A Smart Prenuptial Adventure

Next time na ang chika ha. . . hehehe when I get the time. Pwamis! =)

Am I almost done, or just about to start?

My wedding timeline says I have 3 months and 3 weeks to go. Wheww! I don't know if I should be excited, nervous, go to a raving panic or what?!? Anyway, below are my updates:


CHURCH VENUE: San Agustin Church - Reserved (March 18, 2006 @ 3pm)
Documents/Seminars required by San Agustin
Baptismal Cerificate (from church where baptized, within 4 months prior - by end of Nov)
Confirmation Cerificate (from church where confirmed, within 4 months prior - by end of Nov)
Marriage License (City Hall) - Form obtained, requires family planning seminar
Canonical Interview (SAC) - Interview scheduled at 1/18/06 at 9am
Ecclesiastical Banns (SAC) - Obtained during canonical interview
Permit (Parish of bride) - Form obtained during canonical interview
Names/Address of Primary Sponsor - For finalization. Max of 6 pairs.
Priest: Father Jerry Tapiador - Personally gained permission. To follow-up.

RECEPTION VENUE: Hyatt Hotel and Casino
Food (Hyatt) - Reserved. Please see package for full service included. DP paid
Drinks (Hyatt) - Reserved. Please see package for full service included. DP paid

COUTURIER
Bridal Gown: Veluz Reyes -1st Fitting on Nov26 together w/ 2nd DP.
Barong: Caneri - DP pd. Reserved 2 jusi pina (Lolo&Mang Alex), 1 pina raya for Myke.
**May change to suite for groom and ento. Still looking for supplier.
Entourage: Tina Venzon
Measurements taken: Sara, Anne, Teret, TaLy, Lola, Ma, Michelle, Ja, Liza, Golda
Pending measurements: Myla, Rica, Julianna, Pao
Dresses finished: Lola, Polly, Anne, Sara, Golda

FLORIST
Church: San Agustin Church - Flowers included in church package.
Bouquets: Dangwa - Mang Boy, to canvass.
Reception: Hyatt Hotel and Casino - Flower centerpiece included in package.

PRINTER
Invitations: Printed Matter - Style: Booklet
Awaiting photos from pre-nup. Target distribution: Early January.
Save the Date: Printed Matter - Pd layout fee.
Target Distribution: Early December to VIP and Ento only.
Missalettes: DIY - Look for supplier to print cover. Contents provided by SAC/priest
Guestbook: Hyatt Hotel and Casino - Guestbook comes with hotel package.
Table games sheet: DIY - Done. For printing on colored paper.
Bought colored paper. To xerox original, 150 copies.

PHOTOGRAPHER
Wedding album (11x14): SmartShot Studio - Reserved. DP paid
Parents album (2): SmartShot Studio - Reserved. DP paid
Portrait (16x20): SmartShot Studio - Reserved. DP paid
Signature Frame: SmartShot Studio - Reserved. DP paid
Pre-nuptial Picture Taking: SmartShot Studio - Addt'l fee for out-of-town - P1k.
Scheduled - TBA (sekwet!)
VIDEOGRAPHER: SmartShot Studio - Reserved. DP paid. Non-liner in DVD format
AUDIO-VIDEO PRESENTATION: Smart/Hyatt - Projector provided by Hyatt.
AVP c/o of SmartShot

MUSICIANS
Church: San Agustin Church - Church provides organist and singers. Lead singer (Claudia)
Reception: Hyatt Hotel and Casino - Hotel provides string quartet with package.
To coordinate w/ Bernie Pasamba for list of songs played during reception.

CAKE: Hyatt Hotel and Casino - Negotated to accomodation for 1 extra night, before the wedding.

SOUVENIRS: Joy San Gabriel - Minicakes. Paid DP. Ribbons and flowers reimbursible by Joy.

GIFTS FOR SPONSORS: Excel Frames - Paid DP. For distribution to PS in Jan.

BRIDAL CAR: Hyatt Hotel and Casino - Lincoln provided by hotel with package

HAIR & MAKEUP: Eddie Bruan - Paid DP. Package for 5 pax till reception.

HOST/ENTERTAINER: Christopher Petras - Confirmed.
Cathy Verga - Confirmed.

