Hon has booked our Wedding Photographer/Videographer!

Can I just say that I have the best fiancé in the whole world?!

I was just gone for twenty four hours, and he has already booked a wedding photo/video!

He is just soo amazing and hands on with the wedding planning. I am one lucky woman!

Let me share with you our crazy story of our hunt for the perfect P/V!

In our very first bridal fair (Jan. 22), I was hooked by a package that CGM Studio was offering. I liked the package that they offered to us because it seemed like everything was included in the package, even unlimited photobooth, with no out of town fee! Because we were young and impulsive, I convinced Hon to let me book with CGM. 

Hon wasn't so keen on booking and felt that it was too early. He was unimpressed and probably felt that the deal was too good to be true. He also didn't see why I wanted the different things that came with the package like glide cam, etc. He didn't want to book witg CGM right away but I was just too persistent. 

I should have listened to my guts and to Honey. On that day, the prioprietor, Cris Malabanan, was a little abrupt, I could feel that the man could use some people-skills training. LOL. :) The package costs P55,000.00 with a reservation fee of P5,000.00. Hon and I weren't prepared to book with any suppliers that day so we didn't have P5,000.00. Fortunately, Mr. Malabanan graciously agreed to accept P1,000.00 that day, provided that we deposit the remaining P4,000.00 on the Friday of the next week. 

That week, I was all ready to reserve the dat with CGM that I sent a message to Cris the day after the bridal fair. But I was disappointed because it would take Cris hours or days before he replied! And to think, I was the one offering to pay! So Hon and I decided to let CGM go (goodbye, P1,000.00!).

So we were back to finding the perfect P/V. Our next choice was Honeycomb Weddings, which is owned by Hon's college professor, Vlad Lima. I first met Vlad and his team on the Jan. 22 wedding fair. I must say they are very friendly, accommodating, and are a delight to talk to. Their pictures were awesome, sharp, and beautiful. I've also seen their pictures and videos on their Facebook account and they were really artsy and pretty! We inquired about their services and they were gracious enough to send us their offer.

Our next pick was Nino Ventura Files, owned by Honey's college friend, Nino. He has been making films for years now and he even made the picture/slideshow video that Kelvin gifted me for our second anniversary (which was almost six years ago!. :) For the past month I have been watching his wedding and proposal videos on Youtube and they are just soo beautiful! You can watch all the tear-jerker videos on his YouTube channel here. 

Before Hon met with Nino I looked at their website and I was amazed by the different packages and services that they offered. And the pictures and videos! Oh, my heart! I just love the sharpness and beauty of the photos, and the emotions that were captured by the videos. 

So last week, I asked Honey to meet with Vlad and Nino to discuss their photo/video rates and packages. We were thinking of getting Honeycomb for our photos, and Nino Ventura for our videos. I was a bit nervous about getting two teams as I was thinking of the expenses. 

So Kelvin started messaging Honeycomb and Nino to schedule a meeting with them. Vlad and his team were probably busy as they failed to reply to Hon's messages. So Hon met with Nino last Saturday to discuss their rates and packages. I was unable to meet with Nino because I was in Batangas with my family and there was an event that I needed to prepare for. 

So there we were, on a Saturday, Honey in Manila, and me in Batangas, and he was just updating me via text. One minute, he told me he was still talking to Nino, the other minute he texted me he had booked their Oscars package, plus a few add-ons! :) I am soooooo happy!

I am just so happy and blessed to have a fiancé who is very patient, understanding, and spoils me to pieces! I can't believe he met with a supplier, negotiated, and booked a package all by himself! I'm one proud princess!

And I am so happy that Nino will be our exclusive wedding photographer and videographer. I can't wait to meet with them and plan the details of their coverage. Can't wait!

So as of today, we have alrady booked the following:

1. Church 
2. Reception Venue 
3. Wedding Coordinator
4. Photo/Video
5. Souvenir for the Principal Sponsors

Up next, caterer and florist!

And guess what? Hon wants to start scouting for florists next week! 

You can visit Nino Ventura films below:

Website: http://www.ninoventurafilms.com/index.html

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ninoventurafilms

How about you? How are your plans coming along?

____________________________________

Hit me up!
Wedding Blog: http://ourroadtothealtar.blogspot.com/
My life's blog: http://www.sentimentsofleng.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliane.varias
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlinsesLeng

The Search for the Ultimate Wedding Coordinator has ended!

Hello everyone!

We’ve ticked another item on our wedding checklist, folks!

A month after we got engaged, I was able to convince Kelvin that we needed to get a wedding coordinator. The month after, I started looking for coordinators.

