Happy 2012!

Happy New Year!!! 
~ From Mr&Mrs Logus (este Talattad pala! :P)

Putukan muna! Let's start 2013's roadtrip with a bang! Saka na ang Suppliers' Ratings. hehe. Thank you muna sa lahat! :D

The Yellow Roadtrip E-Session

I'm so excitedddddddd na to post our wedding pics, but I promised I won't til its complete. So for now let me share our Engagement photos first.

CARWASH

Paper Flowers

In my desire to incorporate our Roadtrip theme to the reception centerpieces, I made some DIY flowers to go with the real flowers that Ate Inah will deliver for me. I got the flower concepts from some of the cutey things I saw on Martha Stewart. And I added a bit of my own art everywhere!

So here it is - My paper flowers in softdrink cans! :)

Our Roadtrip Invites

I cannot find time to blog lately. It's because my wedding is fast approaching!! But I have to post something because it's 10 days before our BIG DAY! Yaaayyyy! :)

Sharing to you - my most favorite DIY - our invitations! 

Concept - joint forces of D and myself, with a bit of inspiration from Jayjay and Feliz Lucas' invites
Styling and Layout - MINE!
Printing - Fans Digital
Envelopes - cutting c/o D, name band printed using home printer
Cover photo - Maloy Ardieta Photography

Will post more after the wedding! :)

CANA @ CEFAM

I'm only doing this because it is required by SSA

That's my mentality while paying for the CANA seminar. It trimmed a good 4000 from our budget. The price I have to pay for choosing a celebrity-church. aww

First off, let me explain how I ended up choosing CANA seminar instead of the other two pre-marriage seminars accredited by SSA - Discovery Weekend and Catholic Engaged Encounter. I have this reasons -
1. Cost - It is the cheapest of them all
2. Available Sched - Since we only made reservations on the last week of October, our only options were the CEE and CANA. The later fit D's sched better.
3. D's schedule - he preferred a live-out seminar so he can still work after 5pm. What a workaholic!

November 17 We dropped by Mcdo Libis first to grab our breakfast. We saw a celebrity! Coach Rio dela Cruz, the famous afro-haired runner, was dining there together with his gf. I was amazed by how cute his car was - A gray two-door Audi!
We reached CEFAM building of Ateneo Katipunan few minutes before 8am. And surprise, surprise! Coach Rio was there also! Ahh yeah he was in the news lately because of his cute proposal video.

A taste of Enderun

I heard a lot of good reviews about Enderun's food. It was actually one of the reasons why I booked this venue (aside from the ambiance). In fact, if time really didn't cooperate with us, I'm completely fine to skip the food-tasting. But the time then was on our hands and we have a lot of catching up to do after my devastating birthday.

We scheduled our food-tasting during lunch on November 13. Btw, Enderun only entertain 'scheduled' food-tasting. That should be planned with your AE (Karen on my case) at least 2 weeks in advance. Also, take note that they only do it Monday thru Thursdays but only during lunch. Maybe you can push for a Friday lunch but the restaurant might be full, so it will safer to schedule it on weekdays. Your AE will also ask you to choose your base banquet meal and then out of that choice you have to choose only 5 items. We decided to take Banquet 1 - 1 from the appetizer, the soup, 2 from the main course and 1 dessert. Note that one set of meal can be shared by 2, maybe even 3! I got this tip from w@w. Thank you sisters! :)

We came from a gown-fitting sched that morning, so we arrived at Enderun a few minutes after 12. Karen ushered us to Restaurant 101. She informed us what's gonna happen and then left us to enjoy our 'date'.

Just like any other resto, the food took about 15 minutes to be served. This was D at around 12:30pm.

you're not you when you're hugry?

Happy Birthday to me?

It's my birthday! I'm on vacation! This is fun!

Or so I thought..

