How brides pee: A step by step guide

People often forget that brides are still human on their wedding day.  They still have to do number 1 or, heaven forbid, number 2.

“How do I pee with this on?” I remember asking my designer, Kristel Yulo, during one of our fittings.

My gown had multiple layers of soft tulle. It had a short train. It also came with a petticoat that made the skirt balloon.

The veil and the train must be protected at all times. Especially in the bathroom.  Photo by Pam Pastor

While these elements made the gown pretty (very pretty), they also made it complicated for me to take a leak.

Kristel recommended that I buy spanx that open in the crotch area.  She also advised me to take only sips of water throughout the day instead of gulping them down.

Her words made me prepare myself to be dehydrated but I know I still had to pee at some point. The answer as to how to actually do it came on The Day.

Before we left the hotel room for the church, my girl-for-the-day pulled me inside the bathroom.  She locked the door.

“I will teach you how to pee in your dress,” she said in her Obi Wan tone with a gentle smile on her face.

It was an exciting moment. This bit of information is rarely shared by one bride to another. It felt like I was finally allowed into a secret.

So just like a good, young padawan, I listened intently.  Then I got shocked and a bit dismayed. For I discovered bridal poise and urinating do not go well together.

These are the actual steps on how it’s done:

1)      Lift the skirt up.

2)       Unbutton the spanx.

3)       Sit on the toilet bowl with the body facing the water tank.  The train and veil that are collectively called as “bride’s tail” has to be protected at all times.

4)      Calm down and focus.  Yes, focus.

5)      Wipe it clean.

6)      Get up. Suffer through another few moments of indignity of securing the spanx.

7)      Try to act as if peeing with another girl looking over your shoulder is the most natural thing in the world.  After all, men do it all the time.

Peek-a-boo. Bridesmaid Pam Pastor said she had a revelation as she watched me go in the cubicle. Oh, and I also held the line up in the girls’ bathroom. But I got away with it since it’s my wedding day! Photo by Pam Pastor

I guess using an adult diaper would have been easier and funnier.  I would never know.  But I could imagine the laughs (and the violent reaction) I’ll get if this post was titled “I peed while I was having my photos taken with the VIPs.”

We are registered!

Guess what? If the item you chose for us is too big and heavy for you to carry, the stores will deliver it to us for free! Convenience at its finest.

To all our guests asking what we want for our wedding, we tell them point-blank that we prefer cash gifts.  We want to collect enough money to be able to do the following things:

1)      Purchase oven and refrigerator for the kitchen; couch for the living room; and queen-sized bed for our bedroom.

2)      We want to start investing in mutual funds for our future children.

We understand that not everyone is comfortable with cash gifts, therefore, we’ve also attached bridal registry cards with our invitations.

We carefully chose items in our registry thinking about what we will need and use in our home.  We made our choices in two stores:

1)      Rustan’s Weddings and Beyond ( Ayala Center, Makati; Shangri-La Plaza Mall; Alabang Town Center; Gateway Mall, Araneta Center; Ayala Center Cebu)

2)      SM Gift Registry(All SM stores)

It is very important that our guests register or present the cards when they purchase something for us. These stores will provide you with the list of our choices. Registries ensure that no items will be repeated.  Or if an item is repeated, we can exchange items for store credits and get the ones not bought for us.

We really encourage our guests to take a peek at our registries because we’ve been very conscious with the possible budget of our guests.  We would like to think we made modest and practical choices.

We hope you enjoy shopping for us.  Thank you.

The right wedding songs and American Idol finalists Erika Van Pelt’s and Elise Testone’s song selections

I love how everything about weddings can be personalized down to the song you want to hear when you cut your cake.

I’m wondering if such things would really matter to me on our own wedding.  Wouldn’t I hear “Alleluia” inside my head when I sink my teeth into the very first sweet thing I could eat after, what I hope,  a rigorous diet?

The Manila String Machine provided us with a list of their repertoire.  It has made our lives easier.

From there, we only have to choose songs for the bridal march, entourage march, wedding vows, offertory, religious songs during the ceremony in this church,communion songs, recessional, cocktails,  entrance of the entourage and the couple at the reception, first dance, prosperity dance, father-daughter dance, and dinner.

Pat and I have not discussed what specific songs to play during the downtime period after the reception program.  But we know it’s going to be the songs we sang to when we were in high school and college.

