An Early Bridal Sparty

I would like to thank my bridesmaids for throwing a super fun and relaxing surprise bridal sparty for me. And to my fiancé, for conniving with my girls and fabricating stories just to bring me here. HAHA.

I didn’t expect them to pull off a bridal shower for me this early, but I’m so happy they did it before everyone gets too busy for the holidays.

Thank you girls for not making me sit on a chair and let a macho dancer take me over. :D

You are the best bridesmaids ever. :))

Now I'm really starting to feel our big day's just around the corner. :S

Location: 24h Apartment Hotel

Spa service provider:  Spa on Wheels

Reservation Phone no.: (02)560-7183 / 0915-804-5418 (globe) / 0929-388-1079 (smart) / 0933-619- 2819 (sun)

To Gift or Not to Gift: My Thoughts on Specifying A Wedding Gift Preference

One of the biggest dilemmas that we’ve encountered in this entire process was whether or not we would have a bridal registry. We already started giving out invitations but when guests would ask me what to give us on our wedding, I can’t say anything yet. And this could be because 1) we’re not expecting any gifts especially from our friends; 2) although we assume that at least some of them plan to give us something, we don’t want to tell them what our preference is because no matter how we tell them, it will sound tacky; 3) it’s really not a big deal if they go there empty-handed since it’s not our reason for throwing a big wedding party, so we don’t see the point of giving an answer when we’re asked what we like, or where we registered.

But I realized the need to get a bridal registry and discreetly tell our gift preference to people when 4 people told me (though jokingly) that they’re going to get us a rice cooker for our wedding. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with getting a rice cooker---but what are we supposed to do with 3 more? I can just imagine piles of duplicate appliances collecting dust in our house if we didn’t sign up for a registry. But just in case there are duplicates, it would be nice if the gifts would still have their price tags on, so just in case it happens, we can sell the items right away. Heh.

I’ve seen some wedding invitations that say, “Your presence is enough, but just in case, we prefer cash”. Yes, it’s a very convenient way to spare ourselves from getting flooded by unnecessary home products but we didn’t include any hint of that in our invites because besides the fact that my dad didn’t want us to, the whole point of the celebration can get somewhat lost in translation; like it’s technically an exclusive event that offers free beer in exchange of a cover charge, and we don’t want that.

So how do we tell our guests what we like as gifts without including it in our invites and posting it to our wedsite and Facebook group? I guess the most ethical thing to do is to not say anything unless asked, or let our family and closest friends do the announcement, so we can keep ourselves from shouting to the world that we prefer ‘this kind of gift’ on the assumption that our guests would be generous and thoughtful enough to give us that.

~~It’s 2 months and 2 weeks to go. On days that I realize how near it is, I feel like I’m about to throw up. Gah. *more jitters by the day*

Licensed to Marry*: Applying for Marriage License in Quezon City

We've finally filed for our marriage license, which makes this whole wedding process official. *jitters again* This was how we applied for a marriage license in Quezon City:

• REQUIREMENTS and other details can be found here

Please note that at least one of the couple should be residing in QC to be able to apply for a marriage license there

ü  Original and Photocopy of NSO certified Birth Certificate or Baptismal Certificate of both applicants

We ordered ours from NSO Online. Be patient when ordering your certificates online, their system can has the tendency to fail especially during the part where you need to chat with a customer representative for verification. If you notice nothing’s happening, try refreshing your browser once in a while.

ü  Community Tax Certificate/Cedula of both applicants

Since I’m from Valenzuela and the fiancé is from QC, I got my cedula from our barangay, and he got his from QC City Hall. Not sure if a non-QC resident would be allowed to get his/her cedula from QC city hall in case he/she doesn't have one from her municipality so better to clarify this one.

ü  1 ID photo (colored or black and white) of each applicant

We gave 1x1 colored photos

ü  Certificate of Family Planning (given on day of seminar (1pm-4pm)

Since we were given a free Family Planning and Billings Method Seminar during our Pre-CANA session at CEFAM, we didn’t have to attend the family planning lecture provided by the city hall’s health department. I’ve read from some blogs that there are couples who are not sure if the certificate given by CEFAM is a valid requirement, but in our case, it is. Check it with health department just to be extra sure.

ü  CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage)

The QC page does not include this in their list of marriage license requirements but apparently, they need this one too. Make sure to have this photocopied as this will be needed during the canonical interview. We also got this from NSO online. 

• PROCESS

The fiancé spared me from all these troubles by doing the honors of filing for our marriage license. Heh. The application can be done by one person, but make sure that the forms have been signed by the couple.

1. Go to Counter 11 of Civil Registry (the website says Counter 10 but the fiance says 11), where you will be given a referral note that says “For filing and application form”, which will direct you to the Treasury. But before heading straight to the Treasury to pay the fees, check with the Health Department first the Family Planning Seminar schedule. You can have the seminar scheduled on the same day but in our case, we just had our CEFAM certificates checked and approved by the Health Department
2. Pay all the necessary fees at the Treasury
3. Go back to Counter 11 to submit the application forms and the rest of the requirements , and pay the notarization fee of Php 50 at Counter 11 (which the website didn’t tell us about)
4. Go back after 11 days and pay the marriage license fee of Php 100 upon claiming

Total expense:

Birth Certificates: Php330 x 2
CeNoMar: Php430 x2

TOTAL: Php 1,520 
We obviously double the expense here since we opted to order the certificates online. But if you have the luxury to queue up inside NSO, you can save up a few cash. Prices of the BC and Cenomar are Php 140 and Php 195 respectively, but that is if you're willing to take a leave from work and manually file for the documents.

