Rai and Marc

Posts Tagged ‘flowers’

To all Caleruega couples out there, please join our little niche in Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Caleruega-Couples/175892809119288

Hair and Make Up Artist: Victoria Gonzalez of Victoria.ph

Package Deal: Airbrush Make-up for Bride + 2 Traditional Makeup + Free Prenup Make-Up
Package Price: Php18,000 (includes Out of Town charge)

The Good

I fondly call her Ms. Vic and she is the sweetest make-up artist. She makes me calm when I’m starting to get the jitters, and she does wonders with her airbrush. I specifically ask her to make my make-up a “no make-up” look because we had a morning wedding, and she did. When I ask people around me how I look with my make-up, they keep telling me that it is still okay and does not look yucky, and that is a good sign. I always steer away from make-up because: 1) it’s really not my thing, and 2) I have this phobia of looking like a kabuki warrior in photos. I mean, I want to be proud of our wedding pictures and not hide them and so I said that I will not get a cheap make-up artist. Ms. Vic is definitely a treasure.

I also remember her trying to calm me down before the bridal march because I kept crying and she keeps retouching. I can feel Ms. Vic’s panic when I started crying buckets because the tears just won’t stop and the make-up might get ruined. Despite all the tears and sweat, the make-up stayed on. I just need to use lots of oil blotters to keep the shine away.

The Bad

She forgot to take the names of the ladies who had their make-up done. I wish I had their names para nasingil ko sila. *JOKE!*

I also noticed that she has a limited shades of foundation – or maybe I just did not see them. Anyway, what do I know about makeups? And the lady who was doing my hair needs to research more on hairstyles because she keeps asking me what hairstyle I want. Like I said, I am not really the person who likes to experiment with hairstyles, so I think I told her to just tie my hair into a pony. A hairstylist (here comes my unsolicited advice) should get to know the bride more and the dress she is going to wear to have an idea of the hairstyle that will go perfectly with the whole outfit.

The Ugly

None.

Heart Ratings

Service: (10/10)

Product (Hosting): (10/10)

Bang for the Buck: (8/10)

Overall Satisfaction: (10/10)

Rai and Marc’s recommendation: Get Ms. Vic if you want airbrush makeup. Her rates are affordable and she will make you still look like you – only better.

Entourage Flowers: Dylan Gozum of Vatel Manila

Package Deal: (9) Hand-tied Bouquets, (10)Chest Corsages, (18) Boutonnières, (3) Pomanders, (3) Baskets, (3) Crowns, (2) Flower Pillows, (2) Hair Flowers
Package Price: Php16,000+

The Good

I love Dylan! He is not just a supplier, he also gives advice which flowers to choose. Even the thing about drapes, I followed his advice not to get them. He is open to your suggestion, but will not keep mum of his opinion. I like that attitude in suppliers because I believe that two brains are better than one.

Now, the bouquet. I love it. He made better ones but I really don’t care. It’s MY bouquet. It’s pink and gorgeous, just the way I like it. If you must ask, it is made of pink cymbidiums and wax flowers tied with lace and brooch. We initially thought of having wax flowers only for the bouquet, to reflect our cherry blossom theme but I asked Dylan to add one more flower and he did. How I wished that I preserved it before it turned brown.

I also love the little hand-tied flowers of the ladies, and corsages of the ninangs. Most of all, I love Marc’s boutonnière because it goes well with his suit. Wait, can I just say I love all the flowers that arrived Saturday morning?

The Bad

I don’t know. I can’t think of anything nasty. Guess that’s what happens when you love someone.

The Ugly

Nothing.

Heart Ratings

Service: (10/10)

Product (flowers and arrangement): (10/10)

Bang for the Buck: (10/10)

Overall Satisfaction: (10/10)

Rai and Marc’s recommendation: Get Dylan. Nuff said.

Church Stylist: RCJC Flower Shop

Package Deal: Aisle arrangement made of Baby’s Breath and Luminaries with candles; Candle arrangement with Baby’s Breath, candles included. Offertory basket and red carpet is free.
Package Price: Php7,000

The Good

RCJC Flower Shop is located in Mendez so if you have a Tagaytay wedding, you don’t have to worry about extra charges. Ms. Cora is very easy to talk to and she replies to my texts in a timely manner so that is a big plus.

The Bad

The price for the luminaries and flower arrangement was quite out of my budget considering that Baby’s breath are known to be cheap flowers. But according to Ms. Cora, Baby’s breath supply is low during first week of November (All Saint’s Day) and that is the reason for the expensive arrangement. I would not want any other flowers for the aisle, Caleruega is already beautiful, and I don’t want to let go of the luminaries either so I accepted the price. Somehow I was expecting the aisle arrangement to be filled with the little blooms but what I saw is close to a Baby’s Breath Cloud bouquet. Too little for an aisle arrangement. I don’t know, guess my expectation was too high.

