Category Archives: Weddings

City Garden Suites’ Wedding Package Pricing

Posted by wandergirl on January 28, 2011 2 comments

For the last couple of months since I posted my wedding reception on this blog, I have been getting several emails requesting for City Garden’s wedding package. As much as I want to reply with each request diligently, I just couldn’t get the time to check this blog from time to time – thereby, leaving some of the readers waiting for days before I am able to get back to them. So now, I decided to provide the downloadable documents here.

Please do note that this documents were given to me a year ago. There may be some changes with the prices and package inclusions by this time. I advise that you make this document as an approximated reference only. And contact City Garden Suites Manila for updated quotations and further inquiries.

City Garden Suites Manila wedding package 2009

City Garden Suites’ Sample Table lay out for 50 pax

City Garden Makati wedding package 2009

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Nice Print Studio

Posted by wandergirl on July 13, 2010 3 comments

When Nel and I were still busy preparing for our wedding, I didn’t have enough time to properly blog about every experience I’ve had dealing with our vendors, much to my frustration. At one point I even created a separate blog for wedding entries alone, but after only a dozen of arduous writings, I decided to delete it permanently for the simple reason that I cannot maintain it anymore.

But now that the wedding has been successfully celebrated, you’ll probably catch me blogging more about our wedding vendors. And I’m gonna start off with Nice Print.

Before them, we considered Smart Shot, Mimi + Karl, Ariel Javelosa, Digital Picman, and B.A. Studio for our photo and video coverage. If money wasn’t an issue, we would have gotten either Smart Shot or Mimi + Karl. But because we wanted to stick to a certain budget without compromising the output, we narrowed down our choices to include Nice Print Studio, which I found thru Femalenetwork’s Girl Talk wedding forum.

If it was only me to decide, I could go with any cheaper choices. Yes, Nice Print rates are way competitive, too. But my husband who’s more technically knowledgeable about photography stuff wouldn’t simply go for the most accessible option. He was looking for some more, and gladly he somehow found that with Nice Print.

The thing with Nice Print is that they responded to our emails promptly. And I mean, within a 24-hour turnaround time. So, this is a good trait to consider, of course. The only downside I experienced were, two things:

1.) We requested for Bernie and Rupert to be our photographers, and it took them 3 days to get back to us. And when they did, we were told that we need to make 20% downpayment first for booking. And this leads to my next complain.

2.) We have paid 50% downpayment prior requesting a team and I had to ask whether we need to pay for another 20% just by confirming our team. At that point, we were told that we need not since they have verified that we have paid more than the required amount anyway.

I was about to think they didn’t have coordinated record files to reference to, but hubby said to just let it pass, and so I did. I was ok with that already, until we came across another forum in Girl Talk about Nice Print, which posted a lot of negative feedback. And at that point, we only had 3 months left before the wedding. Which means, it was too late to back out, plus, we cannot refund any from what we have paid already.

Threatened by those posts, I decided to email Charisse, owner of Nice Print, telling her about the forum. But at the same time assuring her that we trust their company and that we are looking forward to see how their team works on our event. Of course, this is also a subtle way of getting positive assurance from them, which they did not fail to give.

We have not seen our photo layouts yet, but seeing the on site video they created for us, which I posted on a previous entry, I knew my husband made the right reasoning, that in the end the pictures and video are all that’s left for us to smile at every once in a while.

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The Wedding 2010

Posted by wandergirl on July 13, 2010 4 comments

Finally, the long wait was over. On July 10, hubby and I walked down the aisle of Paco Park church at 5 PM, as witnessed by our dear friends and family. It was by far the most memorable event in the last two decades of my life.

And what with all the stress and dilemma of the 6-month preparation, I thought they were all worth it. Below are some of the pictures taken on the day of our wedding:


hair and make-up with Kris Bacani

my wedding gown by Amonn Velasco

hubby and I

w/our parents

the kiss and the doves

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City Garden Suites’ wedding reception set up

Posted by wandergirl on June 30, 2010 2 comments

In one of our first ocular visits of City Garden Suites Manila, hubby and I were lucky enough to take a peek of their function rooms being set up for a wedding. It was the Lilac and Lavander rooms that were being dolled up then to accommodate a hundred guests.

sneak peek of the Lavander Room

And because guests may almost  always balloon on the last minute of your RSVP, the Lilac and Lavander rooms were also the same venues we were eying for to accommodate our guests on our event when we decided to book with them.

staged couple's table

The couple’s table on the other hand can only be set up in two ways. One facing the reception entrance door, while the other one is at the far end of the venue. We decided to go with the first set up to give everyone a better view of us, and an illusion of a fully-maximized spaces in between table set up.

