Food tasting! Sarap... Delicious....

03.29.2010 - My mom and I headed off to Pearl Garden Hotel, our reception venue. We went there for two reasons.. to pay the 50% of the total contract --- huhuhuhu and to have our food tasting! We were there before 10:30 in the morning but our scheduled appointment was at 11:00 AM. Our AE Arleen was shocked... hehehehe... but I told her to take her time since we were really early because I was expecting heavy traffic on the way!

We settled the 50% first and made some adjustments on the contract price since we have to get a late check out for Christian and another night for my family at the hotel. Me and Arleen also discussed some things that we wanted for the set up and a list of concerns that I have. Mommy was shocked to see the list that I am crossing out... hahahaha

After the payment was made, the food tasting started... hmmm.. Food!!!! We started with the cream of corn soup... I forgot that I have my digicam with me at the point so no pictures available. It was good and not too creamy and heavy as what I am expecting it to be. My mom enjoyed it as well.

They brought out the salad --- chunky egg salad... nice nice nice.. i love egg salad... i just wished that they partner it with pan de sal and I am solved! hahahaha

Then all the main courses were placed on our table --- buffalo chicken, pork cutlets ala cream. fish thermidor and potato au gratin. They also included the pasta dish --- lasagna! Hmmm.. everything is good.. the fish is a little bit bland but the sauce of the pork cutlets compliments it... weird i know but i love it.. we were too full to finish it.

Mommy sampling the potato au gratin.. yummy... super creamy and heavy!

The potata au gratin after my mom attacked it!

the pork cutlet ala cream and the chicken in buffalo sauce... the pork cutlet is soo good.. the chicken though is good with beer

lasagna and the fish thermidor --- the lasagna is super yummy... i love the cheesiness of it! hahahaha

the dishes together... sigh... good luck to my diet!

the chunky egg salad... i love egg salad....

All in all ... we love the food... we are satisfied with it...with the price that we paid for this is a true value of our money! I really am happy so far with our choice of changing our reception venue and food supplier!

it's official... our reception will be at Pearl Garden Hotel

Yes folks, you have read the title right... with less than two months before the wedding, we are changing our reception venue from the hall at the Pope Pius Center to the Pearl Garden Hotel along Adriatico Street in Malate, Manila. Questions fly arou why we are changing our reception venue with a short time before the wedding... well.. the answer is just simple... our venue now is cheaper and the rooms there are really affordable. Plain and simple.

With the follow up question on what will happen to our downpayment with Hizon's... we will be transferring it to use for my sister's debut next year. She is the youngest and not one of us had that big hoopla frufru debut party... and we cannot wait to plan for it after my wedding!

There ... it is all coming together... our next project is to finish our requirement this week.

Ocular of Pearl Garden HOtel...

Valentine's day... me and Christian never had a date date during Valentines in our close-to-6 years together but yesterday we went to Adriatico, Malate to check out the Pearl Garden Hotel that we were talking about last week. Eventhough we booked Hizon's already we are looking for an alternative venue that will be cost efficient. We found this one. We originally wanted somewhere in Malate since we want to go drinking after the reception. I dared myself to go a bar in my wedding gown!

I have exchanging emails and text messages even phone calls with Arleen, one of their sales people. She is really prompt and not to mention patient in answering all my inquiries. So when we got to the hotel, I immediately went to the front desk and look for her. Christian joked that we should have stayed at the coffee shop at the lobby instead of going to the Starbucks at CCP! We were asked to go to the Sales Office on the 3rd floor. While waiting we browsed through the pictures of the set up and it is not bad. Decent and somewhat formal. Christian was nodding his head while looking at it and kept of saying ok... (pwede!).... Arleen then accompanied us to see the hall on the 10th floor... and it was alright... it was clean, looks like new.. and spacious for our less than 100 guests! Plus the photo booth will fit in as well. Nice!

I then asked the series of questions like the presidential tables, the rooms that they have... one more point that they gained from us is that they have an executive suite.. sadly we cannot see it since they are fully booked since it is Valentine's day! LOL! They can provide a package for the suppliers' meal if it will be for 30 heads... I can also take away some amenities and be deducted on our total package price. Parking stubs will be provided for the guests so they won't have to pay for the parking space. It is going to be a good one. The package that they have is really inexpensive! It is a good deal.

Some of the decorations that they have set up.

Zen feeling to the venue!

