Trains and Subways Theme

Running out of ideas to improve the ginkgo leaf theme for our logo-of-sorts, I shifted my attention to another invitation design theme which I had actually been thinking about for some time.

The inspiration...  two-and-a-half years of long daily commutes from the dorm to the school via subway and train. Did I mention long? Sixteen stations in all, if my memory serves me right, or two hours or more spent everyday just for traveling.

And  in each trip, each day, you'll never know who you'll meet and sit beside with inside the train, how brief or lasting those encounters will be, or how they will change your life, eventually... 

2008: Future groom demonstrates another use for a camera case.

 For the invitation, the idea is to have our names drawn like the lines of the Tokyo Metro Subway, which are represented by different letters of the alphabet that are enclosed by "rings" of a specific color.

http://www.calvin-c.com

   

The different elements of the invitation (parents of the B and G, sponsors, wedding ceremony and wedding party venues, etc) would then be connected to each other through colored lines:

We were pretty satisfied with the final output. I am particularly enamored with our bride-and-groom drawing which was modified from an image we saw from the internet. Jon took pains to have Mr. Groom in barong Tagalog (traditional Filipino formal attire for men), and Ms. Bride wear a turquoise pendant similar to mine:

Neat and clever. After some time though, we both realized it has looked less like an invitation to a wedding and more like- well...a train brochure! :P.

Rain or Shine...

by damnednix on deviantart

Months ago we know we'd probably have a problem with the weather on our wedding day, the last week of May in Laguna being characterized by hot day time temperatures and sporadic thunderstorms in the afternoons, a welcome sign for farmers to start their planting. We tried to look for viable (indoor) alternatives to the venue, but the resort with the lovely lawn still ended up as the best option for us. It would have been more difficult to set the wedding on a different month, on the other hand. Thus we are pretty much letting Mother Nature decide whether we'll have a rain-free outdoor wedding party. Well, sort of...  

Just a few days ago I visited the Poor Clare Monastery in Cabuyao, Laguna and brought my prayer petition for fair weather and the safe travel of all the people who will be with us on the  28th, together with the traditional offering of a dozen eggs (yes,not only for fertility but apparently also for good weather) plus, laundry detergents! Gerry the make-up artist told me the nuns are now also accepting more practical stuff aside from the eggs, and when the sun is up they can use the detergents to do their laundry. :)

Another thing he's suggesting is that I hang the clothes that I'd slept in the night before just outside our house on the morning of our wedding day. He said  it works, but I don't know how this fares with the other counter-measure I heard from a veteran wedding caterer, who boiled stones on the day of a wedding to prevent a downpour. The hanging of the clothes- pretty harmless and easy to do, but the other one...uh, hmm...

Then, the researcher in me (the one who got into climate change adaptation, at that!) shrugs everything off and anticipates and plans for whatever happens on that day.

Realistic expectations, planning, and  faith that things will turn out well in the end. As that Crowded House song goes, "Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you."

  

The Biggest Gig Yet

http://www.davidairey.com/audio-cassette-tape-nostalgia

As a child there were a few things in my life that I was already so sure about, and one of them is my love for the radio and music. Weeknights after studying, weekdays early in the morning before going to school, weekends, and vacations are spent mostly at home, my ears glued to my favorite station-of-the-moment, my mind trying to remember all those new tunes the DJ`s playing... just being happy by my lonesome, unmindful of the classmates and other kids in the neighborhood who played out in the sun, gained socialization skills and had a normal childhood in the process. I even dreamt of becoming a DJ, a record producer, and a writer for Rolling Stone...even until now I think they`re still the coolest jobs.

And how I loved making mix tapes..! I`d patiently wait for the DJ`s cue so I could hit the "record" button of my cassette player at the exact time that a song that I like is starting to play, then make compilations which I sometimes give out to friends, complete with the handwritten playlist on the sleeves of the tape case. I was doing this since I was eight, and with time, the mix tapes were replaced by compact disks.Much later on, collecting and giving out songs as MP3/MP4 files have become so easy and commonplace. The technology`s fail-safe, fast, convenient...but, heck, I miss my tapes, especially those rare finds in music stores that my sister and I used to haunt. I wished I had them converted as e-files before most of them got moldy and cracked.

All this nostalgia-tripping because I`m building a playlist for zee wedding party. I admit, more than the dress, the makeup, the flowers and decor, this is the one that`s making me excited. 

It`s like being eight again. :)  

Hail thee boom box, a.k.a. cassette player here in the PH...I had three.

Ginkgo Loco

It all started with this logo which I saw on FB, which shows a couple`s names- both starting with the letter "P"- intertwined, with a single "P" for both their names formed into the shape of a seahorse.How cute, I thought. Might as well get one for ourselves, by ourselves, with a symbol or object that is a nod to our common interest or past. 

So that`s how the ginkgo leaf idea came in. In Japan, the ginkgo tree is a symbol of  longevity, hope, and resilience.   Each autumn sees the university awash with its vibrant, yellow-gold leaves...

