The Wedding Essentials Bridal Bash 2010

Last Sunday, 20 June 2010, Me and Christian together with my sister Sharleen went to the Eastwood Mall. We planned to watch the much talked about Toy Story 3. I am really excited to go to Eastwood since I knew about the Wedding Essentials Bridal Bash at the mall. I guess you really cannot kick out the wedding preps hangover to any bride.

The exhibit was composed of a good handful of gowns, cakes, photos and bouquets. The whole exhibit was fresh and nice... it was clean and very slick.... We loved the cake exhibit... Christian is a sucker for cake designs... He does not like cake but he enjoys looking at really cool cakes.. like the one done by Karla Magbanua of Claycakes.

The bridal bouquets were a new twist since most of it were not mainly made from flowers. There were some that were made from different materials... The one from 7 Lily was really cool since no flowers were used at all. This concept is really a saver .. no more budget allocation for flower preservation... LOL!!!

During the week, they had talks scheduled... I was supposed to listen to the one from Jason Magbanua but I was not able to wake up early.. huhuhuhu... But we were able to listen to the performance of Bernice Pasamba and a 12 piece orchestra... Really nice!

Overall... I missed wedding preparations ... We wish that we can renew our vows every year for free... hehehehe

Lovely lovely gown.. not sure if this is by Edward Teng or Pepsi Herrera

Nice nice nice... practical bridal bouquet...

Of course from Teddy Manuel is really cool....

One from Eve & Co..... The bride can fan herself with this one...

Another non-flower bouquet...

cake by Peachy Juban... sigh!!!!....

Christian loved this one... living the tradition of the wedding cake from the Greeks..

another cake from Joy San Gabriel...

this is my last bridal fair ... PROMISE?!? wink wink

Happy hearts day to all! Bright and early I arrived as SM Megamall at 10AM. Why early? There is a bridal fair at the venue and me and my co-w@wies have set up to meet. I also went there to finalize all our suppliers since it is just 60 days before the wedding! 2 months mark! I met up with Ria, my grade school/high school friend, to hang out! Since the sisses were not yet around, I walked around the hall alone.... looking at my cellphone for messages.. wandering around the booths... then I saw on free trial make up booth of Lorie Abraham.. I was really looking for other HMUA options... so I talked to her with what her packages are and the discounts that she offers. The package is also reasonable and she gives out free retouch when you book her during the fair and that is less 3000 pesos already. She offered for a free trial and I said ok! No harm done on that! The make up was good. She put on false eyelashes on me and it made my eyes popped! I like it! I feel like a girl with long lashes! Here are some of the pictures....

It is alright!

With out the flash from the camera, nice brows...hehehehe.. no more unibrow for me!

Sis Kristell met me at Lorie's booth. She was late! LOL! She is already my regular bridal fair companion. After the trial, we went around.. checked out suppliers. I saw our photo/video suppliers and they are really nice. I am just happy that they are so nice... come to think that they will be doing our wedding almost for free.... almost since we have to feed them of course! and we will invite them for drinks after the reception as well!

Of we went to the w@w booth to rest and wait for some other co-w@wies. I met Ria sitting at her coordinator's booth and decided to go to the booth of Sheah Designs to pay our partial payment and set the schedule for the fitting! One down.

Got Ria and walked around. I was looking for cakes and again HMUA. The w@wies told me to get Val Villarin because of the promo that he has for w@w brides. We got hungry ate lunch at Cajun. Treated the girls since it will be my birthday next week!

Me and Ria.. after several years.... both engaged and getting married... She is a doctor now... I am not a lawyer yet! LOL! Paging Cheryl Salazar & Jing Lopez.... hehehehe

Kristell ni Mark & Janice ni Jake... (translation: Kristell of Mark & Janice of Jake) at w@w we usually tag ourselves with the name of our h2bs (husbands to be).

At the w@w booth with ms. benz and other w@Wies

After lunch, I was determined to get a cake supplier. We went to check out the cakes of Gervy's since they said that her price is reasonable and the cakes taste fantastic! On her booth is the most beautiful, most ideal cake that will represent us. I will have to put that as a surprise for my guests and those who follow my blog... hehehehe.. I want to do justice to the cake since I did not take a good photo of it!

