Our Road to the Altar

Welcome to our wedding blog! Thank you for visiting, and we hope that you'll find all the information you need to know about our wedding here. This site will be continuously updated as we get closer to the BIG DAY. We can't wait to celebrate with you! The bride is a grammar nut, a crybaby, a singer, and a beach loving extrovert. The groom is a gamer, a basketball player, an athlete, and a dog loving introvert. They are both crazy over dogs, food, and movies.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

The Caterer | Al Fresco Food and Catering Services

So we're down to the last two major suppliers for the big day! The caterer and the floprist!

Hon and I were quite busy and work and we have not been able to actively search for a caterer.

Things have been really crazy at work. In case you didn't know, Aegis has been acquired by Teleperformance and my team has been heavily involved with all the integration classes and initiatives. And because of this, I have not actively looked for a caterer.

But even if we have not gone out and attended food tasting events, we already had a list of potential caterers in mind.

- Juan Carlo
-Malyn's
-Linda Fe
-Tecson

But guess what? Guess what? My fiance is simply unbelievable!

Without me knowing, he scouted for caterers, contacted a few, selected the best, and SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT FOR FOOD TASTING!

Hells yeah! All I needed to do was show up and gobble down some grub!

Ladies and gents, we'd like you to meet Al Fresco Food and Catering Services!

First time, big time, y'all!

What am I talkin' about? We met with Rachell, the proprietress, tasted the lovely food, chatted for a bit, and booked their services! Right on the spot!

We didn't have a good start though, as the food was about an hour late. But we spent about a few minutes chatting Rachell up. Rachell was such a sweetie, she was able to answer all our questions and was very amenable to all of our suggestions. She even had suggestions of her own and I loved them!

And as for the food, ooh were they yummy!

So Hon and I were served with pasta, fish fillet, beef tenderloin, chicken barbecue, pork spareribs, and pansit palabok. They all tasted really good! Yum! Hon even finished his whole plate. It is worth noting that we just had lunch at home and feasted on mom's amazing cooking. So the fact that Hon was able to polish his plate off meant the food was THAT good.

Here are my top picks. Now I'm no food critic so pleave forgive my not too detailed review.

1. Fish fillet - granted, you can find fish fillet in EVERY buffet; but the fish fillet we had was sooo good and tasty! It was crunchy on the inside and (you know it), yummy on the inside! It came with a dip (I can't remember the name, though) and it was oh, so delicious!

2. Chicken barbeque - this is also another food/dish that you can find almost anywhere, anytime, but the barbeque was really tasty! It was smoky and juicy and it was not tough nor dry, which I loved.

3. Pork Spareribs - this was the first viand that I tried and boy was I impressed! It was really juicy, saucy(?), tasty, and soft too! I am, however, not a fan of gnawing on bones, so it wasn't a favorite of mine. Now I'm pretty sure I was not a dog in my past life.

4. Beef tenderloin - Just like the spareribs, the beef was very tasty It was, however, a little tough and dry, and was a little difficult to eat. Maybe it was due to the fact that the food was no longer warm. But it was really delicious, nonetheless.

5. Pasta - I'm no longer sure what the pasta was called but I liked it. It was delicious, creamy, and milky; just the way I like it. I wasn't too impressed, though. I've tasted similar pasta before. But it was goood!

6. Pansit palabok - Now, I am a big fan of pansit. I will choose pansit any given day over rice, or spaghetti. But the things is, either I was too full to be impressed by the pansit or it was not that oh-my-god delicious. And that it why it was the last on my list. It tasted good, but I wasn't very impressed.

There were a number of things that I wish had gone differently though:

I wish the food was not late.
I wish the beef wasn't tough and dry.
I wish there were more food served (vegetable, desert, and soup)

But those three things aside, all in all the experience was just amazing. We had a great planning, food tasting, and conversation with Rachell.

Even after our meeting, I could text or email Rachell and her replies are always prompt and complete.

What made us decide to get them? Read on then!

The food was Amazing
The business is located in Lipa City, Batangas and we didn't need to pay Out of Town Fees
Their office is very accessible as it is located in the city, right in front of De La Salle Lipa
Rachell was nice, knowledgeable, had great ideas, and was very passionate about her business
She is very upfront and transparent about their services and staff
She is quick to reply and open for recommendations
The rates were very affordable, the downpayment was only 10% of the total amount of the package
The menu and other services are open to modifications

Read on to see their set menus :

So there we go, we've booked our caterer!

If you're planning your own wedding and would like to look Al Fresco Food and Catering Services up, below are their contact details:

5th Floor MVL Centre, National Road, Paninsingin Tambo, Lipa City, Batangas, PhilippinesEmail:rachell.ramales@alfrescocatering.wbats.com
Website: www.alfrescocatering.wbats.com
Contact : 0908-243-1939/0917-626-4478

__________________________________

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

Monday, October 20, 2014

Wedding Preps Update: 10.20.2014

__________________________________

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

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Our Prenup Photoshoot

Last August , my cousins Kuya Aryz, and his brother, Kuya Glenn, came home to the Philippines along with their families. The brothers have not seen each other in seven years as Kuya Aryz has been living in Dubai with his wife and kids, and Kuya Glenn has worked in Japan for a number of years, and has been living in Australia with his own family for the past three or four years.

Along with their jobs abroad, they also have been practicing photography; and even Kuya Aryz has done prenup, wedding, and other themed photography gigs. So along with their vacation plans, the brothers also offered to shoot our pre-nup pictures! Aren’t they so sweet?

