blogging

i realized today that i do not enjoy blogging as much as i thought i would. (hahaha! yung lagay na ito, hindi pa pala ako nag-e-enjoy! :)) so i asked myself why. i've always enjoyed writing ever since i was a kid so how come i am not enjoying this now? and then it occured to me that the reason i don't is because i am too busy doing other things that i am in a hurry everytime i blog. so what happens is i just write factual things with little side kwentos whereas i am really a madaldal person and my writings usually are full of side kwentos with factual things in between :) i've read through my blogs and i realized that most of them were written haphazardly with little attention to how i felt at that moment.

so from this day on, i resolve to blog "properly," the way i want to, i.e., make kwento how i feel about certain things and not just write about those things. i just wish i 'll have the time to do this. :)

may bridal car na kami!

we already have a bridal car! :) it's a 1953 mercedes benz adenauer limousine. i first saw it sa webshots nila alpha and jojo (hi alpha!). they used it for their wedding last december. when i saw it, i immediately saved the picture and sent it to bernard. as i expected, natuwa siya! he really liked it but since we did not want to spend so much on the bridal car, we just put it in our "nice-to-have" list. after months of thinking about it, akala ko magbabago isip ni bernard pero hindi, gusto niya pa rin yun and i think, he really set aside a budget for it. he wanted daw a car na may dating at hindi lang ordinaryo. at first, i did not want to get the car na sana kasi it was kind of expensive but i could see that bernard really liked it and since ito lang naman ang hiningi niya, pinabayaan ko na. isa pa, he gave me balay kandila which i reaquested for. pati yung photo-video na photojournalist na style, binigay rin niya. eh since gusto ko rin naman yung car, okay na.

we went to see the car this morning and we were able to talk to mr. ching, the owner. he was nice and easy to talk to. tapos he even gave us a discount dun sa rate ng succeeding hours. so okay na talaga! ang natuwa pa talaga ako, mr. ching even asked us to join them for lunch. kahit na pa he was certain na we would decline, i think it was really nice of him to invite us.

so, saya na ko kasi one less thing to worry about. best of all, it made bernard happy. :)

pouch for unity coins

i was able to make a pouch na last week for our unity coins. sobrang simple lang pero i'm proud of it kasi alam ko na ngayon na i can make one pala. nung una nga sewing machine pa gamit ko, nung huli kinamay ko na lang! i'll make another one pa actually. i'm currently looking for an organza type of material na may embroidery para mas maganda. i wanted to order my mybarong.com sana kasi realy nice yung pouch nila for the unity coins pero masyado mahal! $4! imagine! eh yung organza na tela, P30 yung half yard! at ang dali namang gawin eh!

i know our pouch right now is very plain. siguro i'll just put something para mas magkaroon ng effect, sabi nga ni teenee. basta as of now, i'm just happy that i was able to make one. :)

invites done

we're done na revising our invites!!! at last, we have an invite we're very proud of.  non-traditional yung design. the fonts are the handwriting fonts i got from fontgarden.com.  basta, we're really very happy with the invites. even with the envelope nga sobra ako proud. buti na lang na-inspire ako ni len to put lining sa may envelope kasi nung una i wasn't thinking of doing it (thanks, len!). 
 
we've also talked with davy see of wellcoat. okay na rin yung lamination and cutting services. mga 1 or 2 days lang daw yung delivery time.
 
i'm thinking pa if i want an embosser or a wax stamp or wag na lang. as of now, the invites cost less than P40 each.  hmmm... what do you think?
 
oh yeah, here nga pala yung wording ng invite:

Two lives, two hearts, brought together
in friendship, united forever in love.
It is with joy that we
Bernard and Clarice
with thanksgiving to our parents
Ben Avinante
and
Dan & Myrna Talavera
invite you to witness
the celebration of our love
as we are united
in the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony
on Saturday, the eighteenth of December
Two thousand and four
at two o’clock in the afternoon
at Our Lady of Consolation Parish
Tandang Sora, Quezon City.

 
and then yung quote/poem sa gilid:
 

Love is in walking barefoot on the shore,
with hands clasped tight,
heads bowed low, lips sealed shut,
minds and hearts just giddily
swimming in the liquid magic of forever.…
Love is in all that and more.

