Family Drama

What's a wedding prep without any family drama?

We had our fair share of family drama during the early stage of our wedding planning. Yes, our love and determination was tested right away. Majority of it was from my family, oo, ako na sakit sa ulo. It all happened when we announced our wedding plan..

Yes we do have our family's blessing for us to get married na..BUT some circumstances will just happen to test you. On the last weekend of January we decided to finally announce it to our family, my family first. We told my mom first and she was happy about it, akala daw niya we were buying a property at Tagaytay kaya madalas kami pumunta dun. Then we called my father, he is a seaman, unfortunately that's when the bad news hit us. For the past few years my father was assigned in an Asian Cruise Ship, most of the time they are in Singapore, so as a backup plan Kim and I had prepared ourselves that we might shoulder my father's transpo to attend our wedding if his schedule won't be negotiated (naisip ko kasi he can request na ma-extend siya para sakto yun uwi niya for our wedding). Pero our backup plan wasn't enough pala, unfortunately their destination this year was changed, they'll be in America and Europe by mid this year until next, talk about malas. And according to my father, he cannot request to change his schedule since he is a regular employee (8months at sea then 2 months vacation). Sobrang hindi ko alam anong gagawin ko.. I'm so dissappointed in the turnout of our supposedly happy weddng announcement.

My father, due to his anger for the tendency that he won't be there in my wedding, is giving me no option but to move the wedding to another date, either June this year or next. Pero since matigas ang ulo ko and I've decided already that I'm getting married this year, moving the date is not an option for me, no matter what it takes we should get married on 12-21-13! (yan ang nasa isip ko nun)..andun yung "Ah basta" reasoning.

After that conversation, I think I've cried for the longest time for the last 9 or 10 years. Can't focus on my work well 'coz I am worried, I'm not fine. Pero sobrang laking tulong ng support ni Kim kaya I was able to recover, plus with the help of prayers.

Hon's simple message really moved me a lot:

"Haay... Tutuloy ntin to kahit tayong 2 lang... Mababaw pa to Hon, magsisimula pa lang tayo. Kakayanin natin lahat yan"

And yes we were able to get pass through that difficulty. We just need to compromise things and add on more prayers. We'll push through our plans, no changes.

I've learned that no matter what, as long as Kim will not give up on me, I won't loose hope and as long as we're together, everything will be alright.

Honeymoon - South Korea bound

Hon and I love to travel, actually naimpluwensyahan ko lang siya...hehe, so I can say na we've been to a lot of places na, mostly here in the Philippines. One time while watching a travel show (Trip na Trip), I was memerized by the beauty of the place they are featuring, it was South Korea. Right then and there I said to myself na that's where I want to have our honeymoon :)

I was vocal with my honeymoon preferrence, mas willing ako gastusan yun honeymoon than the wedding itself..hehe, seriously naisip ko kahit sa fastfood lang reception ok lang sa akin, basta non-negoiable ko ang honeymoon. Kasi I know that it would be our last moment that it's just us two. After the wedding we'll have other priority na and that would be our own family and providing for our kids' needs. If we could afford Europe nga of course that would be first in my list, pero realistic din naman ako mangarap..hehe.. so yun kaya lang ng budget. Because of this plan super timpi ako sa pagbook ng mga seat sale to South Korea, kasi I'm really reserving that place for our honeymoon. After booking our church and venue, next on my list is to book our plane ticket to Korea. Actually I started browsing for flight schedule even before we secured our wedding date.

January 21, day after we booked Fernridge, and when we finally agreed on the our flight date, di na ako ngdalawang isip pa, I booked our ticket na! :D

Got our tickets for a pricey cost compared to the prices nun tickets na nakikita ko before, pero keme lang sale pa rin naman and siya yun katuparan ng dream ko..hehe. And because I'm so excited about this trip, I already started browsing tourist destination at Seoul and drafting our Itinerary :D

Here are some of the places that I am looking forward to explore and visit (pics from Google and http://www.tommyooi.com):

Gyeongbokgung Palace (I plan to include other palace as well in our tour)

N-Seoul Tower (where a Teddy Bear Museum can be found)

Lotte World and Everland Theme Parks (Indoor Theme Park)

Nami Island (from the famous Winter Sonata Korean series)

Hello Kitty Cafe (I'm drooling just by seeing this picture!)

