stories from the middle earth press room

7. utilize your caterer to the max. since beterano na yung caterer ko sa ganyan and ilang beses na nila nagamit yung social garden for receptions, alam na nila pano idecorate yun and makipagdeal with the admistrator ng venue. i convinced other half to have the reception there. walking distance from the church. plus my mother is a university employee we only had the place for P250 per hour x 5 hours = P1,250. san ka makakakuha ng garden na ganun ang presyo? good thing katatapos lang ng garden show that time so buhay na buhay pa ang mga halaman. i let my caterer handle the logistics of setting up the place and talk to the adminstrator of the garden.

8. maraming kilala ang caterer. she was the one who recommended the one who will make the cake. i had a tall cake for P5,000. all cake hanggang base, unlike sa hotels na styro ang baba, yung cake lang yung hahatiin ng groom and bride. masarap yung cake and dahil ang laki nya isang buwan kami kumakain ng cake ko. grabe.


my caterer also contacted the sound system provider. P3,500 for everything. i just provided them with CDs of the spanish guitars, brazillian music and some instrumental love songs. tapos.

she was the one who contacted the florist. since madali akong kausap, sinabi ko sa caterer ko na wala akong motif, basta white ok na ko. P5,000 ata lang binayaran ko sa bulaklak sa simbahan. yung bouquet ko simple lang. all in na yun kasama yung flowers sa altar, sa aisle, corsages, etc. simple demands = savings. maganda naman simbahan daw, sabi ng tita ng husband ko.


all in, mga P78,000 ata binayaran ko dun. lahat ng yun yung caterer ko ang naghandle nun.

9. i had QP for wedding invitations. they used to have a stall in gloriatta 2 under the escalator but alam nyo naman ang nangyari. sad nga ako sana walang nangyari masama sa shop assistant and supervisor dun. meron sila sa megamall. i chose the simplest but elegant design. no frills, no frou frou. i had 100 pieces made with envelopes, sticker and had our names embossed on the flap(?) or on the invitation card mismo (?) can't remember na. basta i had these made for under P35 each, all in. other people spend P100,000 on invitations alone. grabe yun. ako P3,500, professionally done pa. i was mulling over the idea of making my own (may ready made sa national bookstore and maganda naman and ipiprint mo na lang) but mas mahal siya according to my computations. plus hassle pa.

10. nagaway kami ni other half sa souvenirs. he wants the tacky figurine souvenirs like the ones his mom collects whereas i want the practical one. what i did was i talked to my mother-in-law and sold the idea to her that we should opt for the abaniko souvenir made of sandalwood. i was able to convince her so wala nang masabi asawa ko. i bought those in divisoria for P18 and just painstakingly sewed on our names and the wedding date on the tassle with my mom's help. i had about 100 pcs made so souvenirs for less then 2 grand.

you can also opt for the little papier mache boxes made in paete and stuff it with chocnut or m&ms and just slap your names and date on the box. the boxes just cost P10 in paete. kaso ayaw ng asawa ko nun, he was adamant about that.

11. i hired a photographer and video for P15,000++ with album (like the ones they exhibit during wedding fairs), signature frame, a gigantic wedding framed photo and DVD of the wedding (di pa tapos) and over 200 digital photos. nagbayad ako ng extra kasi andami ng isinama kong photos sa album. sa manila the cheapest i could get was P35,000. di nga lang kasing dramatic nung katulad ng mga may pangalan na photographers yung photos namin pero sabi ng ate ni other half, maganda naman yung album nung makita nya.

12. i bought my shoes from florsheim on sale. i am now using it at least once a week. i'm a practical person so pumili ako ng shoes na magagamit ko talaga.

13. other gastos: make up, hotel rooms, gifts for the ninong and ninang and other unforseen items.

i did away with the program like bouquet throwing, garter dance, singing etc. i was supposed to make an AVP to show the guests kaso i ran out of time. atsaka madami ding nagmamadaling bumalik ng manila kasi may pinsan asawa ko na kinasal din that day pero gabi naman. so lipat naman sila dun.

BOOBOOS

since walang program, nakalimutan agahan yung cake cutting so hindi nadistribute yung cake. thus we ended up with a lot of cake to consume.

napakainit ng Mayo. i forgot to secure industrial fans to keep our guests cool. kahit nga open air, mainit. sabi ng ate ko buti na lang daw pamaypay yung souvenir ko.

andami pang booboos pero eto yung glaring na nakakahiya na nangyari that i have overlooked sa sobra kong kapraningan. imagine, two days before my wedding i was still submitting stories to my boss!

dahil malaki ang natipid namin, we were able to have our honeymoon in Hong Kong na may kasama pang shopping. ahem ahem.

ALMOST A YEAR AGO...

