Final Fitting

Today, my sister and I went to Mrs. Cruz primarily for Beng to fit her dress. My Mom had finished with her; and she was quite ecstatic at her dress (gold slip dress with an off-white lace jacket, heavily beaded with silver and crystals). This is exactly what Beng's dress looks like:


It fit her nicely, and it looked positively slimming (ang mga bilbil nawala!). We had a minor problem with her dress though, because, although the chiffon around the v-neck was dark red, the tube dress was the color of dark old rose. Beng didn't like it and was insisting that I talk to Mrs. Cruz about it. I though it was was just good because I totally wanted her to stand out with the other girls from the entourage. In any case, I'll have to talk to Mrs. Cruz on Monday or Tuesday to get it all straightened out. (Chewing on my nails, Mrs. Cruz SCARES me.)

I also had my final fitting today. It was nearly done, just more beading on the hemline.

It was DIVINE.

Beng was almost emotional (this is a lot coming from the deadma queen), and kept saying, "Waw, Ate, ikakasal ka na talaga."

My Wedding Shoes

After scouring all the shoe stores in The Block, Trinoma and Megamall (including department stores, mind you), I finally found the wedding shoes that I want. (Nards was so patient and helpful the whole time. One of my friends said that if he can go through 38++ shoe stores as you try pair after pair after pair, he's definitely a keeper. Thank you, Skooshie. I'm definitely keeping you.) I love it, it's really comfortable, and I can walk in it for the whole duration of the wedding and reception, including the pictorial before and after the ceremony.



The effort that went to finding these shoes, I swear. I WILL NOT voluntarily go to a mall to go shopping for the next two years. Go there to eat and buy groceries I will tolerate, but shopping for something else will just KILL me.

I was bummed out when the shoes I wanted from Aldo's only had one pair left, and it was one size smaller. Also, the other pair I wanted from Sari-Sari was just so fashionista and cute, but it had three inch heels. When I stood up from the sofa in the store, I immediately fell over, and in my panic, I grabbed the sales lady's hand both of us losing balance, which resulted to an undignified heap on the couch. Right in front of the glass window.

My sister was resigned to this pair. So was Mrs. Cruz and her seamsterss, Hermie. (They had this lopsided look of disapproval that was combined with uneasiness on how to tell The Bride that the shoes were too casual and just too flat.)

I don't care. Those shoes are so me!

I'm literally putting my foot down on this one.

Save The Date

I slaved over this for two hours this morning.

Yesterday, Nards did a mock up for our invitation. We can't wait to make our first prototype. :)

Fastest Way to a Coma

Is this:


Otherwise known as sizzling shawarma. Also known as Heart Attack in a Bowl (or in this case, a hot plate). One of my guiltiest pleasures that I share with my siblings: fresh tomatoes, cucumber, cabbages and white onions, covered with tender and well-seasoned shawarma beef, topped with an egg and slivers of toasted pita bread; and swimming in garlic sauce (which you put in just before you eat). Best consumed with iced tea or Sprite. Every forkful promises hardening arteries and expanding thighs.

Which is why I limit myself to one or two of these in a year.

Nards and I had this after going to my parents' for a visit yesterday. So the two of us had our quota for sizzling shawarma for the year.

And because we wanted something sweet right after, we drove to Puffs & Stuff, a cozy little bakery hidden inside one of the subdivisions off Commonwealth. They have the most divine little cakes and baked sweets in the WURLD. We bought a small box of pastries (a.k.a. Diabetes in a Box) that containted four mud cakes, three chocolate eclairs, a lemon square and two silvanas. And since we were there anyway, we also bought a small portion of Brazo De Mercedes. I was thinking that it would stretch until middle of next week.

I was wrong. It didn't last more than two days. Don't look at me. I only had a lemon square, a mud cake and a silvana. Nards had the rest. Ahehe.

I can hear the bike and the yoga mat calling out to me.

Drum Machine

So sue me. I can't get enough of these!

My next toy project, after the unazukin. :D

Calling calling Beng and Hector! Ehem! Ehem!

Dinner and a Movie

Sounds like a date. :)

Nards and I went to The Block before coding to grab a late lunch, pay bills, and watch a movie. We brought Calvin and Susie with us because we are taking their photos for our 365 Project on Flickr.

We did our Monday Habit and I think Calvin & Susie enjoyed it too.

We saw Dark Knight after running our errands. Heath Ledger was soooo good at being the Joker. He really creeped me out. Nards and I were making noises of appreciation every time he was on screen. He was a total psycho. I was honestly scared to have an actual criminal of that kind in real life. The movie was good, although, super nabitin ako kay Christian Bale. Aaron Eckhart had more lines than all other three major characters (Batman, Jim Gordon and Joker) combined. We'll have to watch it again though, because we got confused at some parts because of the quick progression of scenes and fast action. In our humble opinion, in terms of how much we liked the movie, Dark Knight comes after Batman Begins which comes after Iron Man which comes after Transformers which comes after 300.

