Tag Archives: detalye wedding and events

Rustic-travel themed wedding guest giveaways

Posted on by

Hubby and I wanted guests wedding favors that covered both the rustic and travel aspects of our theme. And well, katsa (rustic) bags (can you get any more “travel-ly” than bags??) certainly did fit the bill!

But we want it personalized.

With the help of a co-w@wie Anna, who designed our cartoons for us just in the nick of time, we had our cartoons silkscreen printed on the katsa bags.

Credits!

  • Cartoon design by Anna Bonnevie
  • Giveaways tag design by Lene Dee-Dragon
  • Printing coordination, twine wrap and tag fringe edge ideas by Erika of Detalye

And oh. I wanted to use our cartoons as a stamp on our postcard thank you cards that we’ll be sending our guests. Customizedesigns did give us freebie stickers but the number of sticker cartoons we have is obviously much less than the number of guests we need to thank for. I tried to edit our cartoons to put some stamp border on it using Photoscape but my computer just freezes over whenever I try to attempt to edit it. After almost a day’s attempt, I had an output. But far from satisfying. I emailed Anna what she used to obtain the same stamp border as our cartoons for our giveaways. And I should have expected – Photoshop is the answer. But what I didn’t expect was the attachment that came with the reply. Anna revised our cartoons and gave me four options for our stamps.

Hubby was so surprised when I just suddenly exclaimed, “wow, Anna is such a nice person!!” when I read Anna’s email. True, Anna is one of those persons I have encountered that would make you say, “People are intrinsically good”.

Thankful for the blessing! 🙂

Katsa bag raw photo courtesy of Dino Lara.

rustic napkin bouquets

Posted on by

Idea: Erika of Detalye Weddings and Events

Execution: by Atsushi and Marjorie 😀 Doing it together was so much fun! It was one of my favorite evenings on our last week before the wedding. It was good to have our good laughs offset the scary atmosphere of Prince Plaza Hotel II where we stayed for 3 nights. (Segue, on Prince Plaza Hotel II: I am sensitive to “presence” of those not human. At one point, Hubby asked me, “Can you feel the ghost? Even I can feel the ghost”.  That’s how eerie the place was. One good advantage of the place though is its convenience being just right in front of Greenbelt IV.)

Materials: bought by Erika’s team in Divisoria

So proud with our finished products! Ready for handing over to Macy of K by Cunanan to adorn our napkins.

Review: Detalye Weddings and Events

Posted on by

Was browsing my roaming phone earlier and came across food trip pictures that I should have had featured on my goodfood blog. But I ran out of time till I cannot make an accurate review anymore. Hence, before things get hectic, even when I still don’t have pictures from Dino Lara, I have to make a go on my review, putting in as much pictures as I have at the moment.

——————-

I figure half of why I felt so calm the morning of our wedding day was that I learned to let go; that I did my best with what needs to be done with the time given me; that for the wedding day itself, I am letting God do the rest.

The other half is that I know we’ve chosen really good suppliers and that I trust they will also do their share to help us have the wedding we’ve dreamt of. I think this confidence stems as well with the thought that even when I wasn’t there to remind our suppliers (especially those whom I have had no contact with for some time already) of what we wanted for the wedding, I am assured that our coordinators will be there to make things work.

My confidence was justified – Detalye Weddings and Events is one efficient group of coordinators.

I couldn’t count anymore the number of times that I’ve met with the couple Erika and EJ; a nice couple, although I really look diminutive with how tall the two are haha. I booked their partial coordination package albeit it was a revised one already because when I booked them, I was already able to book most of my major suppliers.

Back when I was still researching for escort cards, I fell in love with the idea of us having airplane origami escort cards. The escort cards are actually part of Detalye’s scope but thinking it would be too laborious to work on the origami considering there’ll be a 100 guests, I didn’t bring up my wish the next time Erika and I met. But lo, Erika mentioned she read my blog and since EJ is luckily into origami, they’re gonna make us airplane origami. Can-you-just-imagine how happy I felt? haha!

