(This is Our Wedding Journey and Budget)
Hi! I’m officially Mrs. Regaspi and this is our wedding journey.
We’ve decided to be practical yet still fulfilling our dream wedding so most of the things we need for our wedding was DIY and some were even sponsored. Thank you, loved-ones!
Current global crisis and a bit of a hard financial situation made us do it this way. He-he!
We got engaged last July 2020 (our 12th year of being together) and had our wedding in December 2020. It was a five-month preparation and we’re happy with the outcome. After all, we consider that being content is one of the keys to stay happy.
Here’s the list of things needed for our Special Day and how we did it:
Requirements
Legality needs papers so basically, it’s the first thing that we processed. Due to the pandemic, most of our transactions were done online. Same with getting our documents.
These are the basic requirements needed (for a civil wedding)
PSA Birth Certificate of the couple – 1 copy each
PSA CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) of the couple – 1 copy each
These documents were delivered to us in two weeks right after we registered and paid online.
Wedding Officiator
We looked for a wedding officiant on-line and luckily, we found Reverend Jay Arvin Mangilinan. He’s the one who processed all our documents. We just gave him the original copies of our birth certificate and Cenomar. Marriage License/Marriage Certificate will be just delivered to us after the wedding. Hassle-free it is. Yes.
Wedding Theme/Motif
Well, my favorite color is orange so most of our stuff during the wedding was in this color. I just mixed it with white to be neutral. We requested our guests to wear any semi-formal with a touch of orange and white. And we required our entourage to wear white. White long sleeves and black pants for gentlemen while white, knee-length dress for ladies. We just provided orange suspenders and bow ties for men and orange head dresses for ladies as accessories.
I am also fond of Baybayin, an original Philippine alphabet system so we’ve decided to include this on our wedding theme.
Wedding Venue/Catering
We looked for the most affordable but still with high quality catering services. We’ve found Lin’s Catering! This was recommended by a close friend of mine. They also offer free use of their venue for three hours so we eventually grabbed their promo package. Their venue also has bridal rooms that we can rent. We rented one room.
Here’s the inclusion of our package:
Food (of course, He-he! 1 set of vegetable dish, chicken, fish, beef, pork, juice, rice and salad) – buffet style for guests and plate served for Principal Sponsors
Free use of air conditioned wide venue for three hours
Basic sounds and lights system
Wedding cake and wine
Tables and Chairs following our motif
Basic table design with flowers
Our add-ons (with extra charge)
Lechon – sponsored by my Mum
Rental of Bridal Room for 24 hours
Rental of projector for the AVP
The venue is located in Sta. Ana, Manila. Our bridal and groom's prep, wedding ceremony and reception all happened on this event place.
We were only 30+ pax.
Venue Design
Venue styling was provided by our catering service. We just requested for a white and orange theme. And we just added some designs.
Souvenirs for Guests and for Principal Sponsors
Some of my friends sponsored this. I personally requested these to them as their gifts for our wedding.
We gave heart-shaped alcohol spray for guests and wine for principal sponsors as souvenirs. I just designed and printed the Thank You note with Baybayin words and we just bought ribbons to match our wedding motif.
Gown and Suit
One of our Principal Sponsors gifted us my wedding gown. Thank you, Tito and Tita!
For my heeled shoes and earrings, they were all borrowed. Thank you, Ate Joy! I still bought flat shoes because I am more comfortable in wearing flats.
For the groom’s attire, we borrowed his suit from a friend. My mum bought him his long sleeves and blue handkerchief. We just bought his black slacks and white shoes. We also bought his orange bow tie and dried flower boutonniere
Wedding Ring
To follow our wedding theme, we ordered a personalized ring online with Baybayin words at a very affordable price. They were set of black rings with Baybayin words engraved to it on top and our wedding date engraved on the inside. We skipped a fancy ring as of the moment and we’ll just get it next time once we have the funds.
Bridal Bouquet
I ordered it online. I bought two bouquets (one for me and for the bouquet tossing) and one boutonniere for my groom. It was affordable and the seller is very kind and accommodating. Shout to Ms. Mina of Fiorella by Mina. Thank you so much for the beautiful arrangement I personally requested. It was a preserved flowers bouquet!
Photographer / Videographer
We were so grateful to my cousins who served as our personal photographer and videographer!
But we still looked for a photographer for the ceremony. Thank you, Snaps Ave! We hired Ms. Fil for two hours. 1 hour for the prep and 1 hour for the ceremony.
Hair and Makeup Artist
Shout out again to one of my cousins who made my hair and make-up for free! She’s also one of the bride’s maids. She even did my mum’s make up.
Thanks, Shan!
Event Host
One of my best friends since college served as our event host and he’s also one of the coordinators.
Thanks, Bessy! You’re the best!
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| the one who's holding the mike. He's our host. ha-ha! |
On The Day Coordinators
Two of my cousins served as our wedding coordinators. While my brother’s girlfriend played the projector and sounds during the wedding march. Thank you, Girls!
The following list are the things that I personally planned, designed or created.
