Prenup Venue Ocular: Wawa Dam

Our prenup with our official photographer is scheduled for November and as early as now, we wanted to prepare for it. And so our search for the perfect prenup venue begins.

At first I wanted a beach prenup since it complements our wedding theme, but due to budget constraints, we had to scrap that plan. However, I still wanted to do something outdoorsy for our prenup shoot. I really couldn't let go of the idea of having our prenup shoot in a place where there are big rocks and water. Sort of like a river fairy of some sorts. Haha.

And so I tried to find a venue that is a). near the city to avoid out-of-town charges; b). has no/minimal entrance fees; and c). has big rock formations, and a river if possible. I thought that a venue with these criteria would be impossible to find, but a bride in GirlTalk recommended Wawa Dam in Montalban, Rizal.

I searched some pictures of Wawa Dam and I fell in love with the place instantly! And so, Mox and I went to Wawa Dam yesterday to inquire how to get a permit for the prenup and also to see if the place is really as beautiful as it is in the photos.

Guess what? It's even better in person! I especially love the big rock formations and the flowing river; it's exactly how I pictured my perfect prenup venue to be. We could even rent a raft at the upper lake, which would give us another great angle for pictures. :)

I also liked how nice the locals are. We were about to park in one area of the dam, which has a parking fee of around P100! I know, expensive right? But then, one of the officials in the barangay hall talked to the "parking attendant" and allowed us to move our car to the front of the barangay hall, which is free of charge. That same official even accompanied us to the tourism office to inquire on how to get a permit and toured us around the dams so we can take note of the possible locations where we can have our pictures taken. Ang bait noh?

Now how to get a permit to shoot in Wawa Dam? From our conversation with the tourism officer, we can pay P500 for the permit immediately in their office if the pictorial is set on the day. However, since we still have over a month to prepare for our shoot, the office advised us to coordinate with the main municipal office in town so that we would at least negotiate for a discount. We could even shoot there for free, depending on our negotiations.

But I am still confused on the exact process on how to get a permit. You see, Wawa Dam has a tourism office and a barangay hall in its vicinity, and both offices have different permit fees. The barangay hall charges P500 for the prenup fee, while the tourism office charges P800. Ang labo diba? I'll probably just go to the main municipal office to see whether or not I could get a permit from there.

Tomorrow, I will meet with Aira Franco, our stylist, to discuss our possible looks for our prenup. Our prenup preparations are now in full swing! :)

The Ring Part 3

During the time when I got my second engagement ring, I said back then it was okay to receive a simple silver ring since I didn't want a diamond ring anyway.

Well guess what? I lied.

Okay, before you say that I am an ungrateful hypocrite, just hear me out for a second. I really didn't want a diamond ring at first. I always thought that an engagement ring would usually cost around P40,000 and above. Obviously, I am not that comfortable wearing a ring that expensive so I decided to just buy an affordable silver engagement ring.

But then I discovered that Suarez has engagement rings that cost less than P20,000, which are considerably cheaper than the ones that I have seen in bridal fairs. Since I now know that there are "affordable" engagement rings out there, I was then consumed with thoughts of wearing a diamond ring, and I was hoping to convince Mox to buy me one.

You may think that I am one materialistic girl, but the real reason why I wanted a diamond ring was because I wanted to see how much effort Mox will put in saving up for it. In a way, I am envious of girls whose fiances surprise them with grand proposals and diamond engagement rings (as in effort kung effort), but I know that Mox is not good in planning surprises (e.g. my failed "surprise" birthday party). So I just want to know that he made the effort to save all his hard-earned money to buy me a diamond ring. That alone would make my heart melt. :)

I kept on dropping hints at him, but he would just laugh and change the subject. I thought it was all hopeless until last Saturday night. As we were driving home, he suddenly stopped the car, took my hand and removed my silver ring. Then he looked me and said the magic words: "Will you marry me?", while slipping something on my finger. Lo and behold, it was a real diamond ring! Yes, he actually proposed again! *Insert kilig emoticon here!*

So ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to show you the fruit of my fiance's hard work. Mox is also very proud of the fact that he was able to save enough money (despite having to pay the bills and the downpayments for the wedding) to buy me this ring. He even asked me to post a picture of it in Facebook! Haha!

I just love looking at my new ring! Thank you Mox for your very wonderful gift. I am still on cloud nine right now. *feeling kilig all over again.*

Unveiled: A Tagaytay Wedding Fair

Tagaytay has always been a popular venue for destination weddings. The thought of getting married amidst the sprawling mountain scenery while enjoying the majestic view of the Taal Lake is enough to make a girl scream with delight. It's every bride's dream wedding!

