the projects that made it!

I never thought that I will ever do any DIY projects for our wedding. I can say that with a little bit of creativity and determination, I was able to pull off some of it. Here are some photos to showcase how they end up during our big day!

the centerpiece luminaries... with candles already provided by the hotel. It listed all the chat room rules we have for the reception

the luminaries serves as our table numbers as well... here it is together with the recycled jars that I have decorated and ballpens for the wish cards

the misalette... I used parchment paper for the covering... I simply printed it out to cover our misalette...

the sign pens... we used this for our guests to fill out the wish cards

our 2ndary candles.. the first DIY project that I made.

There is one project that this not made it to our wedding day and that will be the escort cards. I really have a down moment during the wedding preparations and it happened 3 to 4 days before the wedding. I really don't want to think of the wedding anymore. I just stopped thinking about it and doing the projects. Time just stood still for me! However, I was able to start a new but it was too late to catch up with the projects.

Lesson learned: Do the projects earlier...

doing the final details....

Yesterday I will scheduled my night time to finalize the guest souvenirs by placing the thank you tag on it. THinking about the 100 pieces to do... I felt lazy... I then asked my cousin, Bianca and my niece, Alexis to do it.... My sister Sharleen will be helping out to. I told them that they just have to stick the tags on the plastic of the souvenirs.

When we got home... I placed them inside my old room and placed all the materials there... They were lucky since I placed the double sided tape already on the tags last week. I wanted to do this last since the souvenirs might attract the sweet-loving ants!

Bianca placing the TY tags on the souvenirs....

scattered all over the floor of my old yellow room!

Hmmm.. They work fast!

Smiling for the camera... hehehehe

placing them back in the box given to me by the supplier.. i just placed the gift wrapper to look presentable.

both kids are so tempted to eat the souvenirs!

As a side note, i got my gown last friday but i am really itching on fitting it but due to Filipino superstition I cannot fit it! My mom shouted a loud no last night when I opened the box and pulled the gown out... Sigh!

Just the box ... the gown is inside and it will remain a surprise until the big day!

10 days left... crunch time... DIYs galore

Well it is only a couple of days left before the big day, I have all the files ready for printing --- misalette cover, escort card, table numbers/luminaries and the additional thank you cards. I printed the table numbers today care of my cousin Sam. When I got home I started assembling the materials needed for the luminaries....and I have made one already ... w@w sisses the pix are at our mywedding.com site... you all know the wedpass... hehehehehe

Some of the stuff.. my mom attacked to finish it.... She took care of the candles for the offertory and my sister put on the lace on the remaining bottles that I have forgot from last night. They are the reason that I took more than a weeks off from work.... I want to spend some time at home and of course, I know my family will be there to help me out with my DIY projects... My sister will be a very good critic as well... magaling mang okray!

my mom working on the offertory candles... see the white ribbons that she is using.. recycled from my sister's veil from her first communion!

My sister Sharleen.... having her hands on the glue gun!


Sharleen instructing my mom what to do... or is she hiding herself from the camera?

a day in the land they can Divisoria --- true Divilandia for DIY weddings

Yesterday me and my mom endured the early summer heat on the streets of Divisoria - a place in Manila where you can get almost everything that you can think of at a fraction of the cost at the malls. I really want to go to get some DIY supplies for the projects I need to finish.

I also went there to talk to the shop owner of the bridal dress store we visited last October. We paid a reservation fee back then but Christian wanted me not to get the person as my gown supplier because of som insulting words that she said against me at the time that we were talking. So my aim was to have the amount as payment for them to make me a prep dress. When we got there, I reminded them of the talk that we had a few months ago. The lady had this really nasty look at her face and asked why we did not want her service anymore. I told her that we got another supplier that will be fixing me up during the wedding and someone who will not make any nasty remarks about me and my figure!!! She kept on saying that I found someone at the Tutuban mall and that I got someone who will just provide rental gowns. I told her that I found my supplier on the internet and that her shop is in Katipunan. Enough with the argument and on with the business. I told her my plan and she said that since I am fat, I need to add another one thousand pesos because they need more cloth! I was like... WTF! I told her that I don't want to shell out anymore money and with an additional thousand, my prep dress will be more than the gown of my mom! I can buy better blouses from Tubby with the amount.

So... I started thinking of another strategy. I just told her to give any item from the store that will compensate the amount of the reservation I paid her. She said that there will be no gown in the shop's display that will fit me! GRRRRR... I was fuming mad at this point. She just don't stop picking on my size! I shouted that her that it will not be for me... Stupid! I will just give it away to any of my cousins or nieces who are lined up to do the offertory during the mass. I just picked one to end the conversation. My mom was mad since she said that the gown I picked does not look like the amount I paid for but I told her I needed to end it to lessen my problems.

Anyone who plans to get their gowns or entourages' gowns at Divisoria... stay away from this bridal gown store at the Festival Shopping Center ... the name of the shop is Aurora's and they are located at the right side of the entrance, below the escalator. I don't want any other brides specially w@w brides to get a headache from dealing with this person!

Enough with the drama and in with the happy stuff. I am off to get myself some ribbons. I texted co-w@w bride Janice ni Jake to ask where I can get them. She texted back that I can get them at several stores along Tabora street. I was on the road to Divilandia when I read her message, the only store that stuck to my mind is Morning something. When we got to Tabora, I saw the sign that said Morning Star --- hmmm... No ribbons or embellishments at the store. I kept on looking... MOrning... Good Morning store at the other side... Damn!!! There are too many stores named with Morning.... hahahaha! I ended up going to Welmenson.... Bling bling central! Beads galore! I never entered a store like this before! I got my stuff and got out. I just can't keep myself from thinking of DIY projects inside.

I also got a pair of candle holder for the offeretory candles, paper bags for our souvenirs, a kilo f onion... really not related to our wedding... hehehehe.... the pretty pretty hair blings .... headband fascinators for my bridesmaid.... and that is it... I also had a chance to discover a dress boutique that is all goods for plus size women! Cool... I will be back there on May after all this hoopla.

bling bling necklace that i bought to pair up with my sister's ther dress

the studs that I will be using for my hair

the candle holder that we will prettify -- this one is for offertory

green and blue ribbons

headband fascinators that my mom got for my sister bridemaids

the treasure of materials for my DIY projects... including the gown i got

A very tiring day indeed... too many shops to go to... too little cash... hahahaha!

What did I do on my birthday? CAke and DIY... hehehe

21.02.2010 - The day that I turned 30 and the last birthday that I am single. Early in the morning, I got messages and phone calls from my mom, titas, sisters and friends. All asking what will I do for my day. What did I do then?

Watched Avatar.. not the movie but the cartoon series. We have been watching it for a couple of days now. LOL!!! By lunch time, me and Christian decided to eat lunch outside since it is my birthday anyway! We decided to eat at Mang Inisal... unlimited rice and very very good sinigang soup. Talk about my diet! Huhuhu... but then it is really good. Yummy yummy yummy. THinking of it now makes me hungry.

After having lunch, we bought two slices of cake from Red Ribbon. Hehehehe.... Good bye diet!

My two slices of birthday cake... sansrival and white forest cake....

sans rival... yum yum yum.... my favorite cake

white forest cake.. just for the sake of having a real cake...

Part of my day yesterday was getting some of my DIY projects done. I decided to finish the ballpens that we are going to place on the guests tables. I used that I have from the candles.

these are the pens when they are bare.... white and plain

the pens when they are wrapped already... all set in a box ready for the big day

I am still thinking of what embellishment to add on this one.... I am really ready to hit Divilandia next week to find some stuff to add on our pens and other DIY stuff.

PROJECT YM ATTACK: DIY Projects Galore

Need to take a break for 15 minutes from my work and what I ended up doing???? Listing down the DIY projects that we need to do for our wedding and the more I think about it the more excited I am for our wedding. I shared some of it already with Christian but not some of the stuff here since I just thought of it today. I guess what I will have here is the list of all the projects that needs to be finished before the big day but it is not limited to it. Some of the projects are connected to our YM inspired theme... others are inspired from what I see online and it will be great to have them.

Here we go...

Project 1: Centerpieces & Table Numbers in one
Concept: Laptop luminaries with emoticon as screen - need around 8-10 pieces
I got struck with the idea when I remembered my grade 5 science project that I did. It was a desktop computer model... complete with the monitor, CPU with the big diskette slot and keyboard. When I remembered it, I got all excited and wanted to start it already.
Materials needed:

• box or illustration board
• double sided tape
• OHP (overhead projector) film (they still exist!)
• candles and holders
• green & blue paint to have the chartreuse and aqua motif in the concept

Project 2: Paper bag luminaries
Concept: I saw the idea from Martha Stewart Weddings and since the garden is sort of bare and it will add a little amph! to it. We need around 10-15 pieces of this. Materials needed:

• paper bags
• onion skin paper or vellum paper
• double sided tape
• candle and holders
• sand (to weigh the paper bag down)

Sample of the luminaries... nice right?

Project 3: Candles for the ceremony
This will be my mom's project. I showed her some of the candles at The Wedding Library a few months back and she said that she will just make it. I am not crafty at all to be able to execute something that the ones in that store and we are not going to buy something like 2000 pesos for candles.

Project 4: Audio-Visual presentation of our pictures together
A project of my youngest sister. She is the video master in the family. I just don't know how will she do it. Another idea that I have is to do a slide presentation, not the powerpoint presentation that we know but the old school ones, where you use a special film and have it specifically developed for that purpose. I am just thinking where can we rent an old school slide projector. Thinking cap on!!! I just remembered our Anthropology projects in college.

Project 5: Scratch Card Escort cards!
Concept : This is one of the projects I really want to do! Again, I got the idea online, forgot what site it is but I have the steps printed out. The story behind this project is that Christian is really mad crazy with the Lotto and the sweepstakes scratch games. It will aim to have an interaction or ice breaker for our guests. Something they can talk about before the start of the program. We can also ask for them to drop the coins they use to scratch the escort cards for charity! Why not????

Example of the scratch project that we are planning!

Materials needed:

• board paper
• plastic cover adhesive or improvised by using OHP film plus double sided tape
• gray acryllic paint
• dishwashing liquid.. yes! you read it right!
  
• paint brush

Project 6: Other stationaries projects --- missallette, menu cards, reminder about the photo booth...
Concept: Clueless at the moment... I want something different... something to talk about. Thinking ... think... think!

So far these will be the projects that we have... I already have ideas for our pillows but we don't have anyone to carry it since we are still contemplating if we are going to have a ring bearer. We need your point of views on that one! I love browsing for DIY projects. If we only have materials like they have in the US... I bet more Filipino brides will do more of DIY projects! They just have different stuff to make it easier and have the outputs lovelier and extremely prettier!

Now, I have revived my DIY box from the corner of our room. I transfer my study table outside our room to start working on some of the projects. Wait for the pictures!

DIY: Created our wedding map

Needing a break from all the work load that I have and from working on the other stuff that I need to accomplish by week's end, I fooled around making our wedding map. Using the website of www.weddingmapper.com, I just played around it and ended up with this one:

This is just a rough draft. There are still more editing to this one. I might also send up doing a map that will be easier for our guests to read. However, based from experience I am not a very good map maker... I have my friends complain about me giving directions since I will usually ask them what road they will take and start giving directions from there!!! I'm really bad at this.

But wait.... You have to wait for our map to jive with our YM inspired wedding and for our other DIY projects.

Presenting... our wedding theme....

Hello hello to everyone... A few days ago me and Christian were discussing what will be our theme for the wedding. We cannot think of anything until a surge of electricity ran through me! I told him that we can have a Yahoo Messenger theme or more of a chat theme, since we met through the wonderful world of chatrooms! He totally agreed with me on this and hence we have our wedding theme... everything of our stationery will be YM inspired. Checked out the photos of the invites draft that I have placed here...
This is a very rough draft of our invites. I worked on it using MS Word but will try to work on it using Adobe Photoshop when I go home to my mom's place this weekend. Our invites suppliers will be printing the final layout and I asked help with the fonts that we can use. I just wish my sister have good fonts installed in her PC.

Working without a Photoshop did not stop me from thinking of other ways of incorporating our theme in our wedding. We talked about having our table numbers as smiley YM emoticons instead of the regular numbers. Hehehehe... Again, I worked on a draft of it.

I am still trying to search for other emoticons that we can use. We need seven all together. I really want the emoticons from YM instead of the other messengers since YM is where we met. Hope someone can help me with that! We are also making the escort cards and I will write about that soon. More YM inspired DIYs to come.

Presenting... our save-the-date cards/boarding pass

I have been looking around online on what good DIY stuff to do for our wedding and I came upon this boarding pass template.... I was then inspired to make our save the date cards using the template. I never realized that it will turn out fine after I printed out a page of it to give out for my UP SOLAIR friends of whom two of them will be our principal sponsors. There are two different boarding passes --- one for the entourage and principal sponsors and another for our guests. I am really not a creative person but I guess this is a good start to stir my imagination. We are both thinking of making our own invites ourselves to save on the cost since this DIY project costs us less than 500 pesos... hehehehe!!!! We also started distributing all the STDs to my relatives last week and I will be handing them out to my friends this week.

The boarding pass that we have for our entourage and our principal sponsors....

The envelope that we have made to enclosed our boarding passes. The color of the envelope is ecru and it is hard to distinguish it here in the photo.

The boarding pass for our guests.. we really want the language in Filipino but in consideration of our friends from the US, we have it in English. We used our monogram as a sticker to close the flaps of the envelopes.

To keep up with the list of DIY projects that we are planning.... I saw this neat box from SM Cubao the other day to place all my DIY junk (Christian calls them junk!). This will greatly help to keep myself organize and have all the things I need in one place. What made me really buy this box is that it is 50% off .... so it costs me Php 75.00 .... :-)

Very organize right... brings out the OC-ness in me.

I can't wait to start with the other projects that I can create!!!!

a brave DIY attempt!!!

I wrote before that I am DIY challenged! However, I wanted to test myself if I can create something for our wedding. I decided with doing our save-the-date cards and special cards for our principal sponsors and entourage.

Aside from fooling around with facebook and reading updates in the w@wie community, I came across Scrapblog. This site made me try out if I can do something that is decent. Here are some of what I created so far.

I sent out this one to my 1H family... Since most of them are lawyers, I am assuming that they are all so busy and I hope that 9 months notice is enough for them!!! Since that is my one wish, to have most of my beda friends at our wedding.

Love the beach!!!! White sand bar in Camiguin!

This one will be for our principal sponsors and entourage. We will hand carry this one and deliver it to them.

I really tried to incorporate our color motif in the STD cards. Good thing, I know stuff already about the hexa codes and all that crap about colors because of my work now. I am pretty impressed on what these came out as. I will try to incorporate the church and reception venue once we booked them before the end of August.