Our "Budget" Tagaytay Wedding: In December, On A Weekend

Wedding Suppliers Cost, Rating & Review



Finally! It happened!

Our wedding day has arrived after 18 months of planning & searching. Hubby and I were both abroad (different countries) during our wedding preps that's why I had a hard time choosing our suppliers. My reliable helpers: internet and my sister!

Of course, Im still not over our special day. Very far from over. :P
So while everything's still fresh, let me help you plan your wedding by giving feedbacks on our event suppliers.

score card:

1 - very poor service
2 - needs improvement
3 - average, so-so
4 - almost perfect
5 - super duper great!

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Church - Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Tagaytay - P15,000
*5
As most of us already know, this church is really beautiful. With a spacious interior and wide aisle, the look of this church is perfect for me.
More importantly, the officiating priest on our special day was Fr. Jeff, the parish priest of OLLP who is very nice and gave us a wonderful ceremony.

Plus, we had our Pre Cana Seminar here as well and we had a blast! Unlike what I've heard from other couples who had their seminar elsewhere, ours was lively, very inspirational and informative. It was also finished in just one whole day. :D

OTD Coordinator - Ms. Zsarina 'Irene' Mercado of ZRM Events - P10,000
*4.5
My sister booked this Tagaytay-based supplier from a Bridal Fair so we had freebies and unlimited online consultation. True to her contract, I had unli Q&A portion with Ms. Irene. She's very prompt in answering my queries and was indeed very helpful from the start. She was the one who recommended the best caterer in Tagaytay, IMO. :P
My rating is just short of 0.5 to be perfect because her team arrived last at the hotel for our wedding preps. All the other suppliers were there already and I had to entertain them all while eating my breakfast and preparing to do the HMU. But overall, the rest of the day was stress-free because of their team. Hubby and I had our own nice PA's from preps to reception. They were organized, approachable and were nice to the other suppliers and our guests.


HMUA - Ms. Pamela Abuan of Blushing Brides - P10,000
*4

I found Ms. Pam online as well through her website. I booked her after seeing the before-after photos in her blog and some haggling. :P
We got the Airbrush HMU package: Airbrush for me, grooming for hubby and traditional HMU for the mothers.

I was not the only one satisfied with my look. Fortunately, hubby and our guests complimented my HMU throughout the day.
However, her team left already after we went to the church so she wasn't at the reception to give me my 2nd look which was included in the contract. She just gave my PA instructions on how to put my hair down for the reception.
I'm still happy. Anyway, I believe I looked great even after the partying, crying, eating, dancing, picture taking, etc without any re-touch! :D

Wedding Singer/Band - Madz & Dzhei Band - P7,000
*5
Inclusions: Madz as solo singer, 1 pianist and 1 violinist

Super love!! Hehe.
I really really wanted to have strings on our wedding day. But because of the tight budget I set, I had to be resourceful. I found Madz & Dzhei Band online and saw that they had a violinist. So I was pencil booked by Ms. Madz a year before our wedding.
She was uber nice in our exchange of emails and gave me a discounted price for the package I chose. We got to choose 30 songs excluding the actual ceremony/church hymns. Ms. Madz was also the one who sang the hymns so we didn't need to get a choir for that. All songs were delivered flawlessly as her voice was angelic. I was very satisfied I got my nice-to-have "violin" even though we had a limited budget!

Bridal Gown + Groom's Barong + wedding accessories  - Vangie Suva from Divisoria - P8,000 (bride) + P5,000 (groom)
*2 for service and hubby's coat barong
*4.5 for the actual bridal gown

I've read good feedbacks about Ate Vangie from GirlTalk Forum where I'm a member. So when I came home for vacation last April, I went to Divisoria to see her. She was actually nice, accommodating and gave up on my haggling powers. She initially priced the gown design I showed her P15,000! But finally gave it to me for almost half the price. Hehe.
I decided to trust her with my gown right then so she took my measurements that day, 8 months before the wedding! I had to control my diet. :P
We kept in touch even when I went back abroad to discuss the final design of my gown. She even told me to change the design I originally sent her because she said it didn't look that pretty. :P And so I changed it more than 3 months before our wedding. She told me my gown and hubby's coat barong + pants will be ready by end of November. However, she asked me for additional payment due to the new design of my gown. I was okay with that.

