[groom speaks] talking about our suppliers part 3

MUSICIANS: vcf music team

CONTACT PERSON: leslie calimbas

WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR: string musicians willing and capable of performing not the usual wedding songs

FIRST IMPRESSION: we’ve been hearing them in church week-after-week and our musicians are truly one of the best.

HOW AND WHY WE CHOSE THEM: we really wanted live musicians for our wedding… especially for the ceremony. the price for string musicians plus their out-of-town rates though were a bit high for us. since our best man is a member of our church’s music team, he recommended the music team to play. come to think of it, it was a brilliant idea. the vcf music team knows how a Christian ceremony goes, they know how to create appropriate background music for the ceremony and they are very flexible when it comes to the type of music we wanted. at syempre, since we’re brothers and sisters in Christ, they practically played for free. 🙂

HOW THEY DELIVERED: since we’re churchmates, it was very easy to communicate with them. they updated us on how their practices were going. nauna pa sila sa akin sa venue… and they woke up very early para mag-practice pa bago pa pumunta ng bella vista. based on the bridal march (kasi eto na lang natatandaan ko… after kasi nito, wala na ako natatandaan kundi si selle at ang aming pastor. hehe), magaling talaga sila. madami din nag-comment na magaling sila as their music added to the drama and emotion of the ceremony… which is the purpose naman kung bat ginusto namin magkaron ng musicians. 🙂

and another thing, they were dressed appropriately. something we really appreciated. 🙂

vcf music team before and during performance. (photos by mike crucillo (left) and mik guillen (right))

SIDE KWENTO: one of the musicians could act as a backup photographer. nagkukuha sya ng shots while not playing at ni-send nya sa amin. galing nya! sya nga nanalo sa photo-of-the-day contest namin, eh. hehe. syempre, hindi kasali yung photographers namin dun, ha. 😉

WHAT OTHERS SAID:

“your musicians are really good…” – fellow supplier

RECOMMENDED FOR: couples who want a combination of classic and youthful music.

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TUXEDO: rolly razon

CONTACT PERSON: rolly razon

WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR: budget-friendly yet realible seamster

FIRST IMPRESSION: mabait. knows very well his craft.

HOW AND WHY WE CHOSE HIM: he was the same person who made the tuxedo for one of our friends for his wedding. eh, maganda naman pagkagawa. eh, tapos, since kakilala naman sya ng friend namin, may discount syempre. hehe. madali puntahan, madali kausap.

HOW HE DELIVERED: wala kami masyadong binigay na details sa kanya. basta tuxedo with vest. tapos pumili lang kami kulay taking note of his recommendations. tapos yun na. first fitting… eksakto! hindi na ako nag-final fitting kasi ok na naman. kaya noong wedding day… ok naman talaga fit nya. 🙂

SIDE KWENTO: when i got my tuxedo (and selle’s dad’s suit) from his shop, talagang sya pa ang nagbitbit hanggang nakakuha kami ng taxi. pwede naman ako na lang pero sinamahan pa talaga nya ako. bait nya. 🙂

WHAT OTHERS SAID:

“ang ganda ng tux mo… cno gumawa?” – fellow supplier

RECOMMENDED FOR: grooms who want hassle-free suits at a budget-friendly price.

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WEDDING BANDS + EARRINGS: miladay

CONTACT PERSON: rose

WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR: budget-friendly, genuine jewelry

FIRST IMPRESSION: expensive.

HOW AND WHY WE CHOSE THEM: we’ve been looking around for a pair of plain, white gold wedding bands and the prices we’ve checked kinda surprised us. it was more expensive than we thought. we asked different shops. we asked even those who doesn’t have shops. kaso ganun talaga… parang mahal pa din (relative to what we expected). eh, we didn’t want to go to ongpin and risk getting a low-quality wedding band (atsaka, parang ganun din naman price kasi nga nagtanong-tanong din naman kami). tapos napadaan lang kami miladay at nagtanong lang kung magkano ang plain, white gold wedding band sa kanila. we were suprised na yung price na binigay nila was comparable to what we’ve been getting from all the others. tapos, since we have bought a pair of earrings na din from miladay, they were offering a discount pa. same price… trusted quality.

HOW THEY DELIVERED: since their price was very reasonable, we opted that selle will not have a plain wedding band. nagbigay lang kami picture sa miladay… in less than 2 weeks, we got the rings for checking. perfect. in just a few days… we got it back with engravings na.

WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE PRODUCT: elegant

RECOMMENDED FOR: couples who want genuine, elegant wedding bands.

magazine cutout of the wedding band we wanted.

our actual wedding bands. (photo by fol rana jr)

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SOUND SYSTEM: soundworks

WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR: tagaytay-based, budget-friendly

HOW AND WHY WE CHOSE THEM: simple. they gave the lowest price quotation amongst all tagaytay-based suppliers we asked.

HOW THEY DELIVERED: friday afternoon, they visited bella vista to check the place. kahit na 6:30 am ang aming ceremony, the sound system was up-and-ready way before that. clean, crisp sound.

RECOMMENDED FOR: couples who will be wed at tagaytay.

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INVITATIONS PRINTER: torreno printing press

CONTACT PERSON: kathy torreno

WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR: budget-friendly, short lead time printer

HOW AND WHY WE CHOSE THEM: we designed our own invites so we just asked around for someone who could print our designs. since our invites is a different not only in size, look and paper, the quotations we got were quite high. plus, the production lead time was quite long also. eh, it was barely more than a month na lang to our wedding. kathy was then recommended to us by our friend. she is a churchmate whose family owns a printing business. usap-usap lang. send-send ng mga drafts sa email. then she gave a quote that was almost half of what others quoted (churchmate quote, i guess. 🙂). not only that, their lead time was very quick.

