The Search Is Over

Yes, you read it right.  My long search for a makeup artist is officially over! :) Yippee!  I only made up my mind this afternoon, and I feel so relieved.  For weeks, it was finding one that has kept me busy during my free time.  I kept researching, reading forums and browsing portfolios.  Boy was it tiring.

Of all our wedding suppliers, it's the HMUA (hair & makeup artist) that we're booking last.  Being a makeup enthusiast myself, choosing from a huge bunch of artists out there was really difficult!  There are those that offer packages at really affordable rates, but I don't want to worry about the quality so they're immediately out of our list.  I've basically relied on reviews from Weddings@Work, and I shortlisted the popular ones. Of my long list, I focused on those names whose rates are reasonable given the quality of their output.  Here's the matrix that I made:

These are all excellent artists, but I've finally zeroed in on one, and that's Mayone Bakunawa. :) Her rate card above seems higher than the rest, but fortunately, I was able to negotiate! *snaps for me!!!* :) The nego rate is still higher than our original budget for hair and makeup, but since it's her that I want, Rolly gave the go-signal to book her already. Yippee! (Isn't it great to have such a loving fiance? He knows I'd only get grumpy if he would object about 'my chosen one.' =D)

Anyway, here are some of Mayone's brides whose photos I borrowed from her portfolio.  See how glowing they are and how beautiful but natural the makeup looks on them! :)

I was surprised to see that my UP blockmate Marielle was also a Mayone bride! :)

Mayone herself is very pretty! 

Weee! I'm even more excited now! :) I know she will make me a truly blushing bride on our big day.

 
Cheers,

Team Dream Wedding ♥

It's September 2011, a good thirteen months before our day of days. Some would say it's too early to prepare, but they're definitely mistaken.  Last month, we tried booking our chosen reception venue on the date that we wanted, but another couple already booked ahead of us. :(  We then spoke with the second venue on our list, but alas, another couple already reserved.  We were left with no choice but to change our wedding date.  From December 2012, it is now gonna be November.

With roughly 417 days left, what have we accomplished? Well I must say, we have already covered quite a lot. We're actually nearly done! =D  I'm soooo proud!

Rolly and I have been to two bridal fairs now, and it's mostly from these expos that we got the suppliers who will make our dream wedding come true. ♥

Presenting Team Dream Wedding! Ta-daaaa! =D

NICE PRINT PHOTOGRAPHY

The Photo and Video team to work on our big day is one of our non-negotiables.  We've reviewed a lot of names, but Nice Print always came out to be the best choice.  Here are some of their works taken from their site:

It's hard not to get too excited! :) The team assigned to us is the same Photo-Video team who did the Ogie-Regine wedding in 2010. Woohoo!

HIZON'S CATERING

We know the best way to a guest's heart is through his or her stomach, thus we're getting a no-fail caterer that will make every one of our guests pleased. We booked Hizon's during one of their grand food tasting events, and without a doubt, their dishes are absolutely superb!  At the moment, we still haven't decided which food to serve on our wedding.  It's just so difficult to decide when you know everything is delectable.  Hmm, I think we should leave the choosing to our parents. :)

SHEATHS COUTURE

The bridal and entourage gowns, admittedly, are not on our list of priorities, so we carefully looked for couturiers who won't drain our bank account. Upon browsing "weddings at work" forums looking for one, the name "Tito Boy Kastner" always surfaced. Brides-to-be only have good words about his works, and I couldn't help but research more about him.  Then after I saw the gowns he made, I instantly fell in love.  I felt what others call the "this is it" feeling.  I knew he's the perfect atelier who will make my dream gown.  He may not be as popular as Veluz and the Religiosos, but he definitely creates gowns which are as beautiful.

I super want to share the sketch of my gown which Tito Boy skillfully finished in just about ten minutes, but part of me wants to keep it secret until our day of days.  Hehe. So 'di na lang muna. =P

GOLDEN HILLS

We booked Golden Hills on our very first wedding expo at Megatrade.  They have the nicest pairs of rings, and they have the set which I had always painted in my head.  Though the price was more than what what we plotted on our budget sheet, we just couldn't leave their booth without booking.  Our wedding rings will be our rings forever anyway, so we have no regrets about going over the budget. =D

 

SCENTA CREATIONS

For our floral needs, we got Scenta Creations (formerly called Scenta Flora).  Their floral arrangements are very pretty at reasonable rates.  We booked them at the Themes 'n Motifs Wedding Expo at SMX, so we were able to bag lots of freebies, too! :)  This is the peg which I showed Bing, the owner, for my bridal bouquet:

Ang nice, diba?! *kilig* But she will improve this even further!  This was how Bing put into words my dream bouquet:  It will be hand-tied composed mainly of Ecuadorian roses, with feathers and crystals. The bouquet will be bound by an ivory-colored ribbon with a pretty brooch. Yippeee!  My entourage will have lovely bouquets and boutonnieres, too!

