Happy 2010 !!!

2010 is a big year for me and my fiance, since we're going to have a new life together in this year as husband and wife (whooo.... goosebumps). We're feeling excited and nervous at the same time, but as long as we're together, I'm sure that everything will be just fine. But for now we will be celebrating our new year apart, but with our respective families. This will be our last New year celebration being single.

New life ... New Beginning... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

Marriage License Requirements in the Philippines

We have less that 4 months to prepare for our wedding but it seems like I still have a lot of things to do despite the fact that I already accomplished almost half of our wedding preparation.

Anyway, after this 2010 New Year celebration, we're going to file for our marriage license. Actually I wanted to file it as early as possible so that I don't need to worry about it, but I learned that the license is only valid for 120 days or else it will be invalid and you have to get and pay another license, so I have to wait until January to file for our license. By researching, I also learned that me and my fiance should file a sworn application separately for each license with the proper civil registrar. Another thing is that we have to wait fo another 10 days from filing before we can get our marriage license. I've also read in some article that one reason for the wait, is that they have to post the name of the person who are filing for marriage license in a bullitine board for the citizens to see... Why? I'm not sure if it's for real... hihihihi!!!

Here are the requirements in applying for a Marriage License :

* Original Birth Certificate : Certified True Copy of the Couple. This should be issued by NSO with respective registry number.

* Parent's Consent : For 18-21 years old ; and Parent's Advise For 21-25 years old. In the Philippines 18 years old is the legal age to get married but a written consent from their parents or gurdian is needed. While the contracting party from 22-25 of age should present a written advise from their parents or gurdian indicating that they are aware or the couples marriage. (We don't actually need this in our case, since I'm already 26 and my fiance just turned 29 yesterday).

* Certificate of Attendance : It's a kind of seminar or most commonly known as Pre-marital counseling and Family planning seminar. This should be conducted by the Division of Maternal and Child Health at the City Hall in the same municipality where the couple filed for the marriage license.

* CENOMAR "Certificate of no Marriage" (Singleness): This is to certify that neither of you have been married before. I'm not sure if it's really required because I read some thread that some couples didn't even use their CENOMAR . I still need to ask about this.

How low can you go...

I think I'm a modern bride but I still want to be traditional in a way. Recently I told my fiance that I want to wear a vintage veil instead of the traditional long veil, he said okay but he still insist that a long traditional veil is better and he said that he want something to pull up before he kiss me "isn't it sweeeeett...". So now I'm back to the traditional long veil, but it's okay because I can still be a modern bride by having a low back wedding gown. Since I'm going to have a trumpet silhouette, I think having a low back gown would be great...












How low can you go.....

Unique Invitation Wordings

We only have less than 4 months to prepare for our wedding. I've accomplished most of the important details but we still haven't figure out what kind of invitation we're going to have. We are planning to make a DIY invitation , since one of my fiance's friend "Anthony" who is also one of our groomsmen promised us to make our wedding invitation as his gift for us. But we will still give him an idea on how we want our invitation to be. I'm thinking of a simple but fun and unique invitation design and wordings.
So here are some ideas I saw in the net :

Another wedding gown Idea

I already talked to a designer last weekends and I'm still unsure what design should I have for my wedding . So here's another wedding gown idea I'm liking.

A cute E-wedding invite

This is exactly how brides feel about everything in preparing their wedding. I hope all grooms are supportive like the groom in this video (Like my fiance hihihihi!) Enjoy!

Sample Pre-nup by: MYA

Last weekends we had another sample photo shoot in The fort. It was actually after my fiance went to their project nearby. On our way home we saw this abandoned construction truck / bulldozer in the middle of the field so we took the opportunity to take some pictures. Actually there was a lot of construction workers watching us while were shooting but it was ok because Mya did a really great shots of me and my fiance and we really had fun!

