I think I better start my suppliers review before going back to our busy life overseas this Saturday, otherwise, I won't have the time to do this anymore since we'll be back at work straight away.. pero I'll do it in instalment just in case I fail to finish it asap.
I'll be doing the reviews for the following suppliers, feel free to PM me for other additional questions or queries.
Date : 2 June 2015, Tuesday
Wedding Coordination : Events & Elements
Ceremony : Church of the Risen Lord
Reception : The Glass Garden
Hotel : Eastwood Richmonde Hotel
Officiating Minister : Bishop Louie Santos
Catering & Reception Styling: K by Cunanan
Photo : Foreveryday Photography
Video : Ghe Consolacion Event Film Maker
Bridal Gown & Accessories : Manny Aquino Mondelo Couture
Reception Gown : Edward Teng
Other Wedding Accessories : TheWeddingCord by Michelle Garcia
HMUA : Thea Dionisio Makeup
Event Host : Darlene Tan-Salazar
Lights & Sounds : RejectKrew
Musicians for Ceremony & Reception: Impressions Music Ensemble
Band (ceremony only): JCTGBTG (Pastor's Team)
Invitations
Graphic Artist : Sweetscapes Styling
Printing : Ever Engraving
Calligraphy : Mica Samar
Save the Date Cards
Graphic Artist : Vintage Sweet Designs
Printing : Concepts & Technology
Other Printing Services : PrintCafe & RGR Prints
Florist : Love in Blooms
Bridal Car : Bridal Cars Manila
Groom's Car : A Perfect Day Wed Car
Wedding Cake and Candy Buffet : Toy Cakes & Pastries by Chef Kiko
Projector : Metrotech
Groom's Suit, Mothers & Entourage Gowns : Grace Adriano
Photobooth : Instabooth Philippines
Wedding Rings : Ong Pin
Principal Souvenirs : Sweet Goodies Ph
Coffee Booth : Starbucks
Digital Frame : Frame up Display
Fireworks (spray fountain) : Dragon Fireworks
PART 1
Ratings: 5 4 3 2 1
5 - Extraordinary to Perfection
4 - Very Good to Excellent
3 - Good to Very Good
2 - Fair to Good
1 - Poor to Fair
Wedding Coordination: Bon Villahermosa of Events and Elements - 5
I would always tell Bon that I booked them just because of their pink logo (partly true) hehe! I honestly do not know how I was able to search for them. I only inquired to 2 coordination team: Detalye Events and Events & Elements. The most challenging part for overseas bride is the fact that we don’t get the chance to meet the suppliers face to face for us to gauge if they are efficient enough to handle the event. I can’t remember if there’s even a THIS IS IT feeling. They are one of my spontaneous bookings but I know for myself, hindi ako nagkamali. I relied mostly on feedbacks. I am not even a member of GT or W@W during those times. They are fairly new in business too, I think 3 years as a group. I read their profile thoroughly and I noticed how keen they are to details, especially after I booked them last year, which is exactly 9 months prior to the wedding. We availed the partial coordination in a very affordable rate and Bon sent me her workbooks right away. It was very overwhelming on my part because I am a very excited bride to be and yet I have to finish all these paperwork/excel worksheets. I thought pag may coordinator, wala na akong gagawin. From that moment, I felt naman that I have someone I can ask ANYTIME regarding preps. She religiously answers my chats, viber messages, email, texts, and calls. If you are an overseas bride, you needed someone who won’t keep you hanging. If she’s kinda busy, she’d still let me know and tell me that she’ll respond later after her event.. During the BER months, Bon informed me in advance na she’d be very busy but will still reply once available. I appreciated all the gestures and pagiging polite nya. She’s very friendly, according to hubby, Bon knows what she wants, she’ll suggest but she listens and she will support your decision and will carry it out accordingly..I felt I just needed someone like her, and best of all, she has “exquisite” taste with everything.. I booked some of my suppliers because of her influence too.. and I thank her for that. During the event, the team worked quietly. Her team arrived on time (6 hours before the event). The most important thing that I failed to do is the endorsement of the 3 boxes to be used at the Preps, Ceremony & Reception. However, Bon has been involved with my preps and down to the tiniest details alam nya so even if I failed to hand over, they were able to execute all my instructions indicated in our “special instruction sheet”. If you are a LAZY bride, do not book them. Do your assignments and fill out the workbooks diligently so that you don’t end up blaming coordinators after your wedding.. She kept reminding me about the deadlines sa paperwork, buti na lang she’s very understanding. I sent her the full wedding detail workbook just the day before.. (because of guest list issues). Still nareview nya ng maayos. Another thing I like is her professionalism, especially in dealing with our very strict wedding governor (another coordinator who only focuses on the ceremony) Most Christian weddings I have attended kasi, they don’t have a coordinator but they do have a governor, in our case, it is our Ninong who coordinates Christian weddings for 20 years na. So we thought magiging big issue yon with Bon, but stil nahandle nya in a proper way. Instead of working separately, they joined forces kaya I’d be surprised kung hindi magiging maayos ang ceremony ko sa dami ng coordinators.
