Teaser - DIY Invites

Personal Photo (obviously!)

Eversince I've seen this tutorial, I knew it had to be our invites. Not Save-the-Dates nor Will-You-Be's, but actual invites! I knew I'd be making my invites since day 1, because I love the whole creative process, the trial-and-error, the eureka moments. Love, love, love!

It's still a work in progress (see how dark the bottom version is? Been playing with the color profile.) and I still haven't finished with our monograms, but I'm having fun and my learning curve with Photoshop is just vertical-rock-wall climbing!

W@W has been invaluable with our preparations, so as soon as our wedding is done I'll be sharing the actual photoshop file with the community. How's that for paying it forward? :D

Wish us luck!

The Venue - Ibarra's Garden

The first supplier we booked is Ibarra's Garden.

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Pretty, yes?

At first we weren't too keen on booking Ibarra's Garden because with a limited number of guests, we would have to occupy the 2nd floor function room. Though we booked it for Friday night, I was worried that someone else would get the garden downstairs, which can accomodate up to 250guests, and the noise from the other party would drift upstairs and distract our guests.

It came to a point where we considered having a hundred guests just so we could book the garden and wouldn't have to deal with the noise problem. On the day we were seriously considering it, though, a debutante booked the garden for 200 people! LOL! How's that for a major bummer? But still, it would have been a rash decision if we had 100 guests, double the original number we planned. At baka ayaw talaga ni Lord na gumastos pa kami! It was also a blessing that it wasn't another wedding reception which would confuse our guests upon arriving.

My mom and dad went with me on the day we put down a deposit for our date. They both liked it, and I saw that as a good sign since my mom can be pihikan at times. I've also read at W@W that the food is good, plus you can't beat the price! No venue rental fees, aircon pa sa function room.

Here are more pictures of the function room (since the website features mostly the garden downstairs ... kaya nga Ibarra's Garden eh. LOL!)

I am not in love with our reception venue, but its perfect for our needs and was very flexible for the many themes percolating in my head (vintage? check! festive? check! filipiniana? check!). And the best part is, its less than a minute away from my workplace if I take the jeepney. How's that for proximity?

We're Getting Married! ... Again?

This is Iya (or Miss Yummy, because she's a Weddingbee fanatic), and from now on I will be posting entries here on a first person point of view. I hope this will be easier for me everyone who will be reading this blog. :)

Yes, we are 'kasal na sa simbahan.' We are officially Mister and Misis, with an NSO certificate to prove it. So why, with all the economic turmoil of the past few years, plus the price of starting a family soon, WHY are we going through it all again and spend so much?

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Don't get un-married in the first place kasi!

Simple. We want our families to see us bonded in a covenant in front of God. We want to make sure that our promise to each other is witnessed by the people most dear to us and share our joy with them.

It was something that we couldn't agree on at first, because I so wanted a renewal of vows but he was very reluctant to go through with it. We both agreed in the end, since foregoing the whole thing might mean regrets down the road and a few heartbreaks.

To go through with this, we agreed on the following:

1. Budget will only be at 5 figures. In Philippine peso. Period. (And dear reader, its lower than what you're thinking.)

2. Family and very very close friends only. Guest count is 60 people tops.

3. Anything that will and does not fit the budget will be DIYed. (Which I love to do. :p)

Pretty heavy list, yes, but a good compromise between "luho" and financial responsibilities.

Anyone else with a really small budget? How do you keep everything budget friendly?

The Yummy Couple - Part 2

After so many months of YM, Meebo and Skype chat, the couple decided that the bride should try visiting the groom for a month. The processing was heart-wrenching, but in the end, she got her visa on November 2009

The visit solidified the relationship more -- they got married!

Yep! They got married at a Catholic Church in front of their friends on January 2, 2010. Even though their families were not there, they were both so happy that the groom had to wink playfully at the bride -- just so the bride won't go too emotional and happy-cry in front of the altar. She got to meet his friends, see a way of life that has been his for more than a year. He was happy to have a piece of home with him and they got tour the country a bit.

So now, its the groom's turn to go home and the couple will exchange their vows in front of God, their families and friends. YAY! :D

Trivia:

1. The groom was baptized at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Davao City. The bride, at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Las Pinas City. Guess where they got married abroad? :p

Yes, Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Waikanae!

2. The picture you see is the groom and the bride walking down the aisle before the ceremony. It wasn't planned, but during their last few moments as single individuals, they were still with each other.

3. They call each other 'Yummy' because ... well, masarap daw kasama ang isa't isa.

;)

Introducing.. The Yummy Couple!

The Groom is a hard working nurse employed abroad who loves basketball, his family, and his bride. *Blush* He likes to watch movies, doodle, plays basketball himself and is quite the singer.

The Bride is a physical therapist who will write all of the posts here, loves her family and her groom. *Shuffling feet* She likes to watch movies, doodle, go jogging and is quite a DIY-er.

The couple met in 2007, when she was assigned in Davao City to help put up a medical clinic. He was the nurse newly employed by the company and they hit it off as friends, sans the 'lahat ng taga-Luzon mayabang' stereotype. (Yes I know. LOL!) By late 2008 ( after many business trips to and from Manila and Davao and many many hours on Suncell Mobile phones) they realized they love each other, and thus started a long distance relationship since the groom left for greener pastures November 2008.

It helped that they started off as far-away friends and had a good solid foundation for the dreaded LDR. Let's face it, its hard to be far away from the one you love. But love prevailed, right from the start. There was an unspoken agreement that they would set time everyday to video or voice chat each other since day 1. (And it probably helped that the bride was paranoid that a day without contact would mean it can lengthen 2 days.. 3 days.. a week... :p ) This scenario continued for a almost a year until the 4th quarter of 2009.

(Part 2 coming up!)

Welcome!

Hello!

I’m Iya and I’m here to recount our adventures of our fight against the mad world of the wedding industry and bring about a celebration that is very uniquely us…. and within budget!

Stay with us while I share our DIY projects, the challenges of having offshore groom with far-away in-laws and everything challenging on planning a wedding. Hopefully our stories will help you in your wedding preparations.

Starting this blog was largely inspired by my co-W@wies at the Weddings @ Work Yahoo group.

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