Simple Weddings During the Pandemic

There's no stopping love. Many couples have tied the knot in the past year despite the circumstances. It was a pleasure to see some celebrities tie the knot in the past year. Most were simple weddings either celebrated at home or at city hall. 

Some of these weddings were recently featured on Rated Korina. Here's the video --

You can also check out the weddings by searching for the vlogs of Neil and Angel, Alex Gonzaga etc. on YouTube. It goes to show once your ready to tie the knot, nothing can stop you, not even a pandemic. 

Mabuhay ang mga bagong kasal!

Bridal Cars, Some Cute Options

Don't you miss the days you can walk around bridal fairs? Those were fun times where you can find the best and upcoming wedding suppliers. Sweetie and I did this a few times before we tied the knot. A few suppliers we got from those bridal fairs, but our wedding team were mostly friends. 

If you are getting married during this time, do you still plan to hire a bridal car? Our bridal car did not show up (bad supplier from a bridal fair). We ended up using two cars. One was an unmarked taxi I hired for a friend who stood it as day coordinator. The other was a delivery fiera of a dear friend. Our parents left us at the reception venue and forgot we didn't have a ride. We rode back to our hotel in style! Hahaha. 

I don't exactly remember what car I originally booked for our bridal car. It was probably a Mercedes Benz as an ode to my Dad's Benz we used when I was growing up. We found these cars cute though --

I'm pretty sure you can still hire a bridal car during this time, but to be honest you don't really need it. You just need to get to the church and get back home (or to your hotel) after. We had a grand time riding our friend's red delivery fiera on the way back to our hotel. We got a standing ovation from the airline crew that was waiting for their ride to the airport hahaha. 

Out of this World Pre-Nup Pictorial

It is always interesting to see couples who have unique photos. We have seen a number of couples who played around the pandemic theme. We recently saw two doctors tie the knot wearing jazzed-up PPEs. 

Here's a couple who took their pre-nup pictorial out of this world. They were inspired by their favorite movie "Interstellar" and dressed up as astronauts. Their photographer certainly made their photos look outworldly. Check out the news clip about this unique pre-nup pictorial -

Planning Your Wedding in the Middle of a Pandemic

There's no stopping love. When you want to spend the rest of your life together, a pandemic won't be able to stop it. Our wedding back in 2009 was almost moved because we were both affected by Typhoon Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng. Both our homes were flooded and we lost all our wedding planning materials. Our suppliers were also affected by the severe floods brought by the typhoons. But the tragedy did not stop us from our plans to wed.

A pandemic cannot stop love. If there's a will there's a way. There's always something good you can find in tragedies. This is a good time to go back to basics. A wedding is just one day to your lifetime together. Take advantage of this time to focus on the essentials. Here's a list of how you can plan for a more intimate wedding:

Your guest list - an intimate list of family and best friends, the rest can join via video call perhaps.

Wedding venue - church or chapel? 

Reception - home, restaurant or small hotel room? 

Invites/stationery - e-invite, Whatsapp/Viber?

Flowers - small venue means less flowers needed. 

Photography and videography - photo and video memories are important, perhaps consider having a smaller team. 

Music and entertainment - maybe just get a friend to do the singing or use pre-recorded music. At our wedding we did enjoy having a choir and the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Attire - shorter dresses for small weddings are in nowadays. I don't suggest also spending so much for your gowns. 

Hair and make-up - my sister did her own make-up at her wedding, but perhaps opt for a smaller team to do your hair and make-up. 

Honeymoon - there are existing travel bubbles in the country, but remember you'll need documentation and swab tests for any travel you'd like to do. 

You can copy this document to tinker with budgeting for your wedding. 

Beautiful Lego Bouquet

I will call this the forever bouquet!

A friend of mine just got married. She wanted a bouquet that would last forever. Her best friend came up with the idea of creating a bouquet made of Lego since they both loved Lego.

I interviewed her best friend, Analyn, after the wedding dinner and asked how she made it. It took her almost a week (and sleepless nights) to finish the bouquet. I was surprised when she told me that she traveled from Manila to Singapore with the bouquet. She said she packed it really well.

This is the most unique bouquet I've seen in my entire life! Amazing work of art Analyn :)

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Moira and Jason!

