You have probably heard this a thousand times. Your wedding is one of the biggest events in your entire existence. In order to make it happen, first you need the right partner and then the right people to bring it to life.
Below is a list of our suppliers we can happily recommend. However, like we keep saying… your wedding, your style. We still encourage you to do your research and build your own A-team that can meet your exacting standards. 😉
Church, Reception Venue, Carriage, Caterer, Wedding Cake
Las Casas Filipinas is the perfect venue for our Filipiniana theme, but even if that’s not what you plan to do, this place is still worth checking out! The mansions in this heritage resort were built from the 17th to the 19th century, transferred from their original locations in various parts of the Philippines to the resort to be restored by its architects. The church (at the time of writing) is still under construction, with no definite date of completion. Despite this, the unfinished look only adds to its charm. There are enough options for your reception too. Ours was at Plaza Belmonte that was surrounded by casas that effortlessly set the atmosphere for the theme. Their food, which we hadn’t tried as much as we wanted to, was good according to our guests.
Wedding Coordinator
Arbee, our lead wedding coordinator, is one of the founders of this group. We remember having a lot of panic moments closer to our big day and a Skype/phone call or a meeting with Arbee would help calm us down. It almost didn’t matter that we were out of the country and only arrived three weeks before our wedding because everything just ran like clockwork on the day. We highly recommend that you hire a wedding coordinator too so you can focus on being in the moment.
Photographer
We were presented by our coordinator with a few options for this, but after doing a quick survey, the decision was unanimous. Myio is a brilliant young artist who made us do so many poses we never imagined pulling off in our lifetime. We thought we were only goofing around as he asked us to close our eyes, and at one point hold my neck as if it was aching. The results made us look like we were in a serious photoshoot. All of the images we’ve published are unedited. Unedited! And they were that clean! Mad props to his equally talented team.
Videographer
Treehouse was an easy choice. We’ve reviewed a number of their videos and they were consistently outstanding. From their signature dancing rings to the sequencing of events in the SDE, you know that they’re innate storytellers. This team led by Patrick arrived at my casa on the day all suited and booted and with their game faces on. Doesn’t mean they’re no fun. They actually went the extra mile to make us feel comfortable. When my veil almost flew to lalaland before my supposedly grand church entrance, it was their reassuring voices and encouragement that kept me in one piece. This team absolutely nailed the video and all of our guests enjoyed watching it on the day.
Bridal Gown
Because Ushi is one of our close friends, he obviously went above and beyond to perfect the bridal gown. A genius in his craft and an extremely fast worker, he finished this masterpiece in less than a month. Despite looking heavy because of the pearls and other embellishments, the gown was light and comfortable. The butterfly sleeves and matching cape also helped achieve its contemporary look.
Groom’s Attire
Cornell’s has been used by a lot of Tim’s friends for their weddings, so came highly recommended. Their price is reasonable and the quality of work is top-notch that Tim wishes he can have all his clothes tailor-made by them.
Entourage Attire
We knew Toffee through my bestfriend, Vilma, when he was working on her bridal and entourage gowns. We only met a day before Vilma’s wedding and Toff was able to make all major adjustments so I can fit into my bridesmaid dress. With a number of my ladies being based abroad, Toffee’s skill was valuable. As expected, he delivered and even created a second gown for me when I decided last minute (three nights before the big day) that I didn’t want to get my bridal gown dirty at the after-party.
Hair and Make-up
Val is also our friend, who flew to the Philippines to do my hair and make-up and be there for the wedding. On the day, instead of using airbrush, Val applied traditional make-up keeping everything light on my face while at the same time, hiding the three fat mosquito bites on my right cheek. This was one of the best decisions we’ve made because I have never worn heavy make-up and I knew it would be extremely uncomfortable if we pushed for it.
Florist and Event Stylist
Owner Charmaine or “Meng” was six months pregnant when she came on board so we didn’t want to stress her out. When we got to know her more, we realized we didn’t have to worry too much, because she is one of the easiest and most calm persons one can deal with. She normally works on celebrity birthdays, but her creativity is not limited to this as seen in the floral and event styling of our wedding. We specifically said we didn’t want to invest too much on things that would expire quickly like flowers, and menu and table cards. We also asked that she used materials she could reuse or have already used in previous events. She delivered all these including our string lights request within the budget we set.
Lights and Sounds
Working with Nine2One under Kuya Abet’s leadership was also a breeze. We only needed to brief them once on the requirements and they already knew how to run the show. We also appreciated the fact that they were ready to support on additional requirements when on the day we found out we needed more equipment for the wedding ceremony.
Musicians for the Ceremony and Reception
Everyone was telling us how amazing the string quartet was and we couldn’t be more grateful that The Manila String Machine delivered more than what we expected on the day. They were also super easy to deal with prior and seemed to be really kind-hearted folks. We hoped we had the chance to get to know or speak to them more on the night.
Wedding Rings
Carcassone is our trusted jeweller. Because we often purchase from them, we’d like to think we get good deals from their store. They customized our wedding rings to bear our logo. We had to ask them to refine them a couple of times. But in the end, we were happy with how the rings looked.
Accomodation
Most of our guests stayed at Las Casas. It was a bit pricey but we managed to get a better deal for all. There was also very limited accommodation options in surrounding areas so a lot were forced to check in here. A number of comments on the service especially on efficiency were not positive. However, there was no denying the charm of the entire resort, which everyone enjoyed.
Wedding Favors
We were already big fans of Trademark Handmade that is owned by our friend Red even before the wedding. So we didn’t think twice about using their premium quality leatherette accessories (key chains, passport holders and bags) as souvenirs for our sponsors and entourage. Each gift was personalized with the guest’s name on it engraved with love by Red herself. Aside from delivering on time, Red even offered to print our gift cards for free.
Wedding Accessories
This was a quick trip because The Wedding Library located at Megamall had them all for us – candles, veil, bible, cord even matches! When we arrived we were greeted by their friendly staff who gave us a checklist of what we needed to buy and voila, in less than 20 minutes, we were out of their store.
Photo Booth
After asking our friends if they’d prefer photo magnets or flipbooks as souvenirs, majority wanted the photo magnet so off we went with Shutterbug. This was a very straightforward deal. They create the artwork for you, you approve everything, they show up on time, and run the photobooth seamlessly. We were happy with the quality of their photo magnets.
Kito Mojica and Junna Hashimoto
Program Hosts
We chose our friends as program hosts and they probably ended up considering making money out of doing this! Both Kito and Junna are confident, funny and smart. On the night, they definitely shone with Kito sounding like a pro RJ and Junna owning the stage even without Kito’s support. We suggest you use friends too as it would feel more natural and effortless rather than hiring someone who reads a script and doesn’t have a personal connection with you or your guests. (That’s just us!)
After recalling what all of these amazing humans have done for us, we can’t help but feel lucky we had the chance to work with them. We also hope you’re able to find the right suppliers for your big day. Enjoy building your Wedding A-Team!