She also attended our entourage rehearsals, that’s why she knew exactly what is going to happen that day. The bridesmaids noticed too how eloquent she is. She expresses herself in a very appropriate manner, not annoying, or trying hard, at hindi OA.
When it comes to payments, she’s the one I’ve entrusted too with it since my family is in the province, while very busy ang mga tao sa side ni hubby so Bon paid all my suppliers (kahit di na part ng job nya). It’s good to have someone you can trust with big amounts and yet napaka transparent nya. She did the bank deposits like more than half of my suppliers.
Ceremony: Church of the Risen Lord, UP Diliman – 5
I’d give them a 5 even if the church is not air conditioned coz it is not their fault if mainit talaga sa Pinas. This church is so dear to us because it took a while before we realised that it’s actually existing. We were very happy when we found it. We are Apostolic Pentecostal Christians by faith and we are only allowed to have our ceremonies either sa Protestant or Baptist Church which is very rare sa Manila, or kung meron man, hindi talaga physically okay, sometimes the church is too small. This is the same church used by Shamcey Supsup so all throughout the preps, her wedding video is my inspiration board. Ms. Lotie Lazarte is the coordinator for the church, very accommodating and she has very good suggestions and will always tour us whenever we go there. I spoke to her and booked them over the phone too then Bon just went there to pay. I did not encounter any problem with the paperwork as we are civilly married na so they only required us to submit our Certificate of Marriage and the Bishop’s Authority to Solemnize. The church is located near the Katipunan Gate of UP, surrounded by trees with picturesque surroundings. It looked good on the video when Ghe did aerials. And it’s relatively cheap! If you are a UP Alumni then you’ll get additional discount. Hubby forgot to tell them that he studied Conservatory in UP, but we’re too shy to ask for a discount though because it’s really affordable na compared to other churches.
Reception: The Glass Garden Events Venue – 5
Glass Garden is our initial choice of venue because we thought at first that we will be having our ceremony in one of the auditorium type Christian churches in Pasig and C5 area. We also inquired to their new sister venue The Hanging Gardens Events Place in Fairview, but we backed out after knowing that K by Cunanan is not yet accredited with them. We’ve also checked The Blue Leaf (Global) they have a very attractive package and offered us a huge huge discount of their Silk and Banyan Pavilion (Silk – for ceremony at 80% off and Banyan – reception for 5 hours with lots of freebies) Yes, a very good deal by TBL. But still, hubby wanted to marry me in a “church” so we ended up with Glass Garden again since it’s only 30 minutes (with traffic) from UP Diliman. Joice Madrigalejos is our AE, who resigned mid-February and properly turned over our account to Myra. I never had any problems with TGG, all the AEs are responsive, I communicate with them via Viber and they reply right away. We got our security deposit few days after the event without any hassle. Tips for B2Bs: TGG do not allow the use of confetti in their venues as previously posted, I confirmed this with Connie of Dragon Fireworks when I ordered our church confetti and with Joanne of TGG. According to my musicians, TGG do not have very good acoustics so the feedback for the sounds is not so good if not properly checked by the L&S technicians so please keep an eye on this too. Our ensemble gave us a heads up that’s why na trouble shoot ang issue in advance.
Hotel for Preparations: Eastwood Richmonde Hotel – 4.5
I’d love to give them a 5 too but the stress they caused me around January this year is too much. It’s not their fault since they just wanted to protect themselves too, but I thought at first that the new policy is too inconsiderate for the client. We booked them in September 2014 via Agoda.com, paid 2 rooms in full (agad agad). The reason, they are very lenient with wedding preps. Sometime in the last quarter of 2014, there was an issue regarding “pasaway” photographers, plus excessive numbers of guests per room which leads to broken hotel properties/ fixtures/ furniture so they revised the policy and they became strict specially with bringing of food inside the premises (it’s a hit and miss according to some) meaning, yung iba nakakapuslit, others don’t. According to my coordinator, PAWP do not advise concealing of food from hotel authorities. Better follow the rule otherwise your supplier will end up getting banned from their premises, so we followed that. We preordered the meals at the nearest restaurant, and the coordinator distributed the stubs to suppliers para they can claim the ready to eat food reserved for them in a specific corner of the store. I thought the idea was brilliant, and it worked well with all of us. Well, except for me. Haha! Ipinuslit nila ako ng food so I don’t have to get out of the hotel. LOL!
In addition to that, they only allow a specific number of guests per room, so we ended up booking their biggest room just so I can accommodate our 6 videographers, 6 photographers, 5 HMUA, 20 entourage member, 17 family members, and other guests that we did not expect. I communicated directly with the Assistant front desk Manager when I was still overseas so they gave me extra heads (maximum of 40) after explaining our side of things. During the day, we did not experience any inconvenience even if we had guests way more than the 40 pax allowed. Everyone came and left ERH without any issue. The hotel is very good for photo opportunities and very cozy according to our son.
