Nurture Wellness Village, Tagaytay

Tagaytay is a very popular wedding destination and we were actually invited to two weddings there recently, both on the same day (February 24)! One was for my high school friend at Balai Taal, while the other was for my hubby's childhood friend at Nurture Wellness Village. Since both hubby and my daughter were part of the entourage of the latter, we also went ahead and booked a room at Nurture Spa.

4 Weddings & a Preggy Me

I think hubby and I got married quite young 5 years ago at 26, since during that time, we