Goodbye, singlehood!

Back then, shower parties were not as popular as they are now. Nowadays, such is their popularity that brides-to-be have this to look forward to aside from THE big day.

Why?

Simply because shower parties are strictly for the ladies, and we all know what ladies do when not in the company of men. Hearty talk, laughter, gossip, tears, drinks, and oh, did I mention FUN? Shower parties have even become more creative, with unconventional games and suprises (and secrets). No wonder some shower parties are tagged as epic.

They say it is customary that a friend, sister, or relative of the bride-to-be organizes the shower party. It is supposed to be a BIG surprise; after all, it is supposedly the bride's last night of being single. Well, in my case, I wanted a shower party. So I practically forced my high school barkada to organize one for me. Hahaha! I even gave her the contact number of my younger sister, and it was up to her whom she wanted to invite. I know, I know. I am a demanding friend. You see, I am not a Marian Rivera who was practically drowning with people wanting to throw her a shower party.

Such was my persistence that I constantly followed her up with her plans (we are officemates), but she would dismiss my questions and say she does not have time for such crap (I know, she could be mean, but I knew that she was brewing something haha *assuming*).

On the night of the surprise party, my fiance offered to pick me up at the office because it was late. We strolled around SM for a while and noticed him very busy with his smartphone. After a while, he said he wanted to drink because he missed those times when we would go out to have a bottle of beer. Weird. When he told me where we were headed, I suddenly remembered that I declined a male colleague's invitation for a quick dinner with his girlfriend, scheduled on that same night and at that same place! I had a feeling something was up. True enough, when we arrived, my friend Cathy fetched me at the front door and thanked Cyril for bringing me there. Although I kinda knew there was a plan, I suddenly felt nervous as my much-awaited shower party was about to happen! (I have hosted a number of shower parties before but it felt different because I was finally attending my own!)

I was shocked to see my other high school barkadas, my sister (my sister?!), and my close friends at work. We had a game involving a bottle of Emperador and a whole box of secrets. The food was delicious, and the girls found time to sing to their hearts' content (while I was busy taking videos of them because I don't know how to sing).

Suddenly, the lights went off and in came a male dancer. LOL. But I have to hand it to Cathy for choosing someone who's handsome, has nice skin, and smells good. I let the girls have him hahaha! He was kind and game all throughout the short slow-mo dance performance.

The best part of it all, I have to say, were the gifts!! Hahaha! I sound selfish but I don't care. I'm a sucker for anything lace, see-through and sexy. A few days later, I received another gift (that came in a cute little box) from Talyn, now based in Taguig. How sweet and thoughtful!

And oh yeah, the cake! Dyan brought the cake and it looked a bit "molested" already because the pen*s made of hard icing fell on top. It was delicious, but too bad I wasn't able to eat the icing pen*s. Lol.

Thank you so much, ladies, for a night to remember! Kudos to everyone who put together everything just to give in to my whims hahaha! You're the best!

Our Engagement Shoot

I have always wanted a bonggang-themed engagement shoot. My first idea of a theme was "seasons", and we would have an underwater shoot, a shoot high up in the mountains and up in the air, and one that would involve fire. Ambitious, eh? But I realized it would be very costly, not to mention logistics heavy! (Plus the fact that we were neither photogenic nor of model material haha!)

So for our prenup shoot, I opted for a much simpler note (by the way, I was given the freedom to conceptualize because my fiance had no inkling about prenup stuff). I decided to buy matching outfits, scoured my sister's cabinet for my college cheerleading skirt, and convinced Cyril that we would rent a dress/gown and a coat. I did not have time to think about props, and my choices for locations were narrowed down to three: Buhangin Substation, Riverfront Corporate City, and Punta Dumalag Turtle Sanctuary. Anyway, I thought, the photographer would surely know what to do.

They definitely exceeded our expectations. 

Cyril and I rented a van from MIB Rent A Car for the whole day. Our first stop was the Style Gallery Salon of Arnel Accion to get my hair and makeup done.

Getting dolled up by my HMUA Arnel Accion..and yes that's Cyril at the back trying to get some sleep

Then we got in touch with the team of Richard Amora as we would fetch them somewhere before we proceeded to our first location.

Set 1: Davao Light Buhangin Substation, Mamay Road

Top: Matching tees by Folded and Hung

Shoes: Nike

We were still camera-shy and we kept squinting our eyes at the sun. It was very hot at the substation especially since there was no vegetation within the compound, and Arnel did a number of touchups on my makeup. My face felt like a frying pan.

