Twelve (12) Personal Touches For Our Wedding

Raymond and I were pretty hands on in planning our wedding so that explains why the temple, Philippine Flag, music and love for pictures stood out as main themes of our big day! Let me share Twelve (12) Personal Touches (for now!) that make our wedding unique and memorable!

1.We opted for a Philippine Flag - inspired motif for the chairs skirting and over-all look of the reception venue, not only because our wedding day fell on the anniversary of Martial Law, but it was mainly to reminisce our meet - up on Philippine Independence Day celebration in June 1991 and our engagement on the same day last June 12, 2013.

2. Estancia Hotel Resort's reception hall has the traditional all - white look that goes along with our Journey to Forever theme, a reflection of our deep desire to be married for eternity (now or a year later). To keep the elegant feel, we chose white as the over-all color for the table covers, chairs and our couple back drop, accenting only by the Philippine Flag color flowers of red, blue and yellow.

3. In keeping with the Philippine Flag inspired motif, my shoe diva friend May Merdegia Rogers gifted me with floral - painted Drusilla pumps by Nine West for that flirty statement at every step when we tied the knot!

4. Raymond always give me flowers when we were dating. On his birthdays, I'm the one who gets bouquet of flowers with a dedication that says "these flowers may fade overtime but my love for you would never ever.I love you very much".So for our wedding, we said it with flowers too! Like the Medieval tradition of a Knight wearing his Lady's colors, each flower has its own meaning. YELLOW signifies new beginnings and happiness, BLUE is the universal color of peace, truth and serenity and RED means I love You and can also mean courage and passion..

5. I carried a Crystal Ball Bouquet lained together on Magical Staff instead of the usual bridal bouquet. This go along with our Journey To Forever wedding theme since the magical staff represents the journey and the crystal ball bouquet reflects future lives together. When the crystal ball bouquet is lained together on a magical staff it signifies the union of our life together in a beautifully combined future as a couple.

6. We made photo opps more fun and exciting for our guests with personalized wedding photo wall featuring differently framed photos from our prenup shoots in Boracay, Bacolod, Nuvali and Tagaytay.

7. We chose a couple holding a picture frame for cake topper which serves as memento of our special day for years to come. The cake topper was designed by Sofia's Cakes and is consistent with our picture - framed wedding invitations and photo wall. For a more personalized look, the bride's dress was designed to look like my original wedding dress design and color of bouquet reflect our Philippine Flag motif colors of red, blue, yellow and white. The groom's attire is patterned after Raymond's suit without the vest.

8. Our "A Journey To Forever" theme is carried all through out the reception with personally designed table number place cards. I used a picture of the Manila Philippines Temple and a quotation of LDS apostle Joseph W. Whirtlin printed on framed background for a more coordinated look.

9. Our Journey Cake made for us by our good friend Raquel Delos Santos  is a four - layered white fondant cake, with a road to symbolize our journey and each layer adorned with a vehicle in our Philippine Flag - inspired colors. On the first layer is a blue jeepney since Raymond and I met on June 12, 1991 inside the University of the Philippines Diliman campus and the UP Ikot jeepney there was blue. After two decades of separation, we met again on June 29, 2012 and Raymond visited me at home with his white motorcycle. Since then we have been together aboard our red SUVs and our goal is to buy a yellow Genesis coupe as Managers of Forever Living!

10.Music played an important part in our dating years. Raymond used to bring me to Yamaha World Band Explosion concerts in 1991. When we met again last year, he serenaded me and composed songs for me that truly brought back memories of yesteryears. We used the song compositions as part of our CD that we included in the CD case wedding invitations.

11.To shows Raymond's personality as a lead soloist of the band Radio Crave and who plays the guitar very well, I had my old guitar double as a Guestbook . It was a sure hit, and a wedding must-have that is unique and didn't cost us anything.

12.True to its musical feel, our emcees Jojo wearing a GROOM tee and Alexis Aubrey Riguerra in her BRIDE shirt opened up our wedding celebration with a Glee inspired performance of “Marry You” while my nephews and nieces enters the hall with dance steps. Then for the grooms' entrance, Jojo sang "Marry Your Daughter" while Annel Faith Fernandez sang our wedding theme song "A Thousand Years" for my walk down the aisle with my parents.

Cupcakes and Cake Topper by Sofia's Cakes

Since our journey cake designs and adornments are all edible, we thought of having a cake topper that we can take as wonderful memento of our special day for years to come! We were thrilled to know that Sofia's Cakes, our wedding supplier for our cupcakes also does personalized wedding figurines. 

