another milestone marked in our wedding preps... we were able to book our venue, ilustrado :) yiippeee! teena, my coordinator, and i initially had a chat over skype about the latest buzz with the venues within intramuros area. it was so thoughtful and kind of her to go there personally to take pictures and scout for a possible venue for us. she took pictures and uploaded them to me via ym (yahoo messenger). she took pictures of father blanco's garden, coconut palace and ilustrado. the rest, well we decided its does not fit to the budget or the place was a little bit small or much too big.
father blanco's came to my mind just recently. a batchmate of mine from mapua, jacq and gudo would be married on the same church as ours. theirs would be held this january, and they've chosen father blanco's garden. jacq said that the moment gudo stepped into the place, he decided that that was their venue for the reception so jacq couldn't really argue. it has nice stoned block flooring and lots of trees and bushes with fountain. they also have a hallway, extending on one side, just so there would be a back-up area when it rains. unfortunately, the priests who manages the place prohibits fireworks and live bands! nyee! so we decided not to get them anymore, we don't want to be thrown out of the place if they awoke because of the festivities. another thing is, the catering service is solely provided by makati skyline. unfortunately, their rate for the packages are not within our budget.
teena also tried looking at coconut palace although it wasn't on our list. the place really looks great overlooking the manila bay. the so-called 'palace' used to be a house for the marcos's so the interior of the insides is more of like a house. the function area is like the big lobby of the place. the swimming pool outside also was in the middle of the reception area. it was really ok but the rent of the place was a bit high and of course we have to get their accredited caterers to which our expected savings would not be able to afford.
so finally we discussed about ilustrado restaurant. we talked about the garden courtyard. the place can accomodate up to 200 guests, still enough space alloted just in case we go overboard with the attendees. the place was easy to groom according to teena and lots of elements can be fixed according to our theme. i also liked the wishing well in the garden, it could be dressed up for the event. the best part was the sinagtala ballroom. it has capiz windows and the ceilings and walls have this old world feeling. the furnitures were classy and the ambiance was perfect for a classic vintage theme. this will be our back-up area just in case the rain pours. parking space is not a problem. all in all, it really suits well with our budget and taste.
we immediately decided to book the place last weekend. the management has already planned to increase their package rates by Php20-30K because they want to incorporate other details like the car rental, hotel accomodations, etc. teena and i felt that those additionals can be taken cared of on our side so we opt to get the package as is. the attending account executive was not able to commit on what kind of flower arrangement would be done for our setup so teena gave them enough time to get back to us on this matter. these things could be dealt with as we go along the way.
but for now, niño and i are both ecstatic to finally been able to book our venue. teena, my mom and sis berna met last saturday at ilustrado restaurant to close the deal and sign the contract. they paid the reservation fee and looked around the place. my mom was really amused at the place, she's not used to attending big gatherings. this is my, sort of, gift for her.. making her dreams come true, and ours as well. :)
*please come and visit our wedsite to view our latest updates for our wedding preps. do drop us a message on our guestbook on your free time, thanks! :) *
http://asleelabnino.weddingannouncer.com
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
birthdays birthdays birthdays
for the last two minutes of this day, i would like to greet my ever loving husband, Niño a very happy birthday! you're my love, my heart, my inspiration.. my rock :) haylafyu dadi! mwah! :)
long overdue post - noah's christening
my apologies.. should have been posted two weeks ago. people got sick around the house lately and other matters came along the way.
last sunday, august 6, 2006, marked as the baptism day of my second little angel, miguel noah. we got ready around 3:45pm, the ceremony starts at 4:30pm. some of his godparents were already waiting inside the church. the ceremony started exactly on time and it was very solemn. we listened to the readings and homily. the babies were baptized in oil and water. the lighting of the candle was done by one of the godparents and during the baptism with water, noah cringed a bit, so some water went to his eyes.. good thing he didn't really mind at all hehe.. :)
i can't help but compare how it was done back in our country and here in sg. in pinas, the sacrament of baptism was paid in cash. then there is just a certain number only of godparents who could be enlisted. the rest, you have to pay an amount per head. i'm not really sure with other churches, but definitely we pay for the ceremony. you also provide for your own candles. while here, we were so astounded when we called up the parish office to register and ask the payment. the secretary told us its free! wow that was weird.. she just told us that we must attend a seminar with the godparents, thats it! during the ceremony, they provided for everything. we just brought ourselves and noah. i guess it's really a way for them also to gain more catholics within this country.
