Confirmed Fireworks: Dragon Fireworks by Hans Ong

During the Surprise Birthday and Engagement Party a year ago, Steve surprised me with some firework displays. Our neighbors and even the people nearby our area were amazed how pretty it was... Of course, you cannot blame them as we're only used to seeing fireworks during New Year's Eve and or Government Elections... lol :) If Steve managed to have it during my birthday then definitely he will have more than enough budget for the fireworks to our wedding!

Its already last week of our holiday in Philippines and we no longer have time to book for an appointment so we tried our luck and went to Dragon Fireworks office in Ortigas to meet Hans Ong. Unfortunately, he was out of the office for a meeting and not planning of coming back that day. We asked the assistant if we could have at least talk to him over the phone and to our surprise, he still remembered Steve and will be coming back to the office to meet us!

We waited for couple of hours but it is really worth the wait knowing that we don't even have an appointment but still, he accommodated us. It was my first time to meet him but you will instantly feel comfortable talking to him (actually to all the staff).

After the brainstorming and finalizing the details, Steve paid them cash... that is for the great assistance and Steve's love for fireworks!

To contact them:

DFX Professional Systems Inc.

Unit C-24, Bldg. B, Ortigas Home Depot, 

Julia Vargas Ave., Pasig City

Tel. 7065789 / 92, 5713871

http://www.dragonfireworks.com

Confirmed Wedding Cake: Judy Uson, The Cake Artist

Time flies... it is already our last week of holiday in Philippines yet, we still have couple of things to finalize and that includes the cake.

Since the detailing is already finished and personally confident that they can do it... it's now time for the cake tasting. They have eight or nine flavors of the cake. First flavor was the Carrot Walnut, I do admit that I don't like carrot cake but when I tasted this carrot walnut, it is super nice! Steve and my brother-in-law also liked it! Unfortunately, I really had a bad cough that time and it worsen that I can hardly breathe after having a small portion of the cake sample (but it's not their fault) so I just let them do the cake tasting and the rest is history.

They all liked the flavors but when we asked them which flavors we will be having for our cake, they said that they already forgot and Steve jokingly requesting for another batch of cake sample! Means that he liked the cakes! Since I wasn't able to taste the rest of the cakes, Steve and Raymond decided to have four flavors: Carrot Walnut which I tasted and liked, Red Velvet, Lemon Butter and the last is the Tropical Pineapple. Looking forward to taste all those three flavors on the wedding!

Steve, surprisingly liked all the flavors except for the chocolate which he said too sweet for him (though my sister liked it), we decided to upfront confirm with Judy Uson and inform Revianne to cancel the other appointment. Somehow, I felt bad for not giving the other supplier a chance to amaze us but with the positive reviews of Steve, my brother-in-law and my sister... No regrets!

Wedding Cake

For some couple, wedding cake is not a top priority but for us... it is essential as wedding cakes were made to be shared by all and bring good luck to all guests and couple.

Like wedding dresses, I am fond of watching "The Cake Boss", "Amazing Wedding Cakes", "The Next Great Baker" and that made me think outside the box.

None in the wedding will be traditionally formal including the cake! Typical wedding cake with formal- flowery design is really not our style. We both want a cake design that is unique and will tell a story of "US".

Revianne referred some cake suppliers but when she founds out that my wedding cake design requires TLC, not to mention considering the outdoor venue and striking heat of the summer, she told me that she needs to check it first with the vendors. Some suppliers say they can manage to do it but I am not satisfied with the way they described the possible design so to make things easier for all of us... I will be the one to conceptualize and draw the design.

It will be a "West meets East" design... minor changes will be totally fine with me for as long as the concept will still be there. So now that the design is already done, all we have to do is to find a Cake artist that can truly make our cake design possible on a reasonable price. Take note, Steve is not a cake lover so for him to like a cake is really something...

Pre-nuptial Photoshoot: WAWA DAM

It was sunny and the humidity was high in the morning then suddenly be raining in the afternoon almost everyday during our holiday in Philippines and that made Steve suffered from cough and colds. I even considered cancelling the Pre-nup shoot Steve said that he will be fine and that we no longer have time as we still have lots of things to finalize before our holiday ends so...

Pre-nup day, I woke up at 5am, took a shower, dry my hair and wait for Khite at home for the HMU and when she arrived, we started the preparation right away. As what I have said on my previous blog, the hair and make up is truly loved!

There are lots of nice ideas for the pre-nup but for Steve, Pre-nup should be how "We" are as a couple in our daily lives... no drama... no fancy clothing... and everyone agreed to that point of view so we will just get something from the 2 luggage of clothes we brought with us to Philippines.

