Mrs. Chubs Diary❤️: June 2015

My Bacolod Experience!

food June 23, 2015

Share |

Wedding Tips Series: How to choose your venue?

Random Thoughts June 18, 2015

...The perfect location for a wedding?

This is one of the most important decisions you have to make during your wedding preps. Wanna know why? As I've mentioned in my previous post, aside from the date, venue is usually asked by suppliers during your queries to them. It will help them give you an exact price quotation since they already have an idea if they need to charge for out-of-town fees. So how to pick your venue? Here are some of my learnings from my experience that I want to share with you.

Ibarra's Garden

1. Where will your guests come from? This should be your #1 consideration in choosing your venue. Ayaw naman natin siguro masira yung ilang buwan nating pinagplanuhan just because you can't start your ceremony because of late guests and/or entourage; or worse, your guests can't attend to your event dahil malayo sa kanila. Yes,we have to accept it that even though they really love us, sometimes nauuna ang kaartehan/katamaran (guilty ako dito!!!. hahaha)

Hacienda Isabella

2. Time of your wedding - this is important especially when your venue of choice is near a busy road which means one thing...T-R-A-F-F-I-C!!!.

Discovery Shores Boracay

3. Proximity of preps venue to ceremony venue to reception venue - You have to take note of distance of these three venues with each other as they will affect your entire itinerary for the day. Imagine if nalate ka ng 30 minutes going from preps venue to church mo and your church strictly abide with 1-hr time, eh di 30 minutes na lang ang ceremony nyu? So it is possible na no grand entrance for you and just proceed with the exchanging of vows. I can't imagine a wedding without the walking-down-the aisle moment of the bride. Eh di sad na agad ang start ng day nyu as husband and wife.

Isa pa, what if ang layo ng church sa reception mo? Possible that some of the guests who attended the ceremony might not go to the reception anymore; or vice versa, they will not attend the mass and instead just wait for you in the reception hall. Either way, they will miss a part of your wedding. Or if kayong couple ang nalate and nauna ang guests sa venue, chances are they are hungry already and might not fully enjoy the program you prepared for them Not unless of course you got some snacks for them.

Shangri-La Hotel

4. Number of guests - Most venues have maximum capacity especially if it is indoor. So this rule is simple; Do not reserve on a venue who can only accomodate up to 100 guests when you imtend to invite 200. Even if your first date as bf-gf happened there and there are so many memories you want to cherish with that place. Your options are to trim down your number of guests so you can still use the venue or retain the invitees amd start doing your research again. Either way, you have to sacrifice something.

Kawayan Cove, Batangas

5. Do you have additional booths to set up? - Let's twist the scenario in #4. Your venue can accomodate up to 200 guests and you only intend to invite 100. Sounds ok, right? but you also intend to put additional set ups like mobile bar, photobooth, candy bar, coffee booth, etc. Will they still fit in? Again, if the answer is no, then don't.

Immaculate Conception Cathedral - Cubao

6. Ceremony/Reception venue rules, are they strict? - Most catholic churches in the country, I think, don't allow personal vows during thhe ceremony.Some also don't do closed door entrance for the bride ( which for me lessens the drama) If you're ok with these, then you don't worry about this item. But if you are like me ( a drama queen), then you may have to inquire first about their rules during your oculars.

However, above all, your venue should be close to your heart and will serve as a constant reminder to both of you on where your love has been blessed by God.

Happy preps!

Mrs. Chubs

Share |

Wedding Tips Series: How to plan your wedding?

Random Thoughts June 10, 2015

Image Source

After you have agreed to marry each other, it's now time to plan things out for your dream wedding. (or maybe, changing your status in facebook from "in a relationship" to "engaged" may be an optional next step.hehehe). So what comes first nga ba?

Below are the tips that I can share to you based on my experience in preparing my own wedding last year. Note that I am not an expert but I think you can still pick a thing or two with this list.

Decide on your preferred date and place - Why? Because these are the info that most suppliers asked first before entertaining your queries. Baka kasi ang haba-haba na ng usapan nyu, di na pala sila available on your schedule. O di ba sayang lang effort and time? This also helps the supplier to give you a more accurate quotation since they will know if they need to charge an out-of-town rate or if they need additional fees if you will have a morning wedding.

Note: if you can't decide on your wedding date or place, you may start to call or visit your chosen venues to know their availability. In that way, it may help you to narrow down your choices.

Image Source

Set your budget - Remember, wedding is only a 1-day event. You also need to prepare for the marriage and the future. So you don't need to splurge your every savings on it. Decide on your maximum budget and stick with it.

It will also be helpful if you will prepare a budget template that you need to update every time you have signed a contract or paid downpayments. In that way, you can keep track of your expenses. Mine was made in Microsoft excel so it was easier for me to update my file. I also have set a percentage of total budget for each expenses rather than setting a fixed amount for each.

Identifying the number of guests you will invite will also play a big factor in your budgeting. Remember that meal for your guests will have the biggest cut in your wedding fund.

Listing down your non-negotiable suppliers and "nice-to-haves" is also a good start in planning your budget. In that way, you will know how much to allot for that non-nego supplier or what details of the wedding you might scratch off the list if your budget will not permit it.

Image Source

Make a list of items that you need and start your research now! - This is the most important thing to do in preparing your wedding. Not only it will give you your money's worth but will also provide you a hassle-free wedding day. I suggest you join online wedding community like W@W (Weddings at Work). This group have been so helpful in my own preparation since most of the members are also bride-to-be or husband-to-be. Reading wedding blogs will also help you to find inspirations that you incorporate in your own wedding.

Don't be shy to visit wedding fairs. Suppliers usually give big discounts when they are booked during fairs so don't miss out the chance to same some bucks.

Image Source

If you can, hire a coordinator. Promise, it will make a big difference. For those who don't know what is the work of a coordinator,, they are the ones who will execute all your plans that you made for the past couple of months.They will also you help in deciding for some details by presenting you options.

There are three types of coordinator - Full, Semi-full & the OTD. Full and semi-full are suggested for those brides that needs more assistance like overseas brides. For me, I just only hired an OTD ("On-the-day") coordinator so that I could still be a hands-on bride.

Image Source

Don't sweat the little things - Remember that you have already made your plans months before so don't dwell on things you just thought you wanna do days before your wedding. Also do not complicate your life by trying to do "DIY' items just because you thought it will save you money. If you're not a DIY peep like me, you might end up spending more and having more stress. Remember to balance things out so that you can also enjoy every minute of your preparation.

I hope that my list will help the b2b (brides-to-be) and h2b (husbands-to-be) out there in their wedding preparation. However, please also remember that you're not just preparing for that day alone but for the union of your lives together. Ok?

Happy preps!

---Mrs. Chubs---

Share |