The E-Invite
our e-invite which we will send out to some of our friends. Mostly because we won't be able to see them personally to give them the invitation. The initial plan was a .swf file, or a short movie clip. Pero obviously, no time to that, kaya hetong picture na lang.
2 more weeks, 15 more days to go. Ack!
Hmmm. Di pa naaabot mga invitations. Hay nakuuuu....
Our Cake, by Cakestop
Well, according to Mary Ann Cuenca, our cakemaker, it will look like this. Except it will have different shades of blue for the "petals" of this sampaguita-themed cake. And of course the caketoppers. Hmmm. Wonder how it would look like in real life?
Chosen Flavor: Cinnamon Walnut
The Chinese Invitation
For one, I acknowledge that the posts in this blog might not be widely read, especially since the link to the posts and archives are hidden somewhere in the site map for this blog (If you need more than one click, it's hidden).
But I'm posting this anyway for the benefit of anyone who:
- is planning a wedding
- is half Chinese
- doesn't really know how to type or print anything in Chinese
- can read and understand a bit of Chinese
- are doing their own invitations, and
- want a Chinese invite insert to please their Chinese friends and relatives
I hope somehow I'll be able to help out anyone out there who's looking for this information.
How To Do Your Own Chinese Invite Insert
Our Chinese Invite Insert! :)
Tools used:
- Something to copy from
- a base invitation template to copy from. In our case, we compared and copied from two different invitations that we received before. At first, I couldn't understand half of what I was writing...I even copied the date of the wedding and the names of the couple! But eventually I got the hang of it...and it was because of item # 2 below
- An easy to use Chinese word processor
- Hooray for Google, and NJ Star Chinese Word Processor!
It was google that led me to this nifty word processor, which can type characters based on ping yin and on the number of strokes of the Chinese rootword. If you highlight a certain text, the English translation is shown, so it gets quite easy to understand what it is you're typing. Best of all, it's shareware! Since I was just going to use just this once, it was perfect.
Pros: Easy to use. Free trial for 30 days. Instant Chinese-English translations. Characters can be typed using Ping-yin or the Chinese radical look up table. Displays characters in traditional and simplified Chinese. Can print vertically. If you choose to buy the program, you get various fonts included, plus other cool features like handwriting recognition, text-to-speech, etc. The free trial does not contain these features, and includes only the basic system font.
Cons: For some weird reason that may be related to my PC being an XP, I can't launch the application more than once. Meaning, once I had NJ Star installed, I can open it, type, save, print, etc. But once I close the application, I can't open it again. I have to uninstall and install the application every time I tried to use it.
- A translator
- The most helpful of all: babelfish.altavista.com.
Thank you for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series and the babel fish that started it. And thank you that altavista has Babel Fish translator, where you can translate word and phrases, and copy and paste Chinese text from NJStar/Word to the browser and vice versa.
- Google of course, which led me to the following sites:
To get equivalent Chinese names:
Mandarin Tools
Lechinois.com
Western-Chinese Lunar Calendar converters:
Mandarin Tools
ACADEMIA Sinica Computing Centre's tool
- A proofreader
- In our case, this was my dad, who read and suggested and corrected as he saw fit.
And that's it. You're on your way.
Johanna and Jonathan
Pictures from Anna R's camera
One of my close college friends just got married! It was a beautiful and simple ceremony held at the Church hall of Manila. The rites were meaningful, and this is what weddings should be about. About the couple, about their family, and most of all, about God.
Food was great, superb, magnifico! As in. Sarap. Yum. Hehe. They served chicken, salmon, lechon, pasta, veggies, rice, iced tea and mini cakes. Ang sarap ng cake, promise. And ng salmon. And ng pasta. And syempre yung lechon.
The TODA Prenup
Last Feb 4, I had my first trial makeup, and no photo shoot to go to. Sayang naman ang makeup, so we invited two talented photographers from our frisbee team (TODA) to come with us and take our pictures. We were perhaps their worst prenup subjects ever (we were awkward, shy, unprepared, and well, we're shy), but truly we thank them too from the bottom of our shy hearts. Here are some of the pics they took.
