Planning for a Wedding Planner

In my attempt to be more organized, I sent out a list of requirements to our initial shortlisted wedding planners and ask for a more customized cost. He's the requirements I put together. Anything I missed out on??? Suggestions are most welcome... :)

Preparation (3 months ahead)

• Unlimited consultation
• Schedule a Pre-planning and Getting to know you (inform planner of wedding details)
• Oversee RSVP of guests (follow up calls, coordinate with travel agent, etc)
• Assist in bringing together the wedding theme/motif/décor (considering suppliers)
• Final meeting with suppliers to finalize details
• Coordinate and monitor suppliers, ensure completeness prior to wedding day
• Assist in ceremony/reception program
• Assist in orchestration of music

Pre-Wedding (2 weeks ahead)

• Exposure to all suppliers and decors prior to the wedding
• Finalize suppliers (ensure that all suppliers and DIY stuff are ready as planned)
• Safekeep all DIY stuff and in charge of bringing props to venue (ex: program cards, escort cards, give aways, secondary sponsor props, etc)
• Wedding Rehearsal (oversee ceremony rehearsals, briefing/orientation entourage)
• Facilitate the program briefing (with host/s, readers, and other persons concerned)
• Smooth flow of transpo and lodging of guests to and from Mactan (Friday-Sunday)

On the day

• In charge of all suppliers (band, flowers, food, liquor, makeup, photographer, videographer, technical team, waiters, etc…)
• Ensure proper set up the venue as agreed upon (DIY stuff, flowers, design, etc)
• Ensure technical set-up (sound system, microphones, band/sound, AVP, etc)
• Supervision of hair/makeup, entourage flowers, departure of bride/groom for ceremony, pictorials (post-ceremony and table to table)
• Schedule and coordination transpo of guests and suppliers on the day (transportation management)
• Schedule and coordination of break and meal time of couple and service crew
• Distribute "misalettes" / program flow to guests
• Organize the processional and the recessional flow (Que entourage for walking down the aisle)
• Coordinate with wedding participants (ex: readers, offertory, singers, secondary sponsors, etc)
• Provide ushers/usherettes (What outfit are they wearing? Can they speak fluent English?)
• Implement program flow/ wedding schedule
• Decide for the couple in case of rain (Implement Plan B)
• Oversee registration booth and escort cards
• Register all received gifts
• Attend to inquiries/problems
• Distribute giveaways
• Oversee food service
• Oversee liquor count/excess cake/food/giveaways
• Handle final payments of all suppliers

Long List of Cebu Wedding Planners

Ive started scouting for wedding planners... since we will most probably have it in Cebu, it makes sense to get a supplier from the area. With the help of Shangri-La Mactan, we've gathered a LOooooooooNG list of options!!!

CEBU WEDDING PLANNERS

Ms. Claire Villaflor
President
Events Depot
101 Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City
Telephone number: +63 32 4161519
Mobile number: +63 921 2858600
Email add: rightconnect_wedding@yahoo.com.ph

Ms. Stanz Catalan
Grupo
2/F I2 Building Asiatown
IT Park, Lahug, Cebu City
Telephone number: +63 32 4158056
Mobile number: +63 917 6262600
Email add: stanz_c@yahoo.com

Mr Ritchie Mendoza
Cebu Events Maker
4th Floor, Mendoza Building
622 Zamora Street, Centro, Mandaue City
Telephone number: +63 32 4228048
Mobile number: +63 920 9222781
Email add: cebueventsmaker@yahoo.com

Ms Connie Te
Precious Moments
Singson Compound
A. Abellana Ext, Guadalupe, Cebu City
Telephone number: +63 32 5161707
Mobile number: +63 917 3277778 / +63 922 8617177
Email add: chershed_moments@yahoo.com

Mr Bong Abella
Koncepts and More
27 Almendras Compound
Almendras Steet, Mabolo, Cebu City
Telephone number: +63 32 2318888
Mobile number: +63 920 9014104
Email add: konceptsandmore@yahoo.com

Ms Maria Gila Benedicto
Rent An Angel Weddings
313 Sikatuna Street
Zapatera, Cebu City
Mobile number: +63 918 9089587
Email add: rent_an_angel@yahoo.com.ph

Mr Joey Alberto
Creative Freeway
934-N Salinas Drive Ext Lahug
Cebu City
Telephone number: +63 32 4147340
Mobile number: +63 916 9915504
Email add: jp_alberto@yahoo.com

Bonneville Zubiri Almendras
I Do Events
22 Quirino Street, Villa Aurora Subd.
Mabolo, Cebu City
Telephone number: +63 32 2319258
Mobile number: +63 917 6202664
Email add: bo_almendras@yahoo.com

Ms Floralyn Sevilla
Abbysean Events and Need
38 Figueroa Street Corner B Aranas, Cebu
Telephone number: +63 32 2648272
Mobile number: +63 915 2728445
Email add: ralynsdesign@yahoo.com

Ms Tisha Mae Sanchez
Bliss Unlimited
Telephone number: +63 32 4228199
Mobile number: +63 917 6266211
Email add: blissunlimited@gmail.com

Ms Mellany Cular
Kasal ATBP
Mobile number: +63 9238239933 /+63 9274576929
Email add: kasal_atbpcebu@yahoo.com, mellany_cular18@yahoo.com.ph

Ms Snoogie Mata
Snoogie Wedding and Events
Mobile number: +63 9173209699
Email add: fdreynes_mata@yahoo.com

Since we obviously cant meet ALL of them, I based our initial shortlist on those who responded the quickest and most comprehensively. Im thinking... we will be coordinating with them from another city all together, I dont want to have to deal with the headache of chasing for a response each time, right? So, here's our initial shortlist...

