the year that was.

time for a long blooooog.

today we turn 1. this time last year, i was sitting in my hotel room sighing heavily telling myself, “here goes nuthin’.”.

i wasn’t worried about getting hitched, i was worried about whether or not i'd be able to pull off the wedding of my dreams! well, that’s the better thing to worry about i suppose. coz’ if you're freaking out over first one, well, when in doubt...(you know the rest).

so i thought i’d blog about the year that’s passed. quite a number of surprises and firsts, i must say. when you decide to get married, you only THINK you’ve thought of everything that might possibly come your way. i didn’t know jack.

coming from as sheltered (spoiled) an upbringing as mine, seriously, i had no idea what i was in for. here’s a list of only some of them:

1. bills - okay this may be the first thing you know you’re going to deal with when you get hitched. but by golly, why are they so many?!! water bills, electricity bills, grocery bills, internet bills, cable tv bills, credit card bills, house repair bills, car repair bills, car gas bills, cooking gas bills, purified water bills -- billz billz billz!!! no wonder they call the first year the paper anniversary! invoices comin’ at cha’ and peso bills comin’ outta’ ya. what’s a newlywed to do?

(oh and speaking of paper anniversary, check out what my best friend gave us for our first year. kasi daw it's paper. errrrr-right.)






















2. power outage - yes, you read correctly, power outage. and by this, i don’t mean brown-out. i mean, no.electricity.coming.into.our. house.WHATSOEVER. apparently, the branch of a tree outside had been growing into the electric cable wires, go figure. definitely not a breaker issue if there’s no power even getting to the breaker.

if i was single and still living at my parents’ house, my solution to such a problem would be to call the family driver and have him deal with it while i pass the time in an airconditioned Rockwell. (coz' i was a brat like that.)




but now, a change in status: married home owner with dog. will personally handle power failure.

(by the way, i will have you know that i’ve been quite impressed with meralco. they have 24-hour service and they show up within 2-4 hours of your call. it’s amazing really. sa meralco, may liwanag nga ang buhay. call 16211.)

3. dog hair - it is ENDLESS. our vacuum cleaner had NO IDEA he would have to ingest so much of it! it's just all over the place. and within 5 minutes of vacuuming, it magically reappears!

and then there's dog food. dog soap. dog treats. doggie breath (good god). dog hair in my nose. dog desperately needing to mark his territory early in the morning. dog wanting to play. dog liking his milk. dog hair on the bed. dog loving his pillow. dog needing to be neutered. dog nerve-wracked at the thought of a bath. dog hair clogging the drain. dog running after the neighbors. dog getting laid. dog dog dog. everything dog.

but what can i tell ya', we love our mister miyagi. he's the closest thing we have to a child (and bodyguard), so in a big way, we'd feel empty inside if we didn't have him to parent.

















4. dishes - considering there’s only 2 of us eating in this house, man do we rack up ‘em dishes. you’d think the dog was eating off of a plate too.

since we’ve decided to live the american life (in the philippines lang nga), we have no maids. in an effort to be in control of our own lives and our own house, we do every single thing ourselves. not only does it save us money, but it keeps us on our toes. ironically, even if there’s so much more for us to do compared to if we had help in the home, the set-up keeps us both more efficient. our minds are constantly multi-tasking and well-exercised. it makes us both productive, not only in the house but with everything else in our lives. of course, we’re both also more exhausted but an average of 4-6 hours of sleep a day never killed anyone. (or has it?)

just the same, we’re both pleasantly surprised at how quickly we’ve adjusted to this lifestyle. my dad still finds it weird seeing us mop the kitchen floors and wash dishes like clockwork after they come for a dinner visit. his thought bubble reads: never in a million years...

(incidentally, we love dazz dishwashing paste. it bubbles! thank you lamoiyan corp.)













