Hello 2013 brides. I'm a 2012 bride pero December kaya I would just like to share my supplier ratings and kwento with you kasi kayo na ang next in line! Cheers BBBs!
Rating:
♥♥♥♥♥ highest
♥ lowest
Church: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Shrine, New Manila, QC
Rating: ♥♥♥♥
We always pass by this church going home to Marikina through LRT Line-2. Tanaw na tanaw ito from LRT pati yung Oasis. Sabi namin, someday, we’ll get married on that church and sa Oasis and venue (di pa naming alam na Oasis and name nung venue before). I also thought that this was the St Theresa Church my friend is saying, kaya I really wanted to have our wedding here. But because Glass Garden and initial na dream reception venue ko, we looked for other church na mas malapit sa reception. Turned out we had to let go of the reception venue to have our wedding at Mt Carmel. Brother Eli who’s in-charged for weddings is also very nice and helpful. The aisle is very long din kaya dramatic talaga and bridal march. Nervous to the max talaga ako pagtungtong nung bridal car sa harap ng church and nung narinig ko na yung Canon in D for the entourage march. The in-house sound system kung may strings ka is very nice and clear din. 4 hearts ang rating ko kasi we were not able to have our personal vows huhu. The priest used their old misalette kasi, maybe he can’t read the one we’ve prepared. Kaya dapat used the exact font na lang and size from the template na ibibigay ni Brother Eli. Also, na-realize ko after the wedding, na better to bring a priest along with you. Yung resident priest kasi medyo nagmamadali. Hindi nya kami sinabihan ng “you may now kiss your wife”. Hinabol din sya ng coordinator naming to have our picture taken with him pero nagmamadali na daw siya at may mass pa siya sa Greenhills.
Reception: Light of Love Atrium Hall
Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Super na-stress talaga kami kakahanap ng magtutugmang Church date at reception venue. I’ve considered Glass Garden (my dream venue), Oasis, Blue Gardens, Fernwood, and Gazebo Royale). Naikot na ang buong manila sa internet haha. I was losing hope when I ran into Light of Love’s atrium photo in the internet and I fell in love with it instantly. Oh that chandelier! And as I have posted before, In the fog of the trials of night, there is a Light of Love that can make things right. Hehe. At least I still have the element of glass and the garden hehe. Venue-wise, wala ako masabi. Ok and aircon, staff, yung garden. Everything is nice. Hindi rin ako nahirapan makipag-coordinate sa AE (Steph Reyes) because she’s nice and very helpful. Nag-request ako ng easel for our painting and she reserved it right away for us. 4 stars lang and rating kasi they’ve changed our free basic Lights and Sounds from Segue to Stradpro without informing us. Maybe they thought hindi kami affected ng change but we are. Songlist, add-ons from other suppliers, all of these we’re coordinated with Segue. On the day tuloy, walang setup for the strings because they didn’t know na may strings. They gave us both fog machine and bubble machine kahit isa lang dapat. Para siguro makabawi hehe. And also, madami din silang corkage fee. This is one reason kaya hindi na kami naghire ng lights and sounds, kasi 8k and corkage fee. So you will opt to hire their accredited supplier na lang para makamenos sa corkage.
Caterer: K. by Cunanan Catering (package with LOL)
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Pwede 10 hearts? Hehe. During caterer hunt, aba na-consider ata naming lahat ng caterers ng LOL. From Hizon to Eloquente to Josiah to Manila to Juan Carlo to Passion Cooks, Haha. I didn’t know KbyC before. Ang alam ko lang is yung Josiah (kasi from Marikina and lagi binabanggit ng mom ko), and yung Hizon’s. After further research, I’ve come to know KbyC. Depende kasi sa preference ng couple. KbyC is both caterer and stylist in one na, kaya I was really dying to get them. When I was about to book them, turned out fully booked na daw sila on our day. I was really really saddened by that news. Buti na lang malakas yung coordinator namin hehe (thanks Ms Chi) and we were able to get another slot. I can still remember the sms she sent me “Good news sis, we got KbyC. Oh, smile ka na” and she also sent a message to Macy “You made a bride happy today” hehe. Coordinating with them is also not difficult kahit through email lang. Macy is initially our AE and she was the one who handled us during the initial food tasting. Di rin sila strict sa number ng food tasters kahit 2 person lang ang kasama sa package. Kasama kasi namin mom ko that day. Macy is very professional and she really knows what she’s doing. She suggested more for the setup, and we took note. Kaya when they changed our AE to Jieza, I’ve just discussed with her yung mga inputs ni Macy. The AE changed caused me some stress, kasi I’m afraid Jieza is new and she can’t handle. But she did pull it through. I’ve sent her the pegs, and come final food tasting, wow, the setup is lovely. Wala kami comments, approved agad lahat! And come wedding day, the setup is even lovelier! All requests were granted as well. Ms Kaye herself is the one present on our wedding day and everything is perfect. Food-wise, masarap, madami. Puro take home pa nga ang guests. Service is super ok din. They brought us food sa courtesy room and served the lechon we’ve requested haha.
