the dream is coming true

it all started with these:

i tried to make these:

and made this:

and just when it all seemed to be just a dream, i found this in osaka in july (and at Y105, how can you say no?). despite what everyone else was saying, i got 16 of these, bought a new luggage to put them all in and flew them all the way back to manila. now to find the birds.

so i started to dream about these:

2 months later and my search for the perfect birds was still not yielding results i am happy with. and then there was jatujak. at the precipice of a storm and amidst a sea of eager shoppers, i found them. wading through ankle-deep water and maneuvering around potential electrocution, i had to make a second trip for this. i got around a hundred of these, in different sizes and colors:

it's all coming together. and i couldn't be happier. the dream is coming true. i really wish i could share the fulfilment of that dream here but it has to be on our wedding day. yay! i really am so happy.

the word is out

yeah, i know, we are lousy with the updates but i am pleased to say we were able to tick off some items in my checklist, although a bit late from our original timeline. more on that later.

we were finally able to get our electronic std's out in email (yes, we are trying to be environmentally friendly). we might have missed out a couple of people because a.) the mail merge/auto-email was acting up so either it was sending out two emails or none at all. but we are double-checking so we might have to resend some and apologize for the flooding. b.) we don't have other people's emails or the ones we have are no longer up to date. so after months of agonizing over the final design, this is our electronic save the date.

you noticed i explicitly stated that it was the electronic save the date because we do have a handful of paper save the dates for our principal sponsors because we wanted to convey our gratitude and appreciation this way.

what do you think? anyway, here are some of the things we managed to accomplish since the last post:

1.) couturier - we already decided on a couturier and we will schedule an appointment next week to finalize the details and designs for my gown and the female entourage. more on this later.

2.) song arranger - we had some problems with the music sheets we shared with the choir as they were set for a duet, not a choir. an officemate was able to recommend a musical arranger at a rate we can afford. we have the music sheet for the first song and if all goes well, we will ask him to complete the arrangements for the rest of the songs.

3.) newsletter - yes, we have a newsletter for our entourage to make it easier to share information about the wedding. i just have to find a convenient way to share it with them and then i will share it here as well.

4.) favors - we have a couple of ideas and managed to make some prototypes, will be sharing more here.

5.) invitations - no progress in this area. perhaps now that most of the major items e.g. venue, photographer and couturier have already been finalized, perhaps i can really focus on starting this.

6.) table numbers - i have started working on a prototype as well, just have to put it all together. will also be sharing once it's done.

so far, i think we're doing good. i will try to share more about our couturier and the gowns (except mine!) in my next post after we meet up with our couturier. hope you had a great weekend. :)

the girls said yes

and hubby has yet to ask all of his boys (for the entourage that is). all the girls said yes and yes i know, we are late for our monthly deliverables. my only accomplishment for march was booking our hmua, more on that in another post. i just want to share my "will you be my" cards for the girls in my entourage. i am wrapping up our save the dates, will share that when i am done. hope i can get more wedding preps tasks completed over the break. :)

the february report + the march goals

yes i know, i am a week late. remember this post about my deliverables for this month. well, i am 85% done. i think.

1.) we've booked our photographer.

2.) we've submitted the songs to the choir (music sheets + program draft 1 + mp3's). another post on this later.

3.) i am 70% done with the invitation prototype, i have the design in mind and i've dabbled a bit in photoshop. i did a bit of tinkering with the colors and i've gone as far as cutting some papers but that's about it. on a side note, i joined a scrapbook contest and won a 2000 bucks gc for national which i will use to buy the papers for our invites. more on this later. as some of you might know, i am into scrapbooking so i am constantly inundated with all these inspiring ideas and techniques i see that i want to incorporate them all in my invite. but i have to choose soon.

4.) and the last piece of news that i am actually excited about, we've finalized our entourage. i've trimmed the list down to 5 bridesmaids. last week, i finished "will-you-be-my " invites and this week they will be on their way to their owners. i was happy with how it turned out but it was a painstaking process and it was only about 10 invites. multiply that by 10 or 15. here are some sneaks of my first diy project. i will share all the details once i've received a response from the girls. i hope they like it though. and more importantly, i hope they'd say yes. i think the list of tasks i needed their help on is too long and might be intimidating. these girls mean a lot to me and to hubby and it would really make us happy if they can be part of our wedding.

so for march, these are our deliverables:

1.) book an hmua

2.) settle on a design and designer for my gown

3.) finalize the gown design for our entourage

4.) complete invite prototype 100%

anyway, that's about it for me. have a great week ahead everyone. :)

the theme: vintage french country chic

let me start with our motif, blue + pink. pink because like most girls, i like pink despite my early denial thus my affinity with yellow four. blue because this is hubby's school color. well, mine too but i think pink + green or blue + green are better combinations. this is actually one of those times i wish hubby or i were from la salle.

i had a bit of a struggle with the motif because:

1.) pink and blue reminds me of prom

2.) pink and blue reminds me of baby shower

3.) and worst, pink and blue reminds me of mmda...

