{SUPPLIER RATING} Emcee

ELLEN CELIS-TIMBOL

CONTACT: 0922-884 8209

DAMAGE: Discounted Price (Her 2012 Rate for Manila Wedding is P5,000)

Plus! Plus! Plus! I am proud to say that Ellen Celis-Timbol is a W@W find. We turned to the forum to look for a better replacement for my previous emcee. I happen to win a free Kim Valdez' hosting via W@W Auction but we decided to replace her a few months before the wedding for the sake of our peace of mind. Check the story HERE. I shorlisted Heidi Santos, Darlene Tan-Salazar and Ellen. I was about to choose Heidi because she's ER's resident host but she was no longer available on our date so the choice was then between Darlene and Ellen. Both were former W@Wies, so success is guaranteed. In the end, we chose Ellen because, personality-wise, we were on the same level.

And we were right! She's not only beautiful, she's equally talented!  We were both busy during the Christmas season, so after our first meeting, we only exchanged emails for the program. But the result was not compromised. She delivered! And she delivered superb!

Here's what she looked like on our wedding -

Here's Ellen at work - 

She managed to make our entourage enter with such energy. Look at this -

And made our shy friends cooperate fully with the games - 

She came up with something to kill time so the videographers can finish the SDE. She let our oldest married guests (who happened to be my grandparents) to give us advise for long lasting marriage. The hardest challenge was how to stop them from talking all night. haha! Look at how she did it with respect - 

She also sang Superbass for us! Cute! I found this stolen shot of her more beautiful -

I declare - I have made the right decision to get Ellen. She deserved a slow clap. Clap! Clap! Clap!

Wishing I am as beautiful as this very blessed gal,

Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} Wedding Vehicle

AIRPORT TAXI- TYN 595

DAMAGE: P1500

This was the least of our priorities. In fact, D only made arrangements for this the night before our wedding. Since we first planned to ride his motorcycle after the ceremony, hiring a professional wedding car is not advisable. To keep up with our roadtrip theme, we thought of getting a public transpo. Our first thoughts were jeep, tricycle, sidecar bike.. But knowing that we will pass EDSA from hotel to church somewhat changed our minds. The idea of actually hiring an airport taxi came from our ex-coordinator. She suggested that because of the yellow color. Brilliant idea so we adapted it. Thanks Kim!

As I've mentioned, D only made arrangements the night before. He went to the airport to get someone to do the task for us. He found one guy - his taxi's plate number is TYN 595. It was one hell of a gamble for D. The driver, unfortunately, do not have a cellphone so he was relying to his words that he'll come at our hotel the next day at 12 noon. He thought, if worst comes to worst, we have a bunch of cars that can do take me to the church.

But he came. A little earlier than expected. But since my mind was floating during that time and the time I was in the car was very limited, I wasn't able to have a decent chat with him just to even ask for his name.

Joann, my PA, paid him just before we get out of the car. She said D instructed her to give Manong P1500 instead of their arrangement of P1000 because Manong waited for us in the hotel. That's so generous of my husband.

Look at our pictures below -

So since we haven't encountered any problems, I'm giving him a perfect score.

D's WORK PICKUP and FRIENDS' BIKES

DAMAGE: FREE!

This was the backup plan we came up with in such a short notice. I know you are tired of this same old story, but in case you haven't read it yet, here's the story again. For two years, we have been planning on having a motorcycle as our getaway vehicle. We already scraped the idea of a white bridal car. In fact, D got Ms.Claude and his husband as PS with high hopes that he can borrow one of the latter's big bikes. But nahiya sya nung time na ng hiraman! Anak ng! So our next step was to borrow Leo's Scarlet (CBR150). But two weeks before our wedding, a problem came up. Garbs and Gomi asked for the club's help for their wedding. Their setup was exactly the same as ours. Gomi's gown was also convertible because she will ride in Garbs' motorcycle! Aww heartbreak! This was one thing D was so excited about then we have to change it. Actually, no one's saying that we have to change anything. I'm not even sure if Garbs and Gomi knew that we were planning the same thing. It was my decision not do it anymore. The club was so amazed by their idea, so I'm guessing that if we will repeat that, the impact will not be as what we expected. We might even be branded copycat. That I cannot take. In two weeks, I came up with an idea to just use D's pickup from work but retain the motorcycle convoy. Ideally, I wanted the Big 4 to be complete - CB110, Rousser, Thunder and FZ. We have Choco Banana, Royden's Rousser and Zer's Thunder. Unfortunately, we cannot find someone who can lend us an FZ. So we proceeded with just the 3 and then let D's groomsmen drive the bikes in their suits. D's kuya meanwhile drove the pickup.