3-tiered cake you get for free if you book 100 guests

buffet table

Part of CGS’s wedding package freebies if you book for a 100 guests are bridal car, 3-layered fondant cake, chocolate fountain, bubble machine, etc. On our end though, this part has been miscommunicated to us when we booked for our reception, and they had to remove the 3-layered fondant cake and bridal car by the time we were ready to pay for the 50% downpayment.

I think I have blogged about this on a previous entry. And just last week, before we paid for the remaining balance we had to make sure the free bubble machine and chocolate fountain initially offered to us are still intact with our package.

Bottom line is, we should have had everything well documented since the first time we had pre-booking. This is to avoid last minute changes on the vendor’s side and to make sure couples are well covered with their claims.

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City Garden Suites’ wedding package menu

Posted by wandergirl on June 25, 2010 36 comments

Finally, hubby and I were done with the food tasting last weekend at City Garden Suites Manila. Just a recap, we availed their Lavander wedding package and there are three (3) sets of menu for this package which we reviewed prior coming up with our final buffet menu.

What I like about their buffet wedding packages is that they consist of atleast five (5) main dish, two (2) salad choices, two (2) types of desserts, and a bottomless iced tea.

For the salad, we selected the Ham and Cheese pasta salad…

Ham and Cheese salad

Whereas for the five hot dish, we made sure we have pork, beef, seafood, chicken, and some veggies.

Pork Barbecued Spareribs

Seafood Salpicao

Beef Stew “ Filipino Style”

Herbed Roast Chicken au Jus

Buttered Vegetables

And for the pasta, there were the common choices of carbonara and spaghetti, thus, we opted for something more different which is the Ziti al Pesto Crema.

Ziti al Pesto Crema

We didn’t get to have a sample of the desserts but that’s fine. I guess the main dishes were the most favored here during wedding reception, since a lot of times people are already way too full by the time they’re ready for some sweets. :-)

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Wedding supplier dilemma # 1

Posted by wandergirl on April 12, 2010 1 comments

As much as I’d like to hope this is going to be the first and the last one, I can also bet there’s more to come.

Yesterday when Nel and I met with our account handler in City Garden Suites Manila (where the wedding reception will be held) to pay for the 50% downpayment of the wedding package we availed, I had the shock of my life when we were notified that there was a slight problem with the package given to us.

I tried to stay calm but couldn’t hide my irritation when we were told that the bridal car and 3-layered fondant cake, which were initially explained to us to be part of the package, were in fact not included.

I was like “Are you kidding us?!”

And why tell only now, when I have been calling and talking to them several times in the past after the day we paid for the blocking of dates. Dang it!

I was quick to somehow lose my focus and couldn’t decide whether to push thru with them. Nel was cool but likewise annoyed. I was hoping and waiting he’d say let’s just cancel the initial booking but he didn’t.

When Marichu, the banquet supervisor who was handling our account, left us to get their cake album for us to check out, I was telling Nel that perhaps it’ll be better to look elsewhere.

But come on, we only have three months left and doing another research might be more of a hassle. Plus, it’s not going to be easy to start anew with this little time left. Fine, I conceded. (nakakainis)

So we paid the 50% DP. And on that same day, we tried to check Vienna Cakes which fortunately happens to be just within our neighborhood. We decided to avail of this 2-tiered cake with 20 pieces mini-cakes to serve as additional souvenirs as well.

Sigh, I really do hope no more drastic than that. What a day!

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Looking for the church venue

Posted by wandergirl on April 9, 2010 3 comments

Before I started thinking about the reception venue and the entourage’s gown, the first I had in mind is the church. And this should as well apply t0 every bride out there. After all, once you have decided and booked for the church where you want to get wed, looking for the reception venue comes in handy.

First, I have to admit that looking for a church is not as simple as I thought it would be. There’s the non-stop researching and phone calls, which by the way, is in itself very tedious already especially if you happen to come across someone who doesn’t seem to be quite willing to accommodate your queries. But then of course, you’re left with no choice because obviously, the church is the MOST important part of the event.

My first choice was Mt. Carmel church in New Manila, Quezon City because of how beautifully it appears in photos and it has a function hall for the reception. The only thing that bothers me is the humongous size. Personally, I want a small, chapel-like church that oozes with an intimate ambiance. A church that wouldn’t look empty with a small number of guests.

I googled more churches around Manila and that’s when I came across Paco Park Church, located in San Marcelino, Paco, Manila. I have not done an ocular visit to this church yet, but the first time I seen in one of the pictures online, I knew it’s exactly the kind I wanted.