TOP 3:

1. Ms Tisha Mae Sanchez, Bliss Unlimited
2. Mr Ritchie Mendoza, Cebu Events Maker
3. Ms Floralyn Sevilla, Abbysean Events and Need

Next in Line:

4. Mr Bong Abella, Koncepts and More
5. Ms. Claire Villaflor, Events Depot
6. Ms Mellany Cular, Kasal ATBP

Color Palette

The planning is moving along. So many ideas and concepts have come to mind, it's been quite a struggle trying to bring it all coherently together. I figured... I ought to finalize on our color palette before I go crazy with the designing...

Ive always known it would be PURPLE...
We've settled on VINTAGE TRAVEL...
And CLASSIC ELEGANCE...

So, here is is...
(click to enlarge)

The Cancer Cage

Goodbye Hotel Hatchobori

Besides the 360 degrees survelience cameras and lurking sea creature, in some way I am going to miss Hotel Hatchobori.

3 Things I miss about Hotel Hatchobori:

1. At around 3pm everyday, they would call us for "refereshmento"!!! I must say the snacks we not always great, but sometimes they we're not bad! Plus, it took a good 30 minutes of doing nothing from our day.

2. The new office is Toyocho looks exactly like how I imagined a Japan office to look like. Dull with white kitchen lights and stiff. Its far from comfortable, and it makes an already long day seem WAY TOO LONG. Well, at least you no longer have to take off your shoes!

3. Smoking is such a part of Japan culture, especially the to the working class! Every hour or so, our team goes for what we call "KEWKEI" or break time. When we used to work in Hatchobori, we'd go downstairs to the open air smoking area. It was a good opportunity to step out and get some air, even if you didnt smoke. Now at Toyocho, the smoking area is in an enclosed killer box - the CANCER CAGE (see picture)! You go in there, you go out smelling like you just survived a burning building! NG.

In tribute to Hotel Hatchobori... here's a song my officemates put together...

Hotel Hatchobori
Aaron Moore with thanks to Adam Mcguiness
Sing to the Eagles, Hotel California

On a dark Tokyo Subway
Warm small of the Mochi, risin up through the air
Up ahead in the distance I saw a Dennys sign
My nerdsack grew heavy, and my sight grew dim
I had to work for the day

There she stood in the doorway, I heard the tofu man
Then I was thinking to myself, they could be real or they could be fake
Then I took off my shoes, and showed me the working room
There were voices down the corridor….
Thought I heard them say……

Welcome to the Hotel Hatchobori
Such a horrible place
Such a boring place
Plenty of lectures at the Hotel Hatchobori
Any time of year
Any time of year
Get your lectures here

Her mind is sadistically twisted, she got the sensei wagon
She got a lot of pretty pretty girls she calls we call tea ladies
How the meet in Cronos
Some lecture to remember, some lecture to forget…
How they meet in the 6th floor, some day to remember
Some day to forget

So I called up Mooraka-san, please bring me my meji
She said we haven’t had that chocolate here, since Myron arrived
And still those voices are calling from faaaarrr awayyyy
Wake you up in the middle of the night…..
Just to hear them sayyy

Welcome to the Hotel Hatchobori
Such a horrible place
Such a horrible place
Such a nice spread sheet
Theyre living it up at the Hotel Hatchobori
What a dread surprise
What a dread surprise
Takashita-san bring your alibis……

Cameras on the ceiling, refreshmento at 3
And she said, you lack fundmental understanding, your not as smart as me
And in the sea creatures lair
They are all afraid of the beast
They stab it with their steely emails
But they just CANT LEAVE THE BEAST

Last thing I remember, I was running for the door, had to catch the7:30 flight, back to the place I was before…..Relax said Kogoe-san…..we are programmed to Receive…
YOU CAN TAKE YOUR SHOES ANY TIME YOU LIKE……
BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE.

Subway Stampede!

Today Typhoon Melor (I think thats what its called) hit Japan. Strangely enough, its the first time I saw bright sunny skies and no rain since I got here 4 days ago!!! Weird, right??? But the winds were quite strong, at least for Tokyo standards. For Philippine standards, it was nothing.

Just as most "Acts of God" in Tokyo, the first that was affected was the Metro. A long queue that lasted about 20-30 minutes awaited me just as I hit the Tozai Line Kayabacho station. It may sound like no big deal to most people (especially my fellow Filipinos), but in Tokyo... its headline news.

