them because, as I said earlier, I thought I could DIY my own bouquet.

But now, I'm so happy to have found her again. I really love her creations! They are so colorful and so cute! The flowers look so real; you can't even tell that they are made from felt from afar. Her rates are very affordable too. She even gave me a discount just so that her package would fit our budget. Ang bait niya sobra! And so after exchanging a few FB messages with her to customize my package, I deposited our downpayment and signed the contract. Yey! I finally found my non-floral "florist"! Haha. Ang labo.

Here are some of her wonderful felt creations, as shown in her Facebook page! The last two bouquets are my favorites. :)

Aren't they lovely? :) I'm so excited to see how she would do my bridal bouquet and my entourage's flowers. :)

Do It Myself by Xheng
0947-1800757 / 0905-8877099

Bridal Fair Stories

Yesterday, Mox and I attended the Getting Married Bridal Fair at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay to book our mobile bar. The trip turned out to be more worthwhile than I thought because of some happenings in between. :)

Yes, Mox's real name is actually Neil. Ang layo noh? Haha.

STORY # 1:

Even though I was all set to buy our wedding rings in Ongpin just to save money, we still went around the fair to inquire with all the jewelers. I fell in love with this pair of two-toned, matte rings with a single diamond on each ring at Goldenhills. Unfortunately, the price was just too much for us. After searching for other alternatives, we found the same design at Suarez Wedding Rings, and it's half the price of Goldenhills'! We didn't book them at the fair though because Mox wanted to think things over, but I'm still happy to find an affordable wedding ring supplier that is more accessible (location-wise) to us than Ongpin. Hehe. We might book them at the next bridal fair so hopefully our design would still be there.

Mox also kept asking questions about the rings at each supplier's booth, which was so unlike him. But it's nice to finally see him become more active in our wedding preparations. Sa singsing lang pala siya magiging mabusisi.  Hehe.

STORY # 2:

We finally booked our mobile bar! And not only that, I got to meet Tine, Aiza and Cris, my fellow W@Wie brides. I have been chatting with them for months now since we will have a group boudoir session together, but this was actually the first time that I have met them. Nice to finally see the faces behind the Facebook accounts. Haha! Now I'm even more excited for our boudoir session! :)

By the way, I got tipsy after drinking so many cocktails at our mobile bar. Thank you Tine for recommending them to me. More details on our mobile bar in the next post.  :)

STORY # 3

We went to Osep&Mimi, our official photographers for the wedding, to make some changes in our contract. When I booked them, I put in Mary the Queen Parish and North Greenhills Clubhouse as our church and venue because I was so sure that we would book them once their 2014 calendars would open. But then we booked another church and venue instead. So now I wanted those changes to be reflected in our contract.

Osep wasn't available because he was at a wedding, so Mimi was the one who entertained us. She wasn't there during our first meeting so it was a pleasant surprise that she knew who I was. Of course, I am their longest booking ever, since I booked them last March 2012 for my April 2014 wedding, so I must have made an impact to them. Hahaha! Ang yabang ko lang.

Mimi is so nice and very easy to talk to! She agreed to my request to have another contract made even though she's busy handing flyers to all those couples passing by. We even sat at their ghost chairs to sign the contract. Haha. I was also able to see samples of their albums, which I didn't have a chance to do during our first meeting. I love their album covers! Now I'm very excited to see how our own albums would look like. :)

The best part of our meeting? Mimi gave me additional freebies that day! Whee! :) My original package included a 5x7 prenup album, a 10x10 wedding album, prenup AVP and a 16x20 canvas print, but she allowed me to change the prenup album to 8x10 and added an onsite AVP and 100 4R prints for free! Ang saya-saya ko lang. Hehe.

See, I told you bridal fairs are fun. Can't wait for the next one. :)

Food Tasting # 17: Purpledish Catering

As promised, here is my food tasting entry for Purpledish. This was my 17^th food tasting to date. Wow, ako na ang FT Queen. Haha!

The food tasting was held at a function room in Avida Tower Makati West, where Chef Velmor also lives. It was actually a very small event because there were only about 15 couples that attended, but I liked how it was set up like a regular cocktail party, where waiters kept on offering us appetizers and drinks. I even met some W@Wies, like Ali (of Sam) and Kate (of Ryan). Oh diba, instant EB!