but eventually, i gave in as this was one of the few things hubby specifically requested. after much color-shopping, i finally settled on midnight blue + coral/pomelo pink + light pink. the color of the site is more or less how the wedding colors look.

so now for the theme. most of my friends know that i am into scrapbooking and paper crafting. i also wanted my wedding to be as distinct and as personal as possible so i decided to integrate this hobby in my wedding. also because of the global financial crisis, i decided to diy what i can for the wedding. my diy mishaps and misadventures to follow.

while trawling the web for ideas, i came across inspiration boards which was really very helpful for me because while i had an idea what i wanted, i had a difficult tiem coming up with fancy names for it. inspiration boards from snippet & ink and magnet street weddings.

vintage

i have a fascination with old stuff or the fancy term for it, vintage. i have this dream of going to antique stores and second-hand shops to find old typewriters and soda bottles, chipped cups and figurines and yellow-edged posters and books. well, that's the romantic spin on old stuff at least.

french country

i have always been drawn to homemade stuff and the country charm, think papemelroti. but i especially love how the french can make anything seem so charming and dainty. thus, the second inspriration board.

something blue

as i've already shared, blue was a specific request from hubby, a "manly" blue like midnight blue mind you. not the cutesy blue like tiffany blue or the "faux blue" like periwinkle. this was the blue that got his nod and the blue that i think i can work with.

pretty in pink

and finally pink. like most girls, i love pink. i initially thought i would be ok not to have the color for my wedding especially since most everyone will have it. boy was i wrong. now i find myself flipping over evry pink paper, fabric and inspiration i can grab.

now how to bring it all together? well, that's what i'll be attempting to do in the next few months. we've almost finalized our entourage and i have to complete the program and song list so i can submit them to the choir master tomorrow. have a great weekend ahead everyone. :)

the photographer: jason de guzman of imagine nation

remember the photographer i was talking about here? we finally got him! as soon as the mall opened today, i went to the wedding fair and booked him. hubby was impressed with his portfolio and the imagine nation team as a whole. when we were reviewing the portfolio of our other top 3, he was most impressed with him and the team.
see, hubby is more logical when it comes to these things. mine was an informed decision based on feedback from a photographer friend. but i have already made up my mind even before i asked for my friend's input because of what i saw in their site - their mission and most importantly, their passion not only for photography but their faith. somehow, it was just apt to get them. i told you i am a highly intuitive person.
i also learned from their brochure the stringent process each imagine nation photographer has to go to. think about this, only 12 out of the 60 who apply qualify for their apprenticeship program. along the way, half quit and only 6 continue to become junior photographers. then, 1 out of 3 become a senior photographer and only half become masters.
i am raving about them and we haven't even started working with them. i am just happy i guess that i feel we have been blessed enough to acquire the help of people we truly believe in and are passionate about. that's about it for me. i have a pre-valentine's date with hubby. happy valentine's day everyone.

the almost coup

i cant' wait for friday so i called up the photographer i finally "convinced" hubby we should get for the wedding. last sunday, while waiting for our order to arrive, we were looking through pamphlets and flyers we've collected from our wedding fair hopping. i have already made up my mind about the photographer but i wanted to go through the actual logical and methodical selection process to avoid the guilt of compulsive shopping. i actually asked one of my photographer friends what they thought of my prospect's works and he was all praises for his works. the fact that they are a christian company is also a big plus for me. anyway, hubby and i narrowed our list to about 5 or 7 then ranked our top 3 choices. we were agreement in all our choices (not our ranking) except one.
so after dinner, we checked out the sample works of our top 3 and after much cajoling and budget reallocation, hubby gave in. we agreed to book them during the fair this friday so we can avail some of the promos during the event. however, i was so restless about it so i decided to give them a call. i was surprised by my sadness when the girl told me that the photographer we wanted was already booked during our wedding day but was immensely relieved when i realized she got the wrong name. after what seemed like an eternity, she said he was still free and we are booking him this friday!yey!
after all my ramblings, i have not mentioned the photographer's name yet. i don't want to jinx it until we've finally put pen to paper but i will share more this friday. anyway, have a great week ahead everyone.

p.s.
is there really such a thing as a "marrying period" - for lack of a better term? in the span of a week, 3 people i know have been engaged. that's like one every other day. but i am so excited for them. in fact, i was screaming and shrieking when i heard of the most recent engagement. my friend even took a video of my reaction. :)

the venue: sonya's garden

i know i have been remiss in updating this blog but we have been busy getting things ready for the wedding. as early as november 22, we've already booked our venue. yes, after that single visit, we decided on sonya's garden. since it will be a christian wedding, the ceremony and reception will be in the same venue. anyway, here are some overdue shots from that trip.

we're moving along at a slow pace but we're happy with our progress. at least we still manage to get our bit of fun (him with his xbox and me with my scrapping) amidst all these preps. for this month, here are our deliverables (you think that sounds geeky? believe me when i tell you i am just the tip of the iceberg).

1.) book a photographer (another post on this)

2.) give sheet music to choir (another post on this)

3.) finish prototype for invite

4.) finalize entourage (yes, we are way behind on this. as of this writing, i have 7 bridesmaids in mind!)