Ria has to go for her driving lessons but we continued with our bridal fair addiction. Got to look at the rates of Val Villarin... haggled for some freebies.. got one additional head on top of the plus 2 he has on the package. Asked for more discount... He took off 500 pesos on the package... voila... a good deal! hehehehe... co-w@wies whispering... take it... take it... hmmmm.... signed the contract! hehehehe

All in all the day was good....booked three suppliers and done with most of our list. just have to meet the emcee next Sunday... on my BDAY!

Sad to say that this is my last bridal fair but that does not mean that I cannot accompany Ria or any other friends who will be getting married! Hehehehehe....

Talk about Bridal fair marathon..

01.23.2010 - Two bridal fairs were on in Manila, one in SM Megamall and the other at the NBC Tent at The Fort. I already lost count of the bridal fairs that I have been to but I went to the one in Megamall to accompany an elementary/high school friend - Ria... excuse me... Dra. Ria Rachelle Almoneda, who is also getting married on June 12, 2010! It has been a long time since we have seen each other and it is really fun to see her and share an exciting moment like this.

I also met up with one co-w@wie, Kristell at Megamall. We went first to the site since Ria is still at the hospital. The fair is not really that ... hmmm... appetizing as I may say. We were able to see other w@wies - sis Diana Grace and sis Tin with her h2b. There were a few suppliers, specially florists and photobooths that we need. After another one sweep of the place, Kristell said that we should go to the fair at The Fort. Addict as we were to our wedding preparation, I agreed. Ria have to go since she said she has to write a report due on Tuesday and she has her scheduled duty tomorrow. Too bad. I did not leave Megamall, empty handed... I was able to get a quote from a florist and it is way way within our budget. I am really not particular about flowers, I was thinking that it is ok.

Me and Kristell said our goodbyes to sis Diana and Ria and off we go to the NBC tent. We even got lost going to the venue. It has been a long time since I was at the Fort and the NBC tent is usually the first building you see in the area but man, all the newly built condos blocked it. We got there in one piece. The place is packed with suppliers and people... We prepared ourselves for the photobooth and Kristell was able to browse through the gowns. I was able to get some quotes from different florists on the site and we got to try out the photobooths. Reminders to all bride-to-be... before heading to a bridal fair and you are looking for a florist.. write down or print out the number of flowers that you need for your entourage and the type of flowers that you want! It will really come in handy if you want a customized quote of your flower needs!!!! After asking... I was able to make up my mind on a photobooth supplier and I picked Click D'Fun. The rate is good and really fair. I got a 10% discount as well. The print is fast and colorful and the clincher of all, the owner is easy to talk to.

Me & Kristell trying out the photobooth of Click D'Fun.

We never realized that it was getting late and we haven't eaten lunch yet! Hehehehe... So we ate our very late lunch and went home. I told Kristell that I think I will book the florist from Megamall since they gave a very good price or a bargain price for the flowers that I need. She volunteered to go to Megamall for me and reserve the florist! I am so grateful and she informed yesterday, Sunday that everything is good! So for the florist I have JVM Flowershop....

It is really the home stretch now... Only problem now is my hair and make up as well as the suit of Christian but he said that he will just rent one.. so we just need to buy him a green neck tie and a white or black polo. Keeping my fingers cross that everything will be alright!

One more bridal fair.... not getting tired of it!!!

Me and my cousin went to the Wedding Expo of Themes & Motifs today. We went early to avoid the crowd of people that might go today since it is the last day of the event. Before we got in the venue, my cousin met one of her former officemates --- well she is my former officemate as well since we all worked the same call center before. She is one of the exhibitors for the bridal fair.

I think we spent near two hours in the venue. Looking around suppliers... since I need to get the prices of invite suppliers and photobooth. I also wanted to try the food of Josiah's to see if I really made a mistake in booking Hizon's earlier in our preparation and without even trying other caterers. Well... what can I say... I like the food of our caterer.... I am just happy that I booked Hizon's. We even went to the food tasting of Hizon's at Palacio de Maynila just to see the difference between the two. My cousin liked the food of Hizon's as well.

