My Firsts (by David)

Wow! After months of attempt, I finally had my hand on this blog. Here I am posting my first issue. Hope that this won't be my last.

I have always been a fan of my wife's write-ups. From the simple note and poems she lovingly gave me when we were still younger (well, we're already on our 20s when we started our relationship) up to now where sending text messages, instead of love letters, and maintaining a blog are the 'in' thing to share your thoughts. In all honesty, I always go back to this blogsite to read the things she had written for our couples once in a while. And probably, similar to some of our clients, I'm excited to see her next post. But since she's really busy, I decided to take charge of updating this site.

I'm a frustrated writer (and singer...and painter...and race driver, haha). It really takes me hours to complete a write-up. It's 10:36PM as of now and I'm not sure what time I'll end this. There are so many things that I want to say...my first out-of-the-country trip with Queen and my family, my first studio photo shoot, the team building activities that we had for the J-L-O (Just Like Ours) team, and the countless weddings we coordinated. But since we have a wedding tomorrow, I'll limit my post to one wedding for now.

It was in Singapore when I first met the bride - Dothy. Queen and I were scheduled to fly home while my brother, Jhoelle, decided to stay in Singapore for few more days since Jack, his partner, will go to Singapore the next day. Dothy was very kind to accommodate them. Dothy is actually Jack's friend. When Dothy went back to Manila, she got us to coordinate her wedding. I don't have the details of the preps since Queen was the one who assisted them.

What I can share with you are pictures and things happened during their prenup and actual wedding. Here it is...

Prenup:

Yes, they had Shierdan and Chito for their video/photo. I have high regards to these two not only because they're very good on their craft but very professional and down to earth as well. The candid video taken by Shierdan during prenup and shown in the wedding day was really wonderful. As for photos taken by Chito during prenup...equally good as well!

After the prenup session, Edwin and Dothy treated us to a sumptuous lunch.

Now, the actual wedding...

We never had a hard time during the actual wedding, except when we decided to move the venue from the garden area of Mango Farm to the covered one. Dothy really wanted to have the reception area in the garden area. But our experience on handling weddings given weather condition proved to be correct. It drizzled while they were having their post-church ceremony pictorial. Their guests were also happy to hold the reception program in an air-conditioned room. Btw, thanks to the excellent service of the waiters of Josiah's for doing a sweep move of the tables and chairs from one area to another.

Wedding photos...

Let me start with her gown. I'm happy to say that the bride and ento gowns were designed and made by Jun Pimentel. Jun also made the gowns of our wedding. And he's part of the J-L-O team...yes, we have a real designer in the team!

Next is her bouquet by Teddy Manuel. I'd say Teddy is one of the most creative event stylists in the industry. Here's my shot when Teddy showed the bridal bouquet to Dothy. See how happy Dothy was with her bouquet.

Cameras, anyone? Aside from the artistic view of professional photographers, these dependable equipments that cost tens and thousands of pesos are one of the reasons why photo service takes a big chunk of the wedding budget.

And now, the beautiful bride. The make up artist in our team, Jackie Buenviaje made the bride simply enchanting. This is another great shot by Chito.

And the very cool groom - Edwin. Another shot from Chito.

Photos during church ceremony...

Normally, I only get to take photos during preps and after reception program. Mainly because it's really difficult to hold my camera while doing my role. But I'm glad I fired some shots during the church ceremony. Below is the maid of Honor and sister of Dothy. This is normal. Based from our experience, family members are mostly sadder than happier during the actual day. Both of my sisters also cried when I got married.

Speaking of normal scenario during church wedding, here's my shot of the groom wiping his tears during the bridal walk. Yes, this is also normal. I cried during our wedding, haha.

Post-church ceremony pix. One the challenges we face is how to gather people for the shower of petal as some prefer to drive quickly to the reception. I'm glad that for this wedding, not only we got a bunch of people to throw the petals. We were also able to request them to jump for a group shot. Here it is. Thanks to Chito for capturing this happy moment. Btw, I'm the one wearing brown uniform on the bottom right corner of the pix.

Reception. I was not able to take pictures during the program. Why? Because we hosted this event :). We had small number of weddings that we hosted for the year 2007. Reason being is because we were aiming to have a kid and we don't want to host together with Queen's tummy bulging. I guess we still need to wait for some time until that perfect timing comes. Anyway, I had my camera with me as soon as the program ends.

Dothy dancing with one of the kids in the house.

Who gets tired in a wedding? None, even the kids!

It's already 12:35am. 2 hours for my first post. Not really since I watched PBB awards night and Sports Unlimited. Congrats to Ruben for being the PBB Celebrity Edition 2 winner.

That's all for now. What's next? I think the more appropriate question for now is when.

Good night.