Wedding Gowns in Divisoria

Since I had my entourage gowns sewn in Divisoria I had the chance to chat with the owner of the shop I got when I picked up the gowns. He was doing some bead work on a gown and shared quite a bit about their business. He said that prior to having the shop he did odd jobs (i.e. driver/kargador) and that sewing was actually much easier and would earn you more money.

He also shared that aside from walk-ins they get a lot of orders from designers (take note of this!). They just get the design and have this done in their factory located at the outskirts of Metro Manila. Here's a short video I took while I was in Divisoria (I just used my phone), in case you haven't gone there.



Take note though that Divisoria shops do not design wedding gowns. There are two ways you can get your gown from Divi:

1. Buy ready made. There are so many different designs to choose from and they usually have it in different sizes. You can also have it adjusted at the shop, but you will have to go back for it a few days after.

2. Have it custom made. You can choose a design from the multitude of catalogs they have in the shop or bring a copy of the design you want to have done. They will give you advise on what kind of cloth to use or you can request.

Cost: PhP3,500 and up (ready made/custom made)

Affordable Wedding and Entourage Gowns

One of the things that people usually ask me is where to get affordable wedding and entourage gowns. I personally wanted to wear an expensive gown for my wedding, so I went around town and met with several wedding designers. I went to see designers based in Makati, Paranaque and Marikina. Also scouted for some in nearby provinces and through wedding expos.

I was keen on getting a gown that cost at least PhP70,000. I wanted to use pinya as the cloth of my gown and PhP70,000 was the minimum amount we'd have to pay. Eventually though my practical side kicked in and refused to budge with the amount of money that needed to be shelled out for the wedding gown. I could not convince myself (being schizo here) to spend so much on something that I would wear for just one day. (My wedding gown has been neatly tucked away in its box and I haven't checked it since I kept it.)

My practical side won and I compromised by getting a designer that offered affordable wedding gowns. Here are some tips:

1. Have it made in nearby provinces - my cousin has a wedding shop in Quezon and she had very affordable packages, too bad she was out of the country when I was preparing for my wedding. My best friend had her gown made in Laguna and it just cost her around PhP7,000.

2. Affordable designers - I went to see quite a number of designers. I chose Amonn Velasco because he had good reviews and he was very accommodating. I had an unpleasant experience with a well-known designer based in Marikina so I told myself that the designer I would choose had to be someone I'd have good rapport with.

3. Divisioria - the most affordable wedding gowns are in Divi! You can either buy it ready made or you can have a design copied. One of my nieces designed all the gowns that the entourage wore and I just had it rendered in Divisoria. I have a rundown on how much gowns cost in Divisoria in this post.

4. Use your Mom's wedding gown - my Mom wanted me to wear her gown, too bad though I don't have an 18-inch waistline and my Mom wasn't sure if her 50-year old gown would stay up the whole day.

It's really up to you how much you want to spend on your gown. My practical side won out. Check out my wedding budget planner and think about it.

Your Ceremony Venue

This is usually where planning starts. Your ceremony venue. Oftentimes the ceremony venue is the first thing you would book. Here are some options:

Church

This is where most Filipinos hold their marriage ceremony. Most of us default to having the ceremony in Church. We have so many Churches in the Philippines, but aside from choosing a Church that is important to both of you, one should also consider other factors:
(1) Accessibility. Remember you will have to process quite a number of requirements so you will definitely be going back every few weeks to the Church
(2) Ample parking space. Make it easy for your guests to park. Some churches don't have enough parking space.
(3) Lighting and acoustic/sound.
(4) Check out the church policies.
(5) Fees, of course.

Here's a sample comparative chart I did of churches.

Garden Weddings/Reception Venues

There are quite a number of reception venues that have gardens where you can hold your ceremony. Some reception venues also have chapels. You can also ask your caterer if they can set-up the ceremony area for your garden wedding.

Here's a list of reception venues in Metro Manila.

Beach/Destination Wedding

One of the hardest to coordinate, unless you have time, is to have a destination wedding. I remember a colleague who was so busy coordinating her Bali wedding I rarely saw her around. If this is something you really want, prepare to spend a lot of time to iron things out for your wedding.

Budget:


Church: some Churches accept donations; smaller Churches charge about PhP3,000-5,000; medium-sized ones charge PhP10-15,000; larger ones and with aircon charge at least PhP25,000

Garden/Reception Venues: usually integrated in packages; some range from PhP50-70,000

Beach/Destination Wedding: depends on where you go

Wedding Budget Planner

One of the key things you should discuss with your fiance is your budget. Your wedding day is just the beginning of other expenses that you will incur when you start your life together so don't pour in your life savings for your wedding day.

Here's a rundown of expenses that you will incur for your wedding:

Ceremony
Reception
Stationery
Flowers
Photography
Videography
Music and Entertainment
Attire
Hair and Make-up
Gifts
Jewelry
Transportation
Honeymoon*
Others

*You can plan this separately.



View the budget planner I made at this link or download it as an Excel file. The wedding  budget planner allows you to put percentages on the expenses and a target spend amount. Best to play around with it before you start looking for suppliers so that you have an idea on the amount you need to prepare for the wedding.

**You will have to download the file in order to play around with it.

Where to Start Planning Your Wedding

This is a question that my friends always ask me. After getting engaged and after going through pamamanhikan, one would realize that planning a wedding is a daunting task. It is truly overwhelming since your wedding is probably the only huge event you will have to plan in your entire life (that is if you are not a wedding coordinator or an event organizer). I always tell people that it is easier to plan an event for a couple of hundred of people than a wedding.

Anyway, have no fear since nowadays there are many tools online you can use to plan your wedding (and you can even do without a coordinator like we did!).

HAVE A CHECKLIST

The secret to organizing your wedding is to have a list. Yup, a check-list. The best check list I've used is the booklet that Wedding Essentials includes in its magazine. Just follow it diligently and you are sure to complete everything in time for your wedding.

AGREE ON A BUDGET

We scrambled around to put together a budget and plan before our pamamanhikan because we wanted to show our parents that we were prepared and serious about getting married. The booklet from Wedding Essentials provides a good run down on all the expenses that you will incur in your wedding. Things will change as you make decisions so it's best to put this spreadsheet online and collaborate by using Google Docs (helped us a lot since I live in Paranaque and he lived in Marikina).

Identify which expenses are important for the two of you. Do you want to spend more on photography and videography? The reception? Entertainers? Your wedding attire? You will have to identify which of the costs would be your "luxury cost" and which would be the least priority for spending. We personally spent a good amount of money on photography and videography and put the bridal car on least priority. We also managed to get a lot of help from friends.

START PLANNING!


Start planning months ahead. Cramming for your wedding isn't a good idea since you'd probably end up spending more. Best to start on your church, reception venue and caterer and then you can spend some time dating again till you realize that you have to start working on your wedding again.