Cake Topper

We want the cake topper to be consistent with our picture - framed wedding invitations and photo wall so we choose a design where the couple are holding a picture frame. For a personalized look, the bride's dress was designed to look like my original wedding dress design and color of bouquet reflect our Philippine Flag motif colors of red, blue, yellow and white. For the groom's attire, it would have been better if it looked more formal since Raymond wore a vest with his suit. 

Cupcakes

Since we already have our journey cake from my friend Raquel Delos Santos, we thought of replacing the 3-layered fondant cake included in our wedding package with Estancia Hotel with 100 pieces of chocolate cup cakes . This way, our guests will have a taste of our wedding cake and can easily take it away as celebratory souvenirs. To be consistent with our Philippine Flag motif, we had a mixed of blue and red butter cream cupcakes with a nice white and yellow flower design in the middle, while the yellow and white butter cream cupcakes have red and blue flower design in the middle.

I like how the cupcakes look like and how they were displayed in the cup cake tower. But most importantly, I love how it taste since my niece Shanara saved me two (2) boxes of cupcakes which I ate much later after the big day.

Our Journey Cake by Raquel Delos Santos

photo by Alain Atienza Tagpuno

The wedding cake has always been the star of every wedding since it is believed to be a fertility symbol. It became a tradition to pile up several small cakes, one on top of the other, as high as they could, and the bride and groom would kiss over the tower and try not to knock it down. If they were successful, it meant a lifetime of prosperity.

While I do not want to be traditional, I really like our wedding cake to be a star and reflect our story. I thought of a Cake  that will showcase our two decades journey as a couple. 

Photo by Mc Joseph Casimiro

So Our Journey Cake was born! It was a love gift from my baker friend Raquel Delos Santos. I have always love Ate Raquel's cakes (and she even taught me how to bake), so I was thrilled that she is gifting us our wedding cake! 

The idea is to have a four - layered white fondant cake, with a road to symbolize our journey. In each layer is a vehicle in our color motifs - Philippine Flag of red, blue, yellow and white. On the first layer is a blue jeepney since Raymond and I met on June 12, 1991 inside the University of the Philippines Diliman campus and the UP Ikot jeepney there was blue. After two decades of separation, we met again on June 29, 2012 and Raymond visited me at home with his white motorcycle. Since then we have been together aboard our red SUVs and our goal is to buy a yellow Genesis coupe as Managers of Forever Living!

Thank you ate Raquel for this thoughtful and meaningful gift!

Guestbook Alternative: Guitar

Our Guitar Guestbook Alternative

Music played an important part of our dating years. Raymond used to bring me to Yamaha World Band Explosion concerts in 1991. He is also a lead soloist of the band Radio Crave and plays the guitar very well. When we met again last year (July 2012), he serenaded me and composed songs for me that truly brought back memories of yesteryears. To incorporate music in our wedding events, I thought of a Guitar as Guestbook alternative.

Bridesmaid Aimee Fernandez with our Guitar Guestbook.
 Picture taken by Groomsman Mc Joseph Casimiro

I have an old guitar I wasn't using much but didn't want to let go, do the trick. Then got some pens from National Bookstore that could write on all surfaces like wood. Viola, I have a guestbook that doesn't cost anything but was a sure hit! 

Our Guitar Guestbook Always Put Us In Tune!

More, I don't need to find a place where to store it since I can line it up with Raymond's guitars and could right away reminisce our big day!

Pre - Nup Video With Our Theme Song "All of Me"

The pre-nup video was made by our official photographer/videographer Alain Tagpuno Atienza and he gave me my own DVD copy. But since I'm no techie, I didn't know how to upload it on this blog so I'm using the video taken on my cellphone when this was shown during our wedding reception last September 21, 2013.

When I heard "All of Me" by BLAKE, I knew right away that this is our wedding song!  It talks about making vows for eternity and that "This life is short and precious, A one way ticket ride. I thank you for the journey, I know you're on my side. And we are only here once, I'm glad we shared this day. Of knowing something special, That will never go away". Ahhh, that makes me blush --

Here's the complete lyrics!

