Day 20: Health Up 2

from now on, it wouldn't just me who's getting in shape for the wedding! woohoo! cris hopes to lose pounds before the big day, too. he knows whatever we'll look like during our i-do-day, as immortalized by digital cameras and social networking posts, will forever haunt us. so we'll aim for the same thing: to look good, even for just a day.

Day 19: Extended Reception

another suggestion cris offered for the wedding is to hold it somewhere here in metro. and to that i interposed no violent objection. remember meeting halfway? although, of course it saddens me that i could not invite my every friend from my hometown. maybe i could, but i can't afford to send plane tickets to all.

perhaps knowing this troubling dilemma i am in, my sweet groom-to-be came up with a great solution: to have a little reception in my town after the wedding and after the honeymoon. not some grand reception, but at least i can invite more friends and relatives, a some sort of public announcement that i already tied the knot.

Day 18: The Engagement

my engagement ring

a friend of ours who got engaged last year - Nikki - posted pictures  in FB taken during her engagement party. cris and i were there to witness how Nikki's fiance put it together so Nikki won't suspect and how he got down on one knee and proposed.

to satisfy the curiosity of those baffled how cris popped the question, uhm, it wasn't anything like nikki's. cris and i had a massive argument last year that turned ugly. i broke up with him, if not almost. on the eve of my birthday, he asked me to marry him with a ring. and he was drunk! your guess is as good as everybody's: i said "no". he insisted that i took the ring, left it actually, then he sadly walked away. or did he pass out?

of course, you know we got back together. but i have never worn that ring since then. it reeks of a lame proposal, well, to my skyscraping romantic standards. plus it was miles too big for my ring finger, even bigger than my thumb.  but a ring is a ring, so i  thought it's worth keeping. so, how did we got engaged again?

Day 17: Honeymoon in Europe

i wish to see you, paris!

cris has this new crazy idea. he gets crazier after  our every travel. he must still have a jetlag when he suggested a Europe tour for our honeymoon. i bought his idea, who wouldn't want to be in the most romantic tourist destination, paris for one, right? but before i got too excited, cris reminded me that we'll probably max out our savings for the trip. he said if i can opt for a simple wedding, meaning economical, we can spend weeks in europe, otherwise we'll probably snore our heads off in some hotel or resort in the philippines after the reception.

so which one, a fab wedding or a luxurious honeymoon? why can't we have both? aaargh!

Day 16: Wedding Invitation

after our leyte vacation, cris and i went straight to resorts world for the sunday dinner with cris' brother and the latter's family. hey, there was a wedding expo! suppliers for wedding gowns, flowers, rings, photographers crowded the cozy venue. i twisted the, this time, legs of cris to join me as i walk around. he could not give me his lame excuse to light his cigarette outside because smoking is allowed inside the mall. 

what caught our attention was the supplier for wedding invites which creates specialized invitations. one invitation on display was laptop-designed; computer and technology played important roles in the 'love' and life of the couple, we were told. i took their flyer instantly, now we just have to figure out what we have in common, aside from books!

Day 15: Garden Wedding

garden wedding by the bay

i have always wanted a church wedding. in fairly tales, the journey to a happy-ever-after starts with a church wedding. but fairy tales rarely do come true, right? i'm not getting my dream church wedding, at least not in this lifetime. cris and i agreed for a garden wedding.

i am catholic, cris is a baptist. neither of us is changing religion any sooner. so when cris said we'll have a garden wedding to be officiated by his pastor, i offered no argument. i know that's the only halfway we can meet up. besides, it is not the place which defines whether we'll have a successful married life or not. there, we just had our once-in-a-blue-moon compromise, what a good way to start off a marriage, you think? 

before i log out, it crossed my mind, just now: should our kids be catholic or baptist? uh-oh we'll attend to that later, we should get ourselves over and done with the wedding first!