Here are some of the pictures Mya took:

Capiz Shell Wedding Souvenir

Our friends Kris and Florj is getting married this coming Monday (Nov. 30). I'm so excited to be part of their special day. Anyways 3 weeks ago we went out with this couple to look for their sponsor's wedding favor and have a bonding time together before they finally tie the knot. Actually they are going to give their sponsors a Coffee Table book, but since they can't give it right after their wedding they decided to give them something instead.
We saw this cute Capiz shell dancing woman figure to give their sponsor's that they will surely love.

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Fabric Search for my Bridesmaids Dress

I finally choose the perfect dress for my bridesmaids. My bridesmaids consist of my very close friends, niece, soon-to-be-sister-in-law and cousins. I may say that my bridesmaids are so "maarte" like me anyways, since I'm going to have a black and white motif, I want my bridesmaids to have a unique black and white dress. I already have the design but I won't show it yet.. hehehe... I really love my bridesmaids dress, I even want to have one for me...
For my couture, I'm going to have my fiance's aunt to make the bridesmaids dresses for me... She's been a dressmaker for a long time and I'm sure that she's really good and she can make my bridesmaids dresses pretty. Thanks Ditse!
We went to Divisoria the other day to buy the fabric and other things to be use for the dresses. It was Wednesday and it wasn't so crowded like weekends but still a lot of people go to Divi even on weekdays.. I love going to thrift market to buy stuff that's why I was so happy to be in Divi.
Oh another story, when we finally reached the place in Divi where fabrics are being sold for a very low price, there was this two mothers, they are like in their 40's or something they were buying fabrics too for their daughter's prom. One of them asked me what kind of fabric are we going buy and I told them it's Chiffon, and they asked me as well on where am I going to use it, I told them it's for my bridesmaids, they were shocked and asked about our wedding motif, I bravely told them that I'm going to have a black and white motif for my wedding as I showed them the picture of my design that I printed. They were like, "really?!?!? the design is really nice , but don't you have any other color in mind to replace the black?" and I was like "No, that's is our motif (with a sarcastic smile)" . But actually that is what en joy about this wedding preparation. Having an unusual motif like black and white can make people shocked and think... I just love the look on their faces whenever they hear that we're going to have a black and white motif... hehehehe....
Again, I'll say it again, and I won't be tired telling this....
THIS IS MY WEDDING, I CAN DO WHAT I WANT AND I WILL HAVE IT MY WAY! (ooopsss.... Translation again: This is OUR wedding, We can do anything WE want and WE will have it OUR way. )

Here are some of the pictures I took from our trip to Divi:

Wedding Suppliers Update 2

I finally booked "Your Events Coordination" as my on-the-day wedding coordinator. I've been eying them since I attended a bridal fair that was held in Trinoma several months ago. They are actually new in this business but they already booked several weddings. I decided to booked and paid the down payment through bank. Their head coordinator is Hencel. She was once a bride too and I guess she knows a lot of things about weddings and I'm looking forward to work with them. Anyways here's a quick update on my wedding suppliers.

Here are the list of my contracted wedding suppliers:

Reception Venue : Oasis Manila Pavillion

Catering : Lina Vitan Catering

Photo/Video Coverage : Smart Shot Studio

Photo Booth : Nice Print Studio On Wheel

Hair and Make up Artist : Jeng Sy and Carlan Make up Artist

On-the-day Coordination : Your Events Coordination




Sponsor's Souvenir : Home Decors (Trinoma)

Here are some funny wedding bloopers I got from the net. It's actually not funny if it's going to happen on my wedding day... Hope not... Anyway enjoy!!!