Let me tell you, I’ve spent an exhausting amount of hours on the internet chatting with and emailing coordinators, planners, and suppliers. As if that was not enough torture, Kelvin and I even thought of just getting coordinators from Lipa! So on I went with my research; some replied, some didn’t, and some agreed to meet with us. So, after two wedding fairs, numerous chat and email messages, a handful (meaning one) of meeting later, we were down to the Top 3 Picks for the Wedding Coordinator. Below is a picture of me interviewing one of the coordinators of Alalay.Ko; one of our Top 3 picks.

My top 3 selections were Alalay.Ko (Pasig), LTN Events (Lipa), and The Wedding Bachelors (Mandaluyong).

First was Alalay.Ko. I really liked Erli from Alalay.Ko; she was very warm and jolly I found it easy to talk to her and ask questions. She even showed me some of her Excel files. I met Alalay.Ko at the wedding fair held at SM Megamall in February. They made an impression on me and stood out among all other wedding coordinators in the event. Their coordination packages started from 15,000; but if we booked them, we still need to add an out out-of-town (OOT) fee, which usually ranges from 10-25% on top of the service fee.

My second top pick was LTN Events, only because they were located in Batangas and wouldn’t charge an OOT fee. I personally met with them in Robinsons Lipa with my Mom and Dad. I was a little disappointed as I don’t think they were prepared for the meeting. I still considered it as a business transaction but the two gentlemen who met with us were wearing shorts and shirts, and did not bring any documents with them apart from an iPad where they showed us some of their work. During the meeting, they were not able to present themselves well, and there was no structure. Worst of all, there were no other documents to support their offered services. They had to wait for me to open my laptop, and download the PDF file that they sent to me. So all in all, they were informative but unimpressive.

My third pick was recommended to me by a good friend and a former trainee in IBM, Mek Fule, who, got married two months ago to his beautiful wife, Ja. Mek raved about the coordinator and his team, and how helpful, affordable, and cool their services were. He and Ja got them as their On-The-Day Coordinator (OTD) and the couple was very impressed with how the coordination team helped them and how enthusiastic the coordinator was about weddings and celebrations of love.

I decided to meet with the highly recommended coordinator last week at SM Aura, and after more than two hours of question and answers over Chinese food, I was sold.

I am so excited to work with TWB’s not so big man, all-in-one, Managing Director/Chief Coordinator/Host/Singer Badz Gacuma. (I kid! I kid about the “not so” part!)

I appreciated that he came to our first meeting appropriately dressed, all affable and engaging as he talked about himself and his team. Best of all, he brought documents and proposals with him! What really impressed me was how he talked about his passion to make weddings memorable, fun, and classy. As a trainer and host myself, you can tell from first sight if one is doing something because it’s his passion, or just because for the money. And Badz is definitely passionate about what he does. He is creative, artistic, articulate, and a delight to talk to. I could tell that he loves what he is doing and he takes great pride in his team. He never failed to magnify the skills and competencies of his team and how dedicated everyone is about what they do.

Two days later, I presented the proposal to my ever skeptic fiancé, and even without me having to sell and convince him, Honey said “Go sign him up!” So the next week, on the 13^th of May, at Papa John’s Greenbelt 3, we’ve finally booked our wedding coordinator!

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to our charismatic wedding coordinator, The Wedding Bachelors by Chuck (TWB)!

As for the service, I soo love the package that they offered to us! We got the On-the-Day Coordination Package, with hosting and singing services from Badz himself! I’ve seen his videos and have spoken to him so I’m certain that he’ll do a great job in making one of the most awaited moments of our (Kelvin’s and mine) lives an unforgettable one. I can’t wait to start planning and cooking up ideas with The Wedding Bachelors!

What about you? How is the planning going?

You may get in touch with Badz Gacuma and The Wedding Bachelors through:

Badz Gacuma on FB: https://www.facebook.com/badz.gacuma?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

The Wedding Bachelors on FB:    https://www.facebook.com/TheWeddingBachelors?ref=br_rs

The Wedding Bachelors on Weebly: http://theweddingbachelors.weebly.com/the-team.html

___________________________________

Hit me up!
Wedding Blog: http://ourroadtothealtar.blogspot.com/
My life's blog: http://www.sentimentsofleng.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliane.varias
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlinsesLeng

Questions to Ask a Wedding Coordinator

Hello readers!

According to my wedding checklist/binder, Kelvin and I are supposed to book our wedding planner and photo/video this month. Last month I started looking for a wedding coordinator and have also started interviewing a number of them. For those of you who are still in the market looking for a coordinator, here are some helpful tips and questions that you can ask yourself and your coordinator to help you choose:

Before interviewing potential wedding coordinators, you first need to ask yourself the following questions:

1.     How much are we willing to spend on the entire wedding?

2.     How much are we willing to spend on a coordinator?

3.     What is the approximate headcount for the wedding?

4.     When is our wedding date?

5.     Which suppliers have we already booked?

6.     How do we envision the wedding?

These are some of the information that you should already have before you meet with your prospective planners. Your coordinator will need to know these things before they can offer you a specific package or service. The rates and number of people in the team will have to change depending on the date, headcount, your needs, etc.