To make the story short, We got what we needed from her, 5 days before our wedding!! I was so stressed that time and so was hubby. His coat barong didn't fit him & it was supposedly tailor-made for him from Lumban! They took his measurements 1 month before but they had to adjust the barong and pants when we went there. Thank God, mine fit me well. And the design was quite intricate, hand-embroidered and beaded. Ate Vangie decided not to ask for any additional payment for my gown because of the stress they gave me. >.<

Gowns for Entourage - Local Bridal Shop - P700 each gown Made-to-Rent
*4

We hired a local seamstress to make the gown for my MOH, bridesmaids and flowergirls. I gave her the designs and we're happy that the gowns fit well and looked almost the same as in the sample photos. The not-so-perfect score is due to the late release of gowns. :P
We got the gowns 4 days before our wedding. >.<

Photographer - Rule of Thirds by Jr Salonga - P15,000
*5 - as of wedding day

I also got this supplier from GirlTalk Forum. He didn't charge me an OOT fee for Tagaytay after so many "pangungulit" through email. I really liked his portfolio that's why I haggled so hard to get his services. We got the Service-Only Package with Jr as main photographer. He came with 2 others. :)
His team arrived early at the hotel for the wedding preps. They were all very jolly and made the atmosphere light. He was able to convince me and hubby to do "cheesy" poses. hehe. He posted some photos on his FB page the following day and they made the photoshoot look promising. :D

UPDATE:
*3.5
We got the wedding photos! They were delivered after a month. The packaging was really nice. Personalized CD. :)
However, there were just raw pics. They were actually good even without effects, etc. But I was expecting more. I mean, our contract included raw pics PLUS 30 edited pics. We only got 2 edited/enhanced photos. :(
I've asked Mr. Jr for the said photos for like 4 times already but I guess he's too busy. Anyway, I'll just edit the photos on my own. :P
And we didn't have the group picture with some of our guests. Sad. But maybe it wasn't all their fault, because they didn't control the program during the reception. I just wished we had pictures with our sponsors/entourage during the reception while they were seated. I had no chance to check if we did take them during the wedding. Hubby and I were busy, obviously. :P


Videographer - RedPill Studios - P21,000
*4 - as of wedding day (no output yet)
Inclusions: 2 videographers, lightman, glide cam, MTV style video, raw video

I saw one of their videos from a friend and found out they were based in the city where I live. My sister also approved of their samples and she's the one I trust with these kinds of decision. Their rate is also cheaper compared to the same services offered by other similar videographers.
Their team was the first to arrive at the hotel and quickly went about their work. They were all nice and easy to work with. I just wish they already had ideas about how our wedding video should turn out.
I'm just hoping that they will deliver a great video soon!

UPDATE:
*4
We got the output in less than a month! There are 2 videos saved in a USB device. One was the MTV-style/SDE and the other was the full, edited wedding video.
And we're very happy with the output. :) I like that they aren't too cheesy and doesn't look "cheap" and old-fashioned at all.


Caterer - Kuya Willie Gatpandan of L&J Catering - P550/head
*4.5

Package inclusions: 5-course menu, cocktail, set up/styling, lights and sounds, etc. for 150 guests

Kuya Willie is great! Very accommodating, kind and considerate. He gave us LOTS of discounts and freebies. He even gave me a Starbucks 2014 Planner when I joked about it during one of our meetings. hehe.
The food tasting we had was during one of their weddings. IMO, it is better to taste the actual food served in an event to truly judge if they're good. Well, what we had was good. :D He also let us try the drinks from their mobile bar and they were great! Unfortunately, we didn't get that service for our wedding.
I'm very thankful because he didn't give up on giving me my dream outdoor wedding. He helped me pray hard for a great weather because it was raining non stop the day before our wedding until early morning of our big day. Thank God we were blessed with a cool, rain-free, rainbowed-sky wedding day!
According to our guests, they were satisfied with the food and service of the courteous waiters. They also enjoyed the party music and the lights were awesome! We only paid P6,500 for the Sounds&Lights provided by kuya Willie, but if you'll get them directly for the same service provided, it will be more expensive for sure. I think they're called Intensity8 & based near Tagaytay too.
The set up/styling was beautiful even though they added some decorations I didn't really like. Kuya willie got the centerpieces I wanted and the table linens and tiffany chairs looked great. But with a venue like Taalena, I think one would never go wrong. The view is just amazing and everybody enjoyed the cool weather we were blessed with that day. ;) I just hoped there were more hanging string lights which I requested. I even bought/provided 3 sets of Christmas lights but they were placed with the decors and was not hung. :( Good thing, the lights provided by Intensity8 were good.

Wedding Cake - P4,500
*5

Absolutely love our wedding cake by Cakes of L&J!
We got the 3-layer fondant cake from our caterer as well. We originally requested for the regular cake with just royal icing because of our "budget". Then kuya Willie gave us an irresistible offer so we can have the best customized wedding cake for our big day! Hubby and I definitely didn't regret spending a few more bucks for the fondant cake.
All 3 layers were edible and delicious! Kuya Willie arranged the layers as satellite so there were no "fake" cakes. The biggest layer we used for the cutting ceremony was Banana-Walnut flavored. The next layer was Carrot Cake and the last was like Banana Caramel. Yum! :D
I super love the topper! We just gave the photos of the cake and topper design we wanted and voila! Perfect! Our cake looked exactly the same if not better. The roses were edible as well unlike the fresh flowers in the photo I sent our caterer.

Inspiration

Actual Wedding Cake

Emcee - Ms. Kris c/o caterer - P2,500
*3.5

Ms. Kris was amiable and very nice during our meet-up before the wedding. Her programme was organized and seemed fun. We gave her instructions on what we do and do not want to be included and she was open to suggestions.
Honestly, I really really enjoyed our whole wedding day even though there were some things in the reception I wish I could change. Well, not exactly change but "add". I felt it was somewhat rushed. I wanted more games so our guests would've enjoyed more but I think they had a lot of fun because of the new twists Ms. Kris added to the traditional programme. I could've been happier if the reception lasted a bit longer and hubby and I could've eaten more. hehe. Maybe she finished the event because it was already starting to get colder and some of our older guests already wanted to go inside the building like my lola. hehe.
Overall, Ms. Kris was good in terms of the way she speaks in English and Filipino and she was lively enough to get our guests' attention.



Florist - Ms. Sheila Libramonte of Cuatro Hermanas Flower Shop - P14,400
*5

Package Inclusions:
Bridal Bouquet
Groom's Boutonniere
13 Sponsors' Boutonnieres
10 Mini Bouquets
10 Church Aisle Flowers + Offertory Flower Basket, etc
3 Rose Pomander Balls with Headdress
Bridal Car Flowers
Loose Rose Petals

Ms. Sheila was just great! This was the last major supplier I booked with just 3 months before our wedding.
I already asked for so many quotations from so many different florists and hers was the best I got. All the other florists asked from P18,000 up to P25,000 for the simple arrangements I wanted. Some were not even flexible or open to my suggestions. Plus, Cuatro Hermanas is Tagaytay-based so there's no OOT fee.
Thank God I found her flowers from one of the featured weddings in Bridalbook. They were the same flowers I wanted for the church and so I took it as a sign that she was really the florist I'll book. I also loved that Ms. Sheila is organized and detailed when replying to my emails.
On our big day, Ms.Sheila came early to bring the flowers to the hotel and she was really pleasant. It was the first time we met. Thankfully, she was as organized and detailed in person as she was in emails. :D
The flowers were fresh, labeled and arranged beautifully and exceeded my expectations! I super duper love my bouquet because it looked the same as the one in my inspiration photo. <3
The church flowers didn't look much in person when I first saw them but they looked great in pictures. hehe. Ms. Sheila also added a flower arch even though it wasn't included in our contract. Then they delivered the church flowers to the reception venue for free. :D

church flowers to reception venue

Reception Venue - Taalena Restaurant - P39,500
*5

I had the "this is it!" feeling the first time we went to this place during an ocular visit. The view of Taal is just spectacular and it has a spacious garden for an outdoor event plus an adjacent, Filipiniana-themed indoor space in case the weather won't cooperate. :P
I inquired with them thru email when I was just starting our wedding preps in 2012 and got a quotation of P50,000 for the venue alone with additional corkage fee for an outside caterer. I put Taalena at the back of my list then because I was looking for a more affordable place.
Thanks to our caterer, we got the venue back for a cheaper cost!

