!!important reminder: bride's maids dresses!!

girls, please don't forget to drop by at david's bridal to finalize and order your dresses. deadline is this weekend since it may take up to 20 weeks to make the dresses and have them shipped back.

please refer to a previous post to see the variation of dress styles to choose from. also, the sales consultant will normally ask you for the name of the bride, so that they can pull up the file to make sure you are ordering the right style, color, etc., but just in case you don't get asked, bring it to their attention.

if you have any questions, please let me know either though this blog or by phone.

Thank you all so very much! <333

oh, and girls, we have passed the five-month mark. frrreakin' crap!

"leap of faith"

rene gaviola's newly-updated portfolio

kuya rene's fine suprise for us

flying to hawaii

... the husband, that is.

we dropped off mike at the airport two hours ago. i believe his plane took off about half an hour ago and will be landing in honolulu, hawaii, at 8 in the morning for a half-hour stop-over, and he's off to the island of kauai.

ok, so i know he will be gone for only six days, which is why i am hesitant to admit this (i got a rep' to protect, you know), but this being away from each other thing is kind of a big deal for me. (yeah, yeah... "awww...") this is going to be the first time since we got married that we will be away from each other for that long. not to be mushy, but after seven months of being married (ok, so seven months is not very long, psh!), i still really do love waking up with him every morning (uh, yes, even after a big unresolved fight from the night before) and falling asleep in his arms every night... so yes, i will miss my husband so very much. there!

no, he's not going to hawaii for a vacation and to have fun without me... well, uhm, at least, i think not. hmm... but he's going to hawaii to visit his ill uncle eddie (papa nathan's brother), and i really hope this will be a great experience for both of them since they haven't seen each other in ages. mike really wanted to take me with him since uncle eddie and i have yet to meet, and it would be both our first time to go to hawaii, but aside from bad timing at work (my boss is leaving in three weeks, so lots of pending stuff that need to get done before she transfers the department to the new boss), a plane ticket to hawaii is currently soaring up in the sky since it's the summer season.

oh, well. it's kinda nice, i guess. mike and i both realized that this will be good for us, being away from each other for a few days. it's a nice break for us to just miss each other and appreciate each other's presence. in these past weeks - actually, make that months, not only have we been frequently getting on each other's nerves, we have also been working through some pretty major issues in our relationship... i know, right?! only seven months of marriage, and the reality of marriage has already started to mess with us. some friends have said, "shouldn't you still be in the 'honeymoon stage'?" well, apparently, not.

i'm not shocked, though. first of all, it's not like we haven't been through worse before we got married. we have so many witnesses to our "worse," too! second, the moment we agreed to get married, i never expected our marriage to be a pure bliss. i was never oblivious to our differences. well, mike and i are too different, even exact opposites in many aspects of our characters and our lives; i think it would be quite hard to be oblivious to begin with. nonetheless, it was not our differences that became the basis of our desicion to vow to spend the rest of our lives with each other. rather, it was our "time-proven" constant devotion and commitment to work through those countless differences on top of the hardships that our imperfect lives regularly throw our way. i guess, one of the best things that i am proud of about our relationship is we actually do talk. err, fine, sometimes, i do most of the talking, but that's only because i have to keep repeating what i say coz he's not very good at listening! but i digress... like i said, we do talk. even when we are fighting... we may shrug it off our shoulders the first couple of times something comes up because we're about to catch the sunrise and have to be at work in a couple of hours, but we normally never stop discussing until we get to the bottom of it all, even if it takes days or months (or even years). oh, those sleepless-nights, ceaseless fights. but hey, don't those phd experts say healthy relationships have regular conflicts and fights? you know why? i know why. the kiss-and-make-up part.

... if you know what i mean. *wink*

hey! don't assume you know what i mean.

Pre-Wedding Bridal Party Photo Session - Part 3

photographer: rene gaviola
location: the forum shops at caesars palace & the venetian grand canal shoppes
date: 06062007

{click on the image to view full album; all images in the album can be enlarged by clicking "full size"}

blossoms & branches

from confetticakes.com

cute and simple, yes? except make the blossoms orange.

