A Visit to Our Florist: Five Angels Flower Shop

It was nice to set foot in Dangwa again.  I guess the last time I was there was when I was about to celebrate my debut. Gee, that was like 9 years ago!  Nothing has changed however; the alley is still full of stalls and vendors of flowers. H2B and I decided to drop by and visit our florist. We actually met them in one of the bridal fairs that we have attended but never had the chance to see their store. It was a challenge to go there because this is the first time that we will go to our supplier by foot and commute.  It got us excited though as it has been a while since H2B and I went out by commute.  I was excited by the possible jeepney rides and pedestrian lane crossings we will be having but we ended up riding cabs to transfer from one place to another hehehe! 

As we went down the cab, I already started looking at the stall numbers.  It was H2B’s first time to be there that’s why he was counting on my sense of direction that time.  =)  It didn’t take us a long walk to see Stall No. 15; the number written in our contract. It was named after a different flower shop but says Hapon and Juanita, who happens to be our contact person.  By then we found put that it was Juanita’s stall which remained but it was her sister’s business name that they used when they decided to merge their business-Five Angels Flower Shop.  It was a breather to have spoken with them again; being in the business for more than 25 years gives me a feeling of relief that they are indeed skilled and experienced in their craft.  A few of their former clients were Jamie Rivera (wedding) and Regine Velasquez (concerts). 

Once again, we reviewed our contract and discussed each item one by one. They also showed us actual samples of the flowers that we have chosen which more or less gave us an idea of the over-all look of the plan. The mock up will be scheduled on our pre-nup shoot so that we can use the bouquet in the pictorial and we were asked to drop by next weekend to see their samples for a wedding they will be covering on Saturday and Sunday

with Ate Sonia Refe & Ate Juanita Refe

Many thanks to Ate Sonia and Ate Juanita for patiently answering my queries and for consistently entertaining my whims!  =)

*This entry was created because we had a hard time finding reviews about them. Hopefully this will help them in their advertising as you W@Wies out there find your own florist. =)

written by:

W2B

Meeting the W@Wies @ the W@W Christmas Party

won an iPod Shuffle @ W@W Christmas Party

It was a last minute decision for us to come to the party;  we asked “Fei ni Stan” a day before regarding our attendance.  Good thing she replied to us that we are already included in the list, thanks Fei!   We went there around 8:30, got their freebies, completed the sign-up sheet and joined the raffle.

The place was already packed with a lot of W@wies and we almost failed to get a sit.  The timing of our arrival was also off because people were already getting their food and we can't tell if a seat is already taken or not.   A nice guy from Imagine Nation Photography told us that there are still sits in front.  We waited there until the people settled down and asked them if we can share a sit with them. They were very nice people, smiled @ us and said that its alright.  After getting our sit, we got our food, ate and enjoyed the rest of the night’s festivities.

Jason Magbanua showing his hosting skills

While eating our food we saw some familiar faces who are also bloggers like us.  We saw Ching & Gail and Ada Mae.  Aside from co-w@wies, we also saw the founder of W@W John & Benz with their family, my idols Jason Magbanua, John Mateos Ong and Daniel Lei Sarmiento.  I was a bit shy to take out my camera to shoot pictures because of the presence of these photographers and videographers.

The top 5 W@W Suppliers of the Year
(K by Cunanan, Phoeben Tecson, Jayson & Joanne Arquiza, Rejectkrew, Veejay Floresca)

Also, W2B had a chance to meet some of the OTD suppliers which we haven’t booked yet.  She also liked  how Francis Day handled the event and we will try to book him if he is still available and if has a reasonable rate.

The party was fun and there were a lot of games that will entertain the crowd.  Francis Day was a great host, making the people laugh with his jokes and wit.  He even mistakenly called me DGM because of the way the O was written by W2B that looks like a G. 

Then came the raffle draw, where they were giving away honeymoon stuffs, iPods and Hotel accommodations.  We got ours, which was an iPod shuffle (Thanks to Veejay Floresca), in between the Oakwood and Shangrila accommodations. Tsk! Sayang! Hehehe! But 'twas alright because it was our second time to win a raffle for our wedding. The first time was when we won a wedding ring @ Goldenhills Jewelry.  Our relatives and closest friends, when they heard about it, teased us to make a bet to our Grand Lottery 6/55, which is currently @ 700++ million pesos.  I told them that I will wait for it to get to a billion and then I will make my bet hehehe.

W@W Suppliers

The event was finished by the awarding of the supplier of the year (Rejectkrew), picture taking of the W@Wies and picture taking of the suppliers.  After the event, we approached Ching and Gail and ask them to take a picture with us and we told them that we would mention them in our post here at our wedding site.  Thanks Ching and Gail for being a good sport.

 Ching & Gail

Gail & Roni

We enjoyed our time @ the W@W Christmas Party and we would like to thank Sir John and Ma’am Benz for putting this kind of event.  Aside from the fun it brings, it helps a lot of soon-to-weds like us to mingle with people and share wedding preparations with them.  Kudos to W@W!

written by:

H2B

Jayson + Chee: Studio 2716 First Wedding Coverage

H2B and his friends are photo enthusiasts.  They love to go to photo gimiks just to practice their craft and have fun.  Sometimes they also use me as a model and being a photo-addict like me it is difficult not to say yes (hehehe). One of the photo gimiks that I went to was when they did their first wedding coverage.  The wedding was held in Quezon and it was with the lovely couple Jayson and Chee.  It was a lot of fun doing the coverage, plus we got the chance to visit Tayabas Quezon.

It was our privilege Jayson and Chee to be a part of your special day and to show our gratitude we’ve created a simple AVP of your wedding.  I hope you guys enjoy it! =D

Jayson + Chee from studio2716 on Vimeo.

