A Day with my Matron of Honor

Last Friday was spent with my Matron of Honor. Hazel is my best friend and our friendship goes all the way back to high school. She had a prior commitment and couldn't make it to the bridesmaids' dress fitting last Sunday, so we did her fitting in advance.

She picked me up bright and early at my apartment and we hied off to Dapitan. We met up with my sis-in-law Ate Weng, and we went over to The Secret Creations for her fitting.

She asked for a lower back! Haha. Kuya Edgar obliged.

We were there about 30 minutes flat, but a ridiculously heavy downpour suddenly happened just as we were leaving. We dropped off my sis-in-law at UST Grad School and then went on our way. We got to Espana and it was flooded like hell after only just 15 minutes of rain! We spent an hour there because traffic was slow-going and we just couldn't get to Welcome Rotonda no matter how hard we tried. We were worried that her car was going to stall the entire time! Thankfully some people on the street gave us directions to an alternative route and the rain had stopped by the time we got to E. Rodriguez. Then we encountered more traffic around Greenhills. We ended up having an adventure on the road for about two and a half hours! 

Really heavy downpour at UST

Wow UST solid ka talaga sa baha. Ang bilis lang, grabe na tubig agad kanina.

Hazel and I held our breaths every time we went through a flooded area! 

Acoustic Rock Band - Check!

Aleq and I are 90s kids, which means we want mainly rock and alternative music from the 90s to the early 2000s at our wedding. Our awesome coordinator suggested a wedding rockeoke band and we liked that idea. However, logistics made us think otherwise. The Pergola is a pretty intimate venue and we thought that the electric rock sound would easily overwhelm the place. We also didn't think our older guests would like the noise, so we had to find other options.

We decided to look for an acoustic rock band instead. The fiance started googling acoustic wedding bands and came up with this band that seemed really interesting. We liked their sound and they had videos of a couple of songs we liked. However, when we contacted them and they sent us their repertoire, we decided otherwise. We couldn't relate to most of the songs they played, and we only get to request a certain number of songs outside of their repertoire - if we go beyond their specified number, we had to pay extra.

So I started googling in more specific terms. I searched for "90s acoustic wedding rock band" or something like that and 4Play came up. One look at their YouTube channel and we liked them instantly. It felt like they stole our iPods - they had exactly what we were looking for.

We called them up, they sent their playlist over, and we liked almost everything. They even had stuff nobody else here plays! They're South people too - they play at SM Southmall and Gilligan's in ATC and Festival Mall. Those were our old stomping grounds. So we met up with one of the band members, Randell Tan, last March 9 at Starbucks, Alabang Town Center and sealed the deal. It was a great meetup. We were able to pin down a set list for the wedding without a hitch. They also had a set number of requested songs, but since we liked almost everything in their repertoire it didn't feel like we were restricted at all. A lot of the stuff we wanted, they already played. We also talked about music the way kindred spirits would. We discussed songs and riffs and concerts we went to and missed, etc. It was a real good fit!

The clincher for us by the way, was this video of them playing One Headlight by my favorite band, The Wallflowers.

Pre-Cana Seminar at UST

The Pre-Cana Seminar is basically a crash course on how to be married. Who knew that you can have lessons on being a responsible, married adult? Haha. It's actually a church requirement for marriage. You can't get married without going through marriage preparation classes. The government also requires couples to have a family planning seminar for the marriage license, but lucky for us, we applied for a license at the Pasig City Hall, which accepts the church's seminar in lieu of the government's family planning seminar. [Tip: Make sure you check with your local city government if they accept the church seminar. If they don't, you have to take the government's family planning seminar as well. Not all municipalities allow it.] The UST seminar is free, but I'm not sure if it's free for those who are not getting married there.

