Has it been a month, already?
Its just amazing, how a year’s (or, 14 months, actually) worth of planning came down to that one, life-altering, espresso-fueled catharsis: a thoroughly magnificent, inspired and self-styled celebration that had each of our personalities shimmer, exhilarate, and shine through and through. It was, of course, a coffee-break like no other, witnessed by those family, friends, colleagues, well-wishers and vendors whose patience, generosity, and gifts of enterprise and craft made it truly, most specially, a once-in-a-lifetime event.
And, suffice to say, our once-in-a-lifetime-event :)
 |
| Yes. We. Truly. Blissfully. Are. |
 |
| First frappes as Mr and Mrs. |
 |
| a first-morning sort-of high @ the Highlands |
And – as if we haven’t ran out of compliments to give, or had ran out of credits to thumb wayward to each and every godparent, entourage, liturgical crew, buddy/accomplice, vendor and vendor’s aide – so much of what we accomplished for the wedding could not have materialized or mattered, without having soaked up all the luscious, industrious inspirations of kindred couples from across our milky, romanticized constellations.
It’s a belated, rummy sort of feeling that we never did use an inspiration board to great effect. Our wedding setting and theme seemed ripe for it – a closed garden wedding, with different parts coffee, mocha, and crème; Ever-dependable, big-ticket vendors (i.e., Josiah’s, Niceprint) spruced up by exciting, nascent outfits (Camille Garcia, CreativePrints, Sammer’s Patisserie), and complemented by sincere DIY jobs right out of ehow.com and a woodworker-for-dummies manual.
 |
| Yes, sir, the real thing :) |
An inspiration board would have been perfect for a small-ish, country-styled, lush backyard wedding that just reek with cuteness, earth and economy, in fact.
 |
| Our DIY Chalkboard looking like it belongs :) |
But, now, having some time to settle down, looking back at our files and reorganizing them (and even deleting a few that we could not figure out how they got into our folders!), we can’t help but furrow an eyebrow and smile on some items we pursued like a dream, but which never made it to Church or reception. These were a handful of neat ideas that, like wood putty, cemented our envisioned theme together, despite some holes and petty disagreements. Items that teased us more and more into the spectrum of coffee-and-chocolate possibility, or had us scrape a bit more irreverently at our emaciated barrel of monies!!!
 |
| Suave animations by Frame Up |
 |
| Special desserts by our soon-to-be legendary friend, Chef Sammer :) |
 |
| A revelry of lights, sensations and sweets @ Fernwood Gardens |
 |
| Manila-record for most frappes prepared in an hour. Kept most guests awake,too |
And which more importantly made us believe that while we couldn’t pull off a smart, small and costless backyard wedding – we could, for a few hours, indulge and dance in the classiest evening affair, clothed in the most intimate, most romantic café setting this side of town.
----------------
Right from the start, Kat and I wanted our wedding favor to be in-theme, and for it to express our characteristic fondness for coffee shakes, beans, and concoctions. Our first attempt at sampling a giveaway was a cheap, brown packet purchased from the aging Chocolate Factory. I drafted an emblem by playing around some nondescript frappe/tumblers downloaded from the Net (Google, what else?). The rest, I completed using plain ol MS-Word and printed on sticker paper. We thought this was such a viable item we eventually purchased 100 more packets! :p hah!
If there were any further positives we drew from this very gung-ho effort, it was that the draft emblem here (2 frappes) and the "Love Brews" tagline evolved into the logo and "brand" we used throughout the wedding. SCORE!
If there were any further positives we drew from this very gung-ho effort, it was that the draft emblem here (2 frappes) and the "Love Brews" tagline evolved into the logo and "brand" we used throughout the wedding. SCORE!
I had much more fun fiddling around the "nutrition facts," -- and you can see why. I tell Kat we could've used this somehow! :)
Our beloved DIY chalkboard took root from various sources, involving mostly both exteriors and interiors of English cafes, modern coffeeshops, and cottage crafts. I had an instant, electric attraction for the cozy and country-feel of the chalkboard, and the elementary woodwork required -- an attraction that almost made Kat jealous! :p I drew up a 3x2 design for the chalkboard using my Mac and some revamped clipart.
Only later, did I realize that a 2x2 quadrant was a lot easier, quicker, and neater to complete. Besides, I wasn't in the mood to buy more pieces of plywood.
Only later, did I realize that a 2x2 quadrant was a lot easier, quicker, and neater to complete. Besides, I wasn't in the mood to buy more pieces of plywood.
During the course of wedding preps, I chanced on "V for Vendetta" playing on a DVD. While the movie seemed a bit lightweight and pulpy, I thought V was a memorable character - his verbosity [certainly, someone I could relate to!], and vigilante crusade were well-played on-screen. And the influence was fairly strong when, the next few days, I handed over to Kat a sort of lowbrow flyer/poster that we would email to our guests/entourage/friends. Remember, remember....
But this didn't push through. We must've forgotten ourselves!
But this didn't push through. We must've forgotten ourselves!
While we managed to incorporate some very small woodworks into our wedding, we also wanted to emulate outdoor wedding signages commonly associated with small, country and garden-type weddings. You'd see several dozen of these "wedding directions" painted sloppily/decently on random wood blocks, reclaimed wood, old bark, planks, and other wooden boards. This would've been a cute additive, at anyone's wedding :)
And, finally, before Paperflair blew us away with their/our coffee-flavored, oversized invitations, here was my draft rendition using our classic pre-nup photo taken by our official dudes at NicePrint.
