I have always been so keen on having a pre-nup here in our 2^nd home.  Since this place has become a niche for us (not to mention that the place boasts of wonderful places to visit and has become one of the world’s upcoming tourist spot), my heart has been wishing so hard since last year to have a pictorial here to show our guests where we are in this side of the world.  The problem though is that Dubai doesn’t have much of talented photographers.  And those few who are good and who really know their stuff charge an arm and a leg!   

 Then came Kelvin Montalbo.  He came to Dubai last month, and thanks to sis Lei’s announcement in the W@W forum, I managed to book a slot with Kelvin to do the pre-nup.  And since we were running a bit tight with the budget already, my Filipino colleagues from DIFCA have volunteered to pay for it as their gift (how sweet!). 

The pre-nup was done at the Madinat Jumeirah premises and the open beach next to Burj Al Arab.  It was fun, fun, fun!!  We had an amazing time & Kelvin was such an easy going guy so we were so at ease during the shoot.  I love the pictures and the slideshow presentation he made for us!     

I will be uploading the photos of the shoot in our Photo Albums shortly – hard to choose from the plenty of fabulous pics to choose from! 

We finally got our tickets for our flight to Manila on the 1st December!  We are so excited already!  The countdown has begun for this much-awaited tripback to home.  Bride Gracie is flying off right after the DIFC Annual Celebration Cocktail Party - she'd definitely see world-class tenor Jose Carreras' perform before jumping on the next plane headed to the big party place - MANILA!!  Meanwhile, Groom Ryan, has finished his assignments on the DIY projects...apparently, he's the one who's got more creative juices (and patience!) than the bride.  LOL!

We are ready to say hello again to our families, friends, suppliers and to our baby Alexis - the adorable black Lab who's the love of our life!

Can't contain my thrill whenever I hear people compliment our invites.  They're music to my ears =)  Pero I'd be happier if the people who received them will actually come and attend the wedding.  It will definitely complete the ceremony and celebration if they’re present.  Oh well, let’s just hope and pray that they pop in even for a quick hello and a souvenir snapshot.

Special thanks to cousin/MOH Sarj for carrying the invites from Dubai to Manila.  And much love to Mommy, Mama & Papa, Jing and Lea for taking time to pick them up from the hotel despite their busy schedule.    

It’s official.  I’m in “panic mode” now.  It’s only a 100 days till the wedding…and there’s still so much more to do!  

First thing’s first:  we need to dispatch the wedding invites before end of the week.  Hubby & I stayed up late last night to finish tying up the ribbons and piling 85% of the invites according to zone.  So now, we’ll have to arrange & pack the invites according to the recipients.  My cousin & MOH Sarj will be carrying them with her when she flies to Manila on the 20^th for a one day duty flight. The designated recipients would be my sister, who could pick up the invites for our family’s side.  For Ryan’s family, my MIL or SIL can pick them up.  For my highschool & college buddies, Jing could drop by at Crowne Plaza.   Therefore, I would only need to mail a few courtesy of DHL & Empost, and they’re mostly for the anyway.  Hmmm, that makes me less worried about the invites.  I guess two months is enough for people to RSVP – that is if they do!Therefore, I would only need to mail a few courtesy of DHL & Empost, and they’re mostly for the anyway. Hmmm, that makes me less worried about the invites.I guess two months is enough for people to RSVP – that is if they do! 

Another thing that I worry about is the designs of the mother’s gowns.  I have yet to speak with Judy of Matthew’s Boutique about the fabrics & and the prices, of course.  And the measurements!!!  I need to ask Mommy to schedule a trip with Mama to Matthew’s pretty soon. 

What else??  Oh yes, the certificate of freedom to marry from Ryan’s congregation, which needs to be submitted to SAC.  I’ll have to ask someone to do that.   

Missalette – we need to choose the readings and type the draft soon so we can send a copy for SAC for their review and comments.  Have to act fast on this! 

Speaking of missalette – I have to give a reply to Ryan Aldaba for the design of the missalette cover and other printed materials.  He wrote to me last week & haven’t gotten the chance to reply yet.  Yikes, I’m not even sure if the design we’ve chosen will look good with the pink hues combination!!  Getting stressed here already! 

Aaaarrggghhh!!  Why am I stressing myself over these things??  I’m supposed to enjoy every minute of the wedding preps.  Is it because I am literally miles away from the suppliers and couldn’t get an answer to my queries straight away?  Or is it because I am missing out on the opportunity to physically scout for other items that I need for the wedding?  It’s so damn difficult being an overseas bride…you feel helpless that it even comes to a point where you want to just desperately fly back home & work on the other details of the wedding.  *BIG SIGH!!* 

Well, the countdown has indeed begun.  And the play button for PANIC for a “self-confessed OC me” has been pressed automatically.  

Heavens help me!

I must say that we did quite well during the weekend in terms of preparing for the wedding.  Hubby & I agreed to do a few DIY wedding stuff, and we started with the ribbons to accentuate the invites.  We will also be working on the luminaries, and Ryan has already begun cutting the pet bottles following the instructions of fellow w@wie member Pittipat.  But the most taxing thing we did was the guest planner sheet.  We had to got through all the invites, check the names in calligraphy, the number of seats reserved, input the addresses for mailing, contact numbers, etc.  It took us 2 ½ hours to finish!  Golly, what a time consuming task!!  