During rush hour, I would estimate a train arriving every 5 minutes (sometimes less?) with each cart fully packed. Now imagine 30 minutes worth of people all rushing to get to work... CRAZY!!! It was the first time I experienced it THIS bad.

It all began when the train arrived and the doors opened. Pushing... shoving... I had to cling on to my belongings for dear life. One slip of the cellphone from my fingers, it would be lost (FOREVER!! hahaha). So there I was trying to make my way into the train cart. Being inexperienced, I was unintentionally pushed to the outskirts of the stampede. NOPE, stubborn me, I was getting in that train. That was when I felt that close-to-panic feeling. With all the pushing and shoving, I got jammed between the mob and the train door, face forward, lungs crushed out of air... holding on to my cellphone with dear life while the heavy laptop bag that was slung over my shoulder was being tugged away from me. it was pretty crazy! With 3/4 of my body in the train and my other body parts still sticking out, I was close to hopping out. Just then, 4 train conductors came and started literally pushing and packing us in the train just to close the doors!!! Once I was in and able to breathe again... I pulled out the cellphone I was still clinging on to, turned it back on (cuz it somehow got switched off during the fit), and took a shot.

What an experience...

So... next time we read the Japan headlines: "Trains stopped due to...", do not take it lightly.

Chicken Heart for the soul...

When I got back to Tokyo, the handy 7-11 store across the corner of my apartment was GONE! You see as a Gaijin, 7-11 can come in really handy.

TOP 3 reasons why I need 7-11:
3 - Prepaid cards for my Softbank phone. Then again you can get this in any convenient store.
2 - Precooked food for the lazy chef. Again, its not hard to find elsewhere.
1 - This is my top 1 reason. Most ATMs dont accept cards from foreign banks. But all 7-11 ATMs do!!!

Not all was lost though. Not far down I found another 7-11.

Anyway... Im babbling...

My point, that 7-11 store was replaced by a Tori (chicken) restaurant. Ive been wanting to try it out but never got the chance to (as is always the case with restos close by your home). This trip, my colleagues and I finally passed by. Tried CHICKEN HEART yakitori for the first time! Texture was tough but meat was juicy. I'd say its a cross between dark meat chicken and liver. Not my fave but not bad at all. :)

*Picture of Chicken Heart Yakitori
** With phone cams, you rarely get a good shot, but you more often than not get the shot.

My Overall Rating of the Resto: 3 out of 5
Taste: 4/5 (a little on the salty side, but I like salty. definitely tastey though.)
Portion Size: 2/5 (really really small portions. Only dishes that were ok with quantity was the tsukune (chicken meatball, yakitori style) and rice dishes (bento style))
Environment: 4/5 (new and clean especially for a yakitori place. nothing impressive though)
Service: 4/5 (not bad but not execptional either)
Price: 1/5 (too expensive for yakitori, especially considering the portion size)

Restaurant: Gosh, I wish I knew the name... Tori Restaurant 2 blocks between the Ningyocho Station (exit beside AM/PM) and Bureau Ningyocho Nihombashi.

Back in Tokyo! Yoroshiko Onegaishimasu!

After postponing my flight 2 times (due to "Acts of God"... yup! The typhoon Ondoy, aka Ketsana left me stranded in the second floor of my own home for almost a week), I have finally made it to my second home.

I rode Philippine Airlines and was pleasantly surprised to see that they have upgraded some of their planes! Now, not only business class passengers get their own personal TV! YUP, if you're lucky enough, you get the same feature with fiesta class! Not only can you choose your own movies on demand, they also feature games such as Bejeweled, Tetris, etc... (Long gone are those free deck of cards!). There's also radio stations and a number of good CDs you can choose from. You can even create your own playlist. Pretty cool, huh? I dont recall Singapore Airlines having this in economy? Hmmmm... :)

The plane to look for is a Boeing 747-400. 4 hours can go by so quickly... :)




P.S. The practical application of "Yoroshiko Onegaishimasu"

The first few days of this trip has been meeting new co-workers. Thank goodness I brought a new set of business cards. Man do they go fast. A typical business introduction goes like this...

1. There is fumbling (each party awkwardly fumbles for their business card, sometimes it takes so long that Im just standing there waiting...)
2. The awkward stance (you and the person being introduced stand face to face for a few seconds)
3. The speech (he/she introduces himself while holding his/her business card facing you and with two finders of each hand, you dont have to understand it. Basically they say where they are from and their name. Most business cards have an English translation anyway.)
4. The bow (self-eplanatory)
5. The do over (I do the exact same thing he/she did. If Im brave, I try it in Japanese -- "Watashi wa Hahn Regina des". Although I havent been brave this trip yet)
6. And... the final words (this is when they and/or you say either, "Hajimemashte" - "Nice to meet you" or... "Yoroshiko Onegaishimasu" - "Please be nice to me", honestly... I find this statement a little strange, dont you think? Who says "Please be nice to me" after an introduction? Another one of those Japanese things I dont think I'll ever get.)

Yes Tokyo, I am back... Yoroshiko Onegaishimasu.