FINALLY (D CAT WEDS D MOUSE)

Teaser shots from our main photographer, Pat Dy ...
Some shots of my bridal march taken by our photojournalist friend, Rem Zamora ...

Our tribute AVP for our family and friends made in Singapore (in betweeen job hunting and learning Mandarin) by my sister with the help of my MOH ;-) Had we more time and resources (try editing 100MB+ video materials with regular processors and RAM and see how far you go ;-)) we would have included more pictures of our other relatives and friends, and something for our suppliers as well. We hope our heartfelt personal thank you to them on our wedding day was enough :-)



Our evening capper - our onsite wedding video by Jason M.. I insisted on the song despite it being a bit overused for this kind of thing, but it was the song that embodied most what our wedding meant to us - no matter what happened, what didn't happen, or what could have happened - it was a beautiful day for us, and based on initial feedback, for our guests as well :-)




More pictures, stories and ratings to come :-)

WHAT LIES BENEATH ... ;-)

I didn't want to post this before because I felt that the "before" and "after" looks were too disparate as to be embarrassing already hehe, but I wanted to pay tribute to my HMUA, my incredible topical cosmetic surgeon, Toto Bagamasbad. I booked him without a trial and have not regretted it since ...

My post-8-hour overtime, bleary-eyed look. I hope I look much better now, even w/o makeup, thanks to my stress-free days as an unemployed bum/wedding planner ...


Moi, 5 minutes after Toto finished ... makeup is still settling - I tried to capture the same positioning and lighting to have a better comparison w/the "before" look. I felt kinda weird then, since it's more makeup than I'm used to, but it didn't feel cakey and crease when I made some experimental funny faces, just to verify that the old me is still underneath ... ;-)


Me and my mom at my cousin's wedding reception, 6 hours after


Closeup in ambient light


With my 16-yr old goddaughter, 9 hours after


Basking in fluorescent light at home, 12 hours after ... I was loathe to take it off ;-)

Before I heard of the popular MUAs at w@w, I never thought bridal makeup would be so expensive ... I figured I would spend around 3-5k max in a reputable salon ... and didn't see how paying 10k more would be a wise investment.

I now know the difference.

1) Good makeup will provide complete coverage, w/o looking fake or "too much" - If you're like me, with dark pimple marks that fade ever so slowly, this is important. When I had salon makeup before, they said they can only cover so much before it would be too heavy. Now I know that's false. It can be done, with good tools and a skilled artist.
2) Good makeup doesn't fade after 5 hours ... once you're covered - you STAY covered, even through the passing of many hours and the trickling of sweat ...
3) Good makeup merges with the skin so that you don't feel conscious wearing it. I wanted airbrush makeup before since they said it felt so light but alas, it wasn't an option for me because of my pimple marks ... It was a load off my chest when Toto's regular makeup didn't feel too alien on my skin.

Lastly, good makeup highlights your own unique beauty and doesn't turn you into something that you're not.

Actually, h2b thought my makeup was a bit heavy, but then, he's never seen me on full foundation coverage before hehe. But he has acknowledged that I photographed well in it ... I guess it's a tradeoff - of course we need makeup that will look "natural" on our wedding photos and video, which entail us sacrificing our light, "everyday" makeup for heavier coverage in person on our wedding day :-)

WEDDING "DO'S"

As d-day approaches, my world has shrunk into a whirlwind of activities all revolving at an increasing pace around the axis that is our wedding ...

I haven't paid much attention before to my wedding "look" - in the naive, makeup-free days before I became affianced (is that the right word?), I thought I'd look as I'd always have on my wedding day, just with more color and with a fancier hairstyle than my usual pony ... oh, but how I've changed since then, harhar :-)

Below are some wedding "do's" that caught my eye ... w/c appealed to my sense of style and would blend well with my romantic, flirty gown and our fun, summery theme ...

Classic low bun w/braid to add a softer, feminine touch ...

This reminded me of Helen of Troy - but a playful Helen, because of the ribbons ;-)

More apt for a bridesmaid probably, but uber cute for a bride w/a garden wedding

Below are some potential hair styles at the reception, for a more laid-back and fun look ...

"MINI-MICE"

Our caketoppers from Angelkind were finally finished last week ... can't wait to see the actual clay figures (our friend will be bringing it back on August pa, sigh) ... seeing the pics made me long to see our cake as well, which led me to imagine eating sweets with reckless abandon again, even if for one day hehe (b2bs, you know what I mean) ...

PHOTO-PHOBICS' PRENUPS BY E.B.ESCUDERO

On the 1st weekend of May, we were finally able to push through with our prenups (Background: I won one of the UP prenups by EBE in the w@w auction - I bid, on the remote possibility that I could convince h2b of the merits of doing a pre-wedding photoshoot - since he's notoriously camera shy, but on the day itself, I was pleasantly surprised by his "openness") I guess it helps having an experienced and creative photographer who knows how to put an awkward couple at ease :-) (Tenkyu sir EBE!)

