sorry, this is the only shot I got of the couple

Finally, it’s Glenah’s wedding day and I really make it a “date” to attend and witness this very special occasion of her life. Glenah is one of my high school friend that I can always remember because we once shared a piece of our “admiration-to-a-nun” fever (just my own term, hehe) before… I can’t say the full details here but those high school memories are enough for me to be present in her special day… Well if our favourite FMA knows how well we managed our life after high school especially Glenah, I’m sure she will be very proud… And oh, not to mention, it’s been quite straight 11 years since we didn’t see each other. The first time we chatted after 11 years was on my cousin’s wedding day last year and gladly I met her again during our high school small reunion dinner last 3 months ago, where she announced her wedding date and invited us.

I’m glad to be with my high school classmates again, exchanging stories and news, it’s a nice feeling because these are the people whom I’m not seeing everyday yet when I got to see them occasionally and in an event like this, the happy thoughts of high school keeps pouring in… Oh, how I miss high school life.

high school classmates, iping, marie, matche, abbey and dothy...

with yayong and nera...

To Glenah and Roy, my sincere Congratulations! I appreciate how you organized your wedding! You did it well, you’re such a nice couple to look at! The occasion is beautiful, well not to mention your motif is my favourite color. I’m also lucky I got your give aways (thanks to Iping), it’s a nice remembrance of your wedding, very useful… now I know why it’s ‘honey’. I wish you both a happy married life!

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…

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!

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“.

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/

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.

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

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.

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…

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.