I'm an Auction Winner! :)

I've been monitoring the W@W auction for the past week because I had some prospect suppliers there that I wanted to bid on. After a few tense minutes of continuously pushing the refresh button, I finally won the item that I really wanted. Yey! :)

I won!

Good thing I'm in Dubai during the duration of the auction so I didn't have to stay up so late to bid on my chosen item. Honestly, the item that I won wasn't really my original choice, but the bid on it has reached the item's original price so I had to let it go. Luckily, I was able to won the cheaper option. Hehe.

Thank you Ms. Benz and W@W for this very wonderful experience. I was actually so tempted to go back and to bid for another item, but I had to control myself lest I want to go over our budget. Hopefully, we'll have another auction next year! :)

P.S. This is my 100th blog post. Wala lang. Haha!

Two Week Hiatus

Hello friends, forgive me for being out of touch for the past two weeks. I'm currently here in Dubai for training so I really couldn't update my blog because I haven't done anything wedding-related recently. Plus, I'm still trying to get used to the time difference here.

Just a quick update, I schedule two meetings with two designers for the next couple of weeks. Okay, I know I already booked my wedding gown couturier, but I guess at the back of my mind, I wanted to experience having my dream wedding gown sketched in front of me. If I really liked their sketches, then maybe I could haggle a bit so that we could afford the gown. Sorry, my romantic girly side is overpowering my practical side right now. Haha.

Dreaming about wearing my perfect gown

In other news, I'm also participating in the W@W auction. I saw an item there that I really, really wanted. Hopefully, I'd still be the highest bidder until tomorrow, when the auction ends. Cross your fingers guys! :)

Budget Revisions Part 3

Since we've reached the 18-month mark, it's time to check our budget plan once again to see if we could still afford this wedding. Haha. Okay, the bad news is.... our expenses have now reached about P400,000. The good news is.... we have already booked all the suppliers that would eat a big chunk of our budget. So more or less, our budget would stay within this range. In case of any increase, it would probably be just minimal, about P2,000 to P5,000 at most.

Why the sudden budget increase? Well, due to the problem over the original venue of choice, I had to book another venue that costs around P10,000 more than the previous one. Then we decided to book a caterer that is really over our set budget, but is actually more sulit because of the numerous freebies that it offers. And since we got a full band for the reception, I had to upgrade my lights and sounds to a full band setup.

Here's the breakdown again of our revised budget. I've rounded off some of the figures just to give you a general idea on how much we would spend for each item, but most of the actual expenses are lower than the listed figures below.

• Church - P25,000
• Reception Venue - P25,000
• Photo - P35,000
• Video - P35,000
• Caterer - P130,000
• OTD Coordinator - P15,000
• Wedding Attire - P30,000
• Hair and Makeup - P14,000
• Hotel for Preps - P15,000
• Hotel for Wedding Night - FREE
• Wedding Rings -FREE
• Stationery - P4,000
• Flowers - P5,000
• Souvenirs - FREE
• Entertainment - P30,000
• Lights and Sounds - P15,000
• Alcohol - P5,000
• Wedding Cake - FREE
• Dessert Bar - FREE
• Bridal Car - FREE
• LCD Projector and Screen - P2,000
• Prenup Pictorial with NYO Images - P5,000
• Prenup Pictorial with Osep&Mimi - P10,000
• Miscellaneous Fees - P25,000

GRAND TOTAL: P425,000

The grand total listed here is actually the bloated amount because I added extra to some items for contingency purposes. Our actual total is considerably less than this. Hay, buti naman. Ang hirap magbudget and mag-ipon ng pera noh!

Anyway, you might notice that some of the items here are listed as FREE. This is because these items are the freebies included in our caterer's package. Oh diba, sulit talaga ang package nila. There are other items that are not included in our budget, such as our wedding rings, which will be paid solely by Mox as his gift to me, and my boudoir pictorial, which is my gift to Mox.

Even though we have increased our budget, I'm still mighty proud that we were still able to afford some of our nice-to-haves, and yet would still have enough savings to start our life together. May naitulong rin pala ang paggamit ng maraming tables sa Excel. Haha!

Our revised budget tracker

The 18-Month Mark

We have reached another milestone today as our wedding ticker says that we have 18 months left before our wedding day! Yey! :)

Oh how time flies! Mox and I got engaged in November 2011, but we started booking suppliers last March, which was still more than two years from our wedding. Back then, we were too embarrassed to say our real wedding date because our friends and most suppliers would not take us seriously then. In fact, we were among the first batch of 2014 brides in W@W. But now, there are already a lot of brides planning to marry in 2014. I even met some who have the same date as we do! See, hindi lang kami ang mga excited!

I am happy to announce that we have booked most, if not all, of our major suppliers already.

