Venue Hunting Part 2

See Venue Hunting Part 1:
http://theheroandthebridetobe.blogspot.com/2016/06/venue-hunting-part-1.html

July 10:

Eugenio Lopez Center

July 12:
Valley Golf and Country Club
Sitio Elena
Emperor Event Center
Castillo Royale 

July 16:
Oasis Manila
UP Bonsai Garden

Eugenio Lopez Center

PROS: 

Eugenio Lopez Center... how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

- The view is beautiful! As in overlooking Manila! 

- The dining hall is okay. Maganda. Hindi ko napicturan and masyadong napuna dahil napa-wow nga ako agad sa view sa labas haha.

- It's basically a hotel with suites and rooms! Okay din ang rooms though medyo maliit. Super convenient na same venue lang ang preps, ceremony and reception!

- Madaming area for pictorial, including the bangin kung saan nagtakbuhan si Yna at Angelo (Kathniel) ng Pangako Sa'yo =)))) Super mageenjoy si P/V sa sobrang daming magandang location all around the venue for pictorial and video!

CONS: 

The one and only deal breaker: No garden ceremony area. :( Well meron naman pero it's not where and what and how I want it to be :(

Option 1: Round view deck - this used to be a helipad. Dito rin yung nakita kong previous ceremony and medyo maliit sya. It's also sementado, and all I want is a garden ceremony with green grass! Tapos medyo may mga puno dun sa viewdeck obstructing the view of the Manila skyline. Kung wala yung puno, baka medyo na-consider ko pa.

Option 2: Terrace - perfect view! But it's so maliit. Okay lang syang cocktail area.

Option 3: The new Helipad - with grass all around, na pwede ko ng i-consider KASO walang stairs paakyat and pababa sa area. Literal na parang trek sya ng konti and kumusta naman daw ang mga Principal Sponsors and Seniors na pupunta sa ceremony.

Option 4: The mini soccer field. No. Just no. It's beside the road, the tennis court and the basketball court. Plus hindi sya patag. I can't even imagine my ceremony here. :|

PESO POWER: 

Php90,000 inclusive of overnight stay, use of venue for 4 hours, massage (forgot the details), and applicable corkage fees.

VERDICT: 

NO.

 

Valley Golf

PROS: 

MY DREAM GOLF COURSE WEDDING! Plus the venue rental is only P10k! Kung pwede lang sa golf course, dito na talaga kami! I'm sure we could find a member! Imagiiiine 10k for a glass hall in a golf course, good for 150 pax! Pak na pak!

CONS: 

We cannot hold the ceremony at the golf course--or at ANY part of the golf course. And yes, we need a sponsor. Not just a resident at Valley Golf, but a legit member of the golf club. Also, sooooobrang layo nya sa kabihasnan! We might have some guests who would be commuting so we need to consider that as well. 

PESO POWER: 

Php10,000. 

VERDICT: 

NO.

Sitio Elena

PROS: 

It's a great reception hall with great amenities. Plus the AE Joan is really really nice and accommodating. Nagkita pa kami sa bridal fair and nagchikahan pa kami!

CONS: 

No garden. No ceremony area. Overpriced. 

PESO POWER: 

Php95,000

VERDICT: 

NO.

Oasis Manila

PROS: 

The Orchard Hall is okay. Price is also okay. Very convenient location.

CONS: 

TOTAL WASTE OF TIME. Before coming, I texted my contact Marione if it is possible for us to use the Garden for our ceremony. If ever kase, we will only book Orchard which is good for 150 pax but of course we need to use the garden for our ceremony. The Garden is adjacent to the Pavillion and she said it will be awkward for the client who booked Pavillion if there will be another couple having their ceremony at the garden beside their hall. Well, Marione could have just told us directly that it's a NO instead of encouraging us to visit them personally that day as they have an ongoing promo daw for walk-in clients.

Anyway, we were running out of options and that's the ONLY reason why we already considered Oasis. It was never on my shortlist due to the numerous negative reviews. Yes, madami talaga (and detailed ang ibang reviews, if you research well, AND I SUGGEST YOU RESEARCH WELL). 

PESO POWER: 

Php60,000 for Orchard

Php85,000 for Verandah

Php90,000 for Pavillion (with garden)

+ Php30,000 corkage for non-accredited suppliers.

VERDICT: 

NO because of all the negative reviews. A second NO because there's no garden for the ceremony. And a third NO for being inconsiderate to potential clients.

I will no longer review Emperor Event Center and Castillo Royale. They were never in our shortlist, but we checked them out anyway since we were already in the area. It's a flat NO for both venues. 