Wonder how we look like? Here, take a peek - 

The ride was a little scary. Scary for us because we were not holding on to anything. As in naka-lean lang ang body namin sa likod ng pickup! Take a look at the picture above. We just asked Kuya Winston to open his window so he can hear our shout. haha! We were also a bit worried for the motorcycle riders. We asked them to not wear helmets and just wear shades. I know, I know, we broke the rules! But we were supposed to be escorted by a bunch of please-men. I mean policemen. haha! But they were no where in sight. We just found out later that they were at the venue half an hour earlier but were swayed away by the church guards. The guards apparently told them that they were not allowed na tumambay in the church vicinity. But why?? Anyway, Josel's motorcycle did stall. hehe. He said he got scared when he saw an enforcer in the corner so he forgot to hit the clutch. haha! Thank God that enforcer was too aliw with us that he let us pass. Even the people in other cars were looking at us. Pang- Metro Manila Film Fest lang ang peg! Buti na lang hindi gaanong matirik ang araw! haha!

With the generosity of the owners of the vehicles and the love and effort of our drivers, who am I to give them a low score. Highest! Plus! Plus!

Enjoyed the ride,

Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} Wedding Shoes

SOLEMATES by THE BEAD LADY

CONTACT: Shop 54 Cubao Expo Gen. Romulo St. Cubao, Quezon City 
Email: angelisartbeads@gmail.com
Mobile: 0917-383-3717/ 
http://www.thebeadlady.info/contact-us.html

DAMAGE: P3500

I saved on gown so I can get a better shoes. Joke! haha! Of course, kuripot pa rin. But shempre I want my shoes to create impact. Most important criteria - I do not want those shining shimmering glittery shoes. I surely cannot walk in 4-inch stiletto heel. Learning to walk with confidence in heels will take forever to learn and I don't have the luxury of time. I am a certified doll-shoe lover! Sucks for me! 

Our first plan (which we changed 2 weeks before our wedding because a friend used the exact same concept) was for me to ride with D in his motorcycle. That's the reason why my gown was convertible. So hindi bagay ang girly shoes sa motor diba? So I thought of BOOTS! Of course what else can give justice to our roadtrip concept? 

Next step was for me to decide on the design. I surely cannot choose a flat ugg boots. That will make me smaller. I need height, but I do not want thin-heeled pointy toed boots. I was contemplating between thigh-high, knee-high or the very basic ankle high boots when I stumbled into this and I declared love - 

The wide platform heels, the Lady Gaga-like toe.. Ahh perfect! But I could not find it in any stores! This sulit.com ad was for size 9, I'm normal at size 6. waaa! I tried asking friends' help from London and SG but they can't find it! waaa again!

Barely a month before the wedding, I dragged D to the mall to look for ready made boots. Since he was also looking for his shoes, he let me take him from mall to mall. After countless malls, I finally gave up and just decided to have my shoes custom made. Here - 

Formerly Marikina Shoe Expo, Cubao Shoe Expo is the house for numerous locally made shoes. It has Janylin, Otto, Rusty Lopez, to name a few. We were on the verge of signing a contract with this House of Boots shop, but I found 6k too pricey for just a pair of shoes. I asked D if we can browse other shops first. Then I saw The Bead Lady. I've been to this shop before when I bought my polymer clays. Ahh that's my failed attempt to make my own cake topper. haha! Anyway, I was still captivated by its facade. Surely, nothing similar to its neighboor stalls - 

Photo grabbed from the internet

The view as you enter - 

Photo grabbed from The Bead Lady site

So how come The Bead Lady which specializes with Clay stuffs came into this post about shoes? They have a knee-high boots in display! Michelle (the girl in charge that day) told me that they can customize my boots for P3,500 only. What a sweet deal!