AVP / Projector and Sounds
Aside from the program flow that flashes on the screen, I also created a slideshow of our journey as a couple. We also compiled some video greetings by our friends and watched it at the event.
I personally chose songs for the wedding march and directed it to our coordinators.
Song for Entourage: I Was Born In Loving You by: Tori Kelly
Song for the Bridal March: Sa Bawat Daan by Ebe Dancel
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| My mum and bro walked me down the aisle |
Program Flow
By searching online, I found a program flow and some traditional wedding activities for the wedding. I used it as an inspiration to do our own program. We actually fit all the activities in three hours. Shout out to my best friend Marky aka our host who helped me with this plan.
Here’s the program flow that I made:
Wedding March
Here’s the wedding march order list that I made:
Wedding Officiant
Bestman
Groom Parents (stop in the middle – wait for the groom)
Groom
Principal Sponsors (by pair)
Secondary Sponsors (by pair)
Bride Parents (stop in the middle – wait for the bride)
Bride
We skipped the kids (flower girls, ring bearers, etc.) in the entourage as it is still pandemic.
Photo Ops Order
Since this is DIY, I also made some photo order that our personal photographers can follow:
-end of photo ops list-
Prenup Shoots
Our prenup shoot was done in BGC. It was mostly street and park photoshoot themes. Shout out to my cousins and friends who served as our make-up artist, stylist, photographer and director.
Guest list
We opted to have a maximum of 40 guests only. And for the wedding day, I made a scrapbook like a guestbook wherein guests can write their wishes for us.
Wedding Vows
The day before the wedding, we wrote our vows on this handmade card made by yours truly.
Shout out to Canva for the available templates and designs that I used for our digital invitation. I just printed one set for photo ops and remembrance as well. We have just sent this online to our guests.
Breakdown of Budget
Here’s the total breakdown of expenses that we had for the wedding. We initially allot Php 30,000 as our budget for the wedding but we actually exceeded. He-he!
PS. My mum sponsored a total of 19K; My hubby’s family sponsored a total of 10K.
So all in all, we personally paid Php. 34,840.00
We still have stuck to our initial budget! Wow.
Thank you, Fam and friends! We all love you!
So, there you have it.
Additional Tip: Make an Excel File for all your plans and checklist. It helped me a lot!
Message me if you want a template. I can give it for free! From list of guests, things to buy/prepare, needed stuffs, budget (especially), program, updates, etc.; Excel Sheet is a life-saver!
Our intimate wedding was far from perfection but we loved it just the way it was. It was simple, nothing fancy, nothing costly, just pure love and joy.
And what truly matters most was our promise and commitment to each other plus the fact that we celebrated it with our closest family and friends.
We wouldn’t trade it for anything.
To my now husband, here’s a short message for you.
I love you, my better half. Thank you for letting me reach one of my dreams and that is to marry you in the presence of the people we love and who love us.
On this day, we honored our parents with our vows to each other.
On this day, we fulfilled one of our dreams together and that is to marry each other.
On this day, we celebrated with our closest friends and family.
On this day, I saw you with tears of joy as you saw me walk down the aisle.
On this day, we strengthened our bond.
Thank you and I love you, my forever roommate, housemate, ex-boyfriend, dream buddy, best friend, husband and lifetime partner.
Insert song of Ebe Dancel, “Sa Bawat Daan”. This was my bridal march song.
Sa pagkumpas ng iyong kamay
Aking landas, ginagabay
Nag-iisang tiyak sa isang libong duda
Silong sa iyak at pagluluksa
Kung puso ko ay imamapa
Ikaw ang dulo, gitna't simula
Nahanap din kita (Kay tagal kong naghintay)
Nahanap din kita (Kay tagal kong naghintay)
Ohhh
Maligaw man
At mawala
At umikot man
Sa kawalan
Sa bawat kailan
Sino't saan
Ikaw lamang ang
Kasagutan
Bawat kanan
At kaliwa
Kung timog man
O hilaga
Ang bawat... daan ko
Ay patungo (ay patungo)
Ay pabalik (ay pabalik)
Sa 'yo
Kay tagal nang lumulutang
Walang pupuntahan, walang dahilan
Parang ulap na, walang dalang ulan
Kamang walang kumot at unan
Bihag ako ng pagtataka
May saysay ba ang paglalakbay
Ngunit
Nahanap din kita (Kay tagal kong naghintay)
Nahanap kita (Kay tagal kong naghintay)
Ohhh
Maligaw man
At mawala
O umikot man
Sa kawalan
Dahil sa bawat kailan
Sino't saan
Ikaw lamang ang kasagutan
Bawat kanan (Kay tagal kong naghintay) at kaliwa
Kung timog man (Kay tagal kong naghintay) o hilaga
Ang bawat (Kay tagal kong naghintay) daan ko
Ay patungo (Kay tagal kong naghintay)
Ay pabalik (Ay pabalik)
Sa 'yo
Sa iyo
(Kay tagal kong naghintay)
Ooh ohh
Kung ang puso ko ay imamapa
Ikaw ang dulo, ang gitna't simula
Ikaw...
Ikaw...