I'm also excited to shop and to try Snow boarding! I get more pumped-up because of this post..hehe..Super excited na ako! Pero I need to have more savings muna, 'coz this time it wouldn't be our normal budget trip, well I will still work on a budget pero I will not limit ourself much.

P.S. Found these sites helpful in planning our itinerary:

http://www.tommyooi.com/seoul-attractions/

http://lexparadise.blogspot.com/2011/07/10-places-must-visit-in-seoul-south.html

--- May :)

Venue Hunting + Change of Plans

After booking our Church our next target is to secure a reception venue. I only had a chance to attend one wedding at Tagaytay, in Calaruega and Hon had two, at Calaruega and in Canyon Woods. So basically we had limited idea on reception venues in Tagaytay. After booking our church we stopped by at PICC to attend a wedding fair so we were able to check some reception venues in Tagaytay. It was surprising that most of them do not know San Antonio de Padua church so we are not sure how far yun venue nila from the church. As much as possible we want the reception to be near lang sana para less hassle na rin.

Here are some of the venues around Tagaytay area that I found:

VIlla Ibarra - http://villaibarra.com/
Sylvinas Pavillon - http://www.weddinginthesky.com/listing/sylvinas-garden-resort.html
Tagaytay Country Hotel - http://www.countryhoteltagaytay.com/ppc/index.html
The Hills at Silang - http://thehillsatsilang.com/about/garden-with-gazebo/
Casablanca - http://www.casablancaprivate.com/
Hacienda Isabella - http://www.haciendaisabella.com/

Some really helpful blogsites:
http://whenmybridegroomcomes.blogspot.com/2012/06/wedding-venues-for-destination-wedding.html
http://micanonymous.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/possible-reception-venues-for-tagaytay-weddings/

I am actually familiar only with Villa Ibarra, since madalas naman namin ito madaanan, though malayo ito sa SAdP. I like their wedding setting based dun sa pictures sa site nila and flyers during the fair, plus budget-wise, abot kaya naman siya. Kaso they plan to renovate pala, magiging enclosed na siya as far as I remember, kita pa rin naman ata yun Taal but hindi na ganoon ka-OK yun ambiance in our opinion.

I tried to inquire at Sylvinas (online) but they are no longer available on our date, since it was Town's Delight who answered my query, I just ask for any recommended venue they have that is near SAdP. So they sent me their package for The Hills at Silang, super perfect venue siya for SAdP in terms of proximity, ~5mins away lang kasi siya. Kaso di namin masyado bet yun pics ng The Hills, siguro kasi yun bare picture ng venue lang yun nakita namin, so di namin siya sinama sa shortlisted venue namin.

Pero one venue caught our attention pala during the fair, kasi ang ganda ng poster nila nun overlooking taal, its Fernridge. Feeling namin malayo siya from our church pero ang ganda niya kasi so we're considering it. Pero plan namin is mag-occular muna sana para sure. Then few days after the fair at PICC, I received a text form Rena (AE at Fernridge), she's inviting us for an occular visit, free transpo daw (at actually may free food din when we reached the venue), exhibitor kasi sila sa fair sa SMX sa sunod na week so kasama yun sa offer nila. So I told Kim and he agreed na puntahan namin yun venue. Maaga kami dumating sa booth nila (meetup point) kaso wala pa yun ibang couples na kasabay namin. After ~1.5hrs travel from MOA nakarating na kami sa venue, it is previously Taal View Heights, inside Buena Vista Tagaytay. Ok naman yun byahe, parang mas malapit pa nga siya compared to Calaruega. Under construction pa yun Fernridge, launch is on Sept 2013, so basically puro talahib at malaking lupa lang ang nakita namin. But Sir Mike (industrial partner of Fernridge and co-developer/owner of Fernwoods and Fernbrook) is very good in explaining details of their plans, pati sample photos ng planned output nila.

