In the meantime

Alright, it looks like we hit a lull in the wedding biz and hoopla. Off the checklist is the reception hall, the church, the wedding gown, the bridesmaid dresses, the dj and the photographer. Yes, the only big thing to schedule is the florist and I will probably be scheduling an appointment next week with a few.

So, what to do in the meantime? Vin and I are trying to look at booking hotel rooms for our out of town guests. It is funny because I leave a message with the sales people and they haven't called back. Vin got hold of one hotel that offers free shuttle for so many rooms booked. We just have to check out the place to see if it is decent.

Now, I am just trying to find little personal touches for the reception and the ceremony. You don't want to know how many bridal magazines I bought and the wedding websites I search through. I got to stop buying the bridal magazines. The money I spent on that could be going towards a couple of party favors.

Oh yeah, about the money. I won't mention numbers because I have been told by people that it is tacky. So, I will mention that now I am beginning to feel the pinch. Before you look and think about whether to go with this hall, this dress, this dj, but once you reserve any of these items, you have to lay down a deposit. So, there is my savings dwindling away. I used to be comforted by the fact that I had an account of rainy day spending money. Well, it appears to be monsoon season because the money is going by the buckets and buckets and buckets. Well, it is only the big day, the one that every woman dreams of and money is meant to be spent.

So, now I get to relax a bit. So, if the blog is not as active as usual, well that because there is not much happening on the wedding end. As I have been told by many former brides, it is busy in the beginning of wedding planning and closer to the wedding with a lull in between. So, here comes the lull. Thank God.

Tracking down a priest

Who knew that a priest/psychiatrist could be so hard to get a hold of? Well, our priest is. Since he doesn't belong to a parish, there is no way to track this guy down and I need to track him down. I know Fr/Dr Cincotta from work. I used to work with him in Newark. Well, I have been calling him and emailing him regarding some forms to fill out. He hasn't been answering my calls. I have also enlisted some friends I still have at work to track him down. Well, I called my friend at work and they told me that he went on vacation and won't be back until April 4th. Great!!!! I need his address for this form so that I can lock down the ceremony. Well, it looks like I have to be creative. I will just put his address at work in Newark. Once he gets back, I will go directly to his office and get his address and get him to fill out the forms and call Seton Hall with the correct address. Why couldn't I get a priest that was based in a parish and who didn't like to travel? I never choose the easy route.

I also want to tell you that I got the bridesmaid dresses. Yes, I got the bridesmaid dresses for 4 of my bridesmaids. People are telling me I should get it early since it takes 4-6 months to receive them and I plan to have one to send to the Philippines in August. Well, I got it in a month. That's David's Bridal for you.

I just want to say Happy Birthday to my friend Maribel. Happy Birthday, girlfriend!! I love you like a sister.

I also want to say Happy Anniversary to Vin (it's our anniversary of our first date). I love you like a husband ; )

Let the music play and the memories last

As you have probably last read, we were going through interviews with djs and photographers. So, what has happened since then? Well, we went through three more interviews. Last Sunday, we interviewed one of our friend's friend, Jennifer Davis. She was an upcoming photographer who is starting to build her career as an event photographer. She was really nice and was very willing to accommodate our needs. We would have loved to help build her portfolio but unfortunately, we decided that we wanted someone with a little more experience in wedding photography. We do wish her luck though.

This past Tuesday, we had scheduled an interview with a dj and a photographer. We went to Edison to visit Rebecca. She had a quaint house and cool alternative music piping through her speakers. As we sat down, she showed us a video of a past wedding that she did. At the beginning of the video, pictures of the bride and groom when they were children flashed on the screen. I kept looking at the groom and thought that the guy looked familiar. I kept saying, " I know that guy. I think I know that guy." Rebecca wasn't much of a help because she couldn't remember his name. I guess she does so many weddings that they are all a blur to her. Well, I found in the credits of the video that he is a son of one of my father's co-workers. Small world.
Anyway, back to photography. She did a lot of great work. Very artsy. I loved her work. Unfortunately, she only covered 9 hours and she leaves after the cutting of the cake. Otherwise, there are overtime charges.

So, where does that leave us? With photographer number one, Patricia Goya, the photographer we first visited and loved. She offered unlimited hours and unlimited pictures. She was flexible, personable, and loved to shot candids. Our type of photographer. We already talked to her and she agreed to do our wedding.

Back to the topic of DJ. Well, after we met with Rebecca, we went to visit DJ Ralph in Belleville. DJ Ralph worked out of a house in Belleville. When we pulled up to the house, I knew that this house belonged to an Italian, a "guido" Italian. There was four SUVs surrounding the house. Well, Mike, a big beefy guy, met us at the door. He was friendly and informed us that Ralph will be meeting us soon. We entered the house with the marble floors and the mirrors and the typical Italian furniture and went downstairs where "the office" was. DJ Mike returned to the phone to settle some business while we wait for DJ Ralph. Well, Ralph bounded down after 10 minutes in sweats to meet us. He talked a mile a minute and told us about how he would play some Billy Joel, some Earth Wind and Fire, some Electric Slide to get the crowd going. Both Vin and I knew that this wasn't going to be our guy. He kept telling us that he won't play the songs that we didn't wanted but that we had to give him some leeways because people only remember at weddings are the "food and the music". Well, he also went off on a tangent about food, especially his love of Vietanamese food and his dislike of Filipino food(he did apologize if that comment insulted me.) Okay, each to their own. It wasn't like I was going to force him to eat Filipino food at our wedding. He did ask if I wanted the "Filipino anthem", the Toro Toro song. It is line dance popular at many Filipino weddings. Yes, for my parents I will be playing the Toro Toro song.

