Coming Home in December

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

The song is playing in my head whenever I say or think of this line. Not only am I excited to celebrate this festive season but I am looking forward to coming home.

Prenup Shoot: Raymond Fortun Photography at Heirloom Manila

The recent weekend was packed. I flew to Manila to do a final fitting, meet with my coordinator, emcee and choir, and then fitting again for my best friend's wedding in December. The following day was spent for final food tasting and detailing with our caterer and the next day, a prenup shoot with one of our favourite suppliers: Raymond Fortun Photography.

I initially saw Atty RF's portfolio from a friend's Facebook page some years back and I was impressed. My fiance and I told ourselves we'd get him on our wedding. True enough, he was the first member of our dream team that we booked in a heartbeat.

The man we met at Heirloom Manila was not a high-powered lawyer in coat and tie with briefcase, but a cool wedding photographer in casual get-up and rubber shoes. He makes funny faces and imitates the Smurf, and is armed with two cameras. Don't ask me about the camera models. They just look high-tech to me.

Yep, it's Atty RF the photographer. Who would've thought that this funny man, the one who's covering our wedding, is one of the country's most sought after lawyers? When we met for the first time, we shook hands and he briefed us on some basic rules about prenup photo sessions. He shared a few tricks about looking slim and natural on cam. How groovy is that? The next few minutes just breezed through. It wasn't difficult posing for him and Zye de Guzman, one of his talented photographers. We felt right at ease.

We shot in this highly creative and "artsy" residence in Quezon City, owned by the renowed Engr Alex Juco and his wife, Paz. The house is filled with lots of memories from yesteryears with trinkets belonging to family members and kids. Mr Juco gladly gave me a tour while waiting for Atty RF and I was amazed by how well kept and creative he has turned the place into. It's like a museum. I love the place. It has so many corners that are picture perfect. The house is like a huge treasure chest!

These are some of the pictures I grabbed from Atty's Facebook page - straight from the camera, no Photoshop or any editing, for that matter. He will be preparing our prenup AVP and will be covering our wedding.

Office attire for me, chef's uniform for him

Sweet moments in the gorgeous living room

Elegant vintage

Supplier Ratings: 

Raymond Fortun Photography - ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ (5/5)

The Heirloom Manila - ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ (4/5)

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Raymond Fortun Photography
Official site

raymond42n@mac.com

Heirloom Manila
Quezon City, Philippines
Official site
theheirloomphilippines@gmail.com

Our Invites: Print Divas

The long weekend simply breezed through. I was hoping I'd accomplish various tasks for the wedding but I was wrong. I only managed to respond to Print Divas, our invites supplier, finalised the copy, did one more round of proofreading and sent over the pictures that will be used for our invite.

Initially, I thought of coming up with a formal invitation with a classic design. I reviewed several designs over the net and finally made up my mind on a boarding pass design. I chose Print Divas for the wide selection of designs and styles that they have. I compared their portfolio with the rest and to me, they are one of the best. I also relied on how their website is designed. Of course, a designer should have a professionally designed website that is not only complete but should also work well.

My first choice wasn't Print Divas. It was a different designer/printer. The day I was about to choose the design, its website "decided" to be buggy. I quickly dropped it and went ahead with Print Divas.

Anyway, I am targeting to have the invites printed by next week as I need the guests' responses by 14 September.

In terms of the design, I am glad that Print Divas managed to marry our theme and motif with the boarding pass style.

Entourage Card

The boarding pass style is appropriate because marriage, for us, is the ultimate destination. It also signifies the fact that we are boarding the plane (back) to Singapore after the wedding.

I didn't post the main invite and the RSVP cards as the layout is still being finalised. Our pictures are being inserted. I hope to see the updated draft real soon.

Let's just hope that the quality of printing is good. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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Print Divas
Unit 301 Emerald Place
604 Shaw Blvd, Pasig City
Philippines
+632 3831434
Official website
Facebook page

The Venue: The Pergola

My fiance found The Pergola one day as he was passing by the area. He suggested it to me and I quickly looked it up on the Internet. And I liked it!

Wedding Stressing & Wedding Blogging

It's true what they say: planning a wedding is stressful. Planning your wedding is nerve-wracking!