It's not colored

It's black and white.

Our wedding, that is. I was thinking of having black and white photos, too, but maybe I'll just have a copy of the images in that tone instead.

Here are sample images of possible looks for our reception. Kinda too formal, I know, considering our personalities. Hopefully, this gets to be executed by our caterer's events stylists with the fun twists.

Above is too black. Kind of a bit too dark and this is an indoor setup.

This one is simple yet I think it exhudes elegance in its own way. I'm thinking of having this, look at the tied ribbons with the flowers on the white linen covered chairs. Simplicity is beauty.

Another indoor setup. It's vice versa is shown on the image below.

This one, with the tent. We could do this but the black linen covers are really difficult to find. Love the chandelier-lamp lights on the tent's ceiling. I'm in kind of doubt, though. This will be in a garden set-up. Hopefully it will fit well. Daanin natin sa flowers! hehe

If I had the...

... skin, the body and the boobs! I'll wear this dress on my wedding :p

The Million peso question

I used to get into conversation with people about what we would do to one million pesos if given the chance. I know that I would usually say I'd buy a car, or travel asia (hello, hindi keri ng P1M makapag travel sa buong world, kamusta naman! So, trip around asia na lang siguro :p) or for the sake of charity, yes, I'd donate some to church and charity institutions, etc.

But now that I am a bride-to-be, if I would be given a million peso to spend, I'd spend it for my wedding, of course!

There are four suppliers that I really would die for to have. Veluz of course would be on top of the list.

Florists, flowers, and my sister

Some weeks back, my Dethe (3rd of 4 daughters in the family) said, "Dalawa na lang pala tayo dito sa kasal mo."

There were four ladies in the family aside from our Nanay. Exactly one year ago, I remember being at this poorly maintained hospital in the province of Laguna, three hours (at the very least) away from the comforts of our home in Cavite. I remember calling all friends whom I think can assist us to an immediate financial need at the time for my family to get my sister safely back to a better hospital at our hometown. I remember my mom, crying nonstop and my two other sisters trying to compose their selves to serve as strengths of one another. I remember texting my dad, assuring him that everything was fine as he was left alone back home. I remember standing by my sister's hospital bed, whispering to her as tears ran down my haggard face.

We went to Laguna to visit some relatives and start an early summer outing. None of us expected that it would be the last time that we would spend together with my Ditche.

By 8am today, it will be officially a year ago since I was able to see my sister.

Earlier, I went again to Dangwa with my only sibling here in Pinas. Our panganay went abroad to work and support her kids. It was just me, my Dethe, my nanay and our little kids at flowers street.

Our agenda then was to buy flowers for my Ditche's 1st year death anniversary and also book the florist for my wedding. I was keen on booking Ma. Coleen flowershop because of it's very affordable quotation. However, my contact person wasn't there. I was already heading to the other florist that I asked quotations from two weeks ago but we passed by Angel of Hearts' stall. Though I didn't think the owner was there, I took courage to ask where he was. Luckily, his house was just a walking distance from the street. In a few minutes, he was there and we were discussing about business. Kuya Lawrence was warm and very accomodating. I got comfortable talking to him as soon as we started the conversation. He's also good in remembering his clients!
I knew how good his outputs were because he was also the florist of my good highschool friend who got married last December.

Long story short, I booked him. :p The price was about 3k more than my actual budget but what the heck, I know my wedding's in good hands with him being part of our dream team. He also gave us some flowers for my sister's death anniv, to boot!

So there. We got loads of pretty flowers for my sister. And my other sister, Dethe, arranged them last night. I remember, our Ditche was one who loves her own, and I know, she'd be happy to see those flowers and me on my wedding day.

Yes, there will be just the two of us, my Dethe Vivian and me on June 6, 2009. But I'm sure, Ditche will be there, too.

We miss you, Ditche. Hope you like the flowers we bought.

Who said we can't do DIYs?

I will be forever grateful to adobe photoshop for making it possible for us to DIY our invites and therefore cut short on invite expenses hahaha!
Of course, my unending thanks to my good friend, my pards, Ahbei, for helping me on this project. I really do appreciate that you took the time off from your board exam reviews to help me! Love you, my friend!

For a sneak preview, here's our 'cover'. ;)

Our Dangwa Adventure

Last Saturday, h2b and I went on a trip to Dangwa with my sister and my nanay.
I was very excited to see Dangwa and the flowers! It was my first time, eh. :p
So there, we looked muna for a safe parking area which we found in front of St. Jude College. Then we started walking.
We first headed towards the very first street that we saw with flowers alongside it. I was a bit shocked and annoyed when we started looking around and men are approaching us with nonstop spiels of "Ma'am, pa-quote kayo samen! tara na!" Though i absolutely appreciate them being very proactive on their offers, the approach is just way too blunt and kind of 'impolite'. And take note, some of the men there are very makukulit in which they would follow you around.
So there, after the men finally got tired of following us awe started asking. I was specifically looking for baby's breath flowers because of this blog that I read from one of my W@W sisters. We wanted the flowers to be simple, inexpensive but still nice as the flowers for our wedding is not really on top of our priorities. We were told then that a bundle of it costs from Php100-150 depending on how big the blooms of the flowers are (read: mas maraming bulaklak kesa dahon). I guess, the quantity of the flowers naman are reasonably numerous in one bundle, so it's okay na rin.
As we walk around, finally, I got convinced by one of the 'kuyas' there to have a quotation for our flower needs. It was Kuya Rodel Palatino of Hand Country Flower Shop. She asked first of the details of my entourage members. I told him I have 1 MoH, no bridesmaids just 3 Secondary Sponsors, 4 pairs of Principal Sponsors, 2 mothers, 2 fathers and of course the groom. I specified that I wanted wrist corsages for my ento members and the bouquet will just be for me. I told him I wanted roses for my bouquet, and gerberas for the wrist corsages then roses again for the principal sponsors. She quoted me Php3000 for the ento. Wow! "Pasok sa budget!" I thought. Then we discussed the decors for the church. SInce Our Lady of Fatima Parish church is not very spacey and the aisle is not fit for cathedral train parade, I asked for only 4 flatsprays and 2 large arrangements with stand. He also gave tips that we should not have calla lillies because they wilt faster compared to other flowers. Overall, Kuya Rodel gave me a price of Php5,300 for ento and church, with freebies like throw bouquet, bridal car bouquet and petals. I almost booked him but my sister said we should look for other possible suppliers pa with better deals. So I told kuya Rodel that we will contact him once we decide na lang.
While I was discussing with Kuya Rodel, my nanay pala has been busy with her own flower shopping. When she came back, she handed h2b at least 3 kinds of flowers in multiple bundles. She looked very pleased with her finds!

