I thought of having a themed wedding so to make it easier for us to focus and decide on what we want for every details of our wedding. Besides, I think a having a themed wedding is cool! :)

Now there's no other theme I can think of that perfectly fits our personality other than a travel themed wedding. He's a Norwegian and I'm a Filipina. Obviously we came from two different sides of the world and two different cultures. I feel like we're really destined to each other because of how we amazingly crossed on each others path back in year 2004 in Hongkong. Since then, we knew that we wanna travel the whole world together and now after five helluva years, we're planning our journey to our travel themed wedding! :)

It's May 22, 2010! Final date. Period! Sureness na! haha :))

Right after we got engaged last Dec. 2008, we knew we wanted a May wedding.

Here's the list of the reasons why:

• This month has lots of great and unforgettable memories for us during our 5 years relationship.
• We had our civil wedding on May 25, 2009 (this year).
• Kaogma Festival - it is a two weeks celebration in Naga City, usually starts from the third to the last week of May. It would be so much fun for all the guest and visitors coming from abroad and Manila. At least they have something to do after our wedding and they'd surely enjoy their stay in my hometown. :)
• May 15 - his bday!
• May 17 - Norway Constitution Day (I can imagine all of my Norwegian guests waving their flag in the Philippines!)
• May 22 matches the availability of all the suppliers and venues we want.

We would love to make it on exact the same date as our civil wedding but May 25 next year is Tuesday :(. We need a weekend date to make sure that everyone could come and have fun on our BIG day.

Now I'm working on our STD's (Save the Dates) but I'm having a hard time doing it coz of my busyness in school plus everything I need and wants for it is in the Philippines. Our target is to send it all out before xmas but it seems we're running out of time. But, we'll see! :)

On top of this, we've also booked our venues, videographer, coordinator and im still waiting for my gown sketch from my couturier. As much as I wanted to be a hands on bride, we've decided to get a coordinator to fix almost everything for our wedding since it is almost impossible for us to take care of everything while we're both here in Sweden.

Anyways, that's it for now. More updates on our wedsite. I plan to release it and reveal it to my family, friends and invited guest after New Year. Hopefully it's all done and ready by then.

Ciao! xoxo

Ok, it's been a long time since I last updated here. Things are getting crazier. It's just like 6 months to go until our big day and I'm starting to freak out contacting and booking our wedding suppliers. We had to rush all things up because some of them are not available on our preferred date already. Good news that we finally decided to just have one wedding in Philippines and just have a small reception in Norway after. With the help of my mother-in-law, we're able to convince his grandma who is very special for him, to travel to Philippines and be there on our special day. His grandma happens to have a trauma and a bad memory about Philippines that's why we considered having 2 weddings before. Now I'm crossing my fingers that everything would turn out perfect on our big day and hope our wedding would make her forget all the bad memories she's been through from my country.

For our wedding updates, I'm finally able to make our wedsite up but it's still in progress. There's still so many things to be done and that's one of the reasons that makes me busy lately. That's where I'm gonna put all of our wedding details and info's. :) Just click the picture or the link 'wedsite' above. Kindly sign our guestbook when you visit there. Thank you! :)

I've been brainstorming and browsing for a cool theme song for our big day but geezzh, I just can't seem to find the perfect one for us. He likes something hippy but I prefer something senti. I got him to listen to several wedding/theme songs online but we never get to agree on the same song. Now I'm 'trying' to compose my own lyrics and get an expert to put up a music on it and sing it for us. Hopefully, I'll have enough time and a budget for that :P. It's going to be a surprise for him and to our guests so sshhhh.

As a HappySlip (Christine Gambito) fan, I just wanna post and share her version of Rihanna's Take a Vow. I really love it and I think it's so cool. How I wish I'll be able to compose a song like this..hihi.

Have fun watching :)

This one with lyrics:

My most hated part in wedding planning is making the guest list and our entourage list. It's exactly 9 months before our big day and I keep procrastinating from doing it. It gives me a major headache considering our budget and remembering all of the people we want to invite in our special day. (Note that we have a BIG clan :P). I've started browsing ideas for the invitations, motiffs, theme song, flowers, gowns and all of the other wedding details when the first thing I should prioritize is our guest list. Being a techie and an overseas bride is slowly turning me into a bridezilla! I keep finding something new again and again and my dream wedding keeps getting more and more confusing annndd expensive by the day.