***

It is entirely my fault that I did not bring a decent camera for this interview, hence their red eyes.

Last week, the American Idol Top 10 did their concert in Smart Araneta Coliseum for the Philippine leg of their concert tour. Before that, they had a press conference right after their 14-hour flight to the country at the Manila Hotel.

Just before the round table discussion wrapped up, I had to ask the girls what their wedding songs will be if they were to choose them now. Pinoy favorite Jessica Sanchez kept mum while Hollie Cavanagh giggled.

It was the redhead-at-the-time Erika Van Pelt and Elise Testone who shared their thoughts.

Erika: I have no plans of ever getting married!  Just kidding. Tell that to my boyfriend and he’ll be pretty mad. I think a Queen song will be awesome.

Elise: I was thinking of Queen, too.  Maybe Michael Jackson’s “Pretty Young Thing”

Queen songs for the wedding?  Hmm.  Why not? “Somebody to Love” is a good song to hear on your wedding day.

Love in the time of UAAP: Our prenuptial shoot

We love collegiate basketball.

We love it so much we unwittingly (oh, alright, deliberately) work our schedule around it. That’s why it makes sense to us that we must have one of our prenup shoots done in one of our favorite teams’ games—the UST Growling Tigers.

We knew who our photographers will be.  We recruited our good friend, Benjie Cabañas, to take our photos at the gallery.  We’ve also enlisted help from super awesome (Thomasian) photographers Paul Ryan Tan and Joseph Silverio for the dugout shots.

It was just about the timing.  Benj had been so busy the past few months that we could not drag him out of his house to come with us to the games.  He just had to wait until the Growling Tigers entered the Final Four of UAAP Season 75.

Our boys had a twice-to-beat advantage over the NU Bulldogs but we wanted to do it on the first game. We considered the options very well. If they won, the next time we’ll see them is on the finals—very hard to do a shoot then. Shooting on the first game was risky, too.  For if they lost, we don’t think they’ll be smiling in the photos.

Getting the boys to agree to do a shoot with us was tricky, too.  They didn’t want any photo shoots before they game because they didn’t want to lose their focus.  However, they did (or at least Jeric Teng did) promised they’ll do it after the game.  Well, I wasn’t about to take a “no” for an answer anyway.

The win really came as a relief.  After the brief press interviews, I ambushed Coach Pido Jarencio.  Our conversation went like this:

Me: Coach, congratulations on your win!

Coach Pido:  Thank you! Thank you!

Me: Coach, ikakasal na ako next year.  Pwede bang magpapicture with the team?  Prenup lang namin.  Please? (I’m getting married next year. Can we have a photo taken with the team for our prenup?)

Coach: Oo. Sure, halika!

The rest is history.

The UST Growling Tigers will face the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 6, in a championship match.

Meanwhile, we’re sharing some of our pre-nup photos. Benj’s only rule for us was to not look at him and just enjoy the game.  Very easy.  We already forgot he was there as soon as the buzzer rang.

We’re guilty of setting our dates on game days. Photo: Benjie Cabañas

Purring and biting are allowed in our relationship.  Photo: Benjie Cabañas

The Tigers score. Yay! Photo: Benjie Cabañas

My “One for UST!” shot Photo: Benjie Cabañas

We’re feeling the pressure here. Photo: Benjie Cabañas

It was an intense game. Photo: Benjie Cabañas

The UST Growling Tigers bobbleheads are one of the most iconic props fans came up with. We just had to have a photo with them. Thank you to its cool owners. Photo: Benjie Cabañas

Come on, make that one shot, please! Photo: Benjie Cabañas

A lot of raised, victorious fists on this game. Photo: Benjie Cabañas

 

‘Twas a very fun and easy shoot for us but very tiring for Benjie Cabañas. We paid him with lots of love and a cake from Banapple.

We also made our way inside the locker room to have a photo with the boys. This probably embarrassed them more than it did us. Look at how they are carefully  avoiding to stare at us.  So cute! Photo: Joseph C. Silverio

Here is one photo where we do not try to embarrass the kids. Photo: Paul Ryan Tan

Makeup: I did my own

Hair and Nails: Fresh Salon, Anonas Branch -They curled and did my nails in under an hour.  Amazing as I had thick unruly hair.  :D

Clothes: All our own

Location: Smart Araneta Coliseum

We would like to thank the Thomasian community for providing the perfect backdrop for this photo shoot.  :D

Lace treats on Arab Street

Arab Street: a Mecca of laces

When I went to Arab Street in Bugis District, Singapore last year, I wished I had a reason to buy laces. The street lined with textile shops is a treasure trove for them.  They have laces of every color and some with beads.  They have French, German, and laces from other countries. It is like an international convention for laces.