The Serious ShotsPics by Manny, Flash from Photobucket.comThe Fun ShotsPics by Manny, Some postprocessing by Sym
(click the picture to view a larger version)
The Mystical Shot
Pic and postprocessing by JB
 | The Actual Makeup
Evaluation Shots
Pics from Manny
|
The DIY Invitations
Well, after much planning, printing and prototyping, we came to the realization that , "shucks, we have to do our invites, NOW!"
With the wedding just a month away, we took time off from our weekend and spent two sleepless nights printing, cutting, pasting, and tying pretty little ribbons. Hehe. And hindi pa din tapos! Pero malapit na...
sleeping on the job ;-)
The Caterer Setup
photos of Balay Kandila's table setup
Saturday we went to the Batis Asul office to:
1. see the setup
2. taste the food
3. pay the 50% balance
March last year, it was only Tenantz who tasted their food. Masarap daw, sabi nya. And at last Saturday's food tasting, masarap nga! :)
They setup a salad buffet which had leafy greens and grilled chicken salad with choices of caesar, thousand island and mustard vinaigrette. For soup, they served yummy French Onion with caramelized onions and melted mozzarella cheese. Entree was salmon, pork loin with gravy, chopsuey, lengua and rice, and for dessert we had some pastries. The lengua was yummy. Unfortunately though, those weren't the dishes that we originally ordered, so they would try to find a way to invite us back for another round of food tasting, this time with the dishes that will actually be served on the day itself.
Our menu: Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Tropical, Fish in Tartar Sauce, Sylvanas, Tacos and Bottomless Iced Tea.
Ang galing nga ni Tenantz, na negotiate nya ang bottomless iced tea! :)
The Search for The Bridal Car
Well, practicality won. Sort of.
So goodbye my dream bridal car....
The MB Adenauer
ONLY about a thousand MB Adenauers were built in the ’50s,
exclusively for heads of state, dignitaries, royalty and show-biz icons.
Click here to read the Inquirer article about this vintage Benz.
Current rental rate is 8k for 3 hours.
Contact Greg Ching at +63.916.7026747
...and hello to this one that we reserved...
The 2000 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
(bug-eye type)
Contact person Eric de Leon at 0919-8336624
Still a class act though :)
Looking for a vintage car? Check out the MB Adenauer above, or check out The Wedding Belles, contact person tlupe@sunlife.com
The Studio Prenup
Studio Prenups with Ariel Javelosa's Studio
Makeup by Norma
The Makeup Trials: Painting it Red
Dang, who knew that somehow, you really do get what you pay for?
Well, I was hoping to cut a few corners budget-wise with regards to makeup. Will be paying for the entourage's makeup din kasi. Tamang tama, bobo pa ako pagdating sa makeup. So, I went on two trial makeups. Below, a recap:- TRIAL 1: Wasn't really used to seeing myself made up, so it felt kinda weird. So I didn't like it much at first. But on hindsight, mas ok pa pala sya kay sa dun sa isa.
- pros: imported products. covered up my zits really well. parang walang zits. works with a hairdresser, so it might be easier to make up the entire entourage.
- cons: thought it was too heavy at first. pero on hindsight, hindi pala.
- verdict: still waiting for photos from JB and Manny (phino-photo-shop pa nila. hmm. katakot naman =)
- TRIAL 2: Well, maganda sya mag-ayos ng buhok, although at first na-shock ako kasi nakataas yung ends ng buhok ko. "Starstruck" daw sabi nya. Well, ok naman, kaso ang pink ko talaga. Medyo pangit tuloy sa photographs, unless sobrang lakas ng ilaw.
- pros: fast worker. madali kausap. magaling mag-ayos ng buhok. affordable rates.
- cons: makeup too pink. didn't cover up zits too much. and hmm, iba nga ata kulay ng leeg ko sa mukha ko. makeup too pink.
- verdict: makeup too pink.