5. realty taxes - whyyyyy i say. whyyyyyy do we need to constantly pay a corrupt government to live on land we already bought? whyyyyyyy. this one, i COMPLETELY did not factor in. i mean, thank you dear parents for the gift of land and home. we couldn’t be more grateful. but realty taxes are just the bane of my existence. every quarter, the village circular comes in saying it’s THAT time of the year -- UGH. oh and for those of you who will be living in a house you're buying, you pay for taxes on the structure and separate taxes on the land -- all dependent on whatever area you’re living in. sorry if i may be telling you something you already know, but i seriously knew zilch about realty taxes before this.

6. a broken faucet - repairs!!! why must owning a house come with so many repairs?!? and why is there no end to it? first it’s a door that expanded due to the weather. then it’s a leak in the ceiling, due to the weather. then it’s 5 leaks in the ceiling, due to the weather. then it’s bulbs that popped, possibly from said leaks in the ceiling, due to the weather. then it’s a power outage. you know the rest.


















7. pest control - need i say more?

8. adult decisions - this is probably one of the saddest events of my first year married: we decided to sell kenya, my BMW, because the cost of upkeep was just ridiculous! that car meant so much to me because my dad gave her to me the year i came home from the US. (i refused it at first, i swear.)

so when you get married, you sell things. because you start from scratch. you sacrifice now to enjoy later. you realize you have no business living the lifestyle you used to, so you follow russell peters’ advice -- you “bee a men and dew d’ right ting.”

marc knew how sad i was to let kenya go. and i appreciate that. i know he’d get her back for me if he could. somehow, that’s enough.

















9. village circulars - get your village ID picture taken. attend our recycling seminar. join the garage sale. cover your trash to keep from attracting stray cats. reminder: 1-15th, park on this side. 16-31st, park on that side.

home ownership is really not my thing. the other day, we got a message from the association secretary saying that the village board would like to come over to our house and welcome us. ummm, how do i say this -- uh, no? well not unless they're bringing cookies. seriously.

to be honest, part of me thought it was a nice warm gesture and i should be more open. but another part of me also thought that it was really a home inspection DISGUISED as a welcome visit, to see if they can fine us for any structure violations. haha. i am so paranoid. but really, the husband and i are not ”village people”. i wish we were, then we’d find our neighbors to be lovely creatures i'm sure. but we’re cave people, if you will. is that so bad?

looking at everything i’ve written so far, you'd think that our first year married was filled with nothing but bills and chores, and that i hated it. nothing could be farther from the truth. so what if we bathed the dog ourselves? we nearly died laughing when i accidentally wiped my face with the dog towel. and so what if the power dies on us every now and then. we’re stuck in the dark together underneath a leaking ceiling. it's scary. it's hilarious. it's frakking wonderful.

kababawan.

my calling card is done! :)

ok babaw i know, but it took me so long to decide on it. in truth, i wanted a different font (helvetica neue ultralight naturally -- ONLY my favorite modern font of all time), but apparently, it wasn't so doable. just the same i love it. i feel warm and fuzzy inside when i hand it out to potential clients.

thank you to trina valenzuela of village pro'jekt, only the most awesome invitation makers ever! trina designed our invites, and since this endeavor began with our wedding, it was only fitting that my company image have the same look. so trina designed a calling card version of our invites and misalettes.



seriously though, trina is a joy to work with. when you first meet her, it's a breath of fresh air after a hundred years of isolation. she's beautiful and just the warmest person you'll ever encounter. she's as inviting as her open lanai "office" where you will meet her son, maybe even her new baby, and their "nana" of a dog.

anyway, check out their website or give her a call at 0917-8161388.

enjoy!

button ears

i can't remember where i saw this image, but i just found it in my archives. it's one of my favorites, and i'm only sorry that i won't be able to acknowledge the source. :(

usually, a groom's boutonniere matches a bride's bouquet -- and why not, that makes complete sense after all. but i love these ideas because they show that boutonnieres can be different and more interesting, even in subtle ways. AND they don't always have to be flowers! (i'm obviously more drawn to those of a botanical persuasion.)

the boutonnieres here are created from a mix of plants (that autumn leaf is cute), twigs, barley, what looks to me like a tiny cactus, and yes, even a piece of coral (if that doesn't spell beach wedding to you, then i don't know what does).