Here's Fernridge as of January 2013:

Here's some pictures of their planned finish product (pics from Fernridge's site and their brochures and flyers):

Unanimous ang idea namin ni Hon na their plan is promising..very promissing...and given that they developed Fernbrooks as well, we were sold right then and there. We even decided to let go of our booked church kasi they plan to have a nature chapel din naman inside Fernridge (same as Fernwood's), and we can book the PM slot there. The only thing that bugs me is that it is soo over our budget, around 80-90% over. Pero with the support ni Kim, we decided na kakayanin namin to! (sobrang supportive ni Kim) So pagkabalik namin ng MOA, we paid our downpayment and signed the contract na. 

All is set now, we've booked the major suppliers na.. so what's next? ... our Wedding announcement! :D

--- May :)

Secret Wedding Preps

When we decided we really are getting married this year, we didn't announced it yet. WelI I did spoil it to some close friend (HS friends) whom I know I will ask favor to during our wedding preps, but we agreed to keep it to ourselves first. Not even our parents knew about the plan, 'coz we wanted to tell them once we've secured the date.

Well I made this blog entry just to express how difficult it is to plan a wedding secretly, especially when few of my close friends are also planning to tie the knot soon. I listed some things I had a hard time with:

1. Wedding Preps talk - three (3) close friends of mine got engaged last year and are prepping up for their own big days. During our gimiks and get togethers di maiwasan that there are topics on wedding preps. Being the "madaldal me", I really had a hard time participating the talk as well as not spoiling too much info that would leak our own wedding plans. So I make it a point na lang na wag masyadong mag-comment at pasimple lang sa pagkuha ng info on their wedding suppliers ..hehe. Plus I just squeeze Hon's hand para mapigilan ko ang pagsasalita.. :D

2. Wedding errands on weekdays - during weekdays, I am staying at an apartment in Cubao with some friends from work. Since secret nga yun plans namin, I can't bring any wedding plan stuff with me during weekdays. Thank God I have my iPad with me so nakaka-search pa rin ako without my housemates seeing it..hehe. Pero some sites require a flash player which is not supported in iPad, so ayun restricted din yun viewing ko, if sa laptop kasi ako magcheck, kita nila kung anong tinitignan ko..hehe

3. Mega tago during Wedding fairs - this one is the most difficult of them all! Of course all soon-to-married couples are attending bridal expos 'coz a lot of deals are offerred there. Syempre naman who wouldn't want discounts! We even applied for a VL para lang maka-attend ng fair on a weekday, effort kung effort! :D I'll post separate entry for the details of our experience in the wedding expos we've attended.

Actually though it is difficult, naka-tuwa/tawa din to plan a wedding secretly. Kasi it seems like we are planning a big surprise to all of them..hehe. Plus additional bonding talaga sa amin, coz we even dine-out late kapag weekdays para mag-discuss ng wedding plans. Pero bakit nga ba we decided to plan it secretly? hmm.. I'm not sure, but I know it is a mutual decision that we will announce it when the perfect time has come and in a perfect way :)

*/image c/o google/*

--- May :)

Tagaytay Roadtrip + Church Hunting

Side kwento muna:

2013 Jan 01 - After being "kinda-engaged" and finding our perfect date we immediately started putting our plan into action. Luckily we purchased a voucher last year from Cash Cash Pinoy for an Overnight Stay at Hotel Dominique Tagaytay.

2013 Jan 02 - I immediately called Hotel Dominique's reservation office to confirm a schedule. Good thing they already have available rooms for Jan 12-13. So that's it, I booked that schedule! :)

Being the "medyo organized me", even before our roadtrip I already did some research. Also I got this very helpful list of Tagaytay Wedding churches from Noh, so meron na kaming mga target puntahan.

