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. :)