Half the number of the origami planes were in orange whilst the other half is in lime green. True to their name, Detalye was really OC with the details – for couples, they gave an orange and a lime green for each. Love that small detail.

Now I have these hypersensitive nose. I get really bad sinusitis when I get exposed to dust and minute particles. Suffice it to say that I get sick whenever I go to Divisoria (a pity, really, since there are a lot of good finds in Divi!). Erika and her team though were kind enough to buy us the materials for our invites and our napkin holder – which hubby and I DIYed – and for it, I am really grateful.

Oh, since I booked them on the spot when we met, they gave me a freebie – supposedly a hair accessory for the bride. But since my couturier Richie Torres is gonna provide one for me already, I requested Erika if they can provide chopsticks headpieces for our little girls instead. Erika went beyond the chopsticks idea – she accessorized the chopsticks with neutral and orange wooden flowers and green berries. It left me totally green-eyed with our little girls. I want one as well!! haha.

Now, I was really having a hard time looking for a match with long handle. So much so that 2 days before the wedding, Hubby and I decided to just buy an orange and a green lighter in Ace Hardware. Completely unadorned! Of course Erika knew about the purchase and that we’re settling with it as we really had no time anymore.

Come wedding day, Erika told me they were able to scour matches with long handles. Great! But when I saw how the matchboxes were wrapped in lime green and orange and that it was literally covered with stamps,stamps that has our initials and wedding date as that, OMG!! Well, you can imagine how a bride can be really giddy. Really happy and thankful. I promise to post a picture of it ASAP – whichever comes first, Dino’s pictures or us making some order out of the chaos that is now the library cum luggage room.

Except for during the actual ceremony, Erika seemed to be right beside me almost all the time; calming me down, giving me water, even assisting me when I need to go to the toilet (yeah, I had to go once!). Erika was even coaching me before my walk to be mindful of the carpet edge as it’s a usual stumbling block for the brides (I tried to feel the carpet edge with my feet because I really don’t want to look down as I walk down the aisle and it was successful!) When I sufferred migraine from right after the wedding, Michelle (on the car en route to Ville Sommet), Erika (on the chalet), EJ (during reception) was ever ready with a pain reliever for me.

One other thing. It was already at the back of my mind but I really wasn’t able to confirm with Dylan if the flower beds he was providing us for the rings and arrhae already comes with a pouch. Come wedding day, Detalye came to the rescue by bringing an orange organza pouch. Girlscout! 😀

And oh, did I mention already how calm and collected their team is? Not panicky at all. No running around.

There were just a few hitches though, among of which was that the Bestman and MOH weren’t given their gifts. Somehow it was given to the parents (we already had separate gifts for the parents) and it took us a couple or so days before we knew it was with them and that we had to collect it back. In the end though, Bestman and MOH got their gifts. All ended well.

There’s one thing I realized with the qualities a coordinator should have aside from being organized and efficient – they should be trustworthy. They will be handling the payments on the day, making purchases and receiving your gifts (all of our guests really held true to our request – those who gave gifts really gave cash gifts). Hence, your coordinator should be one who is trustworthy in that even when you don’t re-check the calculation anymore, you know they did it right.

And Detalye is one trustworthy group of coordinators.

If our wedding had been a success, it was partly because our prayers and all that we worked hard for bore fruit. And of course it was also partly because we had a very efficient and organized coordinator who handled things smoothly and efficiently.

Thank you so much Erika, EJ, Michelle and the rest of your team! 🙂

Supplier: Detalye Weddings and Events

Rating: 4.75/5

Contact details: info@detalye.com.ph, erika@detalye.com.ph, +63917.8937452

———–

Oh there’s more to be thankful for with Detalye!

