snapshots

the concept of prenups have recently gained much popularity. during the start of our wedding preparations though, we didn’t know nor cared much about prenups. it was a relatively alien concept to us. basta gusto lang namin is to have an album with a unique layout of extraordinary wedding shots. avp, prenups and the like are non-essentials to us back then. pang-pa-mahal kasi. hehe.

but as we continued on with our wedding research, the idea of prenups began to appeal to us. why?

• it is wise to be able to work with you photographer prior to your wedding. para pagdating ng wedding, alam na nya kung pano kumilos ang couple. kung anong angle ang best and how to bring out the best from the couple. as for the side of the couple, you get to know how your photographer works. at least, pagdating ng wedding, d ka na maiilang. friends-friends na kung baga, dba? hindi yung parang may reporter/paparazi na susunod-sunod sa inyo sa kasal nyo. hehe.

• when would there be another opportunity to be models for a day? to have pictures taken by a professional on the most picturesque of places. this way, the couple will have a library of postcard worthy shots… na pwedeng gamitin for invitations (which we plan to do), for gallery (which we plan to do also), pang-wallpaper (which we have done already. hehe), pang-display sa bahay (na obviously gagawin din namin), pang-inggit sa mga kaibigan (hindi naman. hehe)… etc… etc.

• it would be a perfect date. spend time with your future spouse, amidst nature, hand-in-hand… d ba romantic?

that is why when we booked our photographer, we got his prenup services as well (option lang kasi yun since not all are into prenups due to the added costs).

weeks before our prenups, we thought on how and where we will have it… and we decided on the following:

• it has to be out-of-town. prenups can be shot in studio or on location. in-studio prenups did not appeal to us since it offers less opportunities for what we call “wow” shots. besides, our photographer does not offer studio prenups (ayun naman pala. hehe). on location prenups can be done within metro manila or out-of-town. each has its own advantages. but we wanted unique shots… and that includes the background. we felt manila is too familiar to everyone hence we decided to have it out-of-town.

• tagaytay is a wise option. at the start, since our wedding venue is not really well-known, we thought it would be wise to bring some of our suppliers (most notably our caterer, photographer & videographer) to the venue prior to our wedding. this would allow them to scout the venue so they could “plan their attack” come wedding day. therefore, we decided to hit two birds with one stone by having our prenups in tagaytay with our wedding venue as one of our prenup venues.

• casual but coordinated. in order to look nice yet feel comfortable during our prenups, we planned on what to wear. hehe. syempre, dapat coordinated naman, dba? ganda-ganda nga ng background tapos d match yung mga suot, eh sayang lang, dba? it doesn’t have to be his and hers outfit (though we thought about that… mahal nga lang. hehe) pero yung matching naman. so we dug into our closets (and a few botiques as well) and finally decided on what to wear. of course, casual naman to have that natural, normal effect.

but wait. can’t have prenups without makeup… well, at least for the bride-to-be. most couples usually schedule their trial hair & makeup during the day of their prenups. para mas tipid nga naman, dba? makikita mo na ano itsura mo during the wedding at magagamit mo pa ang makeup para sa prenups. sounds logical, right? but think further. wedding hair & makeup style is for… weddings. meaning, the hair is usually up, the makeup a bit formal. hindi naman ganun dapat itsura pag prenups, eh. prenups should be more casual. parang nag-da-date lang kung baga. yes, added gastos pero mas ok ba magtipid at hindi ma-maximize ang prenup pictures? kaya we called up lanie (makeup artist) and scheduled for prenup makeup. the trial makeup would be done on a separate date.

so are we all set? not yet. iisa pa lang venue namin. the problem with the rising popularity of prenups is… venues tend to charge now if you want to use their place for a location shoot. kung dati-rati, eh libre lang since mag-pi-picture-an lang naman, ngayon, karamihan, eh nani-ni-ngil na. to give you an idea how ridiculous some of the rates and requirements are, here is a sample list of what we have gathered:

• greenbelt 3. dba maganda nga naman magpa-picture dun kung ayaw nyo lumabas ng manila? nice garden… then you could use the mall as well. charge: 10k. ayos ba? hehe

• caylabne. isang resort sa cavite. the cove and the mountains would make a very nice backdrop. charge: 50k. aba, eh pakasal ka na lang kaya dun. ah-ah.