So fast-forward two weeks later, I got this - 

I was disheartened. They obviously wasn't able to copy my peg into which I specifically instructed 'I want the platform heels and the Lady Gaga-inspired toe'. There, I repeated it again. Anyway, their promise of soft leather was true. But I found the finishing poorly made. Even the rugby (or whatever they used to fasten thing up) was showing. The lace were nothing but ordinary. Sad! I instantly combed the mall again for replacement but came home empty-handed. And with our budget depleting, I decided to just use it.

Joann and I spicing things a bit

Now, you may wonder why I gave it a 2 instead of the obvious 1. During the wedding, everyone was so surprised and appreciative of the shoes (except me). It still created my desired impact. It still became an accessory to our Roadtrip Theme. So I guess it's not that bad after all.

LACOSTE WHITE CANVASS SNEAKERS

CONTACT: Lacoste Shop Megamall Atrium

DAMAGE: P5000

We also had a hard time looking for D's shoes. It's not that we cannot find a particular design. It's because he can't make up his mind on what he likes! haha! He kept on bugging me to decide for him since I always have a say on most things! haha! But I can't decide without his actual suit. So we put buying his shoes to the last minute. It's a little scary of course. What if we weren't able to find a shoes for him? But I always thought that guys shoes are a lot easier to spot than girls'. 

So, as I posted before, D and his men will wear something like this -

We instructed his men to wear white canvass shoes. But what about him? I said he can use either gray shoes or just copy the guy here and wear white also. But I was so against his taste when he was always showing me something like this -

It's great but I just don't think it will be good in his shining shimmering gray suit. If he gave me this, I might reconsider - 

But he didn't. So we made a decision to play it safe by just buying white shoes. He bought this - 

Yes that's Lacoste. And yes again, that's much pricier than my shoes. Haha!

These were our shoes at work. Did we give justice to it?

Shoes ko day!

Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} Wedding Cake

CAKE BY LALAINE REYES-ROSALES

CONTACT: 0917-871-5864 

DAMAGE: P4,500 (Friend Rate)

I love cakes! That's why I'm studying baking. But I still do not want to splurge on wedding cakes. I knew for a fact that wedding cakes are usually just for decoration. But aside from the couple, this is also one of the most photographed details of the wedding. So as much as I want to be kuripot in choosing cakes, I still want that to be presentable. Our initial plan was to have real cakes instead of the usual cake tower - meaning we will get the usual bakeshop ready-made cakes (we were eyeing Conti's cakes!). After more research, I found out that what I was trying to achieve is actually called Satellite Cakes - A bunch of single tiered cakes arranged in platforms. Take a look at this - 

Satellite Cakes

I'm already imagining Mango Bravo, Turtle Pie and Mango Tart all lined-up in my cake table when one single question came up of my mind - Who will get the cake from Conti's? All of Conti's cakes need to be refrigerated! And given the time of our wedding, it should be picked-up from the store at around 2pm. But where in God's sake can we find someone to do that for us? Money was already crossed-out, we do not have extra money to pay someone to do that. We were then relying on friends, but dismissed the idea again because surely we want all our friends to be present in the church. So we scraped the Satellite Cake idea.

