The Chaotic Wedding

Cross-Posting and Starter Blogger

2008-02-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

I am posting this in my Multiply page, and if all goes well, my blogger sites should be able to capture this as well. I'm actually debating if i should just discontinue some (if not all) of my blogs that have been inactive for a while now.

(I'm a semi-blogger--if ever there was a thing--I know)

Currently, my very first attempt at blogging was this blog labeled the dragon who did which got it's name in response to my then girlfriend's (and now wife's) blog , dragons don't land here. These are both hosted in Blogspot.com.

After that, I created a blog that I wanted to specifically focus on my mountain climbing experience. (My wife and I got into the habit a few years ago). So there came dragon trails, my first attempt at a photoblog hosted in the same platform. I really thought that will go well. Unfortunately, not as much as I had hoped.

I started out one other that I deleted recently. I came across Blogspirit and created a story blog related to my Dungeons and Dragons RPG gaming hobby. I wrote two fictional adventures following the characters that my friend's and I were playing at the time. The concept didn't stick however, as the game went too fast for me to write the stories and publish them too.

My wife and I even started a pre-wedding blog which we have yet to update. We've been married for five months now.

So that's it. A series of failed attempts at a life of a blogger. Whether things get better now, as cross-posting options are becoming available to me, or everything ends up dead in the waters just like the rest of the other blogs i started, i do not know.

Already i have recovered some of my old posts from the old blogs, and merged it with Multiply. For now, that's a start.

Farewell to Flickr?

2007-12-08T02:02:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of migrating my photos from Flickr to here. It's nice how I can do it in bulk.
These albums have gone from Yahoo to Flickr, and now here.

Hope its stays for good this time.

Important details

2007-04-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

I guess here are the important details everyone should know:

Wedding Date : Sept 1 2007 (we originally wanted Sept 8 then we got Sept 30 but then there was a mix up and we got Sept 1 which i think is perfect)

Church : Sanctuario de San Jose (It took us 3 days and 10 churches before we decided on this one. It wasn't even in my list of possible churches. Completely out of the blue, neal and i heard the name from the events people in Oasis and he just got possessed by this urge to visit it. so we drove all the way back to greenhills and when we saw it, we just fell in love with it. It's the only church we both completely liked. It feels different too. Really expensive. Trust me they make the aircon count. Details are still unclear regarding everything else but at least we have a church)

Reception : C3 (Hmm this was a bit trickier. After a lot of visits to places that ranged from no-wonder-its-cheap to no-wonder-it-costs-that-much to are-you-crazy to i-never-knew-the-price-could-go-that-high. Notice that most of them are not cheap. However it was a great choice. The place is close by to the church. It's the nearest one i think. The food? Oh well let's just say nobody diets on feb 14 which was when we ate there for a fantastic valentine's dinner with a chocolate buffet and live piano and violin/flute performance. Did I mention the chocolate buffet? They even have choco leche flan served in soup spoons... and iced tea served in tiny glasses because they are soooo delicious. I'm so looking forward to the food tasting.)

Photographer : Lee Llamas ( He's somewhat connected to my sister whose best friend's barkada is Lee Llamas' brother. ) He's a good photographer, one of the few whose shots I actually liked and when neal and I talked to him, he was great with ideas. He even gave us the Corregidor idea. Anyway will post pics when i can.

Tasks right now:
Too many to mention. I'm looking for great souvenirs, getting ready for a fitting this sunday, finalizing guest, entourage and godparents list while still deciding on the proper color theme.

Wedding coordinators (hopefully not from hell )

2007-04-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Neal and I found our wedding coordinators: People Style Enterprises. A bunch of people who are can actually understand our wavelength. They're pretty cool and flexible since they are our age. Our contract's going to be finalized soon and their work will begin. Big sigh of relief. Check out their video at YouTube here.

