Practical Pinay Bride

Monday, March 16, 2009

Martha Stewart Weddings Philippines - March 2009

Finally!

Do we really have to wait for 6 months for every issue of Martha? I'm supposed to get a free copy of this from the office. But I can't wait any longer so I bought my own copy. It's worth every penny. I found some ideas I can apply in my own wedding. I'll blog about them separately. Get your own copy now!

Friday, March 13, 2009

How Far Can Your Color Motif Go?

Our initial peg for our color motif was the interiors of Stella Luna in Rockwell. We fell in love with the deep hue of plum combined with silver. But like any bride (or should I say woman?), my mind kept on changing. I couldn't pinpoint the exact shade of plum/aubergine that I wanted. I also realized plum would look well with gold too. I also didn't want my entourage to look like the cast of Barney. I wanted to stay away from the tradition of having your entourage look like they're wearing a uniform. Every person in your entourage has a distinct personality. You should let her wear something she'd feel good with.

Then one magical day (yeah that's really how it seemed to me: magical!), I saw these color palettes in Perfect Bound (http://perfectbound.blogspot.com/2009/02/reem-acra-fall-2009.html). So I emailed my designer:

Is it possible to have a color scheme this wide and this rich?! Sigh… Ignore me. I’m just dreaming. ;)

Color palettes from http://perfectbound.blogspot.com/

He didn't ignore me! Watch for my post on the dresses of my entourage. ;)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Do You Really Have to Spend on Event Styling for Your Wedding?

The answer is NO! I think the most practical move we made for our wedding is to pick a reception venue that, aside from offering a very friendly package, is so beautiful you won’t need an event stylist/production designer. (With all due respect to event stylists/production designers. I'm an artist myself, and a marketing professional. But for now, I'm speaking from the perspective of a bride on a budget. Peace!)

From the moment I heard about Sonya’s Garden in early 2000, I’ve grown curious and interested about it. The moment I set foot on it, I fell in love with it. Since then, I’ve gone there a number of times with my fiancé and my family. What made it even more beautiful for me is that all my memories of the place are memories of the most important people in my life.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Wedding Photography

This, for me, is the ultimate wedding photograph. Beautiful, candid, heart-felt.

Monday, March 2, 2009

DIY Queen

I've been DIY-ing cards, stationery, toys, gifts, clothes from the moment I can hold a crayon. As a bride-to-be, I'm now on my biggest DIY project (to date)! Having Martha Stewart Weddings in the Philippines is one of the best things that happened in my wedding preps. And now they're holding a bridal fair!

March 28 - 29, 2009 at the World Trade Center, Tent Pavillion. Register at www.summitmedia.com.ph/mswbridalfair

To my W@W sisters, another great thing that wedding preps brought me, see you at Martha's!

Low-Budget Flowers

I’ve always read in wedding magazines and websites/blogs that engaged couples should set their priorities for the wedding. Our top 3 priorities do not include flowers. We’ve decided to keep flowers simple and reasonable. We’ll only need flowers for the church/ceremony. For the reception, we picked a venue that wouldn’t require production design/event styling (this would be another blog entry).

I discovered from different wedding sites that baby’s breath is the best option for simple and reasonably-priced floral arrangements. Ok, they’re not just reasonably-priced, they’re cheap! A bundle of these costs P60 in Dangwa. Imagine how low you can go if you buy in bulk!

from The Bride's Cafe, photographed by Leigh Miller

But for my bouquet, I’ll have hydrangeas decked in feathers! I got the feather inspiration from Martha Stewart Weddings. As for the hydrangeas, I’ve always been a fan of hydrangeas and they’ve always reminded me of Tagaytay. I was delighted when my [wedding dress] designer recommended that hydrangeas would go very well with my dress. The paper-cut-out texture will compliment the texture of my skirt (again, this will be another blog entry).