I made a promise to myself that for as long as I live (and with a job), I will not work on my birthday. Growing up, I was deprived of the chance to celebrate it. The last time I remembered having a grand birthday party was when I was 7. After that, the next one was on my 18th birthday. Nothing extravagant - I just spent the day swimming with my friends in a nearby pool. Then my mother prepared some pansit and a goldilocks cake for us to share. Imagine how I celebrated my first birthday after I got a job. Still nothing spectacular, but at least I got to buy a cake out of my own pocket. :)

Every year my celebration gets better. From a simple party at my house to a Baguio trip with my family. This year, I wanted to celebrate it with a bang. You see, it's my last birthday as a single woman. A thing worth celebrating for me. But some things happened beyond my control. Our wedding budget ballooned and I have no money to spare. So my celebration was cancelled. But still, I didn't go to work. That's still good news.

Expectations destroyed me that day. I was waiting until the clock signals the start of my day at 12mn for birthday texts. Only one came at 12:05. And that was not from my boyfriend. I suddenly remembered the happy days when people remembered birthdays not through Facebook Notifications. The greetings were sweeter then. Now, you have no way to determine if it was a genuine remembrance of your natal day or if they just saw someone greet you then mimic it. I slept with a heavy heart. 

I had a hard time waking up that morning of November 9, 2012. Finally, a birthday text from the bf! But still he has to go to work and our out-of-town plan was still a plan. I decided to sleep the whole day instead. I went out of my room only to eat and watch TV. No one bothered to greet me. It felt like nobody from home even remembered. Maybe there's a surprise for me later? 

By around 7pm, bf arrived with my cake. So there's no surprise party. But Thank God I have a cake! I called my family to have a taste of it. But before doing so, I asked them to greet me first. What a lame move to have someone personally greet me! I got devastated that nobody even made an effort to greet me just because I didn't prepare food.

Anyway, here's my beautiful and sweet birthday ice cream cake from D.

Lesson learned: Expectations killed the cat (or was it curiousity?). For me this was my worst birthday to date (in terms of my emotional state), but still i'm thankful that a simple birthday cake saved the day. With that, I owe D a big thanks.

W@W Quotes

I can multitask. That's a fact. Problem is - I always find myself super stressed every time I do it. So to keep my sanity, I try my best to avoid multitasking. I applied the same thinking with my wedding preps. As you all know by now, I took the chance to showcase my inner artistic self in our upcoming wedding. I want to do as much DIYs as I can. I want our wedding to reflect us. So much of that prelude! But I hope you already grasped what I wanted to say - MY BLOG IS EMPTY BECAUSE I'M BUSY. :D

This also affected my online status. I was once a very active w@wie. There was a time that not one topic passed without me commenting on it. But lately, I can't even take a peek. Geez! But one email caught my attention. It was sent in not by the usual weddingsatwork@yahoogroups.com but by Benz Co-Rana herself! Ohh it's that time of the year again. Yearly before Christmas, w@w holds various activities for the community. There's the yearly Auction, Christmas Party. Card Exchange, etc. The email I was talking about earlier was about 'the' Ms.Benz asking w@wies to contribute to next year's W@W Wedding Primer. 

Ever since I knew w@w existed, I bought all the Wedding Primers they released. Yes, we've been engaged for more that 2 years now. So I have 2 old issues with me. During the past years, I haven't tried sending entries mainly because I think what I knew of weddings then won't be book-worthy. But this year, after reading the same old questions, I found myself composing answers. I got surprised that I have 'multiple' entries to every question. And more surprise! 9 of them were published! Maybe I should consider a writing career.. hmm

So here it is. The reason I'm so proud - 

Maybe next year, I can share on topics for newly-weds. :)

We are BACK!

I can't believe I missed September without even posting a single story. Maybe I just lived up to the song - Wake me up when September ends. Aww. But hell, NO. I've been busy. My work seemed to be collecting the debts I made for those whole day Facebook day. Hehe. A lot has been going on with my relationship with D. We were again on the brink of cancelling the wedding. But of course, for the nth time, our love won over.