Unfortunately, it won't be played by Ralph. Again we decided to go with the first person we met. We will be using Premier Entertainment for our wedding. Vin and I didn't like that DJ Ralph would be playing other songs that we weren't into like Billy Joel and such. Premier Entertainment will be playing what we wanted to hear.

So there you have it. DJ and photographer locked down. Our wedding is on the way. Now all we need is flowers, hotels, transportation, invites, and favors. Boy, there is still alot of stuff to do. I thought that we made headway. Guess not. Well, small steps are still steps to the finish line.

just a thought

i was looking over the last few blogs and i realized something; we guys are so freakin' lucky. we don't have to worry about buying dresses, having them fitted, waiting for them to arrive and re-try them on... nope. we just go, try on the tux and we're good. that's it.

of course, i get to pick the tuxes for the guys, and any accessories like ties and vests, which the rest of the groomsmen have no choice in wearing. so if i pick out something, let's say, unconventional, that's too bad for them. (remember the vests, roehl?)

anyway, this was just a little reflection, not meant to really mean anything.

The week so far

Here is my update of the week so far. As you remember I had a busy schedule. Basically an appointment every day. I was lucky due to the snow storm on Tuesday. The dj that we had an appointment on that day cancelled due to the storm. We had that appointment rescheduled for next Tuesday. So now we have two appointments on Tuesday: one for the photographer at 5 pm and the dj at 7 pm.

The other appointments we were able to make. Jennifer and Terry got their dresses. Jennifer since she is the matron of honor will be wearing a different dress than the other girls. I unfortunately forgot to get the camera to take a picture of Jen in the dress. Fortunately for you all I did get Terry in her dress and she looks mighty pretty. The picture will be on the website soon. I really love this dress. I would even wear it myself if I could. Maybe I will buy it off one of my bridesmaids, except all these friends are alot smaller than me. Thank God, my bridesmaids are really good friends. They are appeasing this bridezilla with the request of taking their pictures and showing it to the general public. I love these ladies.

Vin and I also went to see a DJ at Premier Entertainment. Vin was pretty impressed by the guy, Joe, who we might hire for this wedding. If Vin had it his way, he would hire him right on the spot. (As you have read Vin's blog earlier, I have no judgement either way about the dj). Yet, we had an appointment with another DJ so I suggested we just check this guy out. The establishment is pretty professional though. They even offer coffee and candy. You can't beat that.

We also had an appointment with a photographer, Patricia Goya, yesterday. She is an independent contractor and she works out of her home. Vin and I liked her personality and style. She was very easy-going and she made you feel at home. Her style of shooting is photojournalistic (which means she likes to shoot candids) and she likes to be unobtrusive when at a wedding. She just blends in. She uses digital camera so that means we can get the pictures instantly but she would edit them to make them more beautiful and artistic if needed.
Another good thing about digital is that we don't have to pay extra for black and white pictures. She said all the things we loved to hear. Vin again thought that we hit another homerun with her.

Yet, we have two other appointments with other photographers. Photography is important to me. We are not going to have a videographer so I really want our photos to look great, almost artistic. Lots of black and white. Lots of candids. So, I want to make sure we get the right photographer that will do that. So, I will keep you updated.

Until the next blog ; )

a dj and a photographer

so this past week cheryl & i met with a dj and photographer.

the dj: he was cool. we saw a two videos: one of the owner and one of the guy that we were talking to; they are the only two available for our date.

i liked them. cheryl is pretty much apathetic about it. she thinks a dj is a dj is a dj. what i really like is that they use digital music files which means that we can give them the music we want to hear on a disc and they can play it. this way we get to hear what we want to hear. which is rather important since it's our wedding.

we're meeting with another one this tuesday, but i think i have all ready made up my mind.

the photographer: she was good. she said she takes between 700 and 1500 photos, all digital. and they're candid shots, which is what cheryl wants; she hates the posed shots. and the photographer uses a company out of australia to create 'coffee table' style wedding albums. well, not really albums, but books. i liked the books she showed us, and her shots were incredible.

we have to meet with another photog today and one more on tuesday, so we'll see what happens....

The week ahead

This past weekend not much wedding stuff was happening. Vin and I went to Tak Tak Filipino Heritage Store in Jersey City on Palisade to get some ideas on wedding decor. While we were there we checked out their museum on the third floor. They had some cool stuff such as Filipino clothing from different eras. They had an old Muslim artifact and other old pottery as well as instruments used in the Philippines.