Officiating Minister: Bishop Luis Santos plus Musicians & Coordination Team – no ratings needed
He is the Head of Jesus Christ To God be the Glory Fellowship and Friends Again on Studio 23. I first heard him during my uncle’s wedding. I’ve always known him as a very strict officiant because during my uncle’s wedding the coordinators had to fix my shawl pa to hide the revealing parts of the gown haha! (I’m the maid of honor during that time). He’s also the reason (apart from my father in law, who is also a Bishop, kaya I ended up choosing a decent gown style for my bridesmaids just because ayoko ng technicalities on the day of my wedding) Seriously, this can be a major issue with some, especially for the conservative ones. I was surprised lang na open minded na sila about these things and I was very happy about it. Our wedding governor (not my coordinator) directly communicates with him regarding the ceremony. I learned too like a month before the wedding that Bishop would like to have his own coordinators and musicians on the day. Very problematic ako that time since we already booked a classical ensemble but then, we were able to work it out. He allowed us to have both groups on board and play on a specific part of the ceremony. Worried din ako at first and kept asking hubby if okay ba talaga their musicians, I have attended their services and church anniversaries but I don’t pay attention sa musicians so I won’t have any idea. I was assured na okay sila, their musicians are instructors from Yamaha (daw). Johanna of Impressions Music Ensemble is also worried dahil yung mga nakakasabay nila na church musicians bihira daw talaga ang magaling. Bishop’s musicians will only play during the ceremony. Prelude, Processional, Bridal March and Recessional will be handled by our own musicians. I couldn’t contain my happiness during the ceremony. I had the best musicians, both teams did amazingly well. Ang galing galing ng musicians ni Bishop, napahiya ako sa sarili ko for not trusting.I love their rendition of “This Is The Day by S. Brown”, and even with the other non-Christian songs. They were positioned at the left side of the pulpit, while our musicians naman nasa taas. So we had music coming from the different parts of the church kaya guests were surprised too why we have 2 sets. Everyone loved them. For Christian couples who do not have officiant yet, feel free to PM me.
Catering & Reception Styling: K by Cunanan – 5
When Bon asked who my caterer is, I told her, I am eyeing Josiah’s. I’ve heard a lot of good things about them and they are so generous with freebies (only because I don’t want my guests to go home unhappy with the food.) She asked again if I want to try K by Cunanan because I won’t need a stylist if I get them and that they really have good food. That’s the only time I started searching for their works. This is one of Bon’s suggestions that I didn’t regret booking and also one of the things I don’t mind spending as long as the guests are happy. Again, I made a good decision.
Jam Hernandez is our AE and we first met her in December during our initial FT. Bon booked K by Cunanan in a bridal fair so that we can avail their freebies. We were very impressed during the initial FT especially hubby who is so picky with food. For the Final FT, Jam gave us the chance to choose a different menu and more than the usual number of choice of food so we were able to try most of their best sellers. Here’s our menu during the wedding.
COCKTAIL
Chicken on Crisp Tortilla, Arugula, Caramelized Onion
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Shots
Honey Nut Shrimps
DINNER
Assorted Bread with Creamy Pesto Spread
& Roasted Peppers and Garlic
Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Barbecue Chicken Salad
MAIN COURSES
Slow Cooked Beef, Mashed Potato Cakes and Creamed Spinach
Baked Fish in Cream in a Bed of Mashed Potatoes
Mixed Seafood, Chicken and Chorizo Paella
Pork Belly, Fig and Apple Compote, Potato Puree
Carrot Rice, Steamed Rice
DESSERTS
Queso de Bola Cheesecake
Chocolate and Hazelnut Cannoli
White Chocolate Cake
Flambeed Mangoes with Vanilla Ice Cream
Fresh Fruits
BEVERAGES
Raspberry Iced Tea
Brewed Coffee
Tarragon Tea
As expected, guests are very happy with the food and up to now we are hearing good feedbacks and seeing pictures of our menu on facebook and instagram. Cocktails pa lang, okay na.. (insert Starbucks frappe too). Waiters are very nice and approachable. I only upgraded the VIP tables with 6 high topiaries. I kept the guest tables on basic styling since I placed some additional elements like place cards and menu cards. Achieved ni Jam the Dreamy and Romantic in Blush and Gray reception with the use of flowers and votive candles. It looked really romantic. During the final detailing kasi I felt I did not have enough time to conceptualize my table setup because we are heading into another meeting after that. I kept looking at the photo I took during the detailing and I felt parang kulang. Hindi ako mapalagay. But when I entered the reception area, everything looked exactly the way I imagined things. The styling complemented the 20 pcs hanging crystals from Glass Garden, plus the twigs of course and lights of RejectKrew. It’s a good thing that Bon & Jam worked several times before so communication-wise, I did not encounter any difficulty. Bon directly asks Jam on my behalf if I have questions. I’m glad to have a supportive coordinator.