• Church: Christ the King Church
• Reception Venue: Christ the King Parish Hall
• Photo: Osep&Mimi
• Video: Aisle 1401
• OTD: The One Exclusive
• Caterer: Richgold Weddings
• Wedding Gown Couturier: Jeff House of Fashion
• HMUA: Style Me Beautiful by Berny Tia
• Band (Church and Reception): Composed Band

We were also able to get some nice-to-haves as well care of our caterer and OTD.

• Hotel for Wedding Night: Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel c/o Richgold Weddings
• Mobile Bar: Three cocktail mixes c/o Richgold Weddings
• Bridal Car: Mercedes Benz E220 c/o Richgold Weddings
• Photobooth: Two hours of photobooth c/o Richgold Weddings
• Souvenirs: 100 pieces of cupcakes c/o Richgold Weddings
• Wedding Cake: 6" cutting cake c/o Richgold Weddings
• Emcee: Thoffy Consulta c/o The One Exclusive

Now here are some of the suppliers that we plan to book before the year ends.

• Lights and Sounds: Rejectkrew
• Boudoir Photographer: Boudoir le Blanc

Although we still have a long way to go, I'm still relieved that at least we were able to lock in the rates of these suppliers and save money. 2013 is just around the corner, so I'm happy to cross these things off my list and just focus on the little details, such as our DIYs and my diet plan. Haha! :)

The Perfect Anniversary Gift

Since our freenup with NYOi does not include an album, I decided to make my own through Photobook Philippines. Luckily, they had a promo deal at Ensogo so I was able to buy a voucher for a Medium Landscape Imagewrap album—originally at P4,000—for only P939! What a steal!

It took me some time to get used to the Photobook Designer since I am not a techie person, but after a few tries, I was finally able to create the perfect layout for my album. The only problem that I had was trying to fit in all the pictures that I love in only 40 pages. Ang hirap mamili ng pictures ah! Ang gaganda ko kasi sa lahat eh. Haha! Sorry, feelingera lang.

After seven days of waiting, I finally received our freenup album, just in time for our second anniversary. Their tracking system is so efficient! Every activity was recorded in their system, so I knew when my package had arrived here in the office, even before our receptionist notified me. Oh diba, ang galing!

Cool tracking system! :)

My package is here!

All I can say is… the album is perfect. I love the layout (syempre love your own) and I love the presentation! I couldn't get enough of its "new book" smell. It's the perfect anniversary gift for me and Mox. :)

Now I know why lots of brides are buying vouchers for Photobooks. Nakakaadik palang gumawa ng album eh. I'd probably buy one again for my other photos. :)

Happy Two Years!

This will be a short but sweet (and cheesy) post.

I just want to say happy second anniversary to us! Thank you for two wonderful years full of laughter and adventures. Despite the numerous drama moments (mostly mine), you're always still there for me. I can't wait for 2014 to come because I'm so excited to spending the rest of my life with you. I love you so much. :) *Eww. ang cheesy lang. Haha!*

Here are some of our pictures during our two years together. :)

Wedding Gown Couturier: Booked!

I don’t plan to splurge on my wedding gown, so obviously I couldn’t afford to book a designer who’ll make an original sketch for me. Instead, I settled for the next best thing: a capable and yet affordable couturier who can copy my gown peg to the tee.

There are a lot of affordable couturiers who have great feedbacks from W@W, but I only decided to meet two of them. First stop was Couturier A. She was actually my first choice because I’ve read a lot of raves about her gowns. Plus, she gave me the cheapest quote for my gown peg. However, when I met her, I couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling about her. Yes, she’s nice and chatty, but she also tends to be very bossy. She was always pushing for what she’d like for my gown and would disregard my suggestions. Okay, I know she’s more knowledgeable when it comes to fabrics, but shouldn’t she also consider her client’s preferences?

I also didn’t like the fact that she’s always praising herself. Masyado niyang binubuhat ang sarili niyang bangko. For example, when I was setting up a meeting with her, she’d always text me that I’d never go wrong with her because she’s very maalaga with her brides, her brides love her, blablablah. Sorry to all her fans, but I found her too mayabang. I decided to cross her out of my list, even though she’s the cheapest option, because I really wasn’t comfortable with her.

Next meeting was with Couturier B. Brides would usually get them as their entourage designer, but I’ve also seen their bridal gowns and I thought they were beautiful. My former boss got them to do her wedding gown, and she also attested to their impeccable ability to copy pegs. And when I met the niece of the couturier, I instantly felt at ease with her because she’s very nice and soft-spoken. Unlike Designer A, she would give out her recommendations and yet would still take note of my comments. She even took the time to send me other design options for my skirt since my first peg would cost more than my alloted budget. Because of that, I booked them on the spot! Friends, let me introduce to you my wedding gown couturier: Jeff House of Fashion!

Their bridal package includes the usual bridal accessories such as veil, cord, pouch, aras and garter, as well as a five yard-long detachable train! Check out the train on this gown. Diba ang taray?

Ooh, I'm so excited for the measurements-taking and the gown fittings. I can't wait to see how my dream gown would look like. Kelangan ko nang magpapayat!