signed, sealed, for delivery!

FINALLY!!!

after so many puyat, ngalay, pagod days and nights we finally got to finish our wedding invites (well almost). there are at most 15pcs left for sealing but they should be finished by tomorrow and along w/ the others will be ready for delivery by Monday.

i took us a long time to complete the invites. I've started with the designs way back April and after several revisions we started to print them early July. we've searched stores offering paper cutting services but found none so we had to go thru the leg work of cutting.

7/9 we purchased a small paper cutter from SM Hypermart and started cutting. we aimed to make 70pcs and  had to cut the front and back page, main page, purple lining (for layering) and 3 inserts (ento card, map, and guest info). to sum it up each invites consists of 7 pages for a total of 490 pages for all the 70 invites and we had to cut all of them one by one!

7/19 we finished cutting and started to assemble.

counter clockwise: back, ento, front, guest info, map, main, envelopes

i folded a part of the front page to create a pocket for the inserts. then taped the back and front page to put them together. once the front and back page are in place we started taping the purple lining and the main page.

7/21 we finally finished taping and assembling everything in place.

main page and purple lining glued to the back and front page

folded pocket flap and the inserts

 we also started putting the assembled invites in our black envelopes and glueing the address labels.

black envelopes and address labels (back)

address label (front) w/ our monogram tat (yes, we have this tattooed)

7/22 we started sealing the invites with wax seal. as of today there are still a few pieces left for sealing because we run out of purple gluestick. we'll be picking the gluesticks up by tomorrow and continue sealing.

sealed!

our custom V seal stamper

i'm not really good w/ numbers so i can't tell how much each piece cost. but if we'd take into consideration the effort von & i have given in to this project, i'd have to say this costs a lot! lol! we didn't really want to spend too much on invitations since guests don't keep them after the wedding anyways. there are a few kinks and several palpaks in our finished product but their passable and easier to accept (since we caused them!) as compared to paying someone to make the invites and see a lot of palpaks. we're having a rock & roll party anyways so they need not be perfect.

the experience was also a good bonding time for both von & me. moments are priceless!

we've already distributed a few pieces and have gotten compliments. well, a simple appreciation is always enough to make all the hard work worth it.

on hand: perfect match shoes

i got to bring home the prettiest pair of shoes last Saturday. i remember those baliw moments when i can't decide the shoe style to order. and as with all other things in my life recently, time flew and the moment to claim my shoes has arrived.

i ordered customized shoes for the wedding from Perfect Match Shoes late last year. after weeks and weeks of shoe design searching i finally found a pair of Jimmy Choo semi gladiator strappy sandals. i knew that the shoe would look good on my abnormal looking skinny feet. i instantly fell in love with the design and knew that it was the perfect design for me and the big day.

i met with Ms.Mari from Perfect Match and dealing with her was a breeze. every penny was worth it. aside from the shoes being pretty it is also very comfy making me wonder why they can't make all shoes as comfortable as this.

33 days left. Can't wait to walk down the aisle wearing this beauty. I've uploaded a few pics below, but no close ups yet just a few peeks. I'll let the shoe shine in it's due time. :)

package complete with a bridal shoe bag

my shoe love in my most loved color

hell yeah! i do!

Perfect Match Shoes is an accredited member of the wedding library

You may contact Ms.Mari Mercado (mbnmercado@yahoo.com) for orders and inquiries.

7 suites hotel observatory

it's only recently when we have informed our guest, friends and families the venue of our wedding. a huge chunk of our budget is allocated for our venue. and we didn't really wan't to divulge any info during the early stages of our preps until we are certain that we've got all the expenses covered.

now, a little over a month before the wedding we are now sure that we can cover everything. and now would be the best time as any to start sharing about the place.

 A STELLAR GETAWAY

Seven Suites Hotel Observatory is the first and only hotel observatory in the Philippines.

Seven Suites offer a stunning view of the metropolis: its city lights and the dazzling night sky.

The stunning view of the city lights was definitely one of the selling point for Von and I. Our company held one of our anniversary parties there 2 years ago but never did we imagine that we'd go back to hold another important celebration there. The place was renovated after the Sykes party and looked so much better since then.

Yesterday, we visited the place again to discuss the final details of our event and to also finalize our menu. We had a food tasting and Von and I along w/ my mom enjoyed everything that they served! The inclusion in the package says complimentary food tasting for two and we were surprised that the servings that was prepared was hefty and more than enough for 3-5 persons. There were many leftovers but too bad we can't take them home. 

Here's the lineup of our final menu:

creamy seafood bisque for starters

option for soup was between this creamy seafood bisque and wild mushroom soup. mushroom soup is already very common in reception menus nowadays so we opted for something different, hence, the seafood soup.

Mixed Greens with Seasonal Fruits & Nuts tossed in Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette

my mom definitely enjoyed the salad. other option for salad is Fresh Garden Vegetables with Garlic Ranch and Lemon Anchovy Dressing. being the vinegar lover that I am, we just have to go for the vinaigrette dressing!

classic paella valenciana

1st viand is the paella valenciana. other option is Arroz con Pollo with Fresh Green Beans and Peppers. since we already have another chicken dish in the menu and arroz is made up chicken we opted for the paella to add a touch of seafood to the menu. their paella was good but a little salty so we requested to adjust its saltiness.