Wedding Preps!

Preps! Preps! Preps!

Being a bride to be is a woman’s dream come true!  It is indeed one of the happiest moments in my life!

The moment I said yes, I can no longer help but think about my wedding to be.  The theme, the motif, the number of guests, the location, the church, the date, the time and the list just goes on. 

Getting the snap on how to start the preps is one of the most difficult tasks where budget and time might take back seat for a while.  However, that shouldn’t really be the case.Each area has to be taken one step at a time while relishing every moment of it.  It was very helpful to have wedding magazines handy.  Super helpful are Metro Weddings, Wedding Belle and Martha Stewart. It provides several inspirations, to dos and not tos, lotsa wonderful ideas and even checklists which you can use for the entire wedding prep.  Thanks to my best friend Katey Bear and cousin Riz who provided all these inspirations to me.  They too are just excited just like I!

We started our planning by creating our intended budget for the wedding.  We initially didn’t have an idea and so H2B and I tried to jot rough estimates which eventually ballooned when we already started scouting and booking.  Still, we just keep it within the budget although the current amount was already increased as compared to what we previously planned.  Wedding fairs are also heaven sent to us soon-to-weds as they provide us a wedding wonderland!  Be careful though, as your attendance to each fair might be too overwhelming.  What’s good about them are the discounted rates, the pluses and the convenience of comparing the suppliers done within a day or two.

Certainly, we still have a long way to go!  We have booked several suppliers already but we’re still setting our schedules on the numerous meetings and sessions with them.  Everything is yet to be finalized.  But am just soo glad I am experiencing this wonderful time of my life!  Am sure a lot of you out there feel the same way too! ;)

Happy preps to all!!! 

written by: W2B

our pamamanhikan and the biko

Mama never fails to cook for me whenever there are special occasions.  Now that we are off to our pamanhikan, of course, she will again showcase her wonderful talent.

It was a sunny Saturday morning when Mama went to market almost everything she needed for her preparation.  Her sumptuous meals are planned as follows:

Sinigang  na Maya-Maya

Lechon Kawali

Afritadang Manok ala Evelyn

Biko (Steamed sweet rice)

Our Sunday morning started early as the aroma of the food started to occupy our house.  The biko was the ultimate surprise as it was papa’s sister who incidentally came home from Saudi who patiently prepared it.  B2b’s family specially requested a “something sweet and sticky” menu which is believed to be making our relationship sweeter and stickier J

It was a little after lunch when we arrived in b2bs house.  Her whole family was waiting for us and it wasn’t long after when we started.  Yum opened the beautifully set-up table!  Adorning it are the delicious food Mama prepared plus the extra special menus cooked by b2b’s mom – Hototay Soup and Spicy Shrimp.  The grace started it right which was led by Tita Ligaya and the rest was a long history. J

Not long after, I have seen myself sitting in one of their sofas around with b2bs whole family ready to be char-grilled.  They were all smiling, oh yes they are all smiling while I, did not have the right words to say..  I do not exactly know what to say. I told them that I am not prepared and I was not able Google it, but I started it by asking the hand of my fiancée in front of my parents, her mom, her brother and her closest relatives. Next thing I knew, Mama was crying and everyone started to share their own pieces of wisdom.

It ended with a few bottles of beer, a bunch of stories and a lot of hearty laughs.  I hope even without the magic of the “Biko” our families’ relationship will still grow sweeter and stickier! J

the day she said yes - 06132010 -

“It was not the most flawless proposal, but I was blessed that everything that I need for that day was provided.”

Early this summer we planned to have a summer outing and that brought me to an idea to propose to her at a beach resort. I asked the help of my friend Aldo to find an engagement ring for her and it led me to buy it from an old alahero (jewel merchant) in Lipa City, Batangas.  The shop’s name was Cuenco Jewelry found at the heart of the bayan (city proper) of Lipa.

Initially I told her that we should go to Boracay together with my former office friends.  My idea is that I will ask the help of my friends to distract her while I setup my surprise. J But due to financial constraint and the erratic weather that bothered my fiancée, it did not pushed through. So we opted to go to a place were we can go by driving.  She chose Puerto del Sol, a beautiful resort found in Bolinao, Pangasinan.

My problem here is that I don’t know how I will setup the surprise and at the same time stay unnoticed.  Then I met the resort’s restaurant manager, sir Alfred. We had a little chat in the morning, while b2b was sleeping (hehehe), and I told her my plans to propose and to set Roni’s mood by having a special by-the-beach dinner. Sir Alfred told me that it will not be a problem and that he loves this kind of surprises. He told me that I leave everything to him and just choose the food and the wine that we will have for the night.  I believe a chose clam chowder soup, beef stroganoff as our entrée, halo-halo for dessert and mateus rosé for our wine…

6:45 is our call time at the beach. I was thinking what kind of an alibi I should say to lure her to come with me to the beach.  My innate man skills was not working at this time (joke lang maffie), so I just simply told her the truth that I have a surprise for her and that I need to blindfold her before she can see it.

I was not expecting much from Sir Alfred and the restaurant’s staff but what they did was really special and even amazed me.   Blindfolding Roni added an effect because she and I walked through candle trails to our dinner table. 

I was calm yet nervous... I was thinking when will be the right time... is it already perfect to say the words to her... will she say yes... (this i am confident she will hehehe...). So, In the music of Lucky by Jason Mraz and Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton played in acoustic by our host sir Alfred, I asked her to marry me.  

Also it is true that you should not ask a woman on an empty stomach. Hehehe… This is the day when Roni said yes!!!  I love you Roni!

To Sir Alfred, the staff of Puerto Del Sol, Aldo, Donn, Annie, Neri, Toni and to all the people who helped me my sincerest gratitude to you!