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