shoot me

i'm still going gaga over my photographer hunting... for the past whole week, it's the first thing i think about in the morning and the last thing before i get knocked out to sleep. sometimes, while at work, i think about it that i get so braindead with what i'm supposed to do because it bothers me. shiznits, i think i've even had dreams about it... although i don't really remember now because you know how you tend to forget your dreams?

i admit. i'm too anal and picky about how my wedding photos will turn out that i haven't even really thought much about my reception. like, seriously, spare with the cheesy and awkward poses and the grossest/most awkward kisses of the bride and groom captured on camera. one of the photographers who called me up today couldn't believe that i found their contact information on wppi site.

"are you a photographer as well?"

i'm like, "huh? hehe... no."

"then, how do you know about wppi?"

i go, "well, i asked myself, where would i find a website where all the 'award-winning' professional photographers' are conveniently listed in a directory?"

"wow. amazing... you! just! crack me up! you're crrrrazy about your wedding pictures! you're no typical bride!"

and i said, "duh..." no, actually, i didn't really say that. out loud.

this whole thing is consuming me. yes, i said, "consuming me."

although i think, i might have finally found the light at the end of the tunnel... again, i don't wanna jinx it, but i'm very excited tonight that i've hugged and smooched mike over and over again at least 20 times in a row and danced lambada right in front of the tv while he was playing ps2. my gah, tell me about it. i'm so irresistable.

spring forward

"i can't believe how fast time flies" is an understatement. i mean, seriously, can you believe daylight savings time starts again in a couple of hours? when mike and i went out the house this afternoon, the weather was almost perfect if it weren't for the wind... and inside the car, it was quite warm that we actually had to turn the AC on. it's spring time once again! as you can tell, i'm excited. i'm so done with winter.

my gosh, last spring, i was still in college... working full time at wynn... single (i mean, legally single) and unmarried... and my daddy was still here... sometimes, i could just cry by just thinking about everything - all the changes - i've been through this past year... God's been amazing through it all: bad and good.

i'm actually here at mike's uncle's house. it was their house warming, and it's pretty cool coz it was our first time meeting each other, and they're very friendly and pretty fun =) to be honest, i still have to meet most of mike's relatives, and i've only started to meet a few of them in this past year, so you may notice that i'm really appreciating all the opportunities in a special way... especially now that we are married.

so anyhoo... i finally called melody (the bridal consultant at demetrios) yesterday and cancelled the order for my tiara and change my veil to without-blusher (the front part of the veil that covers your face). valerie and i were talking about that last wednesday night, and we decided that i don't wanna go "traditional" in that area also. from my understanding, the veil-blusher symbolizes "purity" and "mystery" of the bride; her face is "covered" because she cannot be touched or even just seen openly by any man... but i wanna walk down that aisle without anything on my face... symbolizing that i don't need to cover myself up to protect my "purity" from men because i know how to take care of myself just the way i am. heck, yeah! "all the women who are independent, throw your hands up at me!" muhahaha!

i've talked (when i say "talked," it means "alot of talking and persuading") to mike about the wedding photographer =) i don't wanna jinx it, but i'm pretty excited - dude, actually, very excited - about the conclusion of our discussion. i'll post about it once it's actually finalized... ahhh, so excited!!!

have a great saturday night, everyone!

say cheese

looking for a wedding photographer is, by far, one of my biggest dillemmas aside from the ceremony site. sigh. valerie and i were browsing through different portfolios of wedding photographers last night, and i gotta say that photographers from the p.i. are definitely something else - even compared to those who are based in the states.

i'm willing to invest as much as 20% of my whole wedding budget just for timeless, genuine wedding photos... but a third (?!) is just pushing it.

if i could just have him, that's it. i'd be set for, like, life. you won't hear anything about this from me anymore, ever... and he's still available for 11/23!

i have to have a talk with mike. heh.

oh, and update on my hairdo... i'm totally dropping the tiara. it's not quite doing it for me, so i'm gonna have to stick with my (and valerie's) gut feeling and go with something like this...

valerie canary valerie

i haven't posted anything since this past weekend. weekend was full of hussle and bussle. mike's uncle and cousin and her family came to visit Las Vegas, so of course, we ended up showing them around. i love his cousin! we are so much alike in terms of our values and outlook in life... it's almost like a confirmation that i'm in the right track because she's less than twice my age, so she's basically in her "been there, done that" stage of life... and considering that we agree on things like that, it says alot. i guess, great minds really do think alike, eh? hehe!