We personally chose to shoot at a substation because we first met in Davao Light, and we wanted something to remember that by.

Set 2: Riverfront Corporate City aka. Crocodile Park

Dress and polo shirt by Soul

Well, I love the color orange and I was pretty much excited to wear our matching outfits. Other than the scorchig heat of the sun and the discomfort with walking a lot in my heels (sometimes on uneven ground and we had to watch out for horse dung), this was more fun than the first set. Orange complemented well with the green surroundings and Richard's team chose beautiful locations.

We were still a bit nervous and our jaws were getting tired, but Richard still managed to capture the best angles.

Set 3: Riverfront Corporate City aka. Crocodile Park

KCN top: Sister's jersey

KCN skirt: college cheerleading skirt

CLN jersey and shorts: Davao Light basketball team

Shoes: Nike

As we were getting more comfortable in front of the camera, Richard wanted this set to be fun and playful. Good thing I was able to borrow a set of pompoms for added effect. No need to explain, the pictures say it all.

Before we proceeded to our fourth set, we stopped for lunch at Vista View Restaurant, overlooking the city. We opted for the boodle but ended up not finishing everything haha! Great food, great company, great talk!

Boodle fight!

Then at around 2:00 in the afternoon, we were ready for our fourth and final set, each of us armed with a one-liter bottle for water for hydration!

Set 4: Turtle Sanctuary at Punta Dumalag

Gown and Coat by Wedding Haven

This was supposed to be the romantic set, and, frankly, I was not sure if I was up for it. I did not know how to project to the camera. Fortunately, Cyril was very game with everything and encouraged me to cooperate so that it would not take us very long.

Again, our main enemy was the sun (we did not apply sunblock!!!), but the view of the sea was very beautiful and Richard chose the best spots to capture nature's beauty and to let our love show (naks!).

After more than an hour of walking and posing along the shore with tiny pebbles and crushed corals, we explored other corners and angles. I had to change back from shoes to slippers and back to shoes again because it was very difficult to walk there in heels. Our feet hurt from standing on the corals barefoot, and even got our shoes wet due to the crashing waves, but the shots were definitely worth it. And during it all, Arnel would go down to our location to retouch my makeup, fix my hair, or dab at my sweaty (and oily) face. The driver of the van patiently waited while we did the photoshoot.

As we were on our last leg, a colleague (our ComRel manager) arrived on site and allowed us to shoot at the mangroves area. Another dreamy location, another beautiful angle. 

See what I mean? Amazing photos, aren't they? It takes talent to capture the best of the subjects and the background. But more importantly, it takes a big heart for suppliers to make their clients comfortable and grateful for the experience.

We packed up at shortly after 5 o'clock in the afternoon and stopped over at Chowking SM for a cool serving of halo-halo.

Some behind-the-scenes shots from GoPro
Thank you JPaqs for lending us your GoPro for free!

Hubby says "Cheese!"

And with this, once again we thank the following people with a big heart who made our prenup shoot memorable:

Photography: Richard Amora and Chu Perez of Richard Amora Photography

Hair and Makeup: Arnel Accion

Van Driver: Bobby of MIB Rent-A-Car

Overall, the whole experience was very memorable and fun, as we felt like celebrities for a day.  Our prenup was definitely way beyond compare.

(All photos except BTS © by Richard Amora Photography)

Our [Crazy] Wedding Preparations

My (then) fiance arrived on the 17th of November 2014 after about a 13-hour plane ride from Manchester, a few hours waiting time at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and a 2-hour plane ride from Manila to Davao.

Together with my parents-in-law, I was there to meet and fetch him from Davao International Airport.

GoPro shot of fiance's arrival. Woohoo!

Anyway, the day after his arrival, we immediately went to the Local Civil Registrar to apply for a marriage license. (If you are wondering why we arranged this a few weeks before the wedding, it's because 1. You cannot apply for a marriage license unless upon personal appearance of the BOTH of you and 2. It has a 120-day expiration. So even if we did get one before he left on February 2014 it would still expire and we'd have to get one again upon his return home.) Good thing I had someone help me get us our Birth Certificates and Certificates of No Marriage (CENOMAR) from NSO. Apart from waiting in line to get the latest cedula (a marriage license requirement), the process was just a breeze and we managed to submit and pay for all requirements by around lunch time on Nov. 18.