is it becoming more and more obvious that i'm not too crazy about flowers in general -- whether they be as boutonnieres or centerpieces (see previous blog)? aside from being typical, they're costly! and if they're not costly, well, they look like they're going to die...soon. so YES, here's to alternative boutonnieres, centerpieces, bouquets, what have you. i'm all for the use of paper, luminaries, wood, fruits and vegetation (yes, i said vegetation) -- there is no end to what you can use. and speaking of vegetation, here's one flower that i actually like -- the cabbage rose. it looks more like a cabbage to me than anything else. i used these at my own wedding. looking back, it might have been nice to use real cabbage too!

finally, an oreo for me!

it was always my dream to have a black and white wedding. when Marc proposed, i knew instantly that this was what i was going to plan for. with a color scheme like that, things would just be inherently elegant in its simplicity.















i could go all out vintage with it.























(i am loving the chairs, the wall mouldings, polka dot boxes and that simply refreshing plant centerpiece -- they pulled this off without any flowers whatsoever!)












































or give a modern look a romantic twist.



















i particularly adore black, white and green combinations.














so as you can see, black and white in itself, is a theme that's already made, while still giving you room to play around and create something different each time.

but alas, my new Chinese family-to-be were just not keen on the black & white idea. nor was Marc, in spite of how non-traditional and westernized he already is. i guess some superstitions are just deeply ingrained in him -- "black is death, it's bad luck, why tempt the fates?" it didn't help my cause either that the Chinese wear all white to wakes and funerals. there was no way i was going to win this battle.

but i was going to marry Marc no matter what, so i was all too willing to compromise. Wine in Winter became the theme of my wedding. instead of black, i settled for the deepest shade of plum/wine there was. it helps too that i'm colorblind -- i was eventually able to convince myself that this shade was close enough. in the end, i LOVED how my wedding turned out.

my dream of a black and white wedding still lives on. and it's fortunate that i'm finally going to be able to do it, thanks to my november couple. they're having a black and white 1920's-themed reception, following a Christian ceremony (which i'm also excited about since this will be my first Christian wedding). i guess wedding planning is my way of realizing all the wedding themes i wanted for myself!

and with that, here are a few more black and white set-ups i found when i was researching before. i hope this inspires you!






































































image sources: the bridal blog, hostess with the mostest, lifelovelipstick, the knot

to prenup or pre-NOT

some find it strange that considering i'm a wedding planner, i am not in any way against prenuptial agreements. they seem to be under the impression that being in the wedding industry presupposes that i love romance. and romance has no room for words like a 'prenuptial agreement'! there are only the happily-ever-afters.

well, i sometimes think that having a prenup actually shows more love for one another. do i sound crazy? but really, when sen. kiko offered to ate shawi that he was willing to sign a prenup, wasn't that somehow admirable? isn't this way of saying "i'm not marrying you for your money" romantic? people can be so quick to stigmatize a perfectly practical and rational decision.

there IS one kind of prenup that i'm not crazy about though. and that's the one that entails skipping into a field holding hands with your fiance and making awkward, cheesy, toe-curling poses. leave it to a predominantly catholic country to positivize the term 'prenup' --- what was once a shameful legal document now pertains to pre-wedding pictorials.

please don't be angry at me for this, but i guess it's just not my thing. a personal non-preference, that's all. but i have nothing against couples who do have them. weddings are a very personal thing, and at the end of the day, you do what makes you happy. (well, that goes not just for weddings but for pretty much everything else in your life.)

i will say though, that i have seen some very good pre- / post-nups that have absolutely blown me away. not cheesy, or even if they were, somehow the couple was able to pull it off. like this next batch of photos from mangoRED -- still my favorite reference for prenups to this very day. click here to see the rest of it.





























































































































of course it HELPS that the bride and groom are hot, and the location is suweeeet! but i must say, the brothers from mangoRED really know what they're doing.

