M+M

Hitched!

The Car Scene with Kuma-chan - this was my favorite part of the e-session shoot :-)

Idea: I imagined us behind a pickup truck, talking, carrying a bunch of balloons. The truck is moving at a faster-than-normal speed. The video guys will shoot behind the truck or beside it, will first highlight the balloons, then us.. etc, etc. What really happened: We got to shoot the "truck" concept, we had one balloon (lol) but our 5 yo child is with us. The truck was slow, and we were playing with food (popcorn) and teasing each other (kulitan lang)!   Verdict: Based on the pics, I think it still turned out great despite not being able to act out our original plan :-) And we weren't acting out at all ;-) Personally, I was a bit nervous when the truck started moving and was praying inside -- don't let us do what stunt people can, oh Lord!

-- 

... And we thought we're engaged already!

After a long courtship, if the couple later decide to get married, there is the Filipino tradition of pamamanhikan (from panik, to go up the stairs of the house), where the man and his parents visit the woman's family and ask for her parents blessings to marry their daughter.  It is also an occasion for the parents of the woman to get to know the parents of the man. 

During pamamanhikan, the man and his parents bring some pasalubong (gifts).  It is also at this time that the wedding date is formally set, and the couple become engaged to get married. 

From: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/love.htm

August 6, 2011 (Saturday) was date of our pamamanhikan. Together with Mike's family (dad and mom), we went to my parent's house in San Mateo. After the sumptuous meal of 3 pansit types (sotanghon, chap chea and palabok), the increasingly famous dynamite lumpia (spring rolls), Mom's version of Lola Aids's lumpiang sariwa (without shrimps), Red Ribbon ube cake, buko pandan and Lola Nena's homemade kikiam, we unraveled the plans to the elders.

I successfully defended my guest list to the mother who wanted to invite her friends and cousins and aunts whom we're not really well-acquainted as a couple. Whew.

They think our coral-tiffany blue with hints of cream and orange motif is cool. And Mommy Elsa (mother of groom) is excited to see our flower girls (Mike's nephews) dressed in our colors.

F's birthday weekend @ Baguio.

Found a few more inspiration boards for coral and Tiffany blue motif. Looks like this will be it. :-)

http://www.trendsettingwedding.com/2009/02/inspiration-coral-dark-tiffany-blue.html

I'm kinda liking this palette!

Btw, we had a good time last weekend at El Nido. Food is heavenly! The lagoons are a paradise on earth.

I think we should have informed Mike's friends that we're serious about the "pre-nup" shoots. But then again, we're not yet photogenic (read: need diet and exercise), and so that will have to wait! Now, re-thinking about moving our Coron trip hmmm...

A week after getting the photographer for our wedding, we made up our minds and decided on booking the next major supplier - wedding videographer. Our requirements are really simple (or maybe not!):

Me = creative output but within the budget

Mike = HD services, prenup video, glide-cams/tracks, crane and Blu-Ray!

Before we met Digitalshots by Arvin and Maru, I really have no idea where in the world we'll get our wants, because most of the "creative" people in the video services industry will charge more than our budget if we would get HD-format edited videos, etc.

Thank goodness for Arvin and Maru, who has probably the most comprehensive wedding video packages among those whom we inquired from. We got everything the groom wanted for the price that makes our budget happy!

They were responsive right from the beginning of my inquiries via e-mail and SMS. That's also one quality I'm looking for in a supplier. It's enough that we're dealing with Club Balai Isabel's seemingly lack of enthusiasm when we began our inquiries.

Met with Puy of Really Awesome Weddings today and booked him on the spot! Yey, my sense of accomplishment just got 10 notches higher! That's one major supplier down. :-)

Just to share the details, we met him at a coffee shop somewhere in Ayala corner Buendia Ave. He was cool enough to explain how his team works, his "weapons of choice" (they're for prime lenses v.s. zoom lenses, versatility over quality), and overall he's somebody who can articulate his passion about wedding photography. :-)

We'll get the contact within the week :-) Can't wait!

M&M's as Wedding Favors!

http://www.mymms.com/ideas/weddings.aspx

This is the place to be! I can't be excited enough. 

Our AE finally emailed the proposal this morning! Included are the cost for the Elite package as well as the venue rental. We could also schedule our food tasting and the good thing is our request to replace some items in the menu is okay with them.