For the past few weeks, Dodie and I haven't made much headway on the wedding front. Under normal circumstances, I would have dragged Dodie out by now and complained about the situation considering that we already hit the six-month mark. But some sickness in Dodie's family has kept my patience firmly in check.
Nanay Lucy is Dodie's maternal grandmother. She practically raised Dodie for the greater part of his childhood. Her knack of being friendly and ability to share her life story to complete strangers are two of the strongest traits that Dodie inherited from her. And at almost 80, she was still sharp and never had trouble with remembering and pronouncing my nickname. 
But a couple of weeks ago, she fell from her divan and fractured her leg. This spurned a series of hospitalizations which left her in extreme pain. At almost 80 and suffering from diabetes, she needed all the care that could be provided. And since she lived in Bulacan, I felt it would be a tad selfish if we went on our "merry" wedding preps ways.
I've never really been close to any of my grandparents. My paternal grandparents lived in Quezon and I barely saw them while my maternal grandfather died before I was born. My maternal grandmother, on the other hand, was already bedridden when I was growing up. So although I feel Dodie's pain, it's not really something that I'm familiar with.
This event has raised some serious concerns regarding our wedding as well. That in itself pains Dodie, but the thought of Nanay not being at our wedding will be tremendously shattering to him.
So if you have time, please say a little prayer for Nanay Lucy. And please say a little prayer for Dodie and his family as well.
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Please Say A Little Prayer
The Wool-ly Mammoth
No, the extinct mammoth hasn't found its way into our wedding preparations.
This is about wool. Well, finding the perfect kind of wool for Dodie's suit/modern tuxedo.
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Up until two days ago, the term "super 120's" wouldn't have meant anything to me. Not until I got to chat with one of my friends did I know that it referred to the fineness of wool, or more specifcally, the fineness of the yarn used to weave the faric. According to eTuxedo:
"The 'Super' system is a way of grading the quality of wool fabric. The higher the number, the finer the yarn used to weave the fabric. Theoretically the higher the number, the more yarn is packed in per square inch, the silkier it will feel and the nicer it will be."
To my dismay, however, my friend also told me that super 120's in the Philippines came with a pretty steep price tag. So it got me thinking. Is it really all about the "supers"? Fortunately for me, eTuxedo's article didn't end there. It went on to explain that a lot of other factors still need to be taken into consideration:
"In reality you can weave a really nice super-100’s cloth that will feel fantastic, resist wrinkles and make you look like a million bucks, or you can weave cloth made of super-100’s yarn and not pack it tightly so it doesn’t feel fantastic, doesn’t resist wrinkles, and doesn’t make you look like a million bucks.
To further complicate matters, the cloth is just one leg of the tripod needed to make a great garment. You also need quality manufacturing (how the inside of the garment is stitched and made) and superior styling. A garment with exceptional fabric, exceptional manufacturing, and exceptional styling will naturally be exceptional. If it’s missing any of these 3 elements then it's just another tuxedo.
At the end of the day, you have to take the 'Super' system with a grain of salt – recognize that super 120’s yarn is nicer than super 100’s, but that doesn’t guarantee the super 120’s garment will be made better, fit better, or make you look better".
I guess our challenges now are how to find the best type of wool within our budget, and how to spot synthetic from real wool. But as one of my favorite cartoons goes, that's another tale for another time.
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Hallelujiah
After two unsuccessful attempts at reserving our church, we finally did it!
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One rainy Saturday morning, we went to the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice to try to reserve it for our wedding. Again. I didn't have much hope at this point considering our two (yes, two) previous attempts. But when the lady behind the glass counter (whose name now escapes me so let's just call her LBTGC) began opening THE logbook, our hearts stopped. There were already reservations for February 2010. So much for the 4-months-only-before-the-wedding rule. As LBTGC flipped through the pages, I held my breath. (I later learned that Dodie did the exact same thing, held his breath, I mean). It seemed like LBTGC was moving in slow-mo, when she really wasnt't. I swear, it was like one of those movie moments.
And then OUR date came in full view - with no reservations yet.
Hallelujiah!
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Once a Bridesmaid, Always the OC Bride
When I opened my email this morning, I was tickled to get an e-card from one of my soon-to-be bridesmaids, asking if I could also be her bridesmaid.
