where to? where to? where to?

I thought 1 year and a half into blogging, googling here and there was considered the workings of an OC OC kinda overly eager bride. I thought it was enough, I thought my research was extensive compared to others and I thought I've read one too many blogs, forums and boards to last me a lifetime.. Boy, I was wrong..so far, here's our journey to finding that perfect church and venue combo..

-We attended a food tasting at a venue here in Fairview, but it was too expensive for us so we didnt bother calling them up again.

-I searched and searched and searched and came upon Village Patio.Sad to say however, that though we were expecting discounts and kinda a better first meeting and occular, it didnt go as well as planned so we had to keep it in a shelf as an alternate option only

-I stumbled upon quidos catering and looked for some of the venues that they usually catered to.

1.Pinaglabanan Church- It is accessible from both Ortigas and Aurora, but the church was kinda hot for my taste so h2b and I scheduled another occular in...

2.Sta Clara De Montefalc0 and Tanghalang Pasigueno- the biggest disappointment so far. both places were extremely beautiful and our guests would go gaga for sure..aside from the fact that they'd go gaga looking for them too. Though we were able to find both, it took us a few lucky turns, instinct and stops to ask for direction....such a downer.hayst..

3. Makati Parks and Garden- I originally wanted this but after seeing the hall in Sta Clara and Patio Ibarra, my heart wasnt in it anymore.besides, the terrible experience with the rude soldier in St Michael Archangel in taguig made me cross out this option entirely....

The Sta Clara trip happened only today and I was so blue that I suddenly decided to drop by Patio Ibarra in Quezon Avenue..At first glance, the rate was more expensive..but looking closely, it was actually at par with Quidos- after adding up additional charges..So this leads us to another scouting for a church near it.

A few visits here and there and I'm already weary of the process..

As of now, we have two options

1. Pinaglabanan + their hall + quidos or madel's catering

2. Patio Ibarra plus a few churches that we'll visit on friday.

tah-tah future brides..best of luck to us!

Goodbye Bridezilla and Hello Practical me!

Many changes have happened regarding our plans and hence many many updates regarding our planning!

1. We decided to limit our guest list to 150, 170 tops. Price per pax that is within our budget, which ranges from 400-500 and with my initial list of 250 and more it can seriously make a dent in our pocket. After much consideration, we thought that it would be best to just invite a few people to the reception and invite the rest to a post wedding celeb in our house.

2. I have always set my heart on Village Patio but options have cropped up and now, we might go for Quidos catering + a venue where they have been to before, so that they can help us regarding the choosing process..

Even prior to the pamamanhikan dami nang pagbabago so I pondered on the wedding preps..I thought I'd be an OC bride..and I believe that I still am and yet..I asked myself a few questions and here are now some guidelines I follow/ask myself each time I/We deal with wedding details.

1.Go for freebies. I've been browsing and looking around for cake designs and prices but many caterers, including our target Quidos catering include cake in their package. It's not top of the line and only the bottom layer is edible, but still, it's free. The cake itself might only be worth 3k tops, but premier cake designers ask for 8k-15k depending on the design. I know its well worth it, but I'd still prefer to save 10,000 pesos or more than to have an extravagant cake...

Which brings me to my next point...

2. Does it really mean a lot to you?
I was chitchatting with an acquaintance today and out of all the expenses for their wedding, she is more willing to shell out money for their wedding rings than anything else. I would love to have a 21k gold wedding ring embellished with diamonds...but comes a budget tricky situation, I would forego it so that we can afford a nice photo and video package..which for me, is more important than the bands we will wear. My main point then is, go for something expensive/pricey if it means a lot to you and forego nice to haves that are impractical or can be replaced by better alternatives.

Third...

3. Set your priorities straight and check how many splurges and nice to have items you have. You might say that the rings are really important to us. And the p/v supplier. and the caterer. and the gown. and the photobooth...and the list goes on. At a first glance, everything might seem necessary but think very very hard about it. For example, I was initially keen on getting the HMUA of a highschool batchmate because he worked well. But then, his services cost 5 figures for me alone and it didnt seem worth it next to the fact that we only spend 4 figures on our rings.

Last, be realistic.

4. I remember a friend telling me that they just set their budget to 200k. But then they chose an expensive venue in pasig. Got diamong white gold rings. invited 200 people. got wedding coordinators, and so on. I believe that the process should be the other way around- list all possible expenses first, canvass for prices, then make amends here and there to make it fit the budget and not the other way around- setting a budget first only to realize its impossible is kinda wrong. For example, for us, our current budget is around 250k, which at the moment does not accommodate budget for OTD so I'm not yet sure about that...but if our pockets permit,,we might just get one...

Hope this helps future brides and grooms..Happy preps!

Every Day is a new day!-My Checklist 11 months before the wedding

How time flies! It has been 2 weeks since I put the countdown to the wedding and seriously, all I've accomplished from then till now is:
-h2b and I have talked to Dad
-I've got leaflets of the churches
-occulars of the back-up venue and church
-initial occular and meeting with the caterer venue

Well, come to think of it, that's actually a lot..haha, However, it's already May and 11 months nalang to go! My mom, who seems oh-so-proud of the fact that she was able to accomplish her wedding preps in 2 weeks will raise her eyebrows, but in today's time wherein there are a gazillion things to do, I hope we will be able to accomplish many things this month in terms of wedding preps..I do have a list and timeline and for those who might be interested, here are things that I hope to accomplish this May, 11 MONTHS BEFORE THE WEDDING

1.The Pamamanhikan- I've heard of some couples doing the pamamanhikan at a much later time, wherein it was just a formality and the date, venue and church have been set by the couple and they just inform them of the details. We, however, want to include our parents in the decision making of these 3.

2.Oculars before Reservations
I've familiarized myself with the target churches and venues but it's still different to actually be there for the purpose of doing an inspection, taking notes and asking questions. I have an appointment tomorrow at Village Patio and I'm hoping to do another one in Makati Parks and Garden plus St Michael Archangel.

3.Downpayment and Reservations-Money always makes things more real. haha. I hope that after the Pamamanhikan, we'd be able to finalize things and dent our pocket to make the reservations for the church and the venue. BTW, most churches require a 50% dp while venues require 10,000 and up reservation.

There there..come june, I'll have another set of goals and Hope all goes well in our checklist

P.S. H2B says he'll agree to anything so I dont need to consult him, I just need to bring him along for the food tastings.Should I be glad or pissed that he doesnt like to be involved? hehe
Tah-Tah.. Happy Preps 2011 and 2012 brides!