So we hied off to UST super early in the morning last March 3 to undergo marriage training. The seminar started at 8am and ended at 6pm! We felt like we were back in college, there in the mezzanine of the Ecclesiastical Faculties building. There were five classes that ranged from responsible parenthood to couple finances. (I'll post the names of the other classes when I remember them, hah!) We had recesses and a lunch break, and we were provided food and drinks the entire day, which we didn't expect. We had different "professors". There was a Catholic OB-GYNE, a stockbroker who has a successful marriage, a catechist from the Archbishop's Palace, and a couple of church lay ministers who also have successful marriages. We had classmates too - we went through the seminar with four other couples with very diverse backgrounds. There were three couples who have been together for 2-6 years, and a couple who has been together for 8 months but are already living together. Aleq and I were the only ones who have been together for more than 10 years, heh.

Anyway, it was good in the sense that it got us thinking about the realities of marriage. The wedding is only the first day after all - we have to prepare even more for what comes after. It also gave us the opportunity to discover things that we never knew about each other - like what we wanted out of married life, what aspects of our relationship were really important to us, etc.

UST was beautiful that cloudy, rainy day.

Another Early Wedding Present - Wine Goblets

Remember back in August when I posted about the guestbook that we received as an early wedding present from one of our Ninangs, Aleq's aunt Deanna? She gave us another early wedding gift all the way from New York. She actually sent us a set of silver wine goblets for our wedding toast! They look pretty cool and kinda geeky. We're going to feel like we're in Game of Thrones or something, heh. Thank you Tita Deanna!

p.s. This is a late post because the fiance got the goblets back in December, but forgot to tell me about it. His mom was the one who remembered to ask me. Imagine that! Major memory gap, haha.

The Dress Code

People have been asking us left and right about the dress code, so here are all the pegs. We're going with a contemporary theme for our wedding, so we want our guests to have fun deciding on what to wear! We'd love to see them all looking chic and dapper in our wedding pictures.

Color-blocked Modern

Guests - Ladies

Long dresses/skirts

No prints

Two colors or one solid color

No white or black dresses please!

First Wedding Gown Fitting + Invitation Maker - Check!

It's a life-changing event when you first try on your wedding gown. I've been pretty busy with wedding preparations that I haven't started feeling excited at all, and I'm still not in that frame of mind that I should be in already. When I saw my wedding gown for the first time last February 23 though, I felt a thrill go through me. I was really getting married!

When my gown designer Edwin Uy's apprentice, Jeon, called to schedule my first fitting, I felt really apprehensive. I didn't know what the dress would look like! I had the sketch of the gown but I didn't know how it would translate in real life, and, more importantly, how it would look on me. I've been working my butt off at the gym, but since I've only been working with a trainer for two weeks, I didn't expect much. I was thinking they would have to make adjustments to fit my body type because I'm not in the best shape and it would look awful on me.

Since superstition dictates that a bride should never wear her gown before the wedding, I only tried on the lining. That's how designers work around the myth now - I will never try on the finished gown, but I'll be trying on the lining several times to ensure that I can wear the dress on my wedding day, heh. Superstition also says that the groom should never see the bride wearing the dress, so the fiance had to sit in the showroom receiving area, and Jeon put a screen in front of the curtained dressing room for good measure. Aleq and I figured superstitions may or may not be true, but there's no harm in following them, just in case.

So I anxiously put on the dress, and then the magic happened. I just simply felt completely happy during that moment when I first saw myself in the mirror. "This is it, Julls!" My mind just zoned in on that immediately. Then I started smiling. Edwin and Jeon didn't let me down! The dress, in its very incomplete state, already looked utterly perfect. It was actually flattering, and I just couldn't believe it. Plus, I never thought I would do a princess dress for my wedding, but Jeon convinced me otherwise because he said it was the cut that suited my body type and that I'm the bride, I should pull out all the stops. What do you know, it did turn out pretty fabulous. The seamstresses came over to help me put it on and zip up and such, and I actually felt like one of those girls in My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding, haha. The gown was enormous, and the petticoat had to be put on separately. Jeon came over to look me over with his super critical eye, and then he showed me the detachable train, and I thought, wow, that is an awful lot of fabric! The best part was that the dress didn't fit! They have to take two inches off of it and the grandmotherly seamstresses said that I must be losing weight. Isn't that the best thing ever? Haha! Jeon told me not to worry if I lose more weight - it's easier to take out fabric than to put more in, heh. Sadly, the fiance told me to refrain from taking pics. He said we shouldn't risk having him see the dress accidentally, and he's right. I want that moment at the church when the doors open and I'm walking down the aisle to be as magical as it can be.