Nov. 19--we went to the St. Francis of Assisi Parish to have a run down of all our wedding requirements. Afterwards, we visited the shop that made our wedding outfits to fit my fiance a coat, and to rent at the last minute one set of formal outfits for our prenuptial shoot the next day (a decision I made at the last minute haha!) Unfortunately, the entourage gowns were not ready yet so I could not advise our bridesmaids and groomsmen to try them on. However, they showed me my wedding gown, and I merely took a picture of it. After all, I planned to stick to the superstition that soon-to-be-brides must not fit their wedding gowns due to bad luck. WRONG. Luckily, I changed my mind less than two weeks before the wedding, and found out that the gown was generally bigger than my size and the sleeves were kinda loose so I had them repair it with the new measurements. (Lesson learned: There's nothing wrong in believing superstitions; but when it comes to your wedding, be practical and have a gown fitting if it's what will put your mind at ease! After all, you can never assume that your body measurements have remained the same especially after all the emotional roller coaster ride during the wedding preps!) We also dropped by the PAL office because Cyril followed up his Mabuhay Miles card (which, until now, still hasn't arrived).

Waiting for CLN finish his transaction. Yawn!

Nov. 20 was our Engagement Session, so you can just imagine how exhausting it was for Cyril who has had no decent sleep ever since he got home. (More on our prenup story in my next post.)

Nov. 21--we visited the church again, then the wedding shop; then we shopped for shoes, long sleeved polo, undergarments (I took care of my own stuff); then again we checked our wedding to-do's. We were scurrying from one place to the next to maximize our time, so every single day was very exhausting. That Friday was the last day of my leave.

Scouting for wedding shoes until I decided on this pair

I went back to work on the following Monday but the week was also just as busy with the wedding preparations. After work, we had scheduled appointments with our suppliers and coordinator, we made downpayments--you get the drift. It felt as if we were throwing all those £££ away. Haha!


We also had our pre-cana seminar during the weekend, so we spent two whole days for this. I found out that it was fun, actually. At least, I did haha! We met other couples and learned from the lectures, though admittedly during some parts of the lecture I wanted some Zzzzzz.

Pre-Cana Day 1: Purple matchy matchy attire

Pre-Cana Day 2: Feeling fresh and blessed!

My OC notes

A week before the big day, we made constant followups with the shop for our entourage attire. To be honest, they were being a pain-in-the-a**. They were fond of promising delivery upon certain dates but it did not happen. When the gowns finally came, it was as stressful to remind our entourage for fitting. Two days before the wedding, our bearers still did not have bowties. Nonetheless, there was nothing we could do but to trust that everything will just smooth out. (Lesson learned: Jot down everything up to the tiniest detail so that you got everything covered! My notebook was already full with notes, scribbles, illustrations, and we even carried around an envelope containing all pertinent files and documents such as receipts, still there were a few things I overlooked!)

We also made hotel reservations, met with the coordinator for final reminders, met with some suppliers, did our DIY giveaways, made last minute adjustments to the guest list, bought the remaining wedding must-haves like offerings and Bible, practiced for our first dance and the entourage dance (good thing they were all very cooperative), and prayed for the best.

After our confession. Time check: Around 8 o'clock on Dec. 12 

At Marco Polo: Was offered fresh watermelon shake while waiting for our check-in confirmation

Enjoying our brief moment of relaxation at our Cabana Room (for the ladies)

The gowns! Good thing my bridesmaid checked on each gown.

A day before our big day, Cyril and I had our confession first thing in the morning, met with the coordinator again, then in the afternoon got all the gowns, props, and body form from the shop. Still no bowties and tie for the bearers and the groom. I wanted to scold all the staff but Cyril would remind me to keep my cool (although he himself would sometimes snap at me after a tiring day haha). We dropped everything off at our hotel rooms. Then Cyril fetched some of his relatives at the bus terminal, while I had my nails done. After dinner with his relatives and just as I thought things couldn't get any worse the night before the wedding, one of my bridesmaids discovered that their gowns did not have breast pads!!! The horror!! I immediately contacted the "mananahi" and two ladies from their team ended up sewing breast pads to the bridesmaid's gowns inside my room at around 10 in the evening. So, yes, we did NOT have any beauty rest of some sort. (Lesson learned: Do not pay your suppliers in full yet unless you can really REALLY trust them! Or unless it is specified in the contract.) Gaaaaaah. It was craaaazy! Bloody crazy.  But it was all worth it.

Our biggest takeaway from all the stress (and as advised by our officiating priest) is that amidst all the craziness in the preparations, we should never lose sight of the goal: MARRIAGE. A wedding is not as important as the sacrament of marriage. So even if things go wrong (and they are bound to go wrong even during THE day), we should learn to let go and let God.

Watch out for my entry about our 12-13-14 big day!