Last Wedding for January 2007 ( Garrido - Reclamado Wedding, January 27, 2007)

Still wrapping up a meeting with a bride client all the way from Singapore who flew in for one day just to finalize with us her apparel concerns, I learned that Raz has been calling us to be in the hotel at 3:00pm for her wedding at 6:30 pm at the San Agustin Church in Intramuros. I knew it was too early to be at the hotel. Nevertheless, I ordered my staff headed by Paulo to leave ahead to attend to Raz's request. I followed immediately and arrived at the Century Park Hotel where Armand and Razil chose to dress up of course in separate rooms. Not surprising, I learned that the make-up artist that did Raz's hair and face has left without even waiting till the bride's veil was attached. It didn't surprise me at all for this popular make-up artist is known for leaving the bride immediately leaving the pinning of the veil to whoever is left. I hope that hair and make-up artists be considerate to wait till the bride's veil is clipped well on the head. This should be taken with much concern and considerations for the bride's satisfaction and contentment is most important on that day. Its so discouraging and disappointing when somebody else pins the veil and accidentally ruins the bride's hair do and is left helpless when the artist has impatiently left. Raz was very pretty and radiant in her wedding gown in ecru and champagne. I had to make sure that Armand was properly dressed in his black suit, white dress shirt, silver-gray vest and white ascot tie


This afternoon wedding we're doing was likewise covered by Ariel Javelosa's Photography and videography. The entourage's dresses were simple in design yet looked so elegant in canary and fuchsia. Father Blanco's Garden was the venue for the evening reception

The Morning Bride (del Mundo - Laforteza Wedding, January 27, 2007)

Running through the uphill slope of the skyway when Tina and Sherwin's coordinator rang me to ask about my location and if we were on our way. At 7:45 in the morning,
traffic was no ordeal and confident that we will be arriving at the Bellevue Hotel with my staff to assist Tina in dressing up to her wedding gown. Upon our arrival, we realized that Tina was dressed up. We decided to check to make sure that she was properly groomed as her make-up artist was preparing to put on her veil. As no one could help Tina dress up any better, we were amazed that she was made to wear the gown first followed by her petticoat. The outcome was inevitable. We had to re-do the dressing for Tina. We realized that there was much excitement in the room as they decided to proceed with dressing up and not wait for us as we didn't arrive late and was just the right time to dress up the bride systematically.
Ariel Javelosa Photography team was in-charge for the couple's photgraphy as well as videography. Tina's mother was very appreciative as to how the gown came out on her daughter. We only did the wedding gown and still came in full force to make sure that Tina is dressed up properly. From the hotel, St. James the Great in Ayala Alabang Village was the next stop for the marriage vows. It was so heart warming as Tina was expressing her gratitude and appreciation of our efforts. The church doors opened and Tina commenced with the traditional bridal march. A lunch reception follows at the Alabang Country Club as we headed back to the office in Makati as soon as Sherwin and Tina was in place at the altar and my staff doing the final positioning, grooming on Tina's train and veil.

A Winter Wedding in Shanghai ( Rau - Mendiola Wedding, January 21, 2007)

I touched down Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China a day prior to Aileen's altar date to Stephan. She is the vice-consul of the Philippine consulate in Shanghai and will be exchanging marriage vows with Stephan, a German architect in an American firm based in Shanghai as well. It was indeed winter
with temperatures ranging from 0 - 4 celsius. I stayed in a hotel along West Nanjing Rd. where Shanghai's high end shopping district (Nanjing Xi Lu) is located. By 10 o'clock the next day, I was at the La Residence Service Apartment along Zhen Ning Rd where Aileen was dressing up and where all her relatives and friends were staying. A Shanghai based young American-Chinese was commissioned to do photography along with locally based make-up artist, and videographers. Aileen's bridal bouquet comprised of white hydrangea, snap dragons, gypsophilas and two mini stargazer lilies. I created a simple wedding gown in strapless design along with a long-sleeved shrug with heavy embellishment pattern on the top area as well as the shrug in ivory color using silk dupion material combined with duchesse satin oversikirt with a cathedral train. A 120 inch sparkling veil added drama to her look.
The wedding ceremony was held at the St. Ignatius Cathedral (Xujiahui Cathedral), a magnificent historical church run by the Jesuits. I learned that the some sequences of the movie, "Empire of the Sun" was shot here. The principal sponsors comprised of ambassadors, notable politician personalities and Filipino businessmen in Shanghai.



From the ceremony, we all proceeded to the posh Jean George Restaurant and Bar located at "the Bund" area. There was cocktails and dancing and eventual dinner banquet. This was a celebration of merging two cultures in another land. And my
sincerest wish of a life happy ever after for Stephan and Aileen.

A Wedding in Two Months Time ( del Villar - Capule Wedding, January 19, 2007)

It was one of the rare times that I entertained clients without prior appointment. A timely accomodation for these couple closed with me right handedly. Sigmond and Jo was so easy to work with. They were most attentive and appreciative with suggestions including the motif. From the bride to the groom, to their parents and female entourage, it was such a smooth working relationship.
Upon her coordinator's recommendation, Jo decided to choose the Peninsula Manila for her dressing-up place. Sigmond along with his family decided also to dress up there.
Hair and make-up was by Andy Villanueva, an artist based in San Pablo City, Laguna where Jo hails from. Andy is a regular Manila - San Pablo City traveller and has a lot of Manila based wedding clients. Entourage flowers was provided by florist/writer Jeh Rivera of Casza Flora Philippines. The flowers looked so radiantly fresh and neatly arranged. Jody Liwanag of Events Expert was Jo and Sigmond's chosen wedding coordinator to run their event. Jody has all the kind words to describe this wonderful couple. The ceremony was held at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart and immediately proceeded to the North Forbes Park Clubhouse for their reception where Josaiah's was commissioned to do the catering. As soon as Jo and Sigmond reached the landing area of the altar, my two female assistant saw to it that Jo's wedding gown and veil were layed out well. Then we had to head back to the office for my 3:00 pm appointment.

