Counting down the days…

M&H Wedding Highlights

Mac and I are blessed to have generous and talented friends. These videos were shot and edited for free.

Please watch til the end–these are actually two videos stitched into one. 🙂

Special thanks to Ogi Sugatan, Sandra Santiago, Ej Salcedo, Brass Knuckles, One Chemistry Films

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “M&H Wedding Highlights“, posted with vodpod

M&H Onsite Photo Slideshow

Our onsite photo slideshow made by our friends from 5th Door Productions.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Mac&Hazel Onsite Photo Slideshow“, posted with vodpod

A W@Wie Thank You :)

There are usually three stages to getting married:

1. You fall in love.
2. You get engaged.
3. You get married.

In my case, there were four:

1. I fell in love.
2. I got engaged.
3. I became a w@wie.
4. I got married.

Step 3 was crucial in our wedding plans.

W@W or Weddings at Work is a website started by Benz and Abet Rana. The w@w yahoo group is composed of (mostly) brides who are planning their wedding. The group is a certified goldmine of information on Filipino weddings—everything from suppliers, to venues, to problems with future in laws are discussed by fellow brides.

I first heard about w@w through a former groom of a w@wie bride. I was ranting on how clueless I was about weddings—I wasn’t the type of girl who already had visions on how her wedding was going to be when she was still young. I literally had no idea where to start! He told me how the group had helped him and his wife when they were planning their wedding. Seeing how lost I was, he advised me to join.

I have to admit that I was skeptical at first. But a couple of w@w messages later, I was hooked. Until I joined w@w, I didn’t realize how much time and energy went into planning a wedding. We found a lot of our suppliers through recommendations by fellow brides. The sharing of ideas was nonstop—I was even encouraged to make our own “do-it-yourself” projects. Almost all the little “gimiks” we did for our wedding, we learned in w@w.

The best part about being a w@wie is that I could talk (or write) about our wedding plans all the time! There was no need to censor myself. I got to talk with fellow brides who actually knew and understood the things that we were going through. When a supplier started giving me a hard time, I just posted a rant in w@w and I got a dozen or more messages of support. When we finally booked our venue after months of searching, it was the w@wies who shared our excitement.

Thank you to the brides (and grooms) of w@w for the constant feedback and the generosity of ideas. And for the ones who started it all–Benz and Abet–a cyberhug and our eternal gratitude. W@W enabled us to plan and have the wedding of our dreams. We couldn’t have done it without you.

I am Hazel and I am proud to be a w@wie.

M&H Supplier Ratings (Food: Caterer and Lechon)

Caterer:  Hizon’s (food, cake, emcee)

Peso power: Php 700++ per head with lots of freebies

Contact Details:

22 Renowned Lane Sanville

Project 6, Quezon City

925-0107, 925-0103

info@hizonscatering.com

Hizon’s was the first supplier we booked. Mac and I agreed that we can scrimp on everything else but not the food. Although our first food tasting experience with Hizon’s wasn’t that great, they made an effort to make amends—and since my heart was set on getting them from the start, we booked them.

There were a lot of negative feedbacks about Hizon that time and most of those feedback stemmed from the quick turnover of their AEs. Madalas na biglaang nagre-resign yung mga AEs nila at hindi maayos yung nagiging turnover ng mga clients.  With this in mind, I made it a point that all our transactions with our AE were documented so just in case our AE would suddenly resign, we would be prepared.

Our AE did resign but since I was prepared for it, walang impact sa amin. I was turned over to our wedding planner, Drew Menor. I just love, love, LOVE Drew! He’s the best! He’s so easy to talk to—during our detailing, he would make suggestions about the set up and would be brutally frank if he thinks our ideas wouldn’t work. I put my trust in him and on the day of our wedding, NFP was transformed. Ang ganda ng set up nila! My mom was ecstatic—she saw NFP bare and was far from impressed so when she saw what Hizon’s did to the place, napaakap talaga sya kay Drew!