but yeah, so of course, we invited them to the wedding and warned them that it's going to be on thanksgiving weekend, so they might already have other plans or follow a traditional family reunion thing. i was so relieved that she said she doesn't see any problems or conflicts with having the wedding on thanksgiving weekend, and she wouldn't mind coming up here all the way from simi valley, ca! i got so excited! you see, that was one of my biggest concerns about having the wedding on 11/23 coz it's the day right after thankgiving. there might be alot of people, especially those who are from out of state who have reserved that weekend for a family get-together type of thing and/or might not be willing to travel away from home on thanksgiving weekend. but gigi assured me that as long as i get the invitations sent out in a decent amount of time, people who truly want to be part of it would make adjustments. well, i guess, it's kind of like what mike said: it will really filter the guest list down to the people who sincerely and enthusiastically want to share this special day with me and mike. =)

my bridesmaids and i finally checked out david's bridal last saturday... even though all of us, including myself, had to squeeze it in between our really tight sched for that day... which is why i would really really really like to thank each one of you - valerie, sheryll, nicole, and sharon - for taking the time to come out that afternoon =) you guys truly make me feel that you consider my wedding day as a very special event that you want to share with me from the very beginning until the end... which is one of the main reasons why we're having a second wedding to begin with: to share our joy with family and friends! mike and mama mila also came with us, although mama mila ended up trying on more dresses than my bridesmaids did... hehehe! it was pretty quick but fun. we must've only spent about an hour there because we knew what exactly we wanted. (see previous post.) i can't wait til i see all of you dressed up and all made up on the actual day! no doubt you, girls, are going to look b-e-a-u-tiful!

i got the feeling that all of you like your particular dress, but really, what do you, ladies, think? are we pretty set on those? we don't have to order until may-june, so if you're still interested, we can still keep checking out other stores (even just for fun.. hehe!) just to keep our options open, right? well, just let me know!

Mocha, Espresso, and Redwood

Matron and Maid of Honor

Bride's Maids / Secondary Sponsors

these are the dresses that i've pre-selected from David's Bridal... honestly, i think i'm pretty set on these, unless, of course, they look unbelievably fugly in person... they're separates (two-piece), which makes them so flexible (and re-useable), and i think they have sizes from 0 to 24. since it's a two-piece, i'm assuming it's possible to get a different sizes for the top and skirt. hopefully, that would save us from having to get any alterations. the fabric is tissue taffeta, so it will have crispness but also the sheen metallic look that i like.

sheryll emailed me the photos that we took at demetrios when i tried my (sample) dress on. (thanks, sheryll!) i gotta admit, looking at the pictures made me so excited =) i can't wait 'til mike sees it! i was almost tempted to show him the pics, but i know, i know, that would just ruin the whole "it." sigh, the dress still makes my heart skip a beat.

it's the last day of feb, and then we're in march. i know the wedding is still good 9 months away from now, but there are moments when i just get so overwhelmed. for the past week, i've been doing alot of research online and brainstorming. oh my gosh, there really are endless details to think about - gives me panic attacks! thanks, valerie, for keeping me sane.

girls (except sheryll), you still have to let me know if saturday is aye or nay. please see previous post.

11/23

mike and i just got home. errr, i know. it's so late for a weeknight... it was long day, really. we had our music jamming session at church. ahhh, it's so amazing how God uses music to touch people's hearts. then, we had a hearty pinoy dinner (with lotsa rice) with kuya evan and oliver. (jon and mon, you guys have to stop being losers and hang out with us more often. *finger snaps*)


anyhoo, evidently, i'm too tired to blog something important or significant tonight, so i think i'm just gonna share an "exclusive" photo with all of you... don't laugh, ok? ok, fine, you can if you want to.

i should tell you how it happened and what exactly happened during this very moment. i would like to believe it was romantic, but it was more comedic actually. i'm sure i'll elaborate but not tonight. my eyes are about to shut down, and i got work tomorrow!

bonne nuit, everyone.


p.s. sheryll's days off are on friday-saturday this week, and i believe that the rest of us are off on saturday also, although you may have other plans for that day. girls, let me know what time would be best for you. i'm thinking 4pm-ish, and we'll probably only take a couple of hours the most this time, and we can go our separate ways for the evening. aye or nay?

from TheKnot.com

Bridesmaids: Top 5 Trends for Maids

The name of the game in bridesmaid fashion? Coordinated, but not matching too much. Keep these five trends in mind while you search for the perfect look.