• tagaytay highlands. lots and lots of greeneries. may view pa ng taal. charge: 5k. at least, consumable to… pero sayang pa din.

• sonya’s garden/calaruega. very famous spots in tagaytay. d ko alam kung may charge but they do have a requirement… you need to have your wedding and/or reception there in order to allow prenups. discriminating, no? hehe.

aba, eh ayaw naman naman namin gumastos ng libo-libo para lang sa location. kaya nag-shotgun email uli kami (becoming to be a familiar tactic of ours. hehe) and text/call several tagaytay venues. some responded… na yun nga… may fee or may restrictions. argggh.

buti pa venue namin. free. no restrictions. 🙂

we also got in contact with balay indang, a venue in tagaytay which was charging a minimal fee.

so we decided to use both venues at bahala na sina fol (photographer) kung san pa nila kami dadalhin.

wait! before we forget, just to show that we were not that ready for our prenups (kunwari. hehe), we even have accessories ready for the shoot. syempre, courtesy of our very friendly and ever-supportive tita (tita lang tawag namin, ha… pero kaibigan namin yan at matanda lang ng onti sa amin. tita, ha… totoo naman matanda ka sa amin, dba? hehe). biruin mo ba naman, pahiramin ka ba naman ng jewelries FOR FREE! ayaw nga pabayad kahit anong pag-threaten pa gawin namin. hehe. bait-bait talaga tita. 🙂

the sun rose on the day of our prenups and to say that we were excited is an understatement. first stop was lanie’s salon. actually, feeling namin ma-la-late nga kami sa appointment namin, eh… kasi naman ang ride namin… late (hehe). pero ok lang. nothing will ruin us this day (same goes on our wedding day). naligaw-ligaw pa kami sa paghahanap ng salon ni lanie. tapat lang daw ng abs-cbn, eh. pa-ikot-ikot na kami abs, d pa rin namin makita (although nakita namin ang pinoy dream academy house. hehe. sa tapat lang pala ng abs yun. akala pa man din namin nasa isang subdivision yun). tawag kami kay lanie pero hindi nasagot… hanggang finally nakita na namin. nadaanan na pala namin before. hehe.

lanie cheerfully greeted us (kahit late na kami) and immediately went to work. ang daldal ni lanie. non-stop kwento. ako naman… basa lang magazine. later on, i took a look on how the makeup was going. syempre, ni-document ko din by taking pictures of the actual makeup process. 🙂

lanie at work using shu eumura green eyeliner and chanel lipstick.

time flew and before we know it, 1.5 hours na pala nakakalipas. sa daldal kasi ni lanie d rin namin namalayan. 🙂 natapos ang makeup and we both agree that lanie was really a great choice. fresh na fresh ang makeup… yung tipong hindi halata pero alam mong meron. hehe. gulo ba? basta, lanie has the perfected the “no-makeup” look. and to top it all off… ok na ok pa sila ni selle. 🙂

afterwards, we decided to have lunch at alabang before proceeding to our 2 pm meeting at tagaytay with fol. nahirapan kumain si selle in the fear na ma-ruin ang makeup nya (most especially yung lipstick). si mike (kapatid ng aming drag-racing, ambulance driving, multi-company entrepeneur who provided our ride for the day) din medyo onti lang kinain kasi kumain na pala habang nasa salon kami. nag-takeout tuloy. hehe.

diretso na kami tagaytay after. we sent fol a text message that we might be a little late… and, to our surprise, they replied that they were already at our meeting place… 20 minutes earlier than our meeting time. fol may be a photo-hobbyist but he is definitely a professional. 🙂

buti na lang mabilis mag-drive si mike (it must be in the genes. hehe) at na-late lang kami ng onti. medyo kinabahan din pala kami along the way kasi it was raining in sta rosa pero buti na lang pagdating ng tagaytay, the sun was up. 🙂

dating kaming mushroom burger and fol & edong (his constant 2nd photographer) are there waiting. (kakahiya…) pero, being the jolly persons that they are, kulitan agad kami pagdating. konting daldalan and then we’re off…


prenup venue 1: bella vista

we decided to go first at bella vista so that fol can scout the area while the sun is still up. sayang lang wala sila deedee and sandee that day at bella vista… pero in a way ok na din kasi parang kakahiya at baka manood sila, eh. hehe. fol went around the venue… siguro para mag-isip kung san ang magandang photo-ops. afterwards, binaba na nila mga gamit nila. grabe, parang pupunta sa giyera, eh. male-maleta ang mga gamit nila. 3 cameras with lenses that seem to stretch to eternity. tapos kung anu-anong gadgets pa ang pinaglalabas. and the batteries… so many batteries… at madami pang extra para hindi daw sila kulang-in. at meron pa silang belt gear… na kung anu-anong laman. parang swat team ba. hehe.

