2 weeks and counting

after a full year of preparing for the wedding, things have definitely shifted to first gear. oddly enough, i'm neither giddy nor too emotional about the wedding. mik and i agree that this vacuum may be an unconscious effort to brace ourselves for last-minute wedding stress.

case in point: co-workers and i have lunch in glorietta, and i zone out for 2 minutes... only for art director j to say that i'm in another one of my tulala moments when i'm probably thinking of what i still need for the wedding. talk about predictable. =P

all that's left now are the little details that have been in the I'll-Do-It-When-The-Wedding-Is-Near-Na List:
* reception program script
* misalette
* buy aldo's camiso chino
* manicure / pedicure
* photo/video preprod to set things straight


my leave supposedly starts on sept. 5 but by some silly joke of nature, work has been pouring in like crazy and i can't leave til the 6th. hmph.

saturday was supposedly my last fitting with lya but her son is in the hospital for dengue so we had to postpone. mom and MOH were the only ones who were able to fit their dresses... and they still had alterations! arte kasi e, my sister decided she wasn't comfy with an a-line skirt so she had hers altered to a straight cut. hay, talk about more mabusisi people in the family!

i was supposed to wear pink shoes to the wedding but since my sister couldn't find the right shade for her gown, i gave her my shoes (which were a perfect match for her anyway)_and found an excuse to get new ones! it wasn't so difficult to find myself a pair (or maybe i'm not that picky anymore LOL) - found replacement shoes last sunday. although they're an inch higher than the original shoes, i love them! i just hope i don't trip in them. oh and this time, they're white na. i intend to break them in while in the office this week. =)

on the brighter side... at least aldo gets here on saturday na! yaay! i'm dragging him to the bridal expo so at least he gets a glimpse of what it's like to be harassed hehehe!

happy birthday aldo!

eight years ago, we made a bet - that there won't be any surprise birthday cake deliveries on aug. 20 and aug. 22 because we were the ones who did that for our friends. and he lost, because my friends gave me a birthday cake. since he lost the bet, he owed me dinner.

then i realized much much later that it was just an excuse to ask me out.

happy birthday b! here's to birthdays that will no longer be spent alone!

birthday treats

i inherited the first-born spot when my sister decided the earth wasn't a very nice place and left 2 days after she was born. i was welcomed into the world by strong winds and flashfloods, a freddie aguilar song, and happy birthday wishes to my mom. and since it was then a tradition to follow the roman catholic calendar, i was named after Pope Pius - thus the name Pia.

since mom gave up her birthday the day she brought me into the world, it was time to give it back to her just this once, since it'll be the last i'm spending it with her here in manila. i gathered her closest friends and my dad at chili's greenbelt on the eve of our birthday, and lied. i told her we absolutely had to meet our avp editor that night because he had to finish our revisions this weekend. and when she walked into chili's, she got shocked because she found familiar faces and a birthday cake waiting for her.



that simple surprise was apparently enough to make her birthday complete and worth yakking about to everyone who ever asked how her birthday went.

*****

spent our birthday morning enjoying vigan longanisa, hot chocolate, and champorado at josephine's tagaytay.








and said a prayer of thanks at the pink sisters adoration chapel.



dinner was with high school friends at Zong's at The Fort. their spicy singaporean fish fillet, crispy noodles with vegetables, and yang chow fried rice were yummy and MSG-free... and prices are extremely reasonable - was surprised that for so much food it wasn't that expensive. hopped on over to Jill's for a bottle of beer before we all headed home. we must be getting old, as we didn't mind calling it a night at 12 midnight. LOL.

and as in the past years, my birthday wouldn't have been complete without a full birthday song from aldo!

rambling

finally, a time to come up for air.

most of the wedding details are in place, and despite the little screw-ups, i couldn't care less. there will be a wedding on sept. 10 and that's all that really matters.

the past weekends have been little trips down memory lane - with the wedding invitations as a perfect excuse to meet up with friends and relatives. admittedly, not all of them have been the most pleasant encounters, but thankfully majority of them have been little spurts of real friendship.

of course, there will always be rotten eggs in the basket - like friends who seem to think that their being at my wedding is a favor rather than a privilege, or relatives who will sneak out of my reception to their food-tasting session next door and actually have the balls to tell me they're doing that. but it's ok, they'll be missing out on great mango parfait. LOL. i just can't help but laugh at the almost-too-impossible coincidences and choices people make.