[expect a nitpicking, scrutinizing comment from valerie. totally. haha! :]

just for val's reference =)

val, this is what i was kinda referring to: it has the "native" feel but still contemporary enough... although it doesn't really matter now ;)

[product shown is of pacific industries.]

a feather thing

the cheapest decent-looking feather bridal hair clip i could find online: $30.00

from rushcreations.com

wot'cha think?

if you, girls, can find something better at a better value, please let me know. thank you!

flowerssssss

i just discovered this online flower market, flowerbud.com, and they have these awesome packages for specially for weddings. they also look very reliable and dependable. it's just hard to order from a random online bulk flower stores and risk getting crappy flowers and/or not getting them on time because of late shipments.

this "grand box" of tulips cost $169.00 and contains 120 stems. that is approximately $1.41 per stem. not bad, huh?

they also offer mini calla lilies and grand calla lilies, although they are a bit pricey. a single stem of grand calla lily can go as much as $4. yikes.

however, i also discovered that white irises - with gold - can be incorporated in my flower theme since it's so simple and minimalist but can give that touch of delicateness and intricacy. now, i'm thinking for my bouquet: orange tulips with white irises. i know i wanted a full white bouquet before, but i read once in an article that full white bouquet does not do very good in photos. plus, i love orange. we'll see though.

and of course, cymbidium orchids... oh my gah, they just look so divine and elegant. but of course, the price tag is also elegant: $17 per stem. if i can't fill all the tables with orchids, i want them, at least, in me and mike's table. although, i haven't fully decided on the seating arrangements yet: whether i want the two of us isolated in a "sweetheart table" or in a "presidential table" with our parents and other very special people, for example.

Pre-Wedding Photo Session - Part 2

photographer: rene gaviola
location: red rock canyon, las vegas, nv
date: 06022007

{click on the image to view full album; all images in the album can be enlarged by clicking "full size"}

Pre-Wedding Photo Session - Part 1

photographer: rene gaviola
location: the venetian; ballys-paris-planethollywood-bellagio frontage
date: 05292007

{click on the image to view full album; all images in the album can be enlarged by clicking "full size"}

SESSIONS 2 & 3 YET TO BE POSTED...

updates

first and foremost...

me and Mike's joint birthdays celebration was a blast! it was on monday night at our teeny weeny home, and everything and everyone was just awesome. food were homecooked by my mommy and mama mila and with a big help from auntie mel and sis. ann g =) sis. ann also brought me her infamous homemade crema de fruta! omg, succulent. 'could eat that everyday of my life and never get tired of it. beyb was mainly in charge of the grilling, but cherry, my FRIEND (inside joke) from work, stepped up to the plate to be a bbq girl as well on top of bringing her homecooked spaghetti (with chicken!). jon and mon brought their very remarkable and noticeable (inside joke again) tiramisu, me and mon's favorite during our college years. and of course, how can i forget valerie's fully customized and painstakingly-and-exclusively-baked-for-us birthday cakeS? mike and i each had our own cake =) then karaoke (and dancing) until midnight! again, thank you so much, everyone! mike and i were so overjoyed because i think it is the first time in a loooong while we've gathered all our real friends at one place at one time... and i noticed that everyone who were there are also the same ones who are going to be invited to our wedding. 'made me even more excited.

so that was on monday... tuesday, i had an extended day off from work (yes, it was nice!), so took advantage of that to run lotsa overdue errands with cj. i finally had my hollow-to-hem measurements done for my dress, the one with my actual bridal shoes on. also, that morning, i finally heard from kuya rene gaviola, and he suggested that we could do our first engagement/bridal session on that night. he's been in the country since almost two weeks ago to cover a wedding in anaheim, ca, last weekend, and it so happened that he had a detour to las vegas for another business trip, so we figuredthat we could do some photo sessions in between. he flew in vegas on late monday night, and since we figured that it'd be crowded on the strip on weekends, we really pushed to have the night shoot on the strip on a weeknight in the middle of the week (despite of kuya rene's low energy charge due to his back-to-back sched). so we did! omg, it was so much fun. exhausting but FUN!

