As I packed our boxes one last time...

As I packed our wedding coordination boxes one last time, I felt a bit of emotion... It would be the last time our team would be together to handle a wedding.

It was an apt end to a story -- a story that began in 2010 with a 7PM ceremony in Santuario de San Antonio, followed by a reception at the Banyan Pavilion of The Blue Leaf. 

Coordinating and planning weddings was farthest from my mind when we started preparing for our own wedding. After all, I was a teacher by heart, by vocation, and by profession. When things went south and plans didn't happen as they should on the day, I kept brooding about it for days on end. And so for catharsis, I figured... might as well join the fray and throw in my own brand of organization. I learned a lot throughout our months as a team. Our efforts were recognized by the W@Wies seven months after we had our first wedding in May. We became part of the W@W Top 10 of 2010.

After more than a hundred weddings, my husband and the rest of the family requested for more time with me. They could not catch me on weekends and if they would see me on weekdays, I would most likely be busy with outlining plans, preparing AVPs, talking to fellow suppliers or rushing off to meetings. My husband figured, my catharsis was complete.

I was undecided, so I prayed for a sign.

God made sure I would understand, so he sent Pachi and PJ my way. Pachi was the maid of honor of a former bride, Isabel. When Pachi asked to book, I was hesitant because I was still unsure then if I would be coordinating till 2013, but when I asked for the date, time, and venues, I knew God had answered my prayer for a sign -- it was a point when I could say, "I've gone full circle".

Because of that booking, around February of 2012, I announced via W@W through the kindness of Ms. Benz that I would be going on hiatus as coordinator, but I would still be emceeing. The W@Wies and former couples' friends extended the same amount of warmth and support and so here I am now, staring at a calendar of emceeing bookings.

I must express my appreciation and gratefulness to the w@w community for helping me prepare for my own wedding, for giving me the chance to launch my own brand of coordinating and planning weddings, and for once again having my back when I decided to go full time as a wedding emcee.

Almost a year after that announcement, we made our way as a team to the Picasso on the 11th of January 2013.  We all had a sense of making the day extra special -- it was the last time we would lay out the paraphernalia of the bride and groom, it was the last time we would prepare food for everyone, it was the last time we would assist during pictorials, it was the last time I would teach the bride how to hold her bouquet, it was the last time I would ride the bridal car and stay with the bride till she reached the church, it was the last time I would rehearse with the parents regarding their walk, it was the last time I would handle the march from the best man to entrance of the bride, it was the last time...

And so I must say... It was an apt end to a story -- a story that ended in 2013 with a 7PM mass in Santuario de San Antonio followed by a reception at the Banyan Pavilion of The Blue Leaf.  

P.S.
Thank you, team! You put your best foot forward till the very end... I could not ask for more. :) 

Thank you, Fellow Suppliers! You made our days easier just by being the great professionals that you are! :) 

Special shout out to K by Cunanan Catering! You were there at the beginning for our wedding and you were still there, creative and efficient, till the end of our run as a team. Thank you! :)