The Wedding Details

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In less than two weeks, my fiance and I are about to eternally unite. And just like those couples who wish to get married, one of the main concerns is on how much budget is enough for a dream wedding. You will never know what is enough until you start planning. I guess, prices vary from place to place. But for those who are living in Pangasinan, I will share to you our budget plan, and some tips on how to maximize your limited budget but never to sacrifice the quality of all important elements on your wedding day.


We initially planned to have our wedding ceremony in a resort in Dagupan City. Considering all the possible expenses including the catering services, the venue, and the accommodation, we decided to look for a cheaper place that may offer an equally exquisite ambiance or a better one. My friend who is working at the provincial government of Pangasinan suggested to me to consider the Sison Auditorium. Well, I was hesitant at first because of the size. It is too big for what we initially planned as simple and intimate wedding. And yet, I have to give it a try. I asked my fiancé to take a leave and accompany me to visit the place (although I am very familiar of the place already and been to it numerously), and to my surprise, he was so amazed. He even told me these exact words, "I want to marry you in this beautiful place".

To give you a glimpse of the auditorium, below are the pictures of this amazing place.





The place is so amazing. The interior is definitely elegant. But how about the price? Well, we checked on it immediately, and we were again surprised that it was way cheaper than what we initially thought. For 15,000php, you can have an 8-hour use of the entire air-conditioned facility.

We decided to seal the deal. But it wasn't an easy process. We have to give a request letter to the provincial governor indicating our purpose to use the place as a wedding venue, and we have to compromise our desired wedding date on its availability. We also have to wait for a week or more for the approval of our request. Our initial plan on our wedding date was on December 19 and was moved to December 12. Right after we received the approval notice, we paid it in full immediately.

We looked for different caterers nearby  Sison Auditorium. We were eyeing for a catering service from a hotel , but it was too expensive. Then an employee in the provincial capitol recommended us to Regina's Catering. We check on its Facebook page, but it was outdated. We were actually a bit dismayed on the status of our wedding plans. And after 2 weeks, we decided to finally contact Regina's Catering, although we were a bit hesitant, but based on the employee who recommended it to us, it is the same caterer who caters all the provincial events. And we are so blessed, that we were directed towards the best choice. The caterer, Mrs. Regina Sevidal, generously accommodated all our queries. The price rates of the food menu were really within our budget. She is also very creative in decorating wedding venues and reception.You may want to check this:
We chose the 300php meal/pax. We added 75php for the dessert buffet to be served while waiting for the wedding couple to enter the reception. For 75,000php, we can provide a sumptuous 5-course meal to our beloved guests with overflowing desserts and drinks.






Mrs. Sevidal is also our florist. Although, the catering package already includes simple table settings and arrangement of the venue, we still added more flowers and decorations to the venue. I will be having a bouquet of  tulips, a rose bouquet for bridesmaids, female principal sponsors, and parents, and boutonniere for the male sponsors, groomsmen, groom, and the parents.

Price: 25,000php


In April or May 2015, we met Noel Ubaldo in an event in SM Baguio among several photographers and videographers. We were astonished by his and team'a works. After a month or so, we contacted him and made a deal. For 60,000php we already have a prenuptial shoot, save-the-date teaser, same-day edit, photo-booth on the wedding, mini exhibit, and numerous printed and framed photos. :)

Contact Details: 
Noel R. Ubaldo
0921-326-4262
0916-371-4647
www.facebook.com/noelubaldo
Ground Floor, Jayo Building, Mangaldan, Pangasinan



A cousin of my fiancé recommended a couturier in Divisoria. We never had other options for this because of the limited budget we have. And knowing the place, it would be way cheaper than  having our wedding gowns and suits made in Baguio or in Pangasinan. We paid a total of 36,000php for the groom's suit, barong tagalong for parents and 6 groomsmen, cocktail dresses for 6 bridesmaids, a dress used for prenuptial shoot, and 2 long gowns for parents.

I do not actually know how to rate the couturier. I could not even say if I am completely satisfied or disappointed on their service. We went through series of disagreements, misunderstanding, and arguments. The quality of the gowns are finely sew, but they failed to imitate all designs given  to them.
We made our wedding invitation very simple. We made our own layout, and had it printed in black and white on rustic papers we bought at Papemelroti We embellished the invitations with lace and ribbons. A total of 1200php for 80 printed invitations.



We will just be giving wedding favors to our principal sponsors, because we often observe that favors seemed useless and only serve as decoration and do not last for long. Instead, a photo-booth is set up for the guests to have their own wedding memoirs.

We will be giving paper products we bought from a store named Papemelroti. This is in line with our rustic theme as seen on our wedding invitation. We also included a tag line, "happiness is hand made". For this, we spent 5000php for 30 principal sponsors. :)



I am a cake lover, and I want our wedding cake to be perfect and beautiful. Oh well. Who would not dream to have DongYan wedding cake? But of course, I have to be practical and think numerously if it matters at all. And so, we made it our last priority. We chose a simple red ribbon special occasions cake. For just 4,000php and additional 1,000php refundable cake stand, we can now have an elegant fondant wedding cake. :)


We wanted our ring to be extra special, but as we go through the planning  things really changed unexpectedly, and even the expected amount to spend on a particular thing was oftentimes beyond our plans. So, we chose a simple two-toned wedding bands we bought at BHF Gemline, SM Baguio. And the pair only costs 12,000php.


We found the best makeup artist in Dagupan City who gives a reasonable price for her services. We didn't know her personally, not even a recommendation from anyone, but because of social media, we simply found her. We were amazed by the simplicity of her works and passion to make every bride shine naturally on her big day. For 20,000php wedding makeup package, I will have an airbrush makeup plus 9 additional heads for a traditional makeup, with free makeup for three flower girls.

Contact Details
Apple Llamas
http://applellamas.com/


To sum it all, we spent 254, 200 on major elements on our wedding day. Of course, these are not the only things you need to save up on. You have to make budgets on transportation allowances, prenuptial wardrobe and makeup, fees for day coordinator and emcee, printing of wedding programs, hotel accomodation, food, etc.


Just to give you a sample of our additional expenses:

Traveling allowance:20,000php

(yes, and even more than that. Travelling back and forth Manila is expensive, we usually allot at least 4000 pesos including hotel accommodation, and food every time we travel to Manila for gown fitting and shopping for wedding needs)

Marriage License and other Pertinent Documents: 1,500php

External Hard drive: 3,500php (we needed this to backup  raw files of our wedding pictures and videos)

Prenuptial wardrobe and makeup: 5,000php (I made my own makeup to lessen the expenses)

Day coordinator and Emcee: 13,000

Printing of Wedding Program and other documents: 500php

Candles: 200php

Wedding boxes: 100php

Airfare and accomodation for honeymoon: 7500php (we are having our 4-day, 3-night honeymoon in El Nido, Palawan)

Hotel Accommodation for families and friends: 16,000php

Bride and groom's shoes: 5,000php

Bridal Robe: 350php

Pastor's Love Gift: 4000

Pianist:1500php

Personal Preparation:2500php (My makeup artist requested me to dye my hair with light brown and wear contact lenses)

Total: 80,650php

Grand Total: 334,850php

This is not the final total expenses. It is in fact better if you always have additional allowances. But above all, no matter how small or big your budget is  the most important thing is the day after the wedding. Your life together as husband and wife, and on how you will live your life to be worthy individuals who will contribute significantly in the development and creation of your own family.

We, too, have to discover it ourselves. Together with my future husband, we will take this new journey together.