Pre Nup Photoshoot: The Other Story

Early on the day of the pre nup shoot. We went to the shop of Kris Bacani, the makeup artist that Jen was raving about before they even met. Kris and the hairstylist, Alex had an instant connection with her. And during the makeup session, they only needed a short time to figure out what to do. Jen just gave them the idea of what she wanted to look like and the two worked on her like pros… well, they are pros! Very good and genuinely kind, pros. 

After the make up session, we went ahead to meet Aiza. Aiza was the Personal Assistant that Anna Sotto (our wedding coordinator) had sent to assist us in the photoshoot. We were surprised really, because we didn’t think this was part of the service we have availed since our contract with Anna was for On The Day coordination only. Aiza was really helpful during the day, hands down. She even helped us on things we thought we didn’t need any help on. From the dressing up to the photo shoot to the packing up, her service was complete.

Now, on our way to the Greenery, while passing by NLEX the sky started to get dark. The day before, we have actually met our Photographer, Daniel Lei, and he made us reconsider pushing through because of the weather. But we decided to push on because we can’t be sure that any future date would be sunny anyway. As the sky got gloomy, so did our resolve. We thought the day is going to be a disaster. But luck seemed to be in our favor. No rain fell. And to make things better, the clouds shielded us from an otherwise scorching afternoon.

At the Greenery, we met Daniel Lei and immediately we started the shoot. It was a little awkward for us at first, since we are not used to the poses. And the first set of pictures were just full of awkwardness. Luckily, Daniel and his team was so comfortable to work with, soon, all the inhibitions were gone. His team really know their craft and they know how to adjust based on our requests.  He maximized our venue - the houses, the rail bridge, the gazebo. Our props were played subtly all throughout the shoot: the umbrellas, the flower, and most importantly the Beetle. While doing that though, he made us feel that it wasn’t about the background, it was about us.   Thumbs up to them!

Aside from our suppliers though, there was another team that was there to , errr, guide us… Our moms. Wow, they are just about the most persistent directors =) They were so funny because they really played the roles of backstage mothers. So, do prenups and moms mix well? It depends… on the moms:

You can visit their sites

Daniel Lei

Anna Liza Sotto

Kris Bacani

Well... our moms do not have blogs or websites. You can find them on Facebook though... oh, their services doesn't come in cheap =)

The Pre Nup Photo Shoot

We woke up early on the day of our pre-nuptial shoot. It was hard to get to sleep because of anticipation. They say that the feeling you get from the ‘pre-nup’ is very close to the feeling of warmth you get on the actual wedding day.

Due to our theme we were choosing among a list of 3 choices for our pre nup venue. One was the Midway Boardwalk and Brooklyn Place in the Enchanted Kingdom. The other was Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, in Bataan. But eventually, we have chosen The Greenery, in Baliuag Bulacan.

The place was designed to look like it was a town in a 1950’s American suburbia. The houses are made of wood and was white washed. The roofs were tiled and the doors were topped with red scaffolding. White picket fences run around the houses. They also have 2 light houses standing by the river and looking over a gazebo. The gazebo was located towards the middle of the river and is connected to the shore by an elevated bridge. Around the Greenery, runs a rail road that could fit a tram (and there is even a railbridge over a ravine!).  Our location was perfect for our theme, and just to add a punch to the whole setting, we borrowed a white Volkswagen Beetle. The view of that Beetle by the railway in front of the houses was amazing!

Now we had to blend in too! So we tried to dress up. We prepared two sets of clothes, One is more casual and colorful. The other set is more formal and subtle. Jen then talked to her makeup artist to make her look like an uptown midcentury lady =)

Get ready for some Vintage Lovin’!

We loved so many shots !=)

You can visit the site of The Greenery here. I tell you, the place is so relaxing that after the shoot, we requested to stay a little bit longer to enjoy the place.

Food Tasting and Ocular Visits

Although I have posted about our caterer and our accommodations already, I have a confession. I may have sounded like 1. We have tasted the food of Towns Delight already and 2. That we have already seen  Crosswinds for ourselves. We haven't. Sorry about that but, I don’t have to be guilty anymore because we have already done our assignments  =)

     

We talked to Gina, our Towns Delight Coordinator and she arranged  for us to taste our chosen menu on one of their partner restaurants: The Republic of Cavite

The restaurant is reminiscent of Emilio Aguinaldo’s house and the interior is quite rustic. They play very relaxing music and the place has a very nice ambiance. But we are not there for the place. We are there for the food! Well, at least I am =)

They first served us mushroom soup, then salad. Then after finishing them up, the waiters then served plates upon plates of food! Pot roast, Spare ribs, Chicken steak, Cordin bleu, Fish fillet, Chicken in Szechuan Sauce, Penne and different pastries. For about an hour there, I felt like a judge in one of those cooking shows! So many food, so little time =) We liked everything but some are just more likeable than the others. Upon finishing the meal (yep i had to finish it) and asked for the bill, we were surprised that the food tasting was FREE! Food tasting just became my favorite part of the wedding preparations. Ok...at least one of my favorites =)

Now for the ocular visit on our accommodation. Crosswinds is one of the few, places that is actually way way better than how it actually looks in pictures. The rooms were more spacious than what we actually expected. It's really like being in a European town! The colors of the houses and the smell of the pine trees just made the whole place so relaxing. See this video I found, but I think even this is not doing Crosswind any justice. We're so excited to stay here together with our closes relatives.

You can visit Republic of Cavite's site here

You can visit Towns Delight's site here

You can visit Crosswinds' site here