Chuch and venue pa rin...

The never-ending search for a perfect venue for our wedding has never stopped. Since Corinthian isn't workable, Jaims decided to look for another venue. West Greenhills' Clubhouse is okay with me but Jaims is still looking for another place. He's not comfortable with the rectangular-shaped venue. When I brought up the topic of possibly renting MPC he was interested. We surfed together XS's website but I couldn't find a picture which showcased the beauty of MPC. I never realized that with the so many pictures in our school's site, there isn't a single picture which highlights the beauty of MPC. Anyways, I promised him to show MPC once he fetches me. When he did, Ate Noe and I brought him there, and all of us were amazed how amazing the place was. The loft was changed into glass, the aircons were placed under the loft, the staged was fixed, the entrance door were replaced with a glass door but a wooden divider was placed inside so those outside wouldn't see what's inside. There were a lot of changes, and I could see how Jaims liked the place. Originally, renting the venue for private function costs P11,000 but since it is newly renovated i was told that the price will increased. I sent a mail to our school treasurer...sana lang pumayag sila. Here's my piece:

Dear Sir,
Good day! I'm Sarah Mendoza, librarian from HS-LRC. I am currently preparing for my wedding this coming October and one of the things that we haven’t booked yet is the reception venue. I was informed that the Angelo-King Multi-Purpose Center may be availed for private functions. May I ask if I could have it reserved on 21 October 2006, Saturday at 6PM? I have called the facility reservations office to inquire about the pricing but since MPC is newly renovated they could not give me the new rate.
Sir, I’m really interested in booking MPC on the said date. May I request if I could have the venue reserved as early as now and hopefully, the old rates would still apply? I will get in touch with the facility reservations office regarding all policies in assurance that all rules and regulations will be strictly adhered to. I am hoping for your kind consideration. Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours,
Sarah Nerissa B. Mendoza

D'yos ko po! sana lang talaga ma-approve. Another bad news: SSJ is increasing their price to P18k. Grabe ah, ang mahal na ah. I mean for P10K ok lang since the church is good but when you compare it with the other churches you feel like, it's a waste of money. You can get a complete package with other churches with your P10k just like in St. Francis Church in Shaw Blvd. I called up and inquired with them. I was told that Oct 21 is still vacant. I wanted to reserve it already but Jaims said he has to confirmed with Ate Minnie first. Sayang naman, if we let go of this package.

Ongpin: 14k, 18k, budol-budol???

Originally, the plan for Saturday was to start early -- go to Ongpin around 10am, have lunch at Steak MD in Timog and then trace Kamuning in the hope of finding a good gown maker (read: cheap yet elegant). Well, the plan didn't push through, not entirely. I woke up late since I went to bed at 3am, obviously no one in her right mind will be able to make it that early. I called Jaims to move the "date" after lunch since it was already 11 when I got up. But after taking lunch it rained hard, I couldn't leave our place. I was able to leave only at 2PM.

So I fetched Jaims then off we went to Ongpin. More than going there, we were more enthusiastic to go to Kamuning. We really want to go there for many weeks now but since I could only leave school at 4PM, we felt that we won't make it before closing time. Pero syempre we still pushed with Ongpin but we didn't intend to stay that long kse nga we wanted to go to Kamuning.

When we got off the jeepney, we started checking each store there for styles, for the price. We got to one store and the Chinese owner was so makulit, she was telling us to buy the rings now since they are on sale. She showed us a yellow 14K gold ring, with 2 white gold on the sides and a small diamond at the center. When I tried the ring, they look really good with my engagement ring. She said she could give it for P15,500. Mahal no! I liked the style but since we're just canvassing and we have only checked two stores, we find it a little pricey. We wanted to leave but she told us that they're just checking for the availability of the sizes. Whem the attendant came back, they went through the pangungulit process again. The owner was insisting that we buy it now. They were asking us how much our budget is but we would only smile and not give them any figures. The price went down to P10,500 but we still don't want to give in. It reached to a point wherein they were asking Jaims already how much money he has in the bank. I was scared. I was looking at him and I felt like any moment this guy will finally take the bait. The attendant was already asking him what his bank is and that she'd accompany him in withdrawing. When we were about to leave the store, the owner was willing to give it for P6, 500 already. Really scary. After that incident I was tired already and didn’t want to look for rings anymore but Jaims insisted. We went around Ongpin, got tired, the next thing we knew it was getting dark already. Pare-pareho lang. You go to one store and another, they carry the same rings. We got to this one store, and Jaims saw a ring. It was an 18K yellow gold wedding band with a small diamond at the center. Simple yet elegant, P7, 500 ata, but Jaims thinks it could still go lower.

Ayun, so napagod kami and since it was dark already, we felt like going to Kamuning would be useless since the stores might be close already. So we decided to have a taste of Ongpin. The nearest was Kim Hiong.

And we ordered the following:

We weren’t supposed to order Yang Chow fried rice but when we saw the next table with the yellow rice, we ordered a plateful, too. Sarap.

After 20 minutes, eto na nangyari:

Siba namin no???

Since sayang naman ang oras, we still went around but promised not to stay long in one store. Mas okay pag ganun. No forcing! We passed by SM Carriedo since we planned to buy Ata a new bag but we couldn't find something that works with his budget. I was thrilled with the luggages. Imagine big luggages cost P600.00. We wanted to buy but we just don't know what to do with it. Pero good buy yun if ever. It was really a long day, we started at La Loma and ended in Quiapo. It was tiring but the adventure was fun.

