Caterer Review: Lina Vitan

In the past few weeks my fiance and I have been attending food tasting events and the last one we had was hosted by Lina Vitan at Oasis Manila.

Food. 4 stars out of 5. The dishes they served weren't as different as the other caterers we've been to, but they were tasteful and not dry. They also have a number of menus you can mix and match depending on what you like.

Service. I like the fact that Ms. Lina Vitan was present during the event. The other events that we attended just had account executives present and they weren't open to adjusting the menu. Ms. Vitan sat down with our friends who booked that day and personally gave suggestions on the garden set-up that they wanted. Having the owner around is always a good sign.

Styling. I wasn't that impressed though with the styling of the venue. The materials and look they used to present different themes seemed a bit amateur for me.

Equipment. Compared to other caterers the chairs and tables, plates and utensils they used for the event seemed to be fairly new. I've been mollified by some prominent caterers who used sub-standard equipment (i.e. rusty chairs, mantels with holes!).

Price. I find them a bit pricey for the value that they are giving.

What was noteworthy about the event was the attentiveness of the waiters and the food. I just hope though that they would be fast in replacing empty trays during a wedding.

The Canonical Interview

After the pamamanhikan we thought we would not experience any nerve-wracking activity again.

We were wrong.

When we went to book a church, the secretary immediately made an appointment for our interview with their priest. She said that the priest had to interview us and give approval before we can reserve the church. 

We had no idea what we were up to.

So, we asked a couple of friends what they were asked when they went through the interview. Most of them said that you had to be completely honest about everything and that the priest would usually ask about how you came together. We also tried looking for information online, but we did not find any.

We were nervous because we thought that if we failed the interview we would have to find another church to hold our wedding in. We discussed many scenarios before THE interview day and stayed up a bit late still discussing what we would say the next day. We did not want to make the mistake of giving different answers to the priest's questions.

We were that scared. Hehe.

Anyway, I didn't feel very nervous but when we entered the office my knees just began to shake. The last time I felt that way was during a panel interview for a job. I suddenly felt the pressure that I should not fail this interview.

The first thing we did was fill up a questionnaire and the priest even had Sweetie move to another seat so we would not be side-by-side (no cheating!). And then I had a one-on-one with him while he was going over my answers. After my one-on-one I was asked to step out so he could have a one-on-one with Sweetie. And then I was called in for our joint interview.

We survived!

I'm not going to say what was asked of us. Just be yourself. Be honest. And bring lots of love. 

Braving Divisoria for Wedding Garments

Sweetie and I braved Divisoria to check out Divisoria for wedding garments. The last time I was there was about a year ago when my niece asked if we could buy her a terno for her Filipino org activities (she's based in the US). I also accompanied my friend to buy her wedding and entourage gown a few years ago (we got it RTW!).

Anyway, we also did the rounds of couturiers and the costs were just too high. We've pegged a budget for the wedding and would like to stick to that budget, so we thought we should check out Divisoria.

Here's a rundown of costs:

Bridal Gowns - PhP3,500 and up (includes accessories)

Maid of Honor/Bridesmaid gowns - PhP600 to PhP1,200 (satin is cheaper than taffeta/chiffon)

Flower Girl gowns - PhP600 to PhP800

Barongs - PhP600 and up

Barongs for Grooms/Fathers - PhP800 and up

Mothers gowns - PHP1,300 and up

*they can also do suits

The rates for patahi are the same as well. All you need to do is bring your design or choose from their catalog (catalog means, bridal magazines). The rates are the same whether or not you ask them to place beads.

Here's a few I got cards from:

Julao Wedding Gown

Maylen V. Julao (look for Iday)

Pasilio-E Stall #71-72

Galvan Building, Ilaya St.

Binondo Manila

Tel +(632) 309-3051

Cel. 63 (921) 5554450

Paul & Lyn's Bridal Haus

Salve A. Pitalbo

Stall No. 29, 35 Pasilio B-C

Galvan Building, Ilaya St.

Binondo, Manila

Tel + (632) 710-9471

Res. + (632) 237-1327 or 254-5622

Lomentigar Bridal Boutique & Souvenir Collections

Tessie D. Lomentigar

Pasilio B-17

Galvan Building, Ilaya Street

Binondo, Manila

Arlaine +63 (920) 627-9326

Jean +63 (923) 535-5357

Ronaleen Bridal & Barong Shoppe

Sollie and Ramon Santos

Galvan Cabrera Building

Pasilio E. No. 78-81

Email ronaleen_bridal (at) yahoo.com

Tel + (632) 309-3133

Aiza's Personal Touch

Galvan, Divisoria

Stall No. 46, Pasilio G

Cel. +63 (915) 202-2809

More about Divisoria gowns here. 

Souvenir Idea for Silver Wedding Anniversary

My Mom's friend, Tita Emma, put this souvenir together for her 25th wedding anniversary. It's a set of table napkins with beaded napkin holders placed in a window box.

