{SUPPLIER RATING} Church

SANTUARIO DE SAN ANTONIO

CONTACT: 843-8830,32,35,36,38 local 5 Ms.Susan

McKinley Road Forbes Park Makati City

DAMAGE: P31,500 (P25,000 for the use of church, aircon, red carpet, sound system, sacristan; P1,000 Processing fee for the Marriage License; P500 Photo/Video permit; P5000 (half of the flower rate) for the flowers) 2011 rate

Firstly, we chose it because it was the automatic tandem of Enderun. We wanted our guests sana na hindi na magtravel far after church. But now that we are reviewing the outcome of our wedding, I think I could do better with other church. Just a note, I did not regret getting this church but I'm not so proud of it either.

The church is beautiful. There's no contest on that. Just look at the facade. This, I think, was one factor that made me choose it. It's yellow! Although the picture does not clearly show. 

The altar was divine! The chandelier was so elegant! 

It was the perfect backdrop for portraits of our special moments! Like this - 

It also gave me my most desired dramatic entrance. Thanks to the big wooden doors!

So what made me gave it a middle mark?

1. It was super pricey. Truly, an artista level church! The P25,000 fee was just for the use of the church (venue, aircon, red carpet, sound system, sacristan). I need to pay P1,000 more for the processing of our Marriage License, P500 per company for the Photo/Video permit. Then we have to give 50% of the costs of our flower deal to the church. So remember, I got the 10k package from Sunny florist, 5k of which went to SSA. 

2. It does not come with a free priest. We can request for their resident priests but it depends on their availability. Naturally, we have to  give them stipend also. I called their office and they said that the lowest stipend is P5,000 plus donations (fruits or other gifts). We wanted to get priest from outside sana but we will worry pa his transpo so we got the inhouse priest na lang. Father Joel didn't disappoint us naman.

3. No choir either. We have to outsource pa. Buti we have choir friends.

4. No flowers included. We have to get it from one of their accredited florist. And mga te, super mahal ng flowers. The lowest rate I got was 8k para sa mangilan-ngilang aisle flowers! Susme! Then half of the rate will go pa to the church. 

5. They have a mandatory pre-wedding seminar and we have to get it from their accredited partners! You have to choose between a stay-in Discovery Weekend or the stay-out CEFAM. Both were very pricey. We choose the stay-out na lang because D's schedule was very inconsistent.

6. Confetti, petals, rice and anything that will drop down the floor is not allowed in the church. So what we made to replace those were ribbon wands. Cute naman!

7. Our wedding was supposed to start at 1pm but we started around 1:25 already. We were not late! The church was! It's because they have an afternoon mass that was supposed to end at 1pm but shempre what do you expect diba? I just hope they informed us ahead of time. The mass ended at 1:15, then the florist immediately put our decors and my OTDs arranged the entourage pa. Argh! Buti na lang the next wedding was to start at 3pm pa because the mass finished at 2:30. We had around 15 minutes to finish the pictorials inside and outside.

8. During the ceremony, at first talaga, D and I cannot feel the aircon from where we are seated. Pero sabi ng guests super lamig daw sa area nila. 

But over-all, I love this church! On second thought, ok naman sya. Plus factor na hindi na kami nahirapan with the licenses because they arranged it for us. I'm afraid to say na if I were to repeat my wedding I will not get this church. Kasi my wedding was perfect for me! Baka magbago if different ang church so No!No!No! I will still pick this church. :)

From an SSA bride,

Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} My DIYs

ME, MYSELF AND I

DAMAGE: Lost count

There were a lot of DIY's sa wedding namin! Actually, sa sobrang dami eto na yata ang main contributor ng stress ko just days before the wedding. Sinolo ko kasi. Ayun! As in after Christmas nagtatrabaho pa rin ako to finish my DIYs. The night of December 26 nag-DIY pa rin. Gising na gising ako until 6:30 the next morning. To think na we have to be at the hotel na by 2pm. So around 7am I slept, woke up around lunchtime again, then fixed our things na dadalhin sa hotel, then nagpamani-pedi pa kami ni mama. So late na kami nakarating sa hotel, around 6pm na. Haayy! If I were to change something in my wedding, it's the DIYs. Maybe I should have asked more friends. Lara helped me naman (buti na lang!) but it still wasn't enough. Or girls, if you think DIYs will cause you that much stress, pay someone na lang to do it for you! Although, I regret not having someone to help me execute my DIYs, I still love the output. Of course, it's my sweat and blood! Aba natural perfect! 

So here, let me enumerate them for you - 

WEDDING CORD

I discovered my beading talent because of my desire to create my wedding cord. Good blame for w@w! I got this idea from my favorite forum. I was not so good then. Second attempt ko pa lang kasi. Practice makes perfect talaga. But cute pa rin naman. Hehe. Bought all the materials in Wellmanson Quaipo.

WEDDING CORD

I wanted a non-floral non-basket bouquet for my little girls. I wanted din na magamit pa nila after what they will carry. So I made this non-floral bubble burster for them. The flowers were made of different patterned papers, cute fabrics and buttons. They were kept together lang with glue gun. Eto ang pinagpuyatan ko ng bongga. Ang hirap pala! Akala ko konting keme lang. Happy naman ako because it caught attention. 