Anyhoo, lets get back to the main topic here. ^_^

As for our wedding entourage will play a very important role in our wedding , we have to choose them carefully from both sides of our family or from our closest set of friends. So now here is the list of the usual composition of the wedding entourage of the typical Filipino wedding.

Primary Sponsors

A typical Filipino Wedding has a long list of "ninongs" and "ninangs", or Godparents. Usually they are composed of 3-5 pairs of the couple's parents friends, mentors, seniors business associates, employees, and other personalities who are considerably older than the couple, and plays or have played a significant part in the couple's life, separately or together. Ninongs and Ninangs stand as principal sponsors and witnesses in the ceremony. They are expected to provide guidance and counsel to the couple during their married life.

Secondary sponsors

They are friends of the couple who would like to be part of the entourage, but don't have much time to help out with the preparations. Most of the time, the secondary sponsors are also couples themselves. They are composed of 3 pairs:

• Candle Sponsors - to light up the wedding candles during the ceremony;
• Veil Sponsors - to drape and pin the veil on the groom's shoulder and over the bride's head;
• Cord Sponsors - to tie the cord around the shoulder-area of the bride and groom.

For some additional and traditional info:

- The candle is symbolizing the presence of Jesus Christ in the couple’s lives and of the love that they must keep aflame in all the days of their lives. *Some believe that the candle that blows out first points to whoever will die first.* Yeah Riiiight! :P.

- The veil is pinned on the bride’s head and on the groom’s shoulder. This forms the silhouette of a house, symbolizing that you now have the blessing to live under one roof.

- The cord means that you will now have to walk at the same pace towards one direction. Walang iwanan.

- You can also have a unity candle in your wedding. It is not required but definitely nice to have. It’s something that you as a couple can light on your anniversary as you offer prayers of thanks, praise and for special intentions, maybe.

Best Man

The bestman is the chief male assistant to the bride and groom during the wedding. This role is generally given to someone close to a groom, such as his brother or his closest male friend. The Best Man is responsible in organizing a Bachelor or Stag Party for the groom. He assists the groom on the wedding day, ensuring that the groom gets to the wedding on time. The Best Man acts as a legal witness to the marriage. He gives a speech at the wedding reception, and offers the first toast to the Bride and Groom.

Maid of Honor or Matron of Honor

The Maid of Honor is the primary attendant with the most honors and duties of the bridal party, and is considered the equivalent of the groom's best man. She is usually the bride's sister, cousin or closest girl friend. The Maid of Honor plans and hosts the bridal shower and bachelorette party. She assists the bride with her dress and make-up, and arranges her veil and train before, during and after the ceremony. The maid of honor holds the bride's bouquet during the exchanging of wedding rings and witnesses the signing of the marriage. The Maid of Honor is called the Matron of Honor if she is already married.

Bridesmaids and Junior Bridesmaids

They are usually the sisters, female cousins, and friends of the bride and groom. It is best to keep the number to about 5 bridesmaids and 3 junior bridesmaids. The junior bridesmaids are around 13 - 15 years old whereas bridesmaids are at least 16 years old. Junior bridesmaids may or may not have partners. Bridesmaids assists the Maid of Honor in hosting the bridal shower. If the bride has any task or errand, the bridesmaid makes sure it gets done. They also assist the bride during the ceremony and the reception. During the reception, they may help or man the recieving area. They also assist in distributing giveaways.

Groomsmen

A groomsmen attends to the needs of the groom during the preparation and the wedding ceremony. Usually, they are the brothers, male cousins and friends of the bride and the groom. They are also in charge of running errands for the groom. The groomsmen helps in ushering guests to their seats before the ceremony, and escorting the bridesmaids down the aisle during the ceremony and reception. Groomsmen tasks is similar to the bridesmaids.

Flower Girl

A young girl not usually more than 8 years old. Her primary role is to carry a small basket full of flowers and drop the flower petals as she walks down the aisle during the ceremony.

Ring Bearer

A young boy not usually more than 8 years old. The ring bearer walks down the aisle carrying a satin pillow that contains a pair of wedding ring.

Coin Bearer

A young boy who usually marches next to the ring bearer. The coin bearer carries the arrhae, or 13 coins, which represents groom's pledge of his edication to the welfare of his wife and future children.