Day 14: Wedding Date

this june-month started with heavy rains. and probably will end with more of it. yes, june is the official start of the rainy and for the philippines, flood season. as we lounged around the airport today waiting for our delayed flight due to a typhoon, cris and i discussed about our wedding date. and, uhm, we're having second thoughts of holding it in june. we fear it may rain on our garden wedding. oh, i missed to tell everyone we'll hold a garden wedding! remind me, i'll blog about that tomorrow. 

anyhow, we thought of moving the date earlier. summer time when the sun is shining at its brightest and hottest. i'll hand sunblock lotions as giveaways heheh. we even considered getting married on february 29, it's leap year next year, check your calendar!  we'll celebrate anniversaries every after four years. we're half crazy, aren't we? there is a setback, though. feb 29 falls on a wednesday. my greater fear is that no one  will attend the wedding. i'd rather have a rainy wedding than march without my family and friends.

while we still are uncertain of the date to mark, for now, we'll stick with our plan, june 10 it is!

Day 13: Budgeting 101

not only weddings are stressful, the cost is also astronomical! we don't need an accounting degree to know that. so when cris asked me how much money we'll have to shell out for the wedding, i played deaf. i know he'll freak out to know my whopping estimate. so until today, we actually don't have a budget yet to work around with. yay! but we started already a bank account to pay for all the expenses. and promised ourselves never to cash out unless its for the wedding.

with this budgeting, i will have to slash my shop n' dine  outlays, travels included! well, except maybe for this weekend, we are bound for leyte. i'll start saving up next week, i promise! 

Day 12: Honeymoon on a Cruise

inspiration: Sam and Louie having breakfast on a cruise ship

going places is my cup of tea. travel far and wide! if only my work is not demanding and i have a stash of money, i would be everywhere. i just started  my mission to experience the philippines' 7,107 islands but recently cris and i agreed to cut off our travel expenses to save additional doughs for the wedding. i'm having these sad thoughts  lately: travels will become few and far between soon, the rigors of routine married life will set in after the wedding. sad face here.

i'll let you in on a secret. my ultimate dream travel is on a cruise ship!  bahamas, carribbean, asian, mediterranean, alaska, wherever! i would love to explore ports of call, see beautiful places, take a lot of pictures, watch sunrise and sunsets, sige na nga bask under the sun, kiss on deck under starry skies, sleep later than usual, wake up surrounded by sea, be incognito and oblivious and much more. 

so you wonder why post travel and cruise in this wedding blog? because cruisin' is my best option for a honeymoon! i hope he agrees... *charming puppy eyes ala puss n' boots*   

hon, should i start booking?

Day 11: The Wedding Gown

Veluz gown, my inspiration

a ball gown for dramatic effect

finally, after days and nights of swooning over images of wedding dress on the internet, and dreaming about them in my sleep, i already know what my gown will look like! and it just occurred to me, it was the same perfect gown i have fantasized as a child. yes, i have come in full circle, amazing, right?

i want my wedding dress princess-like, with frills and beadings, see my inspiration above and click to zoom in. i admit, i never really outgrew my love for fairy tales and happy endings. i still like anything that looks sweet, romantic, and  girly. with a little of vintage style for some drama effect! arte ko talaga!

now that i'd figured out what i want to wear on the day  i'd say "i do", i will have to find a couturier. i already have a long list of bridal shops i will scout as soon as i have the time. i really really want veluz , i hope cris is reading this (insert smiley), but i can't afford her. maybe i'll check on marc rancy first, he's nearest my place. i will give updates!

Day 10: Wedding Suppliers

remember my loot from yesterday's post? i had all the time to sort piles of flyers today. to boast, i already narrowed down our options to include only suppliers that are well within our budget. we'll check them out real soon, the wedding gown included! how's that for 10 days planning?

Day 9: Wedding Summit

i am on a mission to make my wedding fab and memorable. close to that fairy tale wedding i had always dreamed of when i was growing up. but i am on a tight budget so i really need a greater dose of effort and hard work, creativity and resourcefulness too!