The couple's area.. we saw something better from the photo album at their sales office.

Table set up... we need to do something about that table cloth... and the napkins as well.

Really spacious... 12 persons per table.

Hallway leading to the elevator

Me talking to Arlene... Christian just got trigger happy with the camera!

Christian said that the venue is good for him. I told him that we should make the downpayment already and he said that we can do it this week! Sweet! About the taste of their food... no food tasting until 50% of the package is paid for but we tried their restaurant on the 2nd floor... the story on it on my next blog.

looking at the reception venue

Yesterday, my mom, my sister and I went out to have some girls day out. With no sleep at all from my night shift, we headed off to the Robinson's Place in Manila to look around for a prom dress for my sister and I decided to pass by Pope Pius XI Catholic Center to check out the reception venue. So we went after shopping for the prom dress that will double as my sister's cocktail gown for the wedding.. She is the only bridesmaid that I have after my other sister bailed out because she is now assigned in Iloilo and will not be able to come home to Manila until the wedding day.. hehehehe!!!

When we got to Pope Pius, the church was arranged for a wedding. They have nice flowers I must say and it is simple just the way I like it. I am not a flower-kind of girl; so I am not very particular with that one. We went to the office to ask about the reception venue... Yes, I haven't seen the reception venue that they have. It was on the second floor of their main building and I must say that it reminds me of the AVR room in my old high-school. It is a very long room, low ceiling and very dark hallway. My sister commented that the color of the curtain is really not nice. I am not really thrilled about it but I think we have no choice about it. I am keeping an open mind. I have some pictures taken but I left the file in my sister's pc back home.

The reception hall at Pope Pius... I must say that it looks nice in the picture. See the walls, it can be open to have the next room to be part of the area.

The stage that they have... It can be for the band or the couples table!

We also checked out the hotel at the back of the church. The rates are really affordable compared to the other hotels around the area. The rooms are nice and it is really simple. I expected it to be simple since most of their guests are from different religious background. They are also not strict with bringing in food and with the photos. My problem is the room is not big enough to accommodate the crew. My mom keeps on saying that the room is okay. I told her that it is really okay but my problem is the number of people that will be around during the wedding preparations. I told her that the photo-video crew alone will be around 12-15 people since the guys will be bringing their respective crews!!! I cannot picture how can we fit the number of people in there!

This is the entrance to the bedroom. I was told that all the rooms are this size... I am really debating with my mom that the suppliers will not fit here during the preparations... I counted the crew for the photo-video alone will be around 15 already... Sigh!!!

The beds are really comfy looking I must say.

Blurry shot of the lobby... it does look nice...

Church and reception venue.... almost checked!!!

After almost 4 months of search and various oculars at numerous churches and reception venues, me and Christian agreed that the church will be at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City. We previously talked about having the ceremony in a small church but due to budget constraints we decided to have it in Immaculate Conception Cathedral instead. I never imagined myself getting married in a cathedral... I don't like a long walk down the aisle! The reason for this is that I am not really good in heels.... so I will now end up having a pair of flat wedding shoes! I just saw the outside of the church when we did our ocular a few months ago but I searched for pictures online of the altar of the church and what can I say it is indeed beautiful.

Photos of the church came from Immaculate's official website.

I remembered my sister, Andie, had her nurse capping ceremony here and I bet it is really big inside. I just hope that it will be sufficiently be filled with guests. I am keeping my fingers cross for that. That is why we want a smaller church to have an intimate environment but then it is God's will to have it here.

For our reception, I went to checked out the clubhouse at Northeast Greenhills. The place is within our budget and our on-the-day coordinator is from the village. The covered area is small but the administrator for the clubhouse said that we can use the garden area. They will also have some folks at the area to help out with the parking of the guests.

I can say that it is really nice and we can simply jazz it up to make it look nicer with luminaries and other stuffs that I planned to DIY with my mom and sisters...

You can see the garden venue from the covered area.... It is big and can really accommodate our less than 100 guests.... Just a little jazzing up of venue

Nice lights....
Photos came from multiply sites with list of venues

We are almost done with our suppliers. I just need to reserve the photobooth supposedly this weekend but the bridal fair was cancel due to the Ondoy tradegy so I will have to book it during the next bridal fair to get the freebies and discounts. Next month I will need to look for other gown supplier for my gown and my entourage's dresses and to pay the sound system supplier. We still have to discuss about the mobile bar that we want. We just have to go next week to Immaculate and Northeast Greenhills to pay the down payments.

