Gary and Ivy's Wedding in Wonderland Suppliers' Rating Part 1

It's been so long since I last posted. We've been married for almost 2 months na, and I'm carrying our honeymoon baby (agad-agad). I think most w@wies would agree that their wedding wouldn't be as beautiful if they hadn't joined w@w. Wedding planning may not be easy, but it's something I already missed. Withdrawal ang drama! Miss ko na mag-panic, mag-DIY, mag-compute.

Okay, dami kong chika. Here is my list of suppliers. You can easily Ctrl+F if you want to go directly to that specific supplier naman. Hehe!

Venue: Rosemont Gardens, Tagaytay

Photographer: Ernest Santos Photography

Back-up Photographer: Manny & April Photography

Videographer: Photo MNL

Caterer: Purpledish

Stylist/Florist: Florist Gids (Gideon Hermosa of Events Studio)

Let's start! :) All pictures are from Manny and April photography. :)

Venue: Rosemont Gardens, Tagaytay

Our theme was Alice in Wonderland in pastel colors. We opted for a garden since we would be having a Christian ceremony. Rosemont Gardens is 3-in-1: preps  venue, garden venue for the ceremony, and covered venue for the reception.

Ceremony Area

(Setup by Events Studio - Gids Hermosa)

Reception Area

(Setup by Events Studio, Lights Setup by Rejectkrew)

Pros:

• Affordable, overnight rate is 45,000 when we booked the venue
• Convenient for guests
• Picturesque (Ganda lang ng Taal, the garden is nice)
• Clean restroom with complete shampoo and soap
• We didn't get to sleep in na, but the guests who slept over enjoyed the stay. Aside from the beds, there are mattresses pa na pwede tulugan ng mga kids

Cons:

• It was stated in their website that their address was Alfonso, Cavite. We had our marriage contract and Request for Venue (something for Christian weddings raw) state Alfonso, Cavite. At the night of our wedding, when we asked Jovelyn (caretaker) where the municipal hall of Alfonso is, she replied that Rosemont's part of Laurel, Batangas. We had to reprint and notarize the Request for Venue, we requested our officiating minister to draft another marriage contract, we asked our godparents to re-sign our marriage contract, and we had to go to Laurel, Batangas, which is suuuuper far from Rosemont to drop our marriage contract. Haaaay. Such a hassle. When we asked Miss Karla (proprietress of Rosemont) why the website says Alfonso, Cavite, she said it was for marketing purposes. 
• I think it was partly our fault that we didn't confirm first. Pero after ilang days, they changed na the website information to Laurel, Batangas.
• The bridal preps room is dark. Wala masyado sunlight. Since I did my own makeup, nahirapan ako to get natural light, also comment rin ng photogs/videographers na yun nga, medyo madilim sa room.
• Only 1 restroom for guests

Photographer: Ernest Santos Photography

We didn't want to spend too much on photos, hindi kami photogenic, hindi kami mahilig sa pictures. And we guessed marami rin naman makiki-picture sa wedding so we spent only 10k for our wedding photographer. Ernest was my classmate from UP, and orgmate sa IE Club. He also was our prenup photographer.

Here's a link to our wedding photo album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.611596815536726.1073741830.456194624410280&type=1

Pros:

• Affordable, rate for 3 photographers is 8k lang with free prints na (plus 2k for out-of-town fee)
• Natural and hindi scripted yung poses (naiilang kasi ako sa scripted/cliched poses, tingin ko di ako marunong umemote, di bagay sakin)
•  Madali kausap and madali mag-request

Cons:

• Parang nahihiya siya during our wedding. He's the main photographer kaso nasisingitan siya ng mga tito/tita na nakikisingit sa picture
• I don't think na-capture nya lahat ng gusto namin ma-capture, nakulangan ako sa shots, specially sa entourage shots

Backup Photographer: Manny & April Photography

I love love love Manny and April! We got them at introductory rates lang! April was a w@wie before then they decided na maging supplier. I love their team!

Pros:

• They just got married, so they know pano ang poses, panu ang acting, they even helped me sa timeline chuva ng wedding (When to get dressed, when to eat, etc.)
• Mas madami pa sila shots kesa sa main
• Bilis ng delivery of output, got our official pictures na naka-package and CD na
• Here are some of my favorite shots:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Cons:

• I can't think of any. :) They're good at what they do! And we got more than what we paid for.