The Ugly

Ms. Cora must have forgotten the tulle aisle runner.

Heart Ratings

Service: (8/10)

Product (flowers and arrangement): (6/10)

Bang for the Buck: (6/10)

Overall Satisfaction: (7/10)

Rai and Marc’s recommendation: Tagaytay weddings should book RCJC. But make sure to list every single detail and double-check with Ms. Cora.

This is the video presentation of our photos from childhood to present.

Preparation Venue: Rosemont Garden

Package Deal: 2 nights house rental good for 12 pax (3 rooms with 3 T/B, a bathtub, free use of kitchen, refrigerator and stove with gas)
Package Price: Php10,000/night (Price subject to change)

The Good

Rosemont Garden is well-situated along Aguinaldo Highway, a ten minute ride from Caleruega. The place has a very nice view of Taal Lake perfect for picture-taking and the early morning breeze is so very Tagaytay that I have to wear my jacket during preps because I get chills whenever the cold breeze hits my face and back.

We were also allowed to use the kitchen and gas stove for breakfast so it was convenient for us to buy in nearby Mendez market and have home-style meals.

Another big plus is the backyard which is also great for picture-taking.

The Bad

Pets are not allowed in the house. Liane has to suffer the harsh cold air because she had to stay outside and Liane is never at ease when we are not around so I guess that’s why she was barking all the time. I admit she was very annoying that time but it was their (Karla’s) policy not to let pets in.

The Ugly

This is when things turned very, very ugly. At around 8PM of the wedding eve, I decided to fill the tub with water for a warm bath to relax. I figured that I have to be in bed by 9PM so I can have a six-hour sleep since I have to be up by 3AM. However, I noticed that the water is yellowish and smelled like rust. So I thought that the house must have been unused for a few days, the yellow water must have been stagnant in the pipes so I drained the water, cleaned the tub, and started filling it up again. It was almost 9PM but I thought that I can still manage to lose an hour of sleep. When I came back to check the tub, the water is still yellowish and the water had stopped running. So I checked the sink and all the other bathrooms and to my horror, all bathrooms are waterless! Just imagine my horror at that time.

At 9:30PM, I went outside and woke up the caretaker and told him that we don’t have water in the house. I think he just checked the pump or something, but never came back to me to inform me what happened. At around 10:15, I texted Karla to inform her of the situation. At this point, I am already in tears and starting to panic. I have to be up by 3AM and it’s 10:30PM already! So at around 11PM, I called my hubby because he was at Yellow Coco that time, and asked him to pick me up and told him we need to immediately find another place to stay. Fortunately, there are still vacant villas in Yellow Coco so we booked one more villa.

I think it was already 12:30 midnight when I slept, and woke up at 3:30AM. By 4AM, we were back in Rosemont for the preps, and there’s still no water. When hubby asked the caretaker to check, he turned on the pump and the water is back.

In fairness to Karla, she did not know that there was no water reserved that time because there was supposedly water delivery scheduled that day. She apologized but I was so freaked out that time, I felt so bad for this unfortunate event. I didn’t have time to get angry or complain. I think it was Karla’s best effort to help me find another place because she texted me and said that she can offer a new place for us.

One more ugly thing that I should mention is when Liane was at the basement, she pooped. I was expecting the caretakers to help me cleanup (good thing it was a solid poop) but they just watched me. Didn’t even offered newspapers to wrap the poop in, I have to ask. I know this is my responsibility as Liane’s mommy but at least I expected them to offer something I can use to cleanup. Guess they do not like pets at all. So if you are bringing pets to the house, make sure you bring warm clothing for them because they have to stay outside. In the cold.

Heart Ratings

Service (how we were entertained during our stay): (3/10)

Service (how we were entertained before our stay): (10/10)

Product (the house and facilities): (5/10)

Bang for the Buck: (9/10)

Overall Satisfaction: (6/10)

Rai and Marc’s recommendation: The water issue might be an isolated case, but all in all, Rosemont Garden is very well kept house and offers excellent view of the Taal Lake.

Here is our video same day edit (SDE). Actually, a different version of the song was used here – very different from the one we watched during the reception.

Video: Val Bunao
Music: Stolen by Dashboard Confessional

Bridal Car: Beetle Limo

Package Deal: Rental of Black Volkswagen Beetle Limousine for 6 hours including driver and gas
Package Price: Php17,000 – 10% Discount

The Good

The Beetle Limo is one of the suppliers I want to take off the list. First, it was expensssssiiiiiveee. The price we paid for 6 hours rent of limo is twice the price we paid for 3 days rent of Nissan Urvan. It was not practical, and we can do without it. Heck, Don Robert’s cars are half the price, and still we can use the extra money for other stuff.