...i was also near breaking point. i was all over metro manila last year covering this and that WHILE AT THE SAME TIME i was arranging stuff for our wedding. didn't have a wedding coordinator (i have a limited budget) so i have to do everything on my own.

and for those who are asking me how on earth i pulled off a pretty respectable wedding under P150,000 for more than a hundred people *wink wink* this is what i can tell you...

The KISS principle. Keep It Simple, Stupid!

i was able to save a lot by keeping things simple, much to my husband's chagrin (he is more flamboyant that i am). i had to put my foot down on everything lest i lose control and let somebody else's idea of a wedding would reign. Other Half said i was a monster bride. who wouldn't be in my position at that time?

1. first, have a definite budget. i initially targeted P100,000 for everything so i canvassed around metro manila for venues and cost of feeding the guests -- and realized that it can't be done. so i told Other Half that we should do it in elbi since it's cheaper, it's where we went to school and where we met. later on i added P50,000 for incidentals. the key here is you should set a limit on how much you're willing to pay for things like a) food b)dress c) cake d) photos and video etc. etc.

then i sourced everything in elbi. it's a lot cheaper i tell you. it's a trifle inconvenient for the guests to go here (i am now in our house in elbi) but in the long run it's worth it. other people get married in calaruega and other ends of the earth pa nga eh.

1. i saved a lot of money by buying everything in divisoria. i had my embroidered wedding dress made there with the "princess" train, ultra long veil, pillows for rings and coins whatchamacallit (aras?) -- the works! whole package na siya for the same price as my husband's pina-barong from lumban, laguna. really. my mother-in-law told me that "sinong magaakala na ganito lang ang presyo nito?". i think my sister-in-law liked my dress. i can give you the name and number of my dressmaker. she's good and she was recommended to me by two of highschool classmates so subok na talaga.

why spend 30,000 or more on a dress i'll wear once and just leave it for the moths to eat? kahit na pa sabihin nila na ipapamana ko daw sa anak ko, my goodness by that time na ikasal anak ko baka ang mga damit na nun space suit. atsaka di sya kakasya. right now my dress is under my bed gathering dust.

2. i did away with the long entourage. just the essentials like the groom (of course!) cord and veil, candles, ring bearer and coin bearer, ninong-ninang, parents then me. yun lang. wala na yung achuchuchu na bridesmaids and groomsmen na dadamitan mo pa...

3. i told the abay to buy their own dresses. same thing with our parents and ninangs. just wear what you have so you can recycle. tipid pa. that's why i didn't have any definite motif and inaway pa ako ng photographer ko bat daw wala akong motif. sabi ko puti na lang para may freedom mga taong mamili ng damit nila.

in the case of my sisters -- kasi sila lang ang kaya kong diktahan eh -- bahala silang mamili ng isusuot nila na magagamit nila uli. gastos nila. i saved them the hassle of going to the dressmaker to have their measurements taken. it was only two or three days before the wedding that my sisters were able to buy their dresses from cinderella. nagkataon may parehong kulay na magkaibang sizes. when they bought the dresses, my ate called me up and said "o ayan may motif ka na. lime green". two days before the wedding. (kaya dear sister-in-law, pasensya na kasi wala talagang kabalak-balak na ganun ang kulay kasi biglaan na lang ) una nga balak ko anything goes na lang and bahala na si batman kung anong mangyari.

it seems unconventional but i am an unconventional person in the first place. my gosh, you have to practical these days. why force people to go to a dressmaker to have their measurements taken for something they will only wear once eh busy busy ng schedules ng lahat ng tao? atsaka if they choose their own style, mas magagamit pa uli nila.

and i saved ourselves a few grand.

4. since sa probinsya ang simbahan namin, which is just a spitting distance (literally) from our house, mas mura siya compared sa lahat ng simbahan sa maynila. reservation pa lang sa mga manila cathedral-type churches P10,000 na ata eh. plus 1 year waiting. sa amin P5,000 lang ang lahat kasama na kuryente.

5. i splurged on the choir. paid P9,000 for the local choir since nakatipid naman ako sa church. a wedding will become more beautiful with choral music. sumintunado sila pero i didn't care na at that time. ihing-ihi na ako nun eh. i was past caring na. at least they sang the songs i wanted to hear on a wedding. plus sila yung kumanta ng songs during the mass.

i just had the choir play the cd i bought for the entourage music. can't remember what that was basta di siya katulad ng gasgas na gasgas na canon na pinapatugtog sa kasal. shucks, can't remember na talaga yung classical piece na yun. one choir member sang carol banawa's panunumpa for my wedding march with my mother.