But bear in mind that a destination wedding can be more expensive than a wedding in the city. The out-of-town charges of  the suppliers alone will take up a huge chunk from the wedding budget, so it is a definite must for every Tagaytay bride to scout for the best deals possible in order to cut down some of their expenses.

So here is some good news for all those who plan to hold their weddings in Tagaytay. Ville Sommet, one of Tagaytay's well-loved wedding and events venues, will hold its second bridal fair on next Saturday, October 5, 2013. Dubbed as "Unveiled: A Tagaytay Wedding Fair," this event will be held at the Glasshouse of Ville Sommet from 10am to 8pm, and will feature the best suppliers that will help soon-to-wed couples plan their dream Tagaytay wedding.

The Ville Sommet bridal fair is not just any ordinary bridal fair; it is the bridal fair exclusively designed for Tagaytay soon-to-wed couples All suppliers are ready to offer out-of-town packages and rates, and special promotions and discounts will also be exclusively made available to couples who made on-the-spot bookings. Couples may also get the chance to win exciting raffle prizes! Ang saya diba?

Not only that, but couples can also sample some of the best food and beverages from Juan Carlo the Caterer and Josiah's Catering, see the latest event styling designs from Ambiance by Pido, and attend wedding planning seminars by Gen Lee Events, all while being serenaded live by Muzzique Vox.

This is also the chance to check out Ville Sommet's new landscaping and greener pastures. Who knows, this may be your dream Tagaytay venue. Look how pretty it is in the pictures!

Entrance

Landscape

Chalet

Another view of the Chalet

Glasshouse

Setup inside the Glasshouse

Parkland

Pavilion

Another view of the Pavilion

Admission to the bridal fair is free, so don't be shy to drag your friends and family to the event! For more information, you may check out their Facebook account and Instagram account, or send them a tweet to their Twitter account.

See you there! :)

Wedding Weekend Adventures

We're now in the BER months, which signal the beginning of the Christmas season here in the Philippines. However, it also means we only have about seven months left before our big day. Mox and I are slowly feeling the pressure, so we filled our weekend with wedding errands to do.

FRIDAY MORNING

Last Friday morning, I went to Paolo Blanco's shop to fit my gown for my brother's wedding in October. My future sister-in-law gave us (the secondary sponsors) the liberty to choose the design of our gowns, provided that its length should be floor-length and it should be in any shade of blue. Since I plan to use the gown for my prenup, I had my gown made in turquoise. Look how pretty it is! It fits our own motif perfectly. :)

And when I wore the gown, it fit me perfectly! The gown was able to hide my flaws, and I even looked taller than usual.  I wasn't able to bring my heels though, so the hemline was too long, but Paolo assured me he would cut it at an appropriate length.

I love this gown! Paolo definitely did a great job in designing this gown. I feel like a Grecian goddess whenever I'm wearing it. It's just so soft and flowy. Lakas talagang makaganda. The only thing that I didn't like is that I really don't have a defined waist, so the body form looks sexier than me. Bwiset. Haha!

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

After my fitting with Paolo, I went to fetch Mox to go to Eastwood where we would have our pre-production meeting with Aisle 1401 for our prenup video. We met Anna and John in Starbucks, and after buying some drinks, we immediately got into business.

Upon first impression, Anna may seem too serious, but she's really just cooking up ideas for our concept. She first asked us what kind of video we wanted and we told her that we wanted a narrative prenup video, something that plays just like a movie. None of that cheesy holding hands while walking with matching pasway-sway pa stuff. We wanted our video to reflect who we are as a couple, and we're just not the type to be all romantic and cheesy. On the contrary, we're actually the couple who teases each other until one of us would get annoyed. Carino brutal, sabi nga nila. And to highlight that aspect, we thought that a romantic comedy-style prenup video would be the best fit for us.

We then talked about how Anna and the rest of Aisle 1401 would execute our concept, the possible shoot locations and our wardrobe. Our meeting lasted for about an hour, which was quite fast in their standards because Anna warned us that we should set at least three hours for our pre-production meeting. But luckily, we were able to combine all our ideas together and create a cohesive game plan for our shoot. Of course, you have to wait for our wedding day to find out how our video would turn out. Hehe. :)

SATURDAY
 
I accompanied two of my W@Wie friends to Gretchen Pichay as they both plan to book her on that day. Since Mox agreed to increase my gown budget yet again to P40,000, I decided to take the chance and ask Gretchen to sketch another design, this time with a more detailed skirt. I guess I really couldn't let go of my dream ruffled skirt just yet. And after a few minutes of sketching, she came up with this design.

