Let’s start.

Supplier rating for Hair and Makeup Artist Pong Niu: 5/5
Price: P8,500 (bride and groom with retouch before reception)
Out of town charge: P3,500
Hairstyling: P1,000 (two heads)

Pong and Jeri, her hairstylist, arrived at the hotel on time. They waited for me for 30 minutes, sorry I was late, but both of them were in a very happy encouraging you-go-girl mood. All throughout the day, Pong and Jeri served as my best friends, together with my family.

I loved my hair and makeup for the ceremony, ginaya namin si Juday. Hahaha! Around a month before the wedding, I emailed Pong the looks that I wanted to achieve on the wedding day. I was a bit scared that she might not want to deviate from her own style, but she even brought her iPad to look at the pegs that I sent her.

achieve!

And during my pictorials at the hotel, Jeri was there to blot excess oil on my face and to wipe my eewy sweat. I felt like an artista talaga. Hehehe. And when I got to the venue, retouch ever and ayos ayos my gown and veil. Sobrang maasikaso those two, nagiging conyo tuloy ako. Hahaha!

that's jeri fixing my veil

As expected, I cried during the ceremony. But my makeup stayed on, except for my lipstick that made my already dry lips even dryer. I don’t think that’s Pong’s fault though. Hehe. I liked my first look better than my second look, but Gail always said I looked ganda. So ok na din. And for that, Pong gets a 5! Get her get her click click click.

2nd look

PS: my husband is a wedding supplier himself, a good (and gwapo) photographer at that. do check his photos out at gailbitoonphoto.blogspot.com and http://www.facebook.com/gailbitoonphoto

Happy Christmas

It’s the eve of Christmas. We just got back from our honeymoon, and he’s now sleeping in my room (which was then only for me and my sister. Sha has to sleep in my parents’ room from now on whenever Gail and I are here in Laguna.). Needless to say, this is the happiest Christmas Eve of my life yet, and I am sure it will be topped off when we spend our Christmases with our growing family.

Meanwhile, I know a lot of w@wies are waiting for the supplier ratings. And as I mentioned in my previous blog, while the wedding was fun and beautiful, it wasn’t without problems. Gail arrived at the venue much earlier than I did, so I did not experience the problems that he and his family had to deal with. Below is a rundown of all my wedding suppliers and the general rating for their services. I will write an individual blog entry for each supplier.

Pong Niu: hair and makeup: 5/5
Wally Gonzales: photo and video: 5/5 (but without output yet)
Love in Bloom: bridal bouquet: 1/5
K by Cunanan: catering: 5/5 for food, 1/5 for service, 3/5 for setup
Merlene Marcelo: wedding gown: 4/5 gown, 2/5 service
Glitz of Bitz: rings: 5/5
Feb Bitoon and Erwin Fajardo: music: 5/5
Conan Balaoing & Patty Ramos: cake: 5/5
Jops Vital: bridal car: 5/5
Tin Natividad & Eyna Zuniga: coordination: 5/5

Dami kwento! Happy Christmas everybody! :)

The Biggest Mistake

It's heartbreaking to realize a day after our wedding that we made a huge mistake, larger than any blunder that happened in our wedding and in our whole lives.

A lot of our suppliers failed to deliver, yet we are quite sure that most of our guests did not notice. It is all because of God's faithfulness. He manifested Himself in our wedding, giving us a beautiful and Spirit-filled ceremony and program. We honestly couldn't ask for more, what with all the blessings He gave us -- from our friends and family who willingly blessed us, to the incomprehensible shower of material blessings and providence all throughout the day.

Yet... during our acknowledgments yesterday, we, on the first night as a married couple, forgot to thank and praise God. We gave credit to our friends and family, to our suppliers, but not to God. It's a shame, and we are utterly sad about it, because both of us know the reason why.

Weeks leading up to the wedding, we got caught up in the preparations, the hassles, the blessings and in each other. It is beyond shame that just on our honeymoon, we realize that we already failed at our promise to glorify God through our relationship. But God remains faithful.

And so we will not take this circumstance lightly. We want to confess of this mistake because God deserves more from us. He love continues to overwhelm us, and His faithfulness continues to shine through. We run back to Him and stand on grace when we say that we'll start again - right where our love for each other began.

We want to say sorry to all our guests and suppliers (as well as to the people who will see our wedding video thanking everyone but God). We write this on our first honeymoon night repentant and now hopeful, that by God's grace and with your help, we can do our best to never forget Him, to never lose focus again, to go back to the Start and Source of this love.

- Gail & Ching, 12.21.2010

Out of office reply

Hi,

I have a lot of stories and things to tell you, dear readers (Yan, thank you. Haha!). But I’m swamped with work, undergoing intense spiritual preparation and doing some last minute wedding tasks.

I will be back with a vengeance and will blog about the wedding and the details, and how God made Monday, December 20, the best day of my life. I will.

Now please excuse me as I bite my nails. *too much giddy*

see you after we spend our honeymoon cash! (na may kasamang pregnancy test)

Love,

Ching :)