Author: Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco

San Agustin Church is our first and best option since it’s near our reception venue and hotel and it’s one of the most beautiful churches in Manila. Fortunately, the slot was available for our auspicious wedding date and time. Transactions and guidelines were smooth and efficient.

The wedding package at San Agustin Church is one of the most expensive in Manila but it offers a good value for money. It included the wedding mass and marriage ceremony, flower decorations, royal red carpet, organist and singer, usher and usherettes, altar servers, industrial fans, parking lot for 40 cars, documentation and registration of marriage contract, and stipend for the priest officiating the ceremony. In addition, we also availed of the opening of the doors.

The priest in our wedding ceremony had a clear voice and the homily was not boring. However, he could not pronounce my name right the many names he attempted. It was one of the things that injected some humor during the event.

It was just sad that the church office staff told us prior that rental of Iwata coolers from external suppliers was allowed. On the wedding day, the fans were delivered but were prohibited to be used without a generator which wasn’t mentioned to us before. We already spent thousands for six units and those were only put to waste.

The church coordinators are strict with the photo taking and also strict with time allotted. If you think you need more time for the ceremonial mass and photo-ops, try booking for two slots (two hours) instead but that would entail paying twice the cost.

There were too many tourists outside and people going in and out of the church can’t be controlled. We visited yesterday to attend the wedding of our friend and they already have a large sign stating that tourists could not enter while a wedding is ongoing.

https://www.facebook.com/centuryparkhotelmanila.officialpage/

There’s no doubt about it. Century Seafood Restaurant is one of the best Chinese restaurants in Manila. We did not have food tasting; we’re sure that they’d provide authentic high quality Chinese-Cantonese food. Our guests were happy and satisfied with the food selection and tastes. We selected a pre-made set menu for their events and occasions and suggested to change only one of the items.

We requested for the food to be served at the Century Park Hotel Grand Ballroom where the reception was held, at no additional charge. Everything turned out fine and without hassle. The venue layout was sent to us early so communication with our event stylist and on-the-day wedding coordinator was also clear.

We booked two rooms in Century Park Hotel for two nights. One room is a suite where my family and I stayed the night before the wedding. It was also where the hair and makeup and pictorial sessions were held in the morning, and the place where some of our relatives and some friends were staged while they’re waiting for the reception to commence. The suite was equipped with the essentials we needed for a flawless stay. The area was spacious to accommodate more than 30 people to sit and chat around.

The other room was where the groom stayed the night before the wedding. It was designed with a touch of simplicity with practical amenities and modern furnishing as well.

It’s convenient for us to stay in the same hotel as the reception venue, so we would not have to travel far and drive long after the celebration.

http://eastdigitalstudio.org/wedding/index.html

Everything agreed in the contract was followed and we were constantly in contact with East Digital Studio team from our prenup photoshoot in Bali, Indonesia to the actual wedding day. We had vital pre-wedding warm-up sessions to practice our poses and facial expressions, and we appreciated that our main photographer’s friendly disposition, seemingly infinite supply of energy and undeniable sense of fun allowed us to relax in his company and be our true selves in front of the lens.

Anthony Magana’s effort in photo editing is tremendous especially for printed photo formats. However, turnaround time may be longer. I thought the quality of photos was okay but lacked the real “wow” factor that we expected. What’s commendable was that their team arrived early on the day and was really careful about giving us all the space without missing any important moments.

http://www.photogenicsstudios.com/

https://smaweddingsandbeyond.com/

We’re very happy with how SMA Weddings and Beyond showcased their professionalism. Sheena and her staff were all friendly, approachable, and helpful. They covered the entire wedding without any big hiccups. We had over 700 guests and we were not at all stressed out about anything.

Sheena is a top-notch coordinator and we’re incredibly lucky to have had her. She made us feel like everything was 100% under control. She also respected our inputs and provided advice based on experience. She managed to collect all the wedding passes for our suppliers and coordinated with them before and after the wedding proper for the disbursement of our final payment as well. Can’t recommend her enough!

There was one helper each assigned to be with the groom and bride in case we needed them to attend to anything. One of the staff helped iron my wedding dress and made some last-minute improvisation to the dress (sewed up the long-back tail) for me to be able to dance well. My eyes were getting dried up because I was wearing contact lenses longer than usual, and he immediately came to the rescue and gave me soft contact lens drops. He’s like godsend.

Sherine did an awesome job hosting our wedding reception. We’re confident we made the right choice! She kept the party flowing and followed the sequence as planned. She has great communication skills as she was able to host in English, Chinese-Mandarin, and Chinese-Fookien naturally. She’s also a good singer and sang three Chinese songs as we requested.

We met her only twice before the wedding to discuss and finalize the order of activities. We strung together a timeline and she contributed good ideas for the games.

http://www.dangwaflorist.com/

From the moment we met Arleen in the wedding expo, she was a like a breath of fresh air buzzing with energy and fantastic ideas about styling and flowers. She gave us a really good rate for the package and their team delivered more than what we expected.

We just chose pegs from pictures of their past events, and the colors and output perfectly matched our ideas. The flowers were freshly delivered to our hotel in the morning and were properly labelled (for the church, for the entourage, the bridal car, the bridal bouquet, etc.).

The team began to set up in the reception venue just in time (60 round tables, long presidential table, partial ceiling draping, stage table, stage backdrop, cake table, arch in the entrance, reception table). Dangwa Florist’s expertise and experience in handling big events is exceptional. Money well spent!

Tip: Remind them of their deliverables as they have the tendency to forget some details prior the actual day. They’re quite responsive to calls and they make the necessary adjustments quickly.