BEARERS' BOWTIES

100% handmade! Except for the tela and the sinulid shempre but the rest, I made it with my bare hands! See full story HERE.

MEN'S BUTTONNIERES

Again, handmade by me. I got a lot of inspirations from my sisses in w@w and from {ETC} Handmade Goodness. I just incorporated our Roadtrip theme, thus, the bicycle. More pictures HERE.

RING STAND

This one is very unique (according to me)! I don't want kasi the pillow thingy. So here's what I came up with considering our theme - 

This was made with cartons, papers, paint and felt papers. Here it was in action. Unfortunately, they forgot to replace the ring. Buti na lang I noticed so I stopped Father para exchange nila yung ring. Hehe

COIN CONTAINER

Again, I did not want to use pillows so I used this container. Actually galing to sa work ni D! Parang giveaway yata ni CAT, then ang nakalagay dito was a USB drive. Bonggang-bongga nga the wording diba? Bagay na bagay to put our coins there! Hehe. I just customized it by putting a yellow and black construction stripes sa bottom. Then the coins naman were from friends.

BIBLE BAND

Here's our bible naman. We chose white so mas madali magcustomize ng designs. So I just made a bible band using the same material I used sa Coin Container. Then I just printed out our monogram in black and white para clean looking.

MATCHES COVER AND MISSAL COVER

O bonggels pati posporo may cover! And shempre dapat pati cover ng missalette pasok sa theme.

SOUVENIR PACKAGING

Not much of a DIY since galing sa supplier to. I just personalized the packaging para pasok sa theme. Hehe. More HERE.

RECEPTION DECORS

A hit and miss at the same time but I'm still proud. Presenting our LETTER decors. One in the snack buffet - 

One in the decor table facing the courtyard. By the way, I made the table runners also. Not much pictures e so yan na lang.

Cute sana yung PAPER FLOWERS ko. This was how I envisioned it to be. To see how it turned out, read HERE.

The TABLE SIGNAGE were made by my friend Lara. Cute noh?

Am I missing something pa ba? Sa dami nila baka may nalimot pa ako. Hehe!

Feeling artsy,

Yosh

Kira, the Criminal Killer

Do you guys know Kira? I don't! Hahaha!

SOURCE

Here he is! As defined HERE, Kira is a God-like figure who kills evil people as punishment for their sins. Individuals who write many names in the Death Note and end up getting noticed by the public are generally given the title. Though they are different individuals, the public views them as one entity. In the Kira investigation, however, several differences in methods of killing are spotted, and it is determined by those working on the case that there is more than one "Kira". They are each given different names accordingly.

So sya pala ang isa sa mga Kira! Sa Death Note pala sya. Kaya pala hindi ko kilala. Hehe! Anyway, so why am I telling his story pala. It's because my friend, Rose, gave me a dog. A Japanese Spitz to be exact. His original name was Black Eye but we wanted to name him something Japanese. It was D who named him Kira. At first I was hesitant pa, kasi diba girl sounding yung name? But he said na gwapo nga daw si Kira. So I looked him up in Google and eto nga ang nakita ko. Hmmm cute naman nga. And okay na rin for our new baby boy! At least topic sya ng usapan why Kira if he's a boy. Haha!

Take a look at our new baby and then tell me if bagay sa kanya ang new name nya.

Isn't he the cutest? Oohh which reminds me, one week na sya sa bahay and I still need to bring him to a vet to get him dewormed. Super laki ng tyan! Super siba kasi. Argh

Anyhoo, welcome to the family Kira!

Still missing Didith but loving the new Kira,

Yosh

{SUPPLIER RATING} Girls' Gowns

GRACE GOWNS & BARONGS

CONTACT: 0927-373-0497 / (02) 425-3428 Melanie Reyes

44 National Road Muzon, Taytay, Rizal

DAMAGE: See below

Remember when I told you about my views about splurging on bridal gowns HERE? I lived up to that belief of mine. And I still chose Mel. I let her make my bridal gown and all the female entourage's gowns. So how was it? First let me show you the pegs, then Mel's creations, then what I think about it. After that, feel free to tell me what you think and if it's right that I give her a passing mark. Ok?

FLOWER GIRLS

I chose to stay away from the traditional flower girl dresses where kids look like Disney princesses. Why? Because my girls are dalagindings na! I didn't think my 9 year old cousin will like it since she's almost a tweener already. So I chose to let them wear something girly but more on the sophisticated side. Here's my peg (which I got from some website, credits to the owner) -  

During fitting, I decided to let go of the bowtie to make it more simpler because I was planning a Katnis-peg hair for the girls. I thought it will look too crowded. Here's a finished product - 

It was not an exact copy. I'm a little disappointed because the crunched top was not there. But it was ok. The kids loved the fact that the gown was long and they was able to twirl. It could have been better if there's a headpiece. It turned out too simple.