We're done with HMU when Steve woke up and started getting ready. To be honest, we're really not prepared. Steve is not feeling well, busy attending wedding appointments, we also have other things to do that we forgot to make sure that we will be ready for the Pre-nup. No confirmed clothes to wear, no accessories, we don't even know which shoes to be used but when Revianne arrived, she suggested some clothes we can wear so we just grabbed it from the hanger and that's it... Ready to go! Good thing that Revianne was there to guide us... she is our Wedding Planner, Yes! But it's not part of her service to join us in our Pre-nup session... she just wants to make sure that everything is okay and she's doing it for free... Bless her! Russel and his team said that they will just go straight to the venue so everything was set and we're on our way to Wawa Dam.

Wawa Dam is located in San Rafael, Rodriguez Rizal and one of the eco-tourism sites in Southern Tagalog Region. There's a District office in charged for the peace & order and Tourism office to preserve the beauty of the place based in the area. It is free to go and visit but if you're going to have a photo shoot regardless if it is a Pre-nup or for commercial purposes, both offices have fees. We we're able to meet (Ms) Guy, a very humble yet very accommodating head from the District office who assisted us with the permits and getting us tour guides. Please be aware that the tour guide's fee is not included on the fees you paid to the District and Tourism. They are volunteers but it is expected to give them any fare amount for their time and it will be great to be generous enough to include them in your food budget.

Entrance to Wawa Dam is somehow a residential area and you have to walk few kilometers to reach the target location.

Since it is between 2 mountains, be prepared to have inclined walks, cross some metal bridges over looking the river and since it is rainy season, make sure to use a non-slippery shoes. Warning: This place is not for people with Acrophobia or afraid of heights!

Due to long walk, we we're all sweating when we reached the destination. We rented a nipa hut for Php100/day and waited for Russel and his team to arrive to start the photo shoot. My nephew almost regret coming with us and my sister who's pregnant was surprised (as well as myself!) as this is not the Wawa Dam we knew decades ago... it is still beautiful (don't get me wrong) just with more houses being built near the dam so it looks like populated and visible signs of vandalism but it also has improvements like bridges and fences.

Since not prepared, my sister and brother-in-law went back to the town to buy food and drinks. It's almost lunch time when Russel and his team arrived so we decided to just wait for the food and have lunch before we start. Expect loitering dogs, cats and chickens in the area especially while eating, they're after your leftover food.

Okay! Pre-nup... It feels awkward to pose in front of the camera because we are not used to it specially Steve. We don't know what to do but Russel and Ial made us feel comfortable and tell to just be ourselves... So photo shoot begins!

There's also an area where Steve was quite hesitant to go because he doesn't know what's under the water but they we're able to persuade Steve to try... and it turned out really nice!

and not to forget about below breathtaking view... Only in Wawa Dam

After the 1st session, it started to rain so we have to go back to the nipa hut and wait for the rain to stop. But when? what time? we're running out of day light so Russel and team decided to just do some random shots while sitting and another lovely photos have been taken!

The tour guides said that there are still some nice spots on the other side of the mountain but we have to cross by boat for Php10/head and since due to almost everyday raining, the water current is quite strong so we opted not to take risk. One of the tour guides also mentioned that there is one more nice location near the residential area so when the rain almost stopped, we decided to pack our things and head up to the last location near the parking area while Jeffrey, the videographer capture some video footage for our Wedding teaser (this is to follow... I still don't have a copy yet).

Everyone is knackered but it's all worth it! Steve despite of not feeling well, still enjoyed and admired the place. He even asked me why we never been in that area before lol :)

For the people who made this photo shoot possible... Thank you so much! To Ms. Guy of Wawa District and to our tour guides, Richard and Ronald for assisting us. To my Sister, Brother-in-Law and my Nephew who woke up early to help and support us all through out the day (Rain or Shine). To Revianne who's always been with us the whole photo sessions regardless if she's already sweating just to assist us. Giving us tissue, asking if we need water, doing everything possible just to make sure that we're both fine. To Khite, for making me gorgeous all day long, making sure that my HMU are still okay and for conquering your fear of heights just to be with us... lol :) and to Russel, Ial and Jeffrey for the fun, experience and lovely photos... See you all soon!

All about Wedding Theme, Invitations and Color Palette

We told Revianne that we wanted to have a beach wedding and since we already have a venue, next thing to do is finalize the color palette: We cannot start with the planning and conceptualizing till we find the right color for the wedding.

After checking all options, we short-listed 3 color palettes and asked our family and friends to choose which they think is the best color to describe the wedding and us as a couple and we came up to a final decision of choosing the Lemon-Tangerine-Grapefruit color palette. 