Lucky 7

2006-09-11T02:44:00.000-07:00

It's September. We celebrated our 7th year anniversary of getting together yesterday. It was dinner at TGIF, and 7 gifts for her: three blouses of different designs, a journal, a Kenny G. cd compilation, a pair of black lingerie, and a black thong hidden in a small box with three pairs of dangling earings. While the CD raised an eyebrow, I am hoping that the thought made a difference.

I still can't believe that more than 7 years have passed since that one fateful evening at a friend's place. She was celebrating her birthday with the theme of a highschool prom night. Everyone at UP Quill had to get a date. Due to some fortunate circumstances, Pia and I went together. It was casual at first, we both had crushes on other people. So it was a safe arragement. Somewhere between midnight perhaps we danced. Well, she asked me to while I was brooding on some corner because my crush then was getting intimate with her partner for the evening. I can't remember how long we danced, but it was long. We held each other close as the slow music took me away from everything else.

After the dance, we decided to take a walk to a nearby park, leaving everything behind. during the walk, I held her hand. It was the right thing to do. We talked, shared stories about what we like to read and watch. I can remember seeing her smile. She had a a smile that makes one smile back. I felt something then.

The morning after, I wanted to spend the day with her, even had to cheat a bit when a few of us decided to go watch a movie and had to take two cabs to get there. I coersed her to share the cab ride with me. during the movie, a comedy, I held her hand again. Then I took her home.

While I can still vaguely recall the events of the following days, suffice to say that it ended, or more aptly started with me struggling to telling her how I felt, and she telling me how she did. And on one rainy Sunday afternoon 7 years ago, we shared our first kiss. And I knew then that she would be the one for me.

While the past 7 years went by with a lot of sharing smiles, of sharing tears and overcoming personal problems, of fighting and making up and out, we held strong. Despite any problems we have faced, we continue to hold on. And while I may not be perfect, far from it, I remain forever hers. I would gladly spend the rest of my life with her.

Someone asked me recently how I knew that I want to marry Pia. I answered, that when one wakes up every morning and look for someone beside him, and feeling incomplete when she's not there, that's when you know you are ready to spend your life with her. I would want want nothing else in this world but to spend the rest of my days with her. Seven years may not be that short a time to know this truth, but I would spend 7x77 more years if I had them, together with her.

Wedding plans full steam ahead.

2006-02-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

I've just realized that now that it is 2006, ny wedding really is just a year away and we still don't have anything. No plans, no money arrrggghhh. It's making my head spin. Aside from planning to spend just 100k on the wedding (a mighty task i'm sure), plus the honeymoon plus the house/apartment plus the appliances... Hmm. I wonder if we are ready most of the time. Though neal and I have now decided to stop spending unnecessarily and we plan to officially open the account this week.
He's decided to officially tell my folks about our engagement on my birthday and we plan to make it official (ring and all) by then as well.
I'm nervous and scared and I feel kinda weird. However all I do know is that I do want to marry him. To go home with him and just be with him. I guess that's the only thing keeping me sane right now. I do like it when he panics when he thinks about the wedding and says "I'm screws..." (don't ask me where he got that expression)
Life goes on.

2005-06-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

That is the question right now. I've been with neal and have known his group of friends for almost 6 years now and they never struck me as the marrying type.

Now, ever since johann got engaged, it seemed as though they suddenly matured. Yesterday, I was talking to them and they seemed bent on being the first to follow johann. Of course we can't compete with that because we already agreed that we'd have the wedding two years from now.

Tin's excited for us too. Johann suddenly gave me and neal a wrapped present yesterday and inside it was a portfolio and a copy of the latest Metro Weddings. My first ever wedding magazine. I can't wait till saturday when we first try to get involved and get shocked by all the prices O_O hehe.

People have been helpful to us in our search for the engagement ring. I wish we can find a good and honest jeweller. I'm excited but not hurrying. Neal's still a bit worried that i can't hide all the wedding stuff from my folks. Ah well they have to know sooner or later.

It's a good thing neal's parents are happy and excited about our wedding.

