RSVPinoy

The past couple of weeks have been the most stressful because of all the "family politics" and the oh-so-Pinoy way of saying "NO." RSVP, which stands for répondez s'il vous plaît or "please respond" in plain English, should actually stand for, "respond yes or sorry is very polite." Sadly, a lot of invited guests still don't have the foggiest idea on what to do with the RSVP card. Worse, some people actually expect that their whole family is invited and just show up! These wonderful "surprise guests" wouldn't be so wonderful "surprises" if guests actually read their respective RSVP cards very well (e.g. We have reserved 2 seats for you). It's not in fine print, you know.

2009.11.08 Post-Discovery Weekend Quick Update

Maya and I just got home after the required Discovery Weekend. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it'd be a kum-ba-yah praise the Lord Hallelujah-fest, but it was actually NOT a waste of time. Sure there were some moments of cheesiness, but over-all I liked it. Yes, jaded me, who's been there, done that, have had the tattoos surgically removed, me... The only thing bad about it were the beds, which were more fit for Fred Flintstone, but that was remedied by a certain something something

We'll post more later!
- Peter

Church and Legal Requirements

When it comes to the worst part of this whole wedding planning stage, the Church and Legal Requirements take the cake! Surprisingly, obtaining the Marriage License was way easier than requesting our respective parishes for permission letters and wedding banns. More importantly, we only paid a total of Php 250 for our Pre-Family Planning Seminar Certificate and Marriage License application in the City Hall, while we had to pay the church where Pete and I are getting married in Php 1,000 just for the Processing Fee of a whole slew of documents we had to get ourselves anyway! (Another Php 500 for Video&Photo coverage approval and a COMMISSION CUT from our supplier of the Church Flowers haha! W-O-W.) And get this, after we PICK UP the Permission Letters (for us to marry elsewhere and not in one of our parishes) and Wedding Banns' reply forms, we still have to pay a certain amount to our respective parishes for "allowing" us to marry in our chosen Church. And what's funny, these payments are exclusive of the total amount or balance we have to pay the Church for our Ceremony. (I guess the aircon, red carpet, ambiance and location of the Church, minus the flowers [separate pay pa, diba? :P], make up for the balance?!) Am I missing something? When did the Catholic Church, as an institution, become so money-hungry? Oh wait, it happened a really long time ago! Be forewarned brides-to-be, if you're Catholic, prepare for this!

2009.08.31 Florist

Maya and I went to the florist on a holiday Monday to check out the mock-up setup for the guest tables.

I'm not much of a flower person, but i do say that I liked how they looked. I can see in my mind's eye a picture of how the reception's gonna look. I think it's gonna look cool.

Peter

Birthday Suit? :P

Pete and I visited one of Pete's possible suit designers, Joey Samson, yesterday in Makati, and for the first time in my life, I am totally lost when it comes to men's fashion. I just realized that I didn't know much about suits, tuxedos, and the like. Apparently, there are so many things to think about when one has a suit made--from the lining to the peak lapel and from the illusion of making one seem taller to the number of buttons and pockets!

Fortunately, Pete's well-educated on all things suits, since he reads GQ and Esquire magazines. It was also actually a very productive afternoon (meeting with Joey, Jojit and discussing what else needs to be done for the wedding), and our appointment with Joey gave Pete another excuse to shop for more dress watches and high-end designer shoes!

-Maya-

2009.07.25 Wedding Rings

Maya and I went to the same jeweler where I bought her engagement ring to pick out the wedding rings. I tried on a ring, and was surprised to find that it didn't feel too weird. Obviously, I'm no Ringo Starr and am not used to having something sitting on my finger all the time like that!

Still it was nice to get this almost trivial, but important step completed. I hope that white gold ring will go well with the watches I plan to buy in the future!

Peter

Wedding Cake and Desserts - DONE!

Maya visited the cake maker (baker?) last Saturday and closed the deal :) Her name is Joy San Gabriel and her website's here.

Now I'm not into sweets or desserts, but I have to admit: Ms. San Gabriel's work makes my mouth water. Hope the guests like it too!

Peter