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

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

Finding the perfect venue is like saying yes to the dress. You can’t just say yes and figure everything out later. You have to make sure you genuinely love the venue and can envision yourself getting married there, just like the dress you’re saying yes to. The venue sets the foundation for so many other decisions.

Then comes the budget. You really need to know your priorities, your non-negotiables, and where you’re willing to compromise. It’s so easy to overspend, especially with all the little add-ons. One extra thing here and another upgrade there can quickly add up, so you also need to leave room for unexpected expenses.

Then come the vendors. The inquiry process alone can be a lot. I ended up making a spreadsheet to keep track of everyone such as comparing packages, prices, inclusions, availability, and whether they fit within our budget. Then came the eliminations until we found the ones that felt right.

Then comes actually settling and booking everything. Once you’ve chosen your vendors, you have to consider contracts, deposits, payment schedules, travel fees, accommodation, and whether they’re local to your venue. If your vendors are based two hours away, just like ours, those extra costs can really add up. Sometimes hiring someone closer to the venue makes more sense.

And then, the actual planning. Wedding planning is basically a massive project. You have to time everything properly; otherwise, you’ll find yourself rushing. Creating save-the-dates, sending out invitations, reminding everyone to RSVP, finalising guest numbers, arranging the seating plan, finalising the food menu and communicating it to the chef, deciding on drinks, whether to choose a package or BYO, and figuring out what types of wine, alcohol, and non-alcoholic drinks to provide, suggesting accommodation, scheduling payments, and managing so many little deadlines that all depend on each other.

You become a project manager without realising it. You’re coordinating vendors, timelines, guest lists, logistics, deliveries, contracts, accommodation, and people.

Every decision creates another decision. You think, “we’ll just choose the menu,” and suddenly you’re deciding on dietary requirements, allergies, quantities, serving times, table arrangements, drinks, glassware, and what needs to be communicated to the caterer. 😂

The little things are NOT little. It’s easy for people to say, “It’s just a wedding favour” or “It’s just stationery,” but when there are 50+ little decisions like that, they become a huge part of the workload.

Wedding planning can also be incredibly isolating. They say it’s one of the most isolating seasons of your life, they’re not lying. People can ask, “what’s left to plan?” but they don’t see the time, effort, thought, the stressed, the arguments with the fiancé and countless decisions behind everything. It can be hard to open up, especially to someone who has never planned a wedding. Sometimes you don’t need someone to fix anything, you just want someone who understands.

It’s important to ask for help. Planning consumes so much time, money, effort, and emotional energy. You don’t have to carry everything yourself. It’s okay to be honest about what you need and ask for help. Taking a rest is important and essential too.

DIY is your friend. I only learnt Canva when we started planning our wedding, and I realised how much you can actually do yourself. Etsy, Canva, free templates, and other online resources can save you so much time and money, especially in this economy.

And then there are the friendships. Wedding planning really shows you who your true friends are, the ones who genuinely check in, offer a hand, celebrate with you, and make an effort to support you through the process. You also notice those who don’t really offer a hand, and while that can be disappointing, it’s also a realisation about the people you have around you. You learn not to expect everyone to show up in the same way, and to appreciate the ones who do.

And you will change your mind. A LOT. Something you were 100% sure about 3 months ago might suddenly not feel right anymore. And that’s okay. Give yourself room to change your mind without feeling like you’ve failed at planning.

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.