  • They took care of the script with our emcee
  • They took care of booking the vans for hire that our families will be using during their 4-day stay in Manila-Tagaytay
  • They even had an itinerary ready for the drivers!
  • that and more besides.

A&M wedding day tales and our SDE

Posted on by

Before starting off (part of) our wedding day stories, Atsushi and I want to thank our friends and family who had set aside some of their time, travelled to Tagaytay from Manila and even flew in from Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Davao, to be with us in our wedding day. We can’t thank you enough. Honto ni arigatou Gozaimashita. 🙂

To our friends now in different parts of the globe (US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Indonesia) who wanted to be with us yet can’t, thank you still for being supportive and for helping us during the preps. We would always remember the help you gave us. 🙂

————–

I was pretty emotional the couple or so weeks before our wedding. When hubby arrived though on the 23rd, I had to set aside being emotional and focused more on what’s left to be done. End result, it was hubby who was more like the bride (feeling anxious, worried etc) while I was behaving more like another coordinator – I had to keep focused on what’s next to be done. We were not just organizing a wedding but was organizing as well a vacation for my family and friends (who was here from Davao) and hubby’s family and friend (who came from Japan).

So yes, the day before the wedding was very hectic, not because we had to tie some loose end details of the wedding but that because we had to fetch up our families from different airports and have fittings for the entourage (they’re out of town/country so that was the only time we can have the fitting). I had to make sure as well that our other guests whom we’re not picking up at the airport gets to their respective hotels safely. I wasn’t feeling so bride-y at all but more like a tour guide. So in turn, groom-hubby had to feel for the both of us.

In any case, because I really cannot attend to the preps anymore, I was really very thankful for Detalye’s efficiency. And creativeness!!! Anyways, will post a separate blog about Detalye once I receive our photos from Dino Lara’s team (so looking forward to it!!). Suffice it to say that i’m another satisfied Detalye bride. Oh yes there are hitches here and there, but it definitely wouldn’t mar my excellent rating on them.

By the way, as we still don’t have with us photos from Dino Lara, we are thankful to our friends who were fast in uploading our pictures in Facebook. This one was among my favorites.

Anyways, I digress.

Come wedding eve, after having had tucked all Tagaytay newcomers in their beds, I was able to sleep early. I slept for seven hours – to which both Erika and my HMUA Irene Sy-Go commented that this is most unusual since a lot of brides doesn’t get that much sleep the night before the wedding. I do agree considering I have had bouts of insomnia during preps.

Was up early (7am is early for me, yes) on the wedding day. Had some quiet breakfast inside the house while my family ate in the gardens of Yellow Coco. I was yet to make my vows and that was the only time I had hence I willed myself to make use of it.

When Dhonna called in from US, we were already in Ville Sommet’s Chalet and Irene was doing Mama’s makeup and Rica (hairstylist) on Kat’s hair. At that time and up till after lunch, I was feeling so calm. No butterflies in the stomach whatsoever at all. In fact, I actually didn’t feel anything at all. Except that I kept looking at the sky and praying that it wouldn’t rain until after the reception (to which my prayers were answered by the way). I felt so calm I was actually wondering if the calmness I was feeling is at all normal for a bride.

Halfway through the makeup though, I already felt some hammering on my chest. It was so loud I was thinking Irene might hear it. Rica kept on cracking jokes to calm me down. It helped actually. The nervousness was gone once pictorials started though. Our wedding was at 6pm hence we had our “first look” before the ceremony.

Hubby is really shy when posing in front of the camera but I am very thankful that Atsushi played along with what our camera guys asked from him during our wedding day. And yes, he kissed me a lot of times. Yey! 😀

My nervousness came back when we were getting prepared for me to walk down the aisle. I can hear “Ikaw” being sang as my entourage walked and I was almost teary-eyed as I remembered how I sang “Ikaw” in a number of weddings already and that I can’t believe this time, it is MY wedding.

