Vintage Finds At The Cubao Expo!

Eyebrows and I have been hearing about the Cubao Expo for a while now. One weekend afternoon, we passed by Araneta to pick up some Mossimo gift checks and decided to finally check it out. Lunch was a pleasant surprise. We ate at an Italian restaurant called Bellini tucked inside the Expo alley.

Lunch at Bellini's

The food was decent and reasonably priced. But over that, the restaurant was pretty. It reminded me of Rome's Sistine Chapel with hand painted ceilings and brick like structures. The walls were studded with vintage memoirs that gave the place a home-y feel. I would definitely go back.

Posing by the Sistine-like ceilings

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Bellini's Restaurant
Address: Marikina Shoe Expo, Gen. Romulo Ave., Cubao, QC, MM
Contact Number: (+632) 913 2550
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But that wasnt the "wedding highlight" of this weekend extravaganza. Just a few steps away from the restaurant was an artists haven of local paintings and painters and musicians and the like. Eyebrows and I set artistic side free and admired the paintings for quite some time. Above the studio was an even better find! There we met several free-spirited artists where, upon hearing news of our engagement, a talented nose-fluteist played us a lovers hymn! Amongst all that was a room filled with vintage items, maps and books and newspapers and letters and even stamps! Ive been looking for old stamps for quite some time to use for our wedding. I picked out a few to accent our giveaways! YEY for hidden finds! :)

Old school stamps found at the Cebu Expo at PhP5.00/piece

Old school envelopes to be used as guest cards at our reception!

Pink Flora for our Flowers!

We have finally booked our flowers supplier! After our first meeting in Cebu, several positive referrals for friends and suppliers, and a few weeks of negotiating... we have finally booked our flowers and decorations supplier - PINKY CHANG of PINK FLORA! She had a sample arrangement that went well with our vintage travel theme - candelabras. Plus, she was very much open to executing our other decoration ideas! But best of all, she was flexible enough to fit the design in our budget!

Sample Arrangement by Pink Flora

We will be meeting up with her again on our next visit to see some sample arrangements. So psyched out for it!

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Pink Flora
Name: Pinky Chang
Mobile: (+63) 9173217558
Email: pchang555@yahoo.com
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Cebu Pacific 50% OFF Promo!

Cebu Pacific had a 50% off promo for all their flights!!! As soon as we found out, Eyebrows and I informed our family and friends and booked for everyone we needed to book for almost 30 people! A round trip flight from Manila to Cebu turned out to be only around P1,500! What a deal! :)

We booked all our suppliers to be there the day of the wedding, but for the photographers and videographers, we booked them to arrive a day in advance. Some even agreed to shoot our Despedida de Soltera! God is good. What a blessing :)

We're so happy too that a lot of our friends were able to book at a discount as well. It's really exciting to see those closest to us be excited with us :) 200+ days left! Time will fly :)

Looking for Entourage Designers

Im realizing that I underestimated the time and effort needed to look for the perfect designer for our entourage. There are so many things to consider! There's style, work ethic, overall feel of the designer, and ofcourse the cost. We've scouted around so much, considering all types covering all price ranges. Among all those Ive phoned, texted and e-mailed our top three down to:

Francis Libiran
Address: 126 Sct Fernandez, Tomas Morato, QC
Phone: (+63) (02) 416 9098
Mobile: (+63) 9228255495

Veejay Floresca
Address: 3552 Durango cor Emilia St, Brgy Palanan, Makati
Phone: (+63) (02) 758 2128
Mobile: (+63) 9175013535
Email: veejayfloresca@gmail.com
Website: www.veejayfloresca.com

Carmeli Bantug
Mobile: 09173012268
Email: carmelibantug@yahoo.com
Website: atavio.multiply.com

Some lessons learned to make choosing your entourage designer easier:

1. Have a price range. As for the designers average cost before having any further discussions. If their price well above your budget, dont waste any time. Move on. Besides, inquiring knowing there is no chance you will afford the designer will just make you feel bad. Yup, speaking from experience here :)

2. Know what style you are going for. Do you like flowy goddess-like designs or simple queen-like ones or are you going for a casual comfy look? Knowing your style helps trim down your choices. For me, I've always been drawn to elegant but flowy designs. So I was looking for a designer that can mix my love for that with a little bit of vintage to match our theme.

3. Book your appointments early! How silly of me to think that calling today will automatically get me an appointment for tomorrow -- or even for the weekend! Most designers are booked for weddings and fittings and blah blah blah. Dont wait too long, or you run the risk of even losing them as a choice. :)

All that being said, we've finally chosen our entourage designer... But I'll save that for a later post :)

1800 Vintage Theme (Sherlock Homes!)

Never realized there was so many types of vintage!!! After talking to so many suppliers, Ive gotten quite confused on what type of vintage Im going for. In perfect timing, Eyebrows and I went out of our way to watch Sherlock Homes. That tied it all together for me! Found it so difficult to concentrate on the plot cuz I was so busy studying the vintage effect!

That's exactly what Im looking for, 1800 Victorian Vintage - Classic and elegant, lace with rich and deep tones of purple and champagne.

(click image to enlarge)