Have rings, will travel

2008-01-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

If there's one word to describe how I feel... It's amazing. Yes, this comes from a song, but really, all I feel now is amazed. After a year of planning,of almost not happening (!), of frentic calls, back-and-forth drives to Tagaytay, desperate fund juggling, coordinator griping, the wedding not only is over, it was two weeks ago. My beloved is currently on a plane to meet me in Singapore, and 3.5 hours from now we will be on a plane to Kolkata to visit Deepa's family. Then in about 4 days we will then be in Rajasthan; perhaps India's most magical region.

It's amazing how fast time flies. It's amazing how much energy two people in love can have. And it's amazing that in all the hussle and bussle, both Deepa and I are overwhelmed by a sense of peace, calm, and joy.

What is most amazing however is not the beautiful wedding that has passed, nor the expected gloriousness of an exotic honeymoon deep in historical India, but the life that Deepa and I are promising to create for each other after. What is most amazing is the anticipation of living our wedding vows every single day for the rest of our lives.

2007-12-14T04:26:00.000-08:00

Today my mind is 100% focused on getting ready for the wedding. Work is officially over for me (at least for another 1.5 months) ; my xmas bonus is in; I completed the discovery weekend course's last assignment (which made me realize just how much I know I am about to make the best decision of my life) and I found the perfect pics for the AVP. My barong is being refitted (I lost an inch!) ; Therese is about to go for the final fitting tomorrow; Deepa and I filled the next few days with 'to do lists." It's a calm Friday night - but things are about to get downright long, dirty, and busy.

Ok.

15 more days. It will happen no matter what.

in the meantime a sneak peek at what I found for the AVPs. ( proves I was always fat and I always had weird hair)

Color me pissed

2007-12-14T01:58:00.001-08:00

so after weeks of looking at/re-editing/sending/following up/choosing pantone chips for/double-checking invites that looked like this, in (reddish-purple) plum and (teal-ish) turquoise...

my printer sends me these horrid chocolate brown and grass-green invites. one hundred fricking twenty of them.

at first i am stunned. then i flashback to the meticulous process (see above) i went through just to idiot-proof the design. then i whine about it to all the art directors at work, who, while deploring the color job, say it's a kick-ass piece of work. this is why i love working in an office full of kick-ass creatives -- my seatmate cecil did the layout for me for free. "maganda naman siya eh," volunteers jl. "itapon mo na lang yung original file."

then i get online and, with almost eerie calm, proceed to inform the owner of the print shop of the matter. after checking the damn things, he promptly offers me a free reprint, which is just as well. dahil kung hindi, aba pucha, one email to the phalanx of bridezillas in my egroup can potentially derail his business for at least a few months. you have no idea how seriously brides take supplier reviews. really.

since he vows to personally take responsibility for the outcome of the reprints, i am placated. really, if not for the service given me by the owner, i would be bashing this place to kingdom come. which is a shame, actually, because i was pretty happy with them until all this happened.

the reprints are done in a week, which is still too long a delay for me but what can you do. the print shop's peace offering arrives -- the colors are still not true to the original file. at this point, i am still not happy, but not willing to put off delivering the invites for another week. so i simply choose not to feel bad about anything i'm going to give my nearest and dearest, and accept the prints. i tell the owner as much. he feels bad about the whole thing and offers me free thank-you cards -- a very gracious offer, which i am gracious (and penny-pinched) enough to consider.

now most of the invites are out, the guests are informed -- and on the whole, pleased and wowed by them (except for one major drama). and that is that.

2007-12-14T01:58:00.000-08:00

so after weeks of looking at/re-editing/sending/following up/choosing pantone chips for/double-checking invites that looked like this, in (reddish-purple) plum and (teal-ish) turquoise...

Quote of the day

2007-12-03T05:03:00.000-08:00

"It's really hard to idiot-proof wedding preps."
-- Jolly Picache
Marlon's high school friend
husband of Shar
Weddings@Work egroup-mate
and new Yahoo chat buddy

also known as: the story of the wedding invitations that were delivered thirty minutes ago, eagerly opened, and caused an otherwise calm and coasting bride a near heart attack.

next up on deepa and marlon's wedding blog!

Last look

2007-12-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

this is all you're going to see of the dress until the big day.

it's just the lining, so don't flip out just yet. although, sabi ko nga kay kate, lining pa lang pwede nang ipang-marcha.

much ado about lining

the colorful pixie on my left is kate. goodness. i should probably not have any more photos of the two of us together. kate is like half of me!

Twenty-six days to go

2007-12-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

we're getting married within the month.

within less than four weeks.

whoa.

i read all the rants of frazzled brides on the weddings at work yahoogroup and wonder if something is wrong with me. because oddly enough, i feel like i'm not doing anything anymore! i honestly know i can not lift a finger from this point on (except to give fr. nebres a map to the church and turn in our documents to chapel on the hill), and the wedding will still happen. tatakbo na siyang mag-isa!

it's almost like all i have to do is choose how o.c. i want to be from now on, and that will pretty much decide my stress level.

i swear, giving up the "perfect" wedding is awesome. :-)

besides, with marlon coming home in five days, wedding preps are going to be so much more fun when we do them as a team. we kind of know we can do everything we need or want to do in the remaining two weeks. as marlon said, just give us a couple of days with nothing else to do except wedding stuff -- and be amazed! we quite surprised ourselves out with the number of things we managed to accomplish the last time he was here.

like getting the marriage license from quezon city hall...

and getting interviewed by the bishop at canyon woods...

and checking up on marlon's barong...

and picking out the wedding rings...

and fitting our lovely bridesmaids...

and cooking up a battle plan with kaye at balay, plus choosing songs for the reception (and a lovers' quarrel thrown in for good measure).

so. twenty-six days to go. bring it on!

Finding our love-nest- bara-bara couple style

2007-11-19T06:33:00.000-08:00

Like with many things in our relationship, serendipity played a very big role in getting us our dream home.

It was Thursday evening, and, pleasantly tired from the evening's viewings, we were going to call it a night, when at a last minute whim, we decided to surf for pictures of Grande Vista Condo, which we were scheduled to visit the next day with an agent. Being an older development, it was next to impossible, when we finally chanced on two e-advertisements.

The first was for someone who had newly renovated a 2 story flat in Grande-Vista, and the second was for someone who was also renting out a newly renovated 3 bedroom unit on the 8th floor. Apparently the place was a mix of high and low rise units. The low rise unit was going for about 3.5K - way beyond our budget, but the second unit was going for 2.8K - slightly higher than what our agent was quoting at 2.4K - but hey the former was 'newly renovated'. Jotting down the owner's number, I resolved to call the next day to book an additional appointment.

Yes- true to form, I almost forgot to call the owner. If not for my random flipping of my notebook on a relatively slow Friday, I could have missed making the call entirely. Michelle (the owner) actually had an appointment later in the evening, but on the goodness of her heart decided to squeeze us in for a 730 drop.

We made it just in time, coming from a previous viewing at Orchid Plaza. This had definite potential and in fact we were about 70-30 % convinced on signing it up. The estate was relatively old, but the unit was clean, breezily designed, and had absolutely brilliant facilities. Still, we thought we'd give Grande Vista a shot before deciding.

7:29. Yes, we were early. Us. We eagerly awaited Michelle and Julian. They turned out to be positively charming. Michelle was Singaporean, but had a distinct British twang; Julian was a quiet unassuming fellow from New-Zealand, and in-tow, they had an absolutely adorable little mestiso. Charmed by the couple, our spirits picked up as we were about to enter the unit. As soon as the door opened, our spirits soared. It wasn't just renovated - the couple knew detail and taste - a rare trait on this island so far.

What we first saw however, and really loved, was the open kitchen, that had a bar top set dividing the kitchen and dining room.

The kitchen had ample storage and !God bless! an oven- which both Deeps and I were personally craving for.

The dining room was no slouch either. The one piece of furniture was this beautiful classic glass and hard wood 6 piece set. Over it was a built in display nook, perfect for our knick-knacks.

As we walked on the beautiful marble floor, my eye got drawn to the balcony - spacious enough for me to paint in (goodbye enclosed paint fumes!) and inspiring enough for Deepa to plan to surprise me with an herb garden. Alas the surprise was not meant to be a surprise, as we both had the same idea! Still - she gets to surprise me with the herb choice and arrangement - something I'm really looking forward to!

Julian then showed me what every guy wants - a TV room - with hard wood panels installed for perfect darkness, a built in stand, and console storage. I was already planning the perfect TV for this; but this is another story.

Saving the best for last -and it is the best personally because I am amused at how much this one item just bowled over my hon: a walk-in closet.

She was totally floored. So much that she forgot to pay attention to the rest of the house! (May banyo ba yung masters hon? A? Talaga, may washing machine pala? Phone line? Nasaan?) Needless to say, Imeldific fantasies must have trooped all around in her loveable brain. Me - I'm just glad she's that happy!

As we walked out the sala we muttered- 'Ano, kunin ba natin to? Aba oo! Mag ne-nego ba tayo? Wag na! Anong hihingin natin? Wala!' I tossed my bargaining skills and caution to the wind. We decided to play it straight. 'We loved it, we can't afford 2.8, can we go to 2.6, and ask for nothing in addition?' Somehow, I think they were surprised, we were so honest and so non-fussy. We closed that night at 2.7 by the poolside. Our first home!!!!!!

Deepa's one request to follow - can I take more pictures and measurements? All she remembered was the closet! In fairness- all I can fully picture is how wonderful my dream television will look in that TV room!

Searching for the perfect nest

2007-11-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, Deepa flew in for what promised to be a hectic weekend of flurried activity. Apart from the customary first dinner at Jumbo, this weekend promised to be different from all the other weekends we shared here in Singapore. That weekend we were going to look for our first house (to rent, unfortunately and not to own, but hey, we all have to start somewhere.)

Not only was it our first home, but we both loved looking at house and interior decorating magazines. Needless to say, we were stoked. The weekend was set- I had a little army of Singaporean brokers scouring the land for the perfect Condo - within 2-2.5K /month, at least 2 bedrooms, must have pool, no more than 40 minute commute from central, relatively decent finishings. (2.5 sounds like a lot, but in today's housing shortage, having a budget of 2.5 means that we get sent to what counts for boonies in lala land. Central housing costs about 5-7K!)

The first night was busy -we had 2 condo's lined up (a third cancelled) , on opposite sides of the island.The first sounded promising - by the beach, 2 bedrooms. 2.2 K, with facilities. Then we learned just how broad a spectrum of apartments that description can fit. It fit the specifications, but the place was so tiny, and so confusingly built, that all we could mutter was 'parang crystal maze ang theme nito a!'

Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse - we entered the master's bedroom, and got screamed at by the ultra loud jungle-boogie themed room. WHO in their right mind covers a bathroom with ZEBRA prints?

To make matters worse, a LIFE SIZE faded print of two jungle cats snarled over the bed.

Not even the modelesque agent could charm the the shocked looks off from our faces.

First place condo (Escada!) was a bust.

Not to be discouraged - we went off to the second apointment of the day: Chiltern Park just off serangoon road. The place had exactly the same specs we asked for, but the agents comments of "resort-style living!" seemed more promising. Truth be told, as we pulled into the lobby, we began to feel the possibilities.

Well lighted, spacious, built around an inner courtyard, the place was a much welcome breather.

What fully took our breath away however was how gorgeous the layout of the unit was. Spacious and well designed, it was painted in a warm and rich sea-aqua that I knew Deepa was loving.

The living room ceiling was even slightly elevated to allow for a chandelier!

We were giving each other knowing side looks. Was this our paradise?

Then the owner dropped the bomb. All -ALL the furniture had to stay. Our side looks turned to horror. The padded white master's bed na mukhang pang Victoria Court sabi ng officemate ni Deepa. ("It's good bed lah! no sharp corners" said the owner as he saw our doubtful faces )...

the flea bitten sofa bed in the guest room in the confused print... (Very relaxing lah!)

... the black office lobby pleather couch? (No need to buy sofa set lah!) The owner was irritatingly lazy as he refused to get back his 80's red-light district furniture. Can't he get his crap back rather than push them on his hapless tenants? (Look bonus! I give you the bull horn I bought from texas!) Great. Just what we wanted.

We shuffled out to the courtyard.

The overall place was gorgeous...

... but the furniture! We can't even sell and replace them! Even the olympic sized pool, the well stocked gym couldnt get the nagging feeling out of our minds. It was a good start - but it wasn't perfect. Needless to say, the agent's annoyingly insistent cajoling to put a downpayment to 'reserve' the place fell on deaf ears.

We walked away- Our dream home was still out there.

Next- finding the perfect nest.

Back to Balay

2007-11-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

when marlon and i chose balay indang as our reception venue last december, it was mostly marlon's call. balay, a bed and breakfast in indang, cavite (about 15 to 20 minutes from aguinaldo highway in tagaytay) was the last place we visited after a long day sussing out possible reception venues in tagaytay.

i was tired, feverish, and barely remembered the place. the drive seemed overlong and the pictures (taken at night) were not too great. but marlon really liked it, and didn't seem too bothered about the drive. plus, marge tan, who owned and operated the place, was a total sweetheart. so we took it.

almost a year later, we went back to balay for an ocular inspection of the venue with our caterer, kaye. marlon was actually a little anxious about it. "what if we go back there in the daytime and realize na pangit pala siya?" he fretted.

thank goodness, it turned out to be even better than he or i remembered.

the main house, where cocktails will be held

the cocktail area (for hot tsokolate and kapeng barako! yum!)

the poolside pavilion where the reception will be held

main reception area (love the vigan tiles)

where marlon and i will be seated (totally hate the couples-table-with-backdrop idea)

more balay details

we had fun planning the reception floor layouts with kaye, who's great to work with and full of ideas. more than that, we fell in love with balay all over again and were reminded of why it stood out from the other venues in the first place.

it really is a homey, eclectic and warm place -- somewhere where our guests can really kick back and enjoy an intimate evening with friends and family. as you can probably tell, "grand", "opulent", or "formal" are not among our key words.

it was great to be back at balay. and the next time i'll be back, it'll be to get married! yahoo!

The canonical (non-) interview

2007-10-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

one of the requirements to be able to marry at our church, chapel on the hill, is a canonical interview with msgr. arturo boonggaling, bishop of lipa. thankfully, he holds office on saturdays, so marlon and i decided to show up at his doorshep -- or viewdeck, since he holds office at the viewdeck of canyon woods in tagaytay. the "appointment" marlon made was for 9:00 a.m. sharp. we couldn't be late, warned the bishop, because he had to say mass at 11:00 a.m.

but really, what else can you expect from the infamous "bara-bara couple"? if you sit me down for coffee, i can tell you about all the plan-less vacations, expired passports, wrong-date-booked tickets, barely-made it boat rides, and missed flights that have characterized our relationship.

and so, after vowing to wake up at five and be off to tagaytay at six (after picking up marlon's baptismal and confirmation certificates at his house in qc), what did we do? wake up at seven! yay! that was a record drive to tagaytay, i must say. less than two and a half hours, with a two-way trip to quezon city squelched in for good measure!

we made it to canyon woods, breathless and sheepish, at around 10:30 a.m.

breathless and sheepish

fortunately, what we thought was an appointment at 9:00 a.m. was actually just the start of the bishop's office hours. so we queued up with other couples who were getting interviewed, enjoyed the breeze and the sunshine at the viewdeck, and filled up a couple of forms while waiting.

now, the interview... was kind of a non-interview. we were all ready to chat up a storm with the bishop about how we met, why we decided to get married, and all the other sundry questions we thought a bishop might like to know about two people getting hitched.

but he barely asked us anything about ourselves! he went over the questionnaire we filled up about marriage impediments -- no, i am not being kidnapped or coerced; no, we have not been married to other people; no, we are not related even if we kind of look alike.

then he filled out a couple of forms to give our parishes -- wedding banns, which notify people in our parish of our intent to marry and allow them to bring up impediments they might know of, and a request letter for my parish to let us marry at chapel on the hill.

the bishop meticulously addressed and folded each of these forms by hand, handed them over to us, murmured about a donation for his parish church. that was that.

we felt both strangely let down and hugely relieved -- nothing that cinnamon rolls (for me) and an extra-large omelette (for marlon) couldn't fix though. and with that, we were off to a late brunch at one of our favorite tagaytay roadside stops: bag of beans!

but that's another story. ;-)

From the comments section :-)

2007-10-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

At this point I admit to two things ...

1.) How very proud I am of how much my beloved is doing; I can't beleive that I, a guy, am actually excited by our flowers.

2.) How of all the years I spent abroad, these past few months have been absolute torture - and how I wish I could be more physically present at home these past month.

To all the lucky guys out there who are physically present with your fiancees as you plan and prepare for your big day, you have no idea how lucky you are.

The Groom

Flower power

2007-10-18T03:13:00.000-07:00

call me an an anti-flower bride.

at the beginning of the year, i professed my utter detest (and i kind of still do) for the idea of spending gajillions of money on things that will just wilt and die at the end of the day. i skulked around the weddings at work yahoogroup, incredulous at brides who blew as much as a hundred thousand pesos on flowers for the church, entourage and reception. a hundred grand!!! on flowers!!!! (then, of course, i vowed i would never do something so ridiculous.)

i scoffed at "event stylists" who were really just florists in disguise. and i toyed with the tempting idea of eschewing flowers altogether, except for the bride's bouquet.

maybe i was different. or maybe i was just cheap. after all, i did get a handful of quotations that, while not as outre as a hundred grand, were whoppers in their own right. and so i hemmed, i hawed, i avoided, i footdragged my way to booking a florist.

until my partner at work recommended his florist, mr. hardinero, to me. a guy raving about a florist pointed to a florist worth checking out, i reasoned. plus, the package rates on their website were just about as much as i was willing to spend on things that were doomed to be forgotten, stolen, or tossed out the next day. so, having done a little homework (pegs from brides.com and martha stewart weddings), i stole away from the office one afternoono to meet pam of mr. hardinero at starbucks tomas morato.

pam is such a sweetheart. her simple and straightforward attitude, heaps of patience, huge portfolio of sample bouquets, never-ending list of suggestions and willingness to customize totally won this anti-flower bride over. so much so, in fact, that i actually found myself getting excited about the flowers for my wedding... and kilig at the thought of my all-purple, all-orchid bridal bouquet.

never underestimate the power of flowers.

the peg for my bouquet: an assortment of purple orchids...

the entourage bouquets will be mostly made up of hydrangeas...

agapanthus or african lilies...

two-tone carnations (the edges are a deep mauve, not red like in this photo)...

and sea lavender for fillers.

our mothers will be special! they get lovely white casablanca (or stargazer) lilies in their bouquets...

and the ninangs get these big-ass cabbage roses!

i asked pam to do away with the traditional church arrangements, which are flowers in stands at each pew. choosing an arrangement like this helped me get more bang for my buck.

and she agreed to do them with these button mums in purple.

i'm actually excited to see what the mockup arrangements look like. i guess i'm an anti-flower bride no longer!

Sneak peek

2007-10-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

a snip of our entourage insert for the invitation... with almost all the wrong middle initials! haha! but at least you can check out the colors, fonts and passport stamp watermarks.

trivia: the date on the "india" stamp is the date we fly off for our honeymoon.

The first fitting

2007-10-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

top: beads for mom's gown; justine's dress; pia's dress and lining

second: ruffle details and the gold fabric for the tops, up close

third: the motif colors all together; mom and tria at work

bottom: mom thinks; the gold fabric that made her think twice

i was so excited for the first entourage fitting -- i would finally get to see if the colors we chose would work together off the color board, and see tria's creations on some of my dearest friends. i was ready to go with my camera and take snaps of everyone and everything! so why are there no bridesmaids in the photos?

two words: manila traffic! after sitting in a cab with my mom for over three hours, how many bridesmaids and secondary sponsors do you think i caught up with? zero! actually, most of the girls had backed out earlier due to schedule conflicts -- all except my high school best friend, hershel. unfortunately, she had come and gone before i arrived.

so tria just showed me some of the unfinished dresses, and kindly put one on a kiddie mannequin so i could get an idea of the whole look. i loved it! the colors don't quite come through in the pictures (is it the lighting? the camera?), but they were lovely and striking all together. big sigh of relief.

tria also sat down with my mom to create her mother-of-the-bride gown. and my mom, someone who has opinions coming out of her ears, just clammed up! tameme ito! fortunately, she warmed up to some of the fabrics, like a pretty deep purple silk and burnished gold chiffon. she had two designs made (decisions, decisions!) -- nothing less to be expected from a mother who is wondering why i'm not changing into another gown for the reception!

Choosing the church

2007-10-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

engerts, i wrote about it na pala.

how we chose the church and the wedding date is buried way back over here!

Blogging backlog

2007-10-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

hmmm. with almost a full year of preps behind me, there's still so much to write about. what would you like to read about next?

the flowers
the paperwork
more about the music
the wedding dress pegs
the pre-nup pictorial (or lack thereof)
~~the first entourage fitting~~
doing most of the wedding preps alone (since marlon works abroad)
choosing a printer
~~choosing the date~~
~~choosing a church~~
why we did not have an indian wedding

i sure know what i'd like to read on this blog. a word from the groom! *hint hint*

after this weekend's to-dos are over, i'll probably blog about the canonical interview, the reception venue, the second entourage fitting and my first and second fittings with kate. stay tuned!

Songs for the wedding

2007-10-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

something i thought would be really easy is starting to drive me nuts. i can't decide on the wedding repertoire!

marlon was happy to leave music-related decisions to me (except for our first dance song, which we are being indecisive about as a tandem) by virtue of my eight years of singing in a choir. twelve if you count my church choir days -- egad that's effectively half my life! anyway, that factor seems to have become a liability rather than an asset. eight years' worth of songs to choose from! and that's just for the ceremony!

i am definitely sure i want songs encompassing my choral "career" from beginning to end -- from high school in the st. andrews' church choir, to my trainee days in the glee club, to competing in europe, then to moving on to acs. i am also sure i want acs to learn new songs -- none of the generic/recycled repertoire that's default choral fare for weddings and that we can sing in our sleep (i am happy to report they agree with me 100%!). and i am also sure i want nothing that screams bongga, just songs that have beautiful lyrics and moving melodies.

so far, i've chosen two songs that are definite yeses for the ceremony. they both have beautiful words, so i thought i'd post their lyrics here.

the song: open thou mine eyes by john rutter

to be sung during: communion

the story: i first heard this song in 2000, when the glee club won an international competition in marktoberdorf, germany. we were doing a joint concert with a finnish choir called audite helsinki. (one of their guest singers at the time is still a good friend to this day.) they sang this with so much heart that i instantly fell in love.

i've always wanted to learn it, and while i can't on my wedding day, at least i can compel my friends to! i really love how it's simple and moving, like an old-fashioned hymn.

the words:

Open thou mine eyes and I shall see
Incline my heart and I shall desire
Order my steps and I shall walk
In the ways of thy commandments.

O Lord God, be thou to me a God
And beside thee let there be none else
None other, nought else with thee.

Vouchsafe to me to worship thee and serve thee
According to thy commandments
In truth of spirit, in reverence of body
In blessing of lips, in private and public.

Open thou mine eyes and I shall see
Incline my heart and I shall desire
Order my steps and I shall walk
In the ways of thy commandments.

the song: this marriage by eric whitacre

to be sung during: hmmm. i don't know yet. basta it MUST be sung!

the story: i also discovered whitacre during that competition in marktoberdorf in 2001. one of our competitors (ah, i mean, isa sa mga tinalo namin haha), the portland state university choir, sang whitacre's water night, a poem by octavio paz set to music. it was gorgeous. utterly gorgeous. i remember listening to it over and over again months later, and i still listen to it sometimes, six years later.

water night did not work so well with acs, so we took up other lovely whitacre pieces such as i thank you god for most this amazing day (words by e.e. cummings) -- which i would have liked acs to sing at my wedding. i thank you god is just too long, though, so i started googling whitacre songs that might be appropriate for a wedding. i hit on this song, and when i saw that the lyrics were by the sufi poet rumi, whose works i love... bingo!

the words:

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk, like wine and halvah (a sweet dessert).
May this marriage offer fruit and shade like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
Our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
A seal of happiness, here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
An omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe how spirit mingles in this marriage.

AAAAAAARGGGGGH

2007-10-08T00:16:00.000-07:00

less than three full months to go! and still so much to do!

marlon's flying in for the weekend. gone (for now) are the days of our lazy mall-hopping, canoodling and snacking. here's what our weekend is looking like.

friday

~~download music options for avps~~
~~choose music for avps~~
~~choose prayers and readings~~
~~finish laying out misalette (in preparation for our meeting with fr. nebres on tuesday)~~
~~second fitting of gown lining at kate's~~
~~withdraw money for wedding rings~~
~~get marlon's ring size~~
~~get wedding rings at glorietta~~
~~finalize departure time with kaye (for ocular inspection of balay on saturday)~~
~~get marlon's approval on invitations mock-up~~
~~pay deposit to printer for invitations~~

saturday

~~canonical interview with monsignor alberto buongaling at canyon woods (good luck!)~~
~~get marriage banns from the bishop~~
~~ocular inspection of balay indang with kaye~~
~~figure out where to put directional tarps leading to balay~~
~~figure out floor plan~~
~~relax... or catch up with all the things we didn't do the day before~~

sunday

~~head back to manila~~
have lunch at tita pearlie and tito carlos's house in merville (if time)
~~pick up therese for entourage fitting~~
~~entourage fitting at tria's~~
~~get ID pictures taken~~
~~check that all requirements are complete for our marriage license application on monday~~

monday

~~apply for marriage license at qc city hall in the morning~~
~~find some place nearby to have lunch while waiting~~
~~attend family planning seminar at city hall in the afternoon~~
~~inspect marlon's custom-woven barong fabric at angelo's barong on kamuning~~
(hopefully, crossing fingers big-time here) finalize names for the invitations

i had a mini-meltdown two weeks ago when i updated our wedding plans on excel (a brilliant template courtesy of super-oc tria). actually, to marlon, it probably was anything but mini. but he got the magnitude of my overwhelmed-ness a few days later when i sent him the excel sheet. (i also think he was overwhelmed by the fact that i actually put all so much information together on excel, considering how allergic i am to it.)

then he said, "i'm glad all this is in your able hands, sweetie."

half-jokingly, of course.

i think.

The K chronicles

2007-10-05T00:26:00.000-07:00

considering that she is the supplier i am the most deliriously happy about (kate and tria a very close second), i am surprised i haven't blogged about my caterer, kaye cunanan, yet. an atenean who's just a couple of batches above mine, kaye runs k by cunanan, a hip-ified update of her family's decades-old catering business.

then i figured it out. i've written so many blissful rhapsodies about kaye on the weddings@work yahoogroup that i don't feel the need to write about her here! so i went and dug up all my kaye-related letters to various w@w brides and am reposting bits and pieces here. you'll get to see what a great start we got off to, just what it is i love about her, and sneak peeks of our menu.

(marlon? more than convinced. he keeps bugging me to ask kaye for a second taste test!)

--

Hey Celina!

Side kwento lang, how I discovered Kaye was when my fiance and I checked out Balay for the first time. Sila yung caterer sa wedding that was ongoing at that time. Marge of Balay said, o yan kunin n'yo, I've been observing them, ok yung setup nila at maayos silang magtrabaho. So I googled Kaye after and now I'm so glad I did.

Deepa

--

Hey Trina,

I'm a K bride and would definitely recommend her. In terms of freebies, it's hard to say really, until you sit down with Kaye and tell her what you really want. During our first meeting, I literally threw my wish list at her, haha. At in fairness ang dami kong gusto na binigay niya for free. 3-layer cake by Judy Uson (although I'm considering an upgrade now), cocktails (hot choco and coffee with cookies), setups for both dinner and cocktail areas, wish cards and jar, luminaries etc.

For me mas naging sulit siya kasi ang dami kong kalandian na gusto sa place cards, wish cards and table numbers -- she just said sure, give me your desired fonts/layout and I'll print and assemble those for you.

Your budget of P700/head is definitely workable. Dami mo nang makukuha niya. Ako nga, my budget was P700/head. Laking gulat ko na lang nung final quotation sa akin ni Kaye, with all the requests we made, was just P530/head.

The key with Kaye is to tell her your wants and budget right off the bat. And prepare to be amazed :-)

Deepa

--

Hi guys!

Omigosh I am so happy with K by Cunanan too! My fiance and I had our food tasting with Kaye just the other day (without having chosen a menu yet), and we were pleasantly surprised. Not just surprised actually, floored is more like it. Meeting Kaye just made me so much more excited about how our wedding day will turn out. Share ko lang my experience with her.

First of all, the food was great and beautifully presented. I'm not a fan of red meat, but she served this tenderloin pepper-crusted steak that even I had to say should be a must-have on our menu. (My carnivorous fiance was only too happy to agree.)

Second, I love how she asked for our budget and listened to our ideas first instead of just handing me a prepared package or menu. That will really help us stick to the budget. Given the budget and our inputs, saka siya gagawa ng customized menu. Can't wait to see that :-)

Third, and most important for me, ang gaganda ng kanyang mga setups. Kakaiba yung level of customization. When she showed me photos, they all looked so different from each other, full of personality talaga.

Nung tinanong ko, "So are those setups upgrades or kasama na yan sa basic catering service mo?" and she answered, "Ah that's included sa basic, no added fee yun" muntik na akong maluha sa tuwa, haha. I am officially crossing off "event stylist" from my supplier shortlist (and budget!) kasi sa ganda ng setups ni Kaye, I can see na hindi na kailangan. (Yay tipid!)

She took notes on all my ideas for the reception setup, asked for my pegs and set schedules na for the ocular, floor plan presentation, and table setting mockup. The control freak in me was fainting from happiness. OC brides will love her. Marami ring personal touches sa setups niya that kikay brides will love.

Deepa

--

Hi Charisse,

I booked Kaye without having a taste test first. We basically just showed up and let her serve stuff that she wanted to serve. We actually didn't end up getting any of the stuff she served us, but we were suitably impressed by the quality of the food.

Before she proposed anything to us, we told her we had a lot of Indian and vegetarian guests; we wanted hot chocolate and kapeng barako; and that we generally like Mediterranean food and lemon- and chocolate-based desserts. The dishes she came up with for our menu were just that. Ayan tuloy ang saya-saya namin sa menu.

Deepa

--

Ey Rhona,

Kaye quoted me P530/head for the following: cocktails of spanish hot chocolate, batangas kapeng barako, assorted cookies; dinner of assorted bread, 1 soup, 1 salad, 4 main dishes (we chose beef, chicken, fish and pasta), steamed rice and carrot rice, dinner rolls, raspberry or vanilla iced tea, brewed coffee and tarragon tea, and 3 desserts.

Deepa

--

all photos from kaye's pbase account.

Work in progress

2007-10-04T03:07:00.001-07:00

my seatmate cecil is designing the wedding invitations right this very minute! i can't help but roll my chair over to her mac and watch her at work every now and then. the design is turning out beautifully, and much more personalized than we originally intended.

from this peg...

to this...

it's actually beginning to look more like this...

and uses images of some of our most memorable places, like this (paris, engagement 2006):

this (mumbai, anniversary 2007)

and this! (hong kong, anniversary 2005)

can't wait to see the finished invites!

Have a seat

2007-10-04T00:19:00.000-07:00

more for our travel-themed wedding: luggage tag place cards! so glad kaye agreed to print these for me for free! sulit talaga siya.

photos from style me pretty (thanks for the link, z!) and martha stewart weddings (i think).

A piece of cake?

2007-10-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

one of the very first things marlon and i decided on almost a year ago, way back when we started planning, was to have a travel-themed wedding.

and one of the cutest travel-themed wedding details that i saw while scouring for ideas was this wedding cake by cake artist judy uson – a stack of suitcases (and a very rounded bride and groom) made out of fondant icing. marlon liked the idea too.

it’s perfect! i crowed to myself as i picked up the phone and dialed judy. like all too many wedding thingamajigs, the cake was perfect but the price definitely not so. for at least 15 g’s, these sugar suitcases might as well have been wheelie bags – they rolled way, way out of our budget immediately... forever.

or so i thought.

fast forward to june, when we sat down to meet our heaven-sent caterer, kaye cunanan (who deserves a separate post). as we discussed the cake, which kaye would throw in for free, she mentioned that her cake supplier was none other than judy uson! pretty soon, kaye was penciling in “luggage cake” into her neat leather binder as visions of our beautiful luggage cake – for free! – swirled in my head.

over the months, i fantasized more about a wedding cake than can possibly be considered healthy.

what would we put on top? an artist’s palette or a pair of glasses for marlon? sheets of music or a pair of high heels for me?

kaye’s email in september brought an unexpected dilemma. and i quote: “judy uson’s luggage cake is rrrrrealllly expensive.” for a single-layer, all-edible, 14x14x5.5-inch cake, we’d have to add P6,800 to the total catering cost! sweetheart that kaye is, she offered to transport the cake for us so that we wouldn’t have to pay judy’s P3,500 out of town charge.

kaye also sent me the cake designs that judy could provide for free. they’re fine, i guess, but nothing that really knocks my socks off – or does anything for the travel theme.

so the question is: do we splurge on the suitcase, or go with one of the freebies?

i don’t quite know where i am on it. i mean, it’s six grand we didn’t intend to spend. for something that’s going to be cut into pieces and eaten within hours of its delivery. (i was this way about flowers, too.) on the other hand, other couples have easily dropped twice, even thrice as much dough (pardon the pun) on taller, fancier cakes that are actually four parts styrofoam to one part cake!

sigh. and it’s luggage! perfect for our theme!

if deciding could only be a piece of cake. :-P

---

all photos from judy uson's website.

Boarding school

2007-09-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

when i saw boarding pass save-the-date cards on a new york-based design site, i knew they'd be the perfect design peg for our travel-themed wedding.

so with some specialty papers from national, some help from my wonderful cubicle-mate cecil (a gifted and super kikay art director!), a gold gel pen, the office printer (shhh!!!) and a cutter, i produced a couple of save-the-date cards to give to marlon's guests from singapore!

the bar code font was a cute touch added by cecil!

i colored in these gold emblems by hand, baby! ... and almost went cross-eyed doing it! the effort was more than worth it though when marlon told me he absolutely loved them -- and so did everyone who received them a couple of months back. anyway, i only had to make around 20 pieces. (p.s. don't ask me to compute the cost per piece -- i really suck at things like that.)

now, on to the next challenge: finding a printer who can do our dream passport-inspired invites within budget. good luck to me!

Bubble girls, revealed

2007-09-25T05:16:00.000-07:00

finally! pictures of the tamayo girls, dani and ela! these are not exactly recent, but their mommy aui hasn't updated her friendster page in a while!

ate dani:

and elapot:

aren't they adorable? too bad their baby sister, alexa (a.k.a. the most symmetrically-featured baby girl in the world) is too young to join them!

Here comes the dress

2007-09-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

this dress is a lot of things.

it's a transition from my being a long-time fan of the amazing kate torralba to being her friend. a dress that wasn't going to happen -- i had already settled on a designer, i had this huge complex about how i couldn't possibly afford kate. a result of a quick exchange of text messages and a split-second, gut-feel decision to show up at kate's studio.

it's a real collaboration between me and kate. a testament not just to her creative genius but to how she really GOT me. it doesn't look like a single one of the many pegs i sent kate, but she GOT something from them too, and made it me! it's fun and inspiration and kakikayan and all the things that i enjoy whenever i pop on over to kate's colorful, whimsical apartment.

it's a confection of ivory tulle and gold thread, inspired by and embellished with patterns from a pair of enamel earrings i bought in a mumbai bangketa. (the trip to mumbai was for our fourth anniversary, and our last as boyfriend and girlfriend.) it has its own matching little purse and strands of beads draped across a low back -- girly touches that i love. it's corseted inside and has a little train -- perfect for our little chapel.

but maybe all it is is my dress. it's the dress i will be wearing on a saturday afternoon in december, when i marry my best friend.

so here it is!

and the earrings! i saw them on my last-minute shopping jaunt in colaba, and knew that i had to wear them to my own wedding. you would totally not believe how much they cost. wearing a bangketa find on my wedding day seems so me!

*giddy and excited*

Over the moon

2007-09-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

i recently blogged about the honeymoon plans over at my regular blog, so i thought i'd repost them here.

with me in charge (more or less) of the wedding, marlon has been tasked with planning the honeymoon. it took us the greater part of a year to decide, but we finally set our sights on a couple of days in boracay, a short visit to the family in kolkata, and a week-plus roaming the wonders of rajasthan and agra. (palace of the winds! taj mahal! amber fort! gorgeousness!)

yesterday, marlon forwarded me a lengthy missive from a mr. tapas banerjee of trinetra tours in delhi. and by lengthy, i mean three pages when cut-and-pasted into a word document! within seconds i knew this was going to be interesting.

'Namaste' & Greetings Mr. Plazo !!Good Morning !!Many thanks for your mail. We take this opportunity to confirm our best intentions and knowledge to the cause of your trip. It is a pleasure to welcome you & your traveling partner to our country.

Before I serve my verbal barrage on to you, I just wish to inform you that I would be delighted to offer you references from All Over The World including Singapore too.

kapow! you've got me mr. banerjee! something about the self-deprecating, candid and enthusiastic tone just got me. and so i read on.

more choice excerpts:

For your entire journey, we are upgrading your transport to a fine Toyota MUV (Innova). This car will substantially add to your traveling comfort, especially on some bumpy roads where the top quality suspension would not let you feel any discomfort. However, the biggest and the single most achievement of this car is its Air-conditioning, [natawa talaga ako dito! omigosh! this is so true! especially in india!] which ensures that you are cool and fresh even if you are traveling under the mid day sun in warm country.
Besides the car, your driver would be special. He would be your 'Man Friday'. You would of course have local guides conducting your city tours in each city, but, besides that, your driver would be your most invaluable friend. He would not only be knowledgeable about places of interest in between journeys as also in cities, but, he would be a very nice human being with a pleasing personality for whom nothing would be trouble.

pero dito talaga nahulog yung loob ko sa kanya:

I apologise for my unending chin wagging, Mr. Plazo. I love the business and the gossip opportunities that come with it. Actually, the home dinner that I am proposing is in my house. Both me and my wife, Krishna love meeting people and making friends. I got into the business primarily because I could travel with tour groups making friends and sharing experiences. However, with the business expanding in the last 7-8 years, I am more or less now confined to my office ensuring standards that we are so paranoid about. Hence, whenever possible, I invite clients to our home for a meal with myself and my wife, Krishna. Home dinners are my major personal interaction with clients and I look forward to this eagerly. Little do the visitors realise that they would be subjected to my verbal diarrhea!!

ang sweet diba? anyway, i checked out a couple of the hotels and sites on his itinerary. and. oh. my. gawd.

behold rohet garh, a gorgeous 17th century home-turned-heritage hotel in jodhpur. swoon.

i may have died and gone into a taschen book.

and check out the luxe desert camping digs in manvar.

and one of the client references describes their driver as "a prince among drivers."

i do believe we have a winner.

i can't wait to go shopping for block-printed bedsheets in those rajasthani markets.

All hail the maid of honor

2007-09-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

and for my zexy zeester, something that totally does not look like any of the other entourage gowns!

the lady:

and her dress:

Secondary style

2007-09-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

for the secondary sponsors (mimi, justine and hershel -- close friends from acs, college and high school, respectively), tria and i flipped the color combinations around. they get aqua taffeta skirts with purple sashes -- the bridesmaids have purple skirts and aqua sashes.

they also get a different silhouette -- the same ruffled, girly tops but with a pencil skirt this time.

Bubble girls

2007-09-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

for our two adorable flower girls, dani and ela (the super-cute daughters of my acs friends aui and jay), tria created bubble dresses in gold chiffon and taffeta. these two kiddies also get peter pan collars and sashes in purple and aqua.

(darn now i wish i had pictures of dani and ela!)

Playing dress-up

2007-09-11T02:16:00.000-07:00

since i have the faces of the bridesmaids up, i thought i'd post sketches of their dresses too.

if you're a guy, i know it will probably be a matter of nanoseconds before i lose you.

first, the design pegs. i had a rather comprehensive list of no's, which included the generic long, spaghetti-strapped a-line dress in shantung silk. no shawls -- any bridesmaid seen wearing a wrap will be speedily defenestrated. (or maybe i should assign one of my gay friends to be a style bouncer.) no all-alike dresses -- each of the girls we chose has a unique beauty and body type. one dress does not fit all. and no beading.

before i begin to sound like bridezilla, what were my yeses? yes to reusable, and therefore, to separates. yes to dresses made with each bridesmaid in mind. yes to short, yes to casual, and a resounding yes to girly.

now, the designer.

my perpetually perfectly turned-out friend tria villasis-ramolete runs a garment business called dream bride. plus, she's super organized, stylish and a joy to work with.

at chris's despedida -- tria's in the cute mint green blouse

and she knows my kiliti -- she only had to bludgeon me over the head once with the weighty term "special price" for me to have dinner with her. and over a huge meal at burgoo, we put the dresses together.

and here they are, in tria's microscopic, stepford-neat hand.

tria will use gold chiffon for the soft, ruffled tops, aquamarine taffeta for the sashes, and purple (o sige na nga amethyst! hahaha!) taffeta for the skirts.

i must admit i am a bit antsy about seeing if the bold color scheme we chose will look good off the color board and out in the real world. luckily, the bridesmaids' first fitting is coming up next weekend, and i can't wait to see what the dresses look like!

Bye-bye bridesmaid

2007-09-09T03:05:00.000-07:00

muniya (see previous post) can't make it to the wedding. she has exams.

i'd say more about it, but i'm still too bummed. i mean, she's only the only representative of my dad's family who was coming in the first place.

boo.

Word up

2007-09-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

one fun thing marlon and i did together during my recent visit to singapore was put together the wording for our wedding invitations. it took us just about fifteen minutes, including picking out the fonts we would use.

what made it so easy? marlon was definite about creating wording that was simple and straightforward -- nothing gimmicky, cutesy or mushy. and i was definite about using what i had learned on the knot about wording etiquette!

we nicked the knot's handy fill-in-the-blanks guide:

__________________ [proper names of those hosting]
request the honor of your presence [request line]
at the marriage of their _________ [relationship of bride to host]__________________ [bride's first, middle names]
to__________________ [groom's full name]
_________, the __ of ________ [day of the week, date of wedding]
at ____ o'clock [time] in the _________ [time of day]
___________________ [location of wedding]_________,
____________ [city and state where wedding will take place]
Reception to follow

we made a few changes, like using just our nicknames, not our full names, for a more casual feel and adding our parents' names to honor their participation in our wedding. marlon also added the whole "year of our lord" bit, no doubt something his memory retained from prom and graduation ball invites of yesteryear.

we also had fun tweaking the request line ("request the honor of your presence at their marriage"). some phrases we came up with, and why we discarded them after much chortling:

"invite you to witness their union" = watch them do the nasty?
"invite you to join their union" = come to an orgy?

until we got to this!

Deepa and Marlon

together with their parents

Rodolfo F. Plazo

Ma. Gracia R. Plazo

and Imelda A. Paul

invite you to share in their joy

as they are joined in holy matrimony

Saturday, the twenty-ninth of December

in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven

two o'clock in the afternoon,

Chapel on the Hill

Batulao, Nasugbu, Batangas

there's another reason we love our wording -- but that's an inside joke for a silly engaged couple. ;-)

Two men down :(

2007-09-02T20:18:00.001-07:00

just found out over the weekend that mike and eric, two of marlon's closest friends from high school (that's ateneo high, by the way) -- and two of our secondary sponsors -- can't make it to the wedding. :(

apparently his friend mike is getting married a day before we do... in davao! and eric is part of the entourage there too! truly, december is the new june. hopefully eric will be able to fly back for our wedding though.

but till we confirm that, we're short two secondary sponsors. will there be any volunteers from marlon's massive extended family? will our guest list continue to dwindle (hmmm somehow i don't think so)? abangan!

The bride's maids

2007-08-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

the rules: four bridesmaids, four groomsmen. the bride chooses three bridesmaids, the groom completes the fourth. vice versa for the groomsmen.