You guys definitely missed a lot of what has happened to me in the past weeks. But, to start, as soon as we resolved the feeder man issue (i do not want to talk about this anymore), I went back to work and redesigned our STD. Remember the one where my grammar was corrected by a friend? Click HERE. I guess this was a blessing in disguise because I prefer the new design. Plus, it is relevant to our Roadtrip theme. You really have to look at the brighter side Ro-se? Hehe.

Ok. Ok. Here it is. You guys decide. :)

Details blurred. Sorry. :P

Love to be back,

All Caked Up!

Wanna know my latest addiction? It's baking! And now I can totally relate to the quote unquote Joy of Baking. hehe

Actually I have been baking since two Christmas ago. D bought an electric oven for me so I can make lasagna for him. I did manage to bake 2 lasagna meal. Plus baked potatoes, baked salmon, baked pastas, chocolate chip cookies and a bunch of chocolate cakes. But my favorite so far is my best ever Chocolate Cake. Whoa! Put down that eyebrow. haha. Let me explain - That was my third attempt on the Choco Cake stuff. The first two cakes were just, you know, EPIC FAILURES! haha. The first one was burnt on the bottom then raw on top. The second one, well it shrunk, not as sponge-like as I expected it. So if I compare my latest cake to the first two, this is the best so far! It has risen! haha

Look for yourself - 

not a big donut!

I don't know if it's because of my new chiffon pan or just the new recipe. Anyway, I'm just so happy. My cake was still far from perfect, maybe 3 more trials! haha. For now, I'll just enjoy it with some brewed coffee.. Geeez I don't drink coffee! haha. For picture purposes, I tried but I can't really take it so I put some milk. In the end, I made a mango juice. haha

perfect with coffee :)

Lucky Year for babies?

Have you noticed a lot of baby pictures posted on Facebook lately? I do! I have a lot of friends who gave birth to bouncing babies this year! Apparently, 2012 is a lucky year to have babies. So that explains it.

Anyway, I got a chance to take a snap of Royden and Ate Tina's new baby boy - Karsten Karl.

And of course, our very own Kuya Jubs and Ate Lani's little giant baby boy was also born this year. Look at the many faces of Alfonso Matteo -

And by the way, have you heard the tsismis that I am pregnant? Not the issue last year, just this week. Haha! So I am again pregnant according to them. So to make things clear - I WAS NEVER AND I AM NOT PREGNANT! D and I made a mutual decision to not have babies yet, not until at least 2 years from now. Honestly, I think I am not yet ready. We need to be financially and emotionally ready first so we can be good parents. That is not now.

Quick Bora Weekend

Who doesn't like Boracay? It's the first beach I wanted to visit the moment I was earning my own money. True to that, I was there on September 2010. The beach was good alright. But I was expecting more. Maybe because the weather then didn't cooperate with us? The beach looked so gloomy under the dark skies. The rains also made the beach not so pleasing to my sight. And most of all because of the bed weather, we missed a bunch of watersports. So I promised myself that one day I'll come back.

That promise came true earlier than expected. Well, going back to Boracay was not my priority. I was dying to visit Coron, El Nido or Camiguin first. But who am I to decline this one heck of an opportunity? It was an all-expense paid trip to Boracay for just the weekend - you guessed that right! Our foreigner friends wanted to go to Boracay and they will spend some cash just for us to take them there. Apparently, Boracay is the most famous beach to visit in the Philippines according to them. In fact, Mark Sailing (Noah Puckerman of Glee) once visited its shores. Whoa! So there, although I was really insisting on going to El Nido, the trip was set to be Boracay. D and I set all the other necessities - airfare, resorts, watersports, etc.

