Wedding Kwento

Finally found the time to blog after all the wedding madness. So here are my November – December updates.

November 29, 2008 – Grand Finals of the Red Horse Beer Muziklaban. We spent the whole day at the Marikina Sports Complex monitoring the event. Mac arrived to join me at around 7pm and we positioned ourselves in the special passes area to be able to get a good view of Sepultura’s performance. However when Sepultura started to perform, it started to rain so we had to go back to the VIP area. We also got the chance to meet and have our pictures taken with the band and I got a signed Sepultura jersey from them. Got home at 5am already.
Dec 1 to 5 – Start of my leave from work to be able to prepare for the wedding. My mom and I went to most of the suppliers to finalize details for the wedding so everything will go smoothly during the day.
Dec 6 – Wedding day. Woke up at 5:30am (Guess I was excited haha). Called up my bridesmaids to wake them all up specially since most of them will be coming from Manila.
Supplier ratings and kwento:
Marie (Make-up artist) – She was the first supplier to arrive at the house. She started doing my make up at around 9am. Her make-up was simple and just right for me. Although I had doubts if she would be able to finish all the make-up of my bridesmaids, she was still able to pull through. I also had two different looks – one for the ceremony with all my hair up and one during the reception where I had my hair down. She was a big help, even when I was putting on the gown and veil. She stayed even during the ceremony for all the retouch.
Bong (Flowers) – Bong is one of my mom’s friends who always help her with the flower arrangements at our church. I loved my bouquet. Even the arrangements in the church were amazing. There were real fruits and flowers along the aisle. The Flower girls also looked cute with the flowers in their hair. I also loved the unique bridal car where instead of flowers, he placed two bears representing the bride and groom. The bears were so cute because they were wearing a suit and a gown also. I have never seen our church made up like it was during the wedding. It was really amazing. Bong also did the cord, put accents in the pen, the lighters, the candles… Everything was just so beautiful to look at.
Classic Unlimited Strings (Music) – Their singers sounds nice and they were able to play all the songs that we requested. They were also able to play “So Close” which was a last minute request.
Fernando’s Bakery (Cake) – The cake was enormous. It also tasted good. Mac just had a little difficulty cutting the cake because he didn’t know where to cut it.
La Familia (Catering) – I wasn’t really able to taste all the food because we didn’t get the chance to really eat but from guest’s feedback the food was ok. The lechon was the one that got rave reviews but the lechon came from my brother. Mac said that the cheesecake was not as crunchy as compared to when we had the food tasting. One complaint I have from them is that they did not serve the drinks early so when the toast was being done, there were nothing in their glasses to toast. Also, they did readily serve the beer, I had to approach one waiter to instruct them to bring it out. And since they served it late, we didn’t consume everything. I asked my cousin to retrieve the beer that was not drank but they didn’t return anything. In short, they stole my beer which really pissed me off. In terms of arrangement during the reception, they did an okay job
Francis Reyes (coordinator and host) – he did a nice job in organizing things. Even when I lost the garter, he found a way to bring it to me. But I have to mention that he had my cousins’ help in the coordination. He also sang at the wedding. Francis also provided the fireworks, they were okay but I wish they had better choreographed the fireworks so that there is no lag in between
The Greenery (Reception) – they delivered on all they had promised to give us. And they were accommodating during the wedding. They even opened the lights for the lighthouse area.
Diko Gener (Ring Supplier) – He was able to adjust the rings and give us what we described.
East Digital (Photo/Video) – They arrived on time and they were fast in giving us our pictures from the wedding. The photographers were very friendly so we were at ease and felt comfortable posing with them.
Fr. Monic (Officiating Priest) – He met with us days before the wedding to walk us through what will happen during the ceremony itself. It really helped us be prepared for the wedding as we didn’t have any idea where to stand and what to do.
So the wedding turned out great, the weather was great and all the people had a wonderful time. It was a very memorable event.
The next day, Mac and I went back to Manila to fix all the stuff that we have to bring on our honeymoon to Hong Kong. On the NLEX, I got caught overspeeding for the first time which really pissed me because of the hassle that it will cause. But since I couldn’t do anything about it I just gave up my license and planned to claim it when we get back from our honeymoon.
The next five days we spent in Hong Kong for our honeymoon. We had fun going around the city and even visiting Macau albeit the bird flu outbreak and me getting sick for one night, we still managed to go to all the places we wanted to. I was mostly excited and happy for Mac because it was his first time to go out of the country.
Right now, we’re happily adjusting to married life and so far everything has been just a wonderful adventure. =)

Bridal Shower

My friends from the office threw me a bridal shower last Nov. 21. They were so good that until the last minute I didn't figure out where we were going.

We went to a place called Club Maginoo. The name scared me already. The shower was WILD!

We did some games where we had to mold things (wink wink) from clay, put condoms on cucumbers, play with hotdogs, moment of truth type of questions. After all of the activities, they blindfolded me, tied up my hands and then all of a sudden they all started screaming. I couldn't see anything but I could feel someone brushing up against me. That's when I figured that it was stripper time. Everyone got a lap dance from the strippers that Miles chose.

I'm posting the more decent pictures here, the other ones are too incriminating to post. (haha)

Buknoy

For the past several years, we've had an "alaga" in the house. His name is Buknoy, he's the son of our katulong. He's been with us since he was 7 months old and since we don't have a kid at home, Buknoy was treated like a real family member.

But this December, they will be going home to their province since his parents have earned enough to be able to build a house and start their life there.

I will miss Buknoy....

Guestbook layout

Got to see our guestbook layout for our approval before our supplier prints it. It's cute. Makes me want to just keep it and not have guests sign it. hehe

Might just have it reprinted so we can have a clean copy. =)

Here it is:







Tarpaulin:

THEY ARE COMING!!!

Actual Wedding Invitation

Wedding Ring

Got our wedding rings yesterday. Too bad I wasn't able to take a better picture of it as I only had my cellphone camera to take the pictures.

I don't know the technical terms on how to properly describe it but it's two-toned with gold on the sides and sandblast in the middle with small diamonds.

Wedding Preps Update

1. Last Sunday, Mac and I with Ate Jeng (my cousin who will sponsor our wedding cake) and Ate Cel (her sister) went to Fernando’s bakery to meet with Pinky, our chosen cake supplier. My cousins and Pinky go way back. She was Ate Jeng’s batchmate back in high school so they knew each other already. I was surprised to find out that Pinky is now the cake maker for several GMA 7 artists. We finally decided on how the cake will look like (unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it and I couldn’t find one that looks like it in the net). So here are the spex of our cake:

a. 5 layers of all edible cake.
b. Flavors will be chocolate, mocha and cheesecake. The cheesecake will be at
the bottom so that’s what we will slice during the wedding, it’s cheesecake because they said it’s bad luck to slice a dark cake, so the chocolate will be at the top.
c. The side of the cake will be decorated with fresh flowers and grapes
d. Pinky will also decorate the goblet, fork and knife that we will use (for free).

I also wanted to have a bread bar and chocolate fountain, but of course, we will have to pay for that. Will just see if we have extra money for this.

2. We also went to the reception venue so Ate Jeng can have an idea of how the venue will look like since she will be the one directly working with our OTD coordinator. I also met the OTD coordinator/host for our wedding. He’s gay but I think he is decent. My mom got him because she has seen how he did in other wedding events that she has attended and according to her, Francis (the coordinator) is a relative of ours. We will set up a meeting sometime soon to discuss specifics regarding the wedding program.

3. My mom has started doing the DIY souvenirs. Our souvenirs will be shot glasses that she will decorate with a red ribbon. We will put kisses inside the glasses. Mac and I just have to have transparent stickers printed in Robee stickers as tags for the souvenirs.

4. Production of the invitation is ongoing and we’re expecting to get it by the 2nd week of October (can’t wait). The misallette’s layout has also been approved. The guest list is already with the supplier for printing in the invitations. To date, I have 295 guests.

5. We have already booked with Classic Unlimited Strings to be the performers during the wedding. I assigned Mac to look at their repertoire to choose the songs that they should play during the wedding. The only thing I have decided on is my bridal march which will be Lea Salonga’s Two Words and Jesu, Joy of Man’s desiring for the entourage march.

6. We have also finished with the pre-nups and has submitted our pics to our photo video supplier for the wedding AVP. We just have to choose 20 pictures from our pre-nup to include in the tarpaulin and the guestbook.

7. We have also bought wines to give out to the principal sponsors. For the secondary sponsors, initially I wanted cakes however my mom didn’t agree with it because the cake might melt and most of my secondary sponsors are coming from Manila so this one I still haven’t decided on.

8. Had the trial hair and make-up with Marie, my make-up artist during the wedding. I liked how she did my make-up. Anyway, Marie has been doing my make-up ever since grade school so she knows what I like.

9. We’ve also talked with my Tita Angie (also one of my principal sponsors) so we can borrow their Mercedes Benz car to use as my bridal car. At least that’s one less expense.

10. Mac and I has also visited his jeweler uncle to describe how we want our wedding rings done. He also took our ring finger sizes. I asked Mac about it yesterday and he said our rings are already being made.

Hmm…that’s it for now for things that we’ve done. On the to-do list are the following (Aside from those I’ve already mentioned above):

1. Talk to the caterer to do the taste test and negotiate so that she won’t charge corkage fee. We also need to finalize the menu. Hope the package covers for a salad bar.

2. Buy gifts for the secondary sponsors

3. Buy a bath robe which I will use during the bridal preparations

4. Get our confirmation certificates, baptismal certificates from our parishes.

5. Get marriage license and have our parents sign the parental advise form since we are both 25years old this is required.

6. Attend the pre-wedding seminar

7. Visit our officiating priest for the traditional “Dulog” and confession

8. Buy a washing machine (hehe. This seems off-topic. But my parents said that they don’t want me to be bringing home my dirty laundry to Bulacan anymore after I’m married so they are adding a laundry area to the townhouse where Mac and I can do our laundry. My mom has also talked to someone who can do the laundry and ironing for us and we just have to pay her monthly.)

I guess that’s it for now. Whew, that’s a long post!!!

Pre-Nuptial Pics

Mac and I were never really big on pictures. In the 4 years that we were together we only have a handful of decent pictures. We love to travel but we're too lazy to take pictures. So when our official photographers for the wedding told us that we had to provide pictures of us as a couple, we found it hard to look for decent ones. When we showed my mom the pictures that we have, she didn't like it. And since the package for the pre-nup only included a studio shoot (we didn't want to pay extra for an outdoor shoot...hehe, kuripot) my mom got hold of a photographer to shoot us outdoor. The outdoor shoot was not scheduled, it was just my Mommy Lina's birthday and she happened to have a photographer in the event which we stole for several hours to take our outdoor pictures. So in addition to the studio
pre-nups taken today we also had outdoor pics to include in the guestbook.

It was so much fun. I just didn't realize how taxing it is to be a photo shoot model. hehe.




















More pictures at our wedsite http://minoza-antonio.weddingannouncer.com and at my multiply site elaineantonio.multiply.com

Almost two months to go before the wedding!!! Can't wait!!!

Red Horse Beer Supports its Endorser Ely Buendia and the Eraserheads

Since the organizers for the reunion concert didn't want sponsors, we decided to take matters into our own hands and help out the fellow rakistas who wants to attend the concert but do not have the money to buy the tickets. We bought a lot of patron tickets (and I mean a lot!) and gave it away to different rock communities in exchange for wearing the Red Horse Beer t-shirt supporting our endorser Ely Buendia.

Controls for this was hard but we still pulled through in the end and there were a lot of people wearing the t-shirts. hehe.

The ticket


Some of the people wearing the t-shirts




The team who made it happen

Red HOrse Beer Muziklaban Raffle Promo

You can drop off your entries at the San MIguel Head Office - 40 San Miguel Ave. Ortigas Center (behind Megamall bldg. B). Or any San Miguel Brewery Sales Offices, just look for the allocated drop boxes.

There are also drop boxes in selected 7-11 outlets.

The ipods are 3rd gen IPOD nanos. 8 gig.

Put the tansans in an envelope (brown envelope if you wanna be sure that it won't break). Write your name, address, contact number outside.

Sali na! Good luck to us all!

Eraserheads Reunion Concert and Third Eye Blind for San MIguel Beer Oktoberfest

Third Eye Blind is coming to the Philippines for a special concert during the San Miguel Beer Oktoberfest kick off on September 5. The event will be held in San Miguel Ave. Tickets will be sold (will check where it is available). But i'm sure tickets are just priced around 300 pesos or so - unlike the other foreign concerts where tickets are sold at 1,000 pesos and up.

Aside from Third Eye Blind, San Miguel Beer will also try to beat the Guinness World Record for the longest beer bar. So let's all participate to be able to create a world record.

People might get confused on why Oktoberfest is starting on September (as opposed to previous years when it was held on October), If i'm not mistaken, the reason for this is that since Filipinos celebrate Christmas early (as early as September), San MIguel Beer wants to get in on the celebrations. Hmm... so then shouldn't it be called Berfest? or Beerfest? hehe... Something to consider.



Moving on to my next topic.... Regarding the Eraserheads concert, since I heard about it last July I have been in talks with the organizers if our brand can come in as sponsor. However, just last Friday I received a call that the concert might not be pushing through because the sole sponsor was not able to get the necessary permits for the concert. So if we were still interested (which we were) we could come in and take over. However, as much as I would like to participate, our budget would just not allow it (hint: total talent fees for the band exceeds most of the talent fees for foreign acts).

On Monday I heard a new sponsor has taken over which was good however tickets will now be sold. Who is the sponsor? They haven't yet announced but tickets are being sold in ticketworld at 800+ for general admission and 1,300+ for a ticket a little closer to the VIP section. There are several rumors as to who the sponsors are - first is Sony BMG. It's just been confirmed that sponsors will be MTV Philippines. well, at least the concert is still on. Too bad I might not be able to watch...