A few months back we had the opportunity to watch Moira and Kyla's concert in Singapore. It was a night to remember because for awhile we felt like we were just back home in Manila. We were treated to many beautiful OPM songs.

The show had a segment where Moira introduced her fiance, Jason Marvin Hernandez, and she walked us through her songs which essentially reflects how their love came to be. We saw from the news yesterday that their most awaited day finally came. A beautiful garden wedding for a match made in heaven.

Congratulations and best wishes Moira and Jason!

Planning Your Wedding with Family and Friends

Weddings nowadays have gotten exponentially expensive. When I was growing up there was no such thing as wedding coordinators. Whenever there was a wedding in the family it meant mobilizing everybody to get it organized. With limited budget we decided to do everything on our own with help from family and friends.

Where does one start? You need to define first what are the things that are important to you. Do you want a nice venue? Good food? Amazing wedding singers? Big church? Small church? Number of guests? For Sweetie and me we identified three priorities: (1) Wedding venue that would prevent me from having an asthma attack; (2) Good food; and (3) Musicians who can provide great OPM music. These were the non-negotiables for us so we set our wedding budget based on this (you can make a copy of the budget planner).

Homemade table decor.

Sweetie and I took care of finding the suppliers and had help from friends. And here's where they helped:

Entourage Gown Design - made by my niece Patricia
Giveaways - made by my high school friends
Choir - friends I grew up with
Priest - from our parish, I have known him since I was in high school and he was still a deacon back then
Photography - got huge discount because they are friends
Videography - a friend did the coverage, sponsored by one of our ninangs
Invitations - got huge discount from Sweetie's friend
On the day coordination - c/o a great friend from work
Missalette - made by a friend
Table decor - made by me
Message board - painted by my uncle

We also got a lot of help for legwork from family and friends. I was very busy traveling around the country during that time, but made sure to make time to plan and organize the wedding. The list kept me sane (you can start with the doc I linked above). Nowadays there are also a lot of ready to use items you can just buy off the shelf and remember, in the Philippines, there's always Divisoria!

We all want to have a beautiful wedding. It doesn't necessarily mean though that you should spend a lot for it (and you shouldn't!). For me a beautiful wedding is where you get your family and friends involved in the planning and organizing. This will allow you to also get to know each other better and make the integration less stressful. Involving your family and friends will also make them happy that they are engaged and helping you start your new life. 

Tips for Brides: Just Before You Walk Down the Aisle

Walking down the aisle is probably one of the most emotional experiences a person would have because at the end of the ceremony your life would completely change. All eyes would be on you as you walk down the aisle towards your groom. Brides oftentimes become very nervous and a lot of thoughts would probably raise through your head as you take your first step. Relax! Do not worry! Here's a few tips as you take that life changing walk towards your groom.

1. Relax - you have done your best to prepare for the wedding. Everyone around you will make sure that your day goes well, so just relax and just enjoy the day.

2. Smile - I was about to become very emotional just before I walked down the aisle. I told myself though that I didn't want my make-up to be ruined and I wanted my photos to be beautiful. Just as you're about to do your walk, take a deep breath and smile! Let the groom do the crying (I did)!

3. Hold your bouquet properly - how to hold your bouquet properly depends on what kind of bouquet you choose, so best to ask your florist when you do your order and practice. You can also check with your photographer before you leave for the ceremony (I'm lucky they taught me how to hold my bouquet properly).

4. Walking Down the Aisle - chin up and shoulders back. No slouching! A lot of brides though get surprised on how heavy the gown is. It's not going to be a walk in the park as you have to be mindful about the gown's weight. The gown's material also oftentimes get caught on the carpet like velcro. If you see brides walking like they are marching it's because they have to kick the gown so they could move forward.

5. Let Your Maid of Honor Worry - I had three during my wedding and they fussed about me all day. They made sure I looked beautiful all day.

Buying Your Wedding Gown in Divisoria

It's 2017 and you can still just spend between PhP5,000 to 10,000 for your wedding and entourage gowns/attire. The Twisted Wedding Planner found time to visit Divisoria last January 3 to check what you can get for your wedding.

Here is a simple hand-drawn map of where I went around and what you can find around Divisoria.

Or better yet, refer to Google Maps.