Gideon Hermosa used to be the stylist of Purpledish, but I don’t know why their partnership was dissolved. So now, new clients would be under Stylento, Purpledish’s new partner stylist. Some of their sample setups were shown during the food tasting. One table had a travel-themed design, while the other had a green and white motif.

travel-themed setup

 

green and white motif

 

The styling was okay, but honestly, I thought both of Purpledish’s setups were too cluttered with props and other centerpieces. There was barely enough space to put the utensils. I liked Richgold’s sleek and minimalistic styling better. Or maybe that's just me. Haha. Kanya-kanyang taste naman yan eh. I’ll probably ask Nikki of Stylento to tone it down a bit and just use a few simple and elegant centrepieces.

Now on to the food! As I said earlier, waiters kept on bringing us appetizers to munch on while we wait for the dinner proper to start. We first had the Spicy Salmon Bruschetta and the Asparagus Wrapped in Smoky Bacon. 

Spicy Salmon Bruschetta (and Mox's hand)

Asparagus Wrapped in Smoky Bacon. (Sorry for the crappy pic.)

The bruschetta was the clear winner between the two. The salmon was spicy enough to give you a kick of flavor, but not enough to make your eyes water. The bread used was soft and chewy, which was a welcome relief from the hard and crunchy bread that bruschettas usually have.

I didn’t like the asparagus though because I found the smoked bacon too slimy. I also didn’t like how it tasted like smoked ham.I am not a fan of smoked ham, so obviously, I’m already biased against this dish. But Mox not that impressed with both the salmon bruschetta and the asparagus. He just gave me his usual “Pwede na” answer when I asked for his opinion. Pfft.

We both agreed on one thing though: we thought the Eggplant Parmegiana was delicious! The dish was unlike any other eggplant parmegiana that we have tasted before because it was not smothered in sauce. Instead, the cheese and tomato sauce was proportional to the serving of the eggplant. It had the right amount of saltiness to it, minus the umay factor. It tasted just like a mini pizza, only it had eggplant instead of meat. One of my favorites for the night. :)

Eggplant Parmegiana

We were then served two soups: the Potato Pumpkin Soup and the Mushroom Trio Soup. These soups are called soup shots because they are served in tiny teacups instead of the regular bowls. These soup shots will be served as soon as our guests arrive, so they are part of five appetizers that we would have to choose for the cocktail hour.

Mushroom Trio Soup

Potato Pumpkin Soup

Both soup shots were delicious, but I liked the potato pumpkin better. The potato flavor was very prominent, and the soup was rich, creamy and very filling, so guests wouldn't feel to hungry while waiting for the bride and groom. Pair it with some bread, and you're good to go. Hehe. Meanwhile, the mushroom trio was very light in the stomach, but it also packed some major flavor in it. I couldn't exactly describe how it tasted. All I could say was it had a slightly spicy flavor to it, but overall, it was delicious. :)

We were also served some Caesar Salad in a cocktail glass. Again, the salad will also be served during cocktail hour, hence the glass. It was the usual Caesar salad, but I think Chef put in more parmesan cheese than usual, because I could practically taste cheese in every bite. Well, I'm not complaining. I love cheese! :)

Caesar Salad

Now in Purpledish's package, pasta is included as one of the main dishes, along with beef, chicken, pork, and fish/seafood. Since we had to choose only four out of the five, we had to think long and hard which entree we should eliminate. This will be difficult for us to do, especially if all of these dishes are delicious.

For our pasta entree, I had the Beef and Veggie Lasagna while Mox got the Duo Penne with Marina and Peste Aglio Olio. The duo penne is actually just penne noodles with two kinds of sauces. Yes, you heard it right. There was no meat, veggies, or any kind of sahog to the pasta. But still, the sauces were enough to give the noodles a burst of flavor. I also liked the lasagna, especially since the sauce was able to mask the vegetables' taste. Sorry, di talaga ako mahilig sa gulay eh.

Duo Penne (Top), Beef and Veggie Lasagna (Bottom)

For our beef dish, Mox had the Lengua Alla Cucina while I had the Slow Roast US Beef Belly with a choice of Caldereta Sauvignon Sauce and Mushroom Wine Sauce. Actually, the beef belly was supposed to have mashed potatoes, carrots and green peas, as well as an additional choice of tomato wine sauce, but I don't know why these items weren't available during the food tasting.

Slow Roast US Beef

The beef was soooo yummy! The meat was tender and so easy to cut, and the sauces were so flavorful. Chef said that both sauces have red wine in it, but I couldn't taste a drop of alcohol in it. But that's okay. I really don't like any alcohol near my food. Hehe. As for the lengua alla cucina, I couldn't really comment on it since I wasn't able to taste it, but I guess Mox didn't have any objections about it because he ate it all. Haha.

