Claveria-Angeles Wedding

This wedding had my professional skills tested. Aside from the couple, I was also talking with the mother of the groom for some details of the event. Most needs of the couple was taken care of the mother of the groom which of course, is a great help for them.

The wedding occurred at Christ the King Parish and reception followed just across it. It was always been my choice to assign one of my coordinators to do his job at the reception- to coordinate with all the suppliers needed for the venue. My attention was called the time when the church ceremony was nearing its end. They told me that we don't have sound system at the reception. I said it was not possible because it's included at the caterer's package. It was then when I talked with the caterer's A.E that I learned that the mother of the groom decided to take away the sound system from the package without informing me (she thought that the String Quartet who will also play at the reception will bring their own sound system).

For some minutes, I notified the photographer to stall the altar group pictorial while I was pulling off all my network to get the nearest available sound system. With my wit and know-how, I was able to outsource the sound system needed for the venue without everyone noticing that we were having a slight problem.

It is really important for a planner to keep or remain its composure during these times. We need not to panic because it will affect everyone. We are the captain of the ship, and they, especially the couple depend so much from us.

Fidelson-Doria Wedding

we met this couple when we participated at "Kasal Pilipinas" last year in the States. Both of them are based overseas but wanted to have their marriage in the Philippines. They said they were just waiting for the right person to help them execute everything which in this case was me. They're such a lovable couple. We had their pre-nup at San Francisco. When we got back to Manila, our communication was only via email and phone. I did not have any problems with them because they trusted me in everything.

They arrived in Manila a week before their wedding. Everything for their "big day" was already purchased and done. The reception was held at MMLDC. It was a garden type venue so we took advantage of the place and had some fireworks because we thought it would be great. We were right. Everyone was awed by the beautiful lights in the sky. The doves were released by the couple just in time the fireworks begin. Everybody stared at the sky for 2 minutes or so with smiles on their faces.

Genele Romero's 18th Birthday

We were so overwhelmed when Mr. and Mrs. Jun Romero asked us again to plan and coordinate their beloved youngest daughter's 18th Birthday. A year ago, we had their eldest daughter's debut conceptualized. It was a "Phantom of the Opera" theme.

This time, we had "Star Wars" as Genele's theme since this young lady is an avid fan of the said movie. From her gown down the simplest detail of her debut, we made sure that there's a Star Wars touch in it. She was depicted as Queen Amidala.

On the day of her birthday, we prepared a very special Grand Entrance for our lovely debutant. We had her 18 Jedis lined up in the hallway, dressed in robes and light sabers. Genele's parents also surprised her by inviting the Star Wars characters such as Dart Vader and storm troopers to her party. The look on her face was priceless when she saw them coming. Her dad also presented her a gift- a limited collection "light saber" which made our debutant even more happy.

Nonetheless, it was indeed a night to remember for Genele, her family and of course her guests.

It just donned on me that the first semester of the year passed like a speeding light. That's how life is with an Event Planner. My everyday life is synonymous to a race: quick, swift, rapid and speed. Everything comes fast especially during the day of the event. So if you are considering to be one of us-think twice if the above does not fall under your character.

And for those brides and grooms, scouting for an event planner- that should be your top criteria in choose one. Energetic and High spirited.

SOME EVENTUALITIES WORTH SHARING

1st Quarter, 2007

Favis-Concepcion: A Shoulder to Lean On

I was blessed to have a very malambing na bride and groom. William and Rima Concepcion are couples who came to me in the nick of time when they needed me most. I was like a knight in shining armor to the rescue when they were falling short of time to get a church to match their Makati Shangri-la booking.

They were wed January 29 at the beautiful church at Santuario de San Antonio and even on that day- I still stood as a best friend, angel to my lovely bride who was nearly fainting...


You can count on me!!!


February 2, 2007: Davao Fiasco

It was a Spanish-Filipino Wedding worth 10 million. I was booked two weeks before the wedding date with zero-plan, no questions about the fees but sometimes you have to question the client too.

I didn't have the slightest idea of what this wedding would turn-out. I thought these were just party animals looking for fun and ways to spend their millions.

The event revolved in 3 islands of Samal-imagine that! Coordinating guests from different levels of society such as: The Peninsulares, The Insulares, The Ilustrados and the Indios.

My DJ came all the way from Ibiza, Spain. My chef from Valenzia, and the guests from different parts of the world.

It was the craziest event one could ever imagine when the couple refused to fly to Davao the day before the wedding because they still partied all night w/ lots of booze, joints, coke, and K. They missed their flight and arrived 1 hour before the wedding rites-no make up and all.

Heaven cried at exactly the time the rite should begin. It rained tremendously and endlessly- and they called off the wedding at the island and decided just to party at the Waterfront Hotel spending P500,000.00 and extended the party at the other island until wee hours in the morning.

8:00 am: I refused to accept another contract because as far as I'm concern, our contract is finished the day they called it off but the Father of the Bride begged me.

6:00 am, the next day: Our team went searching for the bride. She was nowhere to be found. We helplessly tried to locate her.

9:00 am: We found her asleep and looked wasted.

10:00 am: The Wedding pushed through. After the ceremony our team left the island- my only objective there was to wed the couple.

February 10, 2007: I got a call both from the bride and groom- they are separated.

Moral Lesson
Its not only the client who should assess or evaluate the event planner. We should also assess our client even if they can afford to pay you the highest bid. Check out where the money would come from. It may not be a real wedding. It could just be a front for illegal activities they wanted to cover.

Is it worth it? YES, it's worth it. Somehow you can afford to rest for several months or fly to another continent and take a break. But!!! If there's a bogus, I warn you, it's not worth it. It takes an experienced planner to handle the toughest situation one can imagine.

I have to withhold some specific details of the event.

Joyce and Junos' Testimonial

Garcia-Tan Wedding
June 23, 2007
St. James the Great Parish/ Makati Shangri-la


To Ana and the rest of the Solutions Events staff,

We, Joyce and Juno, would like to thank you for all the hard work and
effort you put forth in making our wedding an extreme success. It
definitely was not easy in any way, and from the very beginning we
experienced many setbacks. It all came together, however, at the right time and
in the perfect way, and in the end we feel that, given what we had and
the situation we were in, you did the best job that you could possibly
do and it definitely showed on Saturday. We thank you for following
our wishes to not make the video and picture presentation too corny (In
fact, we and everybody else absolutely loved how the photo slide show
and video skit turned out!) and for letting us use our own special, maybe
even borderline eccentric, brand of music for the special moments in
the reception. Listening to our favorite songs, even without lyrics,
during the video and the dance made the evening even more special for us.
For the success of the wedding, for all the hard work you put to
making it possible, and especially for putting up with our parents for the
past one-plus years, we will be forever grateful to you and to your
entire staff.

Thank you!

Juno and Joyce

PS: Five years ago, we played a game called "Chrono Cross". It was
a special game for us, but what made it stand out from any other game
was its beautiful soundtrack. Who would have thought that, five years
from then, we would have been listening to the music we loved in our
reception, dancing as husband and wife for the first time with the same
song that was the background music to a video game? This is something
that would only have been appropriate for us, and we bet many a wedding
planner would not have seen the special meaning for us. This, among
all other things, we wish to give you our sincerest thanks.