The Wedding (Part 3)

Since we already exchanged our vows, Allan and I were more laid back.

Well, there was an issue as to whether to have the cocktails in the open area or not as it was a bit cloudy.  It was an unfortunate issue but all's well that ends well.

Before going back to The View for the reception, I made sure to pass by our house so that our helpers, Tata and Mai Mai, as well as the dogs, will get to see us.

 At my parents' house

With Mai-Mai and Tata and the doggies, Charlie and Philip

 Allan and Jazzie at The View!  I love this picture!

 Stage Decor for the reception courtesy of FPD

Entrance of the newlyweds!  And yes, we're happy!

Last dance with my dad.

 First dance with Allan to the tunes of One Thing, Crazy Little Thing Called Love and What Makes You Beautiful.  See the Just Dance video at the back.  Yes, it was my idea as I think it was cool and fun to see us dance with that background.  And it also serves as our guide for our dance steps.  I think I only practiced with Allan 3 times, while Allan practiced more by himself, hehe

 Look at our guests in attendance!  We are truly grateful for their presence.  

And it seems they had a lot of fun!

 With our wedding cake courtesy of Sweet Advocate.  Another blooper here as we tried slicing first a layer that was not a cake.  We got confused whether to slice the third layer or the bottom layer, haha.  Oh well, memories!

 Cheers!

 My mom's time to speak!

 Dad's happy with mom's reference .. hehe

 Nanay's turn.

 Jeni, my sister and matron of honor, with her impromptu speech.  Touching!

 Allan still mesmerized with me ..hehe

It was also reunion time on my mom's side.  It was so happy to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins from Davao, Manila, Qatar and US.  Good times!

To Forever!

I am so happy I get to finish this blog just before our 1st wedding anniversary.  Cheers to forever!

The Wedding (Part 2)

This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad!

For Allan and I, the most important was for us saying our vows before our Lord.  And so we did!

It was really a joyous event and we were so grateful to our guests who were there to witness our exchange of vows.  

To be frank, I really had no wedding jitters.  I can't say that I had butterfly in my stomach or that I was nervous with clammy hands.  I was just so looking forward to us getting married!

As I was waiting insider the bridal car outside of the church, I chanced upon our guests and was so happy to see so many of them.  And our principal sponsors were all complete.  It was really nice!

Fr. Gene, our officiating priest, is someone that Allan has known since his seminarian days.  We were so grateful that he was available for us.

Here are our pictures at the church.  Enjoy!

 I think I can safely say that Allan was happy and excited to get married to me!

 My baby brother, JJ, as our ring bearer!

 My sister Jeni and her daughter Ally .. so cute!

 Another nice picture of my parents!

And may I just say I love the flower arrangements.  I really wanted it to be like that so the guests can see people walking down the aisle.  I really wanted our wedding to be more about people - us, our family, and our friends - rather than the decorations.

 The bubbling bride .. haha!  I didn't notice it but I was told I walked a bit fast down the aisle.  

I guess I was also excited to get married.

 A bit emotional!

 Listening to our story .. as told by Fr. Gene.

 Such a blooper!  I was putting the wedding ring on the wrong finger.  

And I thought, it did not fit .. haha.  Good thing we realized it.

 Our guests!

 The kiss!

Yes! We're married!

The Wedding (Part I)

This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad!

The morning of my wedding quite "normal".  We were not necessarily in a frantic in our household. In fact, there was so much good vibes with my niece, cousins, uncles, aunties, sisters, brother, mom and dad.  We left our house and went to the The View for our make-up.

Well, we were quite early as our make-up artists were not yet around.  But I did not panic (yet!) .. haha.  To pass the time, my cousins roam around while my sister pulled out some of my white hair .. haha.  

We eventually got started with our make-up.  Then, we had the pictorials.  Oooh, I did not expect such number of pictures to be taken .. haha.  There were a few issues here and there, such as the motif (it was coral and turquoise, by the way .. not an easy color though .. hehe) and our lunch, which turned out to be okay.  In the end, it was really a wonderful and joyous occasion!

Here are a few snapshots of our wedding day before the ceremony.

Enjoy!

                                      

I just love our wedding invitation.  This was actually inspired by my friend Janice' wedding invitation.  And I really liked our caricature (inspired by other weddings)

No frills!  Easy-open .. hehe!  

 

My bouquet was perfect!

 I love my wedding gown! (Courtesy of Kasuotan by Erwin Tan)

 The rings! Great picture by the team of Richard Padillo Photography

With RJ, my make-up artist.  I got to know him since he was also the make-up artist of my friend, Bajo, for her December 2015 wedding.  I really loved my make-up that day!  And his team did the make-up for my entourage as well.  His rate was also affordable.

 I love this picture of me with my mom as it shows how my mom is so concerned with even the minute details, hehe. I was wearing a different pair of earrings (which she gave to me before) and she suggested that I change it to another pair of earrings she had with her.

 Pictorial session!

 With my bridesmaids!

Such a nice picture of my mom and dad!

 Family picture, with my niece Ally.  

It was the first visit to the Philippines for my brother-in-law, Edward. 

 My youthful and unique entourage! (With the crying Ally!)

 Another very nice picture with my entourage!

I feel pretty, oh so pretty .. haha!

 My groom with his entourage!

 The groom's entourage featuring my cousin AJ, all the way from US of A!

 With nanay.

 Allan's family

 Waiting ...

Japorms!

Back to Blog (Flashback to the Proposal and Wedding Preparations)

It has been quite a long time since my last blog post.  It feels good that I have found time to compose this one.  And I hope that I could keep this going .. again.