Finally, I got my ruffled skirt! Gretchen said that the ruffles wouldn't be so poofy; instead, they would be wavy and flat, and would have sort of like a sunburst effect. Honestly, I really couldn't imagine how the skirt would look like even though Gretchen kept on explaining what a "sunburst effect" is. Sorry naman, mahina talaga akong magvisualize eh. Haha. Still, I am happy that I now have the gown that I really, really wanted. I can't wait for to pick out the final design in November. Yey! :)

Food Tasting # 23: BridalBook's Tasteful Tastings

BridalBook's Tasteful Tastings event was probably one of the grandest food tasting events that I have ever attended because I was able to sample dishes from not just one, but three different caterers! Sirang-sira tuloy ang diet ko. Haha!

The event, held at the Blue Leaf Pavilion in Taguig, featured 14 different caterers and some cake suppliers too. Each caterer set up a mini-food tasting area where everyone can sample their best-selling dishes. So if you have the time (and the stomach room) to spare, you can go around and eat all the food from all caterers! And BridalBook gave the perfect incentive to do just that; all you had to do was to sample dishes from at least eight caterers and you would get a chance to win an overnight stay for two in Manila Peninsula! Oh diba, busog ka na nga, pwede ka pang manalo ng premyo.

Since the event was held on a Sunday, I had to go to work so I was only able to taste the food of just three caterers. Still, I'm glad I went to the event because not only was I able to eat lunch for free, but I also won a prize from the hourly raffle draws!  I still don't know what my prize is since I wasn't there when they picked my name, but at least I won something diba?

The first caterer that I went to was my dream caterer, K by Cunanan. I love how they were able to incorporate fruits into their centerpieces. It was how I pictured our own table setup to be, except we plan to use oranges for our wedding. It's simple, yet so elegant! :) Hope you can appreciate its beauty though despite my crappy shots. Haha.

Here are some of K by Cunanan's dishes during the event. Sadly, I wasn't able to get the names of all these entrees from the AEs, although I do recognize the Japanese Rolled Chicken with Cheese and Leeks in Teriyaki Glaze.

 And here are their desserts. Again, I really don't know their names, but the two shot glasses on top were delicious! However, I really didn't like the bottom one because I couldn't distinguish its flavor. Ang weird lang niya.

Next on our list to try was supposed to be Bizu Catering, but since there were no free tables yet, I then went to my former caterer, Richgold Weddings. We were dazzled by their setup; it was fit for a king and queen! I wasn't able to take a picture of the whole table, but just imagine a long table covered with these centerpieces. Plus we all have gold plates! Ang bongga lang!

The centerpieces were pretty, but I thought the setup was too extravagant. Also, we could hardly see the people on the other side of the table so it was a hard time to keep the conversation flowing. I am now convinced not to use tall centerpieces for our VIP tables.

Luckily, Richgold provided us with a menu today so we know what we would be eating.

So we were served Fish Goujons with Tartar, Beef Skewers, Roasted Chicken with Au Jus, Mini Lumpia and Fettuccine in Puttanesca.

The fettuccine was very flavorful; I actually enjoyed it very much. But I didn't like the beef skewers as much because the beef was very tough to chew. Meanwhile, the fish with tartar tasted ordinary; and I couldn't even remember how the chicken tasted like! Surprisingly, my favorite dish on the plate was the lumpia. I love its peanut sauce! Parang ang sarap iulam tuloy sa kanin.

For desserts, we had the Creme Brulee and the Fruit Trifle. I completely forgot to take pictures before eating the desserts. Tsk, tsk. Sorry, gutom na talaga ako eh. The creme brulee was as delicious as ever, but the fruit trifle, a gelatin dessert topped with cream, was just so bland. Even after mixing the gelatin and the cream, I couldn't taste the sweetness in the dessert. Minus points for Richgold for this.

After eating, we went straight to Bizu's area. Unfortunately, I had to leave for work lest I want to be late again so I only had time to sample their desserts. I don't know all the names of their dessert offerings, but all I can say is they were all so delectable! I especially love the macarons. First time kong kumain ng ganun eh.  Now I know why Bizu is famous for its yummy treats. :)

They also have a sample of their dessert table during the event, but sadly, the desserts there were only for display. Sayang, I was really tempted to grab one of the treats and run! Haha! Just see how mouthwatering they all were!

Thank you again BridalBook for organizing an event like this! I hope there will be another one next year, and you bet that me and my happy tummy will be there again. :)

Food Tasting # 22: Dorie's Catering

And we're back with another food tasting entry! Oh, I missed writing about my foodie adventures. Haha.