So far so good...

Caterer - checked... reservation paid
- detailing by December or January and payment of 50%
Photo-video - paid reservation
OTD Coordinator - contract signed, payment after event
Lights and sounds - need to 50% but already reserved for our wedding date
Rings - good to go... c/o my cousins
Invites - already booked... gift from Ate Pamela

Soon to book...

Church - next week
Reception - next week
Photobooth - next bridal fair... gift from one of our principal sponsors, Tita Prexy

Need to look for...

Gown - need to look for other options
Hair & Make up artist - no idea where to start but hoping my friend is really ok with her doing my make up
Flowers - need to scout around Dangwa (Manila's flower retailers district)

Only 7 months to go... By next month, we have to arrange our wedding documents. I am not to patient with lines. Need to find an alternative for it.

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!!!

The search continues...

I have been setting aside for weeks now the trip to Bureau of Internal Revenue office in Intramuros. Christian made me go today by picking me up from work and headed straight to the BIR office. He said that reason why we don't have any signed clients at the moment because of my lack of enthusiam in taking care of this one. Well, I guess he is right, so I just gave in. As expected, we got there with the place still closed. We then decided to go around Intramuros and checked some of the reception venues around the area. I was really planning to see La Castellana without me telling him. Hehehehe!!!

We walked... saw Villa Immaculada and the other venues of Tamayo's, but Tamayo's out of the question. I got upset with them for not sending any proposals that I requested from the bridal fair last June. I also heard that their food is so and so.... So Tamayo's off the list. We went around and notice that La Castellana is right next to Villa Immaculada. The place was still close since it was just around 7 AM so Christian said that we can come back after I finished my business at BIR. Once the BIR office opened, I hurriedly finish the thing that I need accomplished!!!!

We went our way back to La Castellana. We were able to go inside the venue and it was nice but I am not keen of not having parking for my guests. I guess that is the reason I don't want our wedding reception in Intramuros.... I want to save my guests on having problems of getting a parking space. The rates were ok, almost the same with the rates of Light of Love. Place is good if you are really looking for a reasonable venue in Intramuros. So off we went and walked around, I saw the Angelo King Center which I read can also be a reception venue. Hmmm... what can I say about the place.... the reception will just be set up in the building's lobby... it is not even a hall. Off the list.

Then we decided to go to my mom's place instead... another day ended but I think Christian is already decided on Light of Love. We just need to make the reservation before the month's end. Too bad I do have a camera with me. I would love to share the sights of these venues. Sorry!!!

Just had another food tasting with Hizon's today. Even though we booked them already, we went to the food tasting today to check out the venue.... The venue is called the Light of Love, located along Santol Street in Quezon City. I came with Christian and Sharleen.. the place is extremely close to my parent's house!!! Literally close!!!!

The place is really really beautiful... It is pricey but I love it... Christian loves it as well... It is a convenience for us and to my family as well since most of them don't have their own vehicles...We are keeping our fingers cross that this is the one... The place is over our budget for the venue but we planned to forego with some stuff in our budget list... maybe twist and turn some suppliers that we are looking at the moment and go with the more affordable packages... we will definitely do not need to book a hotel for the wedding preps since I talked to the person from the venue and said that we can make an arrangement to have the preps at one of the bridal rooms in the venue itself for a minimum fee. I have asked my mom to check out the churches near the area since that will definitely set our budget for the church at a minimum for some of the churches there are not the really big churches.... We really want this venue....

Just check out the pictures below:

Tree-lane drive towards the venue.... wet road due to the hard downpour during the day.

Entrance to one of the halls.... Perfect place to put the cocktail bar and the mobile bar for cocktails once the guests arrive from the church ceremony.

Pictures of the Atrium... it can accommodate 120 guest, perfect for our needs. Just look at the pillars, pretty good to go with our wannabe Greek theme. The place reminds me of the courtyard in 300. How I wish Leonidas will pop up. Just check out the ceiling, we can still have the outdoor feel under the stars but keep ourselves dry.

Shar just clicked and clicked away with her camera phone. Taken in one of the tents within the venue where the Hizon's food tasting took place.

Some of the bridal rooms available in the venue. There are three rooms altogether. All are spacious, clean and they have a pretty big closet as well as nice bathrooms as well.

