PJ and Abi's onsite video

Abi is one of the nicest, kindest brides I have had the pleasure of working with. And PJ, her groom, is equally nice and kind... Mukha bang pilit? Hahaha! I like PJ but I like Abi better though kasi palagi ako inaasar ni PJ... Mwahahaha!!! As I told them, they are my only Catholic couple na super ko na-feel yung pagiging Christian nila. Ang bait-bait nila and during our meetings, I can really feel how much they love each other. Abi is very soft-spoken and PJ, although not as soft-spoken (hehehe!), is calm. They look happy together.

About a year a half ago, Abi and PJ went to Baguio to give a testimony during the Couples for Christ convention. PJ's dad introduced Abi to the audience saying that he would be very happy to have Abi as his daughter-in-law. The following day, PJ proposed and Abi said "yes". The day after, PJ's family rushed his dad to the hospital. From what I know, PJ's dad passed away the following day. He passed away without knowing that PJ proposed to Abi and that Abi would indeed be his daughter-in-law.

Their onsite video contains the clip of PJ's dad introducing Abi in the CFC convention. It is the most poignant onsite video I've seen to date (and I've seen hundreds!). Kudos to Bong of Threelogy! Galing, galing, galing!!! Bow ako!

Here is the link to the Threelogy's blog post. http://threelogyvideo.com/blog/?p=154#more-154

And to Abi and PJ, wish you guys lifetime bliss, good health, and dozens of kids! May God super bless you. And PJ, one word of advice po, wag na wag na wag po kayong magsusuot ng white socks with black pants! Nyahahahahaha!

:)

My bus ride today

Hindi naman ako burgis. Maarte ako pero hindi naman ako sosyal. Pero parang ayaw ko na maulit sa akin ito. :)

My day started with Jojie not feeling well. So instead of attending my 1130am meeting, I moved it to 1pm and I brought him to the doctor instead. Hindi pa kami nakikita ng doctor, I had to go na or else I would be late. I got to the meeting around 5 minutes late so okay lang. Pero sa super duper dami ng pinag-usapan namin, we finished around 430pm. The bride, knowing that I didn't have my car (nag-overheat ako nung isang araw and I needed to bring Arcy to the casa), asked if I would be able to go home. With confidence, I replied, "Oo naman, okay ako lang, ako pa!" I smiled and they left na.

Dahil hindi naman ako sanay sa Festival Mall (I live in QC), I asked around where I can get a cab. I was directed to the other side of the mall. Ang laki-laki ng Festival so ang layo ng linakad ko pero go lang. When I got to the taxi line, linapitan ako ng mga 4 na drayber at tinanong kung san ako pupunta. Sagot ko "Manong, Project 8 po pero may dadaanan lang ako sa Tektite". At ang sagot nila ng lahat "Okay. Mga 1 thousand yun, iha, kasi sa Tektite pa lang seven hunded or eight hundred na." Juice ko! "Ho? Para namang airport taxi!" "Eh magkano ba bayad mo papunta dito?" "Three hundred plus lang po, ako may sagot ng toll." "Eh kami sagot na namin yung toll." When I walked away, one of the drivers even caught up with me and haggled. Six hundred na lang daw hanggang Tektite. Juice ko! Ano ba yun!?

So I walked. May sign na "Bus Terminal" so sabi ko "Aba, bus na lang ako". Ako pa, sinabi ko sa sarili ko na kaya ko namang mabuhay ng walang kotse at taxi. But I realized that it was drizzling and I didn't want to get sick so I went inside the mall to buy an umbrella. Syempre sa kabilang dulo ng mall yung mga payong so bumalik ako dun at bumalik uli sa sakayan. On the way, I passed by National Bookstore to buy a magazine (Real Living). Sabi ko "Might as well spend for something na pwede kong gawin on the way home than pay P800 for a taxi ride!" Syempre pagbalik ko sa labas, wala nang ulan so walang saysay yung pagbili ko. Hahaha!