oh well, after the ceremony, picture takings of all sorts. most of our friends brought their cameras so we stood for a few minutes in the altar, me holding noah and guests lining up one by one. it was really fun having them all there and sharing the moment. we proceeded at our house to have some dinner. of course the house was filled with friends here and there, and we are very thankful to all those who came. :)
welcome noah baby to the christian world! - love: mami, dadi and nixon
last sunday, august 6, 2006, marked as the baptism day of my second little angel, miguel noah. we got ready around 3:45pm, the ceremony starts at 4:30pm. some of his godparents were already waiting inside the church. the ceremony started exactly on time and it was very solemn. we listened to the readings and homily. the babies were baptized in oil and water. the lighting of the candle was done by one of the godparents and during the baptism with water, noah cringed a bit, so some water went to his eyes.. good thing he didn't really mind at all hehe.. :)
i can't help but compare how it was done back in our country and here in sg. in pinas, the sacrament of baptism was paid in cash. then there is just a certain number only of godparents who could be enlisted. the rest, you have to pay an amount per head. i'm not really sure with other churches, but definitely we pay for the ceremony. you also provide for your own candles. while here, we were so astounded when we called up the parish office to register and ask the payment. the secretary told us its free! wow that was weird.. she just told us that we must attend a seminar with the godparents, thats it! during the ceremony, they provided for everything. we just brought ourselves and noah. i guess it's really a way for them also to gain more catholics within this country.
oh well, after the ceremony, picture takings of all sorts. most of our friends brought their cameras so we stood for a few minutes in the altar, me holding noah and guests lining up one by one. it was really fun having them all there and sharing the moment. we proceeded at our house to have some dinner. of course the house was filled with friends here and there, and we are very thankful to all those who came. :)
welcome noah baby to the christian world! - love: mami, dadi and nixon
Thursday, August 03, 2006
back tracking..
back tracks.. side A
*whew* i'm deciding to put aside my wedding preps for the meantime. i'm beginning to take for granted other things, including my blogging. now i have to post one by one what has happened to me lately. so bear with me.. :)
last saturday, i made my very first do-it-yourself (DIY) stuff! yiipppeee! finally i made a nice tag for noah's godparents' souvenirs. at first i really don't have any idea, i just wanted to buy a card tag then put a handwritten thank you note inside. but i guess a little artistic side of me kicked in. i wanted something special for my little boy that was made out of my labor of love :) so i bought some materials from spotlight in plaza singapura even if noah was crying the hell out of his lungs in his stroller. good thing my sis berna was there to assist me hehe.. sorry noahby, mommy has to buy those stuffs for you. i looked around for cardboards and found two matching ones. it was kinda difficult choosing designs and colors that would go together yikes! i was also looking around for some stickers for babies but wasn't able to find one. i was able to find colored safety pins in popular bookstore near the office. i plan to use them as the tag holder. so my hubby and i layed out some time to put them all together and voila! a masterpiece! hehe! i'm proud to show you my first DIY craft for noah :) hooray!
back tracks.. side B
now for the next track.. i admittingly had troubles relating to a very good friend of mine for the past 3weeks i guess. she kept to herself most of the times and i could tell that she has some thoughts bothering her. i confronted her about this, and my assumption was right.. but she'd rather keep it to herself for the meantime. of course, it's rude and disrespectful if i still keep on bludgering her about it so i gave her space. but we still talk and go out. it was difficult because i know that in those smiles and laughter, deep inside there was something. the other night i even talked to my hubby about it because i was getting sooo worried already that it has stretched for a time that seemed eternity for me *i think i'm exaggerating here hehe*.. the following day, my prayers were heard. she finally blurted out what was keeping her busy these past few weeks. i dunno what got into me that even before she told me, i was already so filled with joy in my heart! *by the way, we talk using pop-up messages in the computer in the office* and it was confirmed, she and her loving hubby is finally tying the knot! eeeeee so excited to the max! she'd be walking on the aisle 3 months earlier than me, and i was genuinely happy for them :) shucks why did that passed through my radar without me knowing?! but anyways, i'm very happy for both of them. *that's why i decided to postpone my preps for the meantime, i'd like to assist her and enjoy bonding together.. i think it's too early for me also to worry so much* congratulations my dear friend inah! :)
back tracks.. side C
on the same day that i learned about side B, i had another exciting news that was initialized by a gutt feeling. i was trying to call my bestfriends hya and ryan *husband and wife* for the past few weeks. but hya being a nurse in texas may have had most of her time held by patients here and there. ryan on the other hand was living in another city trying to earn some for their coming baby. i wanted to call them to ask them or rather tell them to come home to pinas next year for our wedding. at the same time, i would also like to ask hya when is her expected delivery date. but by golly! when i called her up around 10am here *it was 8pm that time in texas*, she was laughing at me and saying, "so you also heard the news already..". and i told her, "what news?? i was suppose to ask when is your delivery date!" and she laughed at me on the fone so hard then i realized, nyaaaa she already had her baby that morning! it was so amazing because in the middle of working and talking with my friends that day, i just decided to call her up and thats it! i heard a good news from her about her delivery.
