A lot has happened though with the wedding preps. Well, not a lot meaning I have accomplished a lot of things, because obviously, I can't seem to get my hands on that much preparations. But I say a lot, because I have a significant accomplishment and something (almost) monumental happened that ushered us into the next phase of the wedding preps. So, as I need to catch up on my blogging, I'll try to write several short entries as I can to keep you most updated :)
First off, let me share the good news that we are soon to be in the hands of a really credible and amazing caterer! Part of W@W Top Wedding Suppliers for 2008, great raves from my fellow W@wie sisters and highly recommended by Jeff and Lisa, our most reliable and brilliant photographers :) Okay, its no surprise to say that its the ever famous K by Cunanan.
Now, given our limited budget, it took me several push from other brides and just one look at their photo gallery to actually email them. As an events person, I know what our budget is and isn't capable of. So I was just being realistic and practical. But then, after our several correspondences via email, their AE, Lace was able to draft a customized, slightly cheaper (and sulit) package for us. :) And so I got my hopes up! If it took me a lot of convincing to give them a try, it took just one look at their photo gallery for Babe to decide that theirs was the perfect choice. And whose word do I only listen to when it comes to decisions?
Now, given our limited budget, it took me several push from other brides and just one look at their photo gallery to actually email them. As an events person, I know what our budget is and isn't capable of. So I was just being realistic and practical. But then, after our several correspondences via email, their AE, Lace was able to draft a customized, slightly cheaper (and sulit) package for us. :) And so I got my hopes up! If it took me a lot of convincing to give them a try, it took just one look at their photo gallery for Babe to decide that theirs was the perfect choice. And whose word do I only listen to when it comes to decisions?
So there, I scheduled a foodtasting and meeting with them on a Friday and I brought along Kaye, my sister and maid of honor, and Mama and Tita Beh, our future ninang :) Since things were pretty busy in the office, they had to fetch me from Rockwell (actually kanto ng Estrella kasi super traffic everywhere!) then we went straight to the place. I think we were 45 minutes late because of the traffic. On the way to Ms. Kaye's residence, they were getting impatient because of the long ride (from Las Pinas to Ayala Heights ba naman eh?!) and then my sister and mom kept telling me that the food better be good as they had to drive more than two hours to get to the place.
When we got there, we were amazed at the quaint beautiful house that stood before us. A waiter in uniform escorted us inside the house, and then there was young-looking Lace (who I kept calling Ms.Lace, but she looks younger than my sister!) who greeted us and ushered us to the table that was all set. After a while, another young and savvy-looking lady went out and introduced herself. She was the famous Ms. Kaye :)
Won't it be too taxing if I write about every great detail that happened in the food tasting? So I'll just let some of the pictures do the talking. What you need to know though is that we had the best time. I was always excited for my turn on the foodtasting, but I was always worried that I wouldn't like the food too much and we'd be disappointed. But for this one, my first (and last I believe), it was surely memorable. Ms. Kaye was a pleasure to meet with! She's so young yet she has extensive experience and well-respected in her field. My sister and I idolize her. Tita Beh found the connection with them because her late husband was high school friends with Ms. Kaye's dad. I even found my mom (who's very authoritative when it comes to food) agreeing to everything she says. I was hesitant to tell her the agreed package rate at first because she might just walk out the door, but at the end of the day, Mama was the one who convinced me to go for K by Cunanan, as they were really everything that I could ask for: hands on, creative, gives attention to details and very accommodating. Did I mention they serve really really great-tasting food? It was superb! Every dish they served passed our taste buds with flying colors! Well, needless to say, my mother knows me well.
K by Cunanan was a worthy addition to our dream team. If I was the type of bride who collected notable suppliers like they were trophies, K and her team would probably make it to top shelf. It makes me confident to know that she's on board with our (Babe and me, of course) concept for the wedding. I showed her the look I wanted for our reception which consisted of high-end flowers. And she willingly gave her version of the look we were going for. It was uber elegant and she didn't even mention about the price! I didn't even need to upgrade! Some caterers would have stressed on the kind of flowers that we were limited to have because of our budget. But not her. She just asked me what flowers do I not want to include. I talked to her about other ideas we thought of for the reception and she guided us with her wise words to make the idea work. Although, she was not like other caterers or AEs who seemed too authoritative and overpowering. She was simply elegant and talented.
The phrases "answered prayer," and "supplier-client perfect match" enter my head when I think about K by Cunanan. They were really, everything that we could ever wish for in a caterer.
With all this, I am just so blessed that Babe is the nicest groom-to-be in the world! I would say that getting K by Cunanan altered our budget in a major way, and it was the first time in this whole wedding preps that I felt Babe really grew worried about our budget. We almost became disheartened on the whole wedding preps. But we didn't fight. We dealt with it and chose to face the reality. I asked him several times if he was sure he was okay with getting K despite its effect on our budget. And he said he is. Maybe because he saw they were really good, or because he knew I secretly wanted K so bad. I love him for that. It's like long before the wedding, he's already fulfilling his promise to put me first before anything. I am, without any contest, the luckiest and most blessed bride in the whole wide world!
So on my part, I now have to be extra particular on the budget. I guess for the earlier part, I indulged in getting the suppliers that we felt were really great. Although their services are priced a bit more than we hoped to pay, I think it was still a good choice since they would really make our wedding memories special. And I honestly thought we were going to settle with the cheaper caterers and we'll have so much budget left for the others. Choosing K had a big blow on our budget, but it is one that we willingly take. We consider it part of that first phase in the preps were we indulged in those details of the wedding that are really important, and now, as I said, we are dealing with it. I'm more careful with our budget and more determined than ever to haggle to get the lowest possible prices for the other wedding details. Besides, if we have K as our caterer for our reception, I think the whole of our wedding will be able to pull of that understated elegant look :))
Okay, so I ended up writing more than I actually thought I would, but without further ado, here are the photos. Again, this post is not for the hungry. Enjoy:
