CHIPS N FOZZY

I love taking with film.  It gives me more fulfillment than digital.  I don't feel as much warmth and passion while holding my Nikon DSLR as compared to when I'm shooting with my old Yashica-D (maybe I'm not giving the DSLR a chance, but emotion is rather still stronger than fuction; or maybe because I'm just scared slash in-denial).  Anyways, I brought that Yashica to a friend's wedding and shot just one roll.  Even if it was just ONE roll, the level of pleasure I get upon seeing the contact prints don't compare to the instant gratification of seeing a digital capture on your viewfinder.  It's like, I only got one chance to take this, and I got it right.  Like, wow.  Anyways, here are some shots from Ton & Marge's very successful wedding.  Congratulations guys!!!

*all photos shot with a Yashica-D loaded with Fuji Superia100 medium format film.

One.  I've finally set a schedule with Niko to give him my downpayment.  Hopefully at that point, he'll give me a copy of his sketch so I can show everyone!  Yey!!!  I'm somehow going to be a Veluz bride.  Well, a slight tangent of it.  When I first saw their site, I was like, WOW.  I really dream dream dream that my gown would be made by Veluz.  Her attention to detail and craft for lace and embroidery is just so impeccable.  Unfortunately, our budget really couldn't afford her premium.  Actually, Niko's cost ended up to be quite high as well - with the level of intricacy f with our chosen dress.  But  I WANT the dress he sketched!  And when I met him (actually, from when I set an appointment over the phone) I had stomach jitters that made me all fluttery and happy inside.

Oh, oh!  I'm getting my feathery bolero.  I showed him the pegs and he loved it.  Have I gleamed about that too much already?  Well, I'm doing it again.  I'm also going to have me a birdcage veil.  Which is soooo cool.  We agreed to make the gown fuller at the bottom (vs. the peg), because he said that as the bride, I should get as much impact as possible.  He said I wouldn't want to end up being outshone by a Ninang.  Valid, and it was a great compromise with my mom, who's so into drama.  I LOVE HIM, like as in.

Two.  I'm finished with the invites and have been sending them out to various printers for quotations.  Can I just say that it's soooooo hard.  There's a budget but I really don't want the printing to be crappy.  Or the paper.  Because crappy paper equals crappy ink setting equals crappy invitations.  I think I've gone through 3 quotations already.  I don't know anymore.  They're all fairly around the same price.  With some having an advantage of a few pesos.  GRRRARG.  I'll end up having to pick one and then just nego from there.  But WHICH ONE?  Darnit.  If only it was as easy as drawing lots.

P.S.  I'm not sure why the image suddenly has green hints around the corners.  Must be the quality of the upload.  Anyways, they're supposed to be grey.  This is the kind of color mix-up that I'd hate to have on my actual invite.  If it does, I'm going to DIE.

Yeah, happy endings are all nice and ruffly.  But I believe that there's a deeper emotion, a more gut-wrenching touch, involved with something sad and tragic.  We're actually both fans of ballad-y alternative songs.  Those by Coldplay, Travis, Keane, Aqualung and Death Cab for Cutie.  Somber, heart-warming tones and brilliant words.  There's the occasional trip-hop, but my braincells could only take up to a certain level of wiry energy.  There's something about hearing / reading about loss that actually gets me through the day better.

A Bad Dream, by Keane.  I wake up, it's a bad dream no one on my side.  I was fighting but I just feel too tired to be fighting.  Guess I'm not the fighting kind.  Wouldn't mind it if you were by my side.  But you're long gone, yeah you're long gone now.

Tiny Vessels, by Death Cab for Cutie.  This is the moment that you know.  That you told her that you loved her but you don't.  You touch her skin and then you think that she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me.  Yeah, she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me.

Clocks, by Coldplay.  Confusion never stops.  Closing walls and ticking clocks
Gonna come back and take you home.  I could not stop but you now know, singin'.  Come out upon my seas.  Curse missed opportunities.  Am I a part of the cure or am I part of the disease.

