I’m pretty lucky that I get to meet amazing new people and hear about such a special time in their lives. When I spoke to Kristine and Ernan about their wedding day they seemed like such wonderful people and as you can see they had a pretty wonderful day. I didn’t expect anything less after their amazing John and Yoko inspired engagement shoot which we featured a few weeks ago.
The details are stunning! I love the colour scheme and the mismatching bridesmaid dresses in soft pinks and greys. The vintage feel reception was set off perfectly with peaches and cream flowers. You definitely wish you were there for this one. The photo loved goes to Paul Vincent Photography.
How would you describe your wedding day?
It was classic, the theme we wanted to achieve was vintage shabby chic. We wanted it to be an extension of our pre-wedding pictorial, so with a little hint of a Beatles theme. I wanted everything neat and clean—I’m a control freak. This is something I’ve figured out while planning my wedding. Feedback from my guests were that they found the wedding simple, yet elegant, though I’ve never seen my style to be one.
What was your favourite part of the day?
It was a very relaxed wedding day. My husband never ever gave me flowers. During the wedding, before I went down to the hotel lobby, I was surprised to see all of his groomsmen, including my father in law approaching me with a bouquet of flowers each! What made me cry aside from him giving me flowers for the first time was the fact that they had my father in law (imagine that) do this for me!
Since our hotel was just walking distance from the church, my groom decided to walk going to church with his entourage and took this as a photo opportunity.
Any words of wisdom for couples planning their wedding?
1. Every couple should limit their supplier choices to a maximum of three, or else it would just confuse you.
2. Stick to the budget. If it exceeds, consult your partner.
3. Never make decisions on your own. It’s always fun to involve your partner in the wedding planning. I think it worked well because my husband was very supportive of my ideas and was not afraid to share his own.
4. Always consider your partner. This is not just the bride’s wedding—it’s also your groom’s. I’ve always considered him when conceptualizing. For example, when planning for our pre wedding pictorial, he emphasized that he wouldn’t smile or do anything cheesy, because it’s just not him. So I really thought of a concept that would match our personalities and at the same comfortable for us to do. Since I am a Beatles fan and we can’t do an all boy shoot, we came up with the John and Yoko theme. Turned out when I researched about it, we had a couple of similarities—we both married spontaneously! Then we had a bit of a continuation of our pre wedding pictorial theme with or reception by using our peg for the cake topper and had Beatles songs for our table names.
5. Set targets and priorities. You should target when to finalize each of your suppliers and have a timeline. I know for a fact that suppliers increase rates by the year or easily gets booked so I made sure I closed all my ‘critical to wedding date’ suppliers ASAP and locked in their dates by 2010. I also made it a point that a month before my wedding, both my husband and I should already be relaxing, so I finished all details by that time and just concentrated on my finalization meetings with our coordinator a month before the wedding.
6. Invest with the right suppliers. You may find them pricey, but hey, they get paid for a reason. I made some comparisons with different price ranged suppliers their inclusions and all and weighed everything. Spend your money wisely. Get the suppliers not for the reason that they are affordable but for the reason that they are reasonable. Personally, I’d suggest people invest on a very good coordinator, photographer, and a videographer. I highly suggest getting a coordinator as your first because they really help you a lot. I’ve met my coordinator from a friend’s wedding. I so much enjoyed my friend’s wedding that I had to get Christine Ong for my wedding. It was a good investment because I was not stressed at my wedding day. After the reception, my husband and I actually even got to watch TV because we weren’t really tired, as opposed to what other couples were telling me. At the end of the day, what really matters is how the event turned out, how you and your guests remembered every good moment and how you look stunning in your photos and videos.
7. Don’t get tired, just enjoy your wedding. With my heavy ball skirt and a long day, I could’ve just easily give up smiling and posing on my photos, but I just kept on thinking that I’ve paid so much for everything I might regret it when I see my photos.
8. Trust your suppliers (assuming you get the good ones). They are not paid professionals for nothing, so don’t worry and stress about every single detail on your wedding.
9. Get your entourage involved, maximize your photographer’s talent. I had my entourage come into the hotel for a photo shoot. Usually, in most weddings I’ve been to, the couple only get to have a pictorial on the church. I think it’s good that you start your preps early and if everything’s planned out well, you get to have time for photo memories.
The best advice you received for your big day?
Always remember the day you fell in love with each other.
Anything you’d change?
None. Everything went well.
The Detail
Wedding Dress: Gretchen Pichay
Brides Shoes: Custom made, my own design
Makeup: E.J. Litiatco
Grooms Suit: Bergamo
Grooms Shoes: Kenneth Cole
Bridesmaids: Gretchen Pichay
Flowers: Love in Blooms by Jocelyn Pafin
Ceremony and Reception Venues: The Blue Leaf
Photographer: Paul Vincent Photography
Videographer: John Marvi De Guzman of Cinemaworks
Music: Dacapo
Cake: Joy San Gabriel
Catering: K by Cunanan Catering
Favours: Baicapture Photos
Save the Dates: made by the Bride
Invitations: The Write Impression
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