 
 
i really love this quote. got this from the book of love quotes na wedding souvenirs naman ng tito ko who got married a few years ago. nice no?
 
i'm also thinking kung magpapa-calligraphy pa ba ako or print na lang.  i bought a calligraphy pen a few weeks ago and then i selected a font sa PC na gusto ko (dauphin). and then i asked maye, my sister, to copy the font using the calligraphy pen. syempre, kuhang-kuha niya! ang galing! so kinukulit ko pa siya na siya na lang ang mag-address nung envelopes. siguro kaunti pang kulit! hehe! sabi niya kasi kaya ko rin naman daw yun since pareho kami ng handwriting pero feeling ko mas gaya niya eh.
 
so basically, all set na kami with the invites, at least yung mismong invites okay na. siguro yung map, aasikasuhin ko na rin asap. okay lang yun kasi when my parents celebrated their silver wedding anniversary, dun din sa our  lady of consolation so nakagawa na ako ng map nung church dati pa. 
 
now, all i have to do is to make bernard kulit to talk na to his friends na magiging best man and secondary sponsors para i can print na everything.  i'm so excited na!

wedding preps na talaga! - update

this is the update i posted in one of my yahoogroups. =)


CHURCH
our lady of consolation parish

paid P1K downpayment
balance to be paid 12/04

requirements:
a. banns - nakuha na yung form from the parish office, sa sept 19 pa ibibigay sa aming respective parishes kasi 3 months lang ata ang validity
b. permission from the bride's church - we also have the form, september pa rin yung pagbigay sa parish
c. marriage license - since 3 mos rin lang ang validity, sept 19 pa rin lang pwedeng asikasuhin
d. baptismal certificates - went to bernard's baptismal church last week. filed for a request na. for pick up na lang; will go to my baptismal church tomorrow sana
e. confirmation certificates - will have our confirmation on august 21 sa may san miguel (pareho pa kasi kaming hindi nakukumpilan. ano ba yun!? Ü
f. pre-cana seminar - since we'll be attending DW on september, sabi ni fr. manny, parish priest ng our lady of consolation, present lang daw namin yung DW certificate
g. canonical interview - no schedule yet

others: misalette - na-pass ko na yung first draft. follow-up ko daw after a couple of weeks; DIY rin ito pero since sanay na ako dito, no prob na.


RECEPTION VENUE
balay kalinaw

paid 50%
balance to be paid on 12/04

price includes the rent of the whole second floor for 5 hours setup, 3 hours program time, sound system, overtime of maintenance people, corkage fees.


CATERER
batis asul

paid dp
balance: october and december

finalized the menu a month ago but i want to lessen the deserts and add a salad bar. hmmm... need to discuss it first with bernard


EVENT STYLIST
balay kalinaw

paid 50%
balance 12/04 or 12/18 ata

had the mock-up already. loved it! will meet with them again for a "semi-final" meeting on october tapos for a final meeting a week before the wedding


INVITES

DIY

bought all the materials na from star paper and national book store last week! grabe! ang mura sa star paper! halos P1 ang difference per paper. will start printing the invites na once we ascertain na okay na yung isang ninong at ung isang 2nd sponsor. sana by next week okay na.

talked with wellcoat already. will give them the the invites in august. 2 or 3 days daw sa kanila. pagbalik sa amin, naka-laminate at cut na.

envelopes... ayos na rin yung papers, yung mismong envelopes at lining... wanted to do calligraphy sana pero tinatamad na ako. print ko na lang sa computer. will start doing this by next week din dapat.

i'm also contemplating kung magpapagawa ako ng embosser. P450 lang sa may ubelt, nagtanong na ako. hmmm...

as of now, kung hindi ako magpapagawa ng embosser, papatak na P36/invite yung invites namin. kung may embosser, eh di P40.50... hahaha! ang OC ko talaga at kuripot pa!