So for the kwento, a week earlier we booked our ticket in the CebuPacific booth in Megamall. But we were given AirPhil tickets for a cheaper price (weird huh?). I didn't know that tickets are that expensive - imagine 30,000php for RT Mnl-Caticlan of 4pax only? Promo tickets usually costs only 1500php RT. My golly! Next we booked Two Seasons Resorts. It was recommended by my friend Shiela. The last time we were there we stayed at Boracay Holiday Resort, which was very good. But we had a hard time going to and forth D'Mall where everything else is happening. And it was also not beachfront, so have to walk at least 3minutes to the beach and another 5minutes to D'Mall. So I said I wanted to stay somewhere near Astoria. It is by the way, strategically located just an arm-length away to where all the restaurants are but a good distance also if you want a little break from all the party noises at night. But their prices didn't come cheap, so we chose another resort in Station 1 for 1,000php less. Of course, if budget is not a problem you would want to stay in Station 1- where the sands are finer, the beach is cleaner and Willy's Rock stood gloriously. So taking Sheila's advise, D booked Two Seasons.

GETTING TO BORACAY

Early Saturday morning, we were greeted by the rains and winds of Hanging Habagat. I decided not to bring my DSLR, will just use my phone instead. We met our friends at the airport and boarded AirPhil's small aircraft with really big propellers. The flight was noisier and really unstable. Somehow, I regret choosing Caticlan airport instead of Kalibo Airport which was where we landed  on our first trip.

But as we check the airport, I suddenly admired its simplicity. I felt a huge admiration for Shamcey Supsup, our very own Ms.Universe 2011 3rd runner up. Shamcey, before joining the pageant, was a practicing Architect. She was said to be the one who designed Boracay Airport aka Caticlan Airport. It's beauty was magnified by the scorching sun. No rains here! yey!

On our first visit, we were brought from Kalibo Airport to Caticlan Jetty Port, which was a 3+ hours of land travel. Van was worth 300php something per person.

I figured out that you can get to Boracay using two airports.
1. Manila to Caticlan Airport - 45minutes plane ride. Then you will endure just a 5-minute ride a tricycle going to either Caticlan Jetty Port or Tabon Port. Then there will be another 15-minute boatride going to the Island of Boracay.
2. Manila to Kalibo Airport - 45minutes plane ride. Then you will ride a van going to Caticlan Jetty Port. This is a very long 3-hr land travel. From there you will take a boat going to Boracay Island.
The Caticlan Airport is obviously better, specially if you are travelling with kids.  Only downside - airfares here are usually higher, the planes are smaller which makes them more unstable and the flights here are often redirected to Kalibo once the weather goes bad. There is a difference also in Terminal Fees - Caticlan is only 20php while Kalibo is at 40php.

As I mentioned, whichever route you choose, you are still bound to stop at Caticlan so you can get a boat to take you to Boracay Island. Another two choices -
1. Via Caticlan Jetty Port - this is the usual course specially if you are going from Kalibo. But for safety purposes, some tricycle will take you to another port during the Habagat seasons. Fees in Caticlan Jetty Port are more expensive - 100php/head Terminal Fee and 75php/head. You can choose to ride some normal boats for 25php or aircon boats like Montenegro for 30php.
2. Via Tabon Port - Habagat means more wind, so the sea is bound to get rough. More often than not, they use this port during bad weather. Fees here are cheaper - 25php/head Terminal Fee and 75php/head Environmental Fee. They do not have aircon boats here as the docks are smaller. So you will pay 25php for the normal boats.

This time around, we landed on Caticlan Airport with no hassle. We bought tickets for the tricycle ride going to the port. It costed 80php for maximum of 3pax only. They do not allow 4 persons in one tricycle. It took us only about 5 minutes to reach Tabon Port. In exchange, they gave us 2 free Boracay Island Map. That port was better because the fees were cheaper but I found the boats too small and risky. I wanted to ride another Montenegro boat with aircon and TV, but there were no choices! hah! For another 10minutes, we reached the small Tampisaan Port. This is another two options. There are again two ports from the Boracay side:
1. Cagban Port - this is the usual port. Again more organized but the fees going out of Boracay are more expensive  - 100php/head Terminal Fee, no Environmental fees collected if you are going out of Boracay already. From Caticlan, if you rode a boat from Caticlan Jetty Port, this will usually take you to Cagban Port. And vice versa.
2. Tampisaan Port - now this is the usual partner of Tabon Port. This is said to be the backup route or the Habagat route. The waves here are much steadier even on rainy seasons. Fees going out of Boracay here are also cheaper - 25php/head Terminal Fee, also no Environmental fee.