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today, despite the gloomy weather and heavy rains, cris (after i twisted his arm) and i attended a wedding summit to look out for wedding ideas and best deals. walking around the halls filled  with wedding suppliers gave us wedding jitters aka cold feet! plus it made us realize how pricey it is to get hitched nowadays, wedding cakes for almost a hundred thousand is just too much! and since, offered cakes are way above our budget, we munched on their cakes for free tasting. not bad!

my loot bag was full of flyers and business cards when we left the venue. the expo wasn't much of help to us. we haven't booked our venue yet,  i still haven't decided on my gown's couturier. bummer!  i need a wedding professional planner. badly! 

Day 8: Skin Care

every bride hopes to look good on her wedding. i, included! being the star of the show, i'll be having my pictures taken close-up, oh no! i'm worried because i'm in my late 20s but i still have major horrible breakouts. i've probably spent a fortune for facials that did not make even a little difference plus they hurt like crap! 

i'm getting desperate, so today, i walked in a dermclinic as i start to seriously work on my skin. i was recommended with 3 sessions of chemical peeling and new set of beauty products. the peeling started today and expect me to wear a face like a badly peeled potato in the days to come. yay! and i'll go through that process again and again. yaiks! and just as my face hurts, so does my pocket! no guts, no glory, right? beauty is pain. and besides this investment will pay off big on my wedding day, that's what i told myself as i tender a handsome pay to the dermclinic.

to walk the aisle absolutely glowing, angel-like, without the halo or the wings,  is my most ambitious project yet! heaven forbid, vanity is fastly becoming my favorite sin!  never mind, i'll make up for that one way or another. for now, let the countdown to beautiful skin begin...

Day 7: The Wedding Song

during a sumptuous dinner tonight with some friends, i was reminded that while in college, i wrote a song for a local band which played my original composition in a battle of bands. no, your eyes are not deceiving you, i just bragged about my composing prowess.  it may come as a surprise to most to learn that someone like me who can neither read notes nor play any instrument could write some lines. it surprised me, too, albeit just now! FYI, i can't carry a tune!

in another blog which i keep in private, i included in my to-do-before-i-die list composing another song. with that, i just had this crazy idea to write my wedding song. crazy, right? ok, this is a maybe. or maybe not. i'm not really serious but i thought i'd give it a try. let's see how this unfolds.

Day 6: Our Story (Part 3)

 for the finale...

before he left that summer, just like in teenybopper movies, he told me to wait for him. if he's serious or joking, i couldn't be so sure. i waited, nevertheless, but when months passed and i never heard from him again, i moved on. i admit patience is never my virtue. i finished  high school and college and learned the ins and outs of life and love along the way. i was days away from graduating in law school when i read an email from cris via friendster.

a little rewind. half a year ago, i thought of my teachers that summer '98. i thought of cris who for all i know would have been a husband and a doting father by then. he was years older so i had no doubts. i sent out hi-and-hello messages to my teachers and to cris, nothing  really romantic. 

Day 5: Our Story (Part 2)

continuation...

one day, i knew i 've had enough of kuya cris and math. so, when my migraine pains seethed in, i stealthily left the room for some fresh air. when he noticed his most diligent student disappeared without a say-so, kuya cris was fast enough to find me, perhaps cursing him, outside. he was genuinely concerned and apologized that he burdened me with so much math problems saying he did that to help me hone that  talent, if you can call that talent, i already had. later did i realize how perfectly right he was when i was winning math quizzes here and there because i know how to find the area of a triangle inside a circle inside a square, thanks to kuya cris, but that's a story i should post in another blog.

that same day, for an hour or so, we sat outside and talked non-sense silly things. soon, i found myself laughing at his comic antics. he wasn't  so intimidating after all! and this math teacher could sing! when i was in high school,  someone who could throw me a joke, make me hate math and croon me with a song was a total deal maker! yes, cris was!

... read the finale tomorrow.