Anyways, the good part of it is that we are almost ready to send out the invites.  My cousin will carry the invites to Manila (for our Manila-based guests) this week, so that will give the guests technically more than two months to RSVP.  I just hope they do – otherwise, we’ll have to call them one by one just to be able to work on the final guest list and seating plan.  Haaayy!  After the guest planner sheet, seating plan naman.  

Ryan & I managed to fly to Manila for three weeks to work on the wedding.  And what’s good about the trip is that my MOH Beth flew with us to help carry out all the necessary arrangements for the upcoming wedding.  It felt reassuring that she came with us because at least we have an extra hand with the work, plus I have someone to consult and seek advise, especially when I have to make girly stuff decisions that men could never understand…hehehe!!

We packed a few days before travelling, and I, as my usual OC self, tried to be as armed as I can before heading home and do work on the nitty gritty stuff of the wedding preps.  I even had a checklist of things to do that I carried and double checked before stepping on board Emirates’ flight 334. 

Arriving in Manila on a rainy Friday evening made me dread the next days to come.  It meant that all my trips in the heart of the metropolis would be very challenging because of the weather.  I reckoned that traffic will be very bad, not to mention getting a parking slot will be difficult, too.  But God was good to us.  He even gave us a couple of sunny days during our sprees to Divisoria and Binondo for our supplies and invites.

During the 3-week trip, we managed to do the following:

• Meet with the couturier and have my measurements taken for the wedding gown

   

• Find a trusted and reasonably priced couturier for my entourage – had my attendants & flower girls measured, too!

   

• Finalize the invites, have them printed & the envelopes calligraphy-ed in less than two weeks time  

   

• Had a HMUT session with Eddie Bruan & booked him for the wedding  

   

• Book an events stylist, Flower Stories

   

• Purchase Unity Coins and found a simple case for them to be used during the ceremony

   

• Inspect the booked rooms at the Manila Diamond Hotel (and meet the ever wonderful Trina who extended us corporate rates!)

   

• Book our bridal car (a Studebaker, c/o Manila Diamond Hotel)

   

• Submit required documents and fully pay San Agustin (we only need to submit “Freedom to Marry” certificate of Ryan!)

   

• Fully pay the catering services for 180 pax – and the fun part, of course: FOOD TASTING!!

   

• Fully pay the cake (design to be decided & sent to Hearts & Bells)

   

• Obtain a CD of Velvet Mood (Gary Silangcruz’s group) and confirm booking through our wedding coordinator

   

• Buy my bridal shoes from Janeo (this has a separate story that I will share soon)

   

• Purchase Chamdor Wine from Louis MacLean

   

• Purchase wedding ceremony accessories such as pillows for the rings & arrhae, cord and secondary veil, which I opted not to be included in the package with the couturier

   

• Pay for the photo & video supplier and submit our pics for the AVP.  Also managed to get copies of our studio pre-nup pics taken a day before we got civilly married.

   

• Booked Paul Vincent for the pre-nup pictorial slated weeks before the big day

   

• Buy and finish decorating the 100 sandalwood fans to be used at the church (a DIY-project with hubby & MOH)

   

• Discuss the required printed materials with Ryan Aldaba (missalette cover, place cards, table names, escort cards, souvenir tags) 

   

I guess we did a good job after all since we completed everything in my list.  Every day was a busy day, but we dealt with what we had to do, and that was what’s important.  I feel much better now, and I am just currently busy dispatching the wedding invites. 

Thanks heavens for a fruitful trip!  It was worth every penny spent on it.  

When I went home a week ago, I immediately contacted Eddie Bruan.  He was recommended by a lot of w@wie sisters, as well as my wedding coordinator, so I did try to meet up with him.  I sent him an sms and made an appointment:  Friday it is, 25th August at 1:00 pm.  Ryan and MOH Beth came with me that day. Since it's an after lunch appointment, we made a pit stop at Rockwell first to have a quick bite at Brother's Burger.  But an anticipated fun day turned sour when Ryan and I broke into a fight only a few steps away from the fastfood joint.  The reason was too shallow, but I was so upset because I know it will affect the plans for the rest of the day.  Finally, we both calmed down and decided to save time by calling it a truce.  He drove to Eddie's salon and got us there just in the nick of time.

Meeting Eddie the first time will immediately reveal to you how professional he is - someone who definitely knows his stuff.  He magically scooped my hair up in a matter of seconds to give me an idea of how my hair wilI look like and I was so impressed of how tidy and stylishly looking my tresses were. And then he let my hair down so it would go with my casual attire.

Right there and then, I booked him and paid our deposit.  I entrusted Eddie my look on the most special day of my life, and I know that he will for sure do a good job - he promised me that!  =)

I road tested the make-over "after" result by attending a get-together dinner with my highschool barkda.  And the girls did compliment my look.  That validated my decision of getting Eddie for the wedding.  Plus, my make up didn't crack at all, and lasted till almost midnight!

Boy, was I relieved to have the HMU supplier taken off my to-do list!

I am officially panicking about this upcoming wedding!  We're down to our last few months to prepare.  Now that hubby's birthday has just finished, it sure did remind me that the end of July is almost here...meaning we're only a few days away from the wedding!!! 

I just wish things will get better pretty soon...I am so nervous already.

Thank heavens I have the wedding coordinator to help me out, plus my new sisses at w@w.  It is really difficult to be an overseas bride.