Bible Bearer

Played by a young kid, either boy or a girl. He or she walks down the aisle after the ring or a coin bearer carrying a bible.

If I were to decide where I would want to get married in the Philippines, I would choose it to be in Caleruega, Tagaytay, or in Fernbrook Gardens, Manila. But as much as I dream about those places, they are not an option because I have a BIG family, and relatives that we have to consider. Aside from the distance, most of them can't afford to travel that far and if we insist to have our wedding there, we will be obliged to shoulder all of their expenses, from the fares to their hotel accomodations etc. etc. There will be too many hassles and too much work, plus it'll be too expensive so we are trying to avoid that. So now, I don't have a choice, but have to focus on planning our wedding in my hometown, Naga City, which is in Bicol. The place where I grew up and where most of my family, relatives, and friends live.

Naga City is just a small town in Camarines Sur, so I have fewer options to choose from for our ceremony venue. We have lots of Catholic churches there, but I have two options. One is the biggest and, if I'm not mistaken, the oldest church in the entire Bicol region, the St. John The Evangelist Parish or commonly known as the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. The other one is a modern looking one, the Basilica Minore. Now I'm struggling in choosing from these two. Two months ago, we already tried to call these churches to inquire, and check if we could possibly book it already. Unfortunately, they think it's way too early before our preferred wedding date so they told us that they couldn't do it yet and they asked us to call them again this August. But after I had two more months to research online and read about these churches, and from asking my family and friends for their comments and suggestions, it just made me so much more confused. Both has advantages and disadvantages for me. So to help myself decide, I have made a review about these two churches. Here it goes:

Naga Cathedral ------------------------------ Basilica Minore

Exteriors

I'm not an oldie fan, the main thing that I don't like about Cathedral. Also, it is centrally located surrounded by the schools and commercial areas. On the other hand, Basilica looks modern, classy and neat which suits my taste more. It is in the outskirts of the city surrounded by a well maintained and a nice large park, a perfect view for our possible guests and visitors.

Interiors

Cathedral is bigger compared to Basilica. Though size doesn't really matter for me as long there's enough space for my possible guests. Besides, I don't need the biggest church anyways, as I won't be inviting our entire barangay, hehe. It's not really a must but it would be great to walk in a long aisle to enjoy my (as if) dramatic entrance moment:P. The bigger means more expenses for flowers and designs for the church though and I don't really wanna spend that much for those accessories. Cathedrals interior looks dark and has a cozy lightings while Basilica seems so bright inside.

Altars

If you notice it, the one displayed in the altar of Cathedral is the image of Jesus Christ laid on the cross while in Basilica is the image of Virgin Mary, sculpted in 1710. It is because Basilica is the house of the Patroness of the Bicol region whom we call Our Lady of Peñafrancia or Ina. Every September, we celebrate the feast of Penãfrancia, the biggest Catholic Festival in Bicol.

These image differences isn't really much of a big deal for me but I am more impressed with Cathedrals altar. It looks so grand and elegant for me. It also has a great facilities like the sound systems and it has a digital projectors which makes it easier for the people to participate or respond during the mass.

Walls/Ceilings

I prefer Basilica's design here. It looks neat and fresh. It is something that fits in my modern taste. Whilst Cathedrals has this vintage painted arts on its wall, it adds to the coziness and solemnity inside the church.


Gazebo/Pavillion

Both of these two churches has this gazebo's, pavillions or whatever it's called. I think it's usually used when there's a big occasion like The Peñafrancia Festival. It both lies infront or in the main door of the church. Basilica's ground looks greener which would be great for picture takings after the ceremony.

The last time I saw either of these churches was like 10 years ago so I can't really remember it anymore. Besides, it surely had lots of improvements already after all those years. It would be easier for me to decide what is best for me if only I can go there myself and see it personally. But too bad coz the next time that I'll be able to see these churches again will be like two weeks before or on our exact wedding day. My H2B (husband to be), who's letting me decide to this is just waiting for my decision so we can book it asap.

To sum it all, I am in love with Basilica's exterior and Cathedral's interior! The entire reason why it makes it so complicated for me to decide from these two. How I wish they're just combined into one, but well, nothing is perfect in this world. I have to accept the fact that I can't have everything I want. :P

Btw, thanks to Sinjin for this lovely pictures. His photos made the churches look so amazing, and actually increases my confusion more! Hehe.