And if you're planning to watch it, be forewarned of how long it is.

After the movie, we had about an hour to kill before we could leave due to coding. So we went to the rooftop of the parking lot to get a bit of fresh air. Nards went totally ape with the great light coming from the sunset. So we did an impromptu shoot (amidst curious and wary looks from the security guards and other mallrats). We had a very quick dinner afterwards, and went home.


Semi-emo shot. We had a totally emo sunset shot between these two, which we're thinking of using for our Save The Date e-cards.


Who knew that a parking lot could look so different with this kind of light?


Photos by Nards & Aggie

100 Days

I was surprised to look at the wedding counter I installed on my iGoogle page to see that we are down to 100 days. Time flies so fast. Rest assured, for each day that passes, Nards and I are UBER EXCITED.

In the one month that has passed, we've finished the following:

1. Pamamanhikan;
   
2. Finalized guest list;
   
3. Informed the people we want in the entourage:
   
4. Reserved the church;
5. Reserved the reception venue;
6. Booked the catering;
7. Got a designer to make my wedding dress (as well as the dresses for my Mom and sister);
8. Deepa and Cissy got measured out for their dresses;
   
9. Bought materials for the invitation;
10. Made semi-bookings with hair and make-up (need to confirm with Gang if the Shu Uemura artists can make it to the hotel, otherwise, I'm going with Deepa's girls at Body Shop);
11. Booked a host (Gang!);
12. Inquired at Estrel's for wedding cake (to be ordered one month before);
13. Decided on a wedding favor (eco bags);
14. Decided on the type of wedding rings;
15. Booked Kakoy and Johnoy for the reception (instead of the Ronnie's-no space for a dance floor, plus it's too early.);
16. Reserved hotel room for wedding preparations;
17. Finalized plans with Markku;
    
18. Booked florist; and
    
19. Booked choir.

Although we've covered the major details, there are still a lot of other things that we need to do.

1. Make the Save The Date e-card and email it to the guest list (environmentally chic and less expensive);
2. Procure wedding rings (I was shocked to hear that there are some jewelers who make hollow wedding rings!);
3. Make invitations and mail it;
4. Complete list of required documents;
   
5. Attend the pre-requisite seminars;
6. Finalize the misalette and discuss it with the (three) priests and Church;
   
7. Buy wedding rings;
8. Buy the rest of my wedding attire ("I want to wear Crocs" "NO!!!!!" -- reverberating collective response of Everyone. Only Nards conceded to this, but we're giving in to Everyone.)
9. Buy Nards' wedding attire;
10. Get Leslie and May measured out for their dresses;
    
11. Finalize plans with the bridal car;
12. Order thank you gifts for the girls in the entourage (Femme Fafel);
13. Bake cookies and package them nicely for the principal sponsors;
14. Book a spa for the day before the wedding (bawal ang stress); and
    
15. Plan the honeymoon (Nards is taking care of this).

Did I forget something?

Kilig

It's just our folder at Sta. Rita Parish that tracks our submitted documents and attended seminars.

La lang. It's the first time our last names are printed together for something official and real.

From Japan With Love

Beng sent me an MMS around lunch time to say that our cake toppers have arrived.


She sent me the second photo so I could see it's size relative to her keyboard in the office.


Thanks Hector Atom for hand carrying it all the way from Japan. :) And for translating the instructions. Hehehehe.

Getting Measured

Yesterday, I arranged for a vendor that I found in Divisoria to meet with us at Chocolate Kiss in order to get the girls from the entourage measured for their dresses. Unfortunately, only Cissy and Deepa could make it. Joey left for Singapore the previous day, and the Umaly sisters got waylaid for domestic reasons. (Nuks, misteryoso. Ayaw lang sila paalisin ni Nanay.)

Giggly Deepa

Cissy


Deepa, Beng and Cissy


Lunch that stretched from 11AM to 5:30PM

W@W

So it turns out that the owner of Weddings at Work is an old friend of mine. I emailed him and we caught up with each other's lives through Gtalk. And he appreciated our offbeat ideas for the wedding (i.e. ikot jeep or Volkswagen Combi for our "bridal car").

He's also asking me to submit an article or two with photos for his website, to which I happily agreed.

A package arrived today, and it was a token from John.




Thanks John! :)

Sold

Weeks of researching caterers to fit our budget finally has come to an end. Nards and I have finally settled on Better Pan Catering who is the in house caterer at Renaissance Towers. I talked to the owner, Missy, who was very accommodating and indulged my every whim.