I usually just walk around Tabora and Ylaya. In Tabora you can buy materials for your souvenir items, beads, crowns, lace etc. You will find the dress shops inside the building located between Tabora Street and Ylaya (they're in the middle of the building). Most of the shops have ready-to-wear gowns available. They only receive payment in cash.

At Morning Glory (Tabora Street) you can find materials for your souvenir items and for your wedding attire. There was an ongoing sale early this month and I got a lot of lace for my quilt projects.

Wedding Gowns in Divisoria

Divisoria offers a wide variety of gowns. You can select ready-to-wear gowns from their display, but you can also have one made for you. You can either select from available catalogues they have or you can bring your own design. Or you can have a design made by my niece, Patricia Apolo, who designed Martine  entourage gowns for my wedding.

Here are some photos from the different stalls in Tabora Street.

Gowns range from PhP1,000 and up (and even below when they have a sale). Groom barongs are also available and you can choose from different types of fabric.

Entourage Gowns in Divisoria

I found some entourage attire at Tabora that was on sale. You can get a simple dress for about PhP500. The price goes up based on the complexity of the design.

I went to Divisoria because I'm scheduled to be a godmother for two weddings this year and I remembered the many beautiful options available in Divisoria. I had a hard time choosing, but settled for a neutral color and a dress that would be easy to iron since there I will be traveling for the weddings. I also got hubby a new barong.

Make sure you ask for a discount when buying your items!

Wedding Attire at 168 Mall

168 Shopping Mall also has dedicated space for wedding attire. You can select from the many stores available in the mall. The gowns, barongs and suits are a bit more pricey than in Tabora, but you can enjoy hunting for your gown because the mall uses airconditioning.

Divisoria is a great place to find your wedding attire. I know they also have sections at Tutuban Mall dedicated for this but I didn't have the time to go there anymore. Tabora Street/Ylaya Street have a lot of options and I had a hard time choosing one for an upcoming wedding. 

Happy choosing and happy haggling! 

Dream Wedding: Clark and Leah

I have been watching "On the Wings of Love" since the show started about six months ago. It is not hard to fall in love with the show because all of its elements is so real. You can easily relate to the different characters in the show. I like the fact that the show stuck to being real and tackled many different issues about love and marriage. All that is well, ends well and as with any local telenovela it ends with a happy ending.

I only saw the same day edit of Clark and Leah's wedding today and thought I'd share it here. The production team really made an effort in putting together a beautiful wedding for Clark and Leah. The whole effort was encapsulated in this video and I must say it's a dream wedding that many bride-to-bes can emulate.

I Do for Jimmy and Kring

Taking time out from my blogging sabbatical to write about dear friends Kring and Jimmy who joined the TV show "I Do".

Getting married is something that you really should go into with open eyes. As elders always say, "Marriage isn't like newly cooked rice that you can just spit out if you find it too hot." You have to be prepared - emotionally, physically, financially before getting married because love cannot feed you in the long run, no matter how romantic it sounds.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Jimmy and Kring join the show. I met Kring in a blogger event, she was known then as funnysexy and she was indeed really funny. I bumped into her oftentimes in other blogging events, community events and blogger dinners and it was in one of those dinners that she dragged in Jimmy who she introduced as her boyfriend. That evening was spent with Jimmy explaining why, "Korea was the best." At that time he didn't speak/understand Filipino, but he contributed a lot to making the event more fun.

In the last few years I didn't really get to see Jimmy and Kring together. I'd see Kring every so often in some events, but I saw how their relationship was blossoming through their posts on FB. At one time Kring even made a song and a music video out of the song for their anniversary (I think it was the first one).

And now they are ready to take their relationship to the next level. I'm really happy they went through this "pre cana on steroids". The one I went through before I married is incomparable to the experience that they went through. I saw how much they've grown as individuals and as a couple through the show and I think that they are really ready to take things to the next level.

Let's help them make their dream come true and give them the wedding they want!

Vote by:
Texting "IDO<space>B"
Send to 2331 fo ABS-CBNMobile, Globe, TM and Sun
Send to 231 for Smart and Talk N' Text
Online through http://ido.abs-cbn.com/vote

Wedding Arras (Wedding Arrhae)

One of the most important symbols used during a wedding is the wedding arras (wedding arrhae). My Mom told me that it symbolizes money and the promise of your husband to provide for you.