To all of you, my dear readers out there (if there's any :P), what do you think? Your comments and suggestions is highly appreciated.

Thank You!

For more info, you can contact them at:

St. John The Evangelist Parish or Naga Cathedral

Address: Elias Angeles St., Naga City 4400

Phone: (054) 473-18-36

Basilica Minore

Address: Balatas Road, Naga City

Phone: +63(54)4733644

Website: http://penafrancia.net

Other Contact: +63(54)4736914

I saw this Youtube video via W@W's blog post and I find it really funny so I couldn't help myself not to grab it and post it here. It gave me an idea of doing this same stunt to our wedding but geezzh, my ever conservative and religious family would curse me and would never want to see me again. hehe. Well, I believe that the Catholic church would never allow this especially in the Philippines. The priest and my grandparents might have a heart attack seeing something like this so of course, I wouldn't want that to happen. :P

Overall, I find this really entertaining and one of the coolest and unforgettable wedding. :)

Enjoy!

I know that wedding planning and preparation is going to be a tough task especially for a future bride like me who is never been an organize person. Thank God our target wedding date is a year from now. Although it doesn't really calm me down since I have to plan two weddings. We have decided to have a Philippine church wedding and a Norwegian garden wedding for the sake of our families in both sides. Sounds like we have to rob a bank first though :P. So to start with and for me to be able to avoid the hassle, I have made a checklist. Here is my tentative list:

• Church
• Reception Venues
• Documents/Requirements
• Theme/Motiff & Designs
• List of Entourage
• Possible No. of Guests
• Bridal Car/Carriage
• Wedding Coordinator
• Videographer & Photographer
• Wedding Gown
• Entourage Clothes
• Wedding Souvenirs
• Wedding Cake and Wine
• Save the Date
• Invitations
• Wedding Songs
• Wedding Vows
• Florists
• Hair & Make Up
• Honeymoon? LoL :D

List is incomplete I know! So what else? :P

Well, I'm using The Knot and been a member there even before he proposed to me. Hehe. It is very helpful to me coz it has a wedding planning tools that provides everything that a bride is looking for. It is one of the high ranking American based website but that didn't stop me from joining them. It has a checklist, budgeter, guest list tools and there you can browse from thousands of gowns and get ideas. Another helpful and informative site I joined is the W@W or Weddings At Work. It's like a Philippine version of The Knot but there you can join their yahoo groups or forums and talk to fellow Filipina brides or bride to be's. You can ask for their tips and suggestions based on their own experiences plus you can gain more friends online and possibly meet them in real life :P. Oh and they didn't pay me for this. I'm just having fun using these sites so I thought of sharing it. Might be helpful to some bride to be's like me out there too. :)

Me and my hubby is a number one fan of American tv shows. Greys Anatomy is only one of those shows that hooked us up. I know I'm too late for this season but I can't help not to express my reaction to this show after I've watched its last episodes. I only watch this show with my husband. I can still remember when we were still in the Philippines I can't wait for him to download new episodes to sit or lie in our soft couch hugging each other while watching it . But then he had to go back to Norway last year so I had to forget my addictness to this show. It's never the same watching it alone. I dont know, I just love watching it with him. It's more fun and giggly when we watch it together especially when there are some scenes that we can actually relate with. So now that we're finally back and living together again, we were so excited downloading all of the episodes we missed and we're back to our every night routine watching it after his work. But now I'm sad that we're done watching all of the episodes already. We'll probably just gonna download more or another American tv shows for tomorrow while we're waiting for Grey's new season to come :)

While watching the last episodes, there is one scene that really catched my attention and really made me cry. It's when Alex Karev recited his wedding vow to Izzie Stevens infront of everyone. It's a tearjerker scene ever! Since I'm a future bride and planning my own wedding, I'm really catchy with all the wedding details I've come across with whether it's on internet, tv shows or real life. I dont know, I guess that's how excited a bride can be. :P Karev's wedding vow is soo sweet and touching. It made me feel that I want my groom to recite that same wedding vow for me. But well, when I told him that, he thinks I'm insane and he told me that he'll make his own wedding for me and that it is going to be a surprise. Well that's enough for me to fantasize it even more and I couldn't wait to hear his vows and promises on our big day. :)

Today’s the day my life begins.

All my life I’ve been just me.

Just a smart mouth kid.