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

M&H Supplier Ratings (Shoes and DIY Projects)

Bridal shoes: Nina (Rustan’s Makati)

Peso power: Php 1,800 (sale from Php 5,500)

It took me three months to find the perfect shoes. Finally found them at Rustan’s Makati ON SALE! Love them! High heels but really comfortable. Can’t wait to use them again. 🙂

Overall rating: 5++++

photo by Raymond Fortun

Groom’s shoes: Hush Puppies

Peso power: Php 4,000 ++

Mac is the type of guy who doesn’t wear leather shoes unless forced to. Good thing he found this pair of very comfy Hush Puppies that we both liked.

Overall rating: 5++++

photo by 5th Door Productions

DIY Projects: butterfly baskets, kissing bells, table numbers

Thanks to w@w, I learned a lot about making our own DIY projects. I actually enjoyed them! The butterfly baskets were something I thought of as an alternative to bridesmaid’s bouquets. The kissing bells were something I learned from fellow w@wie brides.

Other DIY projects: Invitation layout, table numbers, the menu.

These stuff made our wedding much more personal. I just wish I had more talent in arts and crafts because I certainly would have done more just to cut cost (sobrang kuripot ko talaga! haha!).

photo taken by a friend

photo by 5th Door Productions

M&H Supplier Ratings (Gifts, Souvenirs & OTD Coordinator)

Gift for PS and members of our Entourage:  Rachebeli Wines and Chocolates

Peso power: 3 dozen bottles @ Php 150 each with free chocolate bars

Contact details: Chelo (0922-8006153, 0922-9936736)

I found out about Rachebeli through w@w. We were on the look out for gifts for our principal sponsors and the personalized wines seemed interesting. Chelo met with me and my parents for the wine tasting. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical. I was a wine drinker myself and I was wary about how “mango wine” or “plum wine” would taste. I shouldn’t have worried because the wines were delicious. My parents loved it so much that they ordered two cases for Christmas.

Chelo was also a breeze to talk to. There was a problem with the seals for our wine–the seals they ordered from the US were being held by customs officials so they couldn’t finish my order. I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t be able to deliver the wines on time but they pushed through. Chelo delivered them to our hotel in Makati the night before the wedding.

Our ninongs and ninangs loved the wine. The chocolates (which we gave to the members of our entourage) were a hit! Definitely one of our best suppliers. 🙂

Overall rating: 5+++

photo by Raymond Fortun -- sample wine for our PS

photo by Raymond Fortun -- personalized chocolate bars

Guest Souvenirs: Theobroma

Peso power: Php 33.00 per chocolate (bridal fair promo price)

Contact details:

Lucy (0922-8301203)

sales@theobroma.com.ph

Mac and I wanted to give edible souvenirs for our guests. We stumbled on Theobroma’s booth during a bridal fair and decided to give them a try. I’m a chocolate addict and I have to say na sobrang nasarapan ako doon sa sample na pinatikim nila sa akin. Aside from the taste, their packaging was really tasteful and the promo price was a steal.

All later transactions were made via text messages with Lucy. They delivered the chocolates to Mac’s house two days before the wedding. We were afraid that the chocolates would melt because of the heat but we were just instructed to keep them out of direct sunlight and not to put them in the refrigerator.

Our guests loved the chocolates! Yung iba nga daw hindi na umabot sa bahay at kinain na nila during the reception. Highly recommended for couples who want to give away edible souvenirs. Hassle free and delicious!

Overall rating: 5+++

photo grabbed from Theobroma's facebook page

a young guest enjoying our chocolate giveaway (photo by 5th Door Productions)

Photobooth: Shutterbox

Peso power: Php 9,500 for 4 hours with free 20 Save The Date magnets

Contact details:

Vida (0917-8936464)

http://myshutterbox.multiply.com

My best friend (who’s also my MOH) and her twin sister shouldered the cost of the photobooth as their wedding gift for us. Since they’re based in Singapore, they just asked us to canvas and book for a photobooth supplier.

Vida is a friend of a friend. We compared the quality of her photobooth’s prints to other suppliers and figured that hers is the best at the price she was offering. With the free STD magnets, it was quite a steal.

