It always excites me when my friends deliver a sweet announcement of; “Hey, guess what? I am getting married!”

My friend who is the groom to be popped me a message over MSN last Friday that he is getting married 2 months from now… the news didn’t surprise me because I’ve been expecting this kind of news since 3 years ago.. hehe! I’d love him to get married already and at last I’m so happy to hear it directly from him. He asked me to be one of their secondary sponsor and it is such an honor for me to be part of this special occasion of his life and I don’t want to miss it!

I am not a wedding planner, (although I wished to be one…) but I always love to volunteer a little service to make the occasion possible… designing give-aways, even going to the market and different malls to purchase the raw materials, designing invitations, researching the net for the best wedding gown design, name it… and I’d love to do it for my friends. Most of my girl friends are not married yet because they are still enjoying being single and in-love, and I am looking forward for their turn to give me a ‘getting-married’ news…

Wedding church, love, Wedding

I shared the joys of my cousin who is residing in Davao when she called me that it’s her turn to finally get married! She was one of my bride’s maids, and I remembered how she gracefully walked the aisle holding her partner to assist me on my wedding day… and now, the date is fast approaching for her turn to walk the aisle as a bride’s maid no more… she is finally the bride! Whew, I’m so excited!

I’m excited to attend her wedding day to tie her cord of married life and fly to Davao City at last…  it will be my first time to go to Davao and I’m looking forward to tour around this beautiful city. My round trip plane ticket is booked and ready for this occasion and I already grant my cousin’s favour to shop for the raw materials of her giveaways and shipped it to Davao, an early accomplishment on my part for being able to assist the bride-to-be.

Congratulations Cuz, see you soon!

Wedding church, Family, love, Wedding

At last its now my cousin’s turn to walk the center of the aisle and express her ‘I dos’! It’s her wedding day and I’m late and in return hubby and I were not able to join the entourage processional march which it turned out not totally my fault because the wedding starts 20 minutes early… and the bride was looking for me texted me wondering where I have been and that she is about to march the red carpet but I’m no where to find, oh how I miss it.

But the good side is… just in time we arrived and we were still able to comply our role to light their candles and I can see my cousin’s surprise look. I value my role not just in her wedding day but all throughout the days of her marriage, for me the role is important because the candles symbolizes light that will show the married couple the beauty of being husband and wife and this light will give hope to a lasting marriage.

Wedding Ceremony is very symbolic and one of the most awaited special occasion for lovers to be one… sort of a conclusion for the love to each other by jumping to another stepping stone… well, it’s ‘boyfriend-girlfriend no more’ but a beginning of another chapter entitled.. ‘husband-and-wife’.

Congratulations Cousin Dear! After a long, long wait and all the challenges you both faced… family disapproval, ocean’s apart, age pressure? hehe… but now you are together at last! I am proud of you! Cheers!

This wedding is the “Featured Occasion“.

Wedding church, Family, Wedding

Two years ago, my dream wedding took place and the lovely memories of the occasion come alive today for even if we don’t have extraordinary plans to celebrate our anniversary, it give us the energy to live the day with a joyful and thankful heart for able to reach this year and commemorate the great decision we’ve made – to get married.

I’m glad that even how hectic our schedule from work and up to our extra curricular activities, we still manage to go to Mass which for me is the most important thing to have for occasions like this, as a thanksgiving for all the blessings received in the past years we are together… and of course the celebration of the occasion will not be complete without dinner date. Unplanned, while on our way to look for a restaurant, we both agree to seek a place where we both haven’t tried even how expensive it is, until we ended up having dinner in TGIF. It’s a cozy place and I love their fisherman’s platter, we both have a full dinner… excited to go home because my favorite Selecta ice cream is in the fridge waiting for me.. hehe.

Even how simple we spend this special occasion, I still have a wonderful day!

I’d like to share this rhyme I found from the internet, while I’m browsing anniversary gift ideas. Oh! My wedding is in August – indeed I see lots of changes positively… hehe, kinda true. What do you think of this?

Married in…

What month of the year did you marry in? there’s a rhyme from popular folklore that believes your marriage will take on certain characteristics depending upon the month you chose, we’ve reproduced it below. Do you think its true? we’d love to know!