Today I become a man.

Today I become a husband.

Today I become accountable to someone other than myself.

Today I become accountable to you.

To our future.

To all the possibilities that a marriage has to offer.

Together, no matter what happens, I’ll be ready.

For anything.

For everything.

To take on life, to take on love.

To take on possibility and responsibility.

Today Izzie Stevens, our life together begins.

And I for one can’t wait.

c'',)

Just right after we got engaged, me and my fiance' instantly talked about our wedding. First things we thought of is ''where'' and ''when''. Since he's a Norwegian and I'm a Filipina, we've had a hard time deciding about it. It is very important for him to have our wedding in Norway. For one, it's gonna be the first wedding in their family. Everyone is excited for him and everyone wants to be there on his wedding of course. Aside from that, Mimmi, who is his grandma is very close to him as he is the first grandson. His grandparents can't really travel that far now due to their age. For me, of course, I want everyone special for us to be there on our wedding day. But my family would be upset if it's not gonna be in Philippines. I have lot's of relatives and we can't afford to pay for all their plane tickets and accomodations if our wedding is gonna be in Norway. We both doesn't wanna give in. We both want all our friends and loveones to witness our special day. So to make it fair for everyone, we decided to have two weddings eventhough we're not really sure about our budget. hihi. So goodluck to us. :P So now is the ''where's?''. We chose to do it in our hometowns since that's where we grew up and it's accesible for all our relatives to get there. But the purpose of this post is to brag about our hometowns. So here's a few pics of the places that is worth seeing, visiting and experiencing to where we grew up...

Enjoy!

Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway

***

Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)

Vigeland Park, Oslo

Opera House, Oslo

Heddal Church, Telemark

17th Mai, Norway Independence Day

Norway Famous Fjords

Ice Skiing

_______________________________________________________

Camarines Sur, Philippines

***

Camarines Sur Water Sports Complex

Ecovillage

Kaogma Festival - May 23 - 29

September

Penafrancia Festival, Naga City

Mount Isarog

Caramoan, Gota Beach Resort

____________________________________________________

FIN

Filipino's are known as conservative. Specially those that lives in my hometown. In the early years of our relationship I was already pressured with all the gossips and to what the people would think about us. Not just from my family and friends but from all the people who knows me. For them, living together without marriage (live-in) is like a crime. I myself never thought I would enter to such relationship. It just happened. I was inlove and I chose to be happy. I can remember my parents would push us to get married before. I can understand them. But they knew they can't do anything about it. From the very start, we don't want anyone to control us. But as a girl, who wouldn't want to marry the guy you love? I admit I was ready long time ago. He wasn't. There was a time that I'd question him about it that leads to an argument. It happened more than once that almost caused our break up. But of course, love prevailed. :)

As the years go by, I got used to it. I don't care about what others has to say. Trials has strengthen our relationship. Year 2007 when we had to be separated. We didn't have a choice. He has to work in Norway while I decided to go back to school. I have missed him badly. It was so hard for both of us although I was liking that at least I can focus with school. But that long distance situation has made a good outcome for us. He had all his time alone to miss me, and realize how much he loves me. :)

Until after more than a year of not seeing each other, we finally had a chance to meet again. November 2008, we've spent a two weeks vacation in Thailand. For 2 weeks, we tried to make up for all the times we've lost without each other. But it wasn't enough. We had to say goodbyes again but he promised we will see each other again soon.

Christmas 2008, as he promised, I was given a chance to be with him again in Norway. It was just a tourist visa for 3 weeks so again, a limited time for both of us. But I never knew that it'll be the happiest xmas I'll ever have. Aside from I have finally met all his family and friends, on xmas eve, he popped the question! On bended knees, he's got a ring on his hands and he asked me to marry him. I felt too uncomfortable and sweaty that time coz his family was around. But of course, what do you expect me to say? I've been waiting for it for a long time so my answer was, OF COURSE YES! hehe. :D Right after I said yes, he hugged me so tight and kissed me happily. He asked his family to join us, as if we're gonna have a conference. And right there, he announced that we're getting married. Everyone was so happy for us. The next day, we called my parents to tell them the good news too. They're first question was ''when?!'' :P And their reaction was like, ''finally!'' or ''it's about time!''. I knew that both our parents were just waiting for that announcement. So now, they're all happy for us and they're excited for our wedding.....soon! :))