Today's entry is about Dorie's Catering. Honestly, I have never heard of this caterer until Marifel, one of my W@Wie friends, told us about their grand food tasting in Tanghalang Pasigueno. And since I couldn't pass up the chance to have a free dinner, Mox and I decided to tag along with them. Kebs kung di ko sila kilala, basta libre ang pagkain, game ako! Haha.

Well, the "grand food tasting" turned out to be a real debut event, but John, one of the owners of Dorie's Catering, assured us that it was okay to have our food tasting there. When we arrived at the venue, we immediately saw the debutante's couch surrounded by cherry blossoms. The tables also had centerpieces with dangling crystals and flowers on top. I thought the setup was very pretty, although I'm really not a fan of the monobloc chairs. Hehe.

For the food tasting, we were first served the vegetable dish: Lumpiang Ubod.  I just took a bite of it because I really don't like vegetables, but I thought it tasted fine. It's not really the most mouthwatering dish out there, but it tasted okay naman. Mox said the peanut sauce tasted too salty though.

Lumpiang Ubod

We were then given a plate filled with six different entrees: Fish with Tartar Sauce, Fettuccine Carbonara,  Chicken Flambe, Spanish Beef Caldereta, Chicken Pastel, and Roast Beef.

Clockwise: Roast Beef, Chicken Pastel, Spanish Beef Caldereta, Chicken Flambe, Fettuccine Caldereta, and Fish with Tartar Sauce

I honestly couldn't remember how each dish tasted like because their flavors all got mixed up in my mouth. Haha. The only thing that I could remember was all of them were too salty! Even Mox thought so too, which was why he didn't finish all of the entrees. I did like the Chicken Pastel though, mainly because it was the only dish that didn't taste as if a whole container of salt was poured into it.

The last dish served was the dessert: Mango Tapioca. The cream was sweet, but the mangoes were a bit sour. Still, I liked this dish. What can I say, I love anything with mangoes on it. Hehe.

Mango Tapioca

Dorie's rates are pretty affordable; I think the most expensive package costs less than P600 per head. Their food also features that same homey style as that of Ma Del's Cuisine, although admittedly, I like Ma Del's entrees better. But, for brides with limited budget, I still suggest that you try out Dorie's Catering. Who knows, they can be your this-is-it caterer. :)

DORIE'S CATERING
5 M.H. Del Pilar St., Palatiw, Pasig City
477-4902 / 401-9047 / 345-7556
doriescatering04@yahoo.com

Designer Meeting # 5: Emil Ocampo

When Mox booked Emil Ocampo to do his suit during the Before I Do bridal fair, I was actually tempted to book him also for my wedding gown. I've been hearing great reviews about him so far and I know he is within our set budget for my gown. Plus, it would be more convenient for us if Mox and I have the same designer for our wedding attire because we would only have one supplier to talk to. Less stress, less hassle. It's a win-win situation diba?

Although I was already about 90% decided with Emil, I still wanted to meet up with other designers first. I scheduled a meeting with Emil at the end of the month so that I would have enough time to compare the designers and find out whether or not Emil is indeed the best choice for me..

Sadly, I chose a different designer, so I thought of cancelling my appointment with him. Sayang lang rin ang pagod namin pareho eh. But since he will be Mox's designer, might as well visit his shop now so that we would know how to get there when it's time for Mox to have his measurements taken diba?

Emil was as soft-spoken as ever when we saw him. Heck, his assistants even speak louder than him.Haha! But this can be a good thing because I instantly felt comfortable with him. I can tell him my preferences about my gown without feeling too embarrassed or scared that he will think it is baduy. After a few minutes of discussion, he gave me this sketch:

While I know he gave me all the elements of my dream gown, I wasn't exactly blown away by his design for me. Maybe my heart is now leaning towards a different aesthetic this time, which is a more detailed top and a simpler skirt. Also, he decided to use embroidery cutouts with beads for my gown, which is his specialty. But I didn't want any of that; I want lace appliques! Sorry, I just couldn't get Gretchen's lace swatches out of my mind. Haha.

But even though I didn't book him, I was still glad that we met with him because I finally found what is the best color for my wedding gown. I am not a fan of the typical white wedding gowns, so I used to dream about wearing a champagne-colored gown. Emil allowed me to fit a champagne-colored gown, and I realized that it didn't suit my skin tone. Wearing champagne actually made me look darker! So now I know that ivory is the best color for me. See, at least we accomplished something during our meeting! Haha. :)