January - Marry when the year is new, he’ll be loving, kind and true.
February - When February birds do mate, you wed nor dread your fate.
March - If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know.
April- Marry in April if you can, joy for maiden and for man.
May - Marry in the month of May, you will romance the day.
June - Marry when June roses grow and over land and sea you’ll go.
July - Those who in July do wed must labour for their daily bread.
August - Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see.
September - Marry in September’s shine so that your life is rich and fine.
October - If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry.
November - If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember!
December - When December’s snows fall fast, marry and your love will last.

src: http://www.anniversaryideas.co.uk/

Wedding church, Family, love, Wedding

I remember when my friends asked me 3 months before my wedding if my groom-to-be considered the idea of a prenuptial agreement… I honestly told them that we don’t mention anything about an agreement but we have a ‘Prenup pictorial’ booked in our planner a week before the wedding. Well, I’m just glad we did not get into the process of signing a contract that entails division of property and spousal support in the event of divorce or breakup of marriage. Deep in my heart when I decided to tie the knot of the gentleman who asked me to be his bride, I discern and I etched a goal, and that is to strive hard to make the marriage last… material possessions did not distract us all throughout the preparation.

Marriage is a loving contract between two people who want to spend the rest of their lives together – and that is the contract that I wanted to sign. Married life is never easy and I understand why many couples undergo prenuptial agreement.

Our prenup schedule was not an agreement signing but a pictorial where we both express and examine how ready we are to the next level… and we express it by posing.. hehe… Thanks to ‘Stealshots’, our official photographer who patiently directed us how to pose, but I gained confidence when my friend Joan surprised me in the set and claimed to be the next official photographer.. hehe… I love to reminisce that day by looking at our prenup album… well, it’s corny but its the best pose we ever had that I can show to my children.

Family, Wedding church, Family, love, marriage, prenuptial agreement, Wedding

“Together at last…” – what a beautiful phrase! This is the phrase that caught my eyes in front of the table where I settle down, imprinted nicely in one of the empty bottles of wine displayed in the desk. I’m glad I witnessed one of the special occasion in my planner this month, oh yes, i don’t want to miss this occasion.

When hubby and I arrived at the reception, I immediately got the best picture of the couple in my cam, smiling so beautifully. And from that picture, i can see with no doubt how happy the newly wed couple and how they look great together. The whole activity of the occasion from start to finish impressed me, i love the ambiance, the table decorations with beautifully arranged flowers plus the decorated empty wine bottles, and most of all I like the couple’s give-aways – a fan, such a perfect choice and a useful one, not the usual mere decorations, it is just in time having this fan after my little girl broke my red one… at least I don’t have to buy one now. One of my favorite part of the occasion was listening to the couple singing joyfully, I’m quite surprised that they both have good voices, very entertaining!

Wedding occasions like this reminds me of my own wedding day, especially that we will be celebrating our 2nd year wedding anniversary this coming 4th of August… it will be another special occasion in my life and the phrase that welcomes me to this wedding reception etched in my mind… I rephrase it as… “Together Forever!”… i wish and pray… and I wish the same to this newly wed and to all great couples around the globe!

Wedding church, Family, love, Wedding

As part of my occasion watch this weekend, I am surprised when I got up early this morning and found out what is in Yahoo’s frontpage… the now very popular “JK Wedding Entrance Dance”, that hits 3.5 million and counting views in YouTube. Yes, it might be funny and unique way of making the occasion unforgettable, but one thing that came to my mind easily is that, the solemnity of the wedding ceremony is gone… I thought having this kind of wedding entrance will be reserved during the wedding entrance in the reception hall. But well, at the end of the day, the conclusion is: it all depends to the couple’s way of expressing their occasion to make it memorable, it’s their special occasion anyway!

To check out how the couple have their own unique way of “A walk to remember” scene, i quote the YouTube link below… enjoy!