Videographer: Photo MNL

I think I'm the first w@w bride who booked Photo MNL. Photo MNL is headed and owned by Kier Bulseco. I got a special discount since Jenny Gelvezon referred me to Kier. 35k inclusive of prenup video and wedding SDE. Libre na yung out of town fee. Here's our SDE: http://vimeo.com/64294300

Pros:

• Our guests loved our prenup vid and our wedding SDE, many of our guests asan na ba yung wedding SDE namin, and even the prenup a day after the wedding, some guests 
• Hindi conventional yung shooting style nila, captured yung real emotions
• Crisp yung audio and HD na yung video na nakuha namin

Cons:

• We didn't have a copy of the prenup video and our SDE. Hindi kasi kami nakapag-provide ng flash disk. Pero sana may CD/DVD. Pero keri lang. Too bad our prenup video was taken down by vimeo kasi copyrighted yung music! Sayang! Wala tuloy kaming copy!

Caterer: Purpledish

I've posted in this blog before about Purpledish. We've got them at a super discounted rate. 553/head, inclusive of candy buffet, cake, tiffany chairs (a must!!!), wine, etc.

Pros:

• Affordable! We reserved for 170 pax and paid only less than 100k. Plus additional 10k for OOT. And Php1500 for carving station
• Freebies! More freebies! 
• The cake is super nice. Basta sinabi ko lang theme and peg was topsy turvy na Alice in Wonderland. 
  
  
  
• Instead of photobooth, we availed of the candy buffet for 50 pax. My friends said na masarap naman yung candies and not cheap at all. I love the setup as well, complemented our theme!
  
• The desserts were a hit.
• Our guests came home full!
• Gary and I have always been a fan of the dishes Chef V cooks! As in. We ate a little before our grand entrance. Gary loved the beef and veggie lasagna (it was served to us hot pa), and salmon. Of course the appetizers I wolfed down in 2 seconds pa lang. Haha! Though we weren't able to eat during the wedding reception, when all the payments were settled sa suppliers and the guests left, we sat in our small couples' table, and devoured the food! Para kaming PG! All I could say is kahit malamig, we loved the food. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• My personal favorite is Chicken Roulade in 3-way sauce, and Tofu Sisig. Syempre blueberry cheesecake! Yum!

Cons:

• One of the reasons why we availed of the promo package of Purpledish was dahil tie-up sila ni Gids. But before the wedding, instead of coursing everything through Purpledish, I had to go out of my way to contact Gids. 
• Sabi ng VIP, medyo late raw na-serve yung drinks. I specifically requested na pink lemonade ang i-serve para pasok sa theme. Chef said pa na lalagay sa carafe. I didnt see any display ng pink lemonade. This late serving ng drinks added tuloy suya factor. Siguro I should have upgraded to softdrinks or something para mawala ang suya factor. Sabi ni Chef one round ng pink lemonade, then unlimited regular iced tea na. I don't know why ganun ang na-feel ng VIP namin.
• My mom said malansa raw ang salmon. 
• I don't know if isolated yung VIP guests sa feeling na hindi nag-enjoy sa food, but kami naman ni Gary enjoy, e same lang naman na sinerve yun sa VIP e. So probably, different strokes for different folks? Hehe! 
• I surveyed some of my guests, busog naman sila! Though hindi ganun inexpect ko reaction, I was hoping na "Wow, super sarap!" pero may ibang tables na halos masuka raw sila sa kabusugan in a nice way though. Some of the guests nga told us na mukha raw mahal ang pa-cater namin!

Stylist/Florist: Florist Gids (Gideon Hermosa of Events Studio)

If I ever get married again (of course to the same man!), at mayaman na kami, I would get Gids again! This time hindi na freebie!

Pros:

• As part of our package, we insisted on getting Gids. We added 15k for reception upgrade. Super ganda! I can't rave enough. Let the photos do the justice. 

• We also had our ceremony setup done by Events Studio:

• My flower and my groom's corsage was also done by Gids, because I was one hell of a lucky bride and I won Joedshares' giveaway! We're so lucky kasi dream ko talaga na hindi mag-rot yung bouquet so I can keep it pa!

Can you see my smile? Hahaha! Ang saya ko dibaaah!!!

This is a flamingo-inspired bouquet by the way. I won kasi Gids was challenged and excited to do an all-feather bouquet! Hihi! Bet na bet ko ang hawakan. And hindi tinipid sa feathers ha. I love the rhinestones and beads as well.

Gary's boutonniere!

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Part 2 will be up later this week! :)

My suppliers for part 2 would be: 

Gown: Zalby Almoradie

Groom's Suit: Mang Pons Tailoring

Lights & Sounds: Rejectkrew

Projector: Balayan Projector

Photobooth: Celebrations! Photobooth

My DIYs: invitation, boutonnieres, photobooth template, bridesmaids' bouquets, wrist corsages, makeup