Neal's mom even told him she'd give him money because the eldest should have a grand wedding. She has one condition though -- he has to marry me.

Isn't that sweet?

Stag Parties

2005-06-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Brides-to-be have worries over the infamous bachelor ritual called stag parties.

This is where your trust on the husband-to-be is put to the ultimate test.

If you look at it from their point of view, the husband-to-be has not said "i do" yet and this is his last chance to do something before he gets tied down.

I think if he does do something during the stag party, not even the chains of marriage will stop him from doing it again and guys who get drunk enough to do anything stupid during those parties or give in to peer pressure should not get married. Maturity and fidelity are traits a guy should have before he even decides to get married, they are not magically "learned" during church ceremonies.

Guys also have to understand that when they say they will "just look and not touch" the strippers, they are also sending a message to their wives-to-be that they are not sexy enough or beautiful enough to satisfy him. More often than not, women have insecurities because they think their husbands-to-be need to see something beautiful, something they can never have before settling down with what they can have without paying for it.

I'm not saying that all brides-to-be are completely innocent at bridal showers. Both parties have to know their limits. Your partner should NOT have to ask you, or threaten you or cajole you on how to act. That would just put a strain on your relationship when it should be getting stronger.

Talk to each other. Know what your partner wants and for goodness sake, keep your friends' and relatives' opinions out of the dicussion. If you're old enough and mature enough to decide to get married, everything else should be easy including having a stag/bridal party or what should be contained in the party.

Don't give each other a my-friends-will-be-organizing-it-i-dont-have-a-say crap. If you tell them you don't want strippers but they still hire one, don't attend. If they lie, you can always walk out whenever you want. Nobody will sue you and it might be better than not getting married at all.

If all else fails, BRIBE his/her friends. Not your partner.

You should know what kind of friends your partner has by now. Are they the type to throw wild parties or do they have meaningful conversations while getting drunk?

For example, my friend is getting married next month and since her husband-to-be is the first in the group, they were all excited about his stag party. Since she knew they were hard core gamers, she bribed them with the new Eberron book and a chance to go gaming all night as a substitute for the stag party.

For adventurous people, ask their friends to go mountain climbing. Anyone who can convince a stripper to perform on top of a mountain probably deserves an award. Or tell them you'll hold a major beach party at Boracay where they will get to meet more babes compared to one stripper.

Hope that helps. ^_^

I want to see neal's side on this issue.

don't know what to do

2005-06-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

A few more things to consider.

Since the wedding is soooo far away, the only things neal and i are partially concerned with is the engagement ring and the budget.

we need to know what our budget should be which is why we are going to the perfect beginnings fair this saturday.

the wedding sparkles taught us that a good photo coverage and avp coverage is 100k and an engagement ring with a .25 carat diamond can reach 46k!

Here we were thinking a great wedding can be pulled off with 200k.

My sister gave me the following rules.
1. she's the maid of honor or she'll kill me
2. her dress needs to show cleavage (thats all i can tell from the way she described her dress)
3. definitely sto domingo church (ill post pics when i can)

things we are sure of:

1. we love green and we want it as a theme color, mint green to be precise.
2. honeymoon at kota kinabalu -- nature tripping, climb mt kota kinabalu and rest at the beach (heaven!)
3. discovery weekend (probably a year before the wedding so sept 2006)
4. definitely choose churches and a place for the wedding reception before any supplier

tin did mention using percentages instead of actual amounts for the budget.
they did theirs : 40 % reception, 30-40% clothes, 5% invitations, 5% flowers and hair and make up.

this weekend bridal thing is the last im visiting till september. i promise myself that and i'll probably have to stop thinking about it because obsessive tendencies are catching on and it's way too early.

after this week i'm gonna concentrate on my new job, masteral classes and neil gaiman in july!

then tin's wedding will come and i'll probably be back here.

perfect beginnings

2005-06-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

tin sent me a link o this site : Perfect Beginnings II.