fol’s weapons of choice. nikon d200. top-of-the line cameras. there’s even a 3rd one but i forgot the model. d200 is so good and advanced, fol immediately bought 2… and he’s using them both for our prenups. 🙂

after nila mag-prepare… umpisa na.

they always say that there is a warmup stage when it comes to prenups. syempre kasi hindi naman daw sanay usually mga couples na mag-pose-pose at kunan ng mga pictures, eh. we believe we went through that as well. pero ok lang. expected naman ni fol. so after a few shots… pinakita nya sa amin ang initial pictures at pinpoint kung ano ang maganda smile… ano ang magandang angle… etc. after that, umpisa na talaga… (warmup nga yun una. hehe)

prenups warmup at bella vista. notice the earrings and bangle? just one of several sets of accessories lent to us by our dear friend tita. for more of her products, please do visit www.chaliy.multiply.com 🙂

one thing we noticed about fol’s style based on his portfolio is he wants each his client’s album to be totally different from the others. in order for that to happen, he needs to create different shots that he has not done before. and today was no different. halata naman, eh. kasi experiment kung baga. but they knew what they were doing even if they haven’t done it before. and we (both us and them) were pleasantly surprised on the outcome of their “experiments.” 🙂

“on your tummy.”

“lie down.”

“side to side”

“look at each other.” “look at me.” “look down.”

“as if you’re gonna kiss.”

such are the instructions of our photographer/director, fol. ang hirap pala nito. kakapagod. para kasing walang tigil pagkuha ng pictures, eh. and they are coming from all angles. minsan kabilaan sila ni edong. minsan magkatabi lang. meron pa nga nakadapa sila… at meron din nakahiga sila. sabi nga nila, “anything for that great shot.” we told you they we’re pros.

yes, they are pros… but they are funny pros. we can’t help but laugh from time to time due to the side comments of both fol and edong. kahit si lito, their lightsman, pinag-tri-trip-an nila, eh. hehe

side note: they we’re using a remote flash. actually, d ko alam exact name. this enables them to have what they call multi-lighting effect and, mind you, it does produce spectacular effects.

bella vista is not that big a garden and we used only 3-4 spots… but it took us about 1.5 hours. ang tagal, no? pero d namin namalayan. enjoy din kasi. 🙂

packup na kami at punta na dapat balay indang. tawag ako sa balay indang at tapos sabi nila, meron daw nag-te-team building dun pero pwede pa rin naman daw mag-pictorial. we were kinda hesitant because of this pero sabi nga ni fol, “ok lang yan. ganyan talaga mga artista.” hehe. kulet talaga.

it was late afternoon already and we thought if we proceed to balay indang, we might not be able to maximize the place fol was referring to. atsaka, may team building nga kasi sa balay eh, meron naman sinabi si fol na pwede namin puntahan na parang pastures daw. eh kung madilim na, sayang lang. so we texted fol and he said it is better if we proceed to the venue they were referring to. besides, ayaw ko yung maraming tao at baka ma-distract lang kami during our shoot. kaya ayun nauna na sila at sinundan lang namin sila.


prenup venue 2: some undeveloped subdivision

fol had used this venue before with a prior client but he said they were not able to maximize it because it rained that day. and going to this venue, it did began to rain also. but after a while, the sun shone once again to our delight. 🙂

we entered the subdivision and asked permission from the caretakers. pinapasok naman kami agad. change outfit pala kami ni selle. yup, parang artista talaga… sa sasakyan nagpalit ng damit. hehe.

ang ganda nga naman ng place. while nagbibihis si selle, fol already saw a spot where we could have our pictures taken. grabe, ang backdrop namin… parang wala kami sa pilipinas. hehe.