The thing is I don't want all the trappings and frills that wedding receptions traditionally have. What Nards and I have in mind is keeping the decor at a minimum. Just plain white linens with candles as centerpieces. And we'll sprinkle the loose petals from the florists around the candles and will serve as the red highlights in each table. The tables will be banquet style, pretty much like the mess hall at Hogwarts. No gazebos for the bride and groom's tale, no elaborate floral decorations.

We're only doing the cake ceremony, plus the bouquet and garter toss. So no need for doves, torches, carpets even. She was highly amused with my demands or rather lack of it, that she's treating our reception as a regular catering service instead of a wedding. Resulting to lowered rates. Hehe. Definitely sold.

We had our food tasting this afternoon. Our menu will consist of the following:

Linguini a la Lasagna

Chicken Teriyaki, Baked Fish in Wine and Spinach

Vegetables Medley plus Fruits for dessert

We also have a coffee bar manned by two baristas who will serve all sorts of coffee, plus tea and hot chocolate. The perfect accompaniment to wedding cake which we're ordering from Estrel's.

It's a simple menu, but it's exactly what we had in mind. :)

Pamamanhikan

If there was anything apart from telling my parents that Nards and I are planning to get married that brought me so much stress, it's the pamamanhikan. And just like that day when I told my parents, I was at a loss as to why I was stressed in the first place.

It was originally scheduled for 29 June, but thanks to Frank and the rampage he did to Nards' parents' farm, it had to be moved to 6 July.

The week prior to that Sunday was spent cleaning both houses. I don't think I've ever cleaned so much in such a short span of time. We missed out on the Rock Ed Anniv parties that week because we were exhausted from the dusting, sweeping, mopping and putting away clutter during the day. In fact, the Friday before The Day, we were cleaning until nearly midnight.

With that said, on the day of the pamamanhikan itself, Nards and I were texting each other on the hour by the hour, giving each other updates on our parents. His parents arrived from Sariaya a few hours earlier than expected, and he had to park them in his house for quite a while, because my parents were still busy preparing for their arrival. (Read: chopping stuff for the puttanesca, and putting my sister and I to clean an already uber clean house. My brother picked the most inopportune time to go out with his GF to go shopping for jeans. I swear.)

I was stressed primarily because: 1) I have no idea if my parents and his parents would get along; 2) my brother is threatening to be absent on an important family even; which in turn 3) stressed out my parents who were pressuring me to make him ditch his shopping spree with his GF and do the proper thing by coming home in time for Nards' family's arrival. He arrived about half an hour after Nards arrived, by the way. Plus the heat that day was simply interminable.

Nards was giddy and all smiles. When I saw him smiling at me broadly, with his new haircut (which his Mom forced him to get that morning), I instantly relaxed and enjoyed their visit.

The funny thing is, there was less talk on the wedding, just our Mothers exchanging notes on the outfit, and Nards' Dad's concern on giving speeches (he doesn't want to, and we assured him, that there'll be no speeches of any kind on the day of the wedding). Most of the time was spent talking about their common friend. (Talk about our small world.)

(I feel like I'm always undergoing baptism through fire for this wedding, since I'm the first. But it's not bad as I though it would be.)

First Fitting

Sad to say that Mrs. Cruz forbade me to take photos of the wedding dress. So you'll have to take my word that it's a lovely lovely dress, with a rich lace shrug that will be fully beaded, and yards and yards of skirt and train.

Now, if I can only manage to look good in it.

Incidentally, when I got the text message from Mrs. Cruz that the dress was ready for fitting, I wasn't sure if I read her message right. I just got measured last 25 June, barely two weeks before, and I was surprised that I can fit it this early. I called my Mom and she said that it's probably just the lining, because the bride SHOULD NEVER fit the gown. I didn't tell her anymore that it's the dress I'm fitting and not just the lining.

When I got back home, the first thing I did was chat with my sister to verify the pamahiin on fitting the wedding dress. She said, as long as it's not complete. And Nards confirmed it. My Mom was making me slightly agitated with all this pamahiin, so I called a friend from high school, who laughed and said that she fitted her gown, minus the final beading two weeks before her wedding, so I shouldn't worry. Then Carrots admonished me about faith and superstition. And she said I should fit it, because it's the most practical thing to do.

So off I went to Mrs. Cruz' shop that evening. The dress fit me well, which means I cannot lose or gain any more weight. (Not that I was planning to, mind you.) The hem was not yet sewn and still roughly cut. The shrug needed adjusting, and Mrs. Cruz' team of seamstresses have started beading the shrug.

The dress is fantastic! But I do feel that I didn't do it much justice. Think cow in silk and lace. Eep.