So research, research again. Of course, kailangan pa ba i-memorize to? I turned to W@W. And I saw a cake design that will equate our first choice. At shempre, galing na naman kay Pres.April. Her cake was just one layer cake with cupcakes. Take a look at this -

The Architecture-themed wedding cake of Manny and April

Next problem was where can we get someone to make a cake for us with our little budget. Coming from our first plan to just get Conti's cake, our budget was down to P5,000. Then we were back to customized cake again- problems, problems! D suggested to ask his choirmate Ate Mariz to make the cake for us. She was the one who made Maya's Christening Cake. But for some reasons, D said Ate Mariz cannot make it. But he found another friend to do it, this time, an officemate. He got the package for P4,500 only - with one layer cake, 30 cupcakes, cake stand, cake topper and free delivery. How neat is that? Take a look at our cute cake -

The whole lot

Our cake topper

I was quite worried about this cake because I haven't met Lalaine. I wasn't able to tell her what I like and what I expect. But it turned out good. There's a little room for improvement of course. Like I surely would prefer single color cupcake baking cups, more personalized roadtrip details on the cupcake frosting and a little more structured details on the cake topper's motorcycle. But geesh, given the budget we make her work into, it was all worth it! So I am in no position to ask for more.


All caked-up,
Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} Church Flowers

SUNNY FLORIST

CONTACT: 0917-892-5340 c/o Rey Asuncion

DAMAGE: P10,000 (Discounted Package, Original Package: P12,000)

One of the things I regret in getting SSA was that the flowers are not included in the package (I'll talk about this in my next reviews). Aside from that, they have a list of their accredited florist! I thought 'For sure bonggacious ang price nyan kasi atista level ang church!'. And I'm not mistaken, I was shocked with the price given to me by the florist Ms.Susan of SSA endorsed. A whopping P25,000 just for church flowers! I turned to W@W for suggestions. I'm sure not all SSA brides are willing to shed that much moolah just for flowers. And as usual, I found good answers. 

Of all the accredited suppliers of SSA, Sunny Florist  gives the cheapest deals. In 2011, their cheapest package was P8,000 only - 

P8,000 Wedding Package

ALTAR - 3 reg. size arr.

AISLE - 6 reg. size round arr. all whte flowers, 1Dz.shasta or lilies each wd aster

P12,000 Wedding Package

ALTAR - 3 Euro style arr., 2 candelabra arr.

AISLE - 6 round arr. wd candle each n tull, all white cala lilies wd asters or shasta

P15,000  Wedding Package

EURO STYLE ALL LILIES WD ASTER.

ALTAR - 3 arr. Euro style, 2cndelabra arr.

AISLE - 8 Stand wd. Arrangement wd candle n tull

We initially got the 8k package, but because I am a W@Wie, Sir Rey offered the 12k package to me for just 10k. We grabbed his generosity with eagerness!

Here's what my church flowers looked like on the day. Colors edited by Peng to make it look yellow, but it's white actually -

I'm not really sure which of these flowers from the altar were from Sunny Florist. The church was well decorated since it's Christmas season. I'm sure the poinsettia flowers were not Sir Rey's - 

These were the candelabra - 

There were only 6 flower arrangements in the aisle, but Sir Rey texted me the day before our wedding that he will add roses as a wedding gift for me. Too bad this picture doesn't show - 

But judging the pictures, I am contented.


Flowery happy,
Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} Guests' Souvenir

VAPUR ANTI-BOTTLE (Class A)

CONTACT: 0906 483 4606 
http://loislean.sulit.com.ph/ 
https://www.facebook.com/jocelyn.p.torres

DAMAGE: P25/piece plus P100 Handling Fee

We wanted our souvenir to be somewhat useful. D and I agreed not to buy those feeling cute-sy figurine souvenirs with a lot of lace ek-ek! That is so 90's! haha! But at the same time, we wanted it to be unique and usable also. I wanted it to be related to the theme of course! D came up with the idea of using foldable water bottle. He saw it from one officemate and was very thrilled with the idea that it is very useful during travels so he instantly shared it to me. O-ha ume-effort! :)

Vapur Anti-Bottle

So the next step then was to find a store to buy it. But we do not have enough time so we resorted to just find a reputable seller online. A friend taught me that if you are planning to buy something from Sulit.com.ph, you have to check the Feedback Score of the buyer - the higher the better. Judging using that criteria, a particular ad by Loislean caught my attention. She has a whopping 139% positive feedback so we contacted her. After some negotations and phone call, we settled on 100 pcs of Orange (No more Yellow, sad!) Vapur Anti-bottle for P25 each. D picked it up somewhere, I'm not sure where (need to ask him).

