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 :)