The Wedding Dress...

Last Saturday, we fetched my wedding gown at Edward Teng's shop in Sta. Mesa. It was a busy Saturday for the both of us. Busy yet excitingly happy. Everyone at Edward Teng's shop were sooo nice to us.. I couldn't have wished for anybody else to make my gown. It was one of our best choices ever.

Jojo showed me the improvements and additional embellishments on my gown, and even gave me beautiful accessories to match.

some of my accessories inside the box...

the box where my wedding gown is kept..

I'm still not decided on what pillow to use as I have more than a few to choose from. All my other accessories are already inside the box. In a few days, I'll be wearing my dream wedding dress. Eight more days to go. =)

He-Says, She-Says Shirts...

I got new customized statement- shirts for me and Leih, courtesy of my w@w sister Carmela Harder... She designed the shirts just as she designed my cards..

super tapos na ang mga araw na yon.. hahaha

And Leih answers back.. whoah!

Now, I'm not sure when to wear this, (after the wedding or upon arriving at the hotel for the wedding preps) Either way, we're wearing our shirts later when we go to the mall. hihihi..

KABOG!!

Our Boxes' Final Touch

These are how our boxes will look like once they're complete... Pink ribbons will be for the female sponsors, while the lavender ones will be for the male.

some of the boxes we got... =)

box for our Ninangs....

box for our Ninongs..

Nice, ei?

A Little Time For Shopping..

I got a gorgeous new pink luggage bag... I fell in love with it the instant I laid eyes on it. Man was it expensive (though I'd rather look at it as an investment). Hey, I think I deserve even just a little time to splurge on a luggage bag, don't you think? LOL I'm not sure though what to put in it as I'm not thinking of the tour just yet. Maybe a day after the wedding, then I'll start cramming.. Seems like the best idea ever. hahaha.

mine looks kinda similar to this one...

I also finished printing the reminders, table seating plans, event program and souvenir lists for my coordinating team which I personally prepared myself. It was painstaking to get our guests' names and assign seating designations for each but years of practice prepared me for this kind of job.. Now I'm much more at peace, knowing I've accomplished the most important task.

I also got a new set of contact lenses (which led me to get almost bloodshot eyes, dang). But even that couldn't dampen my spirits as I am more than thrilled because I'll be seeing my wedding gown this Thursday and I was advised that it looked much different than how it did the last time I saw it, complete with all the additional swarovsky crystals they put in, thanks to Jojo of Edward Teng's staff who was so utterly gracious enough to give in to my whining... He is just the best..

Turning Over the Kid's Flower Buckets..

Tomorrow I'll be turning over our tin buckets & little bears to the florist. Just looking at the little tin pails which I did myself a year ago makes my heart well-up in tears & pride.. It seems only yesterday that I sprayed paint on it and messed up the garage floor... It seems only yesterday that I purchased the little bears at Forever Friends... Everything seems like only a day has just passed... Indeed, time flies fast. In 11 days, I'll be getting married and I'll be using a different surname (which up to now hasn't sinked in much yet).. In 11 days, I'll be someone else's wife, and adjustments will start to surface...

But then, we all need to move up a notch in our lives, at one point, right? At least, I won't be alone anymore, having someone to always be with me, in times of happiness & problems... At least, there will be an additional member in the family... and at least, we could start building our own family in the near future..

Now, that's something to look forward to. =) 11 days.. that's all that's left in my singlehood days...

A Not-So-Spariffic Experience..

I had a body scrub appointment at the spa yesterday. It was my first, actually. I didn't even have an idea what they do there, but being always the "prepared Ayha" that I am, I brought with me extra undies & shorts just in case it gets all messy.. And was I soooo right about the messy part.

I chose to have the milk, honey and oatmeal body scrub. Honestly, it just felt the same, not as intense as I thought I'd have with a dead-sea salt scrub. Fairly enough, it was okay... What' I didn't like about it was that I got soaked for thirty minutes in deliciously smelling milk & honey in a super cold room, at some point I thought I was going to die of hypothermia..the oats, honey & milk they used on me..

This probably became the reason why I was feeling sick all day, getting a red runny nose and red teary eyes to match. I was plain sick and I hate it. I just hope it goes away real soon as I don't want to walk down the aisle with a box of tissue in my hand.

All in all, the scrub wasn't so bad, but next time, I'm sticking to my routine Swedish massage. No regrets on that for sure....

Give-Aways For The Sponsors, Check!