ATTIRE
Mrs. Bautista for me
Susie Bonaobra for Bernard

Akin muna
may napili na akong design. naka-usap ko na rin si mrs baustista. simple lang yung gown ko. jusi at gina silk na strapless at A-line yung cut at may chapel train. medyo lang alangan ako sa beading kasi ma-realize ko na nararamihan ako. still looking for a design na sobrang simple lang.

i'll have my measurements taken by sept. sa 1st week of nov ang sched ng fitting at 2nd week ko dapag makuha.

Bernard
wala naman kaming balak magpagawa na ng barong ngayon but when we were in carolina's last week (sa may divi), inalok kami ng tela ng barong na piña suksok. tapos nung sabi namin na wala naman kaming kilala na marunong magtahi ng barong, sabi nila may pwede raw sila i-recommend na ssigurado sila. pag nasira raw yung tela, papalitan nila. so pumayag na kami. tapos tinawagan na nga ni aling wica, yung taga-carolina's, yung sinasabi nilang marunong manahi ng barong. it turned out si susie bonaobra pala! tapos nagpadala na siya ng magme-measure kay bernard sa carolina's. kaya ayun, bigla tuloy nagka-baroing na yug boyfriend ko! hehe! sept 12 yung first fitting.


Entourage Gowns
pagkatapos ng matagal na pagmumuni-muni, we decided na hindi namin kaya i-shoulder talaga yung gowns ng ento so ang ginawa namin is mag-provide na lang ng tela. sobrang ganda yung tela na nahanap namin!!!! eksaktong-eksakto dun sa pinaggayahan ko. yung ginayahan namin ay thai silk. sa sobrang mahal, talagang no-no sa amin na bilhin yun for the ento. pag punta namin sa divi ng mom ko last week, lo and behold, meron dung parehong-pareho! ang galing talaga! at syempre mura lang. P150 / yard yung para sa top at P200 / yard yung para sa skirt! kinabukasan, bernard and i wento back to divi again to buy tela for thewhole ento na. ngayon, we just need to distribute the tela to the entourage.



SOUVENIRS
gel candles - DIY

have started na pero sa ngayon, hininto muna namin kasi hindi kami makakita ng perfect na varnish na owede gamitin para dun sa names namin. basta estimated namin by end august, tapos na ito.



PHOTO-VIDEO
Little Dreams

paid 50%
balance will be paid on 12/18 (wedding) and 12/23 (upon receipt of proofs)


WEDDING PARAPHERNALIA

Unity Coins - with me na (hi dowa! thanks uli!)

Cord - have it na! love our cord!

Unity Candle - still have to go to Balay Kandila to buy the glass at ipa-etch yung glass. DIY rin. gel unity candle na beach-themed din. may mga shells, starfish, seahorse, etc.

candle - baka i-try ko lagyan ng design yung gagamitin na candles. ukit lang naman yun sa gilid tapos paint. bahala na. pag tinamad, eh di hindi... hehe!

WEDDING RINGS
wala pa. have canvassed sa ongpin though. will canvass sa may bulacan one of these days. basta ayoko bumili sa mall! may personal battle ako against jewelry stores sa mall eh. hehe!


MUSIC
Church - one of my friends, Denden Atanacio, is from 92 AD. siya na ang kakanta ng wedding march. meron pa rin akong isa pang friend na i asked na to sing at okay na rin siya. meron ring soloist yung church, si kuya mundo. will check him out sa sept 11 kasi may wedding on that day at siya rin ang kakanta.

Reception - will probably just have CDs. mejo out of the budget na yung live music eh.


HOTEL FOR PREPS
Looking at Linden for me and Astoria or Richmonde for Bernard


BRIDAL CAR
Temporarily booked with Mr. Ching. His car is a 1953 mercedez benz convertible na gustong-gusto ni bernard kaya hindi ko maatim na hindi siya pagbigyan since lahat gusto ko binigay naman niya sakin.


MAKE UP
Kat Manalo

Free ito kasi friends kami since grade school eh since pro na siya ngayon, might as well take advantage of her! hehe! she made me up for the prenups. okay naman yung labas. bernard loved it! Kat is also one of my seondary sponsors.


RECEPTION PROGRAM
Emcee - Kat Guarin - a really good friend na magaling mag-host. also a seondary sponsor.

program - have met with her a few months ago. will meet with her again pag may time na kaming dalawa to finalize program.