BRIDESMAIDS

Here's the peg for the bridesmaids naman. Same gown, different top lang. See how I edit it? Hehe

Here's Mel creations - 

First thing to notice, no lace. Mel suggested to not use lace because it will look like a manang's gown daw. I agreed because I was thinking she knew those stuff. And she was right. See the play of top design here? Not an exact copy again but the simplicity was a hit to my bridesmaids. Here's Lara enjoying the bagsak of the gown-

SECONDARY SPONSORS

Here's the peg - 

 Here's what Mel was able to come up with -  

Full body view - 

Notice anything? YES it was exactly the same as my bridesmaids gown, just different color. First to notice is, there's no design on the gown's skirt. Mel suggested we remove that because it will make the gown look cheap. I agreed again. Why did I do that if I my peg has it and it doesn't look cheap? Well, when Mel said that it will look cheap I believe what she will make will definitely look cheap. Gets? If sya mismo not sure that she can copy the design then I will not force her. I just let her do what she can do. Not choosy na ako since mura lang naman.


MOMMIES

Here's the peg -

We had the same design for 2 mommies. I just instructed her na magkaiba ang sleeves length ng gowns. Make my mama's sleeves shorter since she's thinner. Here they were - 

My mama has no say about the gown. She's always like that. Hehe! My MIL, on the other hand, didn't like her gown because it made her look fat daw. For me, it will look better if nilagyan sana ni Mel ng shape sa waistline to create an illusion of curvy shape.


MOH

Here's the peg -

This for me was the most difficult of all gowns (except mine of course) kasi I asked Mel to create it in two tones para my MOH will stand out from all the abays. Here's what Mel did - 

This I think was the best gown of all. Not an exact copy but it was very nice. Mejo nahirapan lang kami with the skirt because we wanted to show the yellow part also. At first kasi it was completely covered na parang may slit lang sa middle. My MOH did something to it kasi it was showing na when she walks. I'm not sure what she did. But here she was, flaunting the two-toned gown - 

BRIDAL GOWN

And most importantly, here's my gown peg - 

I know, right?! So beautiful! Detachable ang skirt nyan kasi we initially planned for me to ride a motorcycle wearing it. Here's Mel's take on it - 

The inner dress. I didn't want the flowery lace so I bought this. It was crafted ok. Not what I was expecting but at least it has shape. I specifically instructed Mel to create the inner dress na may sariling shape since I do not have a great shape. Hehe! Nagawa naman nya. In a not so modern style but at least she was able to do it. Here's the gown with the skirt. Sorry na mejo payat yung manikin. Hehe!

The skirt is not that bouncy no? I had it redone na sa lagay na yan kasi at first the skirt was manipis na kita na yung dress ko sa loob. Baka magalit si Father, di ako palakarin sa aisle. Hehe! She added geena silk sa loob to make it look bouncy and makapal.

Parang kulang pa rin no? Even the back wala yung nakaangat na tulle part - 

 But it's ok. I look sexy oh!

And most importantly, I was able to dance wearing it - 

I was supposed to remove the skirt during the dance but totally forgot about it. Buti na lang di long ang train kundi napatid-patid nako. Haha!

The gowns were a far cry from it's pegs. It was delivered late. Side kwento, I told her my wedding was December 27 (one day earlier than the actual date) and the gowns should be with me December 18. I got my last piece, my bridal gown on Christmas eve.

She was also not very friendly... But what made me give her a passing mark if parang all of the gowns may negative comment ako? It was because I can easily reach her and most importantly because of this little top/cover. Whatever it is -  

Oh yes, it was not at all spectacular but it meant a lot to me. Kasi at first we agreed that I will wear my gown bare kasi I was very confident that I can slim down pa. But one week before the wedding (just before Christmas), I knew I'm in trouble. I gained weight pa instead of losing more pounds. Plus I will be dancing with matching taas taas kamay, and I'm so shy to show my armpits. So I asked her to make me a cover. I bought a sheer white organza fabric na lang. I got it, together with the rest of my gown on Christmas eve.

After eating a lot during Noche Buena and Christmas breakfast, I tried on my gown and  I felt like something was not right. Parang puputok yung cover ko! It's not that it's masikip, sakto lang sya but parang pag nagmove ako masisira sya. I texted Mel and she said it's because of the fabric. Not the perfect material daw for a cover, baka matastas pa daw if I move my arm. She said she will just make me a new one using the same fabric as my skirt. It is more elastic daw. On the December 26, I was able to fit and like my new cover. Imagine her sacrifices? We could have done this finishing details a little bit earlier if only she was able to deliver the other gowns on time. But the fact that she did her best just to give me what I want (even during the Christmas rush), that's a plus for me.

Lastly, it's all affordable. Here's the rates - 

Yup! You are seeing it right. The labor for my gown was only 7000 php. Not more than 10k for my wedding gown, including the tela. How neat is that? My gown's not that cheap-looking naman so for me it's perfectly fine! 

My suggestions na lang if you get her, don't get to emotionally attached to your gown peg kasi hindi nya talaga yun magagawa ng super gaya. Then make a longer allowance so you guys will not cram to finish the gowns. Less stress for you. :)

Howdy gowny,

Yosh

NOTE: All gown pegs are originally sourced from the internet.