The Photographer

And the chosen one is: Rene Gaviola!

To say that I love his pictures would be an understatement. Here are some of my fave pics from his site. I have a hard time identifying what it is I like about his style. Maybe it's the simplicity, or the candidness of the photo, or the lighting. It could also be because his pictures do say a thousand words. Basta, when I went to his site for the first time, even before I got to email him or anything, I knew na he was going to be one of my top choices for a wedding photographer.

I sent out an email, and inquired regarding his minimalist layout and personalized album. In his reply, he wrote:

For content, we would put in mostly large photographs of my creative shots since I prefer the minimalist approach. Of course there might be a couple of pages w/ combined photos but only if it calls for it. Please visit http://www.graphistudio.com/en/products/Book/index.html for examples of minimalist layouts. [This text can also be found starting here.]

I was hooked! Dar is a no-frills kind of guy, and he wants everything, simple, neat, clean and uncluttered. Looks like Rene really is the photographer for us :)

Oh, and he has a large selection of albums, as in! We decided to get an album from Chie Zamora, a black Bible-looking album, that looks and feels like a coffee-table book. Pero later on pa namin pag-usapan, after the wedding na. We might go straight to Chie Zamora rin siguro para I can ask siguro kung puedeng cover-an ng denim yung album. [Over denim na ba? :P]

As of now, I'm so happy that I got Rene Gaviola as my wedding photographer. He is so nice, so accomodating, sobrang creative, andaming ideas :) Tuwang-tuwa sya sobra sa denim motif ko :)

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Haaay... feels so good to finally make some serious progress with the preps.

obssessed over wedding preps @ 10:38 PM

| Toast, anybody?

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The Videographer

And the Oscar goes to: Buddy Gancenia!

Yes, I finally booked Buddy Gancenia after some serious dilly-dallying. I had to consider a lot of things because Kat's friend, Deng, was also doing wedding videos. I had to wait for the sample before I could fairly decide on who to get. It was so hard to decide as in! On one side, a cheaper, Gen-X music wedding video done by a CMMI awardee, on the other hand, a more expensive, yet more experienced, reality-based coverage done by a Certified Avid Editor.

After 10,000 email exchanges and bargainings, I decided to splurge and get Buddy :)

One of the factors I considered was that Buddy and Rene Gaviola have been partners since forever [I'm exaggerating], and it was important to me that my videographer and photographer work well together. Baka naman mag-agawan pa sila ng eksena, kasi di sila sanay to work together. Since Buddy and Rene have worked together before, siguro naman they've developed na a working relationship, and their own rhythm when it comes to their wedding coverage.

Pero the deciding factor talaga were his reality videos. It was not the usual wedding video na set to music lang yung video, mala music video. Buddy's videos had a raw, documentary feel to it, na I found very refreshing. And for a one-cam setup, andami rin nyang nakukuhang shots ha :)

What I like about him also is he's very down-to-earth. I think he can make Darius comfortable being in front of the camera for the AVP and during the wedding itself. He's so easy to get along with, just like his wife, Cathy Gancenia of Flowers Speak. Andami rin nyang ideas, pati rin dun sa flowers [his wife's best student I suppose hehehe], and syempre sa denim theme ko.

We have an assignment nga pala, think of a concept for the AVP, a possible script, and maybe the music that goes along with it! I'm crossing my fingers I, oops, I meant Dar and I, can come up with an interesting AVP for our family and friends :)

obssessed over wedding preps @ 10:43 PM

| Toast, anybody?

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Denim Cake?!?

I googled for images of denim + cake and viola! There exists a denim cake!



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I have made so much progress this month of June. I'll be posting notes on my photographer, videographer, make-up artist, and my gown-maker, who I finally met up with last Friday. I've also been finalizing the design of my invitations. I also met up with the caterer, and I made some bilin regarding our requirements. Finalizing my menu as I speak (or write, hehe).

That's it for now. I'll be making more detailed kuwento about my wedding preparations a few days from now. ^_^

Toodles!

obssessed over wedding preps @ 5:35 AM

| Toast, anybody?

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Seven Years Ago

"Bakit kasi ineligible pa rin ako?", I asked Marie as we walked from our tambayan to Engg (Building).