Up next: Some photos from the shoot/s.
To be continued: Still haven't made up my mind regarding the makeup. Actually, I'm leaning towards this other person, but I haven't tried her yet, and sa totoo lang, medyo tamad na ako mag trial makeup. Not to mention, mahal pa. Nakita ko na naman yung work nya on another bride, and ok, mukhang natural. Sabi nga ni Tenantz, baka raw kelangan ko talaga sabihin sa makeup artist na, uy, gusto ko natural ang dating. Hmmm. So in the end, I think mapapamahal din ako. Say goodbye to my vintage Mercedez car. Hay. The saga of the makeup artist lives on... Postscript: I just talked to another one of my married friends. May pag-asa pa ulit ang 5000-peso all-in-with-entourage na makeup. Hmm. sigh.
Mahabang Kwento: Search Is On
Hmm. 38 days to go. And frankly, I can feel myself splurging. Going over budget a little bit here, adding some more stuff there, cutting just a wee little bit over there, finding out that we needed to book this and that supplier pala. Hay. In the end, pagkatapos ng compute, e napalaki talaga yung gastos. Grabe.
Lessons for would-be brides and grooms: Don't cram. You'll make bad decisions. Or if you need to cram, make sure it's planned beforehand.
I think, just for last week alone, we booked (and are still looking for) some items that we didn't think we needed. Some of the stuff that we did last week:- Wedding Coordinator: Well at first there was a budget for that. And then, after inquiring, parang...yikes ang mahal din pala. So tinanggal na lang sa budget. So, nag ambisyon ako gumawa ng checklists and mag delegate ng tasks sa mga friends ko, kaso nga, nung January na realize ko marami ngang tasks. And...baka di mag enjoy yung mga friends ko. And well, marami pang ibang issue. So dagdag sa budget ulit....mabuti na lang eh wedding coordinator and host din pala ang cousin ni Tenantz. So ayan, we'll be getting help on the day itself. :) We met Fraida and her boyfriend last week, and kahit pinsan nya si Tenantz eh sabi nya sa akin, basta it's my day daw so kung ano gusto ko, go! O, e okay nga talaga. Hehe.
Peso Power: Secret muna. Basta less than most OTD na nakikita ko.
- Wedding Cake: Last week, we also met up with Mary Ann Cuenca, Cakestop's owner. She's the one we booked during the bridal fair at Enterprise last year, the one who does cakes for Kink Cakes. Well, I was late. Hehe. Si Tenantz was early, and we all met up at Megamall Red Ribbon. Napag-usapan na nina Tenantz and Mary Ann yung cake details nun -- it would be something similar to the flyer she gave at the bridal fair (she calls it the Sampaguita style cake), but there would be different shades of blue, and of course, the unique cake topper that she would be making. Maging kamukha kaya namin? Or hindi? Hmm. Abangan!
During our meeting, sinama din nya yung cake decorator nya, who also moonlights as a florist. He had great ideas too, pero he was supposed to fax the price quotations, kaso too bad he wasn't able to do so.
Oh, and Cakestop also had mini-cakes, which we will give to our principal sponsors as gifts.
Peso Power: 3-layer cake, 2 layers edible, with unique cake topper - 8k; mini-cakes: 180 each
- Florist for Entourage and Bride: This I got from Jao's friend. Charlie the Florist also supplied the entourage flowers for one of Jao's former officemates, whose wedding also happened to be during March (last year), and whose motif also just happened to be powder blue. Hmmm. Di talaga unique. Hehe. Charlie met us at Gateway Mall last Monday, and friendly and okay din sya kausap. Marami rin syang ideas, knowledgeable about flowers, and alam din nya budget namin. Hindi sya full-time florist (day job: accountant), but he does a lot of weddings too. It will be orange, yellow, and lilies for me.
Peso Power: 5k
Follow ups: Pay 1/2 by Feb 11, pay the rest on day itself.