After my "NEW MOON" movie marathon, Leih fetched me at MOA and headed towards Glorietta to get some boxes for our principal sponsors. The basic plan was to give them wine and mini cakes but then, we thought of adding something more they could enjoy for a few more weeks after.. We chose round boxes but got only 6 pieces, the rest we'll be ordering at Papemelrotti in MegaMall. It was a dilemna for us whether to get Starbucks coffee beans for the sponsors but we ended up choosing our very own Manila Gourmet's premium drip grind coffee.. Not only does it taste divine, it's aroma is just to-die-for... You can even imagine yourself waking up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee.. Now, we would like our sponsors to have that kind of experience.. =)

a cup of freshly brewed premium coffee in the morning, anyone?

some of the goodies from Marks & Spencer...

We also picked assorted bristish biscuits & shortbreads of different flavors, chocolate and oatmeal cookies, and a lot more pastries from Marks & Spencer, (those with healthy food values of course) .. It will go well with the thick round packages of La Vache Qui Rit Cream Cheese which my Dad handcarried on his way to the Philippines.. Just writing this blog makes my mouth water.. How I wish I could take one box with me and just eat to my heart's content. (Goodluck with that)

A bottle of wine, mini cakes, and a box full of goodies, I think we're pretty much done here..

Booking Our Honeymoon

As a wedding gift to us, our Ninong Mon gave his Mabuhay Miles Airfare to us, giving us a big discount as we only had to pay for the taxes it excluded. We left at around 5:30 in the morning and drove to Makati and Cubao to settle our tickets and our tour package to Hongkong. We chose to get the "4-day, 3-night" Hongkong - Disneyland Package Tour from our travel agent, Mark Carballo who happens to be my sister-in-law's very good friend. We even got a discount as a wedding gift.

a tour at Disneyland is something Leih is looking very much forward to

Victoria Peak is definitely on our list...

Initially, our plan was to go to Macau for a day tour. It is still possible but we would like to maximize our stay in Hongkong and explore all the sites the city has to offer... It's been 13 years since I first visited, it's but time to go back.

This week, I'm getting a new luggage bag. We can't be too early to pack. =)

Meet-Up With Scenta Flora...

Last night, we met up with lovely couple Raymond & Bernidith Montes of Scentaflora, our florists for the ceremony.. They will be the ones decorating the church and the centerpieces for our reception. We agreed to meet at Starbucks in Alabang Town Center around dinner time. We lounged for a few minutes and talked about the details for our upcoming wedding.


Leih says he's very happy to see me so relieved and contented with our meet-up. It was such a breather to talk to Bing as she finalized the color scheme and flower choices up to the color of the lamp posts to be placed on the aisle. In my heart, I know we are secured with this team, that no matter what happens, they will make sure there will be beautiful flowers on our wedding day. With the unpredictable weather we have right now, we can't help but worry, though we're keeping our fingers crossed that our wedding day will go by just perfectly.

There were a few changes with the altar design as imposed by the Bishop, sadly, the waterfalls were taken out to give a more church-like effect to the place.

Now the flowers have finally been taken cared of... A few more details to go and we're done...

Finalizing All Details...

December 5 is fast approaching so we're finishing up the final details of the preps. Yesterday, we met with our coordinator, Love Daligdig of Special Events, and turned over to her the necessary photocopied contracts and a few written reminders for the event. It was relieving to know that someone is going to take all the responsibility off our hands on our big day.

hoping our venue looks as beautiful as this. or even more..

Today, we were supposed to meet Bernadith Montes of Scenta Flora at Starbucks, Alabang, to settle the remaining balance for the flowers but she got sick and had to cancel a few hours before, so probably we will meet on Tuesay after we get done with our appointment with the travel agency and Mr. Johnny Santos for the music details. Everything seems to be working pretty well for us... I think I'll be a very relaxed bride on my wedding day. All tasks have been properly taken cared of. Now, we have all the time to go to the movies and get a well-deserving break. =)

Meeting Jason Magbanua

I left for Manila at 2 in the afternoon to catch a sudden "out-of-the-blue" appointment with our videographer, Jason Magbanua. I was lucky enough to snag an appointment from his very busy schedule so we had to rush to Manila to get there on time before he leaves the office...

Yes, folks, we are talking about "THE" Jason Magbanua and I'm not going to be modest about it. Ever since Leih proposed to me, Jason Magbanua was the only request I asked of him. Initially, we booked the standard package they were offering, but later on decided to go full swing with the High Definition thingy, of course with the expected additional cost. Good thing, Daddy was generous enough to fill in the budget.

As soon as we arrived at Star Centrum, we were ushered into this orange-lit viewing room where Jason Magbanua himself welcomed us. Man, was he so friendly & down-to-earth , he was such a breeze to talk to... We felt so at ease with him, telling him all of our requests which he patiently listed down. This guy certainly didn't let his fame get to his head.. He was just awesome..

Upon going home, Leih and I had this smile plastered on our faces... We just know, our on-site video will be as beautiful as we imagined on our big day...