At Rey's Request...

...I am updating our blog. :D

When we got engaged almost two years ago, Rey and I thought about the best month/day to get married. After weighing the pros and cons, and consulting significant people (our families, our friends, and the ISO), we have decided to set the wedding on June 20, 2009. We thought we would have plenty of time to plan our wedding, book our suppliers, and get everything ready for the big event.

Looking at our wedding countdown, we have less than two months to go, and while we're reviewing things in my head (the necessary elements of our "dream" wedding, the things we had to bring to Manila, the things we have to order before we leave, the seminars we need to attend, etc.), I realize that while most things are in place, we did not plan for, uh, eventualities that are part of our lives.

Rey is busy with work, and with traveling back and forth to New York (where I am currently), and I am busy with school. Yes, things are winding down, and I'm finishing up the last of my school requirements, but it's not too late to screw things up. Making sure I don't drop the ball at the homestretch takes as much effort as it does to run with it in the first place, if not more so.

Having said that, our families have been blessings in their support and understanding, and their willingness to help us with wedding details. My parents have been really patient, and my sister, doubly so. Rey has been the most (the ultimate) patient guy. :) Jody, our wedding coordinator, has also been heaven-sent.

As I am still in the process of running with the ball to homestretch, I will be updating the blog as often as time permits.

On the upside: we have gotten our wedding bands sized. They had to make mine smaller (since it came in the standard size 7), and they had to have Rey's enlarged. Lol. :p

Sorry!

The bride-to-be is currently drowning in datasets for data analyses (plural). We will update the blog and the companion wedsite by next week. Thanks for your patience, and please check back soon! :)

Mac and Me

Lesson number one (and lesson learned the hard way): Never blog when you're in a bad mood.

Lesson number two: Never blog when you're in a bad mood and use a new computer with an operating system that you've only used once or twice in your life, like Mac OS.


(Photo from Apple website)

The result of not learning these lessons soon enough is inadvertently deleting posts that you have no way of getting back. Case in point: I've deleted my July 15th post -- "Guess Who Want an iPhone". Grrr.

So, now I'm back to using a PC. But my bad mood still hasn't improved, unfortunately.

Right now, I'm blaming it on too much coffee. I've had a Colossal Arctic Mocha this morning, and several cups of Diet Pepsi at lunch time. That's too much caffeine, even for someone who can drink 2-liters of Coke/Pepsi (and their diet varieties) in one day.

I'm pretty sure there's no scientific evidence linking caffeine and bad mood (and if I'm honest enough, I'll lay the blame at the feet of the people responsible, but I don't want to start bashing people on the Internet).

I'd rather bash them in my head. :p

(This post actually should be in my personal blog, but I have to explain why "Guess Who Wants an iPhone" was deleted.)

(Because Rey still wants an iPhone.)

Ooops!

I forgot to add the following to our list of people we've already booked:

• The emcee -- the one and THE ONLY. We wouldn't settle for anything less (how's that for bawi?)
• And of course, THE WEDDING COORDINATOR :p

Check...Check...Check!

And now, for a list of what we have accomplished for the wedding so far.

Our wedding is less than a year away (363 days to go, as of posting time), and we have reserved/booked the following:

1. The church
   
2. The reception venue
3. The caterer
4. The photographer
5. The videographer
6. The cake-maker

We are in the process of talking to:

1. The designer for the wedding gown
   
2. The designer for the entourage gowns
3. The designer for Rey's barong Tagalog - he is very specific with what he wants, but he doesn't have an actual picture to show the designer (Note to self: Remind Rey to look for a barong Tagalog photo he likes).
4. The florist/event stylist
5. The printer for the invitation
6. The choir -- if only they would answer Jody's calls and text messages, and my e-mails

Less than a year to go!

Finally, the Theme

Rey and I really try to do things in order...really, we do. But some things just work out the way they do, and we end up booking most of everything else, but no theme for the wedding.

Actually, we had a "concept" in mind from the very start. We agreed on a "Four Seasons" theme for the wedding. Our thoughts were:

1. We met in Canada, where there are four seasons.
2. We had our major milestones in each of the four seasons (we met in early spring, became a couple in the fall, got engaged in the winter, and will be getting married in the summer).
3. We look forward to growing in love and friendship as husband and wife throughout the rest of the winters, springs, summers, and falls of our lives.

We just couldn't agree on the colors. :p

After three trips to the hardware, looking at paint samples, collecting mounds of paint samples to choose our colors, buying fabric swatches at the fabric store to "see" the colors, and discussing, discussing, discussing, we finally decided on these colors.

Presenting, our color palette:

Turning Over a Blue Leaf

It has been a while.

Since then, we have booked a reception venue. I'm very happy to say that Blue Leaf Events Pavilion will be hosting our wedding reception.


We considered several other locations, but at Fort Bonifacio, Blue Leaf was actually the no-brainer choice. It's located in McKinley Hill Village in Fort Bonifacio, and it's relatively close to the church where the ceremony will be held.

Unlike the church, which we booked even without seeing it (gasp!), Rey and I actually went to Blue Leaf with my parents when we went to Manila. We took pictures (but Rey kept snapping photos with me in them, so I couldn't really post them here!).

Long story short, my Mom and Dad liked the place, and Rey and I liked it as well. I liked the fact that the glass "walls" feel like we're bringing the outside in (if that makes any sense).

It's also spacious enough that our guests should feel comfortable.

Next on the list: Photographer and Videographer