The Wedding Month

JUNE is definitely the month of weddings (well, aside from December)....

I have 3 wedding invitations inside my bag. Imagine that? This June, I'll be jumping from one wedding to another. I didn't really enjoy attending weddings back when I was younger because I always get frustrated whenever I don't get to capture the dove. Yes, dove, the bird. Remember how the newly-wed couple would release 2 doves as a symbol of, wait, I forgot what it symbolizes for.... (Googling.... the wedding doves symbolize partnership, fidelity, and a gesture of "'til death do us part").

Anyway, I've reached that age when my contemporaries are getting married. I'm not saying that I'm old, hahaha! But wedding invitations have been pouring in since around 2 years ago and I've learn to let go of the dove and enjoy the wedding reception as a real guest of the newlyweds. It's funny how the Filipino wedding traditions have remained but now with dashes of interesting and perky twists. That awkward feeling of single ladies getting bribed just to join the tossing of the bouquet is still there but I've noticed that it takes lesser time to convince the ladies nowadays. Maybe most of them would like to get hitched right away.

Good luck to all the June brides! I hope you won't get too stressed when the big day comes.

Party Invitation

Back in the days when I used to have a lot of spare time, I used to fancy editing photos. Most of these photos were uploaded in Friendster. It must have been really that long since I had some spare time in my hands. I don't edit photos now but I still keep with me a photo manipulation program, G.I.M.P., in my hard drive just in case I need it.

The photo above was the invitation I used for my 26th birthday 2 years ago. All the images used were from  my favorite movie, Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonn Carter, and Anne Hathaway.

Party! Party!

I've noticed that we've been attending a lot of parties nowadays. My brother, who is in second year college, is often invited to his classmates' 18th birthday or what we commonly call as the debut party. I've been seeing a lot of birthday invitations lying around our house.

If you're on your mid 20's as I am, you'd be receiving a lot of party invitations, too, such as wedding invitations, baby announcements, and bridal shower invitations. Currently, my former classmates are already getting married. I even found it amusing that recently, our high school valedictorian and salutatorian married each of their partners in the same day.

From all the wedding invitations I received the past months, I wonder how much time the couple spent in deciding with the designs, color, theme, and printing method. It must have been a grueling task to choose among the prototype invitations that the printer will show you. And of course, each couple should also take into consideration not just the physical appearance of the invitation but must also abide by the wedding invitation etiquettes. And of course, the couple should make their invitation as a reflection of themselves, any couple wouldn't want any cookie-cutter wedding invitation off the rack, it must be customized!

After the wedding, the couple can also send out wedding announcements which are more appropriately sent out to the couple's friends to inform them that the couple has just been married. This is actually useful for those times when you just want to invite a few people on your wedding day and throw a separate party to your other friends. Some people want to have an intimate wedding with only the immediate family members and a handful of very important persons.

I find it really convenient to order the invitations online, how about you?

Christmas + Birthday Gifts

Oh my gawsh! I just made my first post entitled "Disappointment" and it's my first post for the year! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyway, to ward off whatever negative vibes, here are the photos of some gifts I received on my birthday and Christmas. 

1. Brown Bag. I got a lot of compliments with this bag. I actually like it. It's from a client and it's the very first Christmas gift that I received early December.
2. Pink and Grey Bag. I haven't used this yet but it's very spacious and I think that my netbook would fit in this bag. This one's from a client, too.
3. Guess Clutch. Another gift from my client. My clients love me! I actually like this clutch because I don't have small bags. My bags are always big. I could use this clutch for times when I only want to bring a cellphone and cash. I tried if my cellphone would fit into my clutch and it did! Yay!
4. Large Paper Clip. I actually have four (4), for each of my sisters and me but I think that I could use these clips more than they could so I hoarded all of them. Hahaha! Thanks Auntie Jade!
5. Ballerina Accessories Organizer. OMG! I didn't know I was looking for love until I found you! You may not see me sporting bracelets and earrings but I have a lot of hair accessories that are sitting all around my bedroom and even all around the house. I finally have a resting parking space for my hair accs! Thanks Lysette!
6. Hanky Set. It's funny because I never use handkerchiefs. Why? Because I lose them. I haven't really opened the box yet but I've displayed it on my shelf. I like the pink face towel, the design is so very me! I like it! Thanks Mich!
7. Pen. This red pen is very special because it has my name etched on it! It's actually the fourth Parker pen that I got since 2010, but it's the only one with my name. Thanks Yajams!

So, those are just some of the gifts I received last December. Some of the gifts that I received are in the laundry, hahaha! So I wasn't able to get photos.

How was your holiday?

Gracie's Christmas Parties

Christmas Party No. 1:

One Network Bank's Christmas Party

I could imgaine ate Dani and Grace saying, WOOOOOOW!

Happy with her first gift.

And even happier with her second gift.

Christmas Party No. 2

School Christmas Party

Dressed for the occasion.

First gift

Second gift.

Third, fourth, hmmm, you have a lot of gifts to open!

another addition to her alkansya collection

very busy with her gifts

Best Wishes to Martin and Luna!

...and I can't believe that I'm your girl, and I get to kiss you baby just because I can...

June 23, 2011

Martin and Luna

After the wedding, with flower girl, Chikay

off they go..........

my sister Mary Grace and cousin Nino

mom and dad

The echuserang host at the wedding reception, yours truly. =)

I love the guests who were so game! =)

posing with siblings

the noisy Balansag sisters =p

posing with cousins

I celebrated our (beau and mine's) monthsary by attending my cousin Martin's wedding with her lovely bride, Luna, at Redemptorist Church. Reception followed at the Ladislawa Garden Village Clubhouse.

I was the impromptu host for the day and I honestly did not know what to do! I only attended a wedding ONCE. And I mean attending a wedding as a guest and not a flower girl. I honestly had no idea what to do and I'm just thankful that I had *a lot* of coaches, some are even giving unsolicited advices. Lol! But the party went well and I have the bride, herself, to tell me that she enjoyed it. =)

Bloopers. So I prepared a little song for the newlyweds and I am NOTORIOUS in forgetting song lyrics. And my Alzheimer tendencies did not let me down 'coz I literally forgot the song lyrics: the part I like best! I am such a failure!

I enjoyed the party. The food by Kubiyertos was really great! And the people from the venue were very nice to look for and lend me a cable for my laptop. But I sure do hope that Ladislawa would fix their wifi problems. I would've perfected my song if only I was able to search the lyrics for Michael Buble's Everything. Hehehe!