Church - Santuario de San Jose

Contact Number :7252044 (in-house florist 09296054102 Kuya Bubboy)
Contact Person: Ms. Ella
Peso Power: Php25,000 + 6000 for the upgrade of flowers with the in-house florist + 500 for the tulle + 1,000 for the curtains on the glass door.
Rating: 10

We initially had a hard time booking a church that could work with us on our schedule. Dino is in the US and would only go back to the Philippines, 2 weeks before the wedding. Most of the churches i went to would either require that we be interviewed first before we could book the date or we were told upfront na they would require Dino to be in the Philippines earlier for the PreCana and the Cannonical interview. We both had the chance to go to SSJ before he went back to the US last July (a few days after we got engaged) and since that time we were looking at December dates, they had no availability. Then we decided that December was to busy a month and we just have to move the wedding date to January. This worked well because January 6 was available at SSJ. I then asked them about the scheduling of the PreCana and Cannonical and they said for me not to worry about that as they could work that out with me or that we can attend PreCana outside the church. They told me to just take care of our documents with the Chancery. After I went to the Chancery and knew that we could complete all the documents with them, I went to SSJ immediately to pay for our downpayment.

I never had a problem dealing with the people at SSJ office. One time I left an envelope with all our documents on the table and they called me to inform me that the envelope was with them and that I should just get it the next day. Super thankful talaga ako kasi inside the envelope were the requirements for our Marriage License.

After we confirmed Dino's arrival, I scheduled our Cannonical Interview with them and since they had a Pre Cana scheduled on the 3rd of January, we were able to attend that seminar. I submitted our Marriage Lincense, the day before the wedding and no problem din sa kanila yun. What was important daw was that we had a license before the ceremony itself. Father Alan who facilitated our Cannonical Interview was super nice too. Kwentuhan lang the whole time he was interviewing us.

We had the time of our lives taking pictures inside the church during the pictorial since last wedding kami and i think wala din wedding before us. The aircon was cold too.

Things to consider: The church is really nice and photogenic. The only downside is the glass doors, but meron naman curtains. We also upgrade our flowers since we wanted calla lilies. We felt that the flowers included sa package was bitin. We confirmed with the in-house florist our upgrade of flowers December 30 na. And since we were really there for the Cannonical Interview, nakalimutan ko na tumawad. I also made sure that the tulle provided was white and not cream as what we saw he used with other weddings. I also didn't like the wreath's and parol they had by the door. but I can't really do anything about that na since Christmas season pa din naman. Everyone at SSJ is super nice and even after the wedding when i was checking for our marriage contract, even if lagi ako tumatawag, bait pa rin sila sa akin. maybe it's because i give them merienda everytime i go there *wink*.

Officiating Priest : Fr. Constantino Conti

Parish Priest of San Jose de Navotas
Contact Number : PM me
Peso Power: Stipend
Rating: 10

We originally wanted Fr. Gerry Orbos to officiate our wedding but when I was confirming his schedule with his secretary, I was informed that he was not available on our wedding day. I immediately asked around on who else I could get to officiate the wedding. My cousin then told me about Fr. Conti. The "ate's" at the office knew Fr. Conti since he was a former parish priest of SSJ. At first i couldn't seem to get in touch with him. Two months before the wedding, I tried calling him again and he said he would gladly officiate the wedding for us. He just gave me instructions to leave my missalette at the SSJ office and he would pick it up. After nun, he just called me to give me the minor changes on the missalette. His homily was really nice and he was also very nice. We never got the chance to meet him before the wedding but we didn't feel like he was a stranger to us naman. Right when we got to the altar he introduced himself to us and then asked permission from dino if he could mention his parents in the mass.

Calligraphy - Julie Umawing

Contact Number : 09198459430
Peso Power: Php10/envelope
Rating: 10

I just met her up, gave her the envelopes, choose the calligraphy we want, gave her the list and she gave me back the envelopes after a week. She was so easy to deal with and never had problems with her. If she had questions with my list, she'ld just text me and I would just text back my confirmation too.