ALL OF ME –By BLAKE

The first day that I met you

I think I always knew

That you were meant to be the one

And then the feeling grew

With God and friends my witness

Our love will never die

I take the gift you gave me

Don't need to question why

For all the faults I'm made of

For all the wrongs I do

I'm not asking you to judge me

Just be true

All of me

Is what I give to you

And everything I have

I wanna share with you

And with this ring

For all eternity

I make this vow

When I give you all of me

This life is short and precious

A one way ticket ride

I thank you for the journey

I know you're on my side

And we are only here once

I'm glad we shared this day

Of knowing something special

That will never go away

For all the faults I'm made of

And all the wrongs I do

I'm not asking you to judge me

Just be true

All of me

Is what I give to you

And everything I have

I wanna share with you

And with this ring

For all eternity

I make this vow

When I give you all of me

All of me

That's what I give to you

And everything I have

I'm gonna share with you, yeah

And with this ring

I give for all eternity

My love

I make this vow

All of me

Is what I give to you

And everything I have

I wanna share with you

And with this ring

For all eternity

I make this vow

When I give you all of me

I give you all of me

Do-It-Yourself Prenup Shoot in Boracay (Part 3)

by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda

From Bulabog Beach, we move on to the famous White Beach of Boracay to capture the blue water, multi-colored people, fine white sands, artistic sandcastles, kaleidoscopic view and stunning sunset! 

Flash Mob! We didn't talk to any of these people to be part of the shoot, but they seem to be prepared and wear our motif colors. Look at her slippers!

I can't believe we are now our third outfit change for our Do-It-Yourself (D-I-Y) Pre - Wedding Photoshoot here in Boracay! Surprisingly, I didn't get any complaints from the man in the house and not much cajoling is needed to get him into those outfit changes and poses hahaha. Oh well, guess he is enjoying the "touching" during our exploratory shoot capturing Philippine flags, sailboats and musical notes and the "kissing" while on board a boat to do Helmet Diving (lol). Seriously, it is the spontaneity, the no-fuzz and the no - props features of a D-I-Y Prenup that makes it ideal for us! (and it didn't cost us anything more than what we already have!)

White Beach is the most famous of the 12 beaches comprising Boracay and has 4 kilometer long beach and footpath. Accommodations of all types and restaurants lined up along its full length up and down. It is divided into three sections called "boat stations" which has reference to the drop off points for boats years back, although now the boat stations are no longer existing. I was actually surprised to learn that there's just one place for passengers to get off and take tricycle to chosen hotel by the White Beach.

Day 2 - White Beach [Boat Station 1]
Time of Shoot: 5pm

Outfit: Green Hawaiian tees by Ducks Unlimited [Greenhills], Red's white beach pants from D'Mall Boracay and my old white beach pants from US
Sandcastle: Made by two 11 -year old kids for a tip of Php 150.

For the photo shoot, we chose Boat Station 1 as it is home to most luxurious hotels and where the beach is said to be the widest and the sand is at its finest . Maybe that's the reason why the kids finished this sandcastle in just a few minutes since the sand easily sticks when wet. 

Ok much of the prenup photos. Boracay will not be complete without us dipping into the cool blue waters.

Boat Station 2 

  

Do-It-Yourself Prenup Shoot in Boracay (Part 2)

by: Mhe-Anne L. Ojeda

For our first day of D-I-Y prenuptial shoot in Boracay, we scored some photos with Philippine - Flags, sail boats and musical notes along Bulabog Beach. The pictures are decent and we were not forced to act like this and like that or felt rushed in any way, since we have no photographers or make - up artists to work with during limited hours of shoot. We were spontaneous and simply had fun clicking and posing when we find something that blends with our wedding theme and concept - "Love is "The Cure": Our Journey To Forever".

Day 2 - Morning 
Location: In front of La Oviedo Villa Resort
Time of shoot: 9am

Photographer: Mark (not my ex-beau but a friendly hotel staff who volunteered to take our photos)

Attire: couple tees by Ducks Unlimited (Greenhills) and shorts by Sports store in Greenhills

Slippers: I got mine in Boracay (Ipanema for P100)

Mr. Tripod started his day early by taking this photo just outside our room.

La  Oviedo Villa Resort - Boracay is a far cry from the plush hotel usually involving  pre-nup location shoots but it is perfect for our needs and that's what matters. We got a MetroDeal voucher from my travel blogger friend that allows us 3-days/2-nights stay for two in a deluxe spacious room, fully equipped with aircon, hot and cold shower, refrigerator, TV and free internet WiFi connection and use of kitchen for those who wants to cook. More, we found our color motif right at the door step!

Korean peg for our dream shot (lol). Possible only with Mark as our photographer.