so far, we've done a shoot at the venetian and then on las vegas blvd sidewalk, the front area of paris/bally's/planet hollywood/across bellagio. we started at 8:30 in the evening and got done at two in the morning, but we didn't get home until almost four a.m. because of our late night dinner at downtown. (and i had to show up at work that morning! ) so far, kuya rene has shown me one teaser (his favorite one that didn't need "enhancement" ;), and it turned out AWESOME that i cannot wait to see the rest! (by the way , i'll wait til i have at least three images to post online all at once before i show them. hehe!) we are planning to do at least one more extension of our session since kuya rene will be in town for another week. i'm sure there will be one this weekend. ;) ahh, mike and i are ecstatic! oh, and kuya rene is absolutely highly recommended. aside from the fun we had with the ever-humble-down-to-earth him, he was excellent to spot my fabulous "angles."

oh, and of course, how can i forget? MAD PROPS TO CJ... for being my stylist, personal assistant (haha!), assistant lightwoman, critic, my-wide-smile-trigger, STEPDAUGHTER (inside joke), and everything in between! aylabyu, CJ!

ok, to be continued tomorrow... i still haven't fully recuperated from my 3-hour sleep the other night.

six months

okay, yeah, so i just realized that we just recently hit the 6 months countdown.

girls, first things first... (1) we need to meet up soon and delegate the tasks, (2) we need to set up a day for all of us to go back to david's bridal - no later than next weekend ideally - to finalize your dresses.

*hyperventilates* everything's gonna be okay. everything's gonna be okay.

p.s. monday, 5/28... come to our house for a little get-together in the evening. call me to confirm!

Meet...

... our very special flower girl and bride's maid: mikayla and cj

so i decided to move the wedding blog here on blogger. blogger's interface is much more simpler; i started feeling like multiply has too much things going on in it... that, and they didn't have a template with brown motif. hehe! and at least on here, i can choose some of my bridal party to be added as authors. well, let's just hope that they'd actually take advantage of their "posting powers," as i'd really this to be like a memento for everyone who's involved in the wedding preps.

so yeah, yeah, i haven't blogged for the longest time. mainly because there really isn't much progress with this whole wedding "thing." psh. but another big reason is our girls came back two weeks ago after spending a year in the pilipinas. it's weird because i never truly realized how much i missed them until they came back and i saw them again. :) pretty girls, aren't they? thanks to their daddy's ultra-strong genetic powers.

i swear. like when i'm out somewhere i.e. work, driving, church, restaurant, overwhelming ideas and thoughts about the wedding would be lingering in my mind, and i'd be like, "oh, this is gonna be so on the blog tonight." but once i get home and actually have the opportunity to write, i would just blank out and end up not blogging anything.

it's okay. i'll get better at this...

guests lister

so i've started working on a rough draft of the guests list just to find myself getting a headache and wanting to pull my hair out. i promised myself that there will be no more than 100 invited persons total, especially because i don't want to compromise the quality of the wedding reception site, just so i can accomodate more people - people who are, more likely, have really nothing to do with me and mike and/or with how our relationship bloomed and added color to our lives together. but my gah, as of this afternoon, the list already reached 130, not counting the people whom we might have "overlooked." i mean, of course, like i said, it's just a rough draft, and i can still do some cutting, and response rates will more likely not be 100% anyway, but still... the list doesn't include some people who might "resurface" and the people whom our parents would want to invite. errr, mike and i already had this huge argument this evening just discussing about it. let's just say that we were both frustrated to the point that both of us had dropped threats of just calling the whole wedding off. it's so hard for me to let go of my sentimentality and my fear of offending people; mike feels the same way. so now, it has become a matter of who gets to invite an "ordinary friend" while the other one has to give up giving an invitation to an "estranged relative."

like, seriously... am i supposed to invite his/her significant other also even though we barely know each other or we haven't even met? am i supposed to invite them just because we see each other everyday or on a regular frequest basis? am i supposed to invite their kids or their parents, too? am i supposed to invite them because they are one of my mommy's best friends? am i supposed to invite them because we happen to be related but haven't talked or seen each other for years?