The Scientist, by Coldplay.  Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry.  You don't know how lovely you are.  I had to find you, tell you I need you, tell you I set you apart.  Nobody said it was easy, it's such a shame for us to part.  Nobody said it was easy,  No one ever said it would be this hard.  Oh take me back to the start.


So Chips and I have been together for like, eight years.  Debunked that 7-year itch thing, steadily managing our ironies and differences, loving how we balance each other off and meet with common passions.  It's ironic and yet strangely fitting that we were in a Cinemalomo short film entry about tragic love.  Since we do love tragedies, why not.  It's a rather cool tidbit, actually.  That we were the characters in a sad, depressing love story.  View the short flick here, by talented friends from Lomomanila, beautiful words by Marge Francia.

I came across these two designers via this brilliant fashion site, Not Couture.  If I could actually afford multiple changes during my wedding, you know like what they do in award shows.  Or really rich-people weddings.  One big OH WELL.  Let's just swoon at their beautiful designs.

Kate Towers.  She's a designer based in Portland who has a background in fine arts and design, having studied at the New England School of Art and Design in Boston.  Her pieces are one of a kind and truly works of art, taking inspiration from nature and romance.  I absolutely adore the softness her dresses exude, and yet bustling with personality.

Maria Lucia Hohan.  She is a Romanian designer who started her line in 2003 with her creations being constantly featured in local editions of Elle, Cosmopolitan and Glamour for the next 3 years.  It was in 2006 when she decided to go international by showing her pieces in Paris where her collection garnered instant success.  It's becoming quite obvious that I love romantic shapes.  What I love about her dresses would be the contrast of ideals - the femininity silk or chiffon mixed with something as hard as leather or metallic.  She also designs bridal pieces, which can be found in the blog section of her website.

Secondary Sponsors. Palette will be pewter.  It's grayish with a hint of copper and purple.  A conglomeration of difficult colors, I know.  When we met with our designer, we actually managed to combine swatches to get a reasonable shade that would match the palette I had in mind for the Bridesmaids.  The dresses will be short, length is just below the knee.  I didn't want too much flourish, and we had a lovely understanding that the character will be driven by how the dress is constructed.  Nothing sparkly.  Just simple and classic.

To my secondary sponsors, I know you are very close to me and know how much of a peeve wronged shoes are.  I also know you guys are shoe-aholics.  And I do trust that the knee-length skirt will reveal prettily-dressed feet (sorry for the pressure).  But oooh isn't that a perfectly good reason to go shoe-shopping!

Bridesmaids, Jr. Bridesmaid and flowergirls.  A subdued yellow.  Like the kind of yellow left under the sun to age.  The hue is kind of bordering on old gold actually.  Unlike the secondary sponsors, it would be floor-length.  We won't have uniform dresses.  I would like each design to suit the person wearing it.  It's going to be like a fashion show of similar fabrics under one inspirational theme.  I'm so excited to see how it all comes together, my innards are going squiggly insane.

Everyone in the entourage will be having floral headpieces.  So all the more should the dresses be simple yet elegant.  I really don't want anything too complicated.  The more details, the more it's going to be prone to be tacky-wrong.  And I'm soooo not tacky-wrong.

Next steps:  Meet with Kat again on April 18 to finalize the design look.  Send measurement requirements to those abroad.  Then, let the fun begin!

I was looking at the monogram and figured that it lacked the antique yellow flavor.  So I took the script of the date and slapped it on the monogram, together with our names.  Works well, I think.  Happiness me.

Getting almost no sleep just to make it to the 4am bus.  Worth it.  Trying to fall asleep quite unsuccessfully in a bus playing godawful music.  Worth it.  Carrying a backpack, a tent and a sleeping bag.  Worth it.  Being stuck in the water because our boat's engine apparently encountered trouble.  Worth it.  Having no electricity, a roof over the "bathroom", or a bed with fluffy pillows.  Absolutely positively worth it.  This is just one of the most beautiful sights I've laid my eyes on ever.  The Philippines is just a great, beautiful country.  People shouldn't be so quick to underestimate it.