Herb Roasted Chicken with Citrus Honey Sauce

chicken is also good. we chose the herb roasted chicken over Teriyaki Style Chicken Supremes with Toasted Sesame Seeds.

beef bordelaise

Callos with Chorizos, Garbansos and Pimientos

we had to choose between beef bordelaise and callos. we can't choose off hand so we had to have a taste of the 2 options, we ordered extra and ended up going with the beef bordelaise.

Tagliatelli with Pesto Cream Sauce

Penne Pasta with Classic Pomodoro Sauce and Parmesan Cheese

for the pasta, we also had to choose with pomodoro or pesto cream sauce. being the red sauce lover that i am we all agreed for the penne pasta with classic pomodoro sauce and parmesan cheese.

enjoying the food

we also tried our dessert choices Crème Brulee and Cinnamon Tiramisu. unfortunately i forgot to take a picture due to my eagerness to chow them down!

Food was catered by Cravings. All was great and we are very satisfied. Von even said that are guests are lucky with our food lineup. Aside from the food tasting, we also finalized the details of the inclusions in our package.

hotel facade

stacy by the garden entrance

events hall

couple's table overlooking the city lights

mama in the bridal suite

bridal lounge

with mama 

 konti nalang. almost there.

DIY invites - wip

our DIY invites is well on its way to completion *hopefully*.  we're getting there! we've set 7/20, a month before the actual day as our target to complete the invites and to start distributing them. we didn't really want to spend much on invitations knowing that guests doesn't really keep them and after the wedding, they'll just be like any other paper that ends up in trash.

the invitations is by far the biggest project Von & i had done/is doing for the wedding. for someone who knows only to make arte and very little on being artistic, this project is a giant leap of success! the making of the design, took a lot of effort, time, stress and desire of a good outcome. seeing our work in progress brings a certain relief that only completion and success can bring.

the materials that we need:
-design/layout
-printed copy
-black envelopes
-address labels
-colored wax and seal stamper
-tapes & cutter
are all hand and we are now in the process of cutting and assembling. at first we thought of looking for cutting services in the malls but we unfortunately found none so we ended up buying ourselves a paper cutter.

the design has undergone several revisions as i was editing and here's a peek of our finished product.

front

we initially wanted black background for our front & back page. we have even bought several black vellum paper only to find out that printing on black paper requires a special kind of printer which we do not have. so we settled for white thinking that we have black envelope anyways.

the paisley design in the front cover will be folded and made into flaps to hold the smaller cutouts of the invitations.

back

i only used microsoft powerpoint for the layout and am glad it turned out just fine. even our map is made manually from powerpoint (yes, i literally drew the lines in the map!)

map

 so far, i have already noticed a few flaws but all of them are still bearable. i pray that throughout the course of assembling the invites, i won't see any flaws that i can't live with and would cause us to repeat over. i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

i'll be posting!

the making of the pad

part of growing up is getting married and part of getting married is a more complicated and expensive way of living. exactly 47 days from now is the day we've been waiting for for almost 2 yrs. we've had a very long engagement and finally the day is just 47 sleeps away. however, life doesn't stop with the wedding. it just marks the start of a more complicated lifestyle.

if there's one thing i've been very hesitant and excited about that would be living home and starting a new one. ironic, eh?

today, we had another trip to our soon to be apartment so we can decide on the materials to buy. well, if there would be one thing i am very grateful to my husband about it would be his willingness to take responsibility in providing me and our future family a home. luckily, his family have apartments near their place in nova that we can use to start our very own home. construction/decorative work has been started since last month and now that we're nearing the final stretch, we have to start finalizing the details.

the apartment is just small, but is more than enough for us as we start our new life. it measures 3.5x8meters, w/ 2 floors, with the 2nd floor opening up directly to a bedroom.

below are a few pics of the apartment complete with construction mess. =)

doorway to our new home

we're going for cheery yellow walls in the living and kitchen area

kitchen nook

kuya roden, von's cousin who is in charge of the construction, created a small nook for the kitchen as requested by me so i can have place to practice my cooking.

my mini palace

the kitchen will for sure be my little castle that i resolve to maintain clean forever. we have bought semi-granite tiles to use as counter tops and cute mini tiles to line up on parts of the wall. paint will still be yellow and cabinets will be varnished brown. we initially wanted yellow and white (like below) for the kitchen but thought against it knowing that white cabinets will be very hard to maintain.

lovely small kitchen ideas from google

bathroom is also a work in progress, another part of the house that i resolve to keep clean til the end of time.

bathroom

i've chosen white and lavender matching tiles for the bathroom. at least i get a part of the house in a shade of purple. and mind you, choosing tiles is no easy task but definitely fun! =)

bedroom - stairway to heaven

service area - men at work

view from the kitchen

the place will probably look better hopefully by the end of the month. i know its not much but it is more than enough for me. thank you honey for providing a home for me. soon my home address will be 23 marcos ave dona faustina subd nova QC. and soon we'll start w/ the construction of our permanent home. i can't wait!

i'll definitely post how the place will look like before we settle in. =)