I took a drag from my Marlboro Menthol Reds cigarette. "Kaasar, di tuloy ako makapag-enlist", I said through a cloud of smoke.

"Either yung classcards yan, or nawala yung jacket[1] mo", said Marie. She looked at her watch. "Tsk tsk. Matagal pa 'to, wala pang one o'clock eh"

Aargh. Enlistment is always a hellish experience in UP. Especially when you're an Enggineering student - you have to go way over to the Math building for your Math subjects, go to the tri-college (CSSP) for your general subjects, then to the Enggineering building for your Eng'g subjects. Oh and don't forget that damn PE.

"Marie, pano ba'to... Puro pre-rog na lang abot ko nito eh", I wailed as we crossed the street.

I threw down my finished cigarette, and stepped on it. I looked up, and noticed that somebody was walking towards us.

He had a smile on his face, looking at us as if he knew us. He was not walking towards us, but he was balancing himself on the path ledge, trying hard not to fall down.

"OY DARIUS!" Marie shouted. Ooooh, so kilala sya ni Marie, I thought.

He jumped off the ledge ang greeted Marie, "Hoy ka din." He had this childish grin on his face. "San kayo punta?"

"Sa admin, papahanap yung jacket nya", Marie said as she nodded towards me.

He looked at me. I, in turn, looked at him, too, and gave a small smile.

"Oo nga pala, Shelley si Darius, Darius si Shelley."

I gave a slightly bigger smile, "Hello"

"Ano uli pangalan nya?", he asked Marie with a wide smile on his face.

Marie slapped him on his arm. "Ang kulit nito, sabi ko nga Shelley!" Marie looked at me and said, "Makulit talaga 'to eh"

Para syang kiti-kiti, I thought, as I observed Darius.

"Classmates kami ni Darius nung elementary eh", Marie said. "Ah talaga?" was the only response I could muster. "Tapos nung summer lang kami uli nagkita. Classmates kami sa 53"

"Ang galing nga ni Marie sa 53 eh" he said with a grin.

"Oy, hindi kaya, ikaw kaya yung magaling!" Marie looked at me, "Salutatorian yan nung high school"

"Hindi, hindi ako salutatorian. Di daw kasi ako umabot sa grade na para sa salutatorian eh."

By this time, I was only replying with small smiles, "Ahhhh" or "Talaga?". All this time, he was constantly moving, either walking on the ledge again, or stumbling on his own two feet, or just plain pacing around.

"Uy, Shelley, mayaman yang si Darius" Marie jokingly whispered to me.

Darius laughed. "Hindi kaya. Magsasaka lang tatay ko. Labandera lang nanay ko."

"Eh may sariling kotse ka nga eh" Marie shot back.

"Di sakin yon!" he countered, with a glint in his eye.

I looked at my watch. "Ah, ano, lapit ng mag-1 eh. Akyat muna ako ha, pipila nako sa admin"

"Darius akyat na kami ha", Marie said.

"Sige, hintayin ko na muna sina Pao dito", he replied. He looked at me, "Sige good luck ha"

I smiled, "Thanks"

Marie hooked her arm around mine and we turned towards the entrance. "Sige Darius! Goodbye!"

I looked over my shoulder. He was still looking at us. I smiled and mouthed, "Bye".

He smiled.

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Not exactly the way it happened hehehe.

I clearly remember it was an enlistment day and I was with Marie and we were going to the Eng'g building. I also remember that I was ineligible to enroll. I also remember that I was smoking Marlboro Menthol Reds that day because I clearly remember the box.

And then, I know Darius was at the side entrance of the Eng'g building. And he too remembers that we got introduced. And I clearly remembered Darius saying that his father was just a farmer and that her mother was just a labandera.

And so, I will never forget: seven years ago, June 2, 1998, was when I got introduced to a lanky, hyper and makulit boy, who will turn out to be the father of my child ... and the man I am going to marry.



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[1]jacket - refers to the school records (class cards, copies of Form5's, TCG) of an Eng'g student.

obssessed over wedding preps @ 12:54 PM

| Toast, anybody?

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...back to the seventh year hitch...