Invitations: Print Lane Printing Press

Contact Person: Ms. Beth
Contact Number: 7272551
Peso Power: Php15,000 + Php4,800 (for shipping)
Inclusions: 200 pcs Main Invitation, 200 pcs Entourage Card, 200 pcs Envelope with dry emboss of date at the flap, 100 pcs Outer Envelope, 100 pcs RSVP card w/ envelope(envelope with print) and 100 pcs RSVP card only.
Rating : 8

I was shocked with how expensive invitations could be. When I was originally setting a budget for the invitation, I thought 10K is going to be more than enough. I was so wrong! When I visited The Write Impression and The Printsonalities, I got quotations for an invitation at Php170 and up. I knew I didn't want to spend that much.

We wanted a simple, elegant looking invitation. Luckily, I read about Print Lane. For the same invitation I asked from previous suppliers mentioned, I was quoted the amount of Php60 per invitation. not bad at all! I made three trips to Print Lane in Aurora Blvd, simply because i could not seem to decide on the invitation that I like. Since, my then fiancee now husband was abroad, i was to decide alone and he helped me a bit by giving me an approval through the pictures I sent him.

The proofing was done through email and we (meaning dino, me and another artist from his work) came up with the map. After proofing it took about 2 weeks for the invitations to be ready. When I picked up the invitations, I like that it looked really classy. I noticed though that they forgot the embossed border for the main invite. Then Ms. Beth told me that during the proofing it was not there but she does remember that when we agreed on the design, we wanted the embossed border on the main invite. It would take another 2 weeks for them to redo the invites and since I had to send half of the invites to the US, I can't afford to wait for another 2 weeks. We just agreed to having additional invites. After a month, I had to order extra envelopes since and they were able to provide me with my order after 4 days.

Things to Consider: Be very thorough with the proofing. All instructions in writing because Ms. Beth is kinda forgetful and you just want to make sure you have everything written.

DIY

Peso Power: Priceless
Rating: 10
Im not at artsy person that's why having diy's for our wedding is not an easy thing. I need not explain them, Let the pictures speak for itself.

Personalized Wine Bottles



Missalette- we made 75 copies of the misalette and i printed 3 bigger copies, had them ring binded for the commentator, priest, and us.

Unity Candles, Lighting Candlea, Memorial Candles and Matches




Escort Cards

Gifts

Peso Power: Priceless

I don't have pictures of this so I will just give you a rundown of what we gave out as Thank you gifts to those who have been part of our wedding.

Parents: Watch
Bestmen, Groomsmen,Secondary Sponsors: Nike Watch
Maid of honor, Bridesmaids, 1 Secondary Sponsor: Havaianas Trish McEvoy Limited Edition (i was wearing one too during the reception and my entourage changed to their havies too)

2 Secondary Sponsors: Leyende No Rumple Silk Skin Butter and Shake it Off Exfoliant
Principal Sponsors : Goodies from Debbie Montilla. Her contact number is 0917-8517209 or 0922-8517209. Got this from Jody's blog and it was a perfect gift for them. We had them arrange goodies in a basket. We ordered this 5 days before the wedding and got our orders 2 days before.

Liturgical Entourage: We asked Debbie to prepare Arrowroot cookies and Sesame Crunch and she placed it in sinamay bags.

Band: The Sentimental Groove

I don't want to give a rating nor any other information about this band. If your a member of w@w, you would have probably read already what had happened. Just search the archives if you have not.

All I can say was they did well sa church and early part of the reception but eventually they screwed-up. A lot of the things agreed upon with their manager Ian was not followed. I was really disappointed because he had me believe of so many things. I hope and pray that they improve or that they do better sa ibang events nila.

Just Like That

....the first month of 2009 is over.

....the wedding is over, it took us 5 months to plan for the wedding and it was all over in one day.

....we are to celebrate our first month as husband and wife in a few days.

....I have a new blog to journal my life as a wife.

I still can't believe on how December 2008 and January 2009 just flew by. We are now married and I can't explain the happiness I feel. I married not only my prince charming, but my best friend, and my number one fan. Our wedding day was AWESOME and the greatest day of my life to date.

More wedding kwento and suppliers rating to follow. for now, you can view our pictures through my facebook or multiply account (add me up!). You can visit the following sites too: Smartshot, Atty Raymond Fortun, and Onsite Video.