The whole bunch was packed in 2 big Divisoria-style plastic bags. The bottles, however, were individually packed (Thank God!). My next dilemma is how to make it presentable and wedding souvenir worthy,but at the same time, will not hurt our budget more. After some trial and error, I came up with this -  

I folded the product into two (I already said it's completely foldable right?), stapled the plastic so it'll stay in place, wrapped the thing with our Caution tape (D got this from work), took out the hook, then insert the gift tag I made. Voila! We have our souvenir!

Giddy with our precious find,
Yosh

Book Loot

Slowly, I am getting the hang of this newly-wed thing. My body is now accustomed to waking up earlier to do all the chores (even on Saturdays!). And since I am now relived of all the wedding preps thing that kept me busy last year, I have extra time for my hobbies! Number one of them is reading. Yay!  But upon checking my book shelf, I realized I have no new ones. In fact, I am now read-recycling -- yup I am re-reading The Hunger Games. Noooo!

So last payday, I dragged D to the bookstore while repeating these phrases in my mind -- I work hard, I got promoted, I have extra money, so I deserve this treat! Oh yes! Here's what I got -

Nice buy eh?


Still sleepy because I tried to finish one last night,
Yosh

Beads for the Boss

#ChesterLovesAimee

That's my boss Chester and idol Aimee's wedding hashtag. Whether you know them or not, I'm sure you're wondering why boss and why idol. Well, Chester is a college friend (boss ha friend yan, not classmate!). After college, we, together with some other college friends, decided to put up a t-shirt printing business (which is now defunct by the way). Because he was the only guy and we were always doing the meeting at his house, we made him the boss. Now for my idol Aimee - I always admire how this lady manages to lose weight in an instant! What a very responsive body! I'm so full of envy! haha!

Anyway. I'm so happy that boss is finally settling down. Honestly, I had this impression that he is not the marrying type (haha sorry boss!). But again Aimee impressed me by taming him! haha! Good Job Idol!

And to show my appreciation for Aimee and to congratulate boss, and just because I like to do it, I promised to make their wedding cord. It took me a long time though, but here it is --

Their theme is Peaches and Lemons. Boss said I have to use clear beads only but I found it so bare without ornaments so I put some yellow charms. But it's completely removable of course. Takot ko lang ke boss! haha!

Do you like it?


Hoping they'll like it,
Yosh

Clean Eating

I am getting fatter and fatter everyday!! And it's summer already! What a combo!

I should start being conscious with my food intake. This was yesterday's dinner -

O-ha! No Thousand Island dressing. No mayo. Just Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. I just put on some weird cheese from D's Christmas basket. Plus the usual greens, carrots and tomatoes. Yum!

Dear new Pope Francis (mai-connect lang talaga!), please pray for me so I can sustain this diet. :D

Hair Reborn

I was born with nice hair. But for some unknown reasons, my hair started to get unruly when I was in high school. Maybe its because of the over-exposure in the sun during my COCC and CAT days. So when did I start having my hair fixed? It was when my heart was broken. I was so hurt that I wanted revenge (not good!). My idea of revenge was to make "X" say sorry he left me. I put my spectacles away and replaced it with contact lenses. Then I had my hair relaxed. That was a refreshing change. For several times, I saw that look in his eyes. Or maybe that's what I thought I saw. haha! Since then, I was always a fan of relaxing. Then of rebonding (as soon as I'm earning my own money!)

