I have not updated this blog. For the better part of five months, I have been adjusting to the role of wife, and -- in the most unexpected news -- a soon-to-be-mom!
Between running the household, learning to cook, keeping busy with a freelance job, obligations with church, and family, and adjusting to a sensitive pregnancy, it's been quite a ride.
But as with all things, I've already developed a routine and rhythm, and right now I want to get back to blogging.
So let me begin with the wedding...
The Wedding: March 24, 2014
THE VENUE: Teofely Gardens
The place is actually owned a by church friend of Jotham's and they are the kindest, most accommodating people on the planet. The whole while, we were coordinating with Tita Anna, Tito Ian and Lav, and they met and even exceeded everyone of our expectations.
ENTOURAGE DRESSES: Paolo Blanco
Paolo is a nice guy, an up-and-coming name in the wedding/entourage dress industry. He was referred to me by a good friend, and he's really easy to talk to, and very friendly.
DECORS: DIY
c. The Gazebo
FLOWERS
Between running the household, learning to cook, keeping busy with a freelance job, obligations with church, and family, and adjusting to a sensitive pregnancy, it's been quite a ride.
But as with all things, I've already developed a routine and rhythm, and right now I want to get back to blogging.
So let me begin with the wedding...
The Wedding: March 24, 2014
THE VENUE: Teofely Gardens
The place is actually owned a by church friend of Jotham's and they are the kindest, most accommodating people on the planet. The whole while, we were coordinating with Tita Anna, Tito Ian and Lav, and they met and even exceeded everyone of our expectations.
This is the lovely pool area, which we didn't use, though some couples opted for the bride to walk a bridge that spans the length of the pool.
We asked for a quaint garden set up with the gazebo up front, and Tiffany chairs scattered on the grass. I had previously insisted on just scattered petals to line the aisle where I would walk.
But it rained, and the grass got muddy, so no choice!
We would have preferred sunny weather and a cool climate, but the Lord saw it fit to have it rain or our wedding. Not just a drizzle mind you, but a full-on downpour. Teofely Gardens had a standby tent --nice, see-through ones, that were hastily set up so that we could still hold the ceremony in the garden area.
Our reception was held in the covered area at the back.
THE DRESS: Aspen by Jenny Packham
ENTOURAGE DRESSES: Paolo Blanco
Paolo is a nice guy, an up-and-coming name in the wedding/entourage dress industry. He was referred to me by a good friend, and he's really easy to talk to, and very friendly.
He did my sister's dresses in this lovely shade of blush pink.
He also did my mom's dress, which she didn't like at first fitting, but after she saw the exquisite bead work, she changed her mind.
He had to alter my little niece' flower girl dress three times because Maggie just kept on gaining weight and no matter how much we pulled and tugged she just couldn't fit.
She's so cute though. Look at those chubby arms!
My beautiful friends were kind enough to have their own dresses made. I just gave them their tela, sourced from Fabric Warehouse. I also sent them a Powepoint of the pegs and the overall look and theme I wanted for their dresses (an idea I got from my good friend Anna, who did the same thing for her wedding).
This photo is proof positive that my friends a) can follow directions well b) have fantastic taste.
THE INVITATIONS: Design by my cousin Hya Martinez
Printing by Jotham's good friend, Nino Tuason
My cousin Hya is a graphic designer by profession, and she offered to do our invitations for free! We just sent her pegs from Pinterest of vintage, travel-themed invitations and we loved the rendition she came up with, which revolved around a postcard look.
Using very rudimentary skills in Photoshop, I did the map of our venue. It went through three revisions to make sure that the map directions were clear enough so that no one got lost :)
For the printing, Jotham got in touch with a good friend of his who does the printing for some of the major companies here in the Philippines. They mostly do promotional materials or packaging, but they obliged us with our very small order. We were their first wedding invitation they said.
Our wedding invitation envelopes was a DIY project. I scoured the Internet for inspiration on what would fit our theme, but at the same time would be manageable for us to do ourselves.
I finally settled on some printable vintage wedding stamps that came in several colors, which we printed, cut, and pasted individually on envelopes bought from Office Warehouse.