Preparations Venue - Hotel Dominique - P10,000
*4.5
We got: 1 Deluxe Room (2pax) for 2nights w/ breakfast
1 Casitas (4pax) for 2nights w/ breakfast

I found a promo online for this hotel and got this super great deal from a group buying site.
The hotel is quite new and looked really good. The rooms were clean and the ambiance was perfect for picture taking. hehe. It was also just a few minutes away from Lourdes Church so it was perfect!
I just wish they provide a hard copy of a reservation confirmation. I booked the rooms a year before our wedding day and we just had to believe that the rooms were really reserved for us already because they said so. My sister had to re-confirm every once in a while to check if the rooms are still under our name. We called them again 2 days before check-in day and thankfully we didn't encounter any problems.
I love my room which was the Casitas. It was clean, spacious and had a veranda where we ate our breakfast. But with all the suppliers and my family together inside, I was amazed we fit. hehe.
Hubby and his family stayed in the Deluxe room located in a separate but nearby building. I liked that our rooms were really apart so that hubby and I won't see each other before the ceremony. hehe.

Invitations - c/o my sister! - P30 each
*5

Of course the score's 5! hehe. I got what I wanted for an affordable price. My mother-in-law requested an invitation with envelope so that's what my sister made. I bought the lace paper doileys from Jeddah and I loved the finished product! Our guests also appreciated the invites handed to them. :)

Wedding Rings - c/o Yours Truly from Jeddah - P18,000
*5

No doubt the rating's 5 because I was the one who chose the rings from Saudi! hehe.
I got the 18k-gold rings with white gold accent at an average of 4.5 grams each.

Souvenirs - Bonsai from Tagaytay - P50 each
*5

I wanted an eco-friendly give-away and not just the figurines we usually receive from weddings. I wanted something useful and not just a decor that will gather dust in time.
My sister and hubby went souvenir hunting in Tagaytay a month before our wedding and got the deal for 100 bonsais from a road-side gardening shop. They gave us 5 additional plants plus delivery to the venue for free.
The bags and tags were made by yours truly with help from hubby, my dad and my sister. I decided to recycle and reuse the materials we had lying around from making the invites. Hubby and I went to a local wooden stamp maker for the logo I wanted to put on the souvenir bags.
The plants were delivered to the venue a few hours before the actual reception and I asked our wedding coordinators to put the tags and plants in the bags. ;)

Balloons
*5

Our wedding coordinator said there were no helium balloon suppliers in Tagaytay. She found one near Alfonso but a balloon costs P75 each plus delivery fee! No way! hehe.
So I decided to get balloons from a relative with a party needs business here in Sta. Rosa. Each balloon costs P18 only and we ordered 30 pieces. But because she was a relative, we got the balloons for free! haha!
I put motif colored ribbons on the strings to personalize them. We brought the balloons to Tagaytay in a van. hehe. Luckily, they survived the 1hr-trip plus 3hrs of waiting until they were finally released at the church after the ceremony. Our coordinators were the ones who distributed the balloons among our guests and they waited outside the church entrance while hubby and I were having the photo/video op inside the church.
The effort of transporting and decorating the balloons was worth it when they floated away beautifully into the sky with our dreams and wishes. :)

I am very proud of the wedding we had. Not only because I have a great partner, family and friends, but also because hubby and I mostly did this on our own. From what I know, not all couples could say that they did not borrow or ask for financial help from others. I'm really glad that my dream wedding came true mainly because of my hubby's support. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it's bad to ask help from family or get loans. We just didn't have rich parents and didn't want to start our new life together already paying "utang".

For just a bit over P280,000, we had a great Tagaytay wedding during a weekend peak season!
However, it's not all about the money. We are so lucky to have super loving & supportive family and friends who made our special day truly memorable.

The actual day is finished but our marriage has just begun and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with my wonderful hubby!
What did I ever do to deserve the blessings I'm receiving? Well, I'm just uber grateful to be blessed! :D

Thank you Lord!