The wedding arras is usually a collection of coins provided by the couple or provided by your wedding gown designer as part of the package. It's usually placed in a small pouch or bag (or you can be creative) brought to the altar by a coin bearer. If you're using valuable coins make sure you ask one of your relatives or friends to secure it after the ceremony.

After the pamamanhikan my Mom gave me a small bag of coins. She said that my grandmother gave her the coins and she split it into three. One set for my sister, another for my brother and the last set for me. Both my brother and sister used the coins as arras for their wedding too. Using the coins my Mom gave me made the arras more valuable to us since it felt like my grandparents were around as well to witness our wedding.

Wedding Gown and Entourage Gowns Designer

Being creative and practical are two key skills you need while planning your wedding. With limited budget you need to make choices that can fulfill your heart's desire while being practical. I took that approach when I was working on the gowns for my wedding. I visited several designs in Metro Manila, but found them quite expensive. I just wanted a simple gown and I luckily found a great designer who I had good rapport with at a wedding fair. I decided to go another way though for the gowns of my entourage.

I wanted to involve my family in the preparations for my wedding so I got my niece, Patricia Apolo, to design the gowns for the entourage. She was skilled at it because she's done several weddings already even though she was still in high school during that time. My talented niece made these for my huge entourage (this is just a sample):

And after carefully choosing the right cloth and working closely with the seamstress I got exactly what I wanted. Here's how I pulled it off.

My talented niece has recently graduated from fashion design school and is ready to accept orders for designing. Inquire here.

Your Wedding Ring

When Sweetie started planning to propose to me he didn't have a clue where to get me an engagement ring. Good thing we had a friend, based in Cagayan de Oro, who's Mom owned a jewelry shop. He lost no time and enlisted her help in his grand proposal plan (and that included getting my ring size by stealth!). 

We decided to get our wedding rings from the same friend (Golconda Jewels in CDO). Sweetie wasn't comfortable wearing accessories (he didn't even wear a watch back then) and he was happy that I just wanted a traditional set. We went for white gold. The big plus was our rings were handcrafted Philippine gold and we got to meet the artisan who made it.

Here's the desk Manong works on to make jewelry.

Manong check the size of our rings.

Doing some polishing.

Our handcrafted white gold wedding rings. 

 

 

 

How to Make Your Pre-Nup Video (Your Love Story)

Good friend and famous videographer, Buddy Gancenia, was our heaven-sent (gift from Ninang Janette) wedding story teller. Aside from documenting our wedding Buddy offered to do our pre-nup video as his wedding gift. We actually just planned to make our own since our budget was limited, so Buddy's offer was very much welcome.

We set a date to shoot the video almost 2 months before the wedding. I just wrote the script when Buddy was on his way from Quezon City to Paranaque. I crammed everything in less than 2 hours. It was quite hard to jump-start the script but this is more or less how I structured it (and basically what I do whenever friends ask me to make their pre-nup vids):

Theme
Timeline
Important Highlights of Your Love Story
- When and where you met
- How things started
- How he courted you
- How you said yes
- Highlights of your relationship
- The proposal
What you love about each other (suggested by Buddy)

I had no idea what to do with our video since Buddy said he wanted to interview us. What I wanted to do was share the gazillion of photos and videos we had. One of my friends suggested I follow the flow of the movie, "100 Days of Summer". So I thought our theme should be related to the internet since we both loved blogging and our jobs were IT related. I then traced the timeline of our love story and discovered that our wedding day was the 800th day since we met each other. I then proceeded to unearth photos and videos to show highlights of our relationship leading to the proposal. The rest was Buddy's magical secret sauce.

Here's what Buddy came up with based on the script/timeline I wrote -

I've made a couple of pre-nup vids for my friends and so far all of them were happy with what I made. It was made out of love so I don't think I'd make one for people I don't know. Making your own video or working closely with your videographer would surely make your story-telling much more personal. 

Do You Need Pre-nup Photos?

When Sweetie and I were planning our wedding one of the tasks we had listed was to have a pre-nup photo. Most of our plans though flew out the window since we lost 6 critical weeks from our planning time because of Typhoon Ondoy. Because we had to take care of other things we decided that we didn't need to have a formal pre-nup photo shoot because we had a gazillion of photos from the first time we met. We both loved taking photos so our real problem was choosing what to use.

