Wedding Memories: Wedding Suppliers’ Ratings - Part 2

The Paradiso Terrestre

(Ceremony and Reception Venue)

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5

Bronze Package Inclusions:

·         Use of venue for 4 hours

·         Buffet menu for 100pax

·         3 layered fondant cake

·         Bridal suite accomodation

·         Basic wedding theme décor

·         Wedding guestbook

We choose the cheapest package of Paradiso Terrestre and then opted to upgrade some of the inclusions.  Aside from the above inclusions, we were able to add chocolate fountain, additional suites for the groom’s family, Lechon (we provided this and just paid for corkage).

We were a bit reluctant at first to book this venue as it comes with a hefty price – but we were amazed at how they were able to turn our budget wedding into a magical one.  We choose Casa Nenita as our Ceremony and Reception venue.  Ms. Raquel (our account manager) was very kind to include in our package a ceremony set up for our wedding without added cost.

Our entire wedding, from preparation to ceremony to reception to saying goodbyes to our guests, was flawless (ok, that’s an overstatement, hehe).  Our wedding was scheduled 10AM, Paradiso Terrestre’s staffs were starting to gear up the venue at 5AM.  During the wedding, they were very accommodating – asking us what else we need.

One negative comment we received from guests though, the food was not immediately served to our principal sponsors.  Food should be served by the waiters to the VIPs but was taking too long and the VIPs had to line up in queue to the buffet table.

Why 4.5?  Well, this supplier is highly recommended; however, due to some comments we received from our guests, we have to take away 0.5 points for them.

Flowers by NJL

(Ceremony and Entourage flowers)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Package inclusions:

·         Floral decorations for the ceremony

·         Bridal and entourage bouquets

They were one of the suppliers we choose because they are based in Cavite and we don’t have to pay for out of town fee.  We were able to book them ahead.  However, they were one of the last suppliers who came in our wedding day (and shouldn’t the flowers be early because they’re needed in the pre pictorial?).  The beauty of the flowers compensate for this supplier’s lateness.

Why 3.5?  It really took us a lot of follow ups to them even though we were able to pay in terms.  They were also a bit late in our scheduled time (we initially discussed 8AM, and they arrived late, causing our pre-wedding pictorial to be delayed as well).  They actually volunteered to pin the corsages to the sponsors when we were still talking about their services.  So we expected that they would do this on our wedding day but unfortunately they forgot to do so.  Our families helped each other out and took some time.

Wedding Attire

(Wedding gown; Groom’s Barong; Entourages’ gown)

Rating: 4 out of 5

We have already agreed that we won’t be spending a fortune for a dress we would only be wearing for a day.  But of course, we don’t want look cheap on our wedding (haha).  We went scouting for wedding attire at the ever reliable place, Divisoria.  We spent days going back and forth to Ilaya and Tabora looking for the perfect wedding gown for the Bride and Groom’s attire.

We chose a ready made wedding gown for me and a coat barong for Leo.  We also shopped for the entourages’ gown and barongs at Divisoria.  A month before the wedding, I might have lose a lot of weight since as I tried fitting my wedding gown, (which is size small), it fell off.  We had to look for a good dressmaker to make some adjustments for it to fit perfectly.  We don’t want a wardrobe malfunction during our wedding (ha!).

After our wedding, a lot of people were surprised to know that my wedding gown was bought at Divisoria as it look very beautiful (well, talk about carrying yourself well :P hahahaha ).

Why 4.0?  We love our attire.  From my wedding gown to the groom’s barong and the entourages’ gowns.  However, we really need to go back and forth to Divisoria, as well as adjust some measurements for all gowns to look perfect for us.

Arfie Koc

(Hair and Make Up – Bride and Entourage)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Package Inclusions:

·         Bride’s HMU

·         Entourages’ HMU

Arfie is an angel.  She is very easy to talk to.  Day before our wedding, she keeps on giving us reminders and suggestions such as sleep early, don’t be stressed, drink lots of fluids, etc.  Her team was the first supplier to arrive at our venue on our wedding day.  They came in prepared.  She made me look fabulous and gorgeous on our wedding.  They were very accommodating.  Initially, we spoke about Bride + 6 additional heads, however, come wedding day, our beloved family – who just so happens wanted to beautify themselves in our wedding, we needed to add around 3 more heads for them to groom up.

One thing about Arfie though, she doesn’t reply to text messages immediately.  Maybe this is because she has other jobs to attend to (LOL).

Why 4.5?  Arfie is such a darling.  But we took 0.5points off this supplier since she doesn’t reply immediately (talk about being an impatient bride :P) and it caused us some mild stress hehe.


Wedding Suppliers’ Ratings - Part 1