Okay, I willed myself not to cry during our wedding. But blogging about our wedding now, made me cry. It was a good thing I am blogging this while Hubby is home ’cause then hubby can hug me as I cry myself silly. That “it’s my turn this time” thingy cracked me up. 😛

So, my nerves was really all in knots just right before the walk, whilst “Two Words” was being played. Good thing Richie was there to encourage me.

Jumping on to the reception. I suffered a terrible migraine from right after the ceremony until well into dawn. Hence am really thankful my pain didn’t show during the entire reception, not even during our short number. I just couldn’t eat K’s good food though. I can only eat enough to satisfy my hunger but not too much else I’d throw up again.

As we look back, Atsushi and I were really happy that our prayers for a beautiful wedding was answered. To have our guests tell us it was a beautiful and successful wedding infused with a lot of details makes me realize all the more that all the hard work was worth it. Even Taal cooperated; answered prayer.  😀  Even the insect kept to our colors haha!

We wanted a small wedding. My original dream wedding was actually in a beautiful island in Cebu/Bohol with only 50 guests. But of course, come actual dream wedding planning for Tagaytay wedding, it has to be bigger. All those who confirmed their attendance showed up hence all the airplane origami escort cards that EJ (of Detalye) made were brought home by the guests. Happy. We had a total of 74 guests. Ninety nine percent of the guests stayed until the reception ended. The 1% went home after Jason’s SDE was shown, which was actually just roughly 15minutes before reception program ended. Happy.

Anyways, I’ll have my ratings (and share my kilig!! with suppliers’ outputs) in another post. Most, if not all, of our suppliers were commendable actually. Except for one. I am still thinking if even the negative review is worth posting here in our blog. I really don’t want to think about the group anymore – the group which had given me a heartache ever since we got in contact with them. It makes me think though, we probably got the “pirated” one – considering how out of tune they were. Yes, their performance was one that would make you say, “Is this really XXX?” I wish they recorded how they performed that night. That way, they can assess how badly they performed.

Hmmm, in restrospect though, I find myself really upset whenever I performed really bad. So probably, since they themselves are professionals, they must be terribly embarrassed and tortured about the bad performance. So I think it’s decided. I will not be mentioning them again on this blog, bad review or otherwise. For both sides’ sakes.

For now though, am sharing Jason Magbanua’s same-day-edit (SDE) for us.

Segue: A lot have asked us why an evening wedding? Trust that considerable thought has been spent on it and that a lot of factors has been considered. And in truth, part of the reason why we finally settled for the 6pm wedding (it has to be April 30 in Caleruega) was so that we can have Jason Magbanua personally cover our wedding. Of course, our decision was correct.

Jason is simply brilliant. He had the music we picked run continuously and then seamlessly inserted the part of my vows where I sang. End result: hubby’s family and some other guests (even Kat who has been my roomie for a number of years) and some suppliers asked if I sang the entire song. Haha! In turn, since Atsushi’s vows were not included (Hubby had two versions of his vows. He read the scratch paper version. I loved the stationery version), Jason must have had decided to have Atsushi’s face on focus for a long time. End result: people has been teasing hubby that it was his promotional video to launch his new career as an actor – LOL.

More than that, there were a lot of other aspects in our SDE that I loved – among others, the sequence of Mayumi hanging her head followed by Kawauchi-san raising his; the timing of the piano’s rythmn to the lighting of the lamps.

Anyways, the song is Angela Aki’s version of Kiss from a Rose. Hubby and I used to play this while chatting in Skype – him on guitar, me on vocals. We love this version much more than Seal’s. Angela Aki didn’t just translate the song to Japanese, by the way. She made an altogether different lyrics. Good thing hubby found an mp3 of this song and hence was able to give it to Jason, 2 days before our wedding. And yes, we were practicing it before with only Youtube’s help.

Enjoy! Hubby and I can’t get enough of our video haha. I hope the same goes for you. 🙂

(By the way, Jason gave us the video in .vob format and we had to convert it just so we can upload it here. End result: resolution and quality was sacrificed during the conversion process.)