COORDINATOR
I have a mass coordinator and a reception coordinator. parehong friends na sobrang kong pinagkakatiwalaan kasi pareho ko ring OC. sila lang ata ang pwede kong i-trust with something as big an event for me as my wedding.


AVP
carlo geronimo, the one who did our prenups, gave us a slidewhos we can use na for AVP. yun na yung pwede na i-show during dinner. we're planning to have another AVP, tribute to parents ba kumbaga. ito gagawin pa lang. we'll ask bernard's friend, johanni, to do it. siya rin yug gumawa ng AVP nila oyie at orlie at maganda yung labas.


GALLERY
already have the pics. papagawa yung easels by september. i saw this really nice way of mounting pictures yesterday na illustration board, currugated board, sinamay, at bubble bags lang ang gamit. as usual, DIY din.


WEDDING CAKE
claycakes

paid 50%
balance on 12/04

already have the design. will give karla our pictures (para maging kamukha namin yung cake toppers) when we meet with her sometime soon para mag-occular with her sa balay kalinaw. will also have the cake tasting by then.


WEDDING PARTY
have informed everyone except the male candle sponsor. have started and is actually almost finished with the rounds ng ninong/ninang. we just go to their house to make chika and to eat. hehe! we also give them save-the-date cards and homemade carrot cake.

comments, anyone?

panic time!

haaaay! for some reason, at around 11:30 this morning, nag-panic ako about the wedding preps. i think my panic started when i read na si nyree naka-schedule na for a canonical interview in august! grabe! eh kasabay ko siya sa dec 18! samantalang ako, ni-pagkuha ng baptismal certificate, hindi ko pa ginagawa! so what i did was to print out a calendar solely for the wedding preps tapos i printed out a to-do list for each supplier. andun na rin yung payment scheme at contact details ng lahat ng supplier. afterwards, nilagay ko lahat sa isang clearbook. may isang "page" yung bawat supplier tapos andun na rin sa page na yun naka-insert yung mga receipts, contract, etc.
 
so ngayon medyo hindi na ako nagpapanic. :)

thanks to fontgarden.com!

i am so happy! i was doing the layout of our revised invitations last night and i was surfing teh net for fonts i could use. i found several really nice ones from fontgarden and i downloaded several to use nga on the invites. the problem was the font i wanted to use for titles could not be downloaded! aaaargh!!!! so what i did was to email the webmaster and report the broken link. that was around 1 a.m. last night.

and then guess what? when i got home this afternoon, i had an email from ellinor, the webmaster of fontgarden! she sent me the font i needed!!!! i am so happy! i can now resume layouting. =)

panunumpa and ikaw lamang

these are my final choices for my bridal march. i'llprobably go with panunumpa coz it's actually sung in church unlike ikaw lamang. what do you think?



panunumpa

ikaw lamang ang pangakong mahalin
sa sumpang sa'yo magpakailan pa man
yakapin mon'g bawat sandali,
ang buhay kong sumpang sa'yo lamang alay,

at mapapawi ang takot sa 'kin
pangakong walang hanggan

ikaw lamang ang pangakong susundin
sa takbo sakdal, liwanagan ang daan
yakapin mong bawat sandali,
ang buhay kong sumpang sa'yo lamang alay

at mapapawi ang takot sa 'kin
'pagkat taglay lakas mong angkin

ikaw ang siyang pag-ibig ko
asahan mo ang katapatan ko
kahit ang puso ko'y nalulumbay,
mananatiling ikaw pa rin

ikaw lamang ang pangakong mahalin
sa sumpang sa'yo magpakailan pa man
yakapin mo'ng bawat sandali,
ang buhay kong sumpang sa'yo lamang alay,

at mapapawi ang takot sa 'kin
pangakong walang hanggan

at mapapawi ang takot sa 'kin
pagkat taglay lakas mong angkin



ikaw lamang

ikaw ang pangakong
taglay ng isang bituin
tanging pangarap sa
diyos ay hiling
makapiling sa bawat sandali

ikaw ang pag-ibig
sa araw at gabi
ikaw ang pag-asang
tanglaw sa dilim
napapawing hirap at pighati

