marriage prayer + tealights

in the middle of a busy day at work, who would've thought i'd still be on the roll for wedding preps. while at lunch i stumbled upon this catalogue that sells assorted candles. first flip brought me to the page that shows a candle that says "Marriage Prayer". of course, i took the idea and thought it'd make our unity candle somewhat atypical from the rest. here's the prayer:

Marriage Prayer
Lord, help us to
remember when we first met
and the strong LOVE that grew
between us, to work that LOVE into
practical things so nothing can
divide us. We ask for words both
kind and loving and hearts always
ready to ask for forgivemess as well
as forgive. Dear Lord, we put our
marriage into Your hands.
Amen.

now, only if i could find someone to make me those candles! we inquired at doc's candles, a small stall we found at south mall. they do actually have our cherry blossom motif but they quote us 3k for a set of three to make our unity candles. now, that's a bit pricey for us. i still have quite a bit of time do some research anyways, so the search is still on :)


meanwhile, look what mom and i found at one of my favorite stores, ikea:

scented TINDRA tealights
$3.99/42 pcs.

good deal! and it's perfect to match the motif and they even come in chocolate, caramel and orange combination as well. these little ones will sit at the center of each table surrounding the centerpiece c/o Juan Carlo (?not sure if we will need to hire an event stylist or not). and to hold these tealights, we're in the middle of deciding which between these two to get:

HEJ tealight holder from ikea
$0.50 ea.


votive candle holders from divi
Php 50.00 ea

they all look pretty --one's minimalist in style while the other is more dainty. i guess it's just a matter of price and s/h fees since i'd have to ship the ones from ikea from here. hmmm... we'll see.

gifts: female principal sponsors

it's kind of tricky thinking of gifts. most specially if the gift that you have to come up with are to be given out to people whom you have utmost respect and care for you as if you're their own child. after shopping around online and countless number of malls both brian and i have been to, we took francis' suggestion of providing our female principal sponsors the fabric for their dresses.

fabric cost: Php 80/yard
wrapper cost: Php 120
tools: photoshop, didi, scissors

the fabric is silk in dope dye pomelo pink. we wrapped them individually using two shades (closest color we could get to match our motif) of japanese paper, wooden placemat we found in greenhills, and colored paper in eggyolk. we finished the wrapping design with square cut-out logos (DIY) that has both of our initials. we've given out most of these gifts already and we're happy that ninangs are just sweet enough to appreciate our gifts to them. now all we have to think about is a small token we can give them on the wedding day itself.

DIY: Save the Date magnets

here's my first shot on DIY:


total cost: $13.99/5 sheets of magnets (makes 40)
tools: photoshop,didi

this actually is the second style for our magnetic std's. i figured the first one looked too busy and crowded with too much information in it.

simpler looks better.

what do you think?

final colors + theme + a lot more

after the long hiatus, it's time to keep the ball rollin' again. back to wedding preps, wedding preps, wedding preps! all the details of what brian and i had accomplished since november had clogged up our brains now. time to let them all out!

on dresses. remember my dilemma? well, the color saga had finally come to an end (at last!). when brian and i finally sat down with Francis, he was kind enough to help us choose colors for the dresses. since we've decided that the theme would invovle mainly of cherry blossom flowers and chocolate, we came up with these colors for the girls' dresses:

the first two pink swatches (light pink and fuschia) are for the female entourage, with eggyolk (far right) as the accentuating color and salmon pink for the two moms. gown sketches for the female entourage has been drawn and finalized. the only thing missing are the barongs for the guys, which is brian's assignment in lucban, laguna, where we are hoping to get the best deal from.


and to incorporate the chocolate theme, brown shades will be visible on the little details such as the inivitations, cake, chocolate fountain(s) --one 35' tall + two 18' fountains (only if budget will still fit) and a few of the paraphernalia to be used at the wedding rites.

the cake. here's a scanned photo of the cake we wanted from the martha stewart weddings 10th anniversary magazine. our coordinator, jenne, gave me some cake101 lessons when i inquired about this. she said, since this type of cake is chocolate coated, gumpaste will be used instead of fondant. we chose the top most layer to be fruitcake (so we can save it and eat it a year later), and either apple walnut or banana walnut for the rest of the layers. we wanted the real thing so no dummies shall be used on this one.
cost: Php12,500.00
supplier: chocolato (?not sure if i spelled that correctly)


the invites. another inspiration spotted inside the martha stewart weddings 10th year mag. our invites are inspired by this theme. it will not exactly appear to be a replica of this since ours will have metallic chocolate brown as the outer cover, where dry embossed cherry blossoms are visible in the front flowing all the way to the back covers; 6'x6' in size; with several inserts for the big day's details, etc.,etc.... we're just practically taking the flower details on this one to suit the theme. the design hasn't been finalized yet so mock up invite photos to follow.
cost: Php85.00/set
supplier: Laguna Printing Press, Inc.