Here's the link: http://www.bridalbook.ph/wedding-articles/5-popular-wedding-churches-in-tagaytay

-----

2013 Jan 12

We left Malabon around 10AM, I'm super excited 'coz aside from our Church Hunting goal, it would be our first roadtrip alone :)

We had brunch at Jollibee SLEX first then derecho na to Tagaytay. We had a good start, super nakisama si "Bash" (our car's name) sa amin kasi no hassle ang travel, plus madali lang namin nahanap yun Hotel Dominique. When we arrived at the hotal, tambay muna kami sa lobby 'coz it's too early pa to check-in.

After checking-in, we just relaxed a little, fixed our things then started rolling again to do our goal. But first Hon reminded me not to be depressed if we will not achieve our target. Well of course I'd be depressed pero di naman ako mag su-sulk-in 'coz I know we've tried.

1st stop - Pink Sisters Chapel. I know they don't allow wedding rites here, we just dropped by to pray and send our petition (written prayers), malapit lang din kasi ito dun sa hotel.  I've read somewhere that they are strict here, they do not allow taking pictures, so hindi na ako nag-attempt magpicture kahit sa labas..hehe. Mahirap na baka masita pa ako, naka-shorts pa naman ako :p

2nd stop - Our Lady of Lourdes. (picture c/o its respective owner)

Di kami nahirapan hanapin yun church since it's near the main road and madalas naman namin ito madaanan pag nagpupunta kami ng Tagaytay, though di pa ako nagka-chance makapasok dito. There was actually a wedding nun nagpunta kami so we we're able to see how the church was set-up during weddings. Pero there is no this is it feeling, for both me and Hon. Same feel and ambiance lang kasi siya ng churches sa Manila, for me. But still we tried to inquire sa Parish Office. Well our date is still available! :)  BUT the only slot left is yung 8am T_T which is definitely a NO. Personally I prefer an afternoon wedding, para mas energize ang mga tao, including me. If I can remember it correctly, 10Kphp yun Church fee, plus need na ng full or at least half nun total price for the down payment to secure yun slot. So I just took notes of all the info and decided to move on to our next destination.

3rd stop - Chapel On The Hill. (picture c/o its respective owner)

Medyo long drive itong church na ito since it is actually in Batangas area na, near Calaruega (our 4th stop). We are not familiar sa actual address niya but with the help of the internet we were able to find the place. Meron din wedding na katatapos lang when we arrived, though di na namin nakita yun setup kasi nagpa-pack-up na sila, but the couple are still there doing their post-nup pics. We (me and Hon) both love the church! May "this-is-it" factor! So we hurried to their Parish Office to inquire, well unfortunately no more weekend slot for December is available T_T, talk about peak season! We just took notes of their contact info and the available dates for December, yes, even considering weekday wedding. Mabait pa naman si Ate na nag-accommodate sa amin, kulit pa nga 'coz she even said "magpapakasal na talaga kayo? parang ang babata niyo pa ah?", sagot ko tuloy, "Ate, 27 na ako, bata pa rin ba yun? :)" We left the church broken hearted, at nakiayon pa ang panahon sa nararamdaman namin 'coz it rained nun pabalik na kami ng sasakyan.

4th stop - Transfiguraton Chapel/Calaruega. (picture c/o of its respective owner)

This seem to be the most famous wedding church in Tagaytay. We were able to attend a wedding here, of my officemates-friends. But still nahirapan pa rin kami in finding it, kasi we took the path from CotH so we are not sure if tama ba yun dinadaanan namin or nawawala na ba kami. Additional badtrip factor pa nun was that it was a long rough road! Kawawa yun sasakyan, di ko alam why don't they fund yun road construction nun e madami naman laging pumupunta dun due to it being a top wedding destination venue, oh well. When we finally reach Calaruega, it was still raining and this time medyo mas malakas na. There was an ongoing wedding so madaming naka-park at nagkakagulo yun mga "parking boys/tambay". Malayo from dun sa entrance yun naparkingan namin, so another badtrip point na naman. Then, though I already knew this, may entrance fee na 30php required per person who will visit/inquire. Finally nakapasok na kami and found their office, as expected all their slots for Dec 21 are already taken. Pero this time no hard feeling kasi di gusto ni Hon dito, na turn-off na ata siya..hehe

After a long and tiring day of searching we decided to call it a day. We head back to our hotel, had just few stop over to have dinner and coffee.

