We’re engaged!!! 🥹 AND I HAVE A FIANCÉ!!! 💍🤭

Ahh, 8 years with you my love, forever to go! ♾️ 🤍

Nanood lang ako ng coffee prince, ang luma no? Tapos nag scroll. Ayaw ko munang gawin agad yun wedding stuff, dahil pagod pa yun utak ko. Naiinis din ako sa boss namin kasi ang pangit ng roster ko for August. Hindi ko alam kung sinasadya nya talaga yun. Nag email na rin ako sakanya, hindi para magreklamo- pero parang ganon na nga rin yun punto sa part ko.

Less than 3 months nalang din, wedding na namin. Wala akong ibang maramdaman. Hindi naman ako excited pa, dahil ang dami pa namin kailangan gawin at bilin. May meeting din kami with the Pastor counsellor, chef, and yun designer namin for signages. Hindi pa rin namin napapamigay yun ibang wedding invitations. Pero target namin talaga maipamigay na this week.

Just then, as I was scrolling on fb, the news from earlier came up. Apparently, the driver died. Authorities believed that the man suffered a medical episode which led to crashed. He brought to the hospital, but passed away later on. It was so sad, because nakita namin eh. Nakita namin yun head nya, alam namin na they were waiting for ambo, pero we didn’t expect na ganon kalala.

It’s really sad. I hope we at least stopped and helped. Pero it’s too late. At nakakalungkot din talaga. Praying for the family, relatives and friends for their loss. May God continue to comfort them. My deepest condolences

Before we started the whole wedding planning process, my fiancé and I considered getting married in the Philippines because we wanted our loved ones and everyone important to us to be there. We also considered the flights, accommodation, and other expenses. But we realised that having a destination wedding in the Philippines would most likely cost us double. On top of that, my fiancé’s groomsmen aren’t Filipino, and one of them has a family with two young children, which means we would also be responsible for their travel and accommodation.

Both options had their own pros and cons.

Getting married in the Philippines would mean bringing everyone from Australia over. The biggest advantage would be being able to spend more time together and celebrate with all our loved ones. However, it also meant we would have to spend the entire trip with our non-Filipino friends and be responsible for organising everything around them 24/7.

Getting married here in Australia, on the other hand, is more comfortable and convenient for everyone who lives here. However, it also means some of our relatives from overseas, especially from the Philippines, won’t be able to make it. Only some of our relatives from America will be able to attend. The cost is also significantly higher, and when you add travel expenses on top of the wedding itself, it can easily increase the final cost.

One thing I’ve realised during this process is that because our venue is 2.5 hours away from Sydney, many local vendors don’t usually offer combined photography and videography packages. Most of them are often a one-person team, which means if you hire a photographer, you usually need to find a separate team for videography. Because of this, we ended up hiring a team from Sydney, which added around $900 in travel fees and accommodation for two people.

Despite the challenges, there are so many things I love about our venue.

Since it’s away from the city and surrounded by wineries, I want to treat it as a mini getaway holiday for everyone. Our ceremony will be outdoors, but there is also a backup plan in case of rain. The venue has two accommodations that can fit 24 people, 20 people in the main house and 4 people in the retreat, which is perfect for me and my bridesmaids because it’s right next to the makeup room.

We also don’t have to worry about finding a catering team because the venue has partnered with their family friends, and they’ve been working together for many years. The food was amazing when we attended our tasting.

Another thing we loved is that we don’t have to pay for alcohol packages because the venue allows BYO. They have collaborated with local wineries and offered us a 15% discount. If we chose the venue’s alcohol package instead, it would cost $10 per hour, which would be around $60 per person for the 6-hour reception.

The property itself is around 100 acres, with beautiful surroundings, including fluffy cows that we can take photos with. There are also designated areas around the property where we can capture special moments with our family and friends.

Because our venue already has a beautiful mountain backdrop, we don’t need to spend too much on floral decorations for the ceremony area. This also saves us time and effort during setup. We also don’t need to over-decorate the reception tables because we’re having shared banquet-style meals, which naturally creates a warm and intimate atmosphere.

We still have 3 months to go before the wedding, and I honestly feel like we’re finally in a softer season after months of planning. Looking back at everything we’ve accomplished and all the things that have already been finalised, I feel grateful for how far we’ve come.

It has been a long process filled with endless decisions, planning, and moments of uncertainty, but I truly thank God for His guidance, protection, knowledge and strength throughout this entire wedding journey.

Was only planning to get a Uniqlo HEATTECH turtleneck, but ended up with 3 things instead 🤣

Bub bought me my first Peter Alexander PJs- I told him I don’t need it but he kept on pushing, so instead of having an argument, I just let him buy it. And then we went to the Frank Green warehouse sale. I went in thinking I wasn’t going to spend money on a water bottle (still pretty exxy) but he said he was getting one for me even though I kept saying I didn’t need it. We ended up leaving with two exactly the same customised bottles. And the funny thing is, it’s his birthday on Saturday. I told him I should be the one shouting him a few things instead 🤣

We decided to head to the night markets afterwards. Grabbed some dinner, bought an apple pie from Maccas, then he dropped me off at home.

Alsoooo, I’ve been eyeing the Maverick jacket from City Beach. I’ve got the black one already (paid full price for it 😭), but I told myself I’d get the vintage brown one next time. I even dropped by the store yesterday after work to check if they had my size.