---I’ll update this post once we get the license. WEEE :)--

EDIT OCT 31:

Finally, our license!

The fiance didn't have a hard time picking this one up, he just had to present the claim form to Counter 11 of the Civil Registry, pay Php100, and wait for a few minutes. That's it. We're officially licensed to marry!

The big day's really drawing nearrrrr OMG!

Finalize the Flowers: CHECK!

Finally met my florist this afternoon, yey! It’s really different when you get to meet your suppliers in person and not just see them doing their thing during your big day. I only got my florist online after seeing his multiply site and after a few inquiries, my future MIL booked him for us. I sent him some photos of my inspirations, but since we haven’t talked in person, I was clueless on what my flowers would be like exactly. It was such a relief to finally get to discuss all the details with him in person.

My inspiration board:

Nothing fancy here--just a laid back yellow-and-white flower affair.

I was kind of hesitant about his service at first because the photos of his works found in his site don’t really justify the beauty of the flowers, but after meeting him, I can tell that he’s really professional and experienced. He didn’t try to endorse things that I don’t really need or made me consider a more extravagant and expensive arrangement, which I liked. And he’s done a number of wedding stints at Chapel on the Hill so that’s reason enough to say I made a good choice. What’s more, he’s based in Cavite, so I didn’t have to deal with additional out-of-town charges.

Few more things and we’re ready to meet with our coordinator for the turnover. *jitters*

Floral package cost: Php 17,500

Inclusions:

• (14) Hanging pomanders for the aisle
• (2) Candle holder arrangement
• (2) Altar table arrangement 
• (2) Offertory flowers
• Red carpet
• loose rose petals
• (1)    Bride’s Bouquet
• (2) posies for the mothers
• (1) mini hand held bouquet for the maid of
• honor
• (5) Mini handheld bouquet for principal
• sponsor (ninang)
•  (20) sets centerpiece (3 glass vases each set)
• Flowers to be used: Sunflower, gerbera, baby’s breath
• Hanging beads for ceiling drapes
• Transfer of flowers
• (1) Bridal Car arrangement
• (3) tin can for flower girls

Note that the package doesn’t include the bridesmaids’bouquet, the groomsmen’s and ninongs’ boutonnieres, and the secondary sponsors’ wrist corsage because I opted to DIY them to cut down on costs. 



THE FLORAL ARTIST
Contact person: Joel G. Faller
09065851488 / 09208247695

floralartist_23@yahoo.com

http://theflorist.multiply.com/

Shabby Chic Wedding Favors: Pure Honey Bottles

We’ve finally found our source for our wedding favors! After scouring a couple of organic stores to find the best supplier of honey favors for our rustic-vintage-themed wedding, we ended up sealing the deal with someone from none other than Sulit. LOL.

Since the supplier is online, I asked if he could send me photos prior to delivery so I won’t get caught off guard in case I didn’t like it. But, boy was I pleased with what I saw!  I’m so excited about our favors that I’m currently fighting the urge to post all the behind-the-scene photos that the supplier sent me—I sure don’t want to spoil my own wedding by blogging about my guest favors.

So here’s a sneak peek:

This cute apothecary bottle battalion will be filled with pure honey and sealed with corks. Imagine how shabby chic they're going to look like! Can't wait!

I have to give the supplier some credit because I particularly requested for 100ml jars and he obliged even though the tiniest they sell are 250ml.  In addition to going through the hassle of sourcing out 100ml bottles, he had to go through the troubles of personally filling these bottles with pure honey! And the best part, he only quoted us Php55 a piece! Grabe lang. The bottles were supposed to come with labels designed by the seller to suit the occasion’s theme, but we opted to do the tags on our own. Besides, that would mean more work for him for such a measly price. Nakakahiya naman. :D

We definitely need to give him some form of gratuity just for sparing us from the tedious task of manual honey labor. :))

Price: Php 6,600 for 120 pieces of 130ml bottles 

          Php 200 delivery charge

TOTAL: Php 6,800

Side note: I originally ordered 130 pcs, but Eric said 8 bottles were damaged so he just charged for 120 bottles and gave the extra 2 for free. Delivery took about 10 days.

Contact person:

Ericson Montilla

09336482181

Site: http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/6126349/For+Sale+Pure+Honeybee

PS. In case you plan on contacting him, you can tell him you got his number from Geli, because I think I'm his first client to order 130ml bottles. I just hope he doesn't increase his price after realizing how stressful this custom order is. LOL.

Edit 10/10/12
During the delivery of the bottles, the fiance had a little chitchat with Eric and was told that they're going to increase the price to Php65. I think the increase is still pretty reasonable considering  the labor to customize the order was really tedious---I mean he had to find the source for the bottles, manually do the repackaging, design the label (which we didn't include), and personally deliver the orders to us. Besides, we were Eric's trial-and-error customers. At least the next clients can expect a more smooth-sailing service. :)

And oh, the honey tastes super good too! Very far from the plastic-tasting honey sold in supermarkets.