Introducing this year`s Wedding Essentials Destinations issue



A bonus with the upcoming issue of Wedding Essentials (WE) is our annual Wedding Essentials` Destinations (WED)issue. The main issue and WED will be sold together for only Php 400.00 this time (instead of Php 350.00 for WE and Php 200.00 separately for WED)

Contest! Contest!

To make anticipating the new issue a lot more fun, here`s a little contest for you readers of our blog.

Guess which 3 dream theme destinations are highlighted in the dream themes section of the upcoming WED issue. The photos below are your clues. Pls post your answers in the comments section. The reader who guesses all 3 destinations first will win an overnight stay, with breakfast for 2 persons at the Somerset Millenium in Makati

*GC is valid until October 28, 2009. Somerset Millenium is a comfortable, 20 minute walk from Greenbelt 2. Somerset Millenium is a serviced apartment under the Ascott International Group. Check it out at http://www.somerset.com/philippines/manila/somerset_millennium_makati.htm
**People involved in the production of the set-ups (event stylists,etc (you know who you are, =))- are excluded in this contest

Here are your clues

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3.



FYI- WE don`t need to exact venue- just the city/province where it was photographed in. Good luck everyone!

Here`s more...

1. Yes, there is such a place like this in the Philippines. WE found shangri-la in Mactan Shang. Initially, we only alloted a few pages for this special segment thinking well, there`s just the beach and the function rooms.... but, were we blown away with this beautiful, beautiful ceremony set-up conceptualized by Cebu`s grand styling dame, Teresin Mendezona, in collaboration with florist Pinky Chang (assisted by Jun), planner Stanz Catalan and Mactan Shang`s efficient team led by events director Christina Gutierrez- Dumaraos. Ahhh, it`s beautiful...



2. If you and hubby-to-be are foodies, this place in New Manila might interest you... The restaurant that operates the venue, Lemuria, serves French- Mediterranean cuisine. Apart from the food, stepping inside the Lemuria compound is like stepping into a very romantic set- and that makes it a perfect wedding venue.



3. Normally for lauriat weddings (for readers who haven`t experienced it yet), only a short, round centerpiece is used due to lack of space (they don`t call it lauriat for nothing), and that makes the table set-up quite plain and ordinary. High floral arrangments make it hard, and awkward for people in the table to see one another, more so talk to one another. One smart and interesting solution? Make it higher, and bolder, =) Form and function achieved!

Hi everyone,

It feels good to be back =)

After 6 long months, the next issue of Wedding Essentials will hit book stores and magazine stands in a week. WE`re all excited to share with you what WE`ve been busy with- the more we look at the black book (same book in Ugly Betty containing print-outs of the pages of the magazine), the more WE think it`s a wonderful issue (ok, ok, we`re a bit biased =P).

In 7 days, you`ll be able to
a. know what WE mean and hopefully, agree that it`s a beautiful issue
b. check out wonderful wedding discoveries of WE
c. win in our online contest
d. all of the above

***c. - will post mechanics in the next few days, so pls come back to our blog to check for updates. WE assure you it will be a nice prize. Maybe even prizes (keeping our fingers crossed!)

In the meantime, here`s a little preview to whet your wedding planning appetite a bit.

1. Do you really need that mile- long cathedral train? Or the same fully beaded Inno Sotto gown Ruffa wore when she walked down the aisle with Yilmaz? Kit Kwe, a real bride-to-be (and award-winning fictionist), gives the lowdown on how to recession-proof your wedding (translation: How to have a great wedding without busting your budget). After all, Kit says in her story, `no one ever got arrested for skipping the garter toss`...


2. Guess where this is? =) It`s not in Tagaytay, nor in Baguio. This place in B_t_n_a_ is one of our WE Discoveries in the issue.



3. Pls trust us when we say that you don`t have to be a model to look strikingly beautiful in your wedding pictures. Years in advertising taught us that (and Mica Tuanio, the writer of this piece is still in advertising)

But. You have to know your angle and practice, practice, practice. Personally, I think my best photos of myself were during my wedding years ago.



4. One of the 4 dream themes for this issue is this beautiful set-up by Jing Tanada at the Conservatory of The Manila Peninsula, in collaboration with planners Nenita Zagala and Ruby Ines. It was our first time to work with Manila Peninsula, but it definitely won`t be the last. This is quite memorable because it took our photographer Terry Uy, less than 3 hours to finish the entire photo shoot (which usually takes about half a day)- thank you Nenita and Ruby for orchestrating this well-planned photo shoot. Because we finished early, we also err, finished most of the desserts on the buffet table set up by the chef. Oops!



Some chocolate related- aha!- moments

Terry Uy, photographer



Dr. Michael Young, saxophonist



Sorry guys, don`t have pics of the girls eating chocolate- wink =P