For UP Bonsai Garden, uh, we went there pero hanggang labas lang, we didn't even bother to go inside kase sobrang chaka ng labas. We felt the area was unsafe because of all the children and residents na naglalaro and nagkalat on the streets. I assume the parking would be just on the side of the road and ang hirap lang ng hindi well guarded and secured ang area. Just saying. :|

Updates on other venues on my list:

Sun Valley Estates - called again to inquire about the rates and office hours since we were planning to do another ocular and hopefully book them on the spot (if they will allow us to book without a sponsor). Unfortunately, they no longer rent out the Promenade hall daw and they insisted that we need a sponsor. So we are now officially crossing this our our list :(

Jardin de Miramar - Went to the Rizal Bridal Fair in SM Taytay on July 15. We asked for a quote, hoping to score a great discount (dahil bridal fair) that would make us choose Jardin over Mango Farm. The lady who assisted us, unfortunately, was, matapobre. May unang babaeng nag-aassist samen but apparently, she doesn't know anything about the rates and the venues and kept on asking this other lady from across the table to answer all our questions. This lady, who was all alta and glamorousa, looked irrirated but managed to put on a smile when she approached us. Hero felt that we were being judged that were just inquiring and it's a waste of time to explain everything to us since we don't look like we're gonna book anyway. She quoted us Php119,000 for Sevilla and Estacion (without any bridal fair discounts, and inclusive of all corkages that she didn't even bother to explain). I've inquired thru email and I've been to Jardin de Miramar. I've been quoted waaay less and the others na nakausap ko answered my emails, and accommodated us politely when we visited Jardin. Sobrang nakaka-turn off lang talaga si ate, and that was the final straw for us to cross out Jardin de Miramar from our list.

So finally.... after 3 months of venue hunting, it looks like we're left with no other choice but...

The Mango Farm! Ang tanong... available pa kaya? 

Will go there again this weekend, and sana... available pa! =)))

Why not call now, confirm now, book now? Kung para sa'min, ibibigay. Kung hindi, then maybe, kelangan namin mag-consider ng other options. :)

CURRENT RANKING:

1. The Mango Farm
2. Eugenio Lopez Center
3. L'Orchard
4. Le Blanc 
5. Jardin de Miramar
6. Oasis Manila
7. Sitio Elena
8. Sun Valley Estates
9. Valley Golf
10. UP Bonsai Garden
11. Camp Aguinaldo

XOXO,

It Starts With

Happy 2016!

I am the Bride-to-Be and welcome to my Wedding Inspiration and Preparation Blog! :)

Basically, this blog will be my online vision board for my upcoming wedding in.. dun dun dun dunnn.... 2017! Or... 2018. Haha!

But no, I am not engaged yet. My Hero, my boyfriend of seven years, is yet to propose. But everything’s laid out and everything’s SO sure so no, I am not just asumming! Haha! So while I’m waiting for him to (NOT) surprise me with his proposal and half-a-million-peso-or-so question, I will start to blog everything! :D

To start with, back in 2012, I had a short-lived fascination and obsession with weddings. I started saving pictures of wedding gowns, wedding ideas, wedding pictures. I researched on wedding venues, suppliers, expenses, and packages. I attended bridal fairs, collected flyers and brochures, and made lots of inquiries.

But no, I didn’t want to get married then. Siguro that was one time when I had lots of friends on Facebook getting hitched, when my news feed would be mostly posts ng wedding ni ganito nung high school, ni ganyan nung college. And yet, I didn’t really feel any pressure then na as if inggiterang froglet lang ako and I wanted to get married na din (HAHA!). I was just really drawn into weddings and that’s when I started to build my dream wedding vision board! Four years later, here I am. Here we are. Hindi na to fascination lang. Hindi na to trip lang. Every bit of time and effort that I put into this will be FOR my wedding. MY UPCOMING WEDDING!

THE PROPOSAL (COMING SOON!)

First thing’s first! I need my boyfriend to be my fiance first! Haha! We have have been talking about him proposing to me the past few months. From the kind of proposal I want to the design of ring I like. Natutuwa nga sya and he’s always telling me na ang kulit namin, kase pinaguusapan namin yung mga details na ganun, and hindi na sya mahihirapan and hindi kakabahan na baka hindi ako matuwa sa proposal nya, or sa ring na ibibigay nya. Well, it might not be ideal for other women, kase wala na yung essence of surprise. But really, this is totally okay with me. At least sure akong gusto ko yung ring na ibibigay nya! Hahaha. And besides, he will propose no matter what, anyway. Hindi ko nga lang alam kung kelan, and kung paano exactly, but he will. So yun na yung “surprise” na part! Haha!