HOW THEY DELIVERED: finally gave them the design. saw the mockup a few days later. got the invites in practically a week (and this was over the Christmas weekend). ang bilis! at ang ganda. 🙂

WHAT OTHERS SAID:”ang mahal nito cgurado. ganda pagka-print, eh.” – guest

RECOMMENDED FOR: couples whose looking for printers for their designs and want them quickly at a reasonable price.

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WEDDING PREPARATIONS VENUE: balai taal (www.balai-taal.com)

CONTACT PERSON: nelson blanco

WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR: a venue that is large enough to accomodate both our families and beautiful enough to offer plenty of photo opportunities

FIRST IMPRESSION: wow.

from left to right: 1) balai taal villa 2) upper floor receiving area (here is where the preps took place)


one of the many photo ops at balai, this one being fol’s favorite. (photo by fol rana jr)

HOW AND WHY WE CHOSE THEM: we checked out a number of hotels at tagaytay for wedding preps. initially, we wanted to be at taal vista… and we actually have reserved rooms already there. ok na kami dun. then we remembered about balai taal. we inquired there already when we were looking for prenup shoot venues. as we inquired, we remember how much they rented out villas. we thought it would be more convenient because we would have the villa all to ourselves as opposed to being in a hotel. with 4 suites, 2 rooms, a living room, a dining area, a kitchen… the price was relatively cheaper than any of the hotels considering the size of the venue. plus ang dami pang maganda photo ops. so we cancelled our reservation at taal vista and booked balai instead.

HOW THEY DELIVERED: first impression: wow. lahat ng dumating sa balai… yun din ang cnasabi. 14 adults + 2 kids all-in-all stayed sa balai. there were 3 floors so hindi magulo during preps. highly secure ang balai kasi kahit d namin ni-lo-lock ang mga pinto pag umaalis kami, wala naman nawawala. 24-hour security din kasi and non-guests are not allowed inside. ganda pa ng view talaga kasi kitang-kita ang taal kaya it’s so relaxing… lalo na during preps.

fol had a grand time making use of balai during photo sessions (most especially the post-ceremony pictorials). there are just too many photo ops. aalis na kami tapos biglang may makikitang spot si fol kaya picture uli. tapos aalis na dapat… tapos may makikita uli kaya picture uli. 🙂

SIDE KWENTO: balai taal has no check-in nor check-out time. guests can check-in early morning and then check-out late afternoon the following day. eh, medyo na-late kami dating the day before our wedding kaya tinawagan pa talaga nila kami kasi sayang naman daw dahil inaantay na daw kami at prepared na yung villa. and then after our wedding… they kept suggesting that we stay for the afternoon. how cool is that? 🙂

WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE PERSON: accomodating

WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE PRODUCT: exquisite, relaxing

WHAT OTHERS SAID:

“nakaka-relax naman dito.” – entourage member

“ang ganda-ganda naman dito…” – entourage member

RECOMMENDED FOR: anyone looking for secure, relaxing accomodations for large groups.

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SHOES (BRIDE): lewre, cmg
(side kwento: we were about to buy a green sandal (also from cmg) but we saw a different one which suited selle’s taste more)

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SHOES (GROOM): pabder
(side kwento: looking for shoes was tougher than we imagined. advice lang to grooms-to-be, look for shoes earlier)

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TRANSPORTATION/SHUTTLE: private

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WELCOME STATION PASTRIES: mama
(side kwento: all my friends knows how good my mom bakes and from the very start we thought that it would be wise for her pastries to be offered at the welcome station)

lower garden acted as the welcome station for guests. mom’s pastries served along with kaye’s drinks. (photo by mike crucillo)

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UNITY CANDLE + CORD: chaliy designs by jonah (chaliy.multiply.com)
(side kwento: a true blessing. jonah is a friend of ours who supported us throughtout the wedding. besides making the unity candle and the cord (w/c transformed into a necklace w/c selle wore during the reception), she also provided selle’s accessories during prenups. sayang lang she wasn’t able to attend our wedding because she had to fly to singapore on our wedding day to be with her husband)

our unity candle. shot after the wedding. (photo by dyoks)

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FIRST NIGHT ACCOMODATIONS: the boutique

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HONEYMOON: pearl farm

shot at the infinity pool. (timed photo by dyoks)

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that basically covers our suppliers. we really felt that God led us to the BEST suppliers (with a few exceptions). as we look back, it was easy to see how God made ways for us to find our suppliers. speaking of suppliers, God is the supplier of all suppliers. He was the one who gave us the wedding we’ll always cherish. to Him goes all the glory.

a special shoutout to bob, fol, kaye and lanie… with what they did in our wedding and the way they treated us, they have made us their lifetime fans.

to the siytangco’s, tita cora and nelson… the air is really cool in tagaytay but their hearts are the warmest one will ever meet.

to all who are still in the process of preparing for their wedding and those who will soon be preparing for their wedding… enjoy this phase in your lives.

to the grooms-to-be, i recommend that you be active and really be involved in the preparations. wouldn’t it be nice if you relieve her of stress by taking part in the preps?

that’s all. may madaldal din palang groom, no? 🙂

[groom speaks] talking about our suppliers part 1
[groom speaks] talking about our suppliers part 2