the baby boy's name is rylan james obeña.. he weighed 6.90lbs. welcome to the world baby rylan! :)
*whew* i'm deciding to put aside my wedding preps for the meantime. i'm beginning to take for granted other things, including my blogging. now i have to post one by one what has happened to me lately. so bear with me.. :)
last saturday, i made my very first do-it-yourself (DIY) stuff! yiipppeee! finally i made a nice tag for noah's godparents' souvenirs. at first i really don't have any idea, i just wanted to buy a card tag then put a handwritten thank you note inside. but i guess a little artistic side of me kicked in. i wanted something special for my little boy that was made out of my labor of love :) so i bought some materials from spotlight in plaza singapura even if noah was crying the hell out of his lungs in his stroller. good thing my sis berna was there to assist me hehe.. sorry noahby, mommy has to buy those stuffs for you. i looked around for cardboards and found two matching ones. it was kinda difficult choosing designs and colors that would go together yikes! i was also looking around for some stickers for babies but wasn't able to find one. i was able to find colored safety pins in popular bookstore near the office. i plan to use them as the tag holder. so my hubby and i layed out some time to put them all together and voila! a masterpiece! hehe! i'm proud to show you my first DIY craft for noah :) hooray!
back tracks.. side B
now for the next track.. i admittingly had troubles relating to a very good friend of mine for the past 3weeks i guess. she kept to herself most of the times and i could tell that she has some thoughts bothering her. i confronted her about this, and my assumption was right.. but she'd rather keep it to herself for the meantime. of course, it's rude and disrespectful if i still keep on bludgering her about it so i gave her space. but we still talk and go out. it was difficult because i know that in those smiles and laughter, deep inside there was something. the other night i even talked to my hubby about it because i was getting sooo worried already that it has stretched for a time that seemed eternity for me *i think i'm exaggerating here hehe*.. the following day, my prayers were heard. she finally blurted out what was keeping her busy these past few weeks. i dunno what got into me that even before she told me, i was already so filled with joy in my heart! *by the way, we talk using pop-up messages in the computer in the office* and it was confirmed, she and her loving hubby is finally tying the knot! eeeeee so excited to the max! she'd be walking on the aisle 3 months earlier than me, and i was genuinely happy for them :) shucks why did that passed through my radar without me knowing?! but anyways, i'm very happy for both of them. *that's why i decided to postpone my preps for the meantime, i'd like to assist her and enjoy bonding together.. i think it's too early for me also to worry so much* congratulations my dear friend inah! :)
back tracks.. side C
on the same day that i learned about side B, i had another exciting news that was initialized by a gutt feeling. i was trying to call my bestfriends hya and ryan *husband and wife* for the past few weeks. but hya being a nurse in texas may have had most of her time held by patients here and there. ryan on the other hand was living in another city trying to earn some for their coming baby. i wanted to call them to ask them or rather tell them to come home to pinas next year for our wedding. at the same time, i would also like to ask hya when is her expected delivery date. but by golly! when i called her up around 10am here *it was 8pm that time in texas*, she was laughing at me and saying, "so you also heard the news already..". and i told her, "what news?? i was suppose to ask when is your delivery date!" and she laughed at me on the fone so hard then i realized, nyaaaa she already had her baby that morning! it was so amazing because in the middle of working and talking with my friends that day, i just decided to call her up and thats it! i heard a good news from her about her delivery.
the baby boy's name is rylan james obeña.. he weighed 6.90lbs. welcome to the world baby rylan! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)