In the midst of the pandemic, true love still prevails! If you haven't noticed, tuloy pa din ang mga nagpapakasal kahit may pandemic. Just make sure to follow the protocol at di tayo magkapagpalaganap ng lagim sa iba.
Btw, my husband will be home soon, just for a few days and susulitin na naman namin yon. He'll be tired taking care of Boss baby to make up from the past few weeks. Because of that, I remembered our wedding. Yes! We got married this year, we had an almost stressful pandemic wedding. I would like to share what happened guys!
But first, let me introduce my lovely sponsors!
Don't forget to check them out and be inspired and motivated! Share some love!
Here it goes....
Last quarter of 2020.
Months after w found out that I was pregnant, we asked both of our parents if they wanted us to get married before the I give birth. In my case, I wanted to get married after I gave birth because I don't feel the rush of getting married from the preparation, etc. (I've seen the stress and long preparation my sisters had when they were preparing for their own weddings too) and since we just got together for less than a year, I don't want my in-laws to have an impression na pinikot ko sya. (BTW, they had a bad experience from his ex-gf. She was so abusive to my now husband and she didn't treat his parents in a good way). It's okay with my parents if we get married after I give birth, but on my husband's side (which is in Cebu) they wanted us to be married before the baby comes out because they don't want the baby to be illegitimate.
One of my cousins also got married during the lockdown in 2020. Me and my husband visited my tita and they were also there. They were joking na mura lang magpakasal ngayon dahil sa pandemic, mas tipid kung tutuusin. HAHAHHA! Who knew that we get married soon.
1st quarter of 2021.
We started to plan the date of our wedding. We couldn't pick a date instead, I asked my sisters for advice on how to pick a date and what should I do first. Tenchu mga shwati @mgrshgian and @melsiebelsie.
Both of our parents wanted for us to have a church wedding, but me personally don't want a church wedding because we have to invite a lot of people. @melsiebelsie told me that one of her friends got a church wedding na sila lang ni bride and groom like a civil wedding in a church, ganun. It was a good idea however, pandemic and sarado ang churches that time.
I started looking for services that we need for the wedding. Since sa province nagwwork si ex-bf, now husband, I have to do most of the preparations. I consulted everything with him din regarding the budget and everything. He also do not know what to do about the preparation so isinaalang alang nya sken ang mga kailangan. I didn't get a wedding coordinator because it's only a civil wedding and a very intimate one. We only plan to invite less than 50 people and to think na most people on his side cannot come due to the restrictions, so I decided to DIY our wedding.
Here's our DIY wedding to-do list..
First on the list was the venue and officiant. Since I don't have a wedding planner, it's very hard to find or coordinate the date with your supplier/s. I started joining wedding supplier groups for wedding ideas and looking for options for the venue, officiant, etc.
Me, at the same time pregnant will definitely need more assistance with the preparation of our wedding. Thanks to my sisters and friends who helped me with everything until our wedding day. I'll just make a list and link them to my supposedly suppliers for our wedding. :)
It was just more than a month preparation and when my now husband got to go home to us, we had a chance to visit venues for our wedding.
We've finally picked a date that is okay with the venue, officiant and photographer! Me happy, yay!
Venue and Catering: Naysa's Kitchen - Food Services
For their offered rates, it was the affordable one with good reviews and we also got to visit the place too. Here's what's included on the package:
Officiant: Rev. Jay Arvin M. Mangilinan Wedding Management
This has been recommended by my friend who got married before the lockdown happened. For the officiant, the rate depends on the location.
Photographer: Resly Belmonte Photography
Surprisingly, he's my elder sister's HS batchmate hihi. For his rate, it was the cheapest one that I can find and enough for a short event too. Inclusions:
Souvenir: c/o PlantitangIna's succulent
HMUA: Makeup by Janah
Bridal Dress: c/o mudra
Groom suit: Edgar's Tailoring and Military Supplies
Boquet: Dangwa
Wedding ring: Silver works
DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!
I mentioned, supposedly. Yes, I mean natuloy yung wedding namin but after months of preparation plans were changed because of the unexpected lockdown on March 2021. Almost all the set up has already been set, dates, venue and what's left to do is just my bridal bouqet.
We've been following up to the venue if they already received guidelines and what can we adjust on the initial contract. Good thing that we still haven't paid them in full. Within the span of less than 2 weeks, we have to adjust everything. Yes, all of it. We couldn't afford to move the date further because it was 2 months away from my due date. After the gov't announced the lockdown, I asked my husband to come home right away. Masakit sa ulo, I have to change almost everything and start from scratch. We ended up really doing a legit DIY wedding.
We also did a Facebook live since my husband's parents and sister are in Cebu. It was just sad that most of our guests is sa side ko lang and both of our parents wanted us to have a church wedding kapag okay na ang lahat. Let's see if maalala nila HAHAHAHHA!