Once you have your baseline data, it’s now time to interview your prospective coordinators. Here are some questions to get you started:

1.     Tell me about your team/company. – Ask your coordinator about their team, personality, vision, mission, and experiences. You may also touch on the following:

a.     Services – on the day, full coordination, semi-coordination

b.     # of personnel on the wedding day

c.     Type of experience – how long have they been in the business

d.     How do they choose/deal with vendors

e.     Cost of services – negotiable, installment, down payment, final payment, etc.

f.      What made him/her decide to be a wedding coordinator

2.     How do you keep in touch with your clients? – It helps if you can reach your coordinator through Facebook, twitter, text, email, fax, call, etc.

3.     What are the inclusions and exclusions of each service type?

4.     What was your most challenging wedding and how did you handle it? – This will give you not only a glimpse of how he manages him/herself in stressful situations, but also give you an idea as to how he resolves challenges while on the job

5.     Is wedding planning you full/part time job? – This will let you know as to how much time your coordinator can dedicate to your wedding. Part time coordinators may have as much time as a full-time coordinator does.

6.     What are your ways in helping a client stick to a budget? – If you and your fiancé are on a budget, it helps if your planner lets you in on his/her secret in managing a client’s budget. Talk to planners about your budget, and make sure they're willing to work within these financial parameters. Ask about their experience negotiating vendor contracts, and have them describe any great deals they've secured for previous clients.

7.     Are we required to book only the vendors you recommend or do we have the freedom to hire someone even if you haven’t worked with them before?

8.     Will you be present at all of the vendor meetings and will you assist us in reviewing all of the vendor contracts and making sure everything is in order? – This depends whether you are booking an OTD or full coordination. Usually, if this is OTD, then your planner will just review the contract after you have signed it.

9.     In case of an emergency that prevents you from being at our wedding, who will be the backup planner? What are their qualifications?

10.  Will you stay on site after our wedding to make sure everything has been broken down and all vendors have left the location?

11.  Will you provide us with a timeline of the wedding and a floor plan of the wedding venue?

12.  How many meetings and phone calls are included in our package?

13.  Do any of your packages include assistance with finding my wedding dress and wedding party attire? If not, would you provide that service and what would be the extra cost to include it in our contract?

14.  What is your refund or cancellation policy?

15.  Can you provide a list of references?

16.  Can you provide us with a portfolio and/or video of weddings you have done?

17.  With everything that we have talked about, what do you will is the service that we will benefit the most from?

18.  What do you offer that other coordinators don’t?

After meeting with your prospective coordinator, here are more questions that you can ask yourself:

·         Will we enjoy his/her company? Was there a connection between us? – No matter how great a person’s skills are, if you and the coordinator will not get along, then things might not go well and you might not get the wedding that you have been dreaming of

·         Did the coordinator understand our wedding needs? – Some couple’s priority are the photos, while others are the reception. If your planner understands all these, then he/she knows which aspect of the wedding will he/she place an importance on

·         Was the coordinator able to answer my questions satisfactorily? – Were the answers spot on or scripted?

·         Does the wedding planner seem to have a set idea in mind for the wedding or does she/he seem open to suggestions? – A great wedding planner is always open to new ideas and constantly aims to improve him/herself and their services

·         Does the planner seem willing to work within our budget?

·         Was the rate provided to us within our budget?

To wrap things up, there are THREE things that you need to consider before closing in on a coordinator:

1.     CONNECTION – Remember that you will be working with your coordinator for months and the whole day of your wedding day. You want to make sure that you and your coordinator will have that connection that will allow you to work well together and come up with innovative and memorable things together. This connection will also allow the both of you to understand the needs of all sides (the couple, the planner, and the suppliers) which will ultimately lead to mutual understanding and drive to achieve unforgettable results.

2.     BUDGET – Both the couple and the coordinator need to be on the same page when it comes to the budget; this way, both will be guided as to what to book, who to book with, and both can find ways to work around the finances.

3.     TRANSPARENCY – Both parties should agree to constantly/regularly communicate with each other and to always update each other with regard to plans, schedules, and deadlines. This will ensure that both are informed when it comes to important details of the wedding, from the planning, down to the littlest detail of the wedding day. Both parties should understand the goals of each other and commit to working together to meet goals. Apart from this, both parties should also commit to resolving conflict and challenges in a timely manner to make sure that all timelines are followed to avoid further inconvenience and problems.

So there it is, folks! I hope that these guide questions will help you in choosing your wedding coordinator.

What about you, what do you think? Did I miss anything? What else should I ask my coordinator?

___________________________________

Hit me up!
Wedding Blog: http://ourroadtothealtar.blogspot.com/
My life's blog: http://www.sentimentsofleng.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliane.varias
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlinsesLeng