How FoReVeR bEgIns...

Planning an event as big as a wedding is no simple task. I'm a person that likes to be in-charge of everything.... During my 18th birthday, I single-handedly planned my debut to its minute detail. Gladly, almost everything went according to my plans... Enough of my 1st stint as a coordinator..hehe

Even before Tj and I talked of wedding plans, I already have tons and tons of "research" to help back me up of my future dream wedding. I've read a few bridal magazines (bought most of them recently actually) and browsed through the web about anything and everything regarding planning a wedding. I want us to be prepared.

Tj and I knew what we want our wedding to be.... We want it to be simple yet elegant, formal and memorable. We want our Wedding to be a celebration of our love with our dear family, relatives and closest friends.

First thing we had to decide was when will our wedding date be. I don't want to be a June or December bride that's for sure. The only month that we can marry on 2008 was October since that's the only month I have a vacation other than June and December. I'm a second courser taking up Nursing and I'll be having a semestral break by October and would be a perfect time for us to have our wedding. We basically wanted a weekend wedding but because of the unavailability of our desired Church and reception, we opted to set October 17, 2008, Friday to be the date of our wedding. I wanted 18 so that I can have the 8 number...they say is lucky since its unending....but as my fiance reassured me...there is no difference what day we wed.. What is important is that we both love and care for each other. We are the ones in control of our lives...as they say, "Fate is what we
make." I'm a bit bothered still with the date we chose...but as optimistic as my fiance is...he said 1+7 is till 8....it's still the same. So cheer up! ;) God, I really love you Teij!

We both know that Weddings are very expensive and we are on a really really tight budjet. As soon as the news spread, Tj's elder sister, Ate Laylay, thankfully said she would take care of the expenses for the whole reception. There was a sigh of relief for us then since a big chunk of the wedding expense was already taken care of. We love yah so much Ate Laylay!! *mwahh* *mwahh*

The date is set. Next would be our church and reception. We have been going around the block to ask a lot of Church and reception venues for their fees for a wedding. Based on our Church list, we temporarily crushed out Cathedral and Sacred Heart because they are among the pricey ones. But ever since my elder sister, Ate Grace, had her wedding in Manila Cathedral, all I ever dreamt of all my life was to be married in a Church as grand as that, which is why I wanted for our church to be in the Cebu Cathedral. So we went to Cathedral to inquire if our date is still available, but as fate would have it, another couple already had the date reserved a year ago for their own wedding.

My soon-to-be Sister-in-Law requested/wanted a Church that has a long aisle enough for her grand walk/parade...hahaha =p Consequently, I think it's a sign from God that I received a call one afternoon from my long-time bestfriend since High School, Ravilie, who at the same time is working in Sacred Heart Church. I told Tj why don't we just go to Sacred Heart first before we totally crush it out from our list. But as soon as we entered the Church, Tj and I looked at each other and I guess we had the same thing in mind... We both could imagine ourselves being wed in this beautiful and intimate place as Sacred Heart Church. We didn't know that what made the fees for SHP pricey was because it included Church and Car decorations already.. I told Tj that I think paying that price with all the inclusions isn't bad at all. Plus, the Church Florist happens to be our neighbor and family friend, Tita Lorna Tirol....I haven't talked to her just yet but I do hope she'd give us more flowers than what we paid for (parang discount na rin kung baga...hehe) So we went ahead with Sacred Heart Parish and paid half of the total Church fees. Our wedding will start at 3:30 p.m. Can't wait to walk that aisle nah... hehe

*Fortunately, during our visit to SHP, they also had a scheduled wedding..we got to take a pic of the place and how their florist, Tita Lorna, decorates it.. lucky us!! ;) *

Date set, Church half-paid...that leaves us with Reception. If Ate Laylay haven't shouldered the reception expenses, we would have chosen the Diplomat Hotel based on our own budjet...hehe =) But since Ate L wants a great place with good food at a price that isn't so high, we chose the Marriot Hotel. As of now, we have reserved the place already and is waiting for the moolah from Ate L to pay for the downpayment to book the place to us. I was at first discouraged about Marriot since when I first inquired, they gave us 85K for 150 pax with their top package, the Marriot package.....but as soon as we almost closed the deal, they changed their package saying that it is no longer for 150 pax but 85K for 100 pax. That really discouraged us a lot. It affected our initial guest list since we had to slash 50 people off from it. They apologized saying they have a disclaimer that the packages will change without notice....what dah!! Anyways, I am hoping they have good food because we're paying almost the same as that if we went with Waterfront Hotel.

As you can see, all of the No-No's in our list became our Yes-Yes! hehe =) Thanks to the people that love us and would like for this union of two hearts to be successful and in a way grand! ;) We thank you so much guyz!!!

...With much love from me and Tj *wink*