WEDDING RINGS: Hearts & Arrows - Pd 1st installment. To decide on words to engrave.

HONEYMOON: Hyatt Hotel and Casino - Overnight stay is provided.
Trip to Singapore??? Wish ko lang!!!

So far, that's it. . . More updates will come in the next couple of weeks. We expect our prenup pictures to come through by then and our invites and save the dates will follow. Also, we would most definitely have to start on the legal requirement to actually get this wedding done. =) so what do you think? Am I on schedule or should I start panicking? Hehehe. . . Any suggestion on how I can make this wedding even more memorable? Please, please I would be so happy to hear from you. Please leave your comments, my tag is not working for the nth time!!! thanks!

An expensive trip to Tagaytay but totally worthwile

A plan to share forever

Ofcourse I was excited. I personally think excited was a grave understatement. Early September I was already all fired up into making this dream come true for him. The letter below was sent out to all his officemates and friends on Spetember 11. For his family, I had an accomplice in Myke's sister, Michelle. For his friends, I had Marlon and Myla. And for his officemates, I had Jay and Sherilyn. I was so concerned with attendance that follow-ups were more of an harassment for my accomplices. I'm sorry guys!

. . . My God! I'm not in a writing mood today. . . hehehe. . . but I have to document this, though it already took me forever to post this on my blog. Hay, what's wrong with me???

The tricky part about throwing Myke the party was thinking of a great way to break the news to him. It's not something I wanted to blurt out to him over dinner like some insignificant piece of news. I wanted to it to mean to him as much as it meant to me. . . baligtad ba? or I wanted it to mean as much to him as I hoped it would. I wanted to see him as happy as I've never seen him. I wanted to be there when he realizes the dream he never thought he'd ever have the chance of fulfilling.

And so here are my plans:

PLAN NO. 1: Since I didn't expect my brother and sister-in-law to come, I thought I'd make-up some story about my 3 nieces having to attend a party at Mcdo Philoca, a birthday of a cousin or a classmate perhaps. I'd tell Myke that my bro and s.i.l. have duty in the hospital that day and they will not be able to take them to the party themselves. Ofcourse I will ask Myke to drive them to Philcoa. On the way to the party, I'd chat with my nieces and ask them questions about the party like who is having the party, how old the celebrant is, which cousin is this. . . then when we are just about to get near the place I'll ask my youngest niece to show me the invitation (which ofcourse is Myke's), then I'll ask her to show Myke the invitation. Wallah! hehehehe, wala lang. . . . it could have worked only if my bro and s.i.l. did not decide to go to the party afterall.

PLAN NO. 2: So I was thinking that my nieces would probably not ride with us on the way to Philcoa since it's a 100% certainty that they will hitch a ride with their dad. I had to change my plans. . . but to what? So I thought I'd tell Myke some bogus story about me having to meet Janice (another close friend) at Philcoa that afternoon, perhaps something to do with having her to borrow a book from me that she badly needed for her MBA. Afterall, she studies at UP Diliman, a probable meeting place for her and her MBA-mates. I even planned for us to be there at 4:30pm (the party starts at 6pm) and stay at Jollibee pretending to wait for Janice, for fear of Myke recognizing the cars and plate nos. of officemates and friends as they arrive. So I thought if we arrived earlier, I wouldn't have to worry about that. Then while waiting in Jollibee at around 5:30pm, I'd give him my 3 gifts, wrapped separately. My first gift was a simple white shirt printed with a picture of "Dash" from "The Incredibles" (this is his b-day theme). I'd ask him to wear this first before he can have the second. The second was a gold bracelet given to me by my mom. And lastly, is the invitation. Then from Jollibee we'd go to Mcdo. . . . hehehehe

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED: Ok so actually I was suppose to go for my Plan#2. But unexpectedly, Myke suddenly had to attend a seminar at his office early that morning. I was already irritated, probably because I had already set my mind into making it perfect for him, and unexpected events were making it less and less probable. Anyway, I was so stressed since he arrived at my house at nearly 2pm, and we still had to go to Sta. Mesa to have our wedding invitations designed. What made it worse was that the rain was pouring hard and the traffic was bad. I was silently worrying that people may decide not to attend because of the rain, and ofcourse I was pissed that we may be late for his party. So there we were, my temper was up. . . the rain was pouring and we were stuck in traffic. He was also becoming irritated as I was, for no reason, so riled up. So there, in the middle of traffic with rain splaterring all over the place, I decided that probably I have waited enough. I gave him his well-wrapped gift.