Our dear friends, Markku and Hana, offered to do a pre-nup shoot for us, but I was so busy traveling around the country because of some work projects I just said we'd take up their offer for a post-wedding shoot (we haven't done it until now haha).

Sweetie joined me in one of my trips to Cagayan de Oro. Aside from work we managed to meet the artisan who hand-crafted our rings. My dear friend's Mom owned the jewelry store (Golconda Jewels) so we entrusted our rings to her (and Sweetie got my engagement ring from them too). Honey (my friend) brought us to see the Del Monte pineapple plantation and to have lunch at the golf course club house. And since we had our camera we decided to have some casual pre-nup photos taken. We thought it would depict us better than having a staged-all-made-up photo session (well that's just us).

I gave the same advise to friends who got married. Throughout their relationship I would take their photos and I eventually used this to surprise them with their love story video. Instead of getting them a traditional gift I printed for them photos from way back in the 90s to the present to show how their love progressed through the years. They were really happy about it and said it was good to see photos of the two of them since they were young (I guess I always knew that they'd end up together).

So my advise is, take as many photos throughout your relationship before tying the knot. This would should your family and the rest of your friends who didn't really see how your relationship grew. And well it's something you can show to your kids later on. 

Because Videos Should Be Fun!

One of my colleagues pinged me this awesome pre-nup (I assume it's pre-nup) video. Made me smile.

Watch it!

Book: The Power 7 Wedding Suppliers

I got this in the mail a few weeks ago. A book compiled by Thunderbird Resorts with the title, "The Power 7 Wedding Suppliers". The thick book shows the awesome work of some of the wedding industry's popular suppliers. 

A dear college friend, Ernest Pascual, is a revered wedding coordinator. When Sweetie and I were planning our wedding I bumped into him a couple of times at wedding events and he was always rushing around together with his client. I had no doubt that Ernest would make it big as a wedding planner because he's so creative and has a great eye for details.

As I was leafing through the book I was awed with the handiwork of the the different suppliers featured. The well-thought out themes for the weddings, the beautiful bridal gowns, the heartfelt photography reminded me how exciting it is to plan one's wedding. Each and every page was a feast to the eyes and certainly awakened my creative juices. It was like putting together all the magazine and resources I read online in one book.

Planning your wedding? Get a copy of this book and see the fabulous work of some of the top suppliers in the wedding industry. 

Thanks to Thunderbird Resorts for sending me a copy of the book! 

Wedding Proposal on a Building

Awesome video. Check it out.

How to Start a Wedding Giveaway/Invitation Business

I got an inquiry from Mia, a reader, asking me how to start a wedding giveaway/invitation business. I established a similar business years ago with my best friend and thought I'd share some lessons I learned from it and from coordinating weddings (albeit free).

1. Look Around, Be Creative - your product offering should be unique. Don't just copy what others are doing. Look for inspiration from books, magazines, materials that are available. My Mom is a very creative person and she can turn anything into a work of art. Experiment!

2. Practice - when I was designing our wedding giveaway (a home-made photo frame) I had to consider a few things -- it had to be unique and it had to represent what my husband and I love doing. I decided on a CD sized photo frame. It took me several tries using different materials before I decided on a final design. It is important to practice so you can come out with a polished  end product which you can offer to your clients.

3. The 3 Fs - before going to market make sure to test your products through your family first, then friends and then fools. Haha. It's good to start with your family since if you make a mistake they'd actually be more forgiving because they love. Friends would surely give you feedback on what you should improve on. Make sure that you have a great product before you actually market to strangers because feedback spreads easily (viral) nowadays and it can hurt you even before you've actually began.


4. Expand - after testing the waters with your family and friends it's time to expand your market. It would help to have a website or business blog where you can feature your creations. If I was going to do this for additional income I would start first with my 3Fs and then use my samples from those "clients" and then create a simple site where I can showcase my goods. To drive traffic to my site I would use Google Adwords and earmark a PhP50 budget per day and increase it as my orders and capacity increase. I would then eventually aim and try to export my products because that's where the volume is.

5. Cost is Key - the budget for giveaways/invitations is usually just a tiny fraction of the total wedding budget, so be mindful of the materials that you use for your products (unless you are targeting high-end clients). Be creative and try to customize as much as possible.

Best of luck Mia!