this is one prenup i wish we had if my husband and i could pull it off. the closest thing we ever had to a 'prenup' were the photos we took while assembling our wedding invitations and giveaways. we knew we could never pull off a sizzling photo shoot like this -- coz' i'm (missus) big, and he's (mister) small. but so what, we're one happy odd couple. :)

the modern age

my friends shiela and rico just got married a week ago. i wasn't able to attend the wedding but i absolutely LOVED the invitation. proof that you don't need a script typeface for a formal wedding. a clean and simple sans serif is perfectly capable of conveying elegance, AND ensuring readability mind you.

and who won't take note of the date? it's the only thing on the invite they embossed.

i also commend the choice of quote. it's not very easy to find a pull-out that isn't so cheesy. this one was just right and very tasteful.

i wish more weddings would take on this modern tone. there's so much to explore with the use of structure, clean lines, and yes, even less flowers. less is more after all.

oiling my machine

i took on a part-time job recently as a freelance project manager for a boutique advertising agency. i did it to augment my income, and also because well, i kind of need to embrace the stress again. this is me oiling my machine. the good thing about it being part-time is that i still get to do my wedding work, which is still my priority at the moment. the BEST thing about it is, in the course of the last week or so, i realized JUST HOW MUCH i love doing weddings.

for instance, a friend of mind getting married a year and a half from now insisted that i plan her cebu destination wedding. i went to cebu recently to visit my grandma and conduct oculars as well. my husband accompanied me to about 7 different mactan venues. we took tons of hi-res pictures and videos. this bride is one of my closest friends in the world, so i told her, this would be my gift to her. considering i'm not earning a single thing from this, i spent all of today (sunday) making her a 34-slide keynote presentation (about 31MB) comprised of detailed accounts of each venue. i even began and ended the entire presentation in her wedding theme colors. considering all the other work i had to do today, talagang kinareer ko ito! not only because i love my friend, but also because i just loooove wedding-related work. i barely even noticed the time go by. i was just so immersed in it.

so i thank the stress of advertising. sometimes, you don't know how much you love something until you're faced with something else.

typophilia

i've always had a love of fonts. i never quite knew what to do with it. i mean, in spite of my collection of journals, it's not like i could actually write in them using my favorite fonts.

but now that i'm a wedding planner, that love for typography has found its place in my life. i go crazy when a bride asks me for a font suggestion, or even just asks me what i think of the typeface she plans to use for her invite. it excites me to no end.

the one thing i always tell my brides is not to settle for just any typeface. i don't know how many times i've seen shelley volante used as a wedding invitation font, and honestly, there has got to be something better! formal romantic script isn't just limited to the shelley volantes and andantes of this world. there are so many other fonts with so much more character and history.

my current favorite is hannibal lecter which i used at my own wedding. okay, so it may not be the most reader-friendly font there is, but really, it reeks of character. i used it again for my calling card, and just asked my graphic designer to tweak the F a little bit so that my name correctly read Fong, instead of well, Jong.

bottomline is dear brides, take your time, do your research and choose your fonts wisely. there are more than enough typefaces in this world for you to be able to pick one that communicates your wedding theme in a classy and elegant way, and isn't overused. remember that this is something you don't have even have to pay for. it's completely free, and simply choosing the right one does wonders for the simplest of wedding invites.

i want some of that

i started my day meeting with an upcoming event stylist, Myke Francis Oropesa Mayores (featured in Wedding Essentials mag, Jan-June 2009). well, he's not exactly new in the business, but he's new in my life. what a refreshing discussion it was. if there's anything i love about this job, it's meeting with people who are just inherently creative and have a natural eye for what really is beautiful. (i don't care if they say 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. let's face it, some things are just ugly no matter how you turn it around haha.) it's so enriching to encounter people who are constantly seeking to create something new or "evolve" something old.

anyway, thanks to my new supplier, i was introduced to the work of Tord Boontje. a new design site for me to marvel at. it's just amazing the amount of creativity that goes around. where do people get their ideas?!? if there's such an infinite amount of new ideas just waiting to be plucked from the air, when am i gonna' get my hands on some?!!

from Studio Tord Boontje: wool carpet dye-cut into what appears to be fallen leaves for that autumn effect. a very simple but brilliant idea.

one fine day

one day, i will have a wedding that looks like this in my portfolio. i am declaring it and sending it out there into the universe.