All I have is a giddy pic of me in the car after we left the showroom to forever remind me of the moment.

The Weddings and Debuts Fair

One would think that after going to three bridal fairs the fiance and I would be done, but we just had to make a stop at one last one - the Wedding and Debuts Fair at Megamall last February 16. Why? To take advantage of the expo discounts, of course! Now that we're only more than a month away, we're making the final decisions on everything and we went back to the bridal fair to book some of our last few suppliers.

Our first errand was Josiah's Catering. We stopped by their booth to meet Karla, our banquet events consultant, so we could drop off one of our partial payments. They had a school theme going on at their booth, which was pretty cute.

Books

Meeting His Bros

If I had a day with my bridesmaids, the fiance of course also had meetups with his groomsmen. It's tough getting his guys together, so he had to meet up with them separately. He hasn't seen all of them though.

He met up first with his former officemates Rein, Dabs, Josh, and Ren Ren. They had dinner at Sonsi.

Then he got to see Jason and Ernie during a meetup with our college group at Bubba Gump Greenbelt. We had a catch-up dinner along with Melissa, JP, and Rommel. 

Aleq, JP, Jason, Rommel, Ernie

Lt. Dan's Drunken Shrimp and Delta Sunset!

 

Me and our bridesmaid Melissa

Aleq gave his guys their Will You Be cards and oriented them on what they should wear, what they're going to do, etc. It was actually a good idea that we did these orientation thingies with our entourage and that we made entourage cards so they have actual outfit pegs they could refer to. During my Girls Day, the girls asked me about accessories, what their hair and makeup should be, etc. When Aleq met up with the boys, they asked him questions about shoe colors and the kind of ties they will wear, among others. One of our groomsmen, Jason, was even planning on light-up cuff-links, a double-breasted peacoat, and a colored dress shirt, haha! Now he knows that he has to wear a white dress shirt, a black suit, and normal cuff links, heh. 

Church Hopping for our Baptismal and Confirmation Docs

I forgot to post this! Last February 3, the fiance and I had a church-hopping day to get our baptismal and confirmation documents.

To be able to have a church wedding, it is now a requirement to get new copies of baptismal and confirmation docs, specifically labeled "for marriage purposes". This meant that Aleq and I had to go back to the four churches where our baptisms and confirmations were held, and man was it such a hassle. For one, we didn't grow up anywhere near each other so we had to go all over the metro to get our docs. We also haven't been to those churches in years so we had to figure out how to get there and got a little lost along the way. We got Aleq's confirmation doc first at Angelicum the week before though, so at least we only had to visit three other churches that day.

It turned out to be quite the adventure. Our first stop was the San Isidro Labrador Parish in Taft. We got there during lunch break though, so the parish office was closed and we had to quickly figure out where to while away the time. [Obviously the lesson here is to be mindful of lunch breaks when you get your docs! Also, churches are usually closed on Mondays.] We decided to make the short drive to Vito Cruz and have lunch at McDonald's Taft. That's where the reminiscing began. I used to go there all the time back in grade school and high school with my parents and classmates after school at nearby St. Scho. I never thought I would one day be sitting there with my husband-to-be. It was sweet that we got to spend time there, and pay a quick visit to the University Mall next to it too.

Quarter Pounder, French fries, Coke, and a Banana-Toffee McFlurry!

Had to take a pic of course.

That day's Twitpic - McD's Taft.

After waiting it out, we went back to the church and got my baptismal certificate! We then went inside the church to pray a bit and I had such a flashback to my childhood. That church was where my parents and I used to go to hear mass when we were still living in Pasay. I really missed my mom there and wished she was with me that day. I know she was in spirit. Despite the sadness, I'm glad I got to visit that place again. The last time I was there I was probably still in fifth grade.

It was the same floor! It was weird to see my shoes next to Aleq's against those old, old, old tiles.