While we were eating, my cousin just told me if I want to book Calliope for our invites, since they are offering a 10% discount on their invites and they are willing to work with me to get the design that I want.... I said I will really book them but will just walk around. She just then said that she will pay for it as her gift to us.... I am so happy to hear those words and I am really thankful for it. At least we have one supplier checked and we don't have to spend for it.... So we have both our rings and invites as gifts. That really made my day!!!

We also talked to our former officemate and she will work out something to meet our budget for the services that they render. I guess I will just have to pay the downpayment soon to get that check from our list as well. Everything is really taking shape but with the venue we are still zero on that one. As we went around the venue, we came across one of the designers, Merlene Marcelo and we just both laughed out loud.... Our middle names are both Marcelo and we told Merlene about it.... She just laughed as well. She had a promo this September where she will work around the budget of the bride for the dress as well as the entourage if you visit her shop. I will try to go to the place and check it out and probably bring my mom with me since I really don't know anything about dresses!!!!

Of course there are the photobooths!!!! I just went around and we tried the one by Baicapture and my photo was like yuck!!! My face was too oily... I really need to find a remedy for that one.... I know powder is a quick fix but I need a solution to stop my face from being too oily.... Hmm.....

As I mentioned earlier, we went to the food tasting of Hizon's since I want to see Palacio de Maynila and man.... I can't believe that the venue is 100,000 pesos... it is just a tent with a concrete facade for crying out loud.... My cousin told me that it was not worth it.... We just enjoyed the food especially the pritchon wrap and the cheezy lasagna.... as well as the creme brulee with blueberries .... it was so good... I don't have to eat dinner anymore since I was so full with the two food tasting that we have today!!!!

I just posted some pictures of the loot bag and the agreement slip with Calliope to document this day!!!

Wedding Congress - Megatrade Hall, SM Megamall

My w@wie tag that we received this week... the ids from teh congress, the w@wie pin and the primer!!! Can't wait for the next bridal fair

I went to the Wedding Congress in Megamall yesterday with Lynn, my officemate who hails from North Carolina. There were some stuff that I enjoyed looking at the fair... Need to canvass for photographers, videographers, invitation suppliers and ring suppliers. Even though this is my second bridal fair, I can get the feel that there is no turning back for our wedding this coming April.

During the fair, I was able to picked up my W@wie pin... hehehehe!!! Making me a certified w@wie addict. Also, one good thing is that I registered for this congress because they gave away free wedding primer from w@w. Another piece of stuff that I can keep and read.

We got to try the photobooth from fotoloco... but Lynn kept the photos as souvenir. She said that Filipinos do their wedding differently from their American wedding. Just like the invitations as she pointed out. Our Filipino invites are very long that it looks like their wedding programs already.... LOL!!!

Well, I enjoyed the fair very much... till the next bridal fair next month and September... I have already wrote down the things we need and the suppliers that we need to look for.

Our take on the photobooth by Fotoloco!!!

our very first bridal fair

Christian and I attended our very first Bridal Expo today. We were just excited to see too many wedding related stuff. We just walked around and have the feel of it all. I did not look into particular stuff but Christian is really fascinated with the Manila Ocean Park as a wedding reception venue. We inquired about the rental of the venue and it is like Php 60,000!!!! and I was like no-way... but Christian said he wants to have the reception there but I told him if he can produce the money why not.

We also had a chance to talked to one photographer who is really lively and the package that they are offering is not bad. They also have a fairly priced photo booth for rent. I told Christian that the photo booth is actually a request by my cousins, sisters and nieces. I can say it is a pretty popular thing right now since most of the teens now are like mad about cameras and photos. We will definitely have it and it will already serve as our souvenir.

I never knew that bridal fairs will be like that... Too many things to look at the same time.. Too many flyers and brochures to carry! I need to get a technique to go around the next time I will be in a bridal fair.

This is the beginning already... There is no turning back anymore...