Wedding Reception: StoneCrest Clubhouse

Since we do have a non negotiable Church which is St. Peregrine Laziosi in Muntinlupa, we really had a hard time looking for our “This is it” wedding reception. Because we are on the South Area, there are not so very much choices. I do not want a hotel wedding reception as I want an exclusive and homey feel. And also, hotel reception may double up our budget. We also prefer not getting an in-house catering as hiring a professional caterer for me will do so much better in terms of food and styling since it’s their forte and main business. So what we were planning is looking for a spacious clubhouse or a resort so we can do an after-pool party. We had our list and nah-dah…

First option is in Lindenwoods however endorsement from the residents is needed and they do not accept early reservations.

Another option is to push through in finding a resort near the area however we can’t find a resort that will fit 150pax and not very pleasant looking for a wedding. Some garden receptions we checked only allowed in-house catering, and also, not very pretty.

Then on our way home, we decided to check StoneCrest Village Clubhouse.

Initially its not part of our option as we thought it’s too much for our budget. We saw 20k only for the 4 hours rental plus corkage fees. And the pictures we saw in the internet were not that pleasing. However we still decided to check the place since it’s along our way.

Then we had the “This is it”

Spacious and beautiful, since another gate separates the clubhouse from the residential area, it had a homey feel for us. The person-in-charge was also accommodating and gave all the information we need. We realized that we have an option to rent the pool deck or the function hall or both. The 20k posted is for the entire place, so you know, if you’ll rent either of the two, its not really bad.

Styling is possible as you can decorate and add DIY decorations to make it more personalize and with the theme.

What we do not like is it’s true that they do have a lot of corkage fee that can eat huge amount. So we decided to stick to their accredited caterer as it has the biggest corkage fee.

It’s fairly accessible as long as you’ll take the expressway route. We initially wanted a garden, open space venue but who knows weather now is unpredictable so we booked the banquet hall.

Credits to: 

http://nonimendoza.com/Projects/Stonecrest%20CC/Stonecrest%20images/Stonecrest.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/16794537.jpg

100 Days Left and our First Prenup Shoot

It's 100 days to go before the big day! 

Yey and I am now ready to share you our first prenup photos by DPS team! The main photographer is a friend so this is an almost freenup pictorial session. He gave us a very special rate as they are just building their portfolio. They are Laguna-based photographers so we decided to go all the way to Pagsanjan for a shoot. Our photographer is the one who selected the location. We paid 20Php per person for the entrance but the guard charged us another 500Php because of the prenup shoot.

I also do not have HMUA because I’m saving my prenup HMUA package for our official prenup session with our main photographer. After a very tough decision, I decided to do my own make up. Sadly, I’m not good in fixing my hair so as you can see; it’s just how it is. I also do not wear make up all the time but thanks to plenty of online tutorials and confidence of course, I was able to pull it off. Oh I just love the result of my effort! Okay, next time I'll learn how to apply fake eyelashes so I can add more volume on it, and will learn some contouring or maybe just enroll to a make-up class. Haha! Any way I am just so proud of myself here! 

The gown I used here was borrowed from my officemate. She wore it just once at our God’s and Goddesses themed party in the office. I bought the floral headwear from Divisoria. We tag 2 of our friends along to be our critic, to help us with our outfits and stuffs and to be more relaxed during the shoot. 

All pictures here are RAW files from our photographers but I enhanced it a bit using Photoshop. 

As you can see, the hue of the photos below are more vibrant yellow-ish color. The pictures below were taken by the 2nd photographer, and obviously my favorite shots were from this set. 

Since we are into balloon business, we brought some spare balloons and incorporate it in our prenup shots.

After our late lunch together with the gang, we went straight to Liliw for a shoe hunt. And that ended our trip.

Prenuptial pictorial especially if it’s outdoor is very tiring!  Remember to bring hydration along and wear a sunscreen. I realized I got tanned after the day. Better to do your prenup on weekdays so lesser people around.

It’s exhausting yet it was fun especially if you have cool and professional photographers with you that will help you with the poses. It’s also an advantage if you’re good in posing and playing with the camera but for me, even I'm watching ANTM, applying was not that easy. Hal seemed more relaxed than me; I need to do better on our next prenup. Can't wait.

Photographer: Dream Pictures Studio (DPS) by Jonathan Sieras

Venue: Japanese Garden, Caliraya Laguna

2nd DIY: Will You Be Our Ninong/Ninang Card

We decided to just edit our Save The Date card to be our Will You Be Cards for our Ninong and Ninang. The envelopes were DIY-ed too. We also printed small version of our monogram for the envelope seal. We wanted our future Ninongs and Ninangs to have these printed invites to make it extra special. We personally gave these to them upon informing them about the marriage. :)

First DIY: Save The Date

The first DIY is our Save The Date card. After hours of browsing the net for idea and design, I fell in love with the minimalist yet cute design from from Weddingchicks.com. So I decided that instead of creating one, I downloaded the free invitation template and had it customized using Photoshop. It’s really an easy job because I love Photoshop editing is very used to it. Hal approved it immediately! We just had it forwarded to our friends and relatives via Facebook instead. Not only that we save a few bucks, paperless is Earth friendly. :)

In search for the chosen Photographer/ Videographer

Memories will last for a lifetime, that’s why we wanted to invest on having a professional photographer and videographer team to work on our wedding. The flaws are, if you want the best, it’s expensive, and probably eat the entire budget just for the shoot. Yeah, I know investing here is because of the output, the talent and effort put all in there equals WOW. However, budget couples may have some other priorities to consider, or maybe if I have millions to spend for my wedding, why not. However for a budget couple that does not want to splurge just for a day, call me practical or kuripot. What I’m looking for is something that you’ll feel the worth.

We had Parkershot Photography, what I like was we was able to talk to Joan the General Manager and the wife of the photographer. And since we are already negotiating with them, we gave them their budget and adjust to their capabilities. They will do the Video and Photo coverage of the wedding. What I like was we are very comfortable talking to her and we saw professionalism. She’s not pushy and I can feel the passion on what they are doing.

I am hoping that it will turn out just perfect.

Looking forward for the e-session and the wedding day, I’ll definitely update you for the feedback. 

Our Fab Mood: Gray, Pink and Teal Wedding

Sorry for being gone for a while, yeah you know already, busy with the business and other stuffs. We are now starting to do the wedding preps again after months of being lazy. So to start, here’s our wedding color palette. 

Image Credits: Google

Pamamanhikan Dinner

Even we are in a long relationship, our families doesn’t meet formally yet until that day. They only knew each other through our stories and just some basic information. Hal is like a family in our house already and me to them but our parents haven’t meet personally yet. My parents don’t like to go out and his mom is in London most of the time and spent maybe 1-2 months here yearly. So as soon as were engaged, we planned an early pamamanhikan. We scheduled it last summer vacation because my Kuya’s family that was already residing in Bulacan will be staying for a few days in our house for a visit and Hal’s mom was here for a vacation. I wish Kuya was present but he’s in UAE but I’m still glad that my sister-in-law and my niece were there. Tatay was always in the province so I informed him in advance. They brought some food and my nanay cooked some too.

The dinner went well since both parties are ready and aware that we're already on the right age to get married. Some questions on our plans were brought up but they let us all do the planning since they know we can handle it well. What was funny that night was it looked like Hal’s mom is doing talk and was asking permission for the marriage.

After the first meet, we treated my Nanay and my soon to be mother-in-law for a relaxing bonding time at Ace Water Spa with Hal’s brother and his family. Unfortunately my Tatay doesn’t want to join because it’s really not his thing. 

With Damon and Sansa too!