So why get it in the first place? For the sake of tradition. Marc’s parents used a VW Beetle for their bridal car. And we want the same too. When we saw the beetle limo in a wedding fair, we just knew we had to get it even if it means stretching the budget (wedding budgets are meant to be stretched, anyway). Come to think of it, this is the day when we can indulge ourselves and have a reason to ride a limousine. A modified Volkswagen Beetle Limousine!

A little bit of trivia: Beetle Limo is the only company that offers beetle limo in the Philippines.

Kuya Jimmy is the driver assigned to us. He is very nice, wears proper chauffeur uniform, very polite and on time. He makes a lot of kwento while I was waiting in the car before the bridal march, which is good so I won’t get nervous. We even asked our photographers to take Kuya Jimmy’s photo with us and the car so we will have a souvenir. We might not get a chance to ride a limousine again.

The Bad

There are no flowers included with the package because according them, out of town wedding packages do not include flower arrangement. Though I am not sure why. If you want your bridal car to have flowers, you might need to get your florist to do it.

The Ugly

The air conditioning feels like it does not exist. It was so hot inside the limo when we got in after the church ceremony that I keep adjusting the aircon knob so the air hits my face. Unfortunately, it won’t move. The temperature seems to be a little better when we arrived at the reception waiting for our grand entrance.

One more ugly worth mentioning: We forgot to use the sun roof and have picture taken inside the limo.  This is our fault. *pouts*

Heart Ratings

Service: (10/10)

Product (meaning the car itself): (7/10)

Bang for the Buck: (4/10)

Overall Satisfaction: (8/10)

Rai and Marc’s recommendation: If your budget will allow, take the limo. If you are not part of the alta sociedad like us, this is the only chance you will get to ride this expensive car.

I super, duper, major, major love our invitations! I just hope that I had time (money) to add a little something extra to it just as I had originally planned, like adding an obi belt touch to it. In any case, it is as Japanese as it can get =)

Rai and Marc’s Cherry Blossom Themed Wedding Invitations
Wedding Motif: Cherry Blossom Pink and Clover Green
Wedding Theme: Japanese/Cherry Blossoms
Supplier: Wingdingz

Rai and Marc's Cherry Blossom Wedding Invitation Page 1

Rai and Marc's Cherry Blossom Wedding Invitation Page 2

After so many revisions, we finally picked up our cherry blossom invitations from Wingdingz office yesterday. We were sort of expecting that we will get only the sample output but it turned out that they already printed the whole lot. We should have insisted to get the sample print-out before giving the go signal to print the rest as we have further corrections that did not made it in time.

Unfortunately, there are two misspelled names, and we will have to live with that because that was our fault anyway. We got the correct spelling just after I gave the green light to Wingdingz. Also, the Best Man’s name was typed in too close to the name of the Maid of Honor. We should have seen that.

In a lighter note, they made the cherry blossom invitation very much like we wanted. It is clean, crisp with minimalist design, though very girly, which I like =). The print-outs are good quality, though we found a couple of prints that have little black smudges on them. No big deal. I should say that I love the texture of the envelope and card itself, but it is giving me a hard time to print names on them because the ink smudges. The option left for me is to use (buy?) a laser printer to print the names on the envelope. Unless someone will let us borrow their laser printer for a day =)

Their price is also reasonable that is why I got them in the first place. We got 20% discount because we booked them during bridal fair at PICC. I felt that we got more than what we paid for because we were not charged extra for the custom cherry blossom design. Their existing templates don’t have cherry blossom design that I want, but they made one for us at no extra cost.

What I don’t like about them is their service while we were making the invitations. I find them difficult to talk to even though I sent them specific instructions on what to do with the design and layouts. It was frustrating actually. I sent them the revisions and after a week, they sent the second draft, and it looks like nothing was changed. I sent another round of instructions to them, after another week, they sent yet another draft with the errors still intact. Hay.

I have to call them to ask them what’s going on because apparently, they don’t understand my instructions but refused to clarify the issues. I wish they had just called to confirm, instead of me waiting for days. Their use of email and SMS is not so efficient, I don’t get replies from them whenever I ask questions, which adds frustration. I even got to the point that I want to switch suppliers because they cannot seem to get what we want the invitations to look like.

In a nutshell, the finished product is very good, but the service needs way, way, way more improvement. So I am giving them (wait, am I already writing supplier’s ratings?):

Service: (3/10)

Product: (8/10)

Bang for the Buck: (8/10)

Overall Satisfaction: (6/10)

Rai and Marc’s recommendation: Wingdingz provides good quality invitations, you just need to get out of your seat and work closely with them.

There you go, my very first supplier rating. Enjoy!