Boracay is a haven for water enthusiast and there are lots of activities to chose from both in and out of the water. Since we do not have an underwater camera but love to have some pictures underwater, we opted to go Helmet Diving since the fee of P700 each person  comes with a free CD of our video and pictures while underwater. Besides, I haven't tried helmet diving before and this is a good start for Red who haven't tried any water sport yet.

From Bulabog shore, we were taken to a floating anchored barged in the middle of the  sea. Travel  time was like 5 minutes and for the whole time Mark has been taking our pictures!

Location: Boat near the platform for Helmet Diving
Time of shoot: 10:30 am

Photographer: Mark (staff of the hotel)

even the barge has our motif colors!

On this colorful barge, we were taught the hand signals to communicate while on the water since once the helmet is on, you cannot be heard even if you shout! From the platform, we were brought down the ladder to shoulder level of water and fit a helmet that goes down to our shoulders. When the helmet was on, we descended further on the ladder until we reach the sea floor where we could walk and breath normally like you would do if out of water. It was a fun experience to see, play and feed colorful fishes. We were given bread to feed the fishes to attract more fish before taking the pictures. (note: i'll post some pics once I transferred the pictures from the CD to this computer). 

photo caption by my friend Neal Minosa

We left the platform barge feeling like Jack and Rose of Titanic (only much luckier and happier!) And Red scoring and stealing a kiss!

Do-It-Yourself Pre-Nup Shoot in Boracay!

by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda

We can't have the wedding as planned and didn't want to waste the plane tickets for that "supposedly" honeymoon trip in Boracay and Bacolod. The result? A Do -It-Yourself Pre - Nuptial Shoot last June 13-18, 2013. Thanks to my friend Arlene for the D5100 Nikon Camera with remote and Alain for lending us the tripod.

Boracay is a tiny island located on the western part of Visayas, in the province of Aklan. It was voted as the Best Island in the World and is a very popular venue for engagements, weddings, and prenuptial shoot because of its powdery white sand, crisp cool blue waters and stunning sunset!

Day 1 - Bulabog Beach ["Number 1 Kiteboarding Beach in Asia"]

Time of Shoot: around 5pm

Outfit: Yellow Polo shirt from a certain store in Shoppesville, Greenhills

Make - Up: None on both except Forever sunscreen

Bulabog Beach is busy and colorful during Habagat season (from June to October) with all types of boating, jet skis, helmet diving and parasailing activities, since the wind blows "westward" onto the famous White Beach. Our accommodation, La Oviedo, was only a stone's throw away so this was our first stop for the pre-nup shots! 

I chose this spot to take our picture because of the Philippine flags which is our motif colors, the sailboats (that symbolizes journey) at the background and the Forever mesh bag Red happened to be carrying that time. Red and I met on Independence Day in 1991 while I was waiting to participate at a  motorcade rally against U.S. Bases at Vinzons Hall in UP Diliman campus. Red was jogging along with his brother whom I recognized as LDS. They invited me to jog along with them and that was the start of our journey to forever (with 22 years of detour  lol). 

I remembered my friend photographer's advice: Touches!

Haven't seen Red with a smile this BIG!  He was surprised to find me so heavy and we couldn't help laughing as I clicked the remote lol

I like this because of the musical note on the sailboat!  Red and I shared passion for music, although he has the talent and I don't lol. He has such a good voice and plays the guitar very well. We attended lots of concerts by OPM rock bands and I particularly like the Band Explosion concert just before Red left for his mission to Cagayan de Oro in September 1991. While he was asking me if I will wait for him after his two (2) - year mission, the Hayp band sang "I'll Wait For You". (click to listen) and he asked me if that was my answer. I didn't say anything but smiled...

Chorus:

I'll wait for you

For how long it takes

Baby, I'll wait for you

Believe in me, baby / You gotta believe it

(Repeat)

Baby, I know how life's been unkind to you

Surely you've seen the baddest times of your life

I'm not in a position to change

What has transpired, no

(Baby/Honey) I saw you and I knew what's on your mind

Somethin's hangin' that has got to be (cut loose)

Only you can make it happen if you decide

I want you to know

Some things, you just got to do for yourself

I'll be there just to see you through

I must confess, baby, I'll help

In any little way I can

Now I'm sure Red knew my answer! I can't believe how this song sounded exactly how our love

story unfolded - 22 years of separation and knowing what he had gone through! 

So we say, Cheers to that!