Finally, natapos din. This was actually one of our most awaited events apart from the wedding itself, and so far, we are just sooo glad we definitely made the right choice picking Redefine Weddings. Kuya Jayson (and his wingman, Kuya Jun) just blew us out of the water with their creativity, technique, and their tropa approach. And best of all, the shots… Asteeeeeeg! \m/
Our Story
We have finished writing Our Story! Sorry medyo napahaba. Hehehe!
Read it here!
More of our photos on Flickr
We have uploaded more of our photos after digging our digital baul in this computer. Feel free to browse through and see Vinz’s magic bigote and Cel’s short hair. Walang tatawa! 
Strings will be it
To both of us, strings would be the most appropriate music for our garden wedding. We’ve seen it in action during Ate Kenne’s wedding in 2006 and were left in awe with how the music carried through the entire ceremony.
We tried making calls, surfed the net and asked for quotations and repertoires from various ensembles until our choices were narrowed down to one last – Beatitudes String Ensemble.
We met with Sir Lito (of Beatitudes) at The Trinoma to discuss further details on their services. Gladly, we found out that among other ensembles with inquired from, they offered the lowest rate for a quartet to play in our ceremony, not to mention a great list of arrangements and pieces to choose from. Additionally, with his long-standing experience in the wedding music business, he’s familiar with Christian weddings and its difference from Catholic weddings. Sir Lito handed us a sampler CD of his solo violin performance with a keyboardist that we eagerly listened to when we got home.
Upon hearing the first measure of the sampler, we were smiling ear-to-ear thinking about the quality and type of music that would set the mood of our wedding ceremony. Here’s one thing to look forward to on D-Day.
Hotel ba?
For all we know, part of the important preps just a few hours before the ceremony begins happens in a hotel room. Here are a few things we tried to consider in choosing the hotel to make a reservation at:
- Affordable(syempre). It doesn’t have to be 5-star or even 4-star as long as it meets the criteria below. We’re ‘trying’ to be conscious about our budget.
- At least a short drive from the venue itself. Big plus if the route from the hotel to the venue and vice versa is traffic-free.
- Photogenic rooms, particularly the window(s). Wedding photographers love taking shots of the bride looking by the window, available light falling upon the bride’s face, etc. Just ask our photographer, Kuya Jayson of Redefine Weddings. =)
- Spacious. We’ll have a pretty large crew working with us inside the room. Cel and her make-up artists and hairstylists, the parents and bridesmaids to be applied make-up on, our two photographers and their lightmen, Cel’s taga-takbo, etc. It’s going to be one huge party in there!
- Post-wedding ‘alam niyo na’ Hehe! We’d still really want a spot we can enjoy ourselves together after all the wedding fracas. Kahit toxic, we’ll try. =)
Choices:
- Manila Hotel
- Sofitel
- Diamond Hotel
- Bayview Park Hotel
- Traders Hotel
- Century Park Hotel
- Manila Pavillion
And the winner is…
Feb 8 Roundup
by Vinz
It’s a hunt for our principal sponsors! We already got to talk to Kuya Sonny and Ate Lyn (and also got their daughter Sabrina to be one of our flower girls in the process), and then just this morning, Cel managed to talk to Dr. Bart.
Then in the afternoon, Cel and I dropped by my MTC Academy-Taft where I used to work with several goals to accomplish. (1) Visit old colleagues and also my former boss, (2)Request a Certificate of Employment and (3) ask Sir Philip and Dra. Risa to be among our principal sponsors. Though Dra. Risa wasn’t around, Sir Philip gladly accepted our request. We also had a pretty good chitchat about several things including a lot of good advices regarding wedding preparation with Doc Leo.
We were about to head to Cel’s couturier but we opted to go to Robinsons Manila first and purchase our chosen give-aways. Nope, we won’t tell you what it is right now but it sure is not close to conventional 
We hope our guests will like them.
We met Cel’s couturier after dinner where she handed the design she chose for her gown. Ang masasabi ko lang, maganda. Hehe! Till next time!
Scouring Divi
For the tight-budgeted couples looking for a great bargain on items and services for their upcoming weddings, Divisoria can be a mound of treasure just waiting to be scoured. What you need is a huge dose of patience and a critical eye for quality.
Legalisasyon at Basbas
We have chosen Uncle Ric (Vinz’s uncle) to be the officiating pastor for our wedding on the 25th of May! We made the call and he agreed! We’re very happy!
Traje
Searching for a hardcore couture capable of creating a brilliant wedding gown is one of the most crucial activities in preparation for a wedding. Sure there are a lot of designers out there who can deliver but budget-wise, we believe that this is a portion where we can negotiate for a price we can afford.
(Cel) already has a design in mind that (she) wants for (her) gown and has gone from mananahi to mananahi asking for a quote. We have also asked for recommendations from friends and some of her batchmates who got married just recently. After several days of searching, it looks like (Cel) has found the right designer who has offered services within the budget we have set for (her) gown. We’ll post more on this as we have finalized negotiations and when fitting begins.
