I Now Pronounce You Mr. and Mrs. Porkee

Yesterday, Doms and I had to get up early. Why? I need to amend my green passport and at the same time, renew it. I also need to get a pair of Overseas Employment Certificate or OEC, because I will be having a short Manila trip again this weekend to visit my dentist. It was a Sunday so most of the Pinoys here in SG will also do the same thing.

We arrived at the Philippine Embassy in Singapore 15 minutes before it's actual opening time. I was so surprised becasue my queue number is 147 already and the cut-off was 150. Can you believe it?!?! 146 people came in earlier than us?!?!

Anyway, Passport Amendment and Pass Renewal has the same queue number. All the while I thought amendment and renewal are the same. I was wrong.

I need to amend my green paspport first, then that's only time that I can renew it.

Processing fee for amending my passport is 34SGD and passport renewal costs 102SGD.

I will be getting my amended passport tomorrow and that's the only time I can apply for my renewal. I hope everything goes well with the renewal process.

Claim Stub for my Passport. See how my name is changed already?

Requirements Needed for Philippine Passport Amendment (Singapore)

Personal appearance of the applicant.
Duly accomplished amendment form.
Original and 1 photocopy of Passport Particulars of the applicant and the husband/wife of the applicant.
Marriage Certificate from NSO that is duly authenticated by the DFA.
Processing Fee of 34SGD.
Original and 1 photocopy of IC.

Summary of Philippine Passport Amendment Process (Singapore)

Go to the Philippine Embassy in Singapore located at the far flung area of Nassim Road. Be sure to be there early.
At the main entrance, register your particulars in the log book and get a queue number.
Go to Window 1 to get the "actual" queue number. Cut off number is 150.
Wait your number to called either in window 8 or 9. We waited for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes for the number to be called.
Once called, present the requirements mentioned above. Be sure that you get you claim stub.
Pay for the amendment fee at Window 6.
Be at the embassy to claim your passport in the time and date specified in the claim stub.

Hello everyone! I still can't get over our wedding day because we are happy it was a success. Doms and I love every aspect of our wedding and it was truly a memorable and wonderful day for us.

We are again back here in Singapore and even if we still have the "wedding hang-over", we need to go back to work and continue on with our lives together as "Mr. and Mrs. Valentin".

Anyway, the main reason why we love our wedding and why it was a success was because of our wonderful, wonderful wedding suppliers! We cannot do it without them. Again, THANK YOU to all of our wedding suppliers.

So, it is by right to give them credit to their job well done. Here are our supplier ratings. If there is anything unclear about our ratings, please don't hesitate to email me or PM me here.

Church and Ceremony Venue
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * *

We booked Mt. Carmel 13 months before our wedding. Doms and I really wanted to have our wedding in Mt. Carmel so we made sure that we book the church first. I was so happy to learn that there were no weddings before and after our alloted wedding time.

Initial planning was not that good because the church admin were giving me different rates and the people in the church office were a little mean when I was inquiring. But nonetheless, we booked it. Enlightenment came when Bro. Eli took over the weddings in the church admin. He was nice to talk to and he was very efficient. He gave us free church flower and aisle tulle setup and we had no problems talking to him when the wedding was nearing. We had our pre-cana seminar and canonical interview there as well and Doms and I enjoyed every bit of that seminar.

On our wedding day, I was so surprised to see how grand and beautiful Mt. Carmel was. I was afraid the lighting will be bad and that it will be too warm for my guests since the church was not aircon. But, the church was well ventilated and pleasant.

One thing that my dad noticed in Mt. Carmel was the sound system. It wasn't that good because the church was so big and wide so our voices were vibrating all over the place. Other thatn that, everything was great with the church!

Reception Venue
Oasis Pavilion

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * * + +

Together with Mt. Carmel, Doms and I wanted to get Oasis as our reception venue. Aside from it very near Mt. Carmel, the pavilion was air-conned already. Perfect!

Our first AE from Oasis was Bernadette. She was very nice to talk to and she readily answers my questions about the wedding. Too bad she resigned. But we were so happy that our wedding was transferred to Sharon Villa.

Sharon is a jolly person! We love her and she makes sure that clients assigned to her are OK. She even emails me months before the wedding asing me if everythign is OK. I love Sharon! She made our reception planning easier.

Our reception became as elegant as we imagined it. Thanks to the wonderful decorations and lighting and garden of Oasis! There were no weddings at the same time as ours so we had the whole place and parking to ourselves. If I had to do my wedding al over again, it will still be in Oasis.

Food and Caterer
Hizon's

Pre-Wedding Rating: *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * *

Tied to our reception venue was our caterer Hizon's. Among all the other caterer's to choose from, we got Hizon's because they've been in the business for the longest time and I don't doubt the quality of food that they serve.