I am glad that not much wedding stuff is happening last weekend because I have alot of running around this week. Here is my schedule:

Monday - 3/7 - David's Bridal appointment with Jen in East Brunswick
Tuesday - 3/8 - appointment with DJ in Belleville
Wednesday - 3/9 - David's Bridal appointment with Terry in Springfield
Thursday - 3/10 - appointment with DJ in Saddlebrook?
Sunday - 3/13 - appointment with photographer at location to be determined

Friday and Saturday I have Sumisibol things to do. So it is not actually a weekend of rest. I continue with the week afterwards with a photographer appointment on Tuesday at 3/15.

Once we lock down the photographer and the dj. We can find some room to breath and get a florist and the invites. I am not so worried about those. So that's my week so far. I just hope that the gas prices don't go up this week. Wait till next week. Once I am not driving around so much. Especially since I drive an SUV. Big car for a little person. It has to do with my Napolenic complex and now I am paying for it.

I will update you later in the week how everything went. If I have any energy left.

Correction: 1 Bridesmaid out, 3 down, and 4 to go

I had received bittersweet news yesterday. I have been trying to get in touch with my college roommate Odette who lives in California to inform her about the dress that I picked out for the bridesmaid. I called her Sunday and left a message. No call. I thought that she might be in Hawaii to see her in-laws. I called yesterday. I was a little anxious to make sure that she got the dress since it was on sale.

Well, I was right about one thing. She was in Hawaii. Then she dropped it on me. Great news for her. Disappointing news for me. She is pregnant. Her first baby. Due Date: October 2005. Thus, one less bridesmaid and one less dear friend at the wedding.

I am happy for her. You don't know what she went through. This is a blessing for her and her husband and I only wish her the best. I just won't get to celebrate my day with one of my dearest friend.

Now I face not only my disappointment but also the dilemma of having an uneven bridal party or asking another dear friend to be a bridesmaid and hoping that they won't be insulted by being asked last.

Suggestions, anyone?


PS. It's Vin's birthday today. Happy Birthday, LOML.

Correction: 1 Bridesmaid out, 3 down, and 4 to go

I had received bittersweet news yesterday. I have been trying to get in touch with my college roommate Odette who lives in California to inform her about the dress that I picked out for the bridesmaid. I called her Sunday and left a message. No call. I thought that she might be in Hawaii to see her in-laws. I called yesterday. I was a little anxious to make sure that she got the dress since it was on sale.

Well, I was right about one thing. She was in Hawaii. Then she dropped it on me. Great news for her. Disappointing news for me. She is pregnant. Her first baby. Due Date: October 2005. Thus, one less bridesmaid and one less dear friend at the wedding.

I am happy for her. You don't know what she went through. This is a blessing for her and her husband and I only wish her the best. I just won't get to celebrate my day with one of my dearest friend.

Now I face not only my disappointment but also the dilemmia of having an uneven bridal party or asking another dear friend to be a bridesmaid and hoping that they won't be insulted by being asked last.

Suggestions, anyone?


PS. It's Vin's birthday today. Happy Birthday, LOML.

3 bridesmaids down, 5 to go

I bet you were wondering if there was any wedding planning activity going on this week. Trust me I have been busy trying to lock down on the bridesmaid dress. I was able to snag two of my bridesmaid this Saturday to attend David's Bridal and another bridal shop in Maplewood. Intentionally it was only to look at the dresses to see if any dress popped for them. I had already had my eye set on a strapless number at David's but I knew that one of my friends was a bit more conservative. Being the generous friend I was ; ) , I wanted her to pick out a dress that she felt comfortable in. The first shop we went in was David's Bridal.

We had set an appointment at 11:00 on a Saturday and I was shocked to see how empty it was. The last Saturday I was there it was mad packed with brides and bridesmaids. Thank God. Well, I showed Maribel and Linda the dress that I really loved. Linda was going for it. NO WAY. Maribel tried it on and loved it. She actually tried one in a different color since they didn't have her size in the color apple. You can click on this link to see what the dress looks like. Maribel in her dress. Doesn't she look pretty!!! Just imagine what she would look like in sexy red. All the single men at the wedding will come flocking around her to get a dance. And the dress was on sale. Weren't we lucky?

Well, one down.

Now Linda. One thing I must tell you about Linda. She is not one of those woman who wears dresses. She is very simple and casual. So, as my friend, she is willing to don a dress for the wedding which I am grateful. Well, she looked at various sleeveless options and she tried some on. A couple of dresses didn't do her justice so we found this sleeveless number in a V-neck with some beading. We even got her a shawl to match the shawl that Maribel has. She was happy. I was happy. It was good. Here is the link to see Linda displaying the dress. Linda with her dress "on". Isn't Linda cute!!!

So, since one of my bridesmaid is in the Philippines, I have to place her order in the cute dress that Maribel is wearing. I didn't have the measurements when I went on Saturday but I just called it in today. Whew. Now I just have to make sure that the other bridesmaids are just as pretty.