For our pork entree, we had the Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Spareribs. Again, this dish was supposed to have some mashed potato and corn on the cob, but there was no sight of them during the food tasting. It doesn't matter though because the spareribs alone were very satisfying. The sweetness of the honey glaze bbq sauce was just right, not too sickeningly sweet. I kept on licking my fork because I couldn't get enough of it. Ang sarap lang kasi!

Lengua Alla Cucina (Top), Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Spareribs (Bottom)

Next was our chicken dish. We had the Pollo Diavola, which is roasted chicken with herbed and spicy olive oil. The chicken was so soft and tender that it falls right off the bone! But while I love that the meat was very juicy, I was not that impressed with its flavor. Don't get me wrong, it tasted just fine, but I guess I'm just not a fan of chicken roasted in olive oil. I found it too bland for my taste kasi.

Pollo Diavola

Lastly, we had our fish entree, which was the Baked Norwegian Salmon. The salmon can also be grilled or pan-seared; it's your choice. Personally, I liked it baked. The salmon is again very soft and juicy, and has a tangy flavor brought by the the lemon butter sauce. What I love about this dish is that the sauce was not that sour. I think Chef has a gift of balancing all the flavors; the dishes were either not too sweet, not too sour, or not too salty. Everything was just perfect.

And now let's go to the desserts! Purpledish boasts of the most dessert offerings in their standard package. Imagine, you would get eight desserts! You heard me right, EIGHT! Most of the Purpledish brides have been raving about Chef's desserts so I was really looking forward to tasting them.

First, we had the Mango Creme Brulee. At first bite, I was literally speechless. As in wala akong masabi sa sarap! Oh-em-gee! This is probably my most favorite dessert out of all the desserts I have tasted during my 17 food tastings. You may think that I am exaggerating, but you just have to taste this to understand what I'm talking about. The caramelized sugar was burned to perfection, and the custard was so creamy it practically melted instantly in my mouth. The mango also added some sweetness to the dessert. Definitely a must-try!

Mango Creme Brulee

Then we had some of the cakes from Cheeco: Bluer than Blueberry Cheesecake, Manila Cheesecake and a Chocolate Cake that Chef invented just for that day. Ang galing noh! I thought all the cakes were moist and delicious! The blueberry cheesecake was not too sour; the Manila cheesecake had the right amount of cheese to it; and the chocolate cake was simply divine! All cakes have a graham cracker base, which balances their sweetness. Thus, you can enjoy all these cakes without feeling too umay. Hehe. Sorry, lumalabas ang pagka-conyo ko. Haha.

Bluer than Blueberry Cheesecake

Manila Cheesecake

Chocolate Cake

Lastly, we had some pastries like the Night & Day Eclair, the Custard Cream Puff, and the Walnut Brownies. Honestly, I couldn't remember how each one tasted like, but since I loved all of Chef's desserts so far, then it's safe to assume that these babies were delicious as well. Hehe.

Custard Cream Puffs

Night and Day Eclairs

Walnut Brownies

VERDICT: I loved Purpledish's food so much that I decided to let go of my P5,000 downpayment to my previous caterer just to book them. 'Nuf said.

PURPLEDISH CATERING

887-0104

info@purpledishcatering.com

A Change of Heart

As you all know, we have already booked Richgold Weddings as our caterer for our wedding. We actually went over our set budget for this, but we thought that with all its freebies, it was still a good choice. We already paid P5,000 to lock in their rates and get all their freebies. Everything was all set; we even did a private food tasting with them at their office in Quezon City, where we chose our initial menu. But then I received an email from Chef Velmor of Purpledish Catering regarding their promo for 2013 and 2014 weddings. Suddenly, Richgold didn’t seem like the perfect choice after all.
 

You see, I was actually torn between Purpledish and Richgold when I was still looking for our caterer. Richgold’s freebies were tempting, but I love Purpledish’s menu. Everything sounded so tasty and sosyal. And imagine having eight desserts as part of the standard package? My sweet tooth tingled with delight when it heard that news. Haha!

Sadly, I was not able to join Purpledish’s anniversary promo because our wedding was too far away then. I was actually envious of the brides who booked Purpledish because they were able to get Chef Velmor’s services at an affordable price and with lots of freebies too! When I computed how much we would spend if we would book Purpledish with its regular rate, it was even pricier than Richgold’s package, and without the freebies pa. And so we decided to book Richgold because it was the next best option.