During the wedding planning, I was so mad at Hizon's because my AE changed for like 5 times! 2 months before the wedding, the AE assigned to me resigned! Imagine how I felt when I learned that the person that I've been talking to is no longer related to the company! But everything changed when Love MAgdoza was assigned to me.

She was very nice to talk to and calm. She knew all of the arrangements that I gave to my previous AE and I was so happy that she really focused on my wedding and made sure that everything turned out fine.

Our reception banquet was glorious! Everyone loved the food! They particularly liked the dessert spread and chocolate fountain, na hindi man lang namin natikman ni Doms :)

Our guests ay medyo natagal bago naka-eat kase naman na-delay ng 30 minutes yung program namin kase ang haba pala nung church ceremony namin. So, gutom na ang aming guests when the reception program started. Pero, bawi daw when they saw the food! Nasarapan sila lahat and busog daw sila.

Doms and I were able to eat sa bridal suite sa Oasis and nasarapan nga talga kame sa food. Ayos talaga ang Hizon's. They know the business so much at talagang magaling sila.

Table decorations and the flowers naman ay super OK rin! We added flowers sa PS tables pati sa couple's table kaya super naging maganda yung mga tables talaga.

Photo and Video
Vignette

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * * + +

Hands down kame sa Vignette. Truly, magaling sila! They have a flair of the traditional side as well as the modern side of covering weddings. They are really talented and all of them, from Ms. Yayie, Sir Danny, Bogs and the whole crew are madaling kausap.

I gave Doms the task of choosing who our photo and video group supplier. When we were in Manila last January 2010 for the wedding fair, he checked all of the actual sample albums of each of our short listed suppliers.

He choose Vignette because they are "real". Real in a sense that they capture the moments in weddings and not just take shots of nonsense stuff. Also, Doms liked Vignette because they don't do a lot of editing in the pictures.

Our wedding day came and all of the crew members were smiling and happy when they arrived. they were smiling and cheering the whole time around during our wedding. It was easy to work with them!

Super saya rin when we saw our SDE! Ang galing! I never realized na magiging ganun ang flow at concept ng aming SDE! I love it! All our guests loved it!

Here is the link of our SDE. I hope you enjoy watching it!
http://vimeo.com/18935883

Bridal Gown and Entourage Gowns
Concha Espana Couture

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * * +

Concha was my first and only choice to make my gown. She is easy to talk to and very patient in all my design and design changes. She lives very near our place kaya no problems if we need to go to her or if my abays need to do their fitting.

I love all her gown creations! suitable sa lahat ng brides ang ginagawa nya! I believe that after the wedding, me and her family became friends na talaga.

I love the texture of my gown! I love how it flows, I love how it looks! Lahat gusto ko! My ento gowns rin looked amazing! Bagay sa kanilang lahat yung gowns nila at bagay sa time of our wedding yung colors.

On the Day Coordinator
Touch of Magic Events

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * * * + +
Wedding Day Rating * * * * * + +

One of the super people that we considered during our wedding were the coordinators of TM Events. Galing! From planning, to communicating with to execution, THE BEST!

Talagang they made our wedding a "no worry" wedding! They took charge of everything. They were very professional at ayos talga sila!

I love TM Events! I am so happy na I got them. Special thanks to Yax and Dulce for meeting us always when we were in Manila. Hindi ko ma-describe kung gaano ako ka-thankful for making sure that everything was ok during our wedding.

Emcee
Dulce Amor Fortunado

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * * * + +
Wedding Day Rating * * * * * + +

We also got TM Event's emcee, Dulce Amor Fortunado. We wanted to get an emcee that our coordinator have worked with already so that they can have easy communication with the flow of our reception. Dulce's very talented! She hosts very well! Many of my relatives were asking who Dulce was because they were impressed with the way she handled our reception. Super thankful ako na I got her as my emcee.

Hair and Make-Up
Val Villarin

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * *

Even if I feel na medyo pricey si Val, I made sure na I get him sa aming wedding because I know the quality of his work. I love my make-up during the wedding! Everyone was admiring how I looked during the wedding and the hair and make-up contributed well! They were the first supplier who came in our hotel preps venue and they were so efficient during the process.

I love how my hair and make-up looked! Fan ako talaga ng airbrush make-up. Thankful rin ako na val was assiting while I was dressing up rin and that he was there to put my veil on. Panala ang pictures with my make-up and even after the wedding, I still looked great!

Bridal Bouquet and Entourage Flowers
168 Flower Co.

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * *

Another fantastic supplier, 168 Flower Co. delivered exceptionally well. I was so surprised to see my bouquet! Super ganda! Super colorful and super duper like! Initially, I was worried sa 168 Flower because parang kulang ang communication ko with them. I just trusted my instict na OK sila based on the pictures na nakita ko sa site nila and turned out na OK na OK sila!