After finalizing the color palette, Revianne start conceptualizing everything and even generous enough to create a monogram for us. Since almost half of the guests will be from other countries and other half needs to drive approximately 4 hours to reach the venue, we came up with an idea of having a Passport type invitation. Revianne was very helpful to do the layout and design from the invitation cover to the packaging... feel blessed to have a Wedding Coordinator like her!

Our Wedding Planner: Revianne Sesante of Weddings by Revianne

So now, it's time for us to look for a Wedding Planner... Since we are overseas and this is our dream beach wedding, we are looking for a Wedding Planner that can make us feel important and priority, someone whom we really can 100% rely on, someone who's very much familiar with beach weddings in Batangas area and can effectively communicate well with us. Someone who can also keep her temper and patience dealing with us as a couple... I am not sure what kind of a "Soon to be Bride" I am and I cannot guarantee that I won't be a "Bridezilla" especially when it comes to our wedding preparation. lol :)

Due to limited sources/ knowledge, I asked my friends & relatives and even posted on my FB wall asking for Wedding Planner/ Coordinator recommendations but either we don't find them knowledgeable of what they are doing yet charging us a lot or some that cannot communicate well with Steve and for us, that is one of the most important things to consider in getting a Wedding Planner or some well-known suppliers that takes time to reply just for a simple inquiry which for us have a negative impact knowing that how can you deal with someone who responded to your inquiry 1- 2 weeks later and took couple of days again to respond to your follow- up inquiry? Is it because since the wedding is still more than a year to happen then they're not taking us seriously? Just can't imagine the feeling/ dilemma if you will get their service then few months or weeks before your wedding, they will suddenly not contact you or keep you hanging... I hate it!

I don't know if our standards are just way too high or we haven't find the right one... I almost give up looking and about to confirm the one who took time to respond when I called Acuatico Beach and asked for a Wedding Planner recommendation. One of the staff there mentioned that Revianne Sesante was the Event Coordinator during the owner's birthday recently but they don't have her contact details. I searched her name online and saw her FB page, Weddings by Revianne. The page is not updated but there's an email address so I tried and sent her an inquiry and to my surprise, she responded very quickly and that made us both excited to call her. To be honest, I easily felt comfortable talking to her plus the fact that she is familiar with our chosen venue since she had wedding events being held there. I also gave the phone to Steve to talk to her to let him explain what kind of wedding we both wanted and Revianne was very accommodating giving some of her ideas and letting us feel that she knows what we wanted and that she will help us make it happen. Steve also felt comfortable talking to her and I know... we finally found our Wedding Planner!

It was October 2013 when we first confirmed Revianne's service as a Wedding Planner. A year had past as it's now October 2014 but we never regret a thing. Not only we got a reliable Wedding Planner but we also gained a friend in her.  

Choosing Our Wedding Venue- Acuatico Beach, Laiya Batangas

We're officially engaged!

Once back from our holiday, we started talking about the wedding... the theme, the date and the venue.

Steve and I both wanted to have a beach wedding so we decided that we will definitely have one. We first planned of having it in Dubai since we're both residence here and near to his relatives in UK but thinking of the long procedures and expensive fees in getting visas plus the air ticket and accommodation for all my relatives just to attend our wedding made us decide to do it in Philippines and since it is an outdoor event, we chose to have it in Summer.

Philippines is surrounded by water so definitely, there will be a lot of beaches to choose from. We started looking for a venue online and most of the nice venues for an intimate wedding are in Boracay like Discovery Shore, Shangri-la, Estacio Uno, Asya, Sea Wind Boracay and Fridays but logistics' wise, it's not a good option for us knowing that all my relatives are in Manila and Steve's relatives need to travel almost a day from UK to Manila then another couple of hours from Manila to Boracay and at the same time, not all the guests we wanted to be present in our wedding can afford to shoulder the expenses. Though we wanted to have a beach wedding, we also need to consider our loved ones so we looked again for other options then I remembered something... Batangas also has nice beach resorts so we searched online. There are couple of nice beach hotels in the area but the one really captured our attention is the Acuatico Beach Resort in San Juan, Laiya Batangas.

                                                   http://www.acuaticoresort.com.ph/

According to their website, they only have a total of 21 rooms and villas good for 62 pax. In that case, the hotel is not that big to be crowded and to have a lot of in-house guests so it is just perfect for our intimate wedding!

We sent them an inquiry right after we got their email address on the website. Izel, the Sales & Reservations Manager was very accommodating sending us their wedding packages. The package options include the basic set-up of the venue, dinner buffet and overnight accommodation with breakfast for 62 pax which makes the hotel EXCLUSIVE for us on the night of our wedding! That is the type of venue/ package we are looking for... an intimate and exclusive wedding for us and our loved ones.

Now, since we are overseas, next is to find a Wedding Planner.