Our Photo Mosaics...

Since we saw Ricky and Joy's mosaic, Paul and I agreed we'll also be having one to be displayed at the reception venue entrance. Photo Mosaic was one of the hot topics these days at Weddingsatwork Yahoogroups. Many posted links where photo mosaic maker softwares can be downloaded. After three attempts of finding the right software, I luckily stumbled upon www.ezmosaic.com and downloaded the trial version of EasyMosaic2005. Here are my masterpieces:

If you wanna see a bigger picture and view the details of this mosaic, click this one:

http://photos8.flickr.com/11323687_84083b14a3_b.jpg

Another one..

bigger picture and clearer details: http://photos8.flickr.com/11325760_1e6687e40b_b.jpg

http://photos6.flickr.com/11325761_071879af46_o.jpg

still raving on cake details...

just want to share some sample pics of how our gumpaste cake toppers will likely be..these are works of our cake artist Emily Uy of Sugarbox..check out www.ilovesugarbox.com for other sample pics.

Birth Cert., Photo and Video, Cake Details, Gowns, etc.

Birth Certificates/CENOMAR: We're just lucky enough to have somebody process and claim (in our behalf) our certified true copies of our birth certificates from NSO. These are pre-marriage requirements to be submitted at sta. rita parish and at city hall for marriage license application. We also have the application form for Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) which is also a requirement at sta. rita parish. We're just fortunate because we don't have to file a leave for this one and endure the difficulties in lining up in long queus. Ang init-init pa naman ngayon. The application form for the CENOMAR is yet to be submitted pa lang. According to some other w@wies, the processing of such takes a longer time..so that means it can't be claimed on the same day of filing. These certificates alone cost us about Php1,000+ na all in all.

Photo & Video: We've already scheduled our prenups shoot with kenneth. It'll be on May 22. As for now, we might meet one of these days to draft na the contract. I'm just quite worried because Wella, a fellow w@wie and a co-kenneth uy client, expressed reluctance over kenneth's contract specifically on the payment terms. Anyway, we really need to meet him na. Mahirap na...

Cake Details: If there's one major update that I am more happy about this week..that would be our cake details! Finally, after feeling pagka-inggit over Jacque's and other co-Sugarbox clients' raving about their wedding cake details, we met Emily yesterday at the Podium to discuss ours. At first, Paul and I didn't have an idea as to how our cake will be like..as in clueless kami as there are really lots of nice designs to choose from. We've browsed from my wedding magazines collection pero absolutely ala kaming idea. It's good that Emily made it easier for us to decide and come up with a design we all love and something to look forward to. She asked us at first, our preference on the styling of the cake..if we want a traditional, classic or an unconventional, simple one. She sketched 3 different designs and styles. First, a 3-layered one with an edible base layer and 2 top dummy layers na somewhat irregular ang shapes. The 3 layers shall be white adorned with powder blue cut-out flowers and silver beads all over with bigger blue and yellow gumpaste flowers at the base of each layers. The 3 layers shall also have 3 pairs of toppers na iba-iba ang ginagawa...like two couple standing on the top layer..two sitting couple on the 2nd and on the 3rd..a kneeling-proposing groom in front of the bride. The second cake she sketched was a typical 3 layered-one with gumpaste flower designs na gaya sa first one. The third one which I asked her to sketch is a satellite one but with the same effects as the first two.

Being young as we are..siyempre we chose one na unique pero a not-so-formal and simple lang. We chose the first cake she sketched. It'll be a three-layered chocolate walnut fondant cake with a spefications of 18" x 6" edible base layer, 14" x 6" dummy second layer which is irregular in shape, and a 10" x 6" dummy top layer na irregularly shaped din. (I know medyo mahirap pang i-visualize). What Paul and I are more excited about are the toppers. Even Emily, she's excited to do a gumpaste topper na tall na medyo "sunog" daw ang color ng groom (since dark-toned ang baby ko hehe) tapos may hati sa gitna ang hair (hairstyle ng baby ko)..and a smaller long-haired, fair-toned bride. She took our pic para may guide siya.