For the labels, I found free printable wrap-around labels which we just edited to reflect the names of our guests. My sisters helped me in all the pasting, gluing, and assembly of these, and it took no time at all!
DECORS: DIY
Believe me when I say that I am quite grateful that my last full time job allowed me ample time to plan my wedding. I spent so much time on websites such as Pinterest, Martha Stewart weddings, and various wedding inspirations websites.
Of course, we visited the wedding venue first to check out what spaces we could decorate, and what would best fit each area.
In the end, we chose a couple of areas to decorate.
a. The Registration Area
This is an actual vintage globe that Jotham had lying around in his house. The mayonnaise and mason jars were sourced from Tabora street in Divisoria, and the pretty carnations they held were bought the day before the wedding in Dangwa. The envelopes were given by my sister.
I decided to make the seating more personalized by providing escort cards for each guest. They're all lined up here in alphabetical order, with each envelop bearing handwritten name labels, and containing instructions on where to sit, plus some friendly reminders.
The lovely travel envelopes with designs such as London's Big Ben, and Paris' the Eiffel Tower were once again, a Divisoria find.
The lamp is from Teofely, while the picture frame is an old one from our house.
b. The Photo Clothesline
Again, I found some very lovely vintage map themed luggage tags that we edited and printed out to reflect the words "At the beginning with you." It is a line I love from that Anastasia song. I thought it was very much in keeping with our journey/travel theme.
We also found blank vintage postcard printables from the Internet, and placed a particularly memorable photo from our relationship, and matched it with a bible verse.
c. The Gazebo
Teofely had two gazebos, and I planned to use each one as a Souvenirs and Guest Book area respectively. But we found out that the sound the tech booth had to be settled in one gazebo so as not too take up too much space in the reception area.
So we ended up using one gazebo to house both the souvenirs and the guestbook.
The DIY guest book, is just a sketch pad with the invitation and program cover stuck in front.
Our souvenirs, aside from the photobooth were sandalwood fans. We counted on hot.humid weather since our wedding was in March. But rained heavily that day so these fans were more decorative rather than functional.
d. The Guest Tables
For the table setting, we used hardbound vintage books sourced from our own personal libraries, quill flowers and some twine. We also made a mini-booklet game that the guest could fill out during the lull time between the ceremony and the reception. Jotham's mom sponsored our Human Nature bug shield, which we provided at each table because garden weddings are notorious for mosquitoes.
e. The VIP Table
The VIP table's decor consisted of clear glass jars, carnations and pretty white vintage lamps.
We used airmail envelopes in keeping with the theme, for each of the VIP place cards.
CEREMONY FLOWERS AND ENTOURAGE BOUQUETS: Roman Sirilan
At the last minute we had to hire someone to do our reception flowers, because I had foolishly thought that it was something that I could easily DIY the day or the night before the wedding.
But in the end we contacted a florist recommended by one of our titas, and because he was a Christian like us, he gave us a pretty good deal on the ceremony flowers and the entourage bouquets and corsages.
But for my own bouquet, I still insisted on making it myself. I followed a Youtube video that detailed how to make a hand-tied wedding bouquet inspired by the one Kate Moss held during her wedding.
WEDDING BANDS: Vicky Elises
The engagement ring that Jotham gave me when he proposed actually belongs to his grandmother, who passed it on to one of his titas, Tita Tess.
Tita Tess gave it to Jotham for when he was ready to settle down and get married.
The wedding bands, are from a doctor/jeweler friend of Jotham's mom, who also happens to be the mother of one of my high school friends.
We decided on a two-tone ring, silver and rose gold, with no stones.The inside engraving reads: Jot And May March 24, 2014.
Contact details of suppliers:
VENUE
Teofely Gardens
Phone: 0925 596 4304
Email: teofelygardens@yahoo.com
Website: http://teofelygardens.com
ENTOURAGE DRESSES
Paolo Blanco
Phone: 0917 969 3773
Address: 70-A Corregidor St, QC
Roman Sirilan
Email: mostebullientfellow@yahoo.com
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