I walked to the "Bus Terminal". Lo and behold, company buses pala siya! Hahaha! Since I'm naturally an adventurer, I walked lang. Hindi ko alam san papunta pero sinundan ko lang yung mga tao. Lakad ako hanggang umabot ng Alabang-Zapote road. Dala ko yung magazine ko at payong, bag, at files. Syempre while deciding what to do, I couldn't resist buying streetfoods so kumain pa ako ng calamares sa daan (Piso lang isa. Lima binili ko. Masarap na rin. Isasawsaw mo sa suka.) Syemre bumili na rin ako ng pineapple juice. At syempre pati mani, pinadagdagan ko pa ng bawang dun sa manang.

Ito na, lahat ng bus na andun, papuntang Calamba! Hahaha! But I realized that every once in a while, may dumadaan na papuntang Crossing Ibabaw. So alam ko na may saysay na yung pinuntahan ko. Next goal was to actually ride a bus. So nakipag-habulan ako sa bus. Kasi hindi naman sila humihinto eh. Hahabulin ko sila. O di ba, isipin mo na ang dami kong dala at nakikipaghabulan ako. Sa arte kong ito!!! Hahaha! Nakasakay ako pero hindi aircon. Ayala Ilalim which is good and Crossing Ibabaw which is what I needed kasi I'd meet Jojie sa Shangri-La. PERO Sucat at Bicutan din. So ibig sabihin susuyurin niya pa yung Sucat at Bicutan! Pero sabi ko okay lang. Umupo na ako at kumain ng mani.

After 20 minutes, umabot na sa Metro Star (tama ba?) yung bus. Nakita ko na na maraming aircon buses dito so I got off and walked to the front of the bus pila. At least dun aircon yung mga bus. Eksakto, pagdating ko, Crossing Ibabaw yung bus! And, I couldn't believe my eyes "Skyway Derecho"!!! I was so happy that I boarded the bus. Pag-akyat ko ng unang step, may bumababa na tatlong tao. I gave way syempre. Pag akyat ko uli, puno na pala yung bus. As in wala nang upuan ni isa! But I so wanted to ride this bus kasi "Skyway Derecho" eh. Sabi nung kunduktor, "Dito ka na lang, miss, kung gusto mo. Wala nang upuan eh," referring to a can beside the driver. Hindi man lang upuan. Lata lang talaga. As in lata ng malaking Alaska. Or Promil kung sosyal ka. Pero dahil talagang nagmamadali ako, umupo ako. So ang liit ko ikumpara sa lahat ng tao. Mukha akong gusgusin at I'm sure mukha akong nakakaawa so I got my magazine and started reading. O di vah? Kahit na sa lata ako nakaupo, tungkol naman sa condo living ang binabasa ko! Hahaha!

When the bus reached Magallanes, many people got off and I decided to, too. I walked to the MRT station and rode the train to Shang. Sabi ko naman maarte ako pero hindi ako reklamadora and cowboy naman ako pero sana hindi ko na kailanganing umupo sa lata sa tabi ng drayber eber!

:)

Ging and Jojie

Jojie and I love photography and pictures. Although we only have a point-and-shoot camera, we literally have thousands of pictures together. This slideshow was made by Jojie originally for our Cebu trip but he decided to just include whatever picture he wanted.

:)

Uno na si Dos!

Last Sunday, June 17, Ronald Rosales Correos II, or Dos, turned one. The youngest of Ronald and Tisha's (of Balay Kandila) kids, Dos is Ronald's "the second", hence his nickname.

Discussing Dos' birthday party started months ago. In fact, last year pa I knew na that our team would be coordinating the event.* The real planning, however, started two weeks before the event. Syempre cramming forever... kami pa ni Tisha!!! LOL! Sabi nga namin palagi, ano akala mo sa amim, efficient?!?!?! Hahaha! Iba kasi pag para sa client at iba kung para sa amin lang. :)

Tisha was very clear with not having a just-for-kids birthday party. She wanted a party the adults would enjoy. Sabi niya since hindi naman daw maiintindihan ito ni Dos, might as well do something she'll enjoy! Mwahahahaha! The idea for a flip-flops party came later on. In one of our brainstorming sessions, the idea of setting it in "Boracay" was agreed upon. We were also clear with not having the traditional magician cum host since we already did that for Waddy's and we're probably also doing that for X's. Isa pa pala, we were clear on requiring the guests to come on flip-flops... no shoes allowed!