One of the other venue, it leads outside to the balcony. They say it can accomodate 150 guests but I am not keen of having the shiny floors.

If you want to know more about the place, check them out at 1163 Santol Street, Quezon City. It is near to SM Centerpoint and Araneta Avenue. Numbers are 714.7989/714.3871.

Looking for a venue...

I am already getting annoyed in getting the venue for our wedding reception. I even have my mom calling out churches and different halls. When I talked to her today, I guess she is right in saying that it is not hard to find the place since there are tons of venues out there. The main issue is the budget constraints. I guess I should let go of my ideal place to get married and stick with the budget and look for a suitable place. I will just have to ask Christian about the budget that we can work out to get the venue and the church already.

You can check this out:


I hope you guys can read it. It is so hard to look for a venue and church. since we want the church be near the reception hall. We are keeping our fingers cross to find the one! If you are looking for your own reception venue and church you will need to ask these information:

Church
Availability of schedule
How much ang fee
What are the inclusions
Reservation fee

Reception
How many hours your basic package
May ingress or regress time
Accredited caterers
Electricity charge
How many guest they can accommodate

Good luck to our search!!!

Still on the search for the church and reception venue

Yesterday (July 4), me and Christian went to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao. I told him that I will like to see the church after seeing some pictures online of the church's altar. Unfortunately, the church was closed but we were able to inquire about the rates that they have.

In all fairness, it is affordable compared to the other churches that we inquired at. We also asked about the hall that they have. The church offer packages that will fit the budget of any engaged couples. Their price list is as follows:

• First class - Php 9,000 - includes mass, organist, soloist, flowers and carpet
• Second class - Php 6,000 - includes mass, organist and flowers
• Ordinary - Php 2,000 - no mass, no flowers, ceremony only
• Extra charge of Php 500 for electricty of video
  

For mode of payment:

• Reservation fee (non-refundable) Php 2,000
• Upon interview - Php 1,000
• Balance due two weeks before the date of the wedding
  

We were shocked to see that the Dioceses of Cubao have a tall building like a condominium... This is where the reception halls are located. They have two halls available. One can accomodate 100 guests and the other can fit around 200 to 250 depending on the set up you may want. The bigger venue is nice, tall ceiling, big venue floor... We discovered that the rate was Php 21,000 for the bigger hall plus 5% of the caterer's contract... I was not keen of getting the venue anymore after hearing the price!!!

The search is not over. There are two places that we still have to check out. The PETA Theater Center in Quezon City and the Filipinas Heritage Library. Hmmm.. How I wish this will end already. I really want to start on the save the dates already.

Only time will tell when will the search be over...

This is the bigger hall of the Immaculate Conception Parish. High ceiling and it has air conditioning but it is a bit pricey for the look of the place.

In search of a church and reception venue

After we pencil booked the date of our wedding with the caterer yesterday, we went off to Our Lady of Consolation Parish (OLCP)to check the church as well as the Bulwagang Recoletos for the reception venue. I was able to browsed on the net the night before about the venue and it looks decent for a good wedding reception. In the end, when we got there I felt good about the church and the place is really quiet and it brings out any kind of solemnity one wants. The church is a just right to fit a number of guests, not a small chapel that we wanted but it is definitely smaller than Malate Church.

We went to the parish office to inquire about their wedding rites package and it costs Php 16,000.00 inclusive of everything even the electricity charge. Lucky for us, there was a wedding on the site when we got there. We were able to see the set of the church for a wedding. It looks plain and simple just the way we want it. The flowers are nice as well and it is all pretty. Good thing that the church is well-lit even if the door will be closed because of the tall glass windows on both sides of the church.

After inquiring with the parish church, we went to the next building where the Bulwagang Recoletos is standing. It looks really ok from the outside and when we got in, they are setting up for a wedding reception. The venue is not bad, but the ceiling is quite low for me but then it is really clean and intimate. We took pictures of the place. Christian said that he gives the place a check on our list if he is going to be asked. He is saying that it is near our place, near to his relatives and friends. The rate of the rental is not bad too.

In the end, we are still looking around... still not decided on where to get married...

You can check other photos in the below.

There was an ongoing wedding when we arrived at the church. This was the set up being prepared by the caterer in one of the halls at the Bulwagang Recoletos. I am not a big fan of the color orange!!!

The outside garden of the Bulwagan is really nice.

I like how the altar looks but not really keen of the purple walls. It looks like purple yam cake.