We also discussed about the free 24 mini-cakes..basically, they'll have the same design as our wedding cake yun nga lang different top design and alternate ang colors ng cake and accessories. (Kung blue ang cake, yellow ang accessories and vice-versa). Emily advised us na we could pay the 50% on a later month pa since tagal pa ng december kahit na we already discussed our cake details as early as now. She also informed us that her website www.ilovesugarbox.com is already up. She'll upload the pics of her clients and clients' cakes daw sa website.

Gown: We're scheduled to go to Lumban today sana to check out the coutoure whom Papa referred. She's the sister of Papa's officemate in Saudi who's willing to give us a big discount daw if we'll avail of the whole entourage gowns and barongs. We decided to postpone this since we're tired of yesterday's activities...ricky and joy's wedding at edsa shrine in the morning then went to Bulacan - it's been 40 days since Paul's Tita Clarita died...and afterwhich went to Podium to meet Emily Uy. Kaya ayun, we decided to rest muna and we just slept the whole day.

Ricky and Joy's Wedding..

Yesterday, we attended one of Paul's college barkada's wedding. It was held at Edsa Shrine and the reception was in valle verde 6. Seeing them getting married was amusing talaga. You wouldn't think na Ricky is actually marrying her Theology professor back in college. Don't get it the wrong way..they look good together. You wouldn't have the slightest hint about the age gap..in fact, the bride even looks younger than Ricky! hehe! Paul, still, is quite adjusting himself learning to address her without the word "ma'am".

Being a bride-to-be myself, I took note of everything..all in all, it was simple yet very solemn. You could see na sobrang saya ng couple...(that's the most important thing in a wedding)..

My random thoughts:

1. It was organized. They have a coordinator kaya maayos ang entourage and everything.

2. Yun nga lang, the mass didn't start on time. Medyo late both the bride and the groom.

3. Not much drama on the bridal march.."here comes the bride" yung bridal march song..pero medyo naiiyak ako..i dunno..i guess I can relate to the feeling of the bride while she's walking down the aisle. In fact, I was telling Paul.."Bi, naiiyak na ako sa wedding ng iba pano pa kaya sa mismong wedding ko?" He told me na isipin ko lang na masaya ako at excited ako. I told him.." kaya nga ako naiiyak kasi super saya at excited mararamdaman ko kasi i'll be walking down the aisle to meet you in the altar na..actually halo siya with lungkot kasi i'll be no longer be with my family na rin as ihahatid na ako ni papa.." Hay! bahala na...I'm such a crybaby pa man din.

4. The gown was simple, conservative pero ang ganda! It looks good on Joy.

5. VS&F catered the reception..dami food (buffet) and sarap! Ok din ang venue styling nila.

6. Very spacious ng reception venue.

7. Ala pala parking sa edsa shrine...you have to park at galleria pa.

8. The supposed breakfast reception started at about 11 am na.

9. I love the bubbles effect they used during the couple's entrance..they rented a bubble machine for that.

10. I love their photo mosaic..we'll be having such din..yahoo!

11. I pitied the doves while they were still in cage and even after they were let out and flew up. Yung isa nakatungtong lang sa chandelier while yung isa..naglaho..di ko nakita san na napunta.."Baby, can't we really go off this one?..naaawa talaga ako.."

12. Sayang di namin natapos ang reception since we have to rush to Bulacan pa.

13. Alang souvenir na naiuwi because of that...eat-and-run talaga hahaha!

14. Ngapala, kainis yung photographer..pinagpose pa sina paul at ng partner niya (they were candle sponsors) ng ka-sweet-an effect during the picture taking sessions. grrr! hehe selos ba? naahhh! it was just my first time to see...kaya nga sabi ko kay paul.."By, first and last na yun ha?" He answered naman, "don't worry last na yun na mag-aabay ako..dahil sa susunod ako na ang aabayan nila.." hehehe!

To Ricky and Joy...congrats and best wishes!