When Pat and I decided to get married, Arab Street was that one place I really wanted to go to.  The idea of choosing my own lace and not depend on what the designer has is the ultimate sign of independence (and admittedly, bridezilla-ness).

When I got an invitation for a cocktail party in Singapore, I asked the organizer if I could extend my stay. They said yes and the first free time I had, I went to Arab Street.

Arab Street is a five minute walk from Bugis Junction of SMRT.  I don’t know what time shops open but I know they close at around 4-6 pm. I went there at 10:30 am. I spent almost two hours there.

The challenge of finding the right lace for you depends on how patient you are and how strong your resolve is.   Vendors will invite you in and try to keep you inside their shop.  They will say that the lace is beautiful even when you know it’s not.

The prices of laces can start at  S$10 and go as high as S$110. They will tell you that they will give you a so-so discount.  Don’t mind them.  Things in Arab Street are eternally on a discount.  Just prepare the money you are willing to spend.

Anything that looks dainty looks pretty to me.

I don’t know what this kind of lace is called but I thought the design would look really nice as an applique.

This looks pretty but I thought the flowers are too small.

This is a beaded lace with a bit of a shine.

I went to ALL the shops but about two of those shops directed me to Royal Fabric. They told me that shop has plenty of laces. I found out later that  Royal Fabric has three shops on Arab Street.  They have one at the very end and the other two shops almost face each other.

I saw one beautiful French lace but when I touched it I knew right away that it wasn’t for me.  It was too soft and too dainty.  I knew it will be in tatters in a few minutes if I’m going to  be the one to use it. Sayang lang.

When I saw the lace that I wanted, I felt goosebumps on my skin.  It was love at first sight.  It has scalloped edges and it is corded with chantilly laces beneath. The shopkeeper told me that it is a double lace.  I was told it came from Germany.  I bought six meters even when the shopkeeper told me that four meters is a safe bet.

The design is as big as my palm. I also love how the flowers feel. But wait, there’s more!  If you squint your eyes you could actually see the lace within the lace.  There’s a chantilly pattern beneath the corded design.

I love the scalloped edge.

I applied a GST refund for my purchase and happily brought home the lace with me. Mission accomplished.  Now the search for the perfect designer for them is on!

Invitation to be principal sponsors

I was on hyperdrive last night that is how I accomplished two things: our monogram and  e-invite for our principal sponsors. Initially, I thought of making real cards for our principal sponsors but since some of them lived in places far away from us, I thought this type of postcard would be more, errr, green.

I’ll post the studies of our monogram soon.  Meanwhile, here’s our invite:

On Michael Cinco’s dresses

Allison Harvard and Dominique Reighard of “America’s Next Top Model” All-Stars were here last week to walk for Philippine Fashion Week for Bench.  Allison is also the spokesperson for Michael Cinco’s perfume for Bench called Impalpable.

I love the two but I also love the dresses Michael Cinco made.  Everything looked so wedding perfect that it can be taken to the aisle straight from the runway.  If only they didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Layered skirts are tricky. They have the tendency to end up looking like cake toppers on photographs but the symmetry and balance of this one just screams awesomeness.

I do not know if this dress had a name but I call it the spider dress. Look at the details at the back. Doesn’t that remind you of a spider?

Dominique Reighard gave a fierce walk.

I thought Dominique’s gown was a delightfully detailed gown. I also know, however, that the leaders of the Catholic Church will have a heart attack if they see this dress down the aisle.  The material is so sheer you can actually see the flesh beneath it.

Allison Harvard, the face of Impalpable, is a standout among the brunettes.

Allison also wore a sheer number.  The dress made her glitter across the smoky runway.

The princess cut, the voluminous tulle skirt, the Swarovski-laden top are the reasons why I love this dress.

Call me traditional, call me boring but I super love this dress.  It actually came in light green but it didn’t register because of all the lights.  I think I want something like this sans the bursting boobs.

Michael Cinco and the ANTM girls.  Look at the details of Dominique’s back!

For more details on the ANTM girls,  go here.