langit ang buhay kapag ika'y
hahagkan
anong ligaya kapag ika'y
mamasdan
sa piling mo ang gabi tila araw
ikaw ang pangarap
ikaw lamang

ikaw ang pag-ibig
sa araw at gabi
ikaw ang pagasang
tanglaw sa dilim
napapawing hirap at
pighati

on having 100 guests

we're having 100 guests, 106 to be exact. it is so hard to create the guest list. honestly, there are times when i wish i can just invite everyone para wala ng hassle and i don't need to explain anymore to some of my friends that our wedding will be small and with just the closest of family and friends. but then again, when i think about it, i realize that this is what i really want - a small, intimate wedding with just my closest friends and relatives.

ever since i was 12, i had birthday parties every year. i usually invited all my classmates. although i had fun during the parties, i would realize after that the party was kind of just a waste of time and money and i would have been just as happy if i did not have a party. the funny thing was, i realized this after every party but come next year, i would again throw another party! parang i never learned from those "mistakes" except now.

for my wedding, i want a really small, intimate gathering. gusto ko lahat ng guests played a special part in my life or in jojie's life. siguro nga for the filipinos, weddings are status symbols, the parents' way of showing off, but this is not how i want my wedding to be.

gusto ko 100 guests lang pero sobrang ganda, yummy food, nice music, great setup, very relaxed atmosphere, very personal. this is also why i'm making the invites, the favors, etc. by myself para sobrang personal talaga.

admittedly, budget constraint is also a major reason why we're having a small wedding. but when i really thought about it, i realized na hindi naman pala ako sobrang nagtitipid. i am so proud nga of myself because i was able to get suppliers na maganda yung track records pero hindi kamahalan. sometimes, nagigi-guilty na rin ako because jojie never told me not to get a certain supplier na gusto ko because of budget constraints. pag alam niya na gusto ko, he gives it to me. so far though, parang hindi pa naman kami lagpas sa budget or baka akala ko lang yun. =)

i usually hear comments that the wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event and it should be grand and no expense should be spared. i agree, a wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event and i'll have it the way i want it to be.

first ninang/ninong dalaw

went to tita zeny and tita pat today for our first official ninang dalaw. =) the day was long and tiring! grabe! kakapagod pala to visit the principal sponsors but it was fun and syempre sarap ng mga food! hehe!

puro kwento lang naman pala yung mga dalaw. we talked of general things and not really about the wedding although they had some questions, of course.

i think things went well. masarap naman daw yung carrot cake. hehe! will bake more pa for next weekend's ninong/ninang batch. i still have two more in the fridge pero hinihingi ni jojie yung isa and since matagal na rin akong hindi nakakain, baka dito na lang sa bahay yung isa pa. so really need to bake within the week.

invitations

i'm changing our invites! after seeing the picture of denden and rachel's invites, sobra ako na-inspire to change na our invitation. i'm also excited to meet up with dowa t see the invites of laura (ni jonathan) and nina rachel.

i'm so excited na i'm presently working on our invites although it's past 1 a.m. in the morning! i even went to fontgarden.com to have my handwriting transformed into a truetype font for a more personalized look but when i went to the site, they charge na for the service. sising-sisi tuloy ako na i did not take advantage of it when it was still free! oh well! at least i was able to get some fonts i can use for my planned revisions.

okay, gotta go. have to work pa on our invites. =)

save the date cards

since we're going to start with our formal dalaw to the ninongs and ninangs tomorrow... este later pala... we needed to come up with the save the date cards na. and since i was so busy the whole week, i wasn't able to work on it! kakainis talaga!

i had no intentions before of giving out save-the-date cards kasi i wanted to write each ninang/ninong a letter para personalized but guess what, i did not have time to do it so STD cards na lang. hehe!

i already have lots of pictures of beaches kaya lang the one i used before for our invitation was medyo hindi ko na like ngayon kasi medyo malungkot yung dating kasi sunset kaya i need to find another picture ng beach na maganda at very alive yung dating.

i scouted the internet pero ang papangit ng picturess, at least hindi yung gusto ko. so what i did kanina was to go to megamall with jojie coz i wanted to check out island spice. kaya lang when we got there, isalang spice already closed na ata kasi we couldn't find it. the postcards in national and goodwill were sobrang pangit. so our last chance was powerbooks. and lo and behold, we were able to find a really nice postcard sa powerbooks! hay salamat!

after dinner at pho hoa (na sobrang yummy!), we went to netopia to have the postcard scanned. sa sobrang kulit ko dun sa attendant na gandahan yung resolution nung scanned image, the resulting JPG file was 30MB! hahaha! so i had to ask him to reduce it to 3 Mb para hindi mahirapan yung PC.

when i got home, i immediately started working on the save-the-date cards. i finished it in mga 2 hours and i am so proud of my work! it's so hard to describe it so i'll just take a picture of it soon and i'll upload it sa webshots. basta i'm happy with our save-the-date. i'm sure matutuwa rin si jojie. =)

gotta go. it's almost 2 a.m. and i still need my beauty sleep for tomorrow. =)

gel candles

bernard and i are going to quiapo tomorrow to buy the glasses for the gel candles. we're going to proceed to balay kandila to buy the "weeds", then we'll proceed home (to my home, i mean) to make the candles.

i'm so excited na!!! i'll post again tomorrow evening to update you. =)

unity coins

i got our unity coins na!!!

bernard and i met with rhodora and ryan yesterday (thanks dowa & ryan!) at greenbelt three and they gave us our unity coins! sigh! i loved the coins and bernard did, too. the funny thing was, bernard had no idea that i ordered the coins and when i told him that we were going to meet rhodora and ryan, he was asking me why. syempre, i could not, would not, tell him because i wanted to surprise him. hehe!

after getting the coins from dowa, we just sat down in one of the tables sa gbelt tapos we opened the box. i so loved the coins. ganda! buti na lang gold yung pinili ko kasi feeling ko i'll like it more than the silver set.

when we got home, i immediately showed it to my dad. sabi ba naman, "aba! maganda! o wag mo masyadong pagkatingnan yan kasi baka kumupas!" grrr! =)

on being a teacher and may kakanta na!

i was an examiner kanina for the ateneo college guidance testing. i saw many friends na i never expected na andun rin. kakatawa kasi parang naging reunion siya for me.

as an examiner, i handled 55 students. buti na lang i had a proctor kasi ang dami nila and it was hard to go around the room everytime someone raises his/her hand.

one thing i realized though was i miss, as in realy miss, being in the classroom and being in front of students. it made me realize how much i want to teach. bakit kaya i want to teach? siguro kasi i come from a family of teachers. or siguro kasi masyado lang akong insecure and i want to have a steady supply of attention (pag nasa harap ka ba naman ng classroom, wala naman silang choice kundi pansinin ka eh!). or siguro kasi i really believe that you'll be ale to help a LOT of people if you're teaching. teaching kasi provides a direct link to the youth and as cliche as this sounds, the youth is the hope of the nation. basta kung ano man yung reason, i hope i get to teach sometime soon. i really hope i get to finish my thesis this sem so i can get na my masters and i can teach na next june. =)

another thing na sobrang galing na nangyari because of the testing stint was i was able to talk to denden again. denden was my first supervisor sa ateneo wellness. he was also my classmate in ateneo. he's taking na his PhD in clinical psych and comps na lang and dissertation ang kulang.

anyway, it has been so long since we last talked and over the lunch provided by the guidance (yummy!), denden and i were able to talk. and guess what! i was able to ask him to sing for our wedding!!!! grabe! i'm so excited! he has this really, really, really amazing voice kasi (he's part of 92 AD) and i wanted to ask him to sing na for the longest time pero nahiya ako. isa pa, he's supposed to go back to the states in december so parang i could not impose on him to stay. but when i asked him again kanina about his estimated date of departure and he asked me why i was asking and i told him na i wanted to invite him to our wedding, he said na he'll stay daw. yehey! and then he asked me kung kakanta raw siya! sobra akong na-excite! grabe! sabi pa nga niya kahit raw hindi ko na siya papuntahin sa reception eh basta pakantahin ko lang siya. hahaha!

i am so excited na tuloy. i'm going to contact him again soon to finalize things. saya! =)