#3 Hemlines on the Rise

Flying in the face of tradition, many designers are choosing to show a little leg. Tea-length styles are the new fun, feminine, and flirty standard. With these dresses, fabric, not length, determines formality. The added benefit? These less "bridesmaidy" dresses can be worn again and again.

bride's maids dresses

first of all, i would like to thank the girls (and kelvin... hehe!) for coming last sunday to demetrios to see THE dress in person and, of course, to browse around for your dresses. i know that it's the very first time that all of us (except nicole) went together, so it was a little bit "disorganized" and overwhelming. so many colors and shades, different types of fabrics, a variety of silhouettes, sleeves or lack thereof, and even necklines to choose from. nonetheless, i thought that it was still a very good start coz it gave me an even greater confirmation of what look and theme i really want to go for.
anyhoo, for some reason, by the end of the afternoon, we ended up steering to the direction of the long a-line brown dress with the ribbon on natural waist. i'm aware that melody, the consultant, had a huge influence on that, and not that it really matters anyway because it's not like we concluded that that was our final decision, BUT to be honest, it really was FAR from what i envisioned what your dresses would look like. i know i've openly expressed to pretty much all of you that i wasn't contented with that particular dress, but since monica wrote me an email asking me what i truly prefer in terms of your dresses, i, of course, wrote her back a more detailed - maybe even way detailed - description of my preferences. and since it was already brought up, i figured, i might as well post it on here, so i don't have to keep repeating and explaining it again to each one of you coz trust me, it's just TOO LONG to be saying over and over again.
so here you go... ready?

Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:51:40 -0800 (PST)
From: "Sheila R"
Subject: RE: Found on TheKnot.com
To: "Monica Hang"

Hi Mon! wow! you actually had the time to email me... hehehe...

SHORT! from the very beginning, I've always emphasized to you, ladies, that I prefer tea-length or cocktail dresses for my bridesmaids... remember how my theme is contemporary? minimalist but bold, vogue but classy, playful but feminine... i think maybe that's one of the reasons why even though we tried so hard to look for the princess-style wedding dresses, i never seemed to be contented, like i was pushing myself to like it... and you noticed that even those princess-style looking dresses that i've been eyeing, i still tend to choose those minimalist styles, the not-so-ornate ones, because it really wasn't "me." you know how i am... i always like to be a little bit different. just a little bit. hehehe...

honestly, out of all the dresses you tried on sunday, it was sharon's blue dress that i liked the best. (sorry, i'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one. hahah!) i know the price tag is too high, but in terms of fabric and style, that's the look that i'm looking for. i really like taffeta (the fabric) as opposed to satin or chiffon. taffeta gives that rough metallic look that makes a dress dramatic and stands out, especially when it's in a dark rich color, like chocolate or dark blue like that dress. (but i don't really like taffetta on wedding gowns coz taffeta doesn't look too good in white shades.) satin is the most common fabric they use on bridal dresses, but notice how you can wear a satin blouse as an "everyday" look. the same applies to chiffon dresses; like, you can wear a chiffon dress for church without looking overdressed. but a taffeta dress? "it's something that you can wear ONLY on very special occasions or at a fancy evening party," as valerie put it in words for me. remember our most favorite bubble dress with the big ribbon from david's bridal? that's a taffeta fabric, and look at how great and special it looks even in photos.

and in terms of style, i'm really going for the vintage vogue look, the tailored look but still so lady-like without being uptight... like, imagine if you were going to an evening party back in 1950s, and audrey hepburn is attending, what would you wear? also, for the alterations, i've heard that it's more expensive to re-hem if the dress is long because almost always, long dresses will have to be hemmed, especially for your height. i think the only tall one is valerie, but you, sharon, nicole, especially sheryll, will for sure need to have alterations done because your dress will be sweeping the floor. but for cocktail dresses, even if it's a little bit longer than it's supposed to, you can (almost) ignore. plus, i think the main reason why the dresses were so long on you, sheryll, and sharon anyway was because it was size 10, so there were lots of unfilled materials that are just left hanging. size 10 is like what? at least 6 sizes bigger (smallest is usually size 4) than you're supposed to wear.