The photobooth was a hit with our friends. Yung iba paulit-ulit talaga nagpakuha ng pictures. Sayang lang because some of our relatives from the provinces didn’t understand what it was for. Parang kahit sinasabi na nung emcee and nung coordinator namin na may photobooth, parang nahihiya yung iba. It was a good thing that we had another set of souvenirs to give away.

Super bait din ng mga taga-Shutterbox. They were actually packing up na when one of our guests asked if they can set up again so they can take a picture with us (kasi naman sa kakaikot namin ni Mac sa mga guests halos di rin  kami nakapagpakuha sa photobooth). They set up their equipment again without complaint and gamely took more pictures. Ang tagal pa naming nagkipagkwentuhan sa kanila while waiting for them to burn the pictures in a cd.

For those who also got a photobooth, better ask a relative or a friend to explain to your guests what it’s for.

Overall rating: 5. Highly recommended for the quality of prints and great customer service.

OTD Coordinator: M Events

Peso power: Php 7,500 (promo price for w@wies)

Contact details:

Manel (0917-5712985)

http://meventsinc.blogspot.com

From the start, I wanted a former w@wie to be our coordinator. I admit, may bias ako kasi naman, iba talaga mag-plan ng wedding ang mga w@wies. J I met with several former w@wies turned coordinators but among them, si Manel ang pinaka-kasundo ko. It also happened that during that time, she was offering a great promo discount for w@wies.

Manel was always early for our meetings. She never failed to remind me of my appointments or to follow up on my progress. She was also very helpful with her suggestions and whenever I get stressed over the planning, she always calms me down.

On the day of my wedding, when I realized that Reggie was not going to show na talaga, I placed a frantic call to Manel. She was on her way to the hotel that time but I asked her to find me a fitting form (kailangan talaga mailagay sa fitting form yung gown ko para ma-plantsa yung train). She told me not to worry and that she’ll take care of it.

Late na sya nakarating sa hotel but she was able to find a fitting form. It was a good thing that our meetings were extensive so I didn’t really need to turn over anything to her when she arrived. Humiram agad sya ng iron from the hotel, ordered food, organized the stuff that they needed to bring to the church and reception. My mom was all praises for her—she kept saying that Manel was like a superwoman.

During the reception, she calmly took care of everything. All our instructions were followed to the letter. After the event, she turned over all our stuff to my mom and the money I gave her was properly liquidated to the last centavo.

She and her team were like angels that day. My family and I are extremely thankful for the service they gave us on our wedding day. I honestly don’t know what would have happened to our wedding if not for her.

Overall rating: 5+++++++++++ Super duper highly recommended!

Manel at work. (photo by 5th Door Productions)

M&H Supplier Ratings (Lights & Sounds, Teddy Bears)

Lights and Sounds: JR Music Entertainment

Peso power: Php 8,000

Contact details: Jun Regalado (0917-8322183)

Mac was the one in charge for this particular supplier. He used to moonlight as an audio guy when he was younger so he knew a lot about sound equipment. Whenever I suggested a supplier to him, he would ask for their list of equipment and he always had something to say. Kesyo “masyadong mahal e pambahay lang naman yung equipment” or “bakit ganyan kadaming tao ipapadala nila? Hindi naman kailangan…” etcetera… finally, I gave up and told him to look for a lights and sounds supplier himself.

JR Music was suggested to him by a friend of his. According to Mac, the original package price was 15k but he haggled, crossed out several equipment that he felt we didn’t need until the price went down to 8k.

I loved the lighting they did for our venue. I would have loved a spotlight but Mac said he opted not to get one because mainit daw. E pawisin kaming dalawa hehehe…

As for the audio, we didn’t notice anything wrong during the wedding but my friends told me na namatay daw yung isang microphone nung isang singer nung band namin. Mac and I didn’t notice it because we were seated close to the band. Naayos din naman daw yung technical problem pero sayang lang daw kasi namatay pa yung mic during a duet.

Overall rating: 4. Technical problems are inevitable during an event. It’s the response to the problem that counts. Highly recommended supplier.

LCD Projector:  Wildfire Inc.

Peso power: FREE!!!

Mac and I used to be employed by this production house. This was where we met and some of our closest friends are still with this company.