Vest For My Groomsmen

My original plan is to have my groomsmen wear a suit since I want them to be really formal. But considering the weather on our wedding day which is actually summer season in the Philippines, I can imagine them sweating and feeling uncomfortable because of their suits, so I had a change of heart. But I don't want them to wear the usual "Barong" that most of the groomsmen wear because it's very typical and will definitely not compliment my motif which is Black and White. So I decided to just have them wear a black vest match with a white long sleeves and I also want them, to have a uniformed black and white stripped slim tie if possible. I think they will all look good and more comfortable with a vest. It's also a good thing because I want my groom to be the only one to wear a suit or tuxedo so there will be a distinction, anyways he's the highlight of this event of course next to me hehehe....
Some might say that the groomsmen might look like a waiter or an usherette in a movie theater, but as for me if they know how to bring themselves not to look like one it's impossible to be one. Anyways I'm the bride, this is my wedding, I know what's best for my wedding , and I'll do it my way.
(TRANSLATION: I'm the bride of my GROOM, this is OUR wedding , We know what's best for OUR wedding, and WE will do it our way. hehehehe)


Just an idea on how they should wear the vest :

My On-the-day Wedding Planner

A wedding planner is a team or a group of people who are a valuable aid when it comes to planning your special day. Bridal consultant or wedding coordinators are the tittles that is usually use in this kind of profession. You may choose from different kinds of wedding coordination depending on your needs. There's usually 3 types of coordination, these are "Full coordination" , "Semi-coordination" and the most popular "On-the-day Coordination".
Full wedding coordination usually starts from 6 months to 1 year before the wedding. These includes almost all of the wedding preparation. From planning the budget, church search, reception venue, appointments with various suppliers and even assisting little wedding details. These kind of service or planning is popular for overseas brides who needs someone to make the foot work for them. These is also the most expensive service among the 3 coordination.
Semi-coordination is done when the couple have already signed contract to various suppliers and vendors but still needs assistance to take over the details and make necessary follow-ups for their most special day.
Finally, the On-the-day event coordination. This is the service that we need since I'm a hands-on bride and I want to make all the decisions for our wedding (I mean "us,we,me and my H2b" hehehe). This service is done when the bride and groom already signed contracts with their suppliers but would like someone to oversee the wedding day arrangement and make sure that everything that they worked for will run smoothly and stress free specially for the bride.

In my case we booked Your Events Coordination and I took their on-the-day wedding coordination services. I first met Ms. Hencel Barrio (The head coordinator) last June in Trinoma when they joined a bridal fair. Since then I've beem eying them because of the services that they offer. Their coordination includes 2 meetings before the wedding day, it's 2 months before and 2 week before the wedding. Their service also include the following:

• Wedding Checklist and templates to guide the couple in preparing for their big day.
• Supplier Coordination
• Wedding preparation Assistance at the dressing venue.
• Church Processional Management
• Guest Reception Management
  
• Gift registry management
  
• Program Management
  
• Pictorial flow management
  
• Technical check-up and reception venue management
• Games facilitation, including props and prizes
• Album / Signature frame turnover facilitation
  

Freebies :

• Place cards for Presidential Tables
• 5 Coordinators (1 Events Manager, 1 Church Manager, 1 Reception Manager, 1 Brides Assistant and 1 Staff)
• RSVP Services (via landline, e-mail and sms services only)
  

I'm really looking forward to work with them. I'm hoping that they can really help me and make me a stress-free bride on my wedding day.

Filipino Wedding Tradition

These are some of the Philippines wedding traditions and fact that we practice and follow.

• In the Philippines, the groom/groom's family usually shoulder most of the wedding expenses, but these days most of the couples share expenses instead specially now that we're in great recession. I think more and more couples are being practical.

• Rice grains is used as confetti after the church ceremony. But it's now being discourage and replaced with flower petals instead.

• The month of June is known as the wedding month but according to research the month of December until early January is the most popular months for weddings.

• The couple don't arrive in church at the same time. The groom should always be the first one to be in church and the bride will follow after several minutes. The bride will just stay in the bridal car until it's time for her bridal march.

• Unlike in other countries, brides in the Philippines prefer to have their wedding gowns custom made than buying 2nd hand or also known as off-the rack gowns.

• Marrying couples have a few pairs of ninongs & ninangs (godparents) to stand as principal sponsors/witnesses in the ceremony.

• The couples release a pair of doves as a sign of peaceful and harmonious married life