And oh, I also tagged Lene-Dee Dragon. She was the one who designed our giveaway tags which was focused towards the end of the video. The idea of having the fringes was Erika’s (Detalye) brainchild, on the other hand. When I saw it, I couldn’t help but gush about it. Kilig! 😀

rustic-travel themed invites

Posted on by

♫…brown paper packages tied up with strings,these are a few of my favorite things…♫

Yep, our invites indeed are one of my favorite things (among many others in our wedding details). Ever since I saw a passport invite months before we decided to get married, I was bent on having our invites passport-style. But when I actually got started with the wedding preparation, I learned that a LOT of couples already adopted this idea. We’d only be one in hundreds. How to make our invites a bit different from the others?

Lene certainly had more ideas in mind. In her words, “who said we’re just sticking to passports?” I-just-love-her. See, what she had in mind were for us to have:

  • main passport invites, with the front and back cover text and logo gold embossed
  • a postcard for the RSVPs and dress code
  • a train ticket for our gifts preference (we’ll be based in Japan whilst the wedding is in the Philippines hence we had to specifically request our guests to not to follow Filipino tradition on gift giving – which is actually buying house items for the couple)
  • a hotel stationery wherein a
  • location map is attached

Lene also tossed the idea of wrapping our invites with brown craft paper for the rustic touch and Erika (Detalye) tossed the idea of sealing it with  logo sticker.

I love each and every part of our invites because of the detail in each. Take for one our train pass. Our inspiration was from Yokohama’s old subway train pass (nowadays, it has the pink PASMO mascot in the background). 

It has some orange logo in the background. And you know what Lene did?

I was beside her when she was doing this bit. We were just talking about some normal topic, totally non-invites related and then wham, she reduced our logo into minis and had it as background for our train ticket. Imagine my giddiness when I realized what she was doing. Lene is just simply awesome, isn’t she? 🙂

To complete our invites, we wrapped it in laminated craft paper and tied it up with a string. Erika’s team (Detalye) was kind enough to buy the strings for me in Divisoria. For somebody who gets sick e-v-e-r-y-t-i-m-e she goes to Divisoria, this favor is really something. Dust and aerosols and any minute particles really doesn’t sit well with my nose (that includes tatami and the dust and mites housed in the tatami which means I shouldn’t stay a lot in out tatami room 🙁  Or better yet, clean the tatami room thoroughly hehe.)

There was one hitch though that really got me pressured. I can’t ask the printer to set up our invites for me because if they fold the paper and tie it up already, I would have to untie it and unfold it again so as to write the RSVPs and addressees. This could result to a much-wrinkled wrap. Shoganai ne, I have to do the wrapping myself. And for one who has untrained hands, this really put a lot of pressure on me.

But nothing is too strong for prayer and determination. True, before I started folding and tying, I had to pray for it. And I had to say this is for Atsushi and our loved ones.  Suffice it to say that each invite was a labor of love. 🙂  And they turned out not so bad after all.

Requested my ex-colleague/friend Russell Olaguer to take some shots of our photos. They turned out really nice, as expected! Together with Douglas Cataylo, Russell also covered our first prenup. I am so excited for our 2nd prenup tomorrow or sunday, granting good weather conditions with Russell and Gali Montalbo!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Ugh, I can’t delete the first two pics about the train pass in this slideshow. Anyways the map was in full lime green print (not in the pictures, it was the one folded in the hotel stationery), giving balanced exposure of both our wedding colors. Sorry, I had to mosaic the names though, for privacy purposes.

Oh, by the way, do visit Lene’s FB page for her miniatures and be amazed more with her talent.  Please do visit as well Lene’s portfolio. We are thankful as well to Crowne Print through Erika (Detalye) for their very good output/prints of our invite. Really nice work. 🙂