Actually, I've known for a while that I would be one of her bridesmaids. But it was still very thoughtful of my friend to give me the card. Sort of makes me feel special (Or maybe that's just me :) ) And hold it, we'll be getting our measurements taken soon as well. Woohoo!!!!
Pause.
Dang. That means I really need to go on a diet soon.
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If The Shoe Fits
Shoes make me happy. Well, pretty ones, that is. The fugly ones just make me cringe and wonder who buys those things anyway.
For our wedding, I decided to put off the shoe hunt until after we've made our decision on who would make my gown. This way, my shoes and gown would at least match. Reasonable, right? Super.
But I've already bought my shoes :)
In all fairness, I didn't look around for them. I found them waiting for me on my lunch break.
I was working outside the office one day when I decided to grab some lunch at the nearby mall. As with any REGULAR person, I window shopped a bit, stopping here there to look at the displays. Suddenly, my eyes caught a distinctly red "Sale" sign on one of the stores. I couldn't resist. I went in and checked the sale rack.
And there they were, all pink and satiny, begging me to try them on.
I was floored. I mean, they were pink. And perfect. And totally within our budget. How could I resist?
So I didn't.
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Suiting Up
For the past few weeks, Dodie and I have been having discussions (and when I say discussions in our world, they're usually arguments) about whether or not he should buy a new suit or barong for our wedding. He says he doesn't need to and can wear the suit he's worn to other events instead. I say he has to.
Call me frivolous or extravagant, but I do want Dodie to look his best on our wedding day. He is, after all, the groom.
Dodie and I both agree that he's going to wear either a suit or a tux. So why the "discussions"?
Yep, you guessed it. Our budget.
Dodie has always been the more practical one between the two of us. But I figured we could make an exception just this once because it was our wedding. And besides, we're spending quite a hefty amount of money on my dress already. What's a little more for his? And it's not like it can't be used again. His suit or tux can be used at other events, while my dress, for the life of me, can't. (Oh God, I'm beginning to sound like a whiny brat.)
Maybe I'll just buy a suit for him on my own. Then he won't be able to do anything about it. Tee hee.
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Will you be my bridesmaid?
Yes, they all said.
To sort of "formally" ask my future bridesmaids to become part of my entourage, I made separate cards for each one of them using my new bff Photoshop :).
As you can see, the photos were taken when we were still mga nenes in college. Or in my case, and as Dodie so eloquently put it, nung binata pa ako. The photos were taken by Raz, also one of my closest friends, who so diligently documented our adventures during the first 2 years of our college life.
We've been through a lot, us 5 and the rest of the Council. And I couldn't imagine any other four amazing women to be my bridesmaids. Thanks, girls :)
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DIY Invitations
Any couple who has done their initial wedding preps will know that invitations, even the simplest ones, will not be THAT cheap. We decided to look around and ask the more well-known printers and, to Dodie's surprise, a simple flat invitation (sans the enclosures) with some gold stamping would go for at least P70 for 100 pieces.
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How I wish I could have been content with just flat cards. Then our lives would have been less complicated. But I couldn't.
Initially, I wanted a photobook. You know, the one that looks like those glossy coffeetable books? That kind of a photobook. And although I found a publisher that does bulk orders for a fraction of its retail cost, that fraction still wasn't within our budget. At P200 per invitation, the practical me was already screaming in protest.
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I know that invitations are important because they give guests a sneak peek into the wedding and sometimes, the personalities of the couple as well. And while I have nothing against flat cards, they just weren't me. You see, I've always been a DIY kind of a gal. I give handmade gifts to close friends for Christmas and birthdays, and once even gave framed cross-stitched initials for my friends during our college graduation. There's just a great sense of fulfillment that I get when I create something uniquely mine. And so I had the idea of DIY-ing our invitations instead - partly because of the cost, and partly (ok, a great part) because as an OC bride, I knew the printers would have a very hard time pleasing me.
The idea met with some resistance from Dodie, mostly because he was concerned if we would be able to pull off designing, cutting, and printing 100 invitations. While I shared his concern, I calmly reasoned that we still had a year to prepare. And that if we weren't done by June, we'd go to plan B. (Of course, it helped that I had already prepared a mock up of the design I had conceptualized after endless hours of searching the internet.)
A couple of weeks ago, we braved the small streets of Divisoria for raw materials and embarked on our most adventurous DIY to date.
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