and one day, i WILL work with preston bailey.

getting my feet wet

some weddings i've helped with in the past.

this alabang bride was just the sweetest bride i've ever met in my life. from her demeanor down to the quality of her voice -- everything about her disposition was just so pleasant. and her groom was utter coolness. he totally brought the house down with some serious gee-tawr skills!




a really fun and touching wedding in quezon city. the games were hilarious because the couple's friends were just so into it. and the charming bride and groom kept thanking us again and again as the night came to a close.




having fun with my 2-way radio. when i got married, i was actually concerned about having my coordinators hold walkie-talkies. i was worried that they wouldn't look nice and would cause disturbances during the wedding. but amy explained that given the size of the church and ballroom, they would really need the gadgets to be able to coordinate properly. looking back at my own wedding, i realize i didn't notice them using it. i didn't even notice the coordinating team, that's how inconspicuous they were. and i feel that's important for coordinators to master. it's really difficult, and can't always be achieved, but they should be able to orchestrate a wedding as "invisibly" as they can.



a laid-back wedding in punta fuego. we encountered some challenges (no wedding is exempt from this) but all in all, it was a really beautiful beachside affair. the bride walked "up" the staircase aisle to "After All" (from the movie Chances Are), and as expected, i was close to bawling.

some people say i'm insane to be doing this for a living. and that coordinating weddings is extremely high-pressure (after all, a couple's one most important day depends almost entirely on me!). in fact, it's more personal than it is business, which makes it even more stressful. but when i think about the creative elements that go into the making of a wedding, coupled with all the tearful emotions that you witness on their big day, it makes everything worth it. this may sound so cliche, but when i see a bride walking down the aisle, or hear a father's voice crack in mid-speech, i remember why i'm a wedding planner.

for amy.

we probably met with 6 coordinators before we finally decided to turn our wedding day over to the very capable hands of amy. when you meet reputable coordinators, they offer more or less the same service options, all mostly within the same price ranges. so it really just boils down to a very personal feel for the person. when you meet the right one, very simply, a match is a match.

amy felt like an old friend. and she turned into a new one. when i told her a few months after my wedding that i was thinking of becoming a planner myself, she immediately offered to mentor me. this was waaaaay more than i was hoping for, considering she was going to help develop someone who might potentially become a competitor.

she wasn't worried about that at all. instead, she remembered when she herself was starting out with no one to guide her, and decided she would save me from that. what i did to deserve this generous offer, i have no idea. all i know is, i wouldn't be brave enough to do what i'm doing now without amy's help and encouragement.

and so, with this blog entry, i acknowledge and thank you ames for being my friend and mentor. i wish there was some way i could repay you, but for now, i can only hope that this is somehow enough.

every tree grows from a tiny little seed.

some images from the first wedding i planned.

this was taken on my way to the church. i remember the guy who drove the vintage Jaguar Mark V i was riding in. his name was Romy and i must say, he was really a fun last-single-moment companion. he sure knew how to handle a bride right before she entered the church. he even asked me if i needed to go to the restroom before going in, or if i wanted a glass of water. he's obviously been driving brides around for a long time!

mister small.
as you can see, we opted to have the aisle carpet removed. the only carpet color i wanted was cream or dark plum but since those weren't available, we just kept things in their natural state. the truth is, i wanted the church to be as plain as possible -- no flowers or any sort of styling. since the ceremony is supposed to be solemn, i wanted to keep things as simple as possible. but elder women prevailed on me to have some styling, hence the floral and twig arrangements you see here. i make special mention of this because they totally ruined my one supposed shining moment walking down the aisle. when the doors opened, i couldn't see anyone! nor could anyone see me. so i vowed to myself that as a wedding planner, i will never let this happen to any of my brides. for all of you planning your wedding, unless you really intend not to be seen, please make sure you talk to your stylist in detail about the height of the flowers along the aisle. they shouldn't hinder people from seeing you walk down the aisle nor block your view of everyone.