the placemats. (optional)... still from the martha stewart weddings collections. this is a neat idea where the placemat will have the menu written on it. we're still debating if we will include this one. heres the sample photo:
cost: Php35.00/piece
supplier: Laguna Printing Press, Inc.


these are only a few of what we have done so far. there are so many more things to write about. 'til the next post, fellas!

the first man in my life

Maj. Antonio Nido Enate
January 17, 1926 - December 08, 2005

It's been more than a month now but it still feels like it was just yesterday.
Thank you for the twenty seven years we've spent together.
Thank you for putting up a good fight battling all your illnesses.
Thank you for letting me, ate and mom take care of you.
And thank you for waiting for me to come home and enjoy you some more.
I know you're an added angel up above now to look upon us.
You will remain in my heart forever.
I love you and I miss you so much, Dad.


***

More the a month of no posts, no updates. No matter how valid my reason is for being away, i'd still choose to write and update non-stop just so this day won't come. I think i had prepared Mom better than i had prepared myself for this day. Or heck, i don't think anyone could just easily ready oneself for death or a death of a loved one. After my three week vacation in november, i got home very tired and sick, yet happy to see Dad back home from the hospital and enjoying thanksgving with the entire family. I was able to join them at home for a week since i was sick. I can see clearly that Dad was very happy he was home. Barely two days after i started back to work, Dad left us. His wishes was to be taken home back to the Philippines and be burried at his mausoleum and for his three other children to see him. It has been a very tough month for all of us. And a very sad way to end our 2005.

I wish not to frequent this blog with entries such as this. I wish to keep this blog happy from now on.

^{To all those who went to the viewing and sent their sympathies... thank you.}

homesick!

yes. i am back here in san diego. and true to the literal meaning of this entry's title, [homesick], yes. i am HOME and SICK. it was a terrible flight back here. i forgot my allergy meds in our bedroom and so i suffered a thirteen hour flight of clogged ears and stuffy nose. thank goodness i was seated right next to an old lady who happened to be a retired physician. she handed out a bagful of meds and nursed me during the entire trip. bless her heart!

my three-week vacation had been the best three weeks of my life (mushy but true). in the last nine years brian and i had been together, we've never really spent an entire length of time wherein we were together 24/7... it was awesome! some may find it too much. but honestly, there isn't anything too much for a couple who only gets to see each other when everything else in this whole wide world says "yes it's ok to see each other again". given the chance, i'd do it over and over again :).

there are so many things i wanted to write about, most specially about the wedding. we've accomplished so much in the span of three weeks... even less since some of our time were spent on other errands besides that. but before i give the blow by blow of wedding accomplishments, lemme send thanks to people that made my short stay worthwhile:

to mama and papa. for flying me for free the second time around! and for letting me and ian use lily on the days that we needed her.

to kuya ed. for driving us to divi last tuesday. and for teaching me how to bargain to the max!

to all my nephews. for all the sweet sms and concern that i was starting to get sick few days before i left.

to all the kids-- sam, ellaine, bullet, azzel, errold, iya and elijah. for making my weekends happy and letting me practice my "atig" skills.... wala pa rin kupas ang galing ko! hahaha!

to all new acquaintances, be it for the wedding or not, thanks!


to ninang tita celia. for ... being in love and happy (hehehe) and giving me that nice white gold necklace.


to Rosa whom i've seen the most. thanks for being just a phone call and text away and for zooming in the soonest whenever we need you; for the nice dinner at lasa with your cool friend vanessa; for taking me to gilbert so i can have a decent haircut again; for giving me tips on where to go in 168; for helping us with the last minute hotel accomodations.... and so many other little things!... one last thing, will you be my ninang for my confirmation next year??


to kit. for giving me my first pair of beautiful chandelier earrings. you still owe me my henlin siomai, tho. in exchange for that, will you be ian's ninong for next years' confirmation?


to good friends-- paul, liby and baya. it was good to see you guys again. congratulations!!



and to save the best for last... to my ever loving husband. thanks for making my stay a perfect one. for taking me to places i've never been; for driving me around at any given hour; for making the almost impossible, possible; for listening to me and snapping me back to reality most of the time; and for so many other things we've shared. love you so much hon, and i miss you terribly.

THANK YOU!!!
now wish me well so i can get my a*s back to work na.

^{next attraction: wedding updates!!}