One more ride to the resort - a tricycle going to Two Seasons for 125php.

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.

Wakwak

How would you react if someone hysterically woke you up early on a Saturday to say that your sister got into an accident? Then, you saw your sister dripping in blood, holding on to her open and very deep cut while crying out loud..

Some people will surely show mercy. I chose anger. Why? If it is the first time you see that, of course it's mind-blowing. But we've sang this tune before. Just a year ago, Chacha also got into an accident which left her with stitches on her legs. It was an accident alright, but an accident caused by hyper-activity which, in my opinion, can be avoided with proper actions. Oh yes she is a kid! And as kids they normally get into petty accidents, some with big ones like this. But this I will tell you - my sister is different! She is a walking disaster. Wounds are just normal in her skin. If I have the money to pay a shrink, for sure Cha will be diagnosed with ADHD. Cha even told me, and I quote - "Di ko kasi kaya di maglikot e". But it's alright, it already happened. I just made her promise to be careful next time because she has no healthcard to save us from all the hospital bills.

Cha's first stitches

Unfortunately, promises are really made to be broken. Just this Saturday, we again faced the same scenario. As I was angry, I didn't accompany them to the hospital. Oh BTW, Cha was brought to a private hospital on her first accident so the stitches were neatly done. They used some thread that melts - the one used in CS delivery. This time, since it's her repeat accident, she was brought to a government hospital. Actually, our pact was if she ever repeat her careless acts, I will not take her to a hospital anymore, we will just let her wound heal on its own. But of course, I just said that to scare her. Plus, the wound seriously needed stitching. Sadly, the accident happened on my Petsas de Peligros date - payday near but yet so far. So we have no choice but chose the public hospital.

paawa effect

But after seeing the stitches just last night, I regret that decision. I don't know if public hospital and poor service is proportional to each other but that was what I concluded when I saw the stitches. Unlike her first, this one looked like it was done by a gradeschool student learning how to sew on a Home Economics class. The skin  was not flat and the stitch really resembled an alupihan. The thread used was also the one which needs to be removed after a couple of days. I suddenly got scared of how it will look like when Chacha reached her teen years. Judge for yourself -

the wound uncovered

 So, do you agree with me that Chacha cannot wear her favorite pekpek shorts anymore?

Entourage Exchange

When I was younger, I always dismiss the idea of me in a bridesmaid's dress. I was really not that into girly stuff and wearing a dress made me cringe. Plus no one really bothered to get me. Maybe they were terrorized by the idea that like what happened before, I will refuse to walk down the aisle and just wail to death at the door. Well, that was what I did during my ninang's wedding! The cute flower girl didn't throw the flowers! Sad! But of course I will be such a hypocrite to say that I did not picture myself wearing Cinderella gowns. It is every girl's dream, for God sake! But unlike all the other normal girls, I was not the slim type. So when my tito married in 2002, the 18-year old me refused yet again another entourage role. I was so afraid to show off my big flabby arms in that spaghetti-strap dress. I used all the excuses I can to get away. After that, no one tried to ask.