The day started off innocuously enough, with EBE explaining to us how a prenup works - what we should and should not be doing, with tips on pretending that somebody with a 10 megapixel camera is not chronicling your every move ...

She: Hah! You can't back out now!

He: What did I get myself into? :-(

We had a couple of shots at the UP "lagoon" - ironically, in our 5-yr stay on campus, we rarely went there together, probably due to its reputation as a "lovers' nook" and due to the risk of being unmercifully ribbed by our classmates should we be spotted there as a couple. I wanted to pose by the UP Oblation but any resulting pictures would be decidedly too risque to show to anybody ... so we just regressed for a while and immersed ourselves in the chance to fool around in the lagoon, which we never did when we were students ...

"A Walk to Remember"

Luneta? Lorien? UP lagoon! San ka pa? ;-)

She: kunwari daw may pinag-uusapan tayo ...

He: e ano pa nga ba ginagawa natin?

One of our favorite candid shots

The next phase of our prenups was shot inside the Collge of Business Administration (CBA) - (tnx Mam Glo for granting us permission!) Luckily, it was Friday afternoon (summer) and only a few students were around to witness our antics.

She: Hehe, terno kayo ng "Bastion of Apathy," parehong may spikes

He: Lagot ka sa akin mamaya pag di na sya nakatingin

Inside Starmall, oops, UP CBA pala ;-p

(we liked it so much better when the walls were still a dull, aging grey, it had more character then)

Couple of Accountants

Lambingan sa Tambayan ... ng JMA (hehe, lighting was much better here than at JPIA's)

Foolin' around (still at JMA, don't worry JMAers, we cleaned up after our shoot ;-p)

Finally at JPIA

Feeling Highschool Musical

Stairway moments - we had a lot of these back then ... :-)

It took us an hour to "warm-up" - this shot shows how relaxed we are - finally! ;-)

Shadow Kiss

Kissing didn't seem so awkward anymore (inspite of the the 10MP SLR camera pointed right at 'ya!)

3rd flr Back Lobby (again, quite memorable for us)

Our college has (gasp!) an elevator! So much has changed in the 7 years since we've studied there. Of course we couldn't resist taking advantage of the shiny new metallic frame :-)

It was nearing dusk when we emerged from the building and the last few shots are in tribute to the magnificent UP skyline and the majestic Acacia trees we so dearly miss from our collge days ...

Denouement at Dusk

(Our favorite shot of all)

All throughout the shoot, we were never entirely relaxed but towards the end, we got a bit more comfortable with being followed around by a camera. Still, I would recommend prenups for all couples, since it's their chance to experience being photographed continuously, which is great practice for the wedding and it gives them the chance to bond with their photographer, though in our case, he was sadly unavailable at that time.

A few tips for prospective "prenuppers":

1) Research the place and the shots you want to be taken (in our case, it was UP or nothing, and we kinda already knew the places where we wanted to be photographed at)
2) Psyche yourself up for the shoot (invoke memories/fantasies, whatever it takes to get you in the mood)
3) Practice posing (this will help eliminate the awkwardness)
4) Talk to your photographer (build rapport, share your ideas, don't let it be a one-man show - after all, it's your shoot)
5) Enjoy the experience! Shed your inhibitions and insecurities. Trust the photographer to find the most flattering angle for you and focus on reliving memories and having fun, no matter how uncomfortable or awkward you may feel at first :-)

ROUTES TO TAGAYTAY

Alternative routes to Tagaytay

Detailed Tagaytay Map from E-Z maps

(click on images for larger view or to download)

YOU'RE INVITED!

The story of our invites involved a long and tiring process of frustration and subsequent elimination. At first, we didn't want to go to Recto-based suppliers, due to a perception of substandard output quality. In the end, due to several mishaps with other printers, we ended up with Printlane (they have shops in Recto and Cubao), where we surprisingly found both the flexibility and quality that we wanted at a reasonable cost.

It was a challenge trying to merge the classy/simple design that he wanted versus the casual and fun summer theme that she (moi) wanted. Luckily, my sister was able to piece together our seeminly unmergeable demands :-)

envelope flap w/our favorite quote

main invite

entourage page

rsvp card

DIY map

THE SCENT OF SUMMER

It took hours of debates (one-sided monologues actually) a couple of aspirins and several drops of eye-mo before we finally settled on a theme ;-) Being two highly polarized individuals, the hours we spent "communing with our inner child" yielded only a general ambience rather than a specific theme like modern filipiniana, chocolates, travel, beach, etc.

As mentioned in an earlier post, we fell in love with the vibrant hues of coral pink, amber and apricot yellow and settled on a summer garden atmosphere. Come rain or shine, we want our reception styling to capture the light, cheerful and carefree feelings evoked by a clear summer day, and based on the sneak peak our stylist Teddy provided , I think we're almost there :-) You can almost smell the citrus fruits, apples and roses ...