So even when the brothers were still abroad, we started planning the photoshoot schedule. And finally, we’ve set a date and agreed to shoot the photos on the 21^st of August, which was a holiday, and also our (Kelvin’s and mine) 93^rd month as a couple. :) We also decided to have the shoot done in our most favorite place in the Philippines. Kim Siong Community, TAGAYTAY!

Here is a picture that was taken of us back in 2009.

To prepare for the photoshoot, Hon and I (well, it was mostly me, of course) listed the clothes that we would wear, and of course, I advised him to get his hair trimmed.

And, boy, did he have his hair trimmed! He went to his barberbut he left with his head SHAVED! I guess he didn’t know how short the “dos” haircut looked like. AND NOW HE SURELY DOES! And if that was not bad enough, he had his hair cut THAT short just four days before our pre-nup photoshoot!

But guess what? My baby looked damn fine! Look at him working that new 'do!

Anyway, there we were on the 21^st of August, all set for our photoshoot. Let’s get the details out of the way, here are the things that we have chosen for our prenup photoshoot:

For my hair and make-up, I asked our good family friend and makeup artist, Kim Ombrezo to work his magic on me.
Photographers – My amazingly good looking cousins Kuya Aryz and Kuya Glenn
Venue – our special place, Kim Siong Community, Silang Cavite – a private resort situated in SIlang Cavite, a ten-minute drive from Tagaytay. It is one of our (Kelvin’s and mine) favorite places on this God’s green earth and we’ve spent many a day in the resort with our close friends.

Clothes – mine and Kelvin's
Styling – mine and Kelvin's with some ideas thrown in by Mama and our cousins
Theme – We really didn’t have a theme and just went posing!
Food – my family was with me and Mama prepared food enough to feed a small army (Thanks, Mama! I love you!)

We arrived at the venue at around noon and started prepping up. For our first outfit, we went with matching gray shirts. I wore a plain gray shirt, shorts, brown leather boots, and had my hair straightened. Hon wore a gray T-Shirt, jeans, and his Jordans.

My cousins started shooting my pictures first and I was soo nervous!

In the first few minutes of the session, I was so nervous and too self conscious I didn’t know how to pose for pictures. I’ve never modeled ever before and I wasn’t sure if I was doing things right. I felt so awkward I didn’t know how to smile, where to look, where to put my hands, how to bend my limbs, or when to glance at the camera. It was too awkward I think 4 or five of my pictures I had my eyes closed! LOL!

But after a few minutes and a few encouraging instructions from our fantastic photographers/cousins, I guess I finally got the posing and the smiling right as I saw my cousins start clicking away and shouting compliments like, “Ayan!” “Tama!” “Ganyan! Wag kang gagalaw!”

After my solo session, they started shooting Hon and me together. That was soo much fun! The weather was so nice and cooperative even the clouds were putting on a show! I was having a lot of fun posing, smiling, posing, and Hon was so supportive. As for my cousins, they were just phenomenal and looked so professional. They were breaking their own bones kneeling, bending, and twisting, trying to get awesome shots. And awesome shots, they indeed were! Hon really surprised me. I actually had more trouble than he did! He was either really comfortable being photographed or he just happens to be a really good actor. He was such a natural! And he was having fun!

For the second session, Hon and I changed into more formal attire. Hon wore a maroon long-sleeved polo, black slacks, black leather shoes, and a coat. As for me, I had my hair curled; put my little black dress on, and my black peep toe suede shoes.

Because we were more comfortable posing, we then moved to the garden and the grand stairs for more dramatic poses.

Look at my good lookin' cousins clicking away with their cameras lookin' all professional and stuff!

Of all the shots we’ve had, that was by far, my favorite! Hon and I were very comfortable, we were smiling, laughing, and posing the whole time while my cousins were busy clicking away. The shots were romantic, dramatic, and classy. Here’s a sneak peak!

We were down to the last session and it was getting a little challenging for our photographers as the sun was starting to set. Hon wore his choice of basketball jersey and basketball shoes, and I had on a pair of denim shorts, a blue button up polo, and my favorite red hot pumps.

We shot the last session in the basketball court, and they took a picture of Hon shooting a basketball, lay up style.

That was Hon’s favorite; and he can’t wait to put it up as his profile picture! We had another shot where Hon and I were kissing behind an umbrella. My cousins were busy setting up their camera and lights; Hon and I were just too preoccupied practicing behind the umbrella!

(Oh, hi, Daddy!) :)

So those were the last shots of the day. We wound down by wolfing down enormous amount of food made by Mama.

We had soo much fun!

Update as of Oct. 28:

We received the first batch of the pictures last week and the pictures were amazeaballs!

If you're in Dubai and you'd like to have your fabulous photos taken by my phenomenal cousin, you may click on the picture below or visit his webpages here:

http://avreflection.carbonmade.com/
http://www.500pxart.com/aryzvarias
http://aryzvarias.wix.com/avreflection

Watch out for my next post about our next supplier. The CATERER!

___________________________________

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

http://aryzvarias.wix.com/avreflection#!

September 3, 2014

After discussing the most stressful wedding topic, which is of course, the budget, Kelvin put his arm around me and said, "This is going to be fun, hon."

I replied with," What is?"

"The whole thing. The planning, the budget, everything. I had a lot of fun. Especially the pre-nup shoot. That was really fun."

‪#‎weddingpreps‬
‪#‎weddingplanning‬
‪#‎KelAndLeng2015‬
‪#‎weddingconvos‬
‪#‎aww‬