it would be different if mike and i had all the money to spend on a one-day affair... but you see, it's not even just that. when mike and i first decided to have a church wedding, i envisioned it to be simply intimate. like, 50-75 persons intimate. just the closest family and the closest friends who strongly influenced me and mike's journey together... people who shaped us individually to become who we are as a couple. it's no secret to people who are truly close to us that in the five years that we have been together, mike and i did not have a fairytale story; it was more like an exhausting soap opera, actually. it hasn't been just a joyride for us; it never was. we didn't meet in the most romantic way, and our love story presented both the most beautiful beauty and the ugliest ugliness. because of our relationship, many people have been filtered out of our lives... only few remained a "family" and/or a "true friend," who accepted us unconditionally with no pre-judgements. only few have been able to understand the magnitude of our love, why mike and i belong to each other and only to each other, why we decided to marry each other to begin with, despite of all the ugly things that happened within and because of our relationship.

i think the event would just be much more gunuine if everyone who attend are only people who truly care, who truly can imagine how much of a lifetime blessing it is for us to spend the rest of our lives with each other. i really wouldn't want to invite anyone who will mainly view our wedding as just another event where they "have to" worry about spending money on a wedding gift... another dinner party that they "have to" sit through because it would be "impolite" to refuse an invitation, especially one for a wedding. at the same time, that's one less thing for me to worry about during the wedding day: if there are people who are un-entertained, un-interested, and just plain bored out of their minds during the reception or whatnot... because true family and friends do not come to the couple's wedding, expecting to be entertained and be well-fed or get anything out of the wedding, for that matter, but for them to give by adding even more "colors" to the couple's once-in-a-lifetime celebration.

*sighs* help?

I DO: hairdo

i know i should be worrying about the bigger details during this stage of our wedding preperations, but hmm... i think i'm seriously considering the feather look here. just the feather bridal comb, not the hairdo. the 'do's too prom-ish for me. i'm usually not big with putting anything that comes from animals on my hair, but with this one, i think i'll achieve that modern "vintage" look... that same look i intend for my bridal dress to exude.


an oversized silk flower on the side like this (me and val's weakness, and i think sheryll's also):




or a crawling vine like this:




okay, so now, imagine either the feather or the flower (instead of those big red flowers) with the veil hanging low from under a simple chignon like this:

i think the 'do above would look like this (below) if you remove the flowers, except the chignon is hanging a bit lower here:

i'm pretty set on the "sleek and low" look. actually, it kinda reminds me of the hairdo's you see in a miss universe pageant, doesn't it? very much modern "vintage"; just very simple and straighforward (no tricky curls or tease), yet still graceful and just screams out, "i am a woman!" as opposed to, "aw, look at me, i am so a princess! daddy's princess 4ever!"

after looking at these hairdo's, now i'm even tempted to drop the veil as well... just like how sheryll envisions herself walking down the aisle, as she mentioned in a previous post: veil-less... hehe, although my mother might say something. she already is somewhat against me not having the blusher. we shall see.

with or without veil, nonetheless, i am determined to go without any necklace or anything around my neck. just my plain old clavicle... maybe just a bit bronzed-up. i can imagine the beautiful contrast of my ivory dress against my bare copper-ed shoulders. then, just a classic pair of elaborate chandelier earrings... not sure what they'd look like exactlly.

so... from what you've seen above, any suggestions? bride's maids?

flower talk

this centerpiece is the closest look to how i've always envisioned it in my wedding. i may want creamy white flowers instead of the yellow ones. i am so into the cylinder vase with the flowers submerged in water. when i worked at wynn for a couple of months, everyday that i went to work and saw their floral arrangements, i found myself in awe of these beautiful lively orchids submerged in huge clear cylinder vases. i love the ambiance they give. minimalistic, just sharp and clean yet still feminine and sophisticated. i remember when i first saw this photo on theknot, i immediately emailed it to valerie (one of my 'maids and my exclusive wedding designer ;). we got super excited because we confirmed that calla lillies can be submerged in water without rotting or dying or something... i intend calla lillies to be a "theme" flower, by the way. again, it's great for the contemporary look that i'm going for.