Day 4: Our Story (Part 1)

it was in summer of '98 when we first met. i just turned sweet sixteen (read: i was in high school!). student-teachers from U.P. were in my hometown called paradise to conduct review classes for the UPCAT exam. kuya cris was one of them. surprise, surprise, i used to call him  "kuya". 

summer '98: our first picture together

it wasn't love at first sight, at least not with me. in fact we had a love-hate relationship that early on. good for me, because the class had a hate-hate relationship with him. here's why: while the other teachers  displayed friendly attitude in class, kuya cris was always hot under the collar, always barking around. laging salubong ang kilay na parang pasan nya ang daigdig! who would forget how he flinged the blackboard eraser because a classmate could not answer him. i couldn't really blame kuya cris, it wasn't easy teaching math. i could not fault my classmates either; a dreaded subject + "uncool" teacher = i'd rather be absent, too!

but, ehem,  i was this teacher's pet. maybe because i did pretty well in that summer-math class! need i brag i was damn good in math before? or maybe kuya cris was infatuated with me! hahah, don't bother asking him, he'll deny this to death, with his comprehensive but misleading account. anyhow, kuya cris booted me out from my class and made me sit all by myself at the back with loads of advanced math problems to solve before he comes back. he was soooo cute, i mean, cruel like that!

to be continued...

Day 3: The Motif

i want my wedding to be unforgettably romantic, and elegant and sassy on the side. think roses, valentines and lipstick! we're having the same dreamy thoughts, i could tell!

it's not a surprise that i'm picking red for a motif, was it? it had been and always will be my fave color, anyway. so yes, after cris dismissed my  earlier idea for a regal-gold-theme and echoed his resounding NO to my sunrise-sunset-yellow-brown motif, the wedding will mirror the  boldness of red, the color of love, passion and romance. * note: his eyes did not roll this time around*

Day 2: The Wedding Cake

cris and i are book aficionados; we hungrily read everything and anything we can get our hands on. sometimes, we'd grab a book or magazine, sit side by side, never really talk. ok, after minutes of deafening silence and my boredom kicked in, i'd  read at full volume just so to tick him off or shift his attention, he's so caught up in his own world when  he's into reading. 

when we reunited some years back after a decade of separation, thanks to social networking, he handed me a gift: no - not the customary bouquet of flowers or imported mouth-watering chocolates but a... drum rolls please... a BOOK! while most would find that odd, i was totally impressed and i knew i was swept off my feet right there and then! Although a book and flowers and chocolates would have been a plus plus, i told him years after, in a joking way of course!

anyway, we want our wedding to be not just an empty ceremony of tying nuptial knots but also that which captures and reflects our personalities, no matter how differing they are at most times, you'll find that out in some later entries. so, we decided, actually i suggested and he consented, to have a wedding cake that depicts a stack of books that are significant to us. you think that's easy? we'll expect some fighting scene ala-crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon as we choose which books we'd stack for the cake! set your expectations higher, a word war 3, perhaps?

Day 1: Healthy Up

this i promise: i will be sporting a sleek-and-slender-goddess body on my big day! i weigh in this morning: 48 kilos, not far from my ideal weight of 45 kilos. just a little exercise and healthy diet to shed off some of those unwanted pounds. the groom-to-be,  needs more help than i do, heheh. 

the quest for a better lifestyle started today: i walked into the gym, yes, my condo's gym a few floors away from my unit which  i took for granted for waaay too long now. i was that stubborn, i know! i did some 30 minutes exercise with the treadmill and stationary bike, not bad for a first timer, right? there, a step closer to having that inaambisyon na goddess bod!

Day 0: June 10

the die is cast. another circle of our mighty earth around the  scorching sun and i'll be walking the aisle and saying my vows! I am partly excited and partly anxious knowing that we're still a year away from that forever-and-ever matrimony. yes, a heck of time to perfectly plan a  wedding, or so it seems. 

what a better way to keep my family and friends posted with the minutest preparation details than by - tada - writing to this online blog.  

journey with me for 366 days 'til i say "I do" to my happy ever after...

love lots,

florida

P.S. i welcome comments and suggestions! :-)