As a wedding gift, the owner offered the use of one of their LCD projectors. Ang nakakatawa, nagkataon na may kasabay kaming event on the day of the wedding. Yung pinagamit nilang LCD sa amin, mas maganda kesa doon sa event nila. That’s how important we were to them. Sobrang linaw nung projector na kahit hindi patayin ang ilaw, kitang-kita pa rin yung video on screen.

Medyo na-late nga lang sila ng set up so my coordinator had to re-shuffle the program but no worries.

Overall rating: 5+++++ We felt like very important clients. Nakakataba ng puso. 🙂

photo by 5th Door Productions

Teddy Bears: Tita Dulce and Siendy Salazar

Peso Power: FREE!!!

I didn’t want my flower girl to carry flowers (as I mentioned earlier, I really felt that spending too much on flowers was a waste).  I got the teddy bears idea from a fellow w@wie. My best friend, who’s based in Singapore, knew how to sew and I asked her if she can help me make the dress for the flower girl’s teddy bear. She agreed.

Nagulat ako when I found out that instead of just one, she made two bears—a bride and groom. When I saw them, napatalon ako sa tuwa. Sobrang cute! Siendy made the bear’s bridal gown while Tita Dulce (my best friend’s mom), made the barong and pants and added beadwork to the teddy bear bride’s gown. Nilagyan pa nila ng veil and earrings!

Our flower girl looked so adorable during the march while she carried the bears. Love it!

Overall rating: 5+++++

photo by Raymond Fortun

photo by 5th Door Productions

M&H Supplier Ratings (Photo & Video)

Photographer: 5^th Door Productions (prenup & event)

Peso Power: Php 18,500 (includes prenup shoot, guestbook)

Contact details: Ricky Paras (0906-5208563)

5^th Door Productions is composed of photographers from my department.  They’re the official photographers in most of the special projects shoots in GMA. They dabble in wedding photography from time to time and when we started planning our wedding, Mac and I decided to get them as our photographers.

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think I’m the typical “girly” bride. I wasn’t really into the whole “pose-like-a-model” routine and Mac’s the same way. We wanted our pics to be mostly candid, of-the-moment shots.  Mac also wanted photographers he can be comfortable with (he’s really camera-conscious) so the obvious choice was to get photographers we already know.

We enjoyed our prenup shoot so much despite the heat.  Mac and I just loved our photos—we felt that they were able to capture our personalities so well. Sobrang natuwa rin kami sa quality ng guestbook na ginawa nila for us.

from our prenup shoot

photo by 5th Door Productions -- Mac flipping through our guestbook

As for the wedding pics, we’re extremely satisfied.  They even brought along an extra photographer though our contract said they’d just provide two.  We could afford to get more “seasoned” wedding photographers but we opted to get those we were comfortable with.  It was one of the best decisions we made.

For more of their pictures, just click here.

Overall rating: 5++++++++

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions -- with RF and Ricky Paras of 5th Door

Back up Photographer: Raymond Fortun

Peso power: Php 6,000

Contact details: 0917-5065550

We booked RF long before he was named as w@w supplier of the year.  We decided to book another photographer with a different style from our main photographers for variety (since I was going to do the layout for our album, I wanted a lot of choices). RF was actually our second choice.  I wanted to book Redsheep but unfortunately, they weren’t available on our date.

Mac and I were pleased with RF’s shots. Magaling talaga sya. Our guests were also psyched with the idea that he was one of our photographers. Okay syang kausap and he treated us and our families very well. He was also game to have his picture taken with our guests after the reception.

Just one thing though…Mac and I found RF a bit “mayabang”. We sort of had a feeling that he felt that my other suppliers were “amateurs” compared to his experience as a wedding photographer. It was in the way he kept talking about how many weddings he’s been to, etcetera…his note when he posted some of our wedding pics on his multiply site also had me thinking. It also fueled my initial thoughts that he really did think of my other suppliers as “amateurs”. I sent him a message to tell him that I found his note a bit “off”; that Mac and I were a bit offended that he seemed to use our wedding as a warning to other brides about “what not to do”. In fairness to RF, I know that he wrote the comment with good intentions and without malice. It just rubbed me off the wrong way.