But even though I was very happy with Richgold’s service and its food, I still couldn’t get Purpledish out of my mind. I was really curious about their food since I've been hearing a lot of raves about them. I kept on hoping that Purpledish would have another promo so that I could afford their packages.

My prayers were answered when Chef Velmor emailed me that they would hold a grand food tasting on Sunday, and if we would book them on the spot, we could avail a 20% discount for the first 150 guests! Their regular rate is P790 per head, so a 20% discount would mean that it would now cost P632 per head. Multiply it by 150 guests, and our total package price is still less than P100,000! What a steal diba? The only catch was we had to pay 30% if the total contract price to avail of the discount. This is a large amount of money to shell out, so we had to think long and hard whether we would book them or not on that day.

After comparing both Purpledish’s and Richgold’s packages, I found that even if we would let go of our P5,000 downpayment and Richgold’s freebies, we could still save more if we book Purpledish. Malaking bagay nga talaga yung 20% discount. We can even book better suppliers to make up for the lost freebies, like mobile bar, photobooth and wedding cake, and still save more money. Ang bongga lang diba?

And when I tasted Chef Velmor’s food, I knew that we MUST DEFINITELY book Purpledish. I’d elaborate more on the food on the next post, but everything was soooo delicious. Even Mox, who originally didn’t want to change our caterer, said that we should get Purpledish na. And so, we went to Chef Velmor to sign the catering agreement and give the 30% downpayment, in cash pa! Yes, I was actually so sure that we would book Purpledish that I had withdrawn our payment ahead of time. Haha. Excited lang ang peg eh.

Our new caterer! :)

So I am now officially a proud Purpledish bride! J My only problem now is how to break the news to Jed and the rest of the Richgold staff that we would no longer get their services. Hmmm.. any suggestions?

Lights and Sounds: Booked!

It's now January 2013, which means we are just a few months away from our one-year mark! Therefore, it's time to go back and do some more wedding preps baby! Hehe. :)

Next on my list is to book our lights and sounds provider. Now in the wedding industry, when you say lights and sounds, one name would automatically come into mind and that is Rejectkrew. Elmer of Rejectkrew has got to be the most polite person in the whole wide world! I mean, who else could inject at least five "po" in just one sentence? Pati tuloy ako, nahahawa na sa kaka-po niya! Haha!

Seriously though, Elmer is one of the best in his craft. I don't know anything about the technical aspects of lights and sounds, but from the pictures that I saw in his website, I thought the the lighting was beautiful. Most brides think that lights and sounds are not that important, but in reality, it could actually set the mood of the reception. Kaya nga may tinatawag silang mood lighting. Haha. Ang labo ko, sorry.

The only complaint that I have with Elmer is that he is sooooooo hard to meet. Not because of his attitude, but because of his unbelievably busy schedule! Every day, he has an event to attend to, and whenever he is free, I'm the one who has no time to meet. Seryoso, para siyang artista sa sobrang hirap niyang tagpuin. Since last year, I have been trying to set up a meeting with him, but to no avail. And since I'm scared that he would increase his rates this year, I decided to brave the afternoon traffic in EDSA last Friday just to go to Le Pavillon in Pasay to meet with him, since he has an event there that day. Imagine my travel from Marikina to Pasay on a busy Friday afternoon, on freaking EDSA! Ganun ko siya gustong makita at mabook.

It was a good thing though that I met him during one of his events, because I was able to see firsthand how he works. The lighting that he did for the wedding was so romantic, with all its purple and blue light effects. I don't have any pictures because I was too shy to shoot at someone's wedding, but trust me on this. Ang ganda lang. Elmer was also able to explain to me what kind of lights they use, although I just kept on nodding because honestly, I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Hehehe. I then paid P1,000 to lock in his rates, received his acknowledgment receipt, and viola! I am officially a Rejectkrew bride. :)

Just a tip to all brides who wish to get Rejectkrew: text Elmer late at night (around 11pm to 12 midnight) to get a faster response from him, since this is the time when he would come home from an event. He would reply to me almost instantly whenever I would text him during those times. Also, Elmer said that if you're a TOE or a KTG bride, you can just ask your coordinator to book him on your behalf, especially if you don't have the time to meet up with him. Just a little patience, my fellow brides, and you will be able to get in touch with him in no time. :)

REJECTKREW
0922-8747246
funkymix08@hotmail.com

 



 

P.S. I was also able to meet Thoffy last Friday since he was also the OTD coordinator of the wedding in Le Pavillon. See, worth it talaga ang pagbiyahe ko. Haha!