Stopover 1 - Dinner at Bulalo Point.

We stopped at Bulalo Point to have our dinner, we ordered Bulalo and Tawilis. I'm not sure if the Bulalo here is better than Leslie's, but it really was the perfect food for the cold weather.

Stopover 2 - Tambay at Starbucks

2013 Jan 13

We woke up early (mga 9am..hehe) since 'til 10am lang daw yun complimentary breakfast, then decided what to do and where to go next.

Actually the night before I was busy browsing resorts/hotel or reception venues at Tagaytay na meron na ding chapel for the ceremony. After breakfast I decided to call yun San Antonio de Padua at Silang Cavite, this was Hon's first bet nun pinakita ko sa kanya yun pics nun Top 5 churches sa Tagaytay. Luckily, God really love us, may available pang slot for Dec 21! though it was a morning schedule ,10am, we still decided na puntahan at i-try.

5th stop - San Antonio de Padua.

Challenge ang pagpunta namin dito. I've read kasi in the link above (from Bridal Book) na their Parish Office Hours is until 5pm even if Sundays. Buti na lang I called them kasi plano talaga namin ito puntahan before umuwi ng Manila, after sana mag-Lunch sa Bag of Beans, until 12pm lang pala sila. So everything was a rush, dali-dali mag-ayos ng gamit at mag checkout. Di kami sure where the place is, so asa lang ulit sa mapa na nakita ko online at sa consistent pagtawag kay Ms. Michelle (yun nakausap ko sa SAdP) regarding directions. We reached the church around 15mins before 12pm, pagdating pa lang namin napa-WOW na kami sa ganda ng church. Ayun, "this-is-it" moment na talaga! Derecho kami sa Office para ipa-reserve yun last slot for Dec 21, 1Kphp lang naman ang downpayment, then the rest (9Kphp) is 1 month after pa. Keber na kung AM ang wedding, were still hoping na may magback-out na PM slot on our date..hehe, plus naisip namin na kaya naman gawan ng paraan if ever.

So that's it! We went back to Manila with happy faces! Target achieved! We have our church na!! :D

 

--- May :)

12-21-13 it is!

On New Year's eve, while preparing for my yearly note on how the year has been, I had time to just relax and think of all my accomplishements and blessings. Then came to mind a more personal future plan, getting married. I browsed on the dates of 2013, I know May 21 is not an option because it is not a weekend and it would be difficult to pull off given that its just few months away. Side kwento, it was my dream date to have our BF/GF anniversary be same as our Wedding anniversary, para di siya makalimutan pagtagal, but due to leap year, it fell on a Monday this year, so that dream was long gone.

I have few requirements for our wedding, so I have to take it into consideration on choosing our wedding date. Here goes..

1. It should be on the 21st of the month - well its our number :) at least even if we can't have it on May 21, it would still be a 21 :D

2. It should be a weekend wedding - in our field of work it's so difficult (from my experience) to file for a Vacation Leave, and since we'll be inviting colleagues, reality is that their VLs may not be approved. I know na if I schedule it on a weekday, if our guests love us as much, they would do anything para maka-attend, but I don't want my guests to have that burden, so that's it.

3. My dream wedding is a Destination Wedding - I want it at Tagaytay to be exact. I'm not sure why exactly, pero I have this one reason why I don't want it somewhere in Manila (near CAMANAVA), because I don't want our guests to come just because of the convenience. I want them to come because they really want to be part of our special day. Labo noh? I don't want the burden of them filing a leave but I want them to travel few kilometers south just to witness our vows.. hehe. Well I think it's way easier and would be more meaningful :)

There are only few weekend 21's for 2013 and one of them really caught my attention, where I felt the "this is it moment".

December 21, 2013, Saturday, the last working day before the long Christmas break, and it would be Winter at Korea (my Dream Honeymoon Destination)! It was JUST PERFECT!


So I decided I can no longer wait for the ring, I know I just have to tell Hon that I've found it, the perfect date, and we need to book a church ASAP! :D

-- May :)