It's actually easy to assemble! You can buy all materials in Divisoria:

napkin

window box

napkin holder - beads + garter

I'll try to make a how-to-do post about the napkin holder soon :)

Planning Your Own Wedding

I did not realize I've been gone a month! I've been so busy traveling and slipping in venue and church oculars, food tasting and hunting for a designer, I haven't had had the time to blog! Argghhh!

But anyway, the past few weeks have given me more insights about planning your own wedding. And it's not really so hard after all, especially if your fiance is the hands-on type.

Here are a few tricks and tools that I've been using to plan my wedding:

1. Attend bridal fairs! There's two happening soon, Celebrations at SMX on May 24-25 and The Philippine Wedding Summit at the PICC Forum on June 27-28. The show with the most suppliers usually are the ones handled by Themes & Motifs.

2. Collect flyers! It may sound funny, but my fiance and I have been collecting flyers for more than a year now. Most of them ended up in paper bags and I've just recently sorted them out (see the photo above). They've been really helpful in our search for the right supplier.

3. Use directories! You can get a free wedding directory from DPC Yellow Pages or buy the Bride's Yellow Pages from bookstores.

4. Use Google! Search for suppliers online and read up reviews about them too. I also use Google Docs to put together information and I share this with my fiance for his review.

5. Read Forums! I'm quite scared about giving my money to a stranger, so after searching for reviews about a supplier I also read forums to get feedback from others. I usually frequent Kasal.com's forum and the Wedding's at Work community.

Reception Venues in Metro Manila

Going around the metro checking our churches and reception venues has been excruciating because of the horrendous summer heat! And it's not the way I want to get a tan. So I realized I should do more online research instead and I've put together a spreadsheet with some details on great wedding venues.

To see the list go here, it includes reception venues from:

Alabang

Greenhills

Las Pinas

Makati

Marikina

New Manila

Mandaluyong

Paranaque

Pasay

Pasig

Quezon City

Rizal

Please take note that the rates may not be exact since I just got them from different forums and websites (and I've been to some). I'll be updating the sheet every once in a while.

Choosing Your Ceremony and Reception Venue

I tell you it's much easier to set-up an event for 400 developers than making arrangements for your own wedding. I have been to countless churches, reception venues and websites in the past two weeks. And that's just for the ceremony and reception venue. I have not even started to check all the other details that would complete the wedding. 

I realized though that it's important to set your goals from the beginning. Ask yourself, do you want a huge wedding or a cozy, intimate one? Is there a particular city you'd want to focus in? Any considerations you have to make for your family (i.e. no steep stairs, must have aircon etc.). Budget constraints? Theme? Motif? 

I've also been to multiple number of sites to check out churches and venues and to make things easier I created a Google Docs Spreadsheet to list down pertinent facts which would make it easier to review when we finally decide to sit down and choose. 

Here's what I did:

Church Comparative Chart

1. Address

2. Telephone

3. Contact Person

4. Packages: How much and Amenities include (candles, floral arrangement, choir, registration etc.)

5. Requirements

Reception Comparative Chart

1. Contact Details: Address, Telephone, Web Address, Email, Contact Person

2. Type of Venue: garden, hotel, restaurant, hall

3. Venue Capacity

4. Packages: note the amenities included, number of hours, caterer corkage, music etc.

5. Parking

Caterer Comparative Chart

1. Contact Details: Address, Telephone, Web Address, Email, Contact Person

2. Packages

3. Amenities included

4. Additional charges: service charge, VAT

These are just basic questions you should ask your suppliers. I'm sure I'll be adding stuff as I go along. And will share more specific info about venues/churches/caterers I've already interviewed.  

How to Have Fun During Your Wedding

Weddings tend to be really serious especially when the couple is nervous  (makes for really bad pictures!). I believe that weddings should be fun, fun, fun!

Here's a sample of a couple who definitely knows how to have fun!

Creating a Motif Mood Board

A mood board, huwhaaattt?!?

My mind's been buzzing for almost a month now because I just couldn't seem to choose a motif. I have been swinging from blue to yellow to pink to lavender every other hour and I don't see an end to it.

And then I had a brain fart (an idea!) last weekend. I thought, "Why not make a `swatch board' like how ad agencies do when they make presentations?" 

Ahhhh, finally something that would probably end the confusion. So with three colors - blue, yellow and gold - I did some searches on Google and found a number of snazzy images. I put them together on Google Docs so I can easily share it with my fiance. Here it is -

It definitely helped me. Try making one!

Wedding Invitation via Video

A few months ago our dear friend Buddy Gancenia had this brilliant idea to make us a video wedding invitation and we did it just for kicks. It took me awhile before I got around to posting it here coz I thought people might mistake it for a real wedding invitation. LOL.

Anyway, here's a sample video wedding invitation done by multi-awarded wedding videographer Buddy Gancenia:

Check out Buddy's Youtube Channel.

Buddy Gancenia

Contact Number: 

+(632) 419-7147 

+(63) 917 - 8514502
E-mail Address: 

buddygancenia @ yahoo.com