May's Morning Event ( Manalo - Ostaco Wedding, May 28, 2008)

Benjie and Mayette are tying the knot today to formalized their religious wedding vows in the Holy sacrament of Matrimony. Both based in Singapore, they were recomended by a good friend Vincent "Bing" Ramiscal a professional photographer here in Manila but was staying in Singapore at that time. It was Benjie who came here months back to prepare for their wedding and got the priveledge of being his chosen designer for their wedding. As we noted how detailed Benjie was, we made sure that his concerns are addressed and e-mails responded. My assistant Paulo have always been in charge with e-mail follow-ups with clients. Of course endorsements are made daily which keeps me abreast of client follow-ups and developments. I appreciated Benjie's being a realistic client in the sense that he listens to suggestions and appreciates our effort in doing all the follow-ups necessary. Me and my staff arrived at 8:00 in the morning at the Makati Shangri-la room 1425 where they were staying. Eventual reception will also be held in the Hotel. Life's Celebration lead by Ruby Alvarez was their coordinator as well as their florist. It was great to be working side by side again with a long time friend Eddie Bruan and his staff composed of Norman and Marina who did the hair and make-up of the bride and the entourage. Card Prints did the weddding invites. Paul Vincent Photography was taking care of the photography with Shierdan Pamintuan doing video capturing. Everything went on as scheduled. Departing the hotel headed for the Manila Metropolitan Cathedral in Intramuros was a long drive but we all managed the inconvenient slow traffic flow assisted by police escorts.
Benjie and Mayette rode in a six-door Mercedez Benz limousine from Trans-Abi. Everything fell into places. At leasts for the dresses. I'm pretty confident Benjie and Mayette did the right choice of suppliers for their wedding.

FWDP in a Bridal Fair at the SMX Convention Center

The new SMX Convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia Complex. A world-class structure in intself. Chu-u-yen Events headed by Manuel Chua mounted the first ever bridal fair at this venue. We wanted to be part of history as the two-day bridal fair unfolds. Myself, Susie Bonaobra, Michelle Lim, Edwin Uy and Carmen Lazaro joined this momentous event. We were priveledged to be part of this underrated event which turned out to be a huge success. The audience turn out was very impressive. As informed by Manuel Chua himself, the registered guests were only numbered to about 2,000. Come the two-day event, they recorded a total of 5,000 audience that came to the event. Manuel Chua was vindicated as he was telling me of some of our colleagues in the wedding industry who has belittled this event.
I was happy to see Benz and John of Weddings at Work.com who is the main on-line media partner of this event. They've been around all these years and W@W's followings has never diminished. Congratulations to Chu-u-yen events!

An Awaited Wedding Event (Lambooij - Pantig Wedding, May 3, 2008)

Karen Pantig, started as my client, eventually a friend and now a bride-elect. Life had always been good to her. A wonderful family, a good career and a bunch of "amigas para siempre" from high school and college. Tjerk is an addition to her blessings. Of Dutch origin they've schedule their union today and together with their families and friends witnessed a new beginning in their lives. For a 2:00pm wedding we arrived at Karen's dressing venue around a quarter past eleven. Room 1201 of the Makati Shangri-la Hotel was our first stop for Karen's dressing. It's so nice a to see such an awesome ambiance in the room with everyone filled with excitement and of course with Karen's humor.
Joyce Aguilar of 2171 Floral Creations outdid herself again. Karen loved her bridal bouquet in blush pink Colombian roses and whitish pink lisanthus highlighted with snap dragons and berries. Her bouquet definitely matched the wedding gown I created for her. The flowers for the entourage was likewise beautiful. Threelogy has started to cover video footage of Karen's preparation. John Mateos Ong headed by John of course was also there in charge of photography. Karen and Tjerk's invitations made by Printsonalities was a stand out. It was my third straight wedding working side by side with make-up artist , Reniel Cadiz. I must say, consistent with his craft working with Rey Arciaga doing the hairstyles of the ladies. Who can not notice the presence of Events Expert with Jody Liwanag as their team leader.
I must agree to the fact that indeed, we were Karen's dream team. Nstra. Sra. de Gracia (Guadalupe Church) was the ceremony venue. The heat and humidity of the climate is really to reckon with. We were all helpless though we were managing the warm temperature. Anahaw fans were distributed to somehow help everyone with the warm environment. Ceremony started 5 minutes earlier but everything was ready. As the bridal march commenced, Bernie Pasamba provided the music accompaniment.
From the wedding ceremony, everyone is to proceed at the North Forbes Park Pavilion for the reception with K Cunanan as her chosen caterer. I did a Houdini again. Right after Karen has reached the altar, me and my staff left and headed back to the office to attend to other concerns. Yes she did asked me to be in the banquet. But it had always been my preference to witness the ceremony than the party. Well the reality of it all is that, every time a bride marches the aisle, my sense of relief sets in but the stress consequence also gets to me. The feeling of fatigue has taken over me.
My Best Wishes to Tjerk and Karen!

Exchange of Vows In a Spanish Theme (Reyes - Hugo Wedding, May 2, 2008)

Six months ago, I received an e-mail inquiry from a bride-elect asking about theme weddings. Rosed (pronounced as Ro-sed) Hugo had a Spanish theme on her mind and was referring to me her concepts with apparels for her wedding day with Paolo Reyes. A relatively young couple, Paolo and Rosed are enterpreneurs focused on two fields of business.

Rosed has decided to become a full time business person when she opted to leave a big multinational company specializing in personal products. Paolo a son of a well established name business in the field of grooming and wellness. I enjoyed working for them not just because these couple were nice and easy to please but also because their parents were equally pleasant and confident to us. I was very impressed with how they gave me their complete trust and did not pretend to know-how and update of styles and designs for their gowns. Goes the same with four of their six female principal sponsors (Nory, Vivian, Anabel and Maricon)whom I was tasked to create for their respective gowns. It gave me more inspiration to work harder for their concerns.
Come their wedding day, we were advised by their wedding planner and coordinator Erika Que of Perfect Moments of their room number at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza.
As we entered room 652 where Rosed was, the room was filled with friends , relatives and wedding suppliers like us busy with work.
Louie Allan Photography and Videography was taking turns documenting the event. I was just working side by side with them last week in a wedding in Tagaytay. Rosed and Paulo gave me a Spanish-inspired wedding invitation they themselves designed. Make-up team comprised of hair and make-up artists from Carlo Reyes Salon. Rosed had more than enough time to take pictures at the hotel afterwhich we all headed to San Agustin Church in Intramuros for the wedding ceremony. Summer has really been imposing at this time. It was warm and humid.
We can definitely feel the water droplets sliding in our body. But this is such a great event! we didn't mind the heat after all. This event is a milestone for Paolo and Rosed and we felt so priveledge to have been part of this wedding preparation. Reception for this union immediately fotallowed at the Spanish ambianced venue at the Villa Immaculada with Steve Tamayo as the exclusive caterer.