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?