this moment made up for my somewhat disappointing walk down the aisle. when i arrived at the front (which i now refer to as the "clearing"), marc was crying so hard that i started to tear myself. when we finally came together, i was just so happy to see him and i had to fight hugging him right then and there.
oh and a tip to all you brides who may find this useful: i had hidden pockets built into my gown because i hate carrying bags. my pockets came in really handy -- it's where i conveniently kept my vows during the mass, and any money envelopes that guests handed to me during the reception. most of all, because i didn't need a bag, i was free to walk all over the reception floor all night without having to worry about where i had left a bag.



ballroom styling c/o robert blancaflor.

our theme was Wine in Winter (well, more of a deep plum than wine really). some tables were covered in white foam tablecloth to create that snowy texture, and accented with all-plum flowers including huge cabbage roses. i love flowers that look more like plants or vegetables because they create a fresh look that's not so common. they can be romantic without having to look cheesy.

alternatively, other tables were covered in deep plum tablecloth with a silky sheer organza top layer just to add sparkle and elegance to the overall look. these tables were accented with all-white flowers, just a reverse of the white tables.

this was one of the long VIP tables. robert suggested having one of his in-house artists copy and paint our invite design on to large canvas panels to line the walls of the ballroom. that's what you see here. it's not an exact replica -- the ones on our invite are actually white snow icicles while the ones they painted turned out to look more like leaves. but even then, it still reinforced and unified the theme.



our winter wedding cake! i opted for buttercream icing instead of the usual fondant because i didn't want the design to look too "clean" or "smooth". i wanted a more natural and rustic feel to it -- closer to how snow actually looks. lucky for me, not only is buttercream yummier than fondant (and more "true" to a cake as far as i'm concerned), it's also so much cheaper. the cake is one area where i felt i could achieve what i wanted without having to spend a lot of money. thanks to Layers & Layers, i was right!



we wore sneakers at the reception because we surprised our guests with a hip-hop dance (segueing from the usual slow first dance) to Rihanna's "Hate That I Love You". everyone was floored! my sister even cried because she knew i was not the type to risk doing something that might lead to my own downfall haha. looking back, i realized i did it because Marc was with me. i don't think i would've agreed to do it with anyone else. the dance was a hit, and we ended up wearing our sneaks throughout the entire reception.



as i was working on the reception program, i was shocked to find that as unconventional as i am, i actually wanted to keep a lot of the traditional reception ceremonies. so what i did was to put a twist to those that i wanted to keep, just to make them more personal and meaningful (and also less boring for the guests).

i wanted to dance with my dad because i'm really a daddy's girl. but instead of just dancing with him (and worrying that guests would be bored after seeing us sway back and forth), i asked my mom to serenade us while we were dancing. she sang Moon River, which is my song to my dad. that way, the moment was not anymore just about me and my dad, but about me and both my parents. also, the guests were so touched by my mom's awesome singing. it just made everything so much more heartfelt.




on our wedding day, it was really important for me to show Marc that my love for him could make me do anything. he didn't exactly have the easiest time growing up, so i wanted to reinforce the message that he didn't have to worry anymore, that he now belonged to someone.

i thought long and hard about what i could do that would totally blow his mind. i contacted the guys from The Totally Rad Show, one of his favorite american podcasts. i asked if they could video themselves giving Marc a congratulatory wedding message. luckily, they not only agreed, but they even recorded it in such a way that it looked like one of their regular shows. they sent me the video clip, and i secretly inserted it into the wedding video Marc and i made.

this is Marc in utter disbelief at the whole thing. thanks again to the folks from The Totally Rad Show!





i didn't want my single female friends to get the uncomfy feeling that somehow lurks when it's time to throw the bouquet. so we wrote down the names of ALL our eligible friends -- female AND male -- and put them into a small container. then we raffled the bouquet. we felt our guy friends had just as much right as the girls to receive some luck in love. true enough, the winner below now has a girlfriend who happens to be another friend of ours who was also at our wedding! it works!

there's so much more i can share about my wedding, but i don't want to bore you to death. i do hope though that you enjoyed looking through some of the highlights and maybe even got new ideas. happy wedding planning!