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.