Blue Shoes, Perhaps?

I've been seeing more and more colored bridal shoes in wedding magazines and blogs lately. There was that pair of blue Manolos made famous on the first Sex and the City movie...

...then there are these pretty Badgley Mischkas...

...pink with feathers from Manolo...



...and even this pair from J. Crew, which I think Kellda would love...




Still, I find my preferences leaning towards more traditional shoe-wise and otherwise. Maybe because it's because I'll have to look at my wedding pics *forever* and am worried that any risky fashion choices might end up very regrettable ten years down the road. Ex. "Anak, promise, uso yang blue shoes nung 2011."

In that case, maybe I should just stick to white, pale grey, or silver.

If I can't have Tom Brady...

...I can at least get married in the same church. The same church where Gisele and Tom got hitched, that is.

I have my heart pretty much set on St. Monica Church in Santa Monica as the venue for the ceremony. It's about four blocks north of where I live, so it's in the neighborhood I call home. I also really love its style -- it looks traditional, unlike most churches here which are more modern and angular a la Church of the Gesu in Ateneo. Oh! And it's across the street from this pretty park. And I read in a bunch of wedding websites that the priest is really witty, smart, and funny! Parang too good to be true!

Talked to them about the process for getting married there, expecting that they would be as strict as the churches in the Philippines. But...

1. They don't require both the bride and the groom to be Catholics. All that is required is that one of us was baptized and that we agree to raise all our future children in the Catholic faith... which is what I was planning anyway.
2. They don't have any restrictions on wearing strapless gowns.
3. They only require one written compatibility test, one priest interview, and one counseling session to be cleared for matrimony. I was expecting multiple counseling sessions over several months.

From a cost standpoint, they are also very reasonable, with a package for the church, officiant, organist, vocalist (extra if more than one), and two mass servers.

I really, really, really hope that they have availability for when we are planning to get married. Have heard that they get booked up really fast -- and September is a peak month for weddings. Marty and I will need to attend an info session next Wednesday and then meet with the priest before we are assigned a date.

Keeping my fingers... and toes... crossed.

Full-Skirted Gowns... Will they look good on your 5'2" Ate?

So Kyla sent me this pic of a gorgeous Michael Cinco gown she saw at Manila fashion week. I swear it looks so much prettier than any gown I've seen here. Looove it. Was initially looking at this silhouette: natural waist, full skirt when I was looking at gowns. I tried these by Monique Lhuillier on when I went to her atelier (tama ba yung word) on Melrose. They were both the same silhouette. I really liked the one with silver beading on the neckline pero initially I thought it was too simple for a Manila wedding. I tried it on in three different places (Seattle, LA, San Diego) and everyone who saw me in it (even people I didn't know) said it looked best on me. Now that I'm thinking of a US wedding I think it might be appropriate. It's also less than half the price of that lacy ML gown I you saw me try on in SF. Only thing I'm worried is na mawala sa uso yung pickups design on the skirt.

The other one (Lyric), while really pretty in the pics was SO HUGE on me that it kind of overwhelmed me. The lady at the ML store said that they could reduce the skirt volume to adjust to my height... But somehow I'm not convinced.

Full skirt or otherwise, I will have to get my arms and shoulders toned to look good in any of the dresses I've been looking at!

Monique Lhuillier "Rhianna"


Monique Lhuillier "Lyric"

Shutters on the Beach

I was telling mom that I would love to have my ceremony or reception on the beach. Duh. What a surprise, huh? You guys obviously know how much of a frustrated beach bum I am. Well one of the great things about getting married in SoCal is the abundance of beach wedding venues: hotels, golf courses, public beaches, private homes. You name it.

One thing I'm learning is that there are a lot of benefits to holding your ceremony and/or reception in a venue that is geared towards weddings, vs. another one which is basically just an empty space (ex. giant mansion on the beach). With the more traditional venue, the upfront costs might be higher. Other venue types, while cooler because these are more unique, might have a lot of hidden costs such as setup, cleaning, sound system, extra caterer costs because they don't have a prep location... Yikes! That said, a venue I've read a lot of good things about is a hotel called Shutters on the Beach. And it's right in Santa Monica, super close to where I live.

I've never been there, but it seems really pretty!

Let The Planning Begin

Mumsy, Sisters, Titas, and Cousins in Manila:

Greetings from Santa Monica! I'm super excited to get started on wedding planning, especially with how gorgeous all the venues are here. Lots and lots of options and I'd love to hear your thoughts as I think through everything.

Funny because I never really thought of myself as someone who would get excited about planning a wedding... when I got engaged a couple of months ago I was even thinking it would be fine with me to just do a JOP (justice of peace) wedding. But it feels that the longer I am engaged and the more I think about it, the more I want to have a memorable, beautiful wedding. Don't know what it is. Blame the girl gene?...

...Or blame the Centeno compulsion to plan and control things to death? Must admit that I'm enjoying having a project outside of work to direct my energies towards. Now I just have to make sure I don't ignore Marty in fifteen months leading up to September 2011.

Hmmm...What about 09/10/11 as a date? Hehe. Cute.

Love,
Kimita