Coordinator: Ms Chi Hernandez-Abarquez of Once A Bride Weddings
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Pwedeng 10 hearts din? Super highly-recommended. We owe to their team our stress-free wedding day. I always say this sa mga friends ko: “coordinator can make or break you/your event”. Super important na well-trusted and coordinator team. We love them especially Ms Chi and Pia who was on my side the whole day. The rest of the team syempre love din namin. We got their Big Day OTD, which is exactly what we needed. It’s OTD coordination but with planning assistance. This is very helpful because Ms Chi will be there to assist you during detailing with caterer and emcee. Wala kasi akong idea what are the things to ask, things to prepare, etc. On the wedding day itself, they arrived very early, and di pa ako nakakashower. But they did not waste any time and started to unpack my handover stuffs. At paglabas ko, tapos na sila. Nagkaroon ng hassle about Oakwood not allowing late checkout, but I left it all to Ms Chi. And yun, sila na gumawa ng paraan and the whole day stree-free talaga. When I was outside the church, I was really really nervous. Ms Chi was there saying release the stress… relax… She said to me “Leonard is the man for you, don’t be nervous”. And yun, nag-start na ang bridal march. Reception time, the team is still very active especially nung games na. Everything is in order, hanggang sa nag-turnover na sila ng stuffs.
Photo - Blacktie Project Photography
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Because of our last minute change in photo and video supplier, we were only able to get their team B. They arrived early also. Never kami nailang with them even if it’s the first time we’ve worked together. They know how to handle the subject, make them smile, and ease the tension. They are a group of talented young photographers. Cool and astig. Hehe. We got the raw photos shortly after the wedding. All requests were granted din except one. May isa lang namiss, yung request namin to have an overhead shot from the loft, but maybe, it’s because Mt Carmel did not allow them or di nila mahagilap si Brother Eli. Whatever the reason may be, overall, happy kami sa photos na nakuha namin, sa service during the wedding day, and sa customer relation. Hindi kami nagkamli in choosing them. Currently waiting for the editor’s pick. Super highly-recommended
Video: Bliss and Berries
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Pwedeng 10 hearts uli? Because Blacktie is no longer available for video coverage for our wedding, we got their sister company. Sila sila din naman yun. Hehe. Same as Blacktie, never kami nailing sa kanila kahit it’s the first time we have worked together. Superb ang same-day-edit that they presented during reception. I never noticed them taking candid shots, ang galling galling talaga. All requests were granted expect the loft again. Maganda ang cinematography and super galing ng mga videographers. Naalala ko nung reception todo praise talaga ako sa gawa nila and talang all thumbs up and the best talaga! Watch our video to see how good they were. They upload the video on the day before we fly back to SG and ang sabi ko nga, ang ganda ng pabaon samin ng Bliss and Berries pabalik. Super highly-recommended
Prenup/Save The Date P/V: Photoimagicraft by Gian and Fidji
Rating: ♥♥ 1/2
Two and a half hearts. I did not want to do this kasi tapos na, nangyari na, but I think other brides deserve to know. It might be an isolated case and I’m just sharing our experience with them. This is the supplier that caused the most stress during our wedding preps. Me and my husband even fought for nights because of this P/V issue. They were our original P/V supplier but we decided to let them go 3 months before the wedding, after our prenup shoot in Singapore. I’ve booked them online last Dec 2011 because I fell in love with the quality of their photos instantly. I love their color grading and the way they edited the photos. Turned out they will not do the same for all couples, dahil when we received our edited prenup photos, all were just color graded. Wala yung framing framing, tabi-tabing pictures like what you will see in their blog/fb page. Oh, well. One reason why we changed is the quality of their same day edit. Let’s just say depende sa preference ng tao, and as they said when we decided to let them go, they cannot please everybody. I already raised my concern to my husband bago pa magprenup, and he still insisted to stay with them because he believed in them. Come prenup day, they were very professional. As in extra mile ang ginawa nila and inabot ng 12 Midnight and shoot. Photo-wise, the shots taken were very nice kahit raw photos pa lang. Sa save the date video kami naloka. NO requests were granted kahit na naka-specify lahat sa email. Mismong song na lang na gagamitin mali pa. We admit na kaunti lang ang na-shot, pero it should be their responsibility as our videographer. And when I complained about the song, they just replaced the song (pinatong lang) instead of re-editing. Turned out tuloy the video was too short for the song because it was not done for that song we requested. Eto yung turning point and we decided to let them go na talaga. We also didn’t like the way Gian responded to our emails after this. I have nothing against Ms Fidji, I love her. To be fair with them, in my opinion, photo-wise advantage talaga to have them, kasi gian is the photographer and he does the editing himself, so he knows what photo he want to take and how it will look like after. Well, the rest is history.
Florist: Everlasting Flowershop
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Everlasting flowershop is a GT find. GInaya ko lang ang florist ni sis chubbycheeks hehe. Ms Blessie is very professional and nice to talk to. Very open din sya sa changes ng contract and reasonable when it comes to price. When we visited their shop in Dangwa last December 2011, natuwa kami sa offer at ang daming freebies. Kaya we booked them straight away. Medyo nagworry ako sa quality ng arrangement kasi may nakita ako online na ginawa nila. Come wedding day, I was surprised with my bouquet. Ang ganda ganda as in. I really loved it. The entourage bouquets too and the flower boutonierres are very very nice. All requests din stated in our detailed pegs are followed. Si Jeff yung nag-a-arrange and nagdeliver. They delivered the flowers early para iwas traffic. Mabait din kausap si Jeff.
