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/

Cel and I, along with my bro VJ took off early from Pasay to QC to see Iko (our beautician) and have Cel’s hair and makeup done. Iko did a really astounding job! nagmukha talagang artista si Cel!

It took quite a while and we arrived at the La Mesa Ecopark at around 9am. Redefine got there first and were waiting for us. Upon our arrival, Kuya Jayson swiftly assisted us in getting approval from the Ecopark management to shoot our prenups there. The sun was blazing hot and for a while, I got worried that hard light would drown our photos. Hirap pang ngumiti! But kuya jayson had other things in mind. He had his technique, his new poses for us were awesome, and the results were unbelievable and we were just getting started!

Medyo naubusan kaming lahat ng lakas after the sun-dehydrating poses (which were all worth it naman) so we wasted no time grabbing some iced tea! gumuhit talaga sa lalamunan!

we drove to UP from ecopark for lunch at chocolate kiss. Nahirapan kaming ubusin yung large servings kasi talagang sinaktan na namin yung bottomless iced tea sa sobrang pagod at uhaw. the sun really took a lot out of our energy so after lunch, we retreated a bit and took time out. idlip muna kami while iko worked on cel’s re-makeup and new hairstyle for the next part of the shoot.

No, we didnt go to the oble. (may bayad na raw dun at mahal) but it worked good for us though. a few days ago, we got a bit frustrated being unable to make reservations at intramuros because of an ongoing event there. we really wanted the old stone walls, but kuya jayson turned us to the red brick walls of the UP film center… and again.. the poses… nyahaha! asteeeeg! yung jumpshots namin dun na rin, and we also made use of the rusty gates behind the UP theater as background.. nagsimula na rin umambon by then which worried me again pero God is good talaga, hindi naman tumuloy.

We took more shots along the acad oval and then walked towards the trees near the entrance to the ampitheater. things were really looking good and we could have taken more at that area but we had a sunset to catch at baywalk to we hopped into our vehicles and hit the road towards baywalk.

buti na lang and traffic was pretty good, iko retouched cel’s make up while i drove. we got there just in time to set up and find a good spot. pagod na talaga kami dito but we really didn’t mind. minsan lang magprenups! and we’re glad we managed to wield good shots. the toughest part were the slow shutter shots though. while cel and i were holding each other close looking at each other or even kissing FOR A STEADY 5 SECONDS, we literally caused traffic along roxas blvd as vehicles would slow down to watch us. some would even honk their horns at us, or tease us pero di na lang talaga namin pinakialaman. what do they care anyway? the difficult thing was as vehicles slowed down, we couldn’t get the streak of light we wanted for our background. we’d wait for the vehicles behind us to go by fast but they won’t go fast. they slow down and watch!

we called it a day after the slow shutter poses. everybody REALLY needed a well-deserved rest.

Big shout to all those who made this possible:
Kuya Jayson and Kuya Jun of Redefine Weddings for the ASTEEEG shots. Highly recommended hands down.
Jo Anne for booking a sked that matches ours and confirming our sked.
Our prayers for Zeb’s recovery.
VJ and Gaile for the assistance, buhat, and being backup photogs hehehehe!
Iko for making Cel truly a knockout! super ganda talaga!
Cel, luv u! Ü
our parents din of course.
God, thanks po talaga!

Where are the photos then? you may ask. stay tuned. we’ll put SOME of them here and we’ll post a link to Redefine’s blog when they become available.

Soon!

We have finished writing Our Story! Sorry medyo napahaba. Hehehe!
Read it here!

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!

View our Flickr

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.

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…

Manila Pavillion (Waterfront Hotel Manila).

• Affordable. Rate for a suite was waaaay below the budget allocation. This gives us a good amount to spend on other things for our wedding particularly music which is our next stop.
• Very close to our venue. Traffic is light to moderate to and from our venue. Abot-tanaw yung mismong venue from the hotel.
• Rooms, hallways, stairs, and the lobby are photogenic. I believe in the artistic prowess of our photographers and the walang-keme posing by Cel. Hehehe!
• Spacious. Suites can accommodate up to 10 pax.
• After the wedding, it’s going to be a good place to ‘relax’. Yehe!

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!

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.

We scheduled a trip to Divisoria to find the material for our female abays. Since it was mama who knows the specific spot at Divisoria to buy tela, she tagged along with us.

It was pretty tough looking for the right shade of our motif but after going through the narrow walks of the place, we eventually were able to find them, and we found them in only one shop!

(Cel) and mama also tried to inquire about potential dressmakers who can offer services at a cheap price. We also tried to find materials for our invitations since we finally decided that we are going to make them ourselves. Jayvee (Vinz’s sister) is a whiz in DIY stuff and she is very much willing to “weave” for us. Jayvee doing our invitations will help us largely with our budget. (Vinz) will be doing the layout of the invitations so we also visited wedding invitation makers at Divisoria and inquired about their rates without them knowing that we’re just in there to gather ideas. Hehe! We too might be getting into the invitation design biz soon. Who knows?

There were also a lot of wedding souvenir items from candles to figurines to goblets… While (Vinz) was having crazy thoughts like Rubik’s cubes in mind since we are both into cubes, (Cel) and mama inquired further and found some good deals (which we won’t disclose yet, we want our souvenirs to be a surprise).

We still plan to go back there. We have only dug halfway.

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!

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.