It's a wedding expo happening next weekend, june 11-12, in Megamall. I was worried that neal wouldn't want to go yet because it'll be too soon for us but Tin told me that he was already asking johann tips and referrals when they were having their last DnD game.

So as usual, without thinking, I registered us as a couple and placed the wedding date at Sept 10, 2007. I want that date but neal wants a date where the numbers add up to 5 or 8. Don't know why. Though he did agree on the month.

He agreed to go so I'm pretty excited. I love fairs and expos because arf usually takes me and dawn and they're always fun. neal's worried that my mom might find out and freak out. Well, the freaking out part is a definite possibility though they usually freak out with every new thing I decide to do and I don't plan on letting them know just yet.

I have a feeling we will love it. We'll also get a chance to see how much we really need so we can start saving up for it. That's the only good thing I see in early preparation and long engagements, you usually get what you want for the wedding and the honeymoon.

Other events at W@W site:

Wedding Sparkles - june 4-5, greenhills, wedding jewelries
Taste of Manila - june 17-19, megamall, food caterers
Power Weddings - june 24-26, rockwell, another wedding expo which has string minstrels and other string ensembles.
Moments of Dreams - july 2-3, roxas blvd, kind of far and even i will not go that far for something happening 2 years from now.
Wedding Expo Philippines - sept 3-4, bonifacio tent

I've also joined the weddings at work mailing list. tin was right, most of the couples are going to be married 2007 or 2006 anyway so we aren't too early. The moderator warned me that I could get a lot of mail. This morning I got around 5 so I told myself the moderator was exaggerating about the 20-30 emails per day. It's not 3:oo pm and the moderator was correct. Within the hour, I've received 20 emails and they're still coming. It's a good thing I used my gmail account for this.

I did however notice Orchidarium as a very popular reception area. After a few internet searches which yielded this page, I think it's worth a visit even if its only as a side trip when we go to Manila. I'd love to see that python.

holding hands

2005-06-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Some people base their relationships on a kiss.
I know if I'm going to fall for someone when i hold hands with them.
I first held hands with a boy who I really liked when I was in high school. Though that was the only thing we did, holding hands with him even after I thought I was over him, pulled me back to believing i still had those old feelings.
Unbelievably though, I was more affected by a time I held hands with a boy I didn't even like at the time. It was at the end of my first year in college and though I don't remember the details anymore. I know it was our first conversation though we were blockmates. I stood up to leave and he gave me a high five and he grabbed my hand. For half a minute we held hands and pretended we didn't know we were holding hands until someone noticed. Then the moment was gone and I spent two years clinging to that moment. Sometimes it got close but we never could hold it again.

I should have known this 5 years ago, or maybe I did instinctively.

Neal doesn't believe it but I know exactly when I started to fall in love with him.
Waya had planned to hold a birthday party with a Prom theme. I was planning to go with someone else but he succesfully asked his crush to go and since we were just friends I agreed he should go with her instead of me.
I don't know why I still wanted a date.
The last time I had a date, I threw my date out.
At the spur of the moment I asked neal to be my date at the Prom. He said yes and contrary to what he believes I did not like him then. He wrote sappy love songs and two of my friends were his crushes. Both points against him big time. I thought I was safe. I didn't want another crush since I was in the "I just want him to be my friend not my crush" mode.
The evening started out ok. He was nice, I got dressed up, we got separated and I didn't feel anything in the way of jealousy or loneliness. I think i wanted to be alone but not by myself when I approached him again during the party.
When we were on our way to the park to be alone, he held my hand.
Then I felt it.
Something different from all the other times I held hands.
I couldn't point it out. I was still giddy, my heart was beating fast but it felt
right.
There was just something more.
True to my nature I just followed my instinct.
I fell in love.

churches, priests and other items

2005-05-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

the age old question: where do we get married?
when i was a child, i used to spend my afternoons running around sto domingo church. my elementary school, angelicum, was right beside it and after class, my cousin and i used to hang out at the church while we waited for our ride.
not to mention that i got my first communion in that church.
it's not just the memories that made me love that church. It is a beautiful basilica type church with three major parts, huge stairs leading to the altar, beautiful glass stained walls and paintings on the ceiling of the four gospel writers, matthew, mark, john and luke.

