Here’s part two of my sharings on wedding planning. If you wanna revisit part one, here’s the link.

The wedding coordinator - This person will be your best friend for the whole engagement duration, so choose wisely and choose well. Check their credentials / background thoroughly - because weddings are such a big industry in our country, there are many fly-by-night manlolokos out there. We were fortunate to have one of Joey’s business partners in Voozu distribution to also be in the wedding industry, Events by Marge. Major thumbs up! The whole two-day event was seamless, and every step of the way, Marge Montemayor guided me and paired me up with suppliers who understood our vision for the wedding. The best wedding planner will support and arm you with all the information you need, share your triumphs and frustrations, and with their vast experience in handling weddings, give you timely and wise advice. You will have a rested and relaxed heart on your wedding day when you work with an experienced, professional, and thorough coordinator, as we have.

Photo / video coverage - The wedding photos will be forever! And how the videographer would tell your love story - which memorable shots to take or snippets from your vows to include in the SDE - it will be forever, too! So, really, invest in good teams whose style and approach fit your and hubby’s preferences (and budget) well. We chose Cherryblocks and Jason Magbanua and couldn’t be happier with their work.

Since we had two ceremonies, we asked Day One Films to do the SDE for our church ceremony. Their easy-to-work with and highly creative team were also those behind our prenup video. Highly recommended! :)

Our prenuptial photos by Cherryblocks: http://www.cherryblocks.com/2015/02/joey-sitti/

Our wedding photos again, by Cherryblocks: http://www.cherryblocks.com/2015/06/joey-sitti-wedding/

Our prenup video by Day One Films: https://vimeo.com/120952485

They also made a BTS of our prenup!: https://vimeo.com/119149167

Our church wedding video by Day One Films: https://vimeo.com/130225281

Our garden wedding SDE by Jason Magbanua: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KACyslvLLEU

A little bonus from Jason! I think it’s because he had fun at our wedding hihi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bvbPxRW0gQ        

The event stylist - The whole look of your wedding - from the opening of the church doors, to the flowers you will carry, to the ambience of your reception venue - rests in your event stylist’s hands. I cannot exult enough on how beautifully Bernice Sorongon of Julienne Styling styled our wedding. And the best part about it was, she thoroughly understood what Joey and I wanted - to have a no frills, simple, fun, and relaxed wedding. No big flowers for us; at the garden ceremony Joey and I sat on a plain wooden bench with the pine trees for our background. I fully appreciated how meticulous she was with all the details when I saw the pictures - everywhere I looked, it seemed that everything was just beautiful! Haaay.. Hihi <3 Gary Dacanay of Mindworks Productions, who did all the floral arrangements, was superb!! Really, we worked with the best team. :) 

The gowns, the suits, the bowties. I suppose many of you are wondering when this would turn up, hihi :) I started with knowing what i didn’t want - frills, lace, beading, gems - I didn’t want any of those in my dress, haha. Indeed, I wanted a gown so simple my mother-in-law and longtime-friend and stylist John Lozano would intervene, but still, I stuck to my choice and couldn’t have been happier. The gowns Rian Fernandez and Vania Romoff made for me were just how i wanted - simple, classy, elegant. John was a lot of help during the sketching and subsequent fittings as I hadn’t the slightest idea what a sweetheart neckline was, much less the other terms, hehe. To my fellow brides, stick to what you would want to wear, this is one item on the list that absolutely no one is allowed to impose their preference on, haha. As for the rest of the entourage’s “look”, I am very lucky to have John advise me. I wouldn’t know the difference between all the shades of blue or pink or whathaveyou. :D Joey’s Francis Libiran suit was smart and classy, and our entourage in Tata Galias and Ryan Madamba creations all just looked lovely. <3

Officiants - Approach priests or pastors that you and future hubby have a relationship with. It will make the ceremony more meaningful and personal. For our Catholic ceremony, Fr. Anthony and I planned for a slightly unconventional one - we had Joey read the First Reading, and in the part where the vows should be, Joey and I exchanged “prayer vows” in which we prayed to God for each other in front of the whole assembly. It was beautiful. Had I not been close to Fr. Anthony, we would have stuck to the conventional ceremony. Pastor Joe, who is somewhat the Ramirezes’ family pastor, was more than amiable with how flowy we wanted the Christian ceremony to be. Pastor BJ, who conducted our premarital counselling sessions, joined in the celebration as well by administering communion. Both ceremonies were sacred, heartfelt, and fun.. God truly chose the right officiants for us.

Hair and Makeup - no hard rules here! Go for the look you are most comfortable with. Most makeup artists have a pegged fresh, bridal look that usually works for most females. Be sure to schedule a trial before the wedding, too, as hair and makeup artists need to study your face in order to bring out the best in you. I was fortunate to have always worked with RB Chanco for years; she can probably do my makeup with both eyes closed, haha. Arianne Antonio has always done my hair for ASAP and other shows so all John had to do was tell her how to do my hair.

The invitations. We were very fortunate with Print Café. Our logo underwent so many revisions back and forth via email, but when Joey and I sat down with their designer Charisse, and discussed with her what we had in mind, how we wanted the marriage of music and bikes to appear in our official logo as well, na-gets na niya kagad. :) choosing the paper, and the envelope was easy as they had quality ones to choose from, and again, I had a lot of help from Bernice Sorongon of Julienne Styling. Love, love, loved our wedding invites. :)

Favors. I think this was one of the last items we decided on. We opted for wine favors because it was the only choice both Joey and I agreed on, haha! (For the life of me I can’t remember the other options.) I suppose, as with all the other tasks in wedding planning, research on what is available and pair that up with your budget and preferences. And of course, test the product! Until now, we get feedback from our guests that they truly enjoyed our wine souvenirs. :)

(All photos in this entry are from Cherryblocks, save for the Montemayors’ :))

Hope this helped! Part three coming up next week. Have a wonderful week, everyone! :)

Bossa love,

Sitti