another great thing about having a contemporary theme: the floral arrangements won't have to be so ornate. i am determined to do the flower arrangements myself. well, hopefully with the help of my bride's maids. this would save me so much money. a simple bridal bouquet from flower shops runs around $200 nowadays. then, add those of my brides' maids. i don't know, but it would be a ridiculous amount of money to spend on flowers. the cool thing is, today, i found out that one of the biggest online wholesaler of fresh flowers is based here in vegas. their warehouse is on dean martin dr., about five miles from where we live. not that it would make very much difference because they have free shipping anyway, but at least, if worse comes to worse, i can come "inspect" or maybe even pick out the flowers myself when i order from them.

for my bouquet, i want something like this... white french tulips (maybe orange for the "fall" look) but with a bit longer stems:

And for my bridesmaids, something like what she's holding, but less stems. valerie and i are thinking of maybe a slender bouquet of 5 long stems of full-sized calla lillies per bride's maid.

Say Hello to...

Rene Gaviola

let me tell you: mike and i are so proud and feel privileged to have him do the photography. okay, so some friends have commented that i've gone a little crazy and nitpicky about the photography that i even found the need to "import" a photographer from the philippines. but hello, why wouldn't i? the wedding lasts only a day, but the photos last forever. i was looking for more than a photographer; more than anything, i desire an artist. anyone can "take" a picture with just one press of the button, but it takes precision and artistry to capture the meaning of the moment. and with the rates of photography services nowadays, especially of those photographers based here in the states, i better get the best quality i can get for my money's (actually, make that mike's money. hehe!) worth.

plus, an added bonus: kuya rene is such a cool kid. hehe! seriously, though. i think one of the most overlooked factor when couples are looking for their wedding photographer(s) is the level of comfort that they feel with the photographer... you want someone taking your photos whom you can have fun with. after all, your wedding is, or at least, should be a joy- and fun-filled event. especially with the post-wedding engagement/bridal shoot that we are planning to do? ;) oh yeah, go check his blog about trashing the dress.

seven months away

yeah, i know. i know. where have i been? it's been almost four weeks since my last blog. for the past three weeks, i've been busy being miss shen hui, that's what. i was selected to be a part of an awesome Good Friday production at our church. omg, hours long of practice every (week)night. as you can imagine, i haven't had the privilege to just stay at home and sit in front of my computer... but it was well worth it! the experience was very challanging yet rewarding. i had to play the role of a Chinese girl in the Vietnam War era, who got married to an American soldier but lost their first child - an unhealthy baby girl - because of China's stringent one-child policy, causing her to lose her sanity. i had to display all kinds of extreme bipolar emotions within a couple of minutes... and i am not an actress! it was crrrrazy! but the play, specifically the actors' performances, got many great feedbacks. tsk, only by grace, i'm tellin' ya.

anyhow, now, i'm trying to get back on track with this whole wedding thing. not only until these past couple of days did i start to realize that The date is a little over 7 months away. i am so panicking. i still haven't found our ceremony site; actually, most of the major decisions have yet to be made. we don't even have our bridal party finalized! *hyperventilating* i'm hoping that this weekend or the next, mike and i would be able to visit at least a couple of bigger christian churches, where we can hold the ceremony, but it already looks like this weekend will also be pretty full for us. the good thing is, starting last weekend, mike and i both have saturdays and sunday off together, and it will be like that for a good 3 months. at least, it will be perfect for the critical planning and coordinating phase of the wedding...

ehhh, i don't know! i feel so disorganized and overwhelmed right now... although i have accomplished something for the wedding that i'm definitely very excited about! i'm very excited because this is *hint* something that i've been ranting and whining about in my past blogs... and because i'm so hyped about this, i just totally feel the need to put this in a totally separate blog... so please proceed to my next blog. =)

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!