tapos lipat uli kami ibang spot. may bitbit pa silang rug para pwede kami umupo-upo at humiga-higa sa damuhan (prepared talaga, eh. hehe). shot after shot ang pagkuha namin. then suddenly… a guy approached fol. security daw sya ng subdivision. bawal daw mag-pictorial dun. kahit anong explanation ni fol, ayaw bumigay ng mama. so we had no choice but to leave. pero sabi nga ni lito, “ok lang yan. nakarami na naman tayo, eh.” hehe.

subtle yet striking. who ever said that the couple should always be the focus of the lens?


prenup venue 3: evercrest

after the unexpected event, fol decided to bring us to evercrest/calaruega. kaya sinundan uli namin sila and fol instructed us to change outfits again. tapos huminto sila in the middle of nowhere at bumaba. may nakita na pala silang spot.

after namin magbihis, eh ready na agad sila. sunset pala habol nila… and it was truly spectacular.

we’ve always wanted a shot like this… and little did we know that fol was give us what we wanted… and more.

ngayon may kasamang patalon-talon pa ang instructions sa amin. hehe.

after nun… ginamit pa nila fol na props ang kanilang sasakyan. eh, expedition ba naman… not bad as a prop, huh? hehe.

after seeing this shot, we thought we should try entering showbusiness… NOT! hehe.

after almost 4 hours of posing and having our pictures taken, we thought it was just right to treat our photographers to dinner. atsaka, gusto din namin maki-bonding with our photographers. 🙂

we had dinner at taalena and fol gave us a preview on how our prenups went. imagine, we had almost a thousand pictures! grabe. at sobrang daming magaganda talaga. sabi nga ni fol mahihirapan daw sya pumili ng i-po-post nya sa blog nya, eh. he maintains a blog where he posts several pictures ng works nya. usually, he posts 5-8 pictures for prenups. the following day (ang bilis, no?), he posted 10! and there a lot more great shots na hindi nya ni-post (reserved for our guestbook syempre.) click here to see more of our pictures. please do leave a comment at the bottom of his post regarding our prenups para naman ma-feel nya na maraming nakaka-appreciate ng work nya. 🙂

sari-saring kwentuhan namin during dinner. we learned that:

• fol almost didn’t make it. sa unang paid wedding coverage ni fol muntik na syang hindi makapunta. he had a meeting at singapore a day before the wedding. ok lang, dba? pero noong pauwi na sya, na-cancel ang flight nya. kulang kasi passengers so ni-book muna sila sa hotel tapos following day na lang daw lipad. eh, hindi pwede yun. may kasal nga kinabukasan, eh. so what did he do? he booked a singapore airlines flight using his own money. sabi nga nya, “unang client pa lang, lugi na agad.” hehe. need more evidence that he is a professional? 🙂

• edong took fol’s pictures. that’s how long they’ve known each other… and that’s how competent edong is.

more stories… and lot more laughs… it’s getting late and we decided to call it a day.

fol promised to post the pictures the following day. true enough, the following day, he sent a text message to us that he indeed had posted them already. being the excited couple that we were, we couldn’t wait and went to the nearest internet cafe, logged-on and savored our pictures. 🙂

days have passed and we know that we are truly blessed. blessed that…

• God was there during our prenups. want proof?

* on that afternoon, it was raining in sta rosa but as we approached tagaytay, the rain stopped.

* we had prenups somewhere going to tagaytay highlands (bella vista) and then the other in calaruega area. rain didn’t touch these areas but in between these areas in tagaytay, it rained.

* balay indang suddenly had an ongoing team building. if they had none, we would’ve went there and we probably wouldn’t have gotten back to the undeveloped subdision for our pastures shots.

* we were asked to stop our pictorials at the aforementioned undeveloped subdivision. if we were not, we would’ve stayed and we probably would not have caught the sunset at calaruega.

• we had an excellent and professional photographer. merely looking at his works and talking to him was enough proof to us. experiencing his work only confirmed that.

• we have friends who have the heart to help and support our preparations. 🙂

it was a tiring yet fulfilling day. prenups is an experience we are glad we decided to have.
btw, it was our monthsary that day… not a bad way to celebrate, huh? 🙂