(as i write, i realize it was fun making up games like this. don't worry, if you're not getting married you don't have to agree with my idea of fun.)

anyway, these were my three:

maggie: my 2001 tour bus seatmate (from whom i got the habit of checking for split ends to while away boredom), thesis partner, ortigas/mandaluyong taxi-mate, fellow soprano and one of my closest friends from the glee club/acs.

pia: my koeln shoe shopping partner, sleepover host, battle-scarred glee club fellow execom member, makati carpool mate (a carpool with only one car -- mimi's), spain schlepp-arounder as part of las otras (with jeline), and also one of my closest friends from the glee club/acs.

pia, mag and i being silly in ... where was this? nice? prague? c. 2001

muniya: my feisty/sweet/smart/darling one and only cousin on my dad's side, and the sole representative of the pauls of india to the wedding. yeah. kolkata reprezzzzzent!

plus marlon's unanimous choice:

therese: the plazos' unica hija and marlon's sweetheart of a big sis. really, no other woman could complete the list. she's in red on the right, next to the maid of honor (my sister) and the best man (marlon's eldest brother joey).

i'll leave marlon to blog about the groomsmen... if he ever remembers what his blogger password is, tee hee.

First things first

2007-08-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

ironically, our first big decisions for the wedding -- the date and church -- weren't actually our first choices for them.

deciding on december. initially, we thought of getting hitched in early january 2008 (the better to spend that christmas bonus, eh?). plus, january held two significant dates for me: my dad's death anniversary (on the third) and birthday (on the 30th). and january weather in the philippines is just absolutely beautiful.

then the pinoy superstition of sukob reared its head in the form of my sister. for the uninitiated, sukob dictates that it is unlucky for siblings to marry within the same calendar year. my (currently unattached) older sis reasoned: "but what if i meet the man of my dreams in 2008? i don't want to have to wait another year to marry him!" uh, okay ate.

and so we chose the last saturday of december: well after the christmas rush and before our overseas friends and relatives have to fly back post-holidays. plus, it's a long weekend for new year's. hurray!

choosing a church. i liked caleruega ever since i sang there with a group of glee club friends for a wedding: the red brick, the floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows, but most of all the brilliant acoustics. i remember staying there with my friends to sing a few more songs after the wedding was done, simply because it sounded so beautiful in there.

however, since caleruega is now THE church for tagaytay weddings, it was booked for every single date marlon and i considered, a full year ahead! hanging up the phone after my fruitless inquiry, i had a sudden mental picture of a mad, stampeding horde of brides, all rushing to get the same church, the same dates, the same suppliers in december. (apparently, december is the new june.)

it's a good thing we went to charlie and gerwin's wedding.

else we wouldn't have even thought of chapel on the hill -- a charming, rustic, circular chapel that was, yes, on a hill, but also just a short drive from caleruega.

photos from gerwin and charlie's wedding by guido jacinto

when we called, the date we wanted was wide open! success!

and there it was: december 29, 2007 at the chapel on the hill, batulao, batangas. once we put a date and a place to it, suddenly, from something we only occasionally thought of, or dreamed about, our wedding became real.

The engagement story

2007-08-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

wondering how we got engaged? wonder no more! read the whole gooey proposal story (with pictures!) here.

read the comments! marlon shows up in the comments section to tell his side of the story.

more pics!

i ate my salmon carpaccio in blissful ignorance of the surprise to come

dessert menu (after the reading of which, marlon made his move)

moments after the yes :-)

where we told marlon's parents, a couple of days later

marlon talking to his daddy

me talking to his mommy

The making of a motif

2007-08-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

i had the perfect color motif in mind right off the bat.

marlon liked it. i liked it. it was different. it was refreshing.

and so, seeing these teacups on design sponge, i thought the quest for the wedding motif would be a no-brainer.

boy, was i wrong.

the search began in earnest when my partner at work, a phenomenally talented art director whose creative input i totally respect, told me: "ganon? nacho libre ang theme ng kasal mo?"("really? you're having a nacho libre-themed wedding?")

the man was right. needless to say, i was crushed. so it was back to the drawing board for me. well, maybe not the drawing board, but (tadaaah!) a color board!

color board 1.

one of the absolute best times marlon and i had together (out of many!) was attending his friend shivaani's wedding two christmases ago in kolkata. memorable for many reasons -- it was the first christmas we spent together. plus he met my family in kolkata, something i never thought in my wildest dreams was possible with a significant other.

we were so taken by the wedding that we entertained (for a brief, shining moment) the thought of having our own indian wedding... until the family of bride started handing out ang pao (money) to all the guests. eeep.

anyway, i took photoshop's eyedropper tool to a photo of the sari i wore to the wedding, and...

not bad eh? but wait! there's more!

color board 2.

i had amassed a ~~gig~~ small collection of images from my daily visits to design sponge. arranging them on a virtual sheet of paper, i found that i was drawn to the following colors again and again...

which were actually pretty close to the sari swatches. and so with some help from a book of pantone color chips i found at the office, the groom's approval (he picked the metallic accent), and a little tweaking from my wonderful friend and entourage designer tria, the quest for the perfect wedding motif came to its happy end...

purple, gold and turquoise! or, on days when i'm feeling frou-frou, amethyst, gold and aquamarine! hee hee!

But first, a word from our groom

2007-08-13T03:35:00.000-07:00

to say that marlon and i were quaking in our boots at the start of the wedding preparations was an understatement. and so i post here one of marlon's first -- and to me, most hilarious and unforgettable -- statements as a groom-to-be.

it was early in the year, maybe around february, and we had just plunked down a sizeable amount of g's in non-refundable down payments for the church and reception venue, most of it from marlon's stash-o-cash. i tallied the total amount and reported to him over the phone just how much money we would never see again.

a hiccup of shocked silence as we both considered that our commitment was now taking (rather daunting and considerable) monetary form. then:

"kung break-an mo ako this year, papatayin talaga kita." (if you break up with me this year, i am so going to kill you.)

that's my boy!

Welcome!

2007-08-13T03:32:00.000-07:00

after a few distractions, several aborted attempts, and way too much procrastinating, the wedding blog is finally up! this is where i blog, on behalf of marlon and myself, about our trip to the altar -- which is in itself the jump-off point to... the journey of a lifetime. (this is once in a lifetime, so we're entitled to more than a little cheese here.)

if you're a guest, here's what to expect from the blog: expect way too much information about the wedding! the good thing, though, is that it will at the very least contain the information you really need about the wedding... and, if i have anything to say about it, be fun to read.

here's a disclaimer i often read on wedding blogs, and i'm including it here because it works: this blog is a work in progress, so please come back and check for updates! now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to get started playing catch-up... more than half a year's wedding preps are waiting to be documented!