I have my own stories of the nightmares during my quest to find the best rebonding salon-
1. One salon left my hair as stiff as our house broom.
2. The other salon, despite burning my scalp with iron, transformed my hair into nothing. As in nothing changed as soon as I washed it (FYI- to those who haven't tried rebonding. Do not get awed first by your hair right after the session. It will be beautiful of course. The true test comes right after you washed it after 3 days.)
3. Then I found F-Salon in Angono Market in 2008. It was then the best rebonded hair I had. Norman can iron hair well, maybe its the advantage of being a man. He's got more force. My only problem I had was that it gave me hair breakage. But it was tolerable.
4. After a year, because I wasn't fully satisfied with F Salon, I tried Salon de Poseur in Taytay. It was my first major hair nightmare. My tolerable hair breakage worsened and my hair was still wavy. Out of fear of losing more hair, I didn't come back.
5. After less than a year, I tried another salon just across the street where my previous salon was located. It was the then newly opened Japanese Straight salon. I was so excited about the good reviews of its other branches. My hair was done by two guys. It was nice when you look at it at the mirror. The next day I cried when I touched my hair. I felt something spiky on one side of my head. It was like touching the head of a semi-kalbo. I asked my friend to check it, and I thought right. She said that it was a bunch of little hair. My guess what that he put too much meds on that particular part and left it to burn.

Since then I was too afraid to have my hair fixed. But of course I want great hair for my wedding! Last year, a month before the wedding, I asked my HMUA if I should get a rebond. She said it's up to me. But the hair may not be obedient with the styling. She advised me to get color instead to tame my look. I regret that decision. Look at my hair at the wedding -

The styling was nice, my hair was not. Noticed the unrebonded hair on top? Argh

But geesh I felt so ugly not having my hair down! So after 1 year and 3 months, and after extensive seeking online reviews, I finally decided to have my hair fixed again. My natural hair has grown long enough. According to my research, the meds should be Loreal Xtenso. Apparently, this is the best one for damaged hair. And for the salon - There's this one salon in Pasig that everyone in Girltalk is talking about - Pals Salon. The best part is it's only a ride away from my home.

So last Saturday, I had my hair done by Louie. I arrived at 10am, just in time for my appointment. We started at 10:30am with this horrifying hair -

Scary eh?

I availed of their 1,999php Loreal Xtenso Package. But that was for rebond only. They offered me additional 400 for cellophane or 500 for Powerdose or 800 for both. I said I'll take both. So gullible of me! But before ironing my hair, Louie offered me another deal - plus 500 if I wanted volume rebonding. She said my hair is too short that it will tend to have flyways because of the rebond. But I only have 3000php with me (that's my strategy so I cannot spend more than my budget). So we agreed on just the 400 for the cellophane then 500 for the volume rebond. Although I've read that their volume rebond was just ironing the hair inwards and not really like the top salon volume rebond where you will be under the digiperm machine, I still went for it. By 4:30, I was done -

with my hairstylist - Louie

After

It was nice. No spiky spots! But again the true test comes after 3 days.

Then just this morning (the 4th day), I washed it already. Look at the outcome - 

It's FLAT!

My hair is still soft and still no spiky spot (That's good news!). But it's flat. So I just wasted 500 for the volume rebond. And I noticed that there is a wavy spot. Look here -

and WAVY!

My resolution: Tuck in under the ear! Yeah yeah I know it's not right. But I'll still do it anyways. I wanted natural looking hair.

I LIKE - 

1. The people in the salon - Louie, Joyce, RR, the one who washed my hair/ the mani/pedi girl (forgot to ask her name) and even Ate Rose were all nice. They are not the more chika type which I prefer. 

2. They're not even pushy of their products. Louie just offered me what they have and then that's it. 

3. They have WiFi

4. It's cheaper than the other top salons but the quality was the same. Or even better!

I DON'T LIKE - 

1. The volume rebond ek-ek thing. Not effective!

So far, it's the best rebond my hair has experienced. Will I come back? YES! So go ahead, you can take my word for it. Just not the volume rebond. And remember - to each his own. My hair may be hiyang to them, but not yours. But it's worth the try. :)

UPDATE:

I went back 5 days after to let them see my hair, they acknowledged the remaining waves. But they only gave me a hair treatment! No retouch! Ganun ba talaga? :|