Sana december na para turn na namin!

My side blurbs/rant on work...

Haven't updated my blogs again for this past week..honestly, didn't have the extra time..I would be home at about 9 pm na..if ever i'm online, kulang ang 2 hours to check my email, check out new mails posted at weddingsatwork..check out who visited my blog..lurk on other w@wies' blogs, check out my friendster. Before I could create a new post, Paul would be calling me up na..siyempre we should talk and update each other of how our day was like, how we miss each other,etc ...and most importantly, have to sleep na rin for the next day's work since I'm on the earliest shift for this month - 8 am..* Toni..on the contrary ng post mo..eto super busy and stressed pa rin me sa work * Huhuhu!

I know this is not related to my wedding preps but I just want to blurt this out..Honestly, I'm not happy anymore with what's going on in our workplace. Jade (one of my co-cashiers) is assigned at Calamba Business Center on Thursdays and Fridays since the regular cashier there currently undergoes a training and tingin ko, in order for Jade to be adjusted there na rin. Jade requested the other month to be transferred to Calamba since lapit lang yun sa house nila (Pila, Laguna). Minus Jade, it'll only be Myra, Melanie and me that will be left. With the volume of customers paying for their handyphone bills and buying handsets and phonekits in our center..di kaya ng 3 cashiers to process all these..lalo na't we're the only business center located in the busy central business district of ayala where multitude of corporations are housed. What's more we're unhappy about is that our head cashier, Myra, will be tendering her resignation soon...waah! pano na yan! it'll only be me and Melanie na lang. Kung ngayon na apat pa kami nahihirapan na pano pa kaya kung 2 na lang kami..would that mean na hindi na ako uuwi ng bahay! hay! Buti sana if we're receiving support man lang sa mga colleagues namin sa center..eh nada eh! In fact, eto yung nakakadagdag sa stress namin. Sometimes even if our main cashiering responsibilities aren't finished yet, we're being pulled out to assist the customer service team. It's not that we're complaining or we're refusing or hate to help them pero sana man lang they'd let us finish our main duties first. Sometimes, we're submitting our reports na piki-mata na lang..we're supposed to check it thoroughly before submitting it to Cash Monitoring..oh well, with what's goin on..we're just awaiting for our exceptions to come..for sure dami yun. At times, if there are 9 customers waiting to be served at the customer service..they're already pressured na magpatulong..samantalang kami minsan 25 na ang waiting and the impatient subscribers are complaining and yelling at us already..deadma lang nila kami..wahh it's so unfair talaga..so inconsiderate. I can't afford to file a leave man lang because I know, it would really be difficult to whosoever will be left. I know the feeling kasi * sanay na nga ako dun * you see I was forced to file a sick leave last week kasi bumigay na katawan ko for working for 14-straight-hours almost everyday from apr 1 - 15. Hay!

I wish, they'll realize soon our worth..sana they'll learn to appreciate naman ang hard work and efforts namin..tingin kasi nila we're not doing anything. I wish maging less stressful na .. I wish makauwi naman ako ng maaga..I really wish.. :(

On a Saturday...and on weddings at work...

Finally got to update my blogs...have only been on a lurking mode in my own blogs for these past days. Didn't have much time to post or edit some features kasi nga i've been super busy with work..huhuhu 7 am to 10 pm ba naman almost everyday...buti pa labs ko mukhang pa-easy-easy lang sa work..

Anyway...kaya nga i'm really glad na saturday ngayon..got to sleep for 12 hours straight (at least naiba..di na 12 hours straight na work)..got to wake up at 11 am..got to post here at my blogs..got plenty of time to read tons of WeddingsAtWork mails here at Paul's computer shop (baby, nakaka-ilang oras na ba ako?)...got the day to spend with my labs..and syempre got plenty of time to relax!

We don't have much update on our wedding preps this week except that Lala (our florist) sent us already a copy of the contract. We're about to pay the 50% downpayment pero have something to clarify pa about the number of guest tables.

Am really blessed to stumble upon weddingsatwork yahoogroups..it's not only an online resource about wedding stuffs but also a venue for meeting new bride-to-be friends who share the same thoughts, sentiments, and even frustrations as they prepare for their wedding. In my case, I've met plenty of w@wie friends (i've linked them up here at my blogs) already and katuwa lang talaga kasi sobrang maasahan mo sila whatever wedding and minsan, non-wedding concerns you may have. (hello sa inyo lalo na kay fellow KFC-fanatic-bride-to-be Jacque!)

Btw, I feel so sorry talaga sa isang fellow w@wie na nasunugan lately..si sweety..we also got to exchange emails before since we have the same photographer and videographer. *am glad you're doing ok sweety*

Goofy couple..

This is what Paul and I love doing in front of our phone cameras:





Goofing around!!!!

Feeling Better...

I went to Patients First this noon to have my check up for my recurring UTI..felt relieved 'coz the urinalysis test says that's it just mild, i guess, it's because of the intake of much water for these past few days. Since I'm still experiencing some lower back pains and unusual discomfort when urinating, the doctor gave me an antibiotic to take for the whole week. Hopefully, will get well soon.

I was overwhelmed with what Paul did for me last night. As I've posted yesterday, I was supposed to be with them (our HS barkada) for an overnight gimik. Since I was not feeling well and wanted to rest, I just let Paul join them since such gimik rarely happens. Like us, four of them have tight schedule with work while two of them are medical students. I know it was hard for Paul to leave me at home..siyempre gusto niyang alagaan din ako. But then, I know din naman how he really wanted to join this gimik. So, in as much as I wanted na pigilan siya, i just let him leave (lunch time) promising he'll be back today as early as he could..with a pasalubong. At about 9:30 last night and as I was watching TV Patrol..to my surprise (as in surprised ako..no text or call)..he's home! yun nga lang alang pasalubong. Anyway, at least, he's beside me para alagaan ako..hehe feeling baby talaga ako. :) so caring talaga..kaya nga my mood today is "loved" eh..kaya din siguro I got better. hay! can't wait 'til 12.17. :)

Stressed and sick!

Yes I am..huhuhu!

Having been working for almost about 12 hours a day (7am-7pm) for this past week made me feel so tired and sick today..non-stop kasi ang pagbabayad at pagbili ng mga phones ng Globe subscribers eh..i know i should be happy with this and shouldn't be ranting about it 'coz I'm paid to do my task but then it's just difficult since my co-cashiers and I barely have time for our CR breaks or even munch something for a merienda. Non-stop kasi pagdagsa ng mga corporate payments eh..oh well, no choice naman eh since we're the only business center that's surrounded by the corporate offices sa Ayala..(we're located at Ayala Triangle) kaya talagang dami magbabayad samin.

sayang! we have an overnight gimik today pa man din with our HS barkada at Astoria..kaya ayun..ala tuloy kasama si paul. While me, am stuck at home nursing myself..drinking lots of water..coz my UTI recurred again..waahhh! ala na ba itong katapusan?!?!?!?

blogsite's getting better...

Am just so happy with the improvements of my blogsite..customized the sidebars, linked our wed suppliers (with pictures), edited font style and alignment of some texts, added blinking text, added unkymoods, linked 18 fellow wawies' and 2 friends' blogs and of course added a music nook! hahaha! My efforts..my persistence.. paid off..at siyempre (sige na nga) <--hehe napilitan.. with the help of my fiance...he taught me some codes kaya gumanda na siya! And watch out for many more revisions..will try to change the layout soon.. :)

Finally! got a florist/events stylist..

Just got home! Paul and I met Lala Baldelovar of Interplay Flowers and Events Specialists at Rockwell this morning. Haha! it's not that obvious naman na excited ako noh? Just got home and here I am raving agad about my florist. O well, am excited talaga kasi finally..after our not-so-successful trips to Dangwa and not-so-favorable exchange of negotiations with other suppliers...we've found our angel na! yahoo!

We've already met Lala during the NBC Tent Bridal Fair last March. She explained to us their packages and showed us their portfolios. But I don't know..I was not that attentive and interested pa in scouting florists kaya ala lang ..just listened and got their brochure and free cd. I thought kasi madali lang ang maghanap ng florist and i have set my mind that time to get mang boy of dangwa for the entourage flowers and Ria Madamba (in-house stylist of Rembrandt) for the reception. To my dismay, twice naming di naabutan si mang boy sa dangwa on a sunday. Quite busy talaga ang sked namin ni Paul eh..weekdays busy at work..saturdays bantay kami sa computer shop ni Paul..that's the reason why on sundays lang namin naasikaso ang wedding preps (usually). On Ria naman, one big disappointment talaga. Una, she's really hard to get in touch with...she's always on an appointment. Second, I've requested a lot of times from her to send us her quotation for their services..pero naka-ilang tawag, email at text na ako sa kanya..abay siya lang ata ang nakita kong supplier na hindi interested sa client! Sayang, I got a referral from a W@wie pa man din who held their reception at rembrandt and got Ria as their stylist. Sabi niya magaling si Ria and ok talaga na siya ang kunin since in-house stylist siya ng rembrandt and more or less she's familiar on how to decorate the ballroom and familiar siya sa mga facilities. Sabi pa nga nung nagrefer, malakas si Ria sa rembrandt kaya nakakuha siya ng ibang freebies and waived fees from rembrandt. well anyway, ok lang...it's not my loss naman di ba? Kahit na alang waived fees basta importante magaling ang makukuha ko...

And that's Lala! I'm pretty confident with her styles and works..i've seen sample bouquets and set-ups sa site nila..and voila! I just found what I'm looking for tlaga..ang gaganda ng yellow and blue flowers niya (match talaga sa motif namin)..sobrang gaganda dn ng mga arrangements. At siyempre what Paul and I like best is yung rates niya! cheaper compared sa iba considering she'll use mostly imported varieties of yellow flowers... super daling kausap! and she's really prompt in replying to my sms and email queries.

Kaya ayan, have to update my wedding preps checklist..one down..musicians/entertainers next!

So far, here's what we've accomplished:
1. Bridal Car - booked ADeB
2. Cake - booked Emily Uy Sugarbox (yet to set an appointment for cake details discussion)
3. Church - booked Sta. Rita de Cascia Parish (PhilamHomes Subd, QC)
4. Florist - booked Interplay Flowers and Events Stylist
5. Gift Favors - bought materials for our guests souvenirs
6. Hair and Make-up - booked Clamar
7. Photographer/Videographer - booked Kenneth and Nelwin Uy
8. Reception - booked Rembrandt
9. Wedding Paraphernalias: Arrhae - bought Unity Coins
10. Wedding Paraphernalias: Unity Candle - booked Interplay

8-9 months prior to our Wedding here are our To Do's:
1. Church Requirements - will process by August
2. Coutourier - have the designs but will talk it over to Tita Wing some time August pa siguro
3. Entourage gowns - will scout coutorier pa sa Bulacan
4. Gift Favors - still scout for the male PS's, female PS's, entourage, parents
5. Guestlist - still drafting (hirap nito ah..promise!)
6. Guest Sheets - pa prenups muna para may pic na ilalagay dun..I will be the one who'll make this
6. Hair Accessories- my tiara and other clips kung meron man..wala pa..still looking for a very nice one
7. Invitation - (DIY) invites to be done by Paul..will finalize the guest list first
8. Missalette - will ask Sta. Rita about this
9. Musicians - still scouting
10.Photo - AVP - haven't started c/o Anna
11. Prenups Shoots - some time in May
11. Rings - c/o Papa..latest news they've canvassed already in some jelwery stores in Saudi but haven't found the one we like
12. Shoes - la pa
13. Special Effects - no idea yet..
14. Wedding Accessories - will buy materials pa for the cord..I will be the one who'll make this hehehe!

still long way (and time) for preps! kaya di pa me panic mode! :p