PERFECTLY SWEET CAKES & PASTRIES

I'm so lucky to have a very supportive boss! Hihi.  And our wedding cake will be courtesy of her. :)  Thank you Ms. Lerms! :*  Perfectly Sweet has been my boss's tried and tested cake maker. The photo below is one of the many cakes made by them, and I think it will be perfect for our big day.  Of course the color scheme would be different to match our wedding motif. :)

GLOBAL INVITATIONS

The moment we saw their sample invites, we knew we had to get them.  Theirs are as lovely as the popular suppliers' works, but not as expensive.  I'd love to share the design we chose, but again, I need to keep it private for now.   So instead I am sharing their other invite designs:

  

REJECTKREW PROFESSIONAL LIGHTS & SOUNDS

This supplier is another W@W find. Brides-to-be in this online community only have the best reviews about this team led by Elmer Pineda.  We don't know anything about lights and sounds, so we're leaving everything to Rejectkrew.  Here are their sample lighting effects:

FêTE (FESTIVE, ELEGANT, TIMELESS EVENTS)

This wedding wouldn't be our dream wedding at all if, despite having great suppliers, everyone won't be coordinated perfectly on the day itself.  For this reason, I have asked for the help of my good friend Jan and her team, to serve as our OTD coordinator.  I know she will make my day stress-free. :)

************

These are the people and groups consisting the Team RollsJoyce so far.  Another item left for us to find is the Hair and Makeup artist, but hunting for one shouldn't be difficult.  I already have a list of names in my head, and we're gonna see which of them could give us the best deals.  That's what we're gonna do in the next wedding fair we're attending.

Woohooo! :) I'm overjoyed!  

To my Mahal, thanks for giving me the kind of wedding I have always dreamed of ever since I was small.  And thank you for being the perfect groom for me.  I can't ask for anything more.  I love you! ♥

Cheers,

New Monograms

Yaaaay! :)  Thanks kuya for these.  Gosh, mine pales in comparison when compared to your designs.  Hehe.

Rolly and I like the first one better, because of the "garden-ish" feel of the design which matches our wedding theme. :)  It also uses our wedding colors, pink and midnight blue. ;)

Yaaaay! =D



Cheers,

The Rolly-Joyce Monogram

Ever since Rolly and I got engaged, most of my free time has been spent researching, daydreaming, and exploring wedding stuff. Our wedding website is now up, though I haven't "announced" the url yet because there are still finishing touches left to do.  I've also become part of the "weddings at work" community where brides-to-be, like myself, discuss things concerning wedding preparations, suppliers, bridal fair experiences, and the like.

In some of the forums, I encountered a topic about monograms.  As wikipedia defines it, a monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos.  For weddings, monograms are used to design the couple's wax seals, save-the-date cards, invitations, favors, etc.  For Rolly and I, however, the monogram is more than a logo design.  It's a visual reminder of our new life together.

I've seen many couple monograms, and I got inspired. :) I'm not a graphic artist and I don't know how to form shapes and stuff on Photoshop, so I just explored Microsoft Powerpoint and doodled and dragged and clicked.  

The result?  Drum roll please...

Ta-daaaa! =D

This is only a draft, so please save your negative comments for later. Hehehe. I'll have someone enhance it pa. :) And this won't be blue, it's going to be silver.  I just didn't want to use gray on powerpoint because it looks dull.

I made it circle for the same reason that wedding bands are round.  This shape has no end, no corners. Instead of using "&" in between our names, I used the infinity symbol, which symbolizes ENDLESSNESS.  Just like us and our ever after... endless. *mushy*  The symbol is also a number 8 set sideways.  This number is quite symbolic between Rolly and me.  I said yes to him on 888, and now we're getting married on an 8 as well.

Weeeee! I'm very excited! I'll give you a peek into the final monogram once it's ready. :)

A happy bride-to-be,