A Wedding Post. A Little Bit Overdue. (Part 1)

I just realized that save for the WE feature & Jason Magbanua, I haven't really blogged much about our wedding. I have had comments from people telling me that they've seen our wedding pictures on my blog, and loved it. It confuses me because there's not much here, so I figured they were talking about my multiply account.

A few months back, I was planning on doing our supplier's ratings since I am a member of w@w, and it would be helpful to other w@wies with similar suppliers. But I later on decided against it because I didn't want to make negative comments about some of the suppliers, and there's a huge chance they might come across my blog once they google themselves (if they do that, but DO they really do that???). And then, our wedding hangover was cut short because we were right away preoccupied with the pregnancy news, and we became too excited about having a new baby.

This isn't exactly supplier's ratings, I just want to give my readers a closer look at the people who helped made our wedding day possible.

Wedding Planner: JP MONTILLA

Jp was the first wedding supplier we booked. It was a choice among him, Rita Neri, & Chinkie Uy-Agregado. Art was able to talk to all three of them, and decided he liked Jp best. Art was impressed by Jp, and according to him Jp seemed to really know what he's doing. After meeting with him once, we signed a contract and jump started the planning stage of what was to be the most important day of our lives.

Friends & acquaintances have asked me for advice regarding who to get as their planner. For those who are getting married locally (like here in Zamboanga), I have advised them that it would be best to get a local wedding planner because these people are already used to planning weddings in Zamboanga, so they can foresee a lot of things that a Manila based wedding planner might not. There were some things that were overlooked during our wedding day but I don't blame Jp for it, I know that it would have been a lot easier for him if it were his turf.

For friends getting married in Manila, I always recommend Jp as a planner but I tell them to be careful if they're on a budget because Jp has very expensive, albeit very good taste. Working with Jp, I realized that it is important that you know what you want otherwise he can easily influence you with his choice of suppliers. Remember, that the last say is always the bride-to-be's (not even the groom's :p). So if you're sure of what you want or who you want, then you have every right to insist on it, after all it's your own wedding. :)

What I love most about Jp is that he saved me from making bad decisions & baduy choices. I like his taste, and more importantly, I trust his taste. Jp really knows what he's doing, and his contacts are limitless-wedding related or not. Whatever it is you want or need, just ask him and he can tell you how or where to get it.

Some people have asked why we had to get an out-of-town wedding planner. It's because we initially planned to have a really small Manila wedding (read: 100 guests or less :p). Unfortunately, our families wanted us to get married in Zamboanga since we're both based here, so we had to change our plans.

All in all, I love Jp. He's a fab person and fab coordinator, so if you're planning your wedding in Manila, you should try to contact him and arrange for a meeting. Prepare to be charmed. :)

Bridal & Entourage Gown Designer: FREDERICK PERALTA

First of all, I never even dreamt of wearing a Frederick Peralta gown, until Jp mentioned it because I figured designers of his caliber are out of our wedding budget. I initially wanted to go to Ivarluski Aseron, Veluz Reyes, or Rosalyn Lagdameo for my wedding gown, but Jp convinced me to give Frederick a shot. Who knows daw, we just might agree on a price. Fat chance, I thought. But boy, am I glad I listened to him.

They said that you'll know when if its the right gown designer for you the moment you meet them, and I guess you can say that happened to me. Although at the end of the meeting, the choice of getting Frederick was Art's and not mine. I was quite nervous about our first meeting because I thought he might be suplado because he's only used to having a-list clients, but he was very nice and very down to earth. According to Art, I looked like I was about to fall off my seat when Frederick gave us his quote for 21 heads. I was beyond belief because I didn't expect him to be so reasonable.

Frederick took very good care of me, from the wedding preparations to the wedding day itself. He would even text and call me himself for follow ups. I found him to be very humble considering that he is a big name, and is practically an institution in the Philippine fashion industry.

I was very confused about the gown design that I wanted. If I had unlimited budget, of course I'd go for a Monique Lhuillier. So it would have been easy to just pick one of her designs and have it done here, but if that was my plan, why the heck would I choose F. Peralta when any other designer with no name can copy an M.Lhuillier design.

In the end, it was Frederick and his creative genius who came up with the design. The only thing I specifically asked is that I don't want a ball gown design for my bridal gown, because I don't want to feel like a debutant on my wedding day.

The day after our wedding, I called Frederick to thank him for the beautiful wedding gown and told him that a lot of people loved his design. He told me that it had a lot to do with the person wearing it, his exact words were "Its how you carried it". How sweet d ba! :)

I love that my groom looked so dashing in his tuxedo! Nakakakilig! :p

He did a good job with the mothers' gowns as well as the fathers' suits.

My maid-of-honor:

The flower girls' dresses were cute and unique.

I loved the stretch tulle detail of the bridesmaids' gowns, as well as the intricate beadwork in the secondary sponsors'.

Bearers' outfits.

Videographer: JASON MAGBANUA

I have already gushed about Jason a million times, you can look here, here and here. I am a big big fan, and I find that until now whenever I check his blog for new videos, I still get awed. There was never a second choice for us for videography, it was just Jason. :)

He is IMHO, the best wedding videographer out there not only in the Philippines, but worldwide. I'm quite sure I'm not the only one with that opinion. I also like that Jason has wonderful taste in music, and in the 4 years that I've been following his career, none of the videos I've watched are ever baduy! I've heard that Jason is a great teacher as well, he likes to share his knowledge with budding videographers through seminars and I think that's very admirable. Basta, I love Jason Magbanua!

I've been asked who the other good wedding videographers out there are aside from Jason. I suggest looking at MayAd Studios, MgDigital, Threelogy, & Bob Nicolas.