Our Pick: Center Table Catering

There are only 3 choices for us, Juan Carlo, Josiah's and Center Table. We were able to have a food tasting with Juan Carlo but never with Josiah's, and of course we had our first food tasting with Center Table. When we tasted Center Table's food it was a sudden decision, their food is good and their service and style is also good. And the best thing that I like about them is that while we are eating Ms. Rica and her mom (the owners) entertains us once in a while.

After eating, I talked to Ms. Rica right away and discussed every detail but since my wedding would be over a year from now pa, we just discussed some of the freebies that she will be giving me since we booked at that Wedding Expo Bridal Fair last Sept 1 & 2, and of course we booked the date!

We also like their centerpieces and their overall design, with candles and everything...and the flowers will actually be done by scenta flora as well, the one that might also do our church's floral arrangement, but no final decision yet on that one.

Read their profile...

Established in 1987 and incorporated in 1999, Center Table Inc. has been an active & innovative member of the catering industry in the Philippines. Aside from providing quality food and service for a multitude of functions, Center Table is also known for its beautiful, elegant and lavish settings which rivals the best florists & artist in town.

Client satisfaction rather profit is what the company strives for. Through the years, the company grew through word of mouth. Every satisfied customer resulted in five or more prospective clients.

Presentation is very critical to any event the company caters; it should represent the founder’s influence. Service should be elegant and the food, delicious and visual appetizing.
Center Table, Inc. through its founder and president, Rosalie Natividad Valera is an active and founding member of the Food Caterers Association of the Philippines (FCAP).

Just look at these pictures or visit their website at my fave links.

East Digital...made it to the finals!

After shortlisting the suppliers for our photo and video coverage, we then had a deadline for booking the winner (the chosen one..hihi)...at the Wedding Expo at PICC last Sept. 1 & 2. After going around and around their stalls, we then see Ariel Javelosa, Smart Shot, Lito Sy, East Digital, Richel Mascariñas, and many many more...and the one that we are actually looking for is not there...Henry Villanueva, we met him at the bridal fair last July at Megatrade and Bry really liked him, but then we stopped by in front of East Digital's stall, we browsed their albums, the photos, the guestbook...etc...we liked their shots...they have good quality abums with briefcase and there are so many inclusions in the package that they gave me.

Thanks to Ms. Susan Magana, because she is so nice, she have included everything in the package since we booked them that day.

Well we haven't scheduled a visit at their office in Oritgas yet but for sure we will before this year ends, and we'll talk about every details as well as schedule our prenup for next year.

You can visit their site at my fave links. :)

Our Moments

The excitement of informing our friends

After we have booked the venue, that was only the time that we had the guts to announce it to our friends. We're very excited, Bry informed his friends separately and with his style, while I informed Anne first because we can relate to each other because she is getting married by January, and then I texted Lia, my bestfriend in Korea, and then my officemates because they are the only one whom I always hang out with, and then my close friends...some of them I texted and some of them I messaged in Friendster.

Their reaction was: "Sa Wakas! After 10 years!"

It was fun because some of my friends are asking about everything, what's the motif? etc..etc...
And it really made me excited and it made me decide as well to create a blog so that they don't have to ask me again and again. And again this blog is under the influence of Anne again...hehe nawili kasi ako tumambay sa blog nila ni jayR eh...thanks anne...

There.

First thing to do: Find a venue

For me, haven't seen any wedding planner, wedding magazines, haven't attended a wedding fair yet...the first thing that I need to do in preparing for a wedding is to find a venue. It's the very important thing in this event, because the venue should be the one you like and the one you chose not just it's the one left not fully booked.

We had attended our first bridal fair in Megatrade Hall in Megamall last June, without any idea yet for our wedding, we inquired with every stall that we pass by, rings, gowns, photo & video, venue, caterer, etc. We had like 2 bags of flyers!

I didn't notice Fernbrook Gardens at the fair, I only saw the Fernwood Gardens stall with their usual wooden tables and chairs, because they're really popular. When we were on our way to the parking area we pass by powerbooks to buy Wedding Essentials Magazine as advised by my good friend Anne who's also getting married by January 2008 and she actually serves as my wedding adviser at the moment...haha...

When I was browsing on the magazine, I passed by fernwood's page, it's actually a two-page ad, good thing I'm in the mood on really looking at it, and then on the next page I saw "Finally making their way to the south"...."Fernbrook Gardens New Alabang"....Whaaa!!!!

The next thing I said was: "Babe! may fernwood na sa Alabang!" (the story is we really wanted to have our wedding at fernwood but it's not an option because it's too far) and then he rushed to the magazine and then we browsed its page on the internet at that very moment!

The next thing I did was I reviewed the flyers we got from the fair, and viola! meron pala akong flyers ng fernbrook! I called their office, I talked to the ever nice and considerate Ms. Marivic and Ms. Lovely (which is very lively) hehe, I inquired, made an appointment to the site with no other than the owner itself Mr. Mike de Veyra and made occular at Fernwood to atleast have an idea and then the last thing we knew is that we have finally booked the place...believe it or not we had the last slot for December 20, 2008 for Byzantine Garden in fernbrook Alabang.

Here's some pics from Fernwood Gardens

And according to Bry he will be renting this carriage which he really got amazed and excited when it was first seen at the PICC Wedding Expo last Sept.1 & 2.