It was not until just a few years back that my views changed. Blame it on my new-found self-love. Now I want to be the bridesmaid! I want to use the line - Always the bridesmaid, never the bride! Ohh scratch that. I want to be the bridesmaid before I myself become the bride. I can settle for bridesmaid because, as I already mentioned before, some incident happened which trashed the promise me and my ex-BFF made to each other. Obviously, she is not my MOH and I will never be hers. Anyway, it was D's sister that gave way to my dreams. But as veil sponsor. Well it was good than nothing. In fact, it was a promotion. I've got to do something instead of just making pacute in the pews. haha

But hey miracles do happen! Just 6 months before my wedding, my childhood friend, my bridesmaid, Pac (short for Mapacpac which is Lorie's lastname) gave me the news that she and Lloyd will get married. In October! 2 months before mine! This couple really knew how to surprise me. Some background for you - Lloyd, Pac and I were classmates in grade school. Pac and I went to the same highschool, but Lloyd didn't. We have no communications since then although we all went to PUP. It was when I was working in Accenture that I met Lloyd again in an elevator at the office. He told me that Pac was also in Accenture. I was in IT, both of them were in BPO. To make the long story short, we exchanged emails. The bond between us three rekindled. We even planned a series of Elementary reunions together. But I became so busy with work afterwards, that I started to bail out of our regular gimiks. Also, I was trying to get them together. Cupid mode on! After some time, my plans succeeded and I made a new couple. yey!

Along with the news of their incoming nuptials, Pac also asked me to be her Maid of Honor. Wow this is it! The realization of my dreams! I was really not expecting that because she has a younger sister. But she told me that it should be me because I was the one who put the together. Wow!

the couple with my gown sketch

The Maid of Honor of my Bridesmaid,

Not a TROPHY Entourage?

I never knew how serious entourage's duties were, not until i'm engaged and experiencing all the stress of wedding preparations. I started to question myself why my friends weren't even texting me how's it going. But I've been in their shoes, so I understand. Maybe it is still in my shoulders to remind them that being a member of a bridal party comes with responsibilities - definitely not just to wear that awful dress or suit.

Anyway, to educate everyone of the standard Entourage Duties and Responsibilities, here it is:


WEDDING CEREMONY:THE ENTOURAGE AND THEIR ROLES
Check out the entourage members' tasks to ensure you'll assign the right people.
Posted on: 01 November 2011
Author: Kristy Texon

On your wedding day, your entourage members will play supporting roles for the ceremony. Before you start giving out roles to your family and friends, check out the members' tasks to ensure you are assigning the right person.

PRIMARY SPONSORS
Legally speaking, the primary sponsors are entourage members you cannot do without, since they will sign your marriage contract. Traditionally, couples choose the same number of ninongs and ninangs, but there is no rule specifying that clause. Your primary sponsors will serve as your godparents, so choose people who can give good advise on your marriage. Find sponsors whose marriages you want to emulate as you grow older.

SECONDARY SPONSORS
The secondary sponsors are composed of the candle, veil and cord sponsors. They play roles according to Christian practices incorporated in the wedding ceremony. The candle sponsors will light the candles beside you; the practice symbolized God's guidance. The veil sponsors will place the veil over your head and groom's shoulder to signify that you are clothed as one, while the cord sponsors will connect you with cord to symbolize the binding nature of marriage.

MAID OF HONOR/MATRON OF HONOR AND BRIDESMAIDS 
During the ceremony, the maid of honor --or Matron of Honor if she's married-- will assist you with your gown's train, bouquet and other needs. She could also sign as a witness of the ceremony. However, the role entails other tasks prior to the wedding. The maid of honor --ideally-- will help you accomplish other wedding related tasks like coordinating with the suppliers, organizing the bridal shower, packing for the honeymoon, and many other miscellaneous to-do's. The bridesmaids could help the Maid Of Honor with the tasks. To see other tasks assigned to the Maid of Honor, click here.

BEST MAN AND GROOMSMEN
When your groom gets cold feet on the wedding day, it is the best man's duty to calm down the groom. He could also sign wedding documents as a ceremony witness. Another important task of the best man is to safeguard your wedding rings until you use them for the ceremony. The other responsibilities prior to the ceremony are planning the bachelor's party, and coordinating with the other groomsmen. The groomsmen help the best man accomplish his tasks. To check other tasks for your Best Man, click here.