Overall rating: 4. He provided great service and I loved the end product.

photo by 5th Door Productions -- my mom and me with RF

Videographer: Ogi Sugatan (RAD Weddings)

Peso power: FREE!!!

For the purpose of these ratings, this particular supplier requested that I use “RAD Weddings” as his company’s name.

Mac and I both work in the media industry and we’re both video editors. Since we do it for a living, we can’t stomach the idea of paying an exorbitant amount of money for our video. At the same time, we didn’t like the output of the videographers within our budget. We agreed that we’ll just hire cameramen and borrow cameras for the coverage since we have the contacts naman. Kami na lang ang mage-edit ng video namin.

Enter Ogi. Ogi Sugatan is an award-winning film director, writer and cinematographer. He’s also a television director for GMA. He’s been our friend for years and when he found out about our wedding, he offered to take care of our video coverage for free. Of course, Mac and I were ecstatic!

The cameras he used for our wedding were high-end, for “broadcast quality”. I don’t want to get all technical here but let me just say that if we shouldered the cost for the camera rentals, we wouldn’t have been able to afford them.

He also made a video for us that was shown during our reception. We had no idea that he arranged to have our families interviewed. It was such a wonderful surprise.

Overall rating: 5+++++ labor of love by friends. You can’t beat that. 🙂 Video editing of our wedding coverage is ongoing.

You can view the video they made for us by clicking here.

M&H Supplier Ratings (Church, Priest & Reception Venue)

Church: St. John Bosco Parish (Makati)

Peso Power: Php 17,000

Contact details: Ms. Ging (894-5932 to 34)

Mac and I wanted a small, air-conditioned church in Makati. We visited NSSH and St. John Bosco. I liked NSSH because it had a second floor balcony (perfect for photographers) but we found the parking lot a bit small and the church might be harder to find.

I loved SJB’s altar! The parking was ample enough and it was located at a main road in Makati so guests wouldn’t have a hard time looking for it. Ms. Ging of the admin office was also very easy to talk to.

Only downside was the pre-cana seminar. We weren’t really happy with the way it was handled. 😦 We gave feedback naman to Father so hopefully, they can improve on it.

Overall rating: 4.

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

Officiating priest: Father Rene de Guzman

Fr. Degz (as we call him) knew Mac since he was a young boy.  He asked us to visit him several times so he can get to know me and so that we can discuss the wedding ceremony more extensively. I think this made our ceremony more personal.

He’s so mabait and he gave us practical advice on our future as a married couple. He was also the one who made our misalette—he was even the one who took care of the printing. Yun na raw ang gift nya sa amin ni Mac. 🙂

Overall rating; 5.

photo by 5th Door Productions - with Fr. de Guzman

Reception venue: North Forbes Pavilion

Peso power: Php 16,000 for 4 hours (includes ingress and egress) plus Php 10,000 refundable security deposit plus additional Php 1,500 for onsite cooking

Contact details: Ms. Tess (817-6923, 817-2420 to 21)

We had a really tough time looking for a reasonably priced reception venue in Makati. Thank God for w@w talaga because I found out about North Forbes Pavilion through one of the brides. The only hurdle was that we needed to be sponsored by a Forbes resident to rent the place. Luckily, my close friend from college has an aunt who lived in Forbes Park.

Ms. Tess seemed a little “mataray” but she’s actually easy to talk to. She explained all the details of the contract to us and was very prompt in responding to our queries.

Parking was ample; the place was private since it was inside a subdivision so we didn’t have any problems with security and gate crashers.

Overall rating: 5++

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

M&H Supplier Ratings (Caricature, Invites, Rings, Butterflies)

Caricature: Graphizar Designs

Peso Power: Php 1,500

Contact details: Krisel Izar (0917-8822745)

http://graphizardesigns.blogspot.com
http://graphizardesigns.multiply.com

Graphizar Design is a husband and wife team who were former w@wies. When they announced that they were going on business, I immediately contacted them.

I just love the caricature they made for us. I loved it so much that I used it on our invitation and for the lay out of our photobooth frames.

Overall rating: 5++

Our caricature by Graphizar