Wedding Add new tag, church, Family, love, Wedding

I am tasked by my two colleagues in our department to look for a wedding gift that we will give to our boss in his wedding day. And as the only lady in the department, they asked me to purchase the gift according to my preferences and idea, so they give me all the freedom what to choose huh,… well, I feel obliged and I tried my best to get the perfect wedding gift.. hehe, kind of difficult.

For me, special occasions like weddings can be a way to express how well you know either the bride or the groom by acquiring a wedding gift that suits them… I come up some guidelines before I rummage my favorite malls for a wedding gift:

• Discuss to my friends their idea of a wedding gift – and of course I got a ‘you-are-the-expert-it’s-up-to-you’ answer.
• Review my notes as to how well I know my boss – one thing I know of him is that he is fond of travelling and he got lots of native and unique things in his desk and even in his house, hhmm..
• Ask my hubby’s opinion since he is also my personal adviser – and indeed I got lots of ideas from him, like; “do not dare give any home accessories, let the couple decide how to design their homes, your gift might end up out of the picture…”
• Canvass and lots of canvassing – I end up from one store to another until I found the one I think perfect for the couple…

I have the gift beautifully wrapped now for the wedding this afternoon… I learned one thing when I had my wedding too – that wedding gift is nothing without the presence of the giver.

Wedding love, Wedding, wedding gift

I’ve been busy preparing for my cousin’s wedding invitation this past few days… scouting for materials and come up with lots of design concepts until I finally got the combination of what it takes for a presentable invitation. I’m glad that when I showed the mock up of the wedding invitation to my cousin, she easily appreciate it and her friends too… it inspires me the more to continue working on it.. hehe..

a quick preview to my cousin's wedding invitation - not finished yet.

My objective is to create a wedding invitation with a personal touch, and below is my basic steps to finish this project:

1. Research. I do research and read some articles on how to create a good wedding invitation.
2. Design Studies. I do not have to stick to one design only but to gather lots of designs from the net and even in the wedding shops around the mall… I don’t like to carbon copy the designs I saw from the magazines, internet and stores, instead I use them as a pattern for me to innovate.
3. Final Design. After I gather all the designs that passed my concepts, I come up with a combined innovative wedding invitation product base on my theme and my cousin’s preferences of course.
4. Canvass Materials. I got my final design mock up on hand, now it’s time for me to canvass to different paper shops to scout for materials that I need… ribbons, papers, beads, etc…
5. Costing. I go back to my table and compare notes, these are the prices and material details I gathered during my canvassing of materials… here, i got an exact idea as to how much my wedding invitation cost. This step helps me not to over purchased materials that I don’t need and mind the budget. (my cousin has a limited budget and I have to respect it, so this is hardwork and challenging.. hehe)
6. Purchase Materials. Since I now have the idea of how much it cost and how many pieces of papers, ribbons and beads I need, then I can shop easily.
7. Wedding Invitation Work In Progress. Now I got to the final activity and that is to convert my mock up to a final wedding invitation!  Exciting!

I love doing stuffs like this and even if my cousin give me a very limited time to work on her wedding invitation, I don’t find it a problem instead I enjoyed it… all with a personal touch…

Family, Wedding Family, love, Wedding, wedding invitation

I will be joining a bachelor’s party tomorrow night and it gets me excited because it is my first time to finally join this kind of party and I believe there will be so much fun! It is a surprise party organized by all managers to the COO of the company and yes, he is getting married next week! There are lots of bachelor party tips in the net but tomorrows party does not follow any usual rules and tips, instead we all agreed to just have so much fun in the company’s staff house… a night full of fun and lots of drinking!

I always declined bachelor party invitation before that I also even disagreed when my hubby asked me to have his own stag party a week before our wedding day. Why? Simply because I don’t like the usual bachelor party activities especially if it involves stripped woman in front of your soon-to-be husband… hehe, I know I sound so impossible and conservative. In other word there are good and bad things inside a bachelor’s party and thereafter.

But this will be a different occasion, shall I say it’s wholesome but I’m sure there will be some mild naughty games and trivia for the soon to be groom, haha…, I’m ok with lots of drinking and lots of dancing and swimming in the pool… and at the end of the day we call it our own version of Bachelor Party we could offer for the groom.

Wedding bachelor party, dancing, Wedding