I can think of no better way for my comeback than to reminisce my wedding last July 2015.  Yes, my husband and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary this Friday and I thought .. why not make this by comeback post.  Let me take you to a flashback ...

THE PROPOSAL

Allan and I have been together for more than 5 years.  And the concept of marriage has been part of our discussions every now and then.  Both of us have been saving not just for the wedding but for our marriage as well.  If being together forever was not our goal, then being together at the moment was useless.  So, yes – we have been looking towards a future together.  We just waited for the right moment.

I mentioned to Allan before that I do not need an elaborate wedding proposal and that what is more important is that we could ask permission from my parents.

Allan’s plan was to surprise me on that Saturday when I was supposed to go on a trip with college friends, while he will ask from my parents for my hand in marriage.  However, just the day before Saturday, the trip did not push through.  On Saturday morning, I was still contemplating if I would go out with my high school friends, who also planned to go out for lunch on that day.  When I told Allan about it, he confessed to me that I should go out with my friends as he plans to go to my parents, first to my father, and yes, to ask for my hand in marriage.

I was supposed to be on my way to lunch with my friends when Allan informed me to stay at home as he was on his way.  He told me that he already went to my father’s office and my father said that we will have lunch at home (and also to ask permission from my mother).  And so I stayed home and informed my friends that I would just catch up with them after lunch.

And so we had lunch.  I guess Allan was quite nervous.  And I just had to break the ice and said “Mom, may sabihin daw si Allan”.  And that was it!  My mom and dad were very happy and supportive J

So, that was how the proposal went.  Compared to the engagement proposals nowadays, we are aware that it was quite something different.  But I would not want it any other way J

I guess that was just the first step to getting married. 

Technically, I don't have an engagement ring.  But we consider the ring that Allan gave to me on our 5th  anniversary as my engagement ring, as it was given around two weeks before "the proposal".

HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE (WEDDING PREPARATIONS)

The proposal happened last December 2015.  Thereafter, our family went to Singapore for the holidays.

We arrived on January 1, 2016 and the next day, Allan and I immediately went to see The View, as a possible venue for the reception. 

It was a first for both of us when we got there.  And we really liked the place.  Admittedly, it was expensive to hold the reception at The View as compared to a hotel.  But we really liked the place and it was still within our budget.  The next day, we brought my mom and dad there and they really liked the place as well.  It turns out that my dad also knew the owners of the place. 

I suggested to Allan that we get married in July since that would be summer in the US and my niece and cousins would be on a summer break.  We first chose the 18^th of July since it is a Saturday, but it turned out that The View was already booked on that day.  And it was also booked on the 11^th and 25^th, both Saturdays.  We decided to consult my mother first (Mother Knows Best!)

The 4^th of July would be too early for my relatives from the US and August 1 would be too late already.  So, we had to choose a week day, which was still okay for us.  I think July 15 was also booked and the next possible date for us was July 8, which is actually a nice date.  Allan and I became a couple on the 8^th of December and having the wedding on the 8^th of July would be nice as well.  And it turned out to be auspicious date for wedding as well.  (Try to google it .. there’s no harm in trying)

We then went to San Pablo Church in Juna Subdivision for a possible schedule of our wedding ceremony.

As far as I know, I belonged to that parish until 2009 when we changed residence.  The reason I chose San Pablo Church for the wedding ceremony is because I grew up in that church having resided in Ecoland before and having spent my elementary and high school at PWC, which was just at the back of San Pablo Chruch.  So, my first Friday masses were held there.  And if I choose The View as the place for reception, the nearer churches were St. Francis and San Pablo (a 20-minute drive with no traffic).  St. Francis was nearer to The View.  But I chose San Pablo for sentimental and practical reasons.  It has a wide space for parking and more solemn for me.  And yes, Allan agreed with my choice.

So when we went to San Pablo, we asked for the requirement.  After being interviewed from a Parish representative, we then booked the big day.

For those who are getting married, first choose the date.  Then, book the church and reception venues of your choice.  The rest will follow.

The next few months before the wedding went by with a blur.  After we booked the church and the reception venues, we looked for wedding gown and entourage gowns to rent.  By the end of January, my mom and I chose a wedding gown to rent and made a downpayment for it.  But I was still searching for gown to rent for my entourage.  It was quite hard as my entourage is not that common with 2 bridesmaids, 4 junior bridesmaids and 4 flower girls.  

However, I was still trying to look around for other options for my wedding gown.  Allan and I then went to Kasuotan of Erwin Tan and I found out what I was really looking for.  My mom then offered that she will shoulder the gowns of my entourage. I decided to forfeit my downpayment with the other gown.  It was worth it!

For Allan's suit, we just waited for the perfect time when the suit we were eyeing was at a discount. And yes, we were able to buy it at a discount.

Of course, we then booked for our food with Chippens  We were able to book it early and we had food tasting twice.  We then made a separate arrangement for our wedding cake with Sweet Advocate.

We then made arrangement for our florist and wedding organizer with FPD.  Our photographer and videographer was the Richard Padillo Photography team.  We were also able to contact my make-up artist, emcee and band as well.  We then had our invitations and give-aways made.

I think 6 months to prepare for a wedding was just right.  If it were less than that, we would have panicked and would have probably been more absent at work.  If it were more than that, we would be more anxious.  We were not too busy with the preparations for our wedding.  We were quite laid back with our preparations, if may say so.  Just imagine, I was only absent from my work (both in the office and at school) a day before my wedding.  Yes, I still conducted classes on Monday and my wedding was on Wednesday, hehe.

There were little things that we had to arrange and do along the way.  But we were okay.  We tried to put everything in order for the wedding and we were prepared to accept little mishaps along the way. Allan and I believed that the most important is that we get married and that the people we love will celebrate it with us.