Come day of the party, our team arrived at Fernwood Coral Tree Garden at 10am. The invitation said 3pm so we were expecting people to come in a quarter to 3. I wanted an earlier call time pero super pagod rin kasi yung team namin from a wedding the day before so hindi ko naman sila ma-force to go super early. When we got there, the first order of the agenda was to have our nails done. I brought my trusty hairdresser/manicurist/pedicurist to Fernwood to do our team's pedicure pero syempre ang pinaka-nauna si Ronald! Haha!

I briefed the team on what was going to happen and we started inventory na. Ang dami namin at ang dami pang oras pero parang ang daming kelangan gawin!!! Buti na lang naayos naman lahat just on time. Ang galing ng team ng Balay Kandila! Ang ganda-ganda nung setup. Super bilib talaga ako sa kanila. Syempre rin hindi pahuhuli ang Josiah's. Sir Rommel was our captain waiter. Ang bait-bait niya talaga. Super efficient. Kaya ko rin talaga love ang Josiah's kasi ang galing ng wait service nila (bukod sa masarap food nila.) Yung isang lamesa ata limang beses kong pinalipat ng pwesto kay Rommel pero ni hindi ako nakarinig ng kahit anong angal or nakaramdam ng kahit anong inis on his part. Super super love ko siya.

By 2pm, mejo okay na kami. Super konti na lang ang kelangan ayusin. My team was nanggigitata na sa pawis. They wanted to go to my parents' house to take a bath pero hindi na kaya ng time. Buti na lang may bridal room and Fernwoods. Nanghiram na lang kami ng kwarto at dun kami naligo lahat. :)
By 3pm, everything was set up. We had four game booths. We had Ring a Surfboard, Starducks Dart a Balut, Tumbang Preso Presto, and Wackee Munkey. The RIng a Surfboard was the usual ring a bottle but instead of bottles, we had surboards, hehe! Starducks was the usual dart the balloon pero there were balloons with baluts as prizes. The Tumbang Preso was the usual tumbang preso... may lata na kelangan nilang tumbahin. The Wackee Munkey was basketball with a monkey holding the basket and instead of shoting a ball, you shoot a banana. Sa lahat ng ito, when you win, you get a feather, which you can exchange for prizes in the Prize Pit.

We also had a Dress Up Your Flip Flops corner. The idea was from the Havaianas "convention" where they could dress up their flips flops. So we had setup a corner with super daming beads, flowerettes, ribbons, etc. and kids and adults alike were encouraged to dress up their flops.

Balay also made a photo booth with a family of flip-flops. Super cute nito at super patok!!!

Setup wise, we had banners, japanese lanterns, ottomans, low tables for the kids, and beach chairs just scattered around.

Food... we had Mongolian buffet, fish fillet with curry mayo, baked spag, pork BBQ, and chicken lollipop from Josiah's; roast beef from Albergus; tapa courtesy of Tisha's friend; sorbetero cart and balut corner from Josiah's; mini-burgers, fishball, and fruit shakes from Party Time; a dessert bar with flat tops, sampaloc, and other pinoy candies; and my most favorite of all... mangga at bagoong stall from Tisha's manangs.

Guests started to come in at 3pm. At the registration table, the guests were given their nametags and were aked to get two friendship bracelets from a basket. We started the program at around 4pm as per the agreement with Tisha. L.A., BK's former practicumer, hosted the event. She was very good. Hindi siya pro pero may stage presence. I have to admit that I was not very supportive of Tisha's idea to have her host pero she did really well. There was no program really. LA just led the prayer and explained what awaits the guests. She talked for less about 5 minutes lang tapos open na the food booths, buffet table, and game booths. During this time Katukayo, a really good reggae band, played na.

After Katukayo's first set, we had the program games like Bring Me, etc. Okay naman kasi enjoy naman the kids.

Birthday candle blowing came after. Super panic attack ako dito kasi hindi namin masindihan yung kandila kasi ang lakas ng hangin. Buti na lang suppliers yung mga guests and they helped. Bong of Threelogy and Mallory Ferrer Cosio (Mal, super thank you for helping. Na-touch talaga ako nung lumapit ka.) helped cover the candle. Lisa of Kasalan signalled Katukayo to just repeat the Happy Birthday song over and over. :) Thanks, you guys! :)

After the candle blowing, we had a bubble show and then LA closed the program na. Loot bags were distributed to the kids and flip-flops key chains were distributed to the adults.

I think the guests enjoyed the party. Alam ko kami super nag-enjoy. After the program my whole team had out pictures taken over and over plus kinareer nila yung decorate the flip-flops. Natuto na kami from last year's party. Last year hindi kami nag-enjoy so this year, nakabawi na kami. :)

When I met with Tisha the day after, super high pa siya. It was the really great feeling of knowing that you just threw a really fantastic party. So next stop would be X's dinosaur-themed party and Bethia's (second child of Ms. Veluz and Sir Rene) Wings-themed party. Saya ng kid's birthdays!

:)

* Around middle of last year, Tisha told me that she was planning for the 7th birthday of Waddy, their eldest. Although I treated Ronald and Tisha as friends and I was ready to help, I also knew that they were friends with SOOOO many other coordinators na feeling ko super dyahe to offer our team's services. Sa dami ng friends nila na coordinators na mas matagal na sa amin sa industry (plus they also used to coordinate years ago), nakakahiya talaga na mag-offer kasi baka masabihan pa ako ng pumapapel eh kabago-bago ko sa planning business. :) But then, exactly a month before the target date, Tisha called me and seriously asked for our team's services. Syempre I said yes. Bukod sa pagbabayad ng utang na loob kasi they made my wedding so beautiful, I was really touched (and flattered na rin) that they asked me. One month before the date, wala kaming kahit ano but come the day of the event, super wagi ang party! The kids enjoyed it so much. So naging usapan na rin that our team would also do Dos' birthday and also X's birthday this coming October. Incidentally, when Benz of W@W saw me and Tisha discussing the Waddy's party, she asked me to coordinate the Weddings@Work Xmas party kasi daw mukha daw dumadali yung buhay ni Tisha nung nag-uusap na kami. LOL!

2 and 1/2 years and going strong...

Jojie and I had a very petty fight last night which ended with him going home and me staying at the office. I had to work but with my mind distracted from the "fight", I took time to surf the net (supposedly to clear my mind but I was really just playing hooky). Kakatawa kasi kaka-bloghop ko (I do not read clients' blogs eh but I do read my ka-batch sa W@W plus my fellow suppliers' blogs) umabot ako sa wedding website namin and I was able to read our story... like how we met and how we ended up together and how he proposed. I remember the time that I was doing that website, I didn't know anything about website making... kapa-kapa lang. This also made me realize how arte a bride I was and how much time I had in my hands during my wedpreps days! LOL!

I think I'm pretty lucky that Jojie and I are doing really well in our marriage. We've been married for two and half years and I know super dami pa naming pagdadaanan but I'm so proud of the things we've achieved so far.

I remember arguing over my schedule during the first few months of our marriage. Di ba ang usapan homemaker ako? To begin with, hindi naman ako super duper malinis sa house. Unlike Jojie's mom who did general cleaning every week (no kid!), sa bahay namin hindi ganun. Eh during our first few months, super maayos ako (hahaha! best foot forward) but when I started getting busy, napapabayaan ko na.

When we were able to resolve this and Jojie kinda acepted that I was busy (you have to remember that I didn't work during the wedpreps so wala talaga ako ginagawa tapos bigla akong nagkatrabaho na gabi ang meetings at weekends ang pinaka-stressful na araw so exagg talaga), naging super okay na kami. During that time, we bought Arci/Arcy na. Arci/Arcy (sorry can't remember the right spelling right now) is our Honda Civic. Kaya Arci/y kasi the plate number is JGC which stands for Jojie and Ging's Civic. Arci/y is its nickname kasi Our Civic... Arcivic... Arci... Gets? LOL!

I was so happy during that time. Feeling ko paunti-unti nakaka-pundar na kaming mag-asawa. We pooled our savings for the downpayment and ang saya talaga. Then Jojie was paralyzed and was subsequently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. Ay! Umikot ang mundo ko. Totoo pala na nawawala ang saysay ng lahat pag nagkakasakit yung mga mahal mo. That particular time when we were waiting for the diagnosis and ilang beses kaming nagpa-confine was the most difficult period in my life. Wala pa kaming isang taon mag-asawa nun tapos ganun na. :(

January of 2006, Jojie had his thyroid ablated. So hindi na siya mapa-paralyze uli. Yehey! Akala ko okay na but we were in for another round of complications. According to statistics, a significant number of patients who have their thyroids ablated develpp hypothyroidism ten to twenty years after the procedure. Syempre ang asawa ko overachiever... two months after inalisan ng thyroid may hypothyroidism naman. Hypothyroidism is usually accompanied by weight gain (ay! from 180lbs before the wedding, he reached 220lbs during the peak of hy hypothyroidism), lethargy, sluggishness, weakness, memory loss, etc. Although he was taking a thyroid supplement, tagal bago na-regulate his thyroid hormone levels. This period made me realize how strong my husband is. Kung nahirapan siya sa hyperthroidism, mas nahirapan siya sa hypo pero kahit alam kong hirap na hirap siya, he kept on going. Ang hirap pero kaya... kayang-kaya.

Then last November, my coordination team was named one of 2006 Top Ten Wedding Suppliers of the Year. Haaay super dream come true! A few people know this but I was a W@Wie when the first W@Wie Awards was held and I distinctly remember seeing Jody being given her medal for being one of the Top Ten Suppliers that time and I distinctly remember telling myself that I will enter the wedding industry and I will be named one of the Top Ten Suppliers. So being named one of the Top Ten was really a big thing for me. Yun lang ang pangarap ko at pakiramdam ko pwde na akong mag-"retire". Hahaha!

Jojie was really happy for me. Aside from our fight re my schedule during the first few months he was really very supportive of my newfound career. Andun siya pag may meetings ako... well, he didn't sit with me and my clients LOL but he made me sundo everytime gabi na ako. Siya nag-a-absorb ng stress ko. Pag umiiyak ako sa stress, he hugged me. He was a major, major reason for our team's win (syempre bukod sa staff and sa clients and sa fellow suppliers).

But after that really happy period, I realized that the stress I go through during weddings was not worth it kasi nag-iiba na akong tao. Parang hindi na ako counselor, hindi na ako life-giving the way naghihigpit ako sa members ko. And this was when I decided to take a step back. I thought really long and hard. Gusto ko pa ba ituloy ito or gusto ko na tapusin na lang lahat ng commitments ko? I didn't entertain inquiries at all. Deadma na kung sabihan ng nang-iisnab kaysa tumaggap ako only for me to just quit in the end. Ang tagal kong nag-isip. Masaya pa ba ako? Jojie encouraged me to REALLY think. And I realized that events planning made me happy and so I decided to continue working. Buti na lang Jojie still supported my decision. However, although we were generally doing fine, the sould-searching prompted me to instill several changes in the way we handle things para mas efficient and mas makatulong sa couples. Ako kasi when I do something, never half-hearted, so since I decided to go through with wedding planning, aayusin ko pa lalo.

During this time of soul-searching, Jojie and I put up our own fire extinguisher manufacturing business. Weird no? Hahaha! But Jojie grew up with his dad being in this business and he has such a passion for it that I supported him kahit na nung una hindi ko talaga naiintindihan kung bakit fire extinguishers of all things. Hahaha! I remember when Jojie told me about his plans of putting up this business, he also asked my permission. Ang tanong ko lang, "Sigurado ka ba, hon?" He replied with conviction, "Yes". And I told him na susuportahan ko siya.

Ngayon, we're doing okay... I'm still in the process of instilling the changes that I want in the team (Do you know, I so love working with my team? Super ko sila love talaga.) and Jojie's busy with his work as a stock market analyst and we're both trying to boost sales for our firex company. We're doing really good and I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. I thank God everyday for giving me Jojie. And after 30 months of being married, masaya pa rin to wake up next to him. We go on dates and we love spending time with each other. Pag iniisip ko yung buhay namin so far, parang walang panahon na walang major thing happening... pero alam ko din na ano pa man yung dumating, sigurado ako na kakayanin namin. Kasi ganun lang yun.

:)

:(

Jojie has been so stressed lately and I don't know what to do to help him. :( The stock market has been realy bullish lately which has been one of his greatest dreams for the longest time but also translates to so many reports to write, so many models to update, so many meetings to set, and so many interviews to conduct. Dami ko rin naman ginagawa so hindi ko siya maasikaso. :( Haaaaay!

Staff concerns

Ang hirap maghanap!!! Our team is currently in need of new coordinators. No, we're not putting up a second team but we do need more people to be included in our pool of coordinators. Madali lang naman requirements. I need someone responsible, assertive, smart, efficient, someone who is alert the whole time, and someone who can think on her toes (kahit sumisigaw na ako sa harap niya). Since I was able to find several people with these traits, hindi ba dapat pwedeng makakuha ng iba pa? Kung meron man, hindi naman pretty... this may sound bad but I do need someone super presentable or basta may authority yung dating. Contrary to popular conception, wedding planning is NOT a glamorous job... it involves being on your knees to tie someone else's shoes, being on the floor to arrange the veil, assisting the bride while she pees... So i need to make sure that the coordinator, after doing all these, still looks presentable or else baka hingan kami ng tubig ng mga guests sa reception (as in "Miss, tubig nga!"). Kahit sa mga waiters, it's hard to command respect pag hindi ka presentable. Hindi naman porket magpakilala ka na coordinator rerespetuhin ka ng mga suppliers. You need to earn that and looking nice makes the job a little, teeny, weeny bit easier. (Oo na, Emily, I know I'm not practicing what I learned in UP.) Plus pa pala, she needs to jive with the whole team kasi promise, we always laugh. I need someone kikay pero cowboy.

I did interview someone last week who might fit the bill. Super gushing siya about how excited she is to be a coordinator. Juice ko, nung tapos na yung interview and I told her to come in for an observation, she told me that she doesn't want to go inside a catholic church. Ay juice! Gusto ko siyang awayin sa loob ng Starbucks! Ang tagal naming nag-usap hindi niya pala naintindihan na ang "wedding coordinator" may kinalaman sa pagpasok sa loob ng simbahan! Juice! Sabi ko sa kanya, "Iha, walumpung-limang porsyento ng Pilipino ay Katoliko. Ergo, karamihan din ng kasal sa Pilipinas Katoliko!" Haaaaay!


=0=0=0=

Hey! If you know someone who is interested in wedding coordination (our team prefers those with no prior experience), please ask them to email their resume to eventtoremember@gmail.com.

:)

Peachie and Wilbert

Peachie and Wilbert's wedding last Saturday was not the usual Chinese wedding. :)

Preps was done at the bride and groom's respective houses. Normally, I do not recommend preparing for a wedding at the bride's home. The parents are more often than not more anxious since they are in effect "hosting" the suppliers. Whereas in a hotel, our team has the run of the room and we can just call housekeeping for anything, in a bride's house, we have to ask for permission for every little thing. Concern din ang aircon because if the bride's home does not have centralized airconditioning, it might be too hot for the bride to stay in certain areas of the house where the picture taking may take place (plus her makeup might melt). Also, since our team does not have a groom's coordinator (we do not see the need for it kasi talaga), we have a harder time making sure that the groom leaves at the time that he needs to leave since we're at the bride's home.

In the case of Peachie's wedding last Sunday, preparing at their house was a non-negotiable thing for her parents. I was really anxious kasi the wedding was at San Agustin in Intramuros while their house, ergo the preps venue, was in Quezon City! Although Sunday naman pero kakatakot pa rin ma-late lalo na sa San Agustin pa.

Our call time was 830am to 900am and my team assembled at 8am. Yun lang, stupid me couldn't find my trusty Nike wedding shoes at first and it took me several minutes to realize that I left it at my parents' place. So I had to go there befor I could go to our team's meeting place. We got to Peachie's place around 845am.

Another thing why I do not want to prepare at the bride's place is... and this is not to sound arrogant... the pictorial spots at a normal home is limited kasi bihira naman yung may bahay na tipong straight from Real Living pages. But in Peachie's case, super ganda ng house niya for pictorial. No exagg pero mas maganda pa sa hotel room yung Master's bedroom where we had the preps. May staircase din sila where pictures can be taken so it was actually a good idea to hold the preps there kung sa picture at sa picture lang naman. :)

The preps went very smoothly. The bride's mom just had an appendectomy and kakalabas niya pa lang ng hospital that morning pero she was game. I really appreciated the fact that she was not pa-importante kahit na may operasyon siya. She was really nice. Actually, the bride's family was very accommodating... and super ganda lahat ng girls sa family nila. :)

A funny thing happened during the preps. Dino Lara's team and Threelogy arrived around 11:00 am. Sabi daw kasi ni Dino sa kanilang lahat bawal daw mag-sapatos loob ng bahay nila Peachie so LAHAT sila pumasok ng naka-medyas lang! Super nakakatawa!!! Isip ko nga next time dapat may dala akong camera palagi para I can capture those moments. Hahaha!

I left Peachie's house around 1230pm to test the traffic. We arrived in Intramuros at 115pm so tolerable naman the traffic, sa Quiapo lang. When we got there, the coordinators for the 2pm wedding were preparing na.

We started preps for the ceremony as soon as the 2pm wedding started. Since nagdadatingan na rin naman yung mga sponsors, we started checking the attendance na. One thing I realized that our team really needs to master is tying neckties kasi ang daming hindi alam mag-tie ng necktie nila eh.

The mass went without a hitch. The thing I'm most proud of is the fact that we were able to clear the area beside the carpet between the doors and the pews. Pag Chinese wedding kasi andun lahat ng guests so what happens is hindi nakukuhanan yung bride ng wide angle pic na hindi nakikita yung isang libong guests na nakatayo. The task was actually not easy since some guests were being very unhelpful (I was told by one of the guests when I asked her to occupy the pews "Ayoko, ayoko, ayoko!")

After the mass, the couple went to the Inner Courtyard for the pictorial while the rest of the team went to Century. When we arrived at the reception venue, papasok pa lang yung Balay Kandila, the event stylist. The ingress was at 430pm, imagine!!! Ingress is normally, at the least, 4 hours before the event pero dahil may lunch event na isang Chinese Association (na I'm sorry pero super duper hirap paalisin), nakapasok yung Balay Kandila just before 5pm.

We immediately started preps for the reception. Buti na lang super bilis ng Balay, ni Alex Franco (for the cake), and ni Strad (for the sound system). By 630pm, almost done na and we were able to open doors at exactly 7pm (as per the agreement with the couple).

The Century function hall was transformed! Nag-mukhang ballroom ng hotel! Ang galing talaga ni Balay Kandila kaya rin they're my favorite stylist. :)

The program was very short and sweet. Cake cutting lang and two AVPs basically yung laman ng program. Super okay talaga pag ganun kasi the guests were not bored (and the guests numbered 900 nga pala!). Paulo Clemente and the RSVP String Ensemble entertained the guests and entertained they did! Ang galing nila! It was my first time to work with RSVP and I understood Paulo's comment that it was great to sing with them kasi hindi sila nagkakamali. :)

The program ended exactly the same time the last course was being served which was exactly our goal. Ganun kasi sa Chinese wedding. The program cannot end after the guests are done eating, otherwise lahat sila umaalis na. :(

Another funny incident, after the program, Marielle and I ran to the Century Hotel lobby (mejo malayo yun ha!) to run after guests who took the centerpieces home. It slipped my mind that aside from the main entrance, there was a side entrance, and guests who knew that we were at the main entrance watching out for vases went out of the side entrance so they can make puslit! Hahaha! Buti may mga naabutan naman kami. I even requested Robert of Dino Lara's team to take a picture of the two of us holding the vases we were able to sequester. Hehehe!

By the way, Candy, my January 27 bride, dropped by to see Balay's work. She chatted with the suppliers and nag-enjoy siya. Sa kulit ba naman ng Threelogy at sa bait ni Alex eh. :)

I got home past 12 midnight. Super kapagod (ushering 900 guests is not an easy task) pero super saya, espcailly running to the lobby for those vases!

:)

never trust an itlog from the tatlong itlog...

I got home late today from my meetings. With tomorrow's task list still unfinished, I was kinda in a panic na. Then around 930pm, my phone rang. Unrecognized yung number. I didn't want to answer the call pero baka important and baka yung bride tomorrow so I answered. The conversation went basically like this:

Me: Hello?
Guy: Hello! Good evening. May I speak with Ms. Clarice?
Me: Speaking. Who's this, please? (In my thoughts, kilala ko ito! Kilala ko ito!)
Guy: Oh hi! Mag-i-inquire lang...
Me: Yes? (Sino ito?!?!?!)
Guy: For a wedding. You came highly recommended by the community.
Me: Oh, you're a W@WiE?
Guy: Yes.
Me: Ikaw mismo yung W@Wie or yung wife mo? (If this is a real groom, cool! Pero baka niloloko lang ako nito ah!)
Guy: Couple kami.
Me: Oh, ok! When's your wedding?
Guy: 2008 pa.
Me: When in 2008?
Guy: January 2. Are you still available?
Me: January 2. Hmmm... I'll check ha.. (Sino ba to???)
Guy: Yeah, it's in Boracay kasi.
Me: (Checking the calendar and thinking 'sino ba ito?', 'tuesday ang january 2,', and 'tatanggapin ko ba ito?' all at the same time) I think we're still available.
Guy: Mejo nahihiya nga ako sa iyo kasi kakatapos lang ng New Year and syempre you have to be there.
Me: Hmmm.... I would have to ask my team and my husband... (Super wanting to ask, Sino ka ba??? Natatawa na ako by this time and my husband, upon hearing the date January 2, was signalling me NOT to accept the wedding, ang sama na nga ng tingin niya sa akin eh.)
Guy: Pero parang you don't want to. Parang you're turning me down na.
Me: (not wanting to be rude) No, no. I was doing something kasi.
Guy: Oh okay. You were doing something... pero parang you don't want.
Me: (Hmmm.... yeah din... ) No, no, no... (Pag tinanong ko kung sino siya at totoo pala siyang groom, nakakahiya! Ano kaya gagawin ko?)

BIGLANG...

Guy: Clarice! Si CJ ito!!!
Me: CJ!!! G*gu ka talaga! Hahahaha!


... Haaaay! :-D

Yun lang!

:)

sari-sari

i am currently listening to lea salonga's broadway concert. she's so good!!! i really love her!

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last year, our team had 8 weddings in may. there was even a week that we had 5. this month, i only accepted 4 for the whole month but my stress level was the same, if not higher. siguro kasi out of the 4, 3 were full coordination. lesson learned: limit to 2 full coordination in a month.

=0=0=

i remember last year, i was so stressed during one of the weddings... everything was going wrong... the bride lost her arrhae the morning of the wedding (she had two and she lost both. :)) and she wanted a traditional arrhae (yung nasa cage!!!) and we couldn't find a shop which carried one... buti na lang na-convince siya in the end to just use loose coins... the mother of the groom had her own timeline and she didn't listen to our constant pangungulit na magbihis na... ending, she was two minutes late for the ceremony and she wasn't able to march (manila cathedral is super duper strict when it comes to time... isang beses lang kaming pinayagang maging late dun, nung ninang si PGMA)... the emcee, a friend of the couple, was 45 minutes late and the couple wanted to wait for her... basta ang daming small glitches that my stress level was so high... when dinner came, the emcee explained that it was photo-buffet but the guest singer, when he had the mic, asked everyone to go to the buffet table! eh di nagtayuan kalahati ng ballroom to go to the buffet! that exact moment when i turned my back to find half the ballroom gone was so surreal! parang slowmo sa pelikula. i radioed one of my coordinators to take over my post, went to the hotel veranda, and cried. i even called jojie and told him what happened. after three minutes, i went back inside (i have a rule, 3 minutes lang pwedeng mag-self-pity :)) to oversee the reception again.

that was the first and only time that the photo-buffet was not perfect. since then, super proud na yung team namin sa photo-buffet. we also made sure to brief anyone who will be handling the mic about the photo-buffet procedure.

:)

=0=0=

even before we got married, jojie and i agreed that i would be a homemaker. when i started coordination, my self-concept was that i was still a homemaker and just a part-time coordinator. kahit na ang dami ko nang meetings, i don't wash our clothes (we have a neighborhood laundromat which picks up and delivers our clothes), i rarely get to cook (we eat out most of the time), i seldom clean the house, feeling ko pa rin homemaker ako. last week, i finally admitted that i needed help and today i hired a cleaning lady. hooray for city living!

=0=0=

:)