on a happier note - my family seems to be making a big deal out of our wedding, as they are all flying to manila to be part of the fun. with 9 rooms booked on the night before our wedding, i think we should all take Benadryl to make sure we're asleep early. knowing my crazy aunts and uncles, it'll be endless chitchat til we all realize it's time to wake up (with a 3am wake-up sked, that's pretty easy LOL)... i can't wait!

countdown

Church: Mary The Queen
Deposit paid. Full payment before the wedding.
Officiating Priest - ok
Canonical Interview - Sept. 3, 3pm (i hope aldo's jet lag hasn't set in by this time)
Documents - complete, original NSO marriage certificate pending
Pre-Cana - one-on-one on Sept. 6
Pen - must buy a nice one

Church Choir: Hangad
Repertoire with Migs. To decide on the entourage processional na lang. Will attend one of their rehearsals with Aldo.

Reception: Edsa Shangri-la
Details c/o MOH

Photo/Video: Terry Uy and John Mateos Ong
Pre-prod when Aldo gets here.

Bridal Gown and Entourage Dresses
Final fitting on Aug. 27. Did I just say final?!?
Veil to be tried during the final fitting (it's an antique one kasi).
Buy a nice hanger in lieu of a form fitter.

Shoes: ok

Hair accessories: bought swarovski hair studs

Cord and Pillow: Lya Armovit
With me na =)

Wedding arrhae: c/o Mom - shiny and ready for Sept. 10

Wedding bible: Looking for one!

Groom's and FIL's Barong: King Philip
I have the fabrics, will bring them to King Philip Sept. 3 for measurements.

Flowers: Lily's Flower Boutique
Entourage flowers discussed. Final discussions on centerpieces c/o MOH

Cake: Tita Cake Maker
Picked a design already, delivery instructions, etc. c/o MOH and Clarice

Reception Music: CD
For mood music, I chose Hed Kendi (Winter and Beach), Michel Buble, and Robbie Williams. MOH to check Edsa Shang's system.

Centerpiece Extras
Was supposed to order pink M&M's, but they don't deliver to Canada. Kainis! Will have to settle for pink jordan almonds instead.

Wedding Rings
Will take them off a few days before the wedding. =)

Invitations: The Write Impression
Still a few being distributed.

Misalette: Layout c/o Aldo

Souvenir stickers
Done. Assembly na lang.

Guestbook & Polaroid camera: c/o MOH

HMU: Eddie Bruan
Deposit paid. To finalize additional faces to paint. =)

Accomodations: Edsa Shang
9 rooms booked.
Preps clothes bought.

Gifts for the principal sponsors: Pedazos c/o Lya Armovit
Found nice tokens while waiting for my mom and sister at Lya's libis office. Packed and ready to go.

Ento gifts: Fino
Wrapped, will write the thank you notes on them.

Honeymoon: El Nido, Palwan
Full payment by Aug. 15.

thanks for the template Mik!

in a flutter

if there's one aspect i'm extremely giddy about, it's the church music. my wedding luho is hiring Hangad as our choir - i may have skipped on a band or overflowing alcohol for the reception, but there was no way i was going to change my mind about hiring a good choir.

i've always believed and loved Jesuit music since time immemorial, and my wedding isn't going to be complete without the real choir.

two saturdays ago i finally met with Hangad's coordinator - after a year of booking them. i was armed with my repertoire (researched all their songs by buying all their CDs hahaha!) - but changed it a bit when i heard Migs (the coordinator) sing the other songs.

i'm using solemn music throughout the ceremony, save for the pictorials part where they'll be singing broadway songs like The Human Heart (Once On This Island), With You (Pippin), and the ever-gasgas-but-still-beautiful-kaya-i-can't-help-but-include-it-as-a-backup Seasons Of Love (Rent). I also requested Together - which brings back fond Days With The Lord memories.

3 saturdays and 5 days more! (can you believe it Mik???)

please mr. postman

quite a number of our invitations had to be mailed to different countries, which meant courier-hopping for me.

for mail to canada, fedex is pretty reliable and fuss-free.

but for germany, it costs more than the half kilo canada package. so i opted to use the registered mail of the phil. postal system - and pray that it'll get to the recepients before september.

for domestic mail, air21 charges P50 per invitation, but gets to the recepient the next day, plus you get to track where it is thru their online site.

i had to send one to basilan and at clarice's recommendation, i went to jrs express. after filling out the info needed on the plastic bag, the lady said that their office in basilan has closed. so off to the air21 counter i went - they charged me P250 extra because it is out of their coverage area (and it's probably a high-risk area too).