Venue: Home - Since nagECQ 10% people lang ang dapat na capacity ng isang venue. Ranging from our original plan of 30 guests, 10 guests na lang ang pwede, kenatbi because sa family ko pa lang nasa 10 na kami. We have to include syempre ung officiant, 2 witnesses and 3 of my friends who helped me on the decors.
Catering: Tita Pauline's Catering
Good thing that one of my brother-in-law's parent has a catering and we've loved the food so much, we ordered from them instead. Why didn't we get them initially? Because it will cost more if we will have a different caterer due to the corkage fees. We wanted to save as much as possible because there will only be a few guests.
Officiant: HEART FOCUS EVENT MNGT.
The date we initially picked got taken and his time availability didn't match ours so I immediately looked for other wedding officiant.
Photographer: CANCELLED - because since we cut down the guests parang di sulit tapos sa bahay lang kami magpicture picture. We have an SLR and I borrowed my beshies' DSLR din. Di man kami masyadong skilled sa photography, pwede naman tayo magbasic photo editing hahhaa.
Souvenir: c/o PlantitangIna's succulent pa din.
Mahilig and parents ko sa plants and ever since, we have cactuses na pinaparami nya. Buti na lang madami nang nakahiwalay na cactus that time so I only counted 20-30 souvenirs. Wala na kaming ginastos dito actually kasi kahit ribbon and ung parang katsa na brown na pinambalot namin was just around the house.
HMUA: Make up by ME
I used to do my own make-up everyday when I go to work. I don't do glamorous make up, I wanted to but I just did a simple make up and bought a contact lens.
Bridal Dress: c/o mudra
Groom suit: Edgar's Tailoring and Military Supplies
mas mahal pa ung outfit ni husband kesa sa akin HAHAHAHAH. It's ok with me kasi he can still use it in other events sa work dn.
Boquet: Dangwa - recommended by my bestfriend as her mother also goes to dangwa if they needed flowers for an occasion. Good thing Tita went along with us to canvas the flowers that we needed in the venue. (This was before they announced the lockdown). A few days before our wedding, my now husband and I were the ones who went to Dangwa instead and picked a bunch of Sunflowers. We bought 10pcs/bunch of sunflowers for 100 only, in total this boquest only costs 300 pesos. :)
Wedding ring: Silver works
I didn't have an engagement ring kasi wala na mang proposal na nangyari HAHAHAHAH. We went to the mall to check jewelry stores, mapapawow ka na lang din. We didn't need to get a pricy ring because we are saving for the baby.
We went to a few jewelry stores and he always laugh at me because the first thing that I always ask is 'Alin dito yung laging binibili?' pag tinuro na nila sasabihin ko, 'wag tayo jan. dun sabay turo sa ibang designs'. I was always the kind of girl na ayaw ko nang may kapareha. Ayaw ko ng common, ayaw ko ng may kakambal pala akong makakasalubong somewhere.
Going back, we went back to SilverWorks kasi dun na yung may cheapest price na pwedeng decent wedding ring. He chose this style kasi Tungsten and di kalawangin or dumihin, pwedeng pangkaskas ng yelo. Char!
It doesn't look common, it doesn't look like a wedding ring but the design doesn't look cheap for a wedding ring.
Cake: GellyVin Sweets
It was just a simple cake, because it was just days away from our wedding. Luckily, I found one who can make it on the date. Surprisingly, I LOVED THE CAKE. Simple design, yes, but daym! It taste good, sobra hanggang ngayon di ako makaget over.
Decors:
Kuya PaPrint Computer shop - Computer shop na malapit samin kung saan ko pinaprint ung pictures na decor.
Helium Balloons - pangarap kong makalanghap ng helium sa balloon para marinig ko yung mala chipmunk na boses ko. hihihihi
I wanna thank my uhm pahmilee, mah prens for the support and love love.
Advice on a DIY wedding?? Do whatever you like, you just need to spend most of your time looking for the right place, right cake, right ring and the right bride/groom.
If you have the budget, go get a coordinator for less stress and effort.
Ang kasabihan natin today.....
'Hindi lahat ng tumatagal naglalast'
teka ano daw?!?!? bahala na kayo
Antok na ata ako.
Love don't cost a thing nga din daw sabi ni J.Lo.
Yaw qu nah bhie!
Wala akong closing remarks, basta you'll know when it's time. You'll know when it is the one.
Oy, try to check out my other articles too!
Swipe left or right? (A modern dating story)
15-min rush: Type what comes into your freakin' mind.
15-min rush: I am glad that I quit, but..... (pt 1)
15-min rush: Monthsary o Milestone?
all pictures used are mine and mine and mine and mine.
Ako ang nastress sa dami ng ginawa mo sis, but it turned out great in the end. Unique nga eh, but the most important thing is you married the one you love😍