On break-ups and finding someone new

I was holding this story for as long as I can. I wanted to clear things up before making any drastic move. Since everything is in its places now, I think it is just rightful to blog it.

D and I agreed to cancel our contract with Social Happenings as our OTD and Ms.Kim Valdez as our emcee. If you're reading wedding forums like w@w and GT, you'll know the issues circulating about her. With my better judgement, I still went on to hear her side of the story. I believed her, put my full trust and even bid for her services during last year's w@w auction. I won the bid for her hosting and booked her OTD. But for some reasons, which I decided not to divulge until at least after our wedding, she started to disappoint me. 

I then decided to look for replacement, which proved to be very draining because almost everyone with good feedbacks were booked already for my December wedding. So all those early planning turned to waste. But good things come to those who wait! During one of D's friends' wedding, I was impressed by a bunch of uniformed ladies talking flawlessly using their 2-way radio. There goes my solution! We met Marg Baula of Events Republic at Galleria a few weeks after that wedding. She came equipped with supporting documents about how she and her team do weddings. Right there and then, I told her our story, laid out our expectations and book her.

Marg' Events Republic is different from Kredin's Events Engineer. But Kredin came from ER.

Next bottleneck was the emcee. Since our DP for Kim was as good as gone, we do not have that much to spare. So the likes of Missy, Sweet and Mallory was never considered. I wanted to get Heidi Santos then, which was surprisingly a perfect choice because Marg said that she is ER's resident emcee. Unfortunately, she was not available anymore. My next choice was between Darlene Tan-Salazar and Ellen Celis-Timbol. Both are w@wies, so my full trust are on them. As per the feedback on w@w, Darlene is more on the prim and proper side. Ellen, on the other hand, turned out to be that famous Ellen with the 2500php wedding gown. We ended up choosing Ellen. Her personality matches ours. That would be more exciting!

Ellen on action. Photo grabbed from Ellen's fb

New OTD: Events Republic
New Emcee: Ellen Celis-Timbol

With these final changes, I then sent the long-due email to Kim informing her of our decision. We agreed to hold our inevitable confrontation with her until we find a replacement. We were kind of worried that we cannot get anyone to do the job because our wedding's on December which is just a couple of months away. But we did! So out of courtesy, we did the right thing and faced Kim - i meant emailed Kim. This morning, I sent my straight-to-the-point email sans all the details and drama. Promptly, she replied with a very short acknowledgement note -
As much as I am sadden by this series of event, thank you so much for informing me ahead of time. Wishing you all the best on your journey as husband and wife and may God's blessing over pour as you start a new journey! Happy preps and enjoy your big day! 

Thank you

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

I was expecting a little more harsh reply, as she did on some issues in the past. But she handled it with grace this time. Maybe because we didn't really treated her as bad? Good for her.

Suddenly, I compared this incident with break-ups and finding someone new. I am no first-timer in terms of parting ways with love-ones. But I was always afraid to do it with a supplier. Maybe because there is a huge deal of money involved? I guess that's it. I decided against doing it with my HMUA before, which proved to be a better choice because Belle is now one, if not my only, closest supplier. Kim, on the other hand, is a different story. I slept on it for months, but my decision is still the same. Like in actual relationships, I was that two-timing bitch. I made sure I have that fallback so when one fails I have someone to catch me. This is definitely unacceptable in an actual relationship, but totally wise and practical in the business side. But for me, the feeling after the breakup is just the same. There is that pang of guilt that you have just left someone. And an additional uneasiness for the very kind reply after the confrontation. If I see no wrong with Kim, i would think it's like giving her the line - 'It's not you, it's me'. Maybe there is really nothing wrong, or maybe not. But for my peace of mind, I think i'm better off with someone new. This is a very risky move - a gamble for some. But for me to know the outcome, I have to try. At least now, my mind is finally at ease. And if ever i'm wrong, which I really hope not, I can always stand up and try again - or in wedding preps language - I just have to let go and let God.