The cove was actually carved out when Mt. Pinatubo erupted.  Because of this, the sand is really mostly ash.  There is an aeta family residing in the cove, and they are such a kind group of people.  They were actually keeping our bonfire alive by chucking in fresh wood throughout the night, as some of the group fell asleep on the beach.  The scenery is a bunch of contradictions that somehow work together.  For one thing, there are pine trees by the ocean.  When you're facing the beach, a lake is actually behind you.  And then there are the mountains that stretch around like it was plucked out of some LOTR scene.  The water is clear and calm.  You just need to take a deep breath before plunging in because it's rather cool.  All in all, it was a wonderful weekend (oh man, I can't stress that enough).  Would definitely go back.  That's if my mother would allow me to go under the sun again before the wedding.

Photos were taken with a Holga, using Kodak slide film, crossprocessed.

The Hair.  I really do hope that I get to pull off what I'm envisioning.  For the hair I want something relaxed and elegant.  Like a fine Saturday morning kind of hair.  Not the kind where your eyebrows are perpetually raised because your hair is pulled back to taut you feel like you had botox injections.  I'm looking forward to the curls and waves I'll potentially have, which would be a break from the ruler-straightness that I naturally sport.  Ooh romantic, sexy waves with my birdcage veil.  Love it.  Can't wait for it.

The Make-up.  I always attempt to do a smokey-eye on myself, but I always end up looking like got punched.  So on my wedding day, I hope to ease this frustration.  I know it's a day ceremony so I can't go overly dramatic.  I'd be okay with soft,  natural hues.  Need not be too dark.  I just want my eyes to pop out from under the veil.  I sooooooooo want smokey eyes, period!  I think I'm just going to be a brat about it.  Lol.

A sweet and dainty collection from Jenny Packham, for Spring 2009.  The colors are bright but not blindingly vibrant.  And the choice of fabric and shapes do add such a lovely soft, romantic feel.  I think the first gown (top left) would be a perfect peg for brides who want a fresh tangerine-and-green wedding.  The colors could be taken to a rustic country or a zesty orchard / spring garden theme. 

I also love her short dresses!  The colors are so cute.  They remind me of a candy store (or a little flower shop).  Balanced with white or cream, this could be the makings of a confectionery-themed wedding.  You could give away sweets in canvass bags.  And maybe have a cake with swirly lollies on top.  Mmmm.  A sugar rush of romance.

If only you could get married as many times you could think of themes.  Haha.  Okay, Fozzy, don't go changing anything.  You're already a vintage-themed bride.

It's the middle of the week and I'm in the mood to yammer.

There's another bridal fair this weekend.  Making a last stretch of booking the important suppliers.  We've already met with Nelwin Uy, and he'll be there at the fair.  Chips likes him.  Yey.  We may make the down payment already when we see him to seal the deal.  We just haven't decided if we'd take his whole package or just get the labor-only one and do the album ourselves.  Think think.  Hopefully by the weekend we get to close on the videographer as well.  And given the quickly depleting budget, hope we get a good deal.  Argh.  I need to win the lottery or something.

Suit or Barong?  Chips hasn't decided which one he'll wear.  I would have to say though that he looks really hot in a suit.  Haha.  If we do go the suit route, the fabric would need to be in the list of things to hoarde at Divisoria.  If ever, he wants a charcoal gray one.  I think it would match my gown perfectly.  But I could almost hear some of the Ninongs complaining about how hot it would be in a suit.  With our church not being airconditioned and all.  Men, they just don't understand that sometimes you need to suffer to be beautiful.

Wait for the next weekend.  Because then, we'll be meeting with Kat Corpus - the designer I'm looking at to do the entourage.  I still haven't decided if I'd prefer to have the ladies in long or mid-calf dresses.  The advantage of having a long one would be the ability to hide shoes, in the event that the pair worn do not quite compliment the dress, theme or event altogether.  Hey, it's a valid point to consider.  I'm very picky with shoes.  Hehe.

In the meantime, let's reminisce about the how wonderful our Zambales weekend was.  It's our first beach trip for the year, and engaged!  Wee!