At the Wedding Expo!

Two minutes into the wedding expo I started hyperventilating. I thought I already got over those sudden panic attacks after doing a couple of my friends' weddings. But no-oh, I just had to hyperventilate at the "Weddings & Debuts 2008" at the Megatrade Hall yesterday. Good thing Sweetie was with me and there was a huge electric fan which kinda revived me. Sweetie ended up collecting the flyers and talking with the suppliers. Hehehe.

So why attend wedding exhibits?

Get to check out really nice gowns!

1. Meet suppliers - I've gone to a number of exhibits already and normally suppliers vary from one fair to another.

2. Get ideas - it's nice to attend expos especially when you're just starting to plan your wedding. A lot of people really don't have experience in organizing events and planning a wedding IS a daunting task. You can do research online, read maganizes (best one I've read so far is "Wedding Essentials") and then go to these fairs to get more ideas.

3. Compare costs - sometimes it's tempting to just go with whoever's there, but with careful planning and time, you can always cut on costs. Don't go for the first supplier that fits your budget since there are many considerations to do. Check out testimonials and feedback about the companies you'll be working with (I'll probably make a post about bride-supplier horror stories soon).

4. Check out new trends - there are always new things introduced in these fairs. A percentage of suppliers who participate in wedding exhibits are new and normally have new products/services to offer. I saw a couple of interesting stuff yesterday and I'll post about that too soon.

5. Bonding time with the fiance - A couple of my married friends complained that guys are usually not participative in doing wedding stuff. Well girl, give the guy a break, planning your wedding is a huge task, keep your cool and do things one step at a time. The Wedding Essential magazine has a great planning booklet you can follow. Attend a wedding fair, look around and just enjoy each other's company. Wedding singers also perform during this fair and it's a great way to hear them since they don't really have demo "tapes". We managed to say hi and hello with Richard Poon at the expo yesterday.

And to end this post, here's Richard Poon's carrier single, "I'll Take Care of You"



Got a nagging question about your wedding? Email me at aileen @ twistedweddingplanner.com

Planning Your Wedding Online

I couldn't help but giggle over the Google Docs interface... it was just so... pink!


I previously did a wedding where both the bride and the groom were based in Singapore. I wish Google Docs was available back when we were planning things. It would've saved a lot of time and money spent for communication. What is Google Docs for anyway?

Google Docs is an online interface that allows you to collaborate in real time. It where you can create documents such as your guest list, emcee script, misalette and even your budget online and you can easily share and revise things with your fiance in real time. Check out this sample entourage and guest list spreadsheet.

It's easy to do! You can easily create it using your Gmail account, click on the "Documents" link on the upper left corner. It should go to the Google Docs interface. To create a new document, just click on "New" and select what kind of document you want to create, choose spreadsheet if you're going to make lists, or "Document" for stuff like scripts or write-ups. To allow your fiance to make inputs in the document, click on the "Share" tab which can be found on the right side and then fill-in his email address (must be using Gmail as well) and click on "Invite as collaborator". This will bring you to a notice page where you can leave a note for him and this shall be sent as an email to him and he can easily access the document.

Confused? Please check out the Google Docs tour.

I'm in Shock! (A Valentine Revelation)

I'll tell you a little secret. In the past 5 years I've been using Kasal.com, I've changed the "name of the groom" in the My Kasal registry several times already. Huwhaaaatttt?!?!?

It's not what you are thinking! Here are the reasons why I've held my account active for more than 5 years now:

(1) The Resources - I've helped quite a number of my friends organize their weddings and since some of them are not tech savvy I usually end up doing the missalette side-by-side with them and it's less hassle to actually register them as a couple.

(2) The Newsletter - gives me updates on events and stuff (but I think the service is currently not available - if you enjoy reading my musings, subscribe to my blog by email).

(3) Because I want to get married too.

Okay, so the real secret is I would change the "name of the groom" to my latest crush. It took me four years to find another boyfriend you see and everytime I opened my account to help a friend I'd change the name.

So a year ago I kinda had this huge crush on my best friend and I replaced the groom's name to his name (SFX: "Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying, planning and dreaming each night of his charms..." ).



After finishing my friend's missalette I didn't log-in anymore to my account, until today.

And got the SHOCK of my life.

I logged-in because I wanted to update my account since my best friend became my boyfriend about 5 months ago and I was kinda panicking about the account this morning because I thought someone else was registered as the groom.

Sweetie actually answered wrong when I asked him to guess who the registered groom was.

It was him. And the random wedding date I placed a year ago is our anniversary date (but dated for 2009).

Strange huh.

Fate?

Believe it or not.

I am still in shock.

P.S. But good news, the groom's name is not going to change anymore =)

Happy Valentine's everyone!

Weddings with Precious Moments

A few weeks ago I was in Kalibo, Aklan and got the surprise of my life when I got a chance to stay at Sampaguita Gardens Resort. The resort is in "Christmas Season" all year round and this is highlighted by Jojo's Christmas Cottage which showcases Precious Moments products by Sam Butcher (the founder of Precious Moments and owner of the resort).

I've always encountered Precious Moments products since I was a kid, but I never really collected them. I'd see cards, figurines, dolls and anek-anek that sported the PM "eyes". I was quite fascinated with the wedding products the have.


I interviewed the store staff a bit and found out that you can actually order your own customized doll. You can have a 16" doll done wearing your wedding gown's design and that would cost around PhP6,000.

For more information about ordering a customized Precious Moments doll please call at +63-36-2646556 or 2623422 loc 207. You may also want to order wedding giveaways from them or have your wedding reception at the Sampaguita Gardens Resort.

Get a glimpse of the resort by visiting Lakwatsera Ako.