That Happy Day: March 2014

Friday, March 28, 2014

The Groom's Suit by Edwin Uy [Happy Details]

Now that we have finally posted about our happy day, it's time to talk about the details. If you've been following this blog since we got engaged, you probably noticed that though we had a ton of stories to tell, we didn't really post about the specifics. That's because we chose to keep it all to ourselves so our wedding could still have the element of surprise. Well, we can talk about everything now, yay! p.s. Please read our note about suppliers.

Hey! It's Aleq. It's my turn to write about the details, because this post is all about me, the groom. It's been a while, so let's get it on.

The suit I wore to our wedding wasn't initially what I had in mind. At first, I wanted to go for a light gray suit. However, most of those who got married during the year we were making our preparations opted for the gray suit I wanted. To break the mold, I decided to go for a blue suit.

Most important suit of my life

Wedding Food by Josiah's Catering [Happy Details]

Now that we have finally posted about our happy day, it's time to talk about the details. If you've been following this blog since we got engaged, you probably noticed that though we had a ton of stories to tell, we didn't really post about the specifics. That's because we chose to keep it all to ourselves so our wedding could still have the element of surprise. Well, we can talk about everything now, yay! p.s. Please read our note about suppliers.

The third most important wedding supplier is the caterer, because the food is one of the things that people remember the most about the wedding. In this country, people tend to remember if the buffet ran out of food or if the food wasn't good. While we were doing our preps, the question we were always asked aside from where the ceremony and reception venues were going to be was who our caterer was. It might be a cultural thing, but it's a big deal here.

We took our sweet time in pinning down a caterer for precisely all those reasons. We ended up choosing Josiah's Catering, and we weren't disappointed. [Read all our caterer posts here: Initial Meet - The Philippine Wedding Summit, Food Tasting - Part One, Caterer - Check!, Final Food Tasting and Dress Check.]

Eating at our wedding!

We don't really have anything to say about Josiah's except that they did a fantastic job at our wedding! Our banquet and events consultant Karla didn't forget anything we told her, from how we wanted the backdrop to look to how we wanted to be able to eat at our wedding.

Wedding Reception at the Pergola [Happy Details]

Now that we have finally posted about our happy day, it's time to talk about the details. If you've been following this blog since we got engaged, you probably noticed that though we had a ton of stories to tell, we didn't really post about the specifics. That's because we chose to keep it all to ourselves so our wedding could still have the element of surprise. Well, we can talk about everything now, yay! p.s. Please read our note about suppliers.

Like the church, the reception venue was one of the things that we covered at length in this blog. It's the second most important part of the wedding, and it took a lot of time and effort to pin down. We chose the Pergola, mainly because it was a blank canvass, it fit our budget, it was modern and bright, and it had amenities we liked. [See these past posts for details: Venue Hunting in Roxas Boulevard, Reception Venue - Check!]

The Pergola with our entourage outside waiting to do their grand entrance (thanks Noel for the pic!)

Getting Married in UST's Santisimo Rosario Church [Happy Details]

The church was one of the things that we talked about at length on this blog. It's the first thing you book, because it's the most important. You can't book suppliers unless you know the date of your wedding, and you can't pin down a date until you've booked the church.

The Santisimo Rosario Church, better known as the UST Chapel, was our only choice for the wedding because of our history. We're really glad to say that we had a lovely ceremony there that went without a hitch.

Santisimo Rosario

Our wedding is in BridalBook!

Julls & Aleq

We're in BridalBook today! It's so rad. Thank you to the BridalBook team for the feature! We loved how they described our wedding -- classic mixed with contemporary and quirky elements plus a spunky motif. It's exactly what we wanted to achieve, yay! Most of all, we really just wanted it to be fun, and we're glad that came through.

It was also very interesting to find out what elements they would highlight and what photos they would pick. We must admit that we didn't expect some of the things they chose. It's cool to be able to see our wedding from a wedding website's point of view. They even knew the names of our flowers (we didn't) so props to them, heh.

We're glad that our wedding is there to be able to give inspiration to other couples planning their wedding. Please click on over to the BridalBook feature to read the rest of the story.

Update: BridalBook is now a part of FemaleNetwork. Here's the new link to our story.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Wedding Makeup and Grooming by Shu Uemura [Happy Details]

Now that we have finally posted about our happy day, it's time to talk about the details. If you've been following this blog since we got engaged, you probably noticed that though we had a ton of stories to tell, we didn't really post about the specifics. That's because we chose to keep it all to ourselves so our wedding could still have the element of surprise. Well, we can talk about everything now, yay! p.s. Please read our note about suppliers.

Even until now, one of the questions we are asked the most about our wedding is who did my makeup, and what kind of makeup was used. That was one of the few details we didn't have any trouble sharing on this blog, but of course a lot of people didn't know that we posted about it, or didn't have access, or simply just didn't get to visit the blog until after the wedding. Makeup and grooming was also one of the last things we booked, and because it was crunch time then, we didn't get to post a proper "Checked!" blog entry.

We went with Cindy Pineda Dela Cruz of Shu Uemura Rockwell with Avril Seguin for the bride's hair and makeup, as well as the groom's grooming. We discovered them through our friends Anabel and Carl, who first got their services for their own wedding. [Note: Aleq and I chose a lot of suppliers whose work we had already seen for ourselves. We didn't want to take risks for our wedding, so we went with tried and tested people.] We decided on a separate team just for us, and another one for our families for efficiency. I contacted Cindy through Facebook, and she was really easy to talk to. We reached an agreement quickly, and after a reservation fee, we were good to go.

My trial session with them served as my makeup for our prenup shoot, which went really well. They did my look at the Shu Uemura store in Rockwell, and it was fun and a half. See the behind-the-scenes post from the prenup shoot for a blow-by-blow of the day.

Here's a rundown of the makeup Cindy used on me for the wedding. (The photos of the makeup and tools are from the day of the prenup.) Everything is Shu Uemura.

puRENovate Intense Pore Perfection Solution
Face Architect Liquid Foundation in 754
Loose Powder in 7yr light
Hard Formula Eyebrow Pencil in Walnut Brown
Limited Edition Chocolat Donna Eyeshadow Palette
Drawing Pencil in Matte Brown
Calligraph:Ink Liquid Eyeliner
Mascara in Black
Tokyo Lash Bar False Eyelashes
Glow On Blush in Soft Pink 336
Rouge Unlimited Lipstick in pk376

We used a MAC orange lipstick for the reception, and it was the only non-Shu product of the day. I actually bought an orange Chanel lipstick before the wedding, but we went with Mac instead. I wanted something loud and bright!