- Trial Makeup: Mia and Norma
Scheduled for a trial make up session with Mia (Jean's friend). Photos are scheduled to be shot by Frisbee teammates JB and Manny. =) Well, actually we have a studio prenup included in the photo-video package we got from our photographer. Pero nainggit lang ako sa lahat ng mga pretty outdoor pictures na prenups. And, sayang naman...outdoor people kami (well, in a way), tapos wala kaming pretty outdoor garden shots?! Hehe.
- Marriage License: Tenantz took half a day off (while I took the morning off as well) to attend to the filing of the marriage license. We went to Manila City Hall on a Friday, the day Manny Pacquaio did the rounds of Malacanang and City Hall. Hindi ko sya nakita, but he was there while we were there! Haha. Anyway, medyo mabilis naman yung whole process...we got there 8:30 AM, waited a few minutes, the seminar started at 9, ended at 10, and by 11 we were done. Marami pang booboos nun (kelangan pa namin bumili ng bagong form - 30 pesos - kasi napirmahan ko na sya sa bahay eh dapat "in the presence" of City Hall)
Peso Power: 120 pesos for the form.
Process at Manila City Hall: Enter City Hall, go to the Marriage License booth and tell her you want a form. She'll give you a piece of paper, and then you'll line up at the cashier to pay 120 pesos. Then you'll go back to the lady, and she'll give you the form and let you know the requirements. You would need xerox copies of your IDs (one of you should be a Manila resident), and your NSO-certified birth certificates. Seminar schedules are Monday-Friday at 9AM and 1PM. Registration starts an hour before. After the seminar, submit the form back to them, and they double check the requirements and the form. If ok na, she lets you look for another lady, who again double checks your form, then kung ok na ulit, you have to sign the form in front of her and raise your right hands to swear that everything you wrote down is true and correct (or something like that). Then tapos na. You can get the license after 10 days, and the license is valid for 4 months after.
Interesting din yung seminar, may pinakitang video ng babaeng nanganganak, yung lumalabas yung ulo ng bata, kita mo lahat, dugo and all. Wow, inspiring. Well in fairness interesting din naman yung seminar, ginawan ko nga ng kwento yung nurse na nagbigay ng seminar. Sabi nya kc 6 years na nyang ginagawa yun (ung pagbigay ng seminar sa city hall), and isa syang male nurse. Wala lang, feeling ko lang dive instructor sya kaya nasa pinas pa sya. Hehe. And binanggit din nya about the hand-clasping theory, which by coincidence I just reread in Arnold Arre's After Eden graphic novel a few days before.
The Hand Clasp Theory: (click the picture for a larger view)
So maybe Arnold Arre also attended a marriage preparation seminar at Manila City Hall? Or is the hand-clasping theory really common and it's just the first time I heard about it? :)
- Caterer - Batis Asul: Over the weekend, we went to our caterer, found out na super bare ng table setup. No flowers and just a bowl with colored water and floating votive candles. Well nung una kasi, when Tenantz mentioned it before, akala ko ok lang. Kasi maganda naman yung mga pictures ng setup nila. Well it turns out wala silang picture nung "basic" setup talaga, yung mga pictures na pinapakita eh usually may add-ons na for the table setup. Wala silang mapakitang basic table setup pictures, medyo mataray na nga ako nun, kasi parang hello, hindi ba you should have samples of what you're selling? Pero reasonable naman ako, and di naman kasalanan ng girl or anyone else. Siguro ganun lang, minsan not so good service talaga. Hay. Magpapalit na talaga ako ng caterer nun, kaso sabi nila masarap daw talaga pagkain nila. As in. Eh syempre di ko rin natikman, and wala rin sila sample food. And parati nila ako kinakalimutan i-invite sa food tasting eh nire-remind ko naman sila. Next month pa daw (mga Feb 11), kontakin na lang daw nila kami for food tasting (yung dish na talagang nasa menu na namin). Hay naku, I heard that line before. Pero sana ngayon totoo na, kasi kailangan na totoo na no. Hmph. Gusto ko pa naman wala nang gagawin sa Feb. Haha. Asa pa. :)
Sidenote: Hmm...just read through a classified ads post that Batis Asul will be having food tasting from 4-8pm on Feb 11. Ha! At di pa nila kami inform. Hmph.