THE DATE

Preferred Wedding Dates:

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Saturday, April 21, 2018 (Our 10^th Anniversary is on April 19^th)

My worry is that supplier rates and packages tend to be MUCH MORE expensive when your wedding is in December. A few months ago, there was this online Bridal Fair and they offered discounts and really good freebies but period is only until November 30^th. For 2017, I can’t move our wedding before December coz I feel like I need the extra time for our 13^th month bonuses to come in just in case we have incidental expenses. If January 2018 naman, even if it’s just a month difference from December 2017, I feel like antagal tagal nya pa since it would mean I WON’T GET MARRIED NEXT YEAR. :( Arte lang haha. If April naman, it will basically be on our 10^th Anniversary as a couple. We’ll probably have our civil wedding on the 19^th and the wedding on the 21^st. Peroooo. Imagine. TWO PLUS PLUS LOOOOONG YEARS. No. Parang I can’t wait for April 2018 to get married! Hahaha. But well. It really depends on how much and how fast we can raise our wedding fund. Speaking of which....

WEDDING FUND

By the end of 2016, we should already have a Wedding Fund of PhpXXX,XXX. Mahirap--yes, and kelangan talaga maging matipid, but attainable naman. And para maka-ipon, here’s a rundown of everything that we have to cut/give up/stop spending money on.

- NO other travel plans (aside from those we have already booked. THIS. IS. HARD.)
- NO unnecessary purchases (from luxury to groceries, and even overpriced food! NO.)
- NO more Uber or Grabcar (I. CAN. NOT.)
- ALL credits cards and outstanding loans should be paid and cleared this year. (YES!)

So yes. It will be really hard. It will be a financially challenging 2016 and 2017 for us. All the cost-cutting... especially on travel. AYYYY. Ang jirap nito teh. But.. kakayanin! :)

VISION BOARD

How do I envision my wedding?

I only have one thing in mind... a Golf Course Wedding Ceremony! 

From Google Images

Ken and Nina

Rex and Shael

Zeus and Aikee

For the ceremony, I want ABSOLUTELY NO WALLS OR BUILDINGS AROUND. As much as possible, it’s just a vaaaast golf course.  With white foldable chairs, and only rose petals on the aisle. There are so many nice garden wedding venues in Tagaytay and Antipolo, but I really want a golf course. For the reception, it has to be indoor and airconditioned, so I'm looking at golf clubs with function halls.

Here's the shortlist so far...

Manila Polo Club
KAAAY it's not a golf course...but it's perfect!

Jay & Tine

Eastridge Golf Club (Binangonan, Rizal)

My problem is it’s too far and the tapon-sa-hangin OOT fees that we’ll have to pay the suppliers. :|

Ken and Nina

Rex and Shael

Camp Aguinaldo Golf Course + Tejeros Hall
My parents had their 25^th Wedding Anniversary at Tejeros Hall. It’s graaaand and it’s a huge hall (good for 500 pax). I'm not sure though if they will allow a wedding ceremony at the golf course.

Camp Aguinaldo Golf Course

Tejeros Hall

Other Golf Courses in Manila to check out:

Capitol Hills Golf & Country Club (Diliman, QC)

Wack Wack Golf and Country Club (Mandaluyong)

Valley Golf & Country Club (Antipolo)

Sun Valley Golf Club (Antipolo)

Forest Hills Golf & Country Club (Antipolo)


As early as now, I need to start inquiring at these venues na. We're actually hoping na by end of this year, we're already sure with the venue. And maybe when Hero has already proposed, we can start doing some oculars na rin. After the proposal--para may ring na naka-balandra! HAHA!

That’s it for now! Quite lenghtly for my first post! Hopefully the next one will be less words and more pictures! I will be updating this blog from time to time with inspirations, suppliers, and other prep stuff. With almost two years prep time, I hope that we will be able to build our simple and humble dream wedding!

FEATURED WEDDINGS IN THIS POST:

JAY and TINE: http://jayjaylucas.com/blog/2011/08/30/jay-and-tine-ceremony/
NINA and KEN: http://brideandbreakfast.ph/2015/01/15/sunsets-and-ever-afters/
REX and SHAEL: http://www.kphotographymanila.com/blog/destination-wedding-rex-shael
ZEUS and AIKEE: http://brideandbreakfast.ph/2014/10/29/simple-sweetness/

XOXO,