Mission Accomplished: We already booked our venue last August, signed the contract last Sept. 1 at the PICC wedding fair.

Here are some pictures...

Fernbrook still ongoing construction...but believe it or not their first scheduled wedding is November of this year...

This was taken 1st week of September...

Check their website on my fave links.

Why, finally we decided to get married?

Why? It's because we're READY!!!

Well, yeah honestly, we're not really sure if our sponsors (which is Bry's parents) are ready for this big splurge...hehe...but we took chances. And there was no formal proposal, because wayback like 2-3 years ago we already talked about marriage and that it should be by the year 2007, well obviously it didn't push through this year and we are 1 year delayed from the original plan.

Just to share...the main reason why Bry decided (actually he decided) to talk about this on a more serious note is that he is getting busy with his business, he's getting a lot of clients and he had appointments everyday even on our "Time" (we always set time for each other every single day, beat that!), and sometimes I am already getting annoyed even if I know it's a business thing...so then he decided to set a date for our wedding and prepare for it for real...to have all of our time with each other.

He started it by telling it to his parents. The first reaction of course was "Buti naman!", and then the 1st question was "Kelan?" We havent talked about the exact date yet at that time, but we are choosing from May or December of next year.

And then I told my parents about it, same reactions and questions as well.

Cool parents huh?

Boracay Madness: A pre-wedding prep vacation...

Last June 15, 2007, me and bry headed to kalibo for our much awaited vacation. It was our first time to ride a plane, and knowing me...I'm really super nervous!!! And it was also our first time to go on vacation for just the two of us, and it's really FUN and ROMANTIC!!
There was an option to join our friends on an earlier date but I can't file my leave at work by that time, and yes, we are really looking forward to spend that vacation for just the two of us. It was a plan! haha...

We're not really picture addicts but we have pics of our special moments...but here in Boracay we have a lot of pics...and we just knew that we are addict on taking our own pics...above is the pic bry took overlooking the Kalibo Airport.....

Moving ahead, the moment we step foot at Boracay port, gosh I thought it was a swimming pool! (take note: it's just the port!) But yeah, when we saw the view of the whole boracay, it just seems so perfect!

We stayed at Pearl of the Pacific Resort in the posh Station One...I love the sand there...

It's really nice there, our room, the staff, the sand, the beachbeds and everything...

Enough with the beauty of station 1! Let's talk about our activities there...of course we took like an hour rest before we go out, and the first thing we did was to eat our lunch at sea lover's....wow!!! Super sarap talaga! And then we tried the Island's famous shakes!!! And then we just had a walk from there back to station 1 to change our outfits and start to enjoy the island, while on the way back to pearl we were offered to rent an ATV on the way to Mt. Luho Peak (the highest peak in Bora), of course we obliged, and that was our first activity there.

Okay, that was really tough, because it's so high and my nervous side really made me tired on that trip, but oh well, the view is really awesome and we got to see the other side of bora...

After that we just walked the whole strip of the island and get to see everything that it can offer...window shop at d'mall, viewed the sunset at our beachbeds, of course captured moments, ate dinner at gasthof, we walk our way back to the hotel and just stayed for a while by the beach before we took our rest. And that's for our first day in the island...

Hmmm...second day...first stop...ISLAND HOPPING!!! It was actually fun but the time we arrived in Crocodile Island the water was really not behave just to say...so it made us really dizzy and I got scared when bry told me that he just saw a seasnake....duh...what do you expect my reaction will be??? friends you know my reaction already...hehe...and I even begged to our boatman to stop feeding the fishes because I'm afraid that the seasnake will go near us...whatever!!!

After that, Bry's most awaited!!! JETSKI!!!

Hay, it's really tiring...but it's fun kahit mahal....hehe

After this we just hanged out at the beach beds of pearl, bry had his henna, i had my hair braided by a super nice girl, I sunbathed to have my tan, played with the sand, swam, and bry had his skim boarding tutorial with a native there...and then after that...you can't disturb him!

After this, we are really tired but sayang naman kung hindi kami lalabas....we just went to pier one after dinner....chill out session, but the rain poured a bit so we need to go inside, but it's still cool, after that we just bought some chips, water and medicines at d'mall and then we rode a tryke headed back to our hotel. To sleep!!!!

It's really sad when we woke up in the morning of our third and last day at bora...Bry and I were even talking about extending for a day, but yeah, can't please ourselves by that time because we have committments in Manila by the next day. haay!

The first thing we did was to hang out at pearl's beach beds and feel the island (since it's our last day), took pictures at Willy's rock since it's just near our hotel, swam a bit, we even took picture of ourselves at Waling Waling's famous swings...and walk ourselves to station 2 to have breakfast and had our last minute shopping for pasalubongs and ride our way back to pearl at around 10am.

When we arrived at pearl at 10am (which is the best time to swim because the water is so blue and it's going high tide already) it's like our feet was stucked in the floor and doesnt want to climb up to our room...at that moment we really like to swim even for 15min, but we can't our flight is at 4:00pm but we need to be out at 11am and need to be at Caticlan at 12:00pm and be at Kalibo Airport at 2:00pm...well yeah the 2 hour allowances were just enough for us to still enjoy the water!!! waaahhh!!!
While we are on our way to the port, there's really a feeling of sadness...we don't want to leave boracay, and it's our favorite place in the world. We'll be back for our honeymoon in January 2009. :)