Paco Church

The church rate is P15,000 just like most of the rest I inquired to. The people I spoke with are very friendly and accommodated all my questions. And best thing about the place is that it comes with a sprawling garden where you can hold your wedding reception. What’s more: the compound boasts with a fountain that a couple can use as backdrop to set a more romantic mood.

REMINDER: While the church is being managed by St. Vincent de Paul Parish, the garden venue is managed by a different office. See below for the contact details of where you can get in touch with if you want to rent out the garden for your reception and/or book for the church.

PACO PARK CHUCH
Contact Details: St. Vincent de Paul Parish
Tel #: 302-7374 / 524-2022

PACO GARDEN VENUE
Contact Details: NDC Office
Tel #: 5257853

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PICC Wedding Expo (16th Edition)

Posted by wandergirl on April 9, 2010 1 comments

On March 14, hubby and I attended the 16th Edition Wedding Expo held at the PICC, CCP Complex. Truth is, we’re not supposed to be present in the event, though, we have once planned dropping by because NICE PRINT STUDIO (our photo and video supplier) is one of the major sponsors in the event and we want to see the extent of discounts they are going to give walk-in couples.

But because we have already booked NICE PRINT prior the wedding expo event, we decided to scrap the original plan. That day we were strolling at SM North EDSA and Trinoma mall, canvassing for wedding rings. We wanted to simply know the price range at look at some styles readily made available.

Around 3 PM when we were checking out some wedding rings in one of the jewelry stores in Trinoma, the attendant made mention about their participation in the Wedding Expo which at that time is already happening at PICC.

Thinking about the freebies and discounts we might be getting, I asked my husband to go right ahead and just take some look. I know my husband was a little hesitant even if he didn’t say so…lolz.

In less than an hour we were already heading right past the entrance gate when one of the usherettes pointed us to line in one of the booths to secure an ID pass.

our wedding expo IDs

To be honest, the place was overwhelming with so many wedding vendors. In less than 5 minutes, I have been holding stacks of brochures and fliers, and more were coming.

It was our first time to attend a wedding fair, and I thought it was pretty stunning. It was also good that we were able to accomplish two things: buy our wedding rings (with a good discount), and book for the wedding invitations.

I’m talking about PRINTED MATTER invites which we decided to choose for the simple reason that they are more budget-friendly and does not have a minimum number requirement for booking. I’ve seen a lot of wedding invites gone wasted no matter how pretty nice things they look, so I thought that given the small number of guests that we are considering, it’ll be wise to allot just enough number of invites to distribute. So, we initially booked for 50 pcs. boarding pass-type invitation cards, and paid P2,000 down payment…woohooo!

Printed Matter's brochure

And as we walked some more, exploring a variety of options, we are somewhat deciding which wedding bands’ store to book. There were plenty and if money wasn’t an issue, we’d definitely go for the best ones. But of course, the one we decided later on wasn’t of anything worse or not worth keeping for, to say the least. We opted for a two-toned rosegold and whitegold combo from Goldenhills Jewelry.

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The wonders of wedding forums

Posted by wandergirl on April 9, 2010 None comments

I am always a fan of so many online forums for the simple reason that they get you connected with people of certain expertise about something you need to know and shares the same experience, sentiments, and excitement about any and every inconceivable topic on earth.

That’s why when Nel and I started planning our wedding, joining wedding forums was never left out on the list. And honestly, I learned a lot. More than a lot than just simply asking friends who’ve wedded before us.

Two of my favorite wedding forums are W@W and Femalenetwork.com‘s GirlTalk. The difference between the two is that W@W includes suppliers directory, post-wedding forums, wedding articles, and many more, whereas, GirlTalk is more dedicated to providing weddings and engagement forums where members can post and share their personal experience with other soon-to-be-brides.

So if you are just starting in your wedding planning, you can never go wrong with these two sites, because they do offer a lot of nice tips and personal stories.

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Preparing a wedding budget

Posted by wandergirl on April 9, 2010 None comments

One of the first things to consider when planning a wedding is the couple’s budget. Ask the following questions below:

1. How much are you will to allot for the entire wedding?
2. Which among the things in your checklist will get the most out of your budget?
3. Which are your priorities on the list?

Most definitely, the questions can go on and long. Hence, it’s important that you have a wedding budget to work around, unless money is not an issue for both the soon-to-be bride and groom.

A wedding budget worksheet allows you to know exactly where most of your wedding budget are going and how to manage them well. These days there are so many of these worksheets you can choose from online. Some of them are pretty standard, while some allows you to customize your worksheet on your own conditions and details.

Personally, I use these same worksheet instead of creating one from scratch. It’s always better to start right than forget some other necessary details at the last minute.

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