- Event Stylist - Balay Kandila: Well dahil super bare nga ng table setup sa caterer, napa-book kami ng event stylist. Actually, the other option was either get a florist, or get their affiliated event stylist. Partners kasi sila. When we visited our caterer, the florist rates they gave us was a bit steep, so we put the florist discussion on hold muna. Plus, we were still scheduled to talk to another florist (who was Charlie), so baka mas cheap sa kanya since bulk naman. So tinanong namin about their affiliated event stylist. Well iba pala office nung event stylist sa caterer, pero since almost near na rin, we decided to eat lunch first (at Mr. Kebab), before dropping by the event stylist's office.
Well nung tumawag kami sa phone, e super bait pala ni Ronald, the guy who runs Balay Kandila. Binigyan nya kami ng directions, and when we got there, maasikaso sya, and mabait. Kung baga, parang nabawi yung bad service ni caterer. And sabi pa nya, masarap daw talaga sa caterer namin. So ayan, na-excite na naman ako. And, binigyan nya kami ng table setup for 23 tables, 1 long table (for VIPs), and may backdrop pa for the gazebo. Actually, hehe hindi ko rin nakita yung backdrop before (hanging candles on a trellis), pero nakita na ito ni Tenantz dati and maganda nga daw. And worth it naman daw yung price, kasi ang quote pag galing ke caterer yung backdrop is more expensive. Yung table centerpieces naman, ok lang, medyo marami na rin kasing beach-themes so hindi na sya ganun ka-unique. Pero ayoko na mag-isip ng theme na bagay sa skyblue, and I don't think may time and patience pa ako to go to Divisoria and buy vases and candles and seashells and sand and have someone arrange it all sa reception tables once na-setup na sa venue. So kahit na alam kong overbudget na ito para sa amin (as in, talagang over budget), dahil napaka bait at helpful and accommodating ni Ronald, e binook din namin sya. And natuwa kami. See, the power of good PR. Hay.
Peso Power: Plus 22k sa budget. Aaah!!!!
On a sidenote, ang ganda din ng mga home-made candles nila, available in different shapes and sizes. Ganda. :) Wala na kaming budget pambili, pero wala lang, nakakatuwa dahil maganda talaga tingnan :)
- Bridal Car:
All along, we were planning to use my Dad's Silver Nissan Exalta. Lalagyan na lang ng car bouquet and ribbons. Kaso sabi ng nanay ko, ayaw daw nya. Hehe ang taray pa nya, kahit sya na lang daw magbayad, kuha na lang kami ng bridal car.
So ayan. Maghahanap pa kami ng bridal car. Was planning to call rent-a-car agencies pero haven't yet. Cheapest I found so far (from the usual bridal car companies) was 3500 for the basic Mercedes. Gusto ko rin sana nung bug-eye na Mercedes, kaso 6k yun for 3 hours. And isa pa, while surfing around for sample prenup pictures, eh guess kung anong nakita ko. Ang luwag ng kotse. Ito pala ang dream car ko. Hehe.
Above photo from Mimi's (of Fotogra's Karl and Mimi) blog. See the couple's lovely slideshow too.
This is just a sample photo of what their car looks like. Note that I don't know the couple, I just found their pictures really classy. Tipong, simple, classy and elegant. Yung kotse, mukhang galing sa commercial ng Alaska (I remember yesterday...the world was so young...That's you lolo? Let's Dance lolo!)
Side note ulit: ang cute ng kotse. ang cute ng cake nung couple na pinakita sa slideshow! :) ang cute ng bride. hehe. sigh.
- Accomplishments for this week:
1. Paid Balay Kandila
2. Schedule of Saturday's prenup shoot
3. Bought our first appliance -- a gas range and hood!
Our Chinese Invite Insert! :)
We're now married!