Usapang pera

Jaims and I were talking last night about the number of guests we will be considering for the catering services. Originally, we decided to get Eloquente's 150 package because of the extras (tiffany chairs for the sponsor + cake or sound system with bubble machine). But then I realized that what if not all in the list were able to come, sayang naman P290 per head na binayad namin. Besides Jaims had talked to his tita and she said that caterers usually include a buffer just in case the no. of guests exceeds the original count.

If we would only account for 120 guests, our package would fall under the P300/head. So total costing would be:

P30,000 (for 100 guests) + P300 (per head) * 20 = P36000
P36,000 * 1.17 (12%evat + 5%service charge) = P42,120
P42,120 + P2,500 = P44,620 (P2,500 is for the sound system which is supposedly free if we avail the 150package)

The original 150 package would cost us P51,000. We will be saving around P6,000 which we could use for bridal car or emcee or OTD coordinator, whatever Jaims and I have decided.

CG problem-o

went to CG this afternoon to reserve the date but when I got there Miriam from Admin informed me that there are parts of the subdivision who are not considered homeowners -- this includes our sponsor's area. I need to call back to check if her boss's agreed. when i left their office, her boss was still on the phone. i can sense how much she wanted to drive me away because it was past 5 already.


sad mode...

Things to do...

With barely 4 months left, here are the things we need to do to catch up with the preps...

1. finalize church and wedding venue
2. gather all required documents for marriage license
3. apply for marriage license
4. buy rings
5. finalize sponsors
6. create invites
7. mamanhikan (baka di kse nila naalala na nagsabi na si jaims eh!)
8. have the gowns and jaims' barong made, schedule for measuring
9. bridal registry! (woohoo!)
10.flowers, cakes, souvenirs...small but must-have stuffs...

Corinthian Gardens Clubhouse

Ang gulo...ang gulo-gulo! if I was ranting last wednesday about the clubhouse being booked already, now this is not the case. Ate Jing called Corinthian again to ask about the East Hall, and they said that it's still available on the 21st. How did Jaims came up with the "big idea"? He actually asked his cousin to help us find a sponsor since we couldn't rent the venue without a homeowner. His cousin agreed but last Wednesday she called or texted that the sponsor said it was booked already. Our theory was that the sponsor didn't agree but so as not to put her name in shame she probably decided to make up stories...para rin siguro wag na kami umasa. But she could have told the truth, hindi naman kse issue sa akin. I just don't like people making stories just for you to stop. Tell me the fact, I'll give you my opinion...end of story.

Anyways, Jaims' found another sponsor. Kuya Joel has a homeowner-friend so he promised to help us. Salamat po.

Lintek na venue, mas mahirap hanapin kaysa TRUE LOVE

That's it! That's the final straw...Jaims have just texted that someone booked the Corinthian East Hall already . Is this a sign or what??? I just don't know what to do now. I'm thinking of moving the date. Maybe Oct 22, at least very few people will have their wedding on a Sunday. I hope. But this means calling all club houses again or worst aying them a visit.

Anyone knows which clubhouse is free on Oct 22? Let me know.

Updates...

Last Saturday, we started panicking about the venue since we learned that Acropolis is already booked on October 21. I called VV6, Greenmeadows, GH North and yun nga reserved na rin lahat so everything started to become blurry. We're still deciding if we'd move the date to November since everything doesn't seem to fall in place but if we cand find a venue for the date then why not. A few days back we went to GH West and found that the venue is still ok. Major setback is the price, since it would cost us 13500 for the venue itself, and 10000 for the cash bond. The place is nice --- white walls, high ceiling, greeneries on the sides. Jaims just dont like the small rooms on the sides since there were names above each door, and from the main hall itself, papers stuck on the door of each room are visible. I was thinking that maybe we could ask the admin to bring them down on the day itself just as not to interfere with pictures. Last week, Jaims sent me a picture of VV1.

I didn't like it. Low ceiling, posts and beams were a sight for sore eyes and it looks old and unmaintained already. From the outside, it looks like a shopping center. Not really ideal for big functions, birthdays would do I guess. Price is okay, 6000 or lower.

We visited Corinthian Gardens nung Thursday, and I love the venue. Glass walls, non-rectangular in shape, greeneries are in construction outside, aircons are not that visible and the venue is big enough to hold 200 guests. Price is 10000 which is within the budget. Syempre, if you're inside Corinthians we can go around for pictorials. Problem is the clubhouse is divided into several function rooms. If ever we get to reserve Corinthians, we would be assigned to East Hall since the other venues are already booked on Oct 21. Miriam, the girl from Admin, didn't mention what kind of functions were reservd on the other halls. If it's a wedding too, it would be confusing for the guests. And since these are glass-walled halls, privacy is not possible pero I think with proper instructions and signs everything would be okay naman. I think they are a little strict with guests nga lang since this sis a private subdivision. Bahala na!

Ayun...anyway Last saturday, Jaims and I already reserved Eloquente. We gave 5,000 for reservation fee.

This is it. At least, we're sure that we're pushing with the wedding no matter what heheh...

Ang Pinaka: Celebrity weddings...

Just watched "Ang Pinaka..." from QTV 11 this afternoon. Topic was about Top 14 Celebrity Weddings and you would really see how much money couples had to shed just to make a talk-about wedding. It's inspiring yet when you think about it, shows like this make people aspire for something better. I must admit I'm an inggitera hehehe... syempre I dream of having a grand wedding like any other brides but of course even before Jaims and I started planning I am already aware of the limitations regarding budget and resources kaya I don't expect much. The fact that we're gonna spend our hard-earned money is already a sign that we're putting our heart into this. It's one thing I'm really proud about this wedding. At this point I could only wish for one thing --- that my parents be able to accept the fact that the wedding will push through...no matter what.