Louie found Velvet Mood in forums as it received praises from other wedding couples as well. We were provided with links of their performances on YouTube videos and we liked them. Their jazz sextet was great. The vocalists received a lot of compliments from guests. This shortly explains how they managed to create the perfect mood with tunes people recognize and enjoy.

The best thing was that we did not have to worry about the number of songs and song choices. They performed unlimited songs throughout the party and we just gave them a short list of songs we preferred.

Velvet Mood also participated during a “Singing Bee” contest which we held as games during the reception.

When it comes to Chinese weddings, JL Lights & Sounds is one the most prominent lights & sounds supplier. It’s the dad’s of Michael Lim (fashionpulis). They’re considered the expert in the service and they’re able to give out reasonable packages to clients.

James and Melvin are easy to talk to but they’re quite hard to reach through mobile phone (maybe because they’re too busy).

I didn’t have working knowledge on the specifications of a sound and light system that’s required in events. We just trusted that the rented units (plus laptops and LED walls) would suffice and we would be assisted as necessary. We didn’t encounter any booboos with JL, and the price we paid already included the hotel electricity fee.

We got their promo package which included airbrush makeup for the bride and moms, grooming for the groom, traditional makeup for four people and one flower girl. They also styled our hair (free hair accessory for the bride) and did unlimited makeup retouch plus a second look for hair and makeup on the reception.

My mom was very particular with the kind of hairstyle they’d do for me and they were able to execute well according to the peg provided. I liked the simple and natural look of bridal makeup. The products used were of good quality and my skin did not break out afterwards.

However, the eyeliner wasn’t budge-proof. My eyes were blackened even before the wedding ceremony started. Joy’s assistant helped to get rid of the smudges but it took a while to enhance the look and bring it back to perfection.

The mascara and false eyelashes smeared and flaked off after the wedding. Since they weren’t the most reliable, I opted to remove them before the reception. Else, it was difficult to see things clearly with something that was like blocking my vision.

JAD Makeup Atelier was responsive and worked on comments and suggestions from the other members of my entourage who had their makeup on.

My mom found John Sicat through OLX and chose him because he’s staying Binondo just near our home. John is an experienced professional dancer and he’s also teaching dance choreography in a TV network. He teaches jazz, hiphop, modern, retro, contemporary, Zumba, swing, tango, ballroom, cotillion, and first dance in weddings.

We met for three practice sessions and completed a four-minute dance. They also did the song remix for the father and daughter dance and the bride and groom’s first dance. They chose the songs for our approval and edited some parts of the music to fit the choreography as well. Total is four songs.

The husband-and-wife team of John Sicat was great. They’re friendly and nice, and they showed a strong sense of professionalism. They’re creative with variations of dance moves which would be suitable for us.

Diamond with Love Jewelry Shop is a dream project of husband and wife Ali and Joan Eclipse. They customize engagement rings, wedding rings, and jewelry with diamond setting. They have a lot of design options and also suggested ones that fit us. Our wedding rings were made with premium look and simple but elegant design.

Diamond with Love Jewelry Shop offers lifetime cleaning service with convenience. They also provided us with diamond certificate and lifetime warranty with one free ring resize to ensure quality ring for life with care.

Our wedding invitation has several pages for English and Chinese. I gave out all the details and also typed the Chinese characters for them to copy. The layout came out nice and simple as we wanted. There were a few mistakes on the draft but overall, they did a good job.

We sent over 500 wedding invitation cards and all were produced and delivered in time. The quality of paper and envelopes used was also crisp, thick, and presentable.

There are several bridal gown stalls in 168 Mall but what made me choose Kryzet Bridal Collection was that Agnes, the attendant/consultant, explained to us on how they produce tailor-made couture-style gowns from boning to hems and bustles. The owner used to work for popular Filipino wedding gown designer Francis Libiran, so we could expect almost the same quality and nice design without having to break the bank.

I printed pages of design pegs from online sites and was impressed with their craftsmanship. There were a few alterations with the size since I gained a few pounds three months after the time they noted my body measurements. My wedding dress arrived cleanly packaged with the accessories and double petticoats for a fuller effect. The stitching was very clean. The interior had great boning and the corset and crinoline were well done.

For my bridesmaids, maid of honor, and secondary sponsors, I was also happy that their dresses were custom-fitted. The designs were based on Yesstyle.com. The custom elements including hand-stitched lacework, straps, and sequins used to complete the dresses were all pretty good.

http://royalcarriagesph.com

Royal Carriages Auto Restoration was founded in the 1980s as one of the three companies owned by the late Architect CC de Castro. It’s a vintage car service provider for weddings, commercials, movies and photoshoots. We rented a vintage white car with a driver for six hours. We exceeded the time (because of traffic going to reception), and they did not charge us extra fees.

https://www.facebook.com/photomanph/

Instead of the usual photo booth, we acquired the service of roving photo men to capture best moments during the wedding reception. We had over 700 guests, and it would be a waste of time for them to queue up to get their photos taken. The photo men went table to table and also took pictures of us on the stage and on the dance floor.

The PhotoMan is a photographer with two printers mounted on his back. We had two photo men who instantly printed the photos and gave them to the guests. We then could physically see and hold the memories in our hands and also view them on Facebook a few days later. What’s also very unique with their offering was that they allowed unlimited printing of pictures just as we requested for them even after the event—for free.

The design of the photo pages was customized for us in line with the theme of the event. They produced a combination of real time captures layered with artwork which set the mood which was distinctively ours. Excellent service! Our guests were very satisfied.