FWDP's meeting for 2007

We have set the dinner-meeting on Tuesday evening at Edwin Uy's place on a pot luck arrangement. It was assessment time of last year's activity as well as plans for the first quarter of this year. We weren't complete at all with some members not present. Delby Bragais is currently in Hongkong watching Fashion week. It was so thoughtful of her to send each and every one of us goodies from the bake shop of EDSA Shangri-la hotel where her atelier is located. Carmen Lazaro was at the moment boarding a plane back to Manila from Hongkong but sad to say resulted to a delayed flight. Michelle Lim was in a meeting at presstime. Joel Escober and Randall Solomon wasn't around for some personal commitments as well. But all's well that ended well. We had a great time. There was so much food around.

Carmen may not be around but sent lechon for carving. Susie brought with her a fish relleno like version though presented differently. Ruel volunteered chicken pastel, Shannon came with noodles like pansit malabon and bijon, I had a chaffing dish full of roast beef slices with mushroom in white sauce. I also saw some marinated fried pork tendrerloin. We had was crema de frutta for dessert and was else could we ask for? The food was just bountiful and was very good indeed!
David Ocampo was was very much around busy with hosting and preparation. Our publicist Calvin Neria was also around to update us with our press release activites.
We had a great time with food, the meeting agenda was well taken up and we hope to meet again on the month's end.

My First Wedding for 2007 (Polston - Denila Wedding, January 2, 2007)

Tina Rose and Nicah was our first bride and groom for 2007. With Ilonggo roots but are now based in California. They were among the overseas couples who chooses to exchange vows in the Philippines. The bride opted for a Filipiniana wedding gown .
I created a removable terno sleeve top which eventually converts to a tube or strapless gown. It was one of the more interesting gowns I'ved created for a bride.
Nicah opted for a mandarin collared pina sinuksok barong with black buttons to match his black trousers.
The rest of the female entourage looked elegant in their gowns in coral pink and champagne. It was always nice working side by side with Ghie Javelosa of Studio A for both photography and videography. Kaffee's salon at Hotel Intercontinental owned by Stephanie Chung-Chua did the bride's hair and make-up. Patrick Chua, the bride's uncle took charge of the wedding arrangements.

Both Tina and Nicah's moms were awesome being so nice and friendly. I felt so humbled as to how they appreciated my works and their respective gowns. From Hotel Philippine Plaza, we proceeded to the Central United Methodist Church along T. M. Kalwa in Ermita, Manila still to assist the bride for her wedding march. Reception followed at Barbara's in Intramuros

My Texan Bride and Groom (Caga-anan - Oribello Wedding, December 28,2008)

My last wedding for 2006. Marielle has been constantly in touch with me despite her overseas location. Its a good thing I open my e-mails almost every given day. I recall the time when they closed with me, they we're running on the last day and they are headed back for home.

As the date draws closer, it was understandable of the bride's excitement of how her dress was doing. I was so glad to note that Marielle was so happy with how her wedding gown turned out. Same is true with the John's pina barong in sinuksok design.

EDSA Shangri-la Hotel was where Mariel and John decided to dress up on their wedding day. It was time to dress up when we got to her room. She looked so pretty and radiant with hair and make-up by Toto Bagamasbad. Joyce Aguilar of 2171 Floral Creations did the bride as well as the entourage's bouquets. It was a combination of pink cymbidiums and hyacinths all flown in from Holland. Lito Genilo as himself was there to take charge of the photography as well as videography. JP Montilla of Complete Work, Inc. was running the event. Mariel and John went on to separate pictorials at the hotel's lobby. John left ahead for the church as we were assisting Mariel in her 3-meter detachable train. The bride took the S-class Mercedez Benz of TranAbi as we all headed to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral along E. Rodriguez Ave. in Quezon City. Of course we made sure that she was well groomed before she commenced with her bridal march. Fernwood Gardens was their reception venue.

A Milan Couple, A Local Wedding (Villalobos - Malabanan Wedding, December 27, 2006)

At half-past seven in the morning, we were driving thru SLEX bound for Malvar, Batangas, where the bride, Ara has decided to dress up in their residence. Reaching Ara's place at 9 o'clock we saw her all dressed up with just her veil to pin in the living room packed with entourage members, relatives, friends, the photographers, videographers, the make-up artist, wedding coordinators which she commissioned all based in Batangas. I was priveledged as the only wedding designer/supplier based in Manila. The bride and groom are based in Milan, Italy and was recommeded to me by a cousin whom I did the wedding last year. Unfortunately, Joy, Ara's cousin got married in Milan which I did not have the chance to see. Ara was one of Joy's female entourage back then and I thought she like Joy's gown very much that prompted her to have her wedding gown made by me as well. We did all the female entourage including the two moms, Harold's pina barong (groom), Mark (bestman) as well as the two dads. The ceremony took place at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Lipa City where the groom hails from. Reception will eventually take place at the bride's residence which was well prepared and decorated for the banquet celebration. There was much excitement as the bride stepped down from her Mercedes Benz bridal car . My entire staff and I assisted Ara as she posted on the church entrance landing for her traditional bridal march. As the Church's doors opened, Ara walked excitedly through. It was her day and she deserved it.