6. i spent a lot of time looking for a caterer. what a wonderful caterer i found!

one february day, other half and i chanced upon the university social garden being decorated for the prom of my old highschool. the decoration was nice and it was kinda hip. i saw the possibility of having the reception there. i talked to the caterer and she happened to be just my age! we set schedule for the food tasting and menu inspection and voila! the food tasted good (sabi ng ate ko) we hired them. P430 per plate, with the flowers, decorations, tables, cutlery -- in short lahat. i initially estimated 100 people but i told my caterer that may increase so i told her i may have the final number two weeks before the big day. true enough dumagdag when we finalized the invitations. 150 people x 430 = P64,500.


not bad.

the cheapest i could get in metro manila is silahis hotel in QC parang P100,000 for 100 people.

(to be continued)

just had coffee with my bestfriend that i haven't seen for a while.

it's funny that we are now talking about work-related stuff that seemed complicated now and whining about it unlike before we were so stuck up and too self-involved to talk about such things. we used to focus much on love life and so and so is like this and like that. now we talk about the rice "crisis", inefficient subordinates, balancing work and family...

tumatanda na.

and coffee. grabe, we used to talk about things like these over bottles (several bottles actually) of beer. but now we just have coffee. can't take alcohol right now since i have to work tonight.

grabe, is this me talking writing? weekends for me used to mean getting drunk and waking up with a bad hangover. di na kaya ng katawan ko ata yun. my highschool friends and i used to come home in elbi on weekends to get drunk and dance inside rented videoke rooms. maaga pa sa amin ang 1 am na uwi. usually mga 3 or 4 am na uwi namin.

can't do that anymore.

this week to get my alcohol fix (i'm nearing the breaking point na nga), i went out with my older sister and had two bottles of san mig light somewhere in edsa shang and had two more in her condo. by 11 pm, i was on my way home with Other Half after his martial arts practice. 

yun na yun.

i wonder what's happening to our other friend right now who is now into triathlon...she took up triathlon to keep herself from being bored.

was again attracted to a small (kei in japanese) car. would've liked to test drive a suzuki alto but of course you can't crash it through the glass walls of gateway mall, can you? i was reading tsikot.com last night and learned that people are only shelling out P500 for gas a week. one said his/her regular route in a week is driving from caloocan to manila to pasig while the other one i caloocan to laguna.


freaking P500?! that would only cover my FX/tricycle/taxi fare for three days! imagine, i have to shell out P50 so that i can get out of the subdivision without cramming myself with 6 other people (including the driver) inside a tricycyle in the mornings. di ito yung jeepney-style tricycle...ordinary tricycle with a cab with a somewhat elongated front but still an ordinary-looking tricycle. i'll take a photo of it one day to show you the indignities of riding one when you're rushing off to work. apat kayong pinagsisiksikan sa loob ng cab tapos dalawa sa likod minus driver. aaaaagggh!

then i have to ride an FX to get out of pasig to wherever i have to go. if i haveto be in ortigas, i will pay P18 to get ther. if i would go to makati, then i'll pay P35 but i have to queue for like an hour because it takes a while for the FX to come back from makati because of the horrendous traffic along C5 every morning.

then within the day syempre as a field whatever i go around pa metro manila di ba so wala akong choice kungdi magtaxi sa kung saan man ako magcocover dahil nagmamadali ako. sabihin nating another P100 na naman yun. eh minsan 3 kinocover ko sa isang araw.

in the evenings, i have to pay again P35 or P18 to the mamang FX driver (depending on where i came from) and P40 to the tricycle driver to reach this f*cking subdivision (not really my choice, do i have any these days?). forgive me, that's the childish me talking...as much as i want to cut back on my commuting expenses, i realized i dont have the energy to cram myself inside a hazardous take the tricycle with 6 other people at the end of the day. i mean, i can't be cruel to myself. i've worked my ass off the whole day trailing after these people, writing stories on the fly and dealing with colleagues who are also competitors and stuff and as a reward, i'll ride that sardine can of a tricycle?

so buying an 800-cc cheap car is sooooo attractive to me right now. i don't care about the resale value or what (since when is a car an investment anyway?) but i could save a lot of energy and money by getting myself that alto. my weekly allowance is just for commuting. buti na lang may nagpapakain sa amin so nakakatipid ako sa food minsan. nagbabaon ako paminsan pero since i'm always mobile, minsan parang hassle magdala ng lunch box sa kung saan man ako pupunta. if i have a car, mas madaling magbaon.

imagine me lugging a lunch box that i can't shove inside my bag because the food may spill on to my laptop. then i would have to cling to whatever i can hold on to when i ride at the back of the tricycyle, stuffed with live, breathing people. there are mornings that i don't have any choice but to ride those sardine cans because tricycle drivers who are willing to go "special" in the mornings are hard to come by.

mas masama pag umuulan. you get the picture.

the only problem to this solution i've found is the money. where in the world will i get P420,000 (base is P398,000 plus 3-year registration and insurance) when other Half and i put our money in the stock market that is falling, falling, falling falling *sigh* (i didn't see the bottom) and in a mutual fund that we promised we will not touch for 10 years?

hay...dream on.

kelangan tumaya sa lotto.