All of the flowers matched the gowns of my ento! I particularly like my flowers as well! Highly recommended talaga!

Acoustic Band for Church and Reception
Sound of Music Strings

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * *

I saw Sound of Music Strings in the W@W Archive. I inquired and Joel Potenciano emailed me back with their rates and some sample videos of their performances. I was immediately impressed with their performance so I got them. I never met Joel and we just email each other. I was happy he replies promptly to my questions. I gave him a list of all the song that we wanted and they performed it beautifully!

My mom was saying that some of our guests thought na we had a CD playing but was surprised to see that we had a live band. Truly, ang ganda ng sounds ng aming wedding!

Everybody liked my bridal march song "Kailangan Kita" duet and most of them were touched.

Bridal Car
JCA Vintage and Classic Cars

Pre-Wedding Rating: N/A
Wedding Day Rating: * * *

Everybody loved my classic Cadillac bridal car. This was a gift from my mom. I initially booked a simple Ford Everest from fly to Manila as our Bridal but my mom wanted a classic vintage car so she and my ate were the ones who contacted Ms. Tess for the Cadillac.

People were taking pictures of the car even when it was parked in front of Astoria. I was proud of my bridal! Pero, medyo nakaka-kaba lang yung driver.

He was cruising along Edsa when we were on our way to the church at ang bilis nya magpa-takbo ng sasakyan! All the while ang pagkaka-alam ko ay mabagal ang Cadillac pero si Manong driver, sobrang bilis magmaneho, parang nagmamadali! Hay, super kabado kame! But anything else, OK lang.

Bride and Groom's Family Transportation
Fly to Manila

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * *

We already hired Fly to Manila before so we know what to expect from them. We know that we need to remind them ahead of time para maalala nila yung event namin. So, that's what we did. No worries ako with Fly to Manila because we know that their cars are clean at the drivers are OK.

Wedding Additional Give Aways
Swell Sweets

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * * *
Wedding Day Day Greeting: * * * * *

I super love our additional guest give-aways. It was really hard for us to find a cookie supplier na mura at maganda creations. That's why we searched endlessly for a cookie maker. Good thing I found Swell Sweets.

Ang sarap ng cookie nila! Tapos patok sa mga guests ko yung cookie aka table number place card namin. I have a cousin who was going "table to table" asking for more cookies to other guests! That's how he loved the cookies.

Wedding Abubots (Wedding Cord, Candles, Matches, Bible)
Ate Jiji Oblena Panao

Pre-Wedding Day: * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * *

We are so thankful we have friends from our parish DSP who helped us during the wedding. I asked Ate Jiji to make our wedding accessories because I know she has a talent for doing so. Everything turned out great! She even gave us our wedding cord for free. Thanks Ate Jiji!

Wedding Invites
Written in Ink (WINK)

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * *

We were not very particular with the invites. We didn;t want to spend much on invites that's why we got the cheapest invite maker that we can find in the Wedding FAir that we attended.

Our wedding invites cost 52 pesos each. Not bad for a great invitation. We love the colors and the way it was printed. Medyo toxic nga lang puntahan yung office ng WINK.

Hotel Preparation Venue
Astoria Plaza

Pre-Wedding Rating: * * * *
Wedding Day Rating: * * * * *

We booked Astoria Plaza through AsiaTravel. We were lucky enough to have the big rooms during our wedding. Ang galing kase all of our suppliers fit well sa rooms namin.

We got a 2-bedroom suite for me and Doms' family. Ang nakaka-aliw pa dito ay my other family members were also got a room in Astoria!

I love Astoria because they are not very strict to the number of people going in and out of the rooms. Siguro as long as you don't make too much noise, OK lang sa kanila.

Niti-Griti Stuff

Breakfst and Lunch Rufo's and Amber's
We ordered breakfast for ou suppliers from Rufo's. We love their food prices and ang sarap talaga sa kanila. For the lunch naman, we ordered from Amber's. Panalo meals nila kase ang dami!

Lechon Elar's
Hands down to Elar's. Truly and sarap ng lechon nila. This was the first food na tinikman ko when we sat down sa couple's table. Super crispy at sarap ng lechon.

Coffee Catering Kafe Cafe
We super love the idea of having a coffee caterer because we have a lunch reception. Mahilig yung family ko sa coffee so I asked my HS buddy Anj, owner of Kafe Cafe, to serve coffee. Theye were 5 or 6 variants of hot and cold coffee and all of my guests loved it! Medyo bitin nga kase 100 cups lang ni order namin. Pero at least, ubos paninda nila. Thanks Anj!

Click d' Fun Photobooth
This photobooth was one of our freebies sa Oasis package. Brenda, the owner of Click d' Fun, was easy to talk to. The design and layout of our picture was nice!