unfortunately, neal has the same sentiments about barasoain church in bulacan. he used to be an altar boy there and that church is a major historical landmark which also led to it being on the back of the old 10 peso bill.

so neal and i decided to look for other churches as well. barasoain is a hard choice because we need to find a way to get guests there and a nice place for the reception.

it would be easier on us and the guests if the reception was held near our chosen church. though right now i have no idea where to find one close to sto domingo except for the hotels in manila but that is at least one more thing to remember.

when we went to UP to finish my medical exam, he told me that getting married in UP chapel, a small circular open chapel, and have the reception in bahay ng alumni would be a great idea.

since we're not hurrying, i suggested taking trips to the possible churches and hotels and taking pictures so that we can have records and remember what we liked about certain places.

i just want an excuse to go on trips too ^_^ so we'll be posting any pics we take.

as for the priest, most people get married without really considering who their priest will be.

i don't want to be one of those people and i don't think neal is too. he was the one who leaned over me during lorie's wedding to say :"i want him to be the priest at our wedding."

i was planning on befriending a priest i liked so that by the time we get married we would be comfortable with him. how do you do that? befriend a priest just so he'll marry you? is that even ok?

the only thing we have decided for sure is that we would like a string quartet. I was happy to learn from tin that we could get that here in the philippines. i even found a link to the list of string performers from weddings at work and one link to performers called String Minstrels. They listed Canon in D by Pachelbel as one of their bride marches and Il Postino as an entourage march. I wanted both of those songs and as an added bonus maybe one of my friends, dawn or arf can read a poem for us. -_^

where to start?

2005-05-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

so here it is, a wedding blog.

i don't know where the idea came from buut i certainly know who thought of creating this particular one. for the obvious reasons, i've been asked to contribute to this journal. and so, despite the few words i can say about weddings, i must.

my sister just got married not a even a month ago; a close friend will be getting married next month or so; all this marriage around us makes us play about the idea that one day we ourselves will be on that altar, exchanging vows. it is a most welcoming though for me, a person who believes that there can be no greater sign of love.

i must admit i have been thinking about the idea--what church will it be, where the reception will be, who'll desiign the gown, who'll do the video and photo coverage, whose going to do what; and of course, how much will it all be... that last one isn't as welcoming, though.

though there will be a lot of things to think about when going towards this direction in our lives, one thing must first be asked; maybe out of formalities, or maybe just to be sure--one can only guess--but this journey can't begin without a proposal. yes, there has not been a proposal yet, well a formal one, at least, where there's a ring (diamond?!) and a bent knee, and a shocked expression, and, hopefully, an affirmative response.

well, i have yet to think of the where and the how of it all yet. but, heck, like the lady said, the big day's a long time from now. plenty of time to prepare and to save up. i just hope, with all honesty, that this blog leads us both to that altar, safely and securely :)

a different kind of wedding blog

2005-05-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

we've decided to create a wedding blog.

i know it's very common thing nowadays but it is also very useful.

what you should know is that the wedding is not yet going to take place this month, or this year, or the next year. we don't even have a date yet though it is suppose to happen 2 years from now.

so basically, this blog won't just be about our future (far far into the future) wedding or honeymoon, it will also be about us. Think "About Us" book with questions like how did you meet and stuff like that.

It's a conversation between two people who love blogging and want to plan their wedding while getting to know each other better.

Of course, right now our ideas border on crazy and impossible but we've also begun to set some rules... and get some pics.

all in all, it's a nice start.

the taming

2005-05-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that
mean--'tame'?"
"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to
establish ties."
"'To establish ties'?"
"Just that," said the fox. "To
me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world . . ."
"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower .
. . I think that she has tamed me . . ."
--the Little Prince
Antoine de Saint Exupéry