hunting day

Yesterday was another busy day for me and Francis. First on the list was to hand over our invitation to our ninong Omar, my mom's super nice boss. It's been years since I last saw him and his family, and it was really surprising to see how grown up their kids are now. Made me realize I'm old. Ew.

Next was a trip to my former workplace, Vibal, to claim a long overdue raket check. Unfortunately, their accounting can't find that precious piece of paper so I resolved to just leave an authorization to a friend who works there and proceed to UP, where Francis and I, together with my sister and her beau, would hunt for twigs.

Yes, twigs. Instyle Weddings has this whimsical idea on place cards with the use of twigs. And since we're having a garden wedding, I found the idea perfect. Little did I know the actual work of gathering twigs is so tedious and tiresome. (As of this moment, we already had three trips to UP just for that. Good thing we already have more than enough number of twigs to clean and varnish.)

Next stop was at The Banquet to pay for the sound system we're renting. I've also decided to source my entourage flowers from them. The group is just soooo nice we can't help but be amazed. We're also renting the bridal car from them. At first, we thought it must be part of their selling strategy--being nice and very accommodating. But thinking we're only making use of some--not all--of their services for them to bother selling themselves to us, we then knew they were genuinely nice. Bombet, one of the coordinators, even helped us find a hotel where we'd stay the night before the big day. Because the hotel we were eyeing--Seameo and Sulo--are already fully booked, Bombet recommended that we try Rembrandt and Imperial on Tomas Morato. Since Rembrandt only has one (relatively) affordable room available, we went straight there to check out the room. After the 5-minute tour, it was a go for me, so we had it reserved. Then we were off to Imperial. Their rooms are A-okay, so Francis also had one reserved (though he's still on a lookout for a cheaper one).

And then the most exciting part of the busy day's work: claiming our wedding bands. At past 8pm, we were already at Suarez in Gateway anxiously waiting to fit our rings. Once the attendant carefully placed the beige box before us, Francis and I did not waste any moment trying the lovely bands on. They were a perfect fit I can't help but want to just keep mine on! But of course I can't. I had to remind myself that it's only a matter of weeks before I get to keep that ring on my finger. We have decided (well, it's more like I charmed Francis into deciding) to get a white gold pair in a simple yet elegant design, but a pair that's out of the ordinary ones usually seen in catalogues.

Haaay. Moments like these really make me all the more excited for our big day. And for a bride like me, there's nothing more heartwarming than hearing my groom whisper how overly excited he is, too--with matching (manly) kilig.