Ofcourse Myke is Myke. He has no patience when it comes to opening gifts. As soon as we got out of traffic, he parked on the side of the road and opened his gift. First thing he looked at was the white shirt with "Dash." I wasn't so successfull in transferring the print to the shirt kaya baka medyo disappointed sya. hehehe. . . He probably thought I bought it off some store rack. Actually, I asked Janice's bf to print the picture for me (wala na kc ako makitang shirt na may print na "The Incredibles" eh). I then ironed it on the shirt to transfer. I guess it was ok, but not perfect. BTW, I originally caught this on video from my phone kaya lang sinara ni Myke eh kaya nabura. . . nagalit nga ako sa kanya eh!

The next gift was the bracelet. I guess, he liked that gift better. I placed it in a jewelry box I bought at Market2. I pinned a note inside greeting him happy birthday and with a post script of -- "A far greater treasure lies beneath the gold." Hay ewan ko ba sa mga lalake! Slow, talaga ever! I even asked him to read the note more carefully! Wala pa rin! hehehehehe. . . . . And so I asked him again to read it one last time. Hayun, nakuha din! Well at first we has looking at the bottom side of the box. . . then when he saw nothing he looked inside again. There hidden between the carton lining of the box is a folded invitation to Myke's party. Hay grabe slow!
Anyway, that's when he started to cry. . . And while I was trying to get Myke on video, I started to cry myself. Hayun bigla na lang nya sinara yung camera ko. . . wala na tuloy lahat ng evidence ko! hehehehehe. . . hayun, iyakan na lang kame sa car.

Myke was so excited that he repeatedly asked who was attending, and I think he even felt bad that his parents were not there. While we were at Printed Matters (yung gagawa ng invitation namen), Myke was so impatient na he wanted to leave even before we can finalize the design with Phoebe.

Masaya naman. napasubo ako sa games, ever! I was thankful that though not everyone I invited came, the most important people were there. I guess quality vs quantity counts. After the party, Myke and I, together with a few friends went straight to his house feasted on the Mcdo b-day cake, and enjoyed a few hours of videoke.

So that was Myke's party. It wasn't perfect as I hoped it would be. But I do hope that it was much of a fulfillment of a dream for him as it was for me. For surely I have no other dream than to see my loved once realize their own dreams.

Sorry ha, Wala me sa wisyo magsulat. . . . hope you got the story kahit medyo magulo. =)

An invitation to witness a dream come true

Hi everyone!

For those who don't know me, I'm Golda, Myke's gf.

I would like to invite you all to small surprise party in honor of Myke's birthday this coming October 8 (Saturday) at McDonadls Philcoa at 5:30 pm. I would be so grateful if you could all come to make the occasion so much more special. Para marealize nyo how significant this event is for us. . . kwentuhan ko muna kayo. . . .

When Myke was still a kid. . . well, he was not exactly underpriveledged, but he did not get everything he wanted. He did not have all the wonderful toys kids nowadays take for granted, nor did he experience any sort of birthday celebration that most of you must have had in your childhood. To me, Myke will always be a child... a child who shows too much enthusiasm when given a mildly crafted toy, a child whose eyes twinkle with delight and impatience whenever given a well-wrapped gift, and a child who longs to matter and feel special with the attendance of people closest to him on a day celebrated only for him. So I know korny and all, but to me and most especially for Myke, it is a fulfillment of a life's dream.

So please, please be there to surprise him and celebrate his wonderful life with us.

To his friends, I don't know all of his close friends nor do I have all their contact information. Can you please please invite them to come as well? Those who have contact to me-anne and louie, can you please tell them to come? Sino pa ba?

Please be there at 5:30pm . . . ofcourse the surprise will not be effective if Myke arrives there with just a vacant area at mcdo full of balloons. . . you are what will make it special. So please be there and please be on time.

Again, all my thanks!


Regards,

Golda Concepcion