This yearly phenomenon sends the students, especially the Pinoys, in a picture-taking frenzy. I can`t explain it.

Anyway, here are some designs we came up with (technically it was the G who drew them).

First version. I didn`t like the fonts, the leaves I thought too curly, and why so many?

Other versions:

And still another one. 

The Todai reference on this one is too obvious, we could get sued, hehe. I like its simplicity, though.

In the end we had to let go of the idea. But it was fun for the most part.

For Keeps

Been mulling over the kind of rings we`re going to have for the wedding. I did not pay much attention to this before, having delegated the task of choosing the design and buying to the G. We just both agreed that the rings would be simple, but aside from that this is one part of the preps that has not been progressing as well as the others. I guess the procrastination basically comes from our being clueless about jewelry, considering that whatever decision we make over the final look and quality of what would be the symbols of our eternal love (ewww! that`s me grimacing after typing those words) has long-term consequences.

The rings should be hardy enough to withstand daily wear-and-tear (from detergents, sea water, acid substances, etc.); light enough so as not to distract us while doing tasks such as typing and writing; simple enough to escape the attention of snatchers and thieves, and conspicuous enough to ward off, I mean, show  people that G and B, for better or for worse, are indeed married. Another thing that I worry about is how I`d be able to keep such a thing for so long, when I have this habit of misplacing little stuff after I use them. Plus, what if we get fat soon..?!

Enough already with the "enough, enough"...see how one couple cleverly solved it:

http://www.topweddingsites.com/wedding-blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/wedding-band-tattoos.jpg

Tattooed wedding bands: permanent, expandable and snatch-proof.

Lest I overdo this blogging gig

A cool memo for myself and all brides near and yonder...

Am I Bridezilla?

The Urban Dictionary defines "Bridezilla" as:

1. One ridiculous spoiled bitch that thinks she is the center of the universe, just because her "show" (the wedding) is 18 months from now. Everyone else in the world has to drop everything and come running in this prime-donna's mind. The marriage will not last more than a couple of years,if the groom to be is lucky.

 2.noun. Formed from blending of the words bride and Godzilla (Japanese movie monster). Used to describe a woman whose behavior becomes outrageously bad in the course of planning for her wedding.

 3. Bridezillas are a new breed of soon-to-wed women who abuse the idea that weddings are their "day." They terrorize their bridal party and family members, make greedy demands and break all rules of etiquette, to insure that they are the single most important person on the planet from the time they are engaged to the time they are married.

Before all of these happened I am just one of those single people who just find it funny and ridiculous, the idea of a once- rationale, self-composed female of reproductive age suddenly transforming into a conceited monster who could literally crush everything and everyone crossing her path to perfectly wedded bliss. 

Then I chanced upon this movie, Bride Wars, on cable TV (blurb:  Two best friends become rivals when they schedule their respective weddings on the same day). More than an hour of seeing how these supposedly educated, lovely girls scheme to sabotage each other`s weddings is not cute, but screams of misogyny. Sorry. 


Two months into my own wedding, I could now relate to the jitters that brides feel, especially those who are hands on with the preparations and on tight budgets and schedules. I have gone from  "Oh it`s just for an hour, what`s all the hoopla about...I want a simple, no-frills wedding" to "There is no such thing as a simple wedding, that is an oxymoron." 

As much as I would like to have a good control of things, I now somewhere along the way some form of kapalpakan will ensue, and there will be nothing I can do about it...I am not Bridezilla, I know I will do have moments when I`ll lose it, and I will also be this beast...but a beast more scared than scary, insecure and clumsy...

"I just don't think I could take that kind of rejection!"

Rex from Toy Story?

Snooty Wedding Coordinator from Hell

...as played by the comedian Shivaker in the TV show "Pepito Manoloto":

Canvass..? Ano`ng canvass-canvass?!
Hindi ako construction supply!

For the Littlest Ones

I didn't like the idea of spending a lot for our nieces' dresses on our wedding day because they'd outgrow them all too soon. We chanced upon this lovely printed blue dress in a mall; it has a petticoat to make it look dressy enough for a special occasion, and is made of cotton which is comfortable to wear. Plus, the price is really affordable, so I took the chance of buying a pair in a size which I think would fit the two girls (both two years old, born in the same month and year) two months from now. 

And so here's how it looks when we tried one on my niece (who only relented after some bribery of cashew nuts, candies and a promise that  the dress will be worn when they go to the TV station to watch "Willing Willie"):

Isn't the dress/she cute?! It's a little too big for her now, I just hope she doesn't get too fat, and in fact asked   her nanny not to give her too much candy.Someday I hope she'll forgive me for this. :(

Swatch

Much ado about Japan silk No. 13

Not quite the color that I had in mind...a bit darker than the one I want. But as Tim Gunn says in moments of doubt, "You'll just have to make it work."