FLOWER GIRL
The flower girl's role is simply to shower the aisle with petals. As simple as it may sound, you still need to be discerning with this choice. Young member of the entourage could be fickle, and you never know when they'll have their tantrums.

RING BEARER
The ring bearer hold on to your wedding rings, but asking a kid to guard your rings is a risky idea. Don't give your rings to the bearer until he is about to walk down the aisle, or he might lose your rings. Another alternative is to have him carry fancy rings, and ask the best man to hold on to your wedding rings for safekeeping.

COIN BEARER AND BIBLE BEARER
The coin bearer holds the arrhae, which in Pinoy culture stands for promise of providence of the groom for his wife and future family. The bible bearer is present in secular ceremonies; the holds the bible aloft during the processional.

Souce: http://www.bridalbook.ph/wedding-articles/the-entourage-and-their-roles/

New faces!

I got a bunch of new faces for my entourage list pictures. Yey! Finally, we were able to visit them (or have them visit us?) to give away the WYB cards.

Sunday is church day for D's sister and hubby. It's their routine to leave baby Alfonso in their mother's house during church then just pick him up after the service. So one sunday, since I was there, D gave the card to them -

We also dropped by Tita Fe's house. It was just behind D's house so I was pissed that he haven't delivered it yet. He wanted to have me join him daw to inform that we will get Tito Lee and Tita Fe as sponsors (as tradition). Actually, they already knew. We just went for formality. Anyway, we had it delivered and approved. Unfortunately, Tita Fe didn't want to be photographed the moment we were in their house. She was as kikay as me that she wanted to fix her hair first! haha. She dropped by D's house few minutes later for the picture. But we forgot to tell her to bring the card. Anyway, meet Tita Fe -

My emotions were mixed when I learned that she and Tito Lee cannot attend the wedding. Well Tito Lee is based in the US, only Tita Fe lives here. But it was planned that this year, she will fly to the US instead of the whole family to fly back. I was sad of course. But looking at the bright side of things, I can allot that seat to some on my waiting list. Not bad. Think positive! :)

There are also new faces - literally! Just no pictures yet. But we just modified our entourage list due to some unforeseen events. D's brother's wife cannot make it home on December. So Kuya Winston will have no partner doing the cord. D came up with the idea to place his kuya as bestman. It was always what he wanted. But we followed their family's tradition to put couples in the secondary sponsors. Now that Ate Rhea won't be coming home, he made the decision to make his kuya bestman. Now here comes the tricky part - we already placed Josel to be his bestman. So to make things fair, without anyone feeling demoted or something, D now has 2 best man. Or should we call them Best Men?

Now who will replace Kuya Winston as Male Cord Sponsor? It should be someone close because the role will be important. I advised him to choose outside his college friends as obviously most of his entourage are friends from UST. So he chose a childhood friend - Karl Roxas. I haven't met him though.

And Ate Rhea? D first wanted his one college friend he met through chat. I said it's ok but I also reminded him how she didn't show up during his birthday when she said she will come. aww I know I was bad here but she really made me upset. Another choice was again another college friend. But D decided otherwise because he wanted her to be a reader, which he said is a role more fit for her. He next wanted a childhood friend, but she will also get married on December so No. Then I said maybe he can get someone from work. So it was a choice between Lucky and Eva. Since Eva is already married, I told him we should choose Lucky. Let's give her a valid reason to slim down! hahaha So now Lucky Ocampo is our Female Cord Sponsor.

Also Chad backed out as Groomsmen. His tito will get married the same date as ours. Or course, family first! So we looked upon our long list of friends from Laguna. Our first choice was Dan. Unfortunately, we weren't able to contact him. Then came the thought of Tyron Garcia! Yes we almost forgot! We were closer to Tyron.

They all agreed to the appointments. :) So I'll be making new Will-You-Be cards!