After we were done looking around that first street, we headed to the street across the first one. Here I found stall #16 which I assumed was Mang Boy's (Jurielle's ata un name ng flower shop). I went and asked the guy doing the "she loves me, she loves me not" activity on the roses' petals hehehe. He called another guy which I thought was Mang Boy pero hindi pala. Apparently, the designer was the only one there at Mang Boy's stall. We were referred to the first stall on the street to be accomodated but there was still a couple there having their package quoted. Then another couple came in (the girl was pregnant so I let her sit na lang on the chair that was provided to me). It was very hot and I felt like giving up already and just book Kuya Rodel but the man called me and said, "Miss, dito na lang tayo sa kabila." We went back to Mang Boy's but I was lead to the stall before it which was Ma. Coleen's Flower Shop, point of contact, Ate Juanita. I told her the same thing I said to Kuya Rodel. SHe quoted me Php6,500. I was somehow disappointed and maybe she saw that in my face, she asked, "Magkano bang budget mo?" I said, "Wala po kami plano lumampas sa 5k na budget para sa bulaklak, ate..." Then she said na lang, "Sige, 5,500 na. tapos add na lang natin to ng offertory flowers bukod pa dun sa mga ibang libre. Holland roses na tong mga bulaklak nito." Oha!
I was also comfortable with her, the same feeling I had while talking to Kuya Rodel. Ate Juanita's price was Php200 more but I thought about having holland variety roses for the flowers over baguio roses. Most likely, we'll have Ate Juanita for our florist, then.
On top of the florist hunting, we also found a lot of rare flowers. My nanay was very amazed. She even proclaimed, "Babalikan ko tlga to kahit linggo-linggo!"
Our trip was fruitful (or should I say flowerful). My nanay was happy with her flower buys and I am happy with my supplier finds. ^_^

"Ping-pong" flowers. They look like pingpong balls in actual.

Wedding Ring Tragedy

This is how we wanted our wedding rings to look like with very minimal alteration. Instead of all in white gold, we wanted the sides to be in yellow gold and keep the white gold on the rest.

But earlier this morning, our excitement on the wedding rings went out like *poof*. We got the two-tone requirement that we specified. But the rest of it is just, tragedy. The diamonds are too far apart with each other. Sabe ko na lang, "Baby, galit-galit yung diamonds natin, o!" And it's not just that. There are even more lapses in the quality of the rings. The lines on the sides are not smoothly created. There are a lot of "bubbles" on h2b's rings. "Dirts" are even visible. On mine, the way the diamonds were set on the gold was poorly done. The distance between the three ices are uneven. Moreso, the lines in between the stones are not there. The engravings are sketchy. It was as if a gradeschooler made his engraving project on a soap bar. To make the description short, the simple elegance of the rings that we wanted was just... not there. :(

We exceeded the budget for the wedding rings as we never wanted the quality to be sacrificed or in any way compensated with it's worth. But at this point, I can't even say that the price did justice to the final output.

This is our wedding rings we are talking about... :(

Wow, legs!

I was on my way to our office cafeteria to get some drinking water and saw this lady with a nice pair of strappy skin-toned sandals. If i was a regular guy, she would have thought I was rude to stare at her legs because I was almost drooling over the gorgeous footwear she has on hahaha!

So there goes the lady with the pretty strappies on while I headed towards the cafeteria. As I was waiting for my water bottle to get filled up, I thought about the shoes and how jealous I was of the sexy effect it had on her feet and how amazing her legs looked with it. I wondered, can I wear those high heels in a dress without looking like a tall grass in the midst of the talahiban?

I've always been jealous of girls who can wear high heels without too much effort. As for me, I feel awkward in heels. I get overly conscious with my height and skinny frame (I'm 5'7" and weighs 105lbs). When people compliment my figure and my height with, "Nagmo-modelling ka ba?" or "Bakit di ka sumali sa Bb. Pilipinas, ganda ng height mo eh!" I would usually retort with a sarcastic "Ngeh! Height lang maganda saken!" As if height is the only basis to join stuff like that, eh?

H2b always says that I should wear high heeled shoes and skirts/dresses. I'd say no because, three things:

1. As previously mentioned, looking taller than my actual height makes me feel awkward and more conscious
2. My legs have good shape, yes that may be true but its skin is ugly :( I have this peklat that has been there for ages and even with sebo de macho, it's still there!
3. I'm skinny, therefore, i have skinny legs. skinny legs are not considered nice sight. I'm going to look like an ostrich.

And with all these mentioned, I think I might have a wee bit of a problem finding THE wedding shoes. It's not going to be a walk in the park looking for gorgeous flats to match with the bridal gown noh! *sigh* Wish me luck!