anyway, i'm just trying to explain more in detail the look that i'm going for. i'm not saying that i want you guys to pick and purchase the blue dress from demetrios. mon, i understand the whole realistic financial situation (i think you forgot you're talking to Sheila here!), which is exactly why i am not letting any of you buy that long brown blah dress, alright!? haha! seriously, i know it's cheaper than the blue dress, but that's still $180+ worth of closet crap because do you seriously think you can wear that anywhere else after the wedding??? you see, i want you guys to buy something that you can actually wear again at another fancy evening party after wearing it at my wedding. and please, i adore Melody, my bridal dress consultant, to death, but i don't necessarily believe in what she's saying that my bridesmaids can't be too playful with their dresses because the bride has to be THE focus. i am strongly convinced that my bridesmaids - my best girl friends - do NOT have to dress down and look plain and blah, so i - the bride - can stand out more. i'm the only one who's wearing the long white gown. even if you put me at the back corner of the venue, i think it's still pretty hard to take the focus out of me. i want you, girls, to wear something you feel you look beautiful, glamorous, and confident in, not just uniform-looking decors who stand in line next to me... are we getting this??? haha!

but yes, i've been sending photos of different dresses to you just to show you examples of the look i'm going for, but it doesn't mean i am making you buy the same exact overpriced dresses. i think the only difference in pricing of the dresses comes from the brand and/or where you buy it from. (demetrios is the higher-end version of david's bridal, but they have so many similar dresses.) in fact, valerie and i found these dresses at david's bridal, and they're about $100 cheaper than the dresses from demetrios, and with the style and length of them, i really believe that you can get away from doing any alterations. also, if you notice, i keep emphasizing that i don't even really care if you wear different styles as long as it's the same fabric and color. click this link (http://www.davidsbridal.com/images/makeamatch/catalog_page01.jpg), and you'll get what i'm talking about. uniform variety looks good.

and of course, i wrote the last seven paragraphs just blabbing about tafetta and cocktail dresses. muhahaha! enough!

okay, get back to your studying, and i'll chat with you soon!!!

much more love,
sheila-la-la

the best of both worlds

so, somehow, you manage to stumble into our wedding blog... uhm, yes, mike and i are getting married! AGAIN!

okay, fine, i know, for some of you, it's not exactly the biggest newsflash, alright? but i know for a fact that mike and i haven't made any "formal" announcement to most of our friends and relatives, especially those whom we don't have regular communication with and/or those who are in the philippines. that's actually one of the reasons why mike and i decided to create this blog. the other major reason is, i'm hoping that through this blog, i can communicate more efficiently with my bridesmaids (and the rest of my bridal party) because it's been such a challenge to gather all of you at one place and one time, especially with our "diverse" schedules. (plus, i think you, ladies, would appreciate much less junk in your inboxes that you get from me. hehe...)

but back to the "newsflash"... by now, you are probably either shocked and happy or not-so-suprised but happy for us, nonetheless. (if you're apathetic or even, let's say, appalled, then please click on the red button with the X on the right top corner of your internet browser. thank you.) so, you're probably wondering when "mike finally said yes," as mike loves to claim to everyone. (notice that i said, he CLAIMS it, but it's not necessarily true.)

mike and i exchanged our vows for the first time on november 23rd, the morning of thanksgiving day of 2006, in a little five-minute "secret" civil ceremony at the clark county civil commissioner's office in the historical downtown las vegas. we had a total of four important people in our lives witness our awkward, nerve-wrecking, yet very touching "express" ceremony. haha! after the ceremony and a quick lunch "reception," mike and i finally told our parents, and of course, the rest of our family and close friends. heck, yes! we kinda eloped! *giddy smile*

anyway, i'm sure i'll be sharing with you through this blog more detailed stories that led us to finally tie the knot. meanwhile, yes, you read that right... michael, my husband, is giving me the best of both worlds: first, an intruiging impromptu elopement, and for our first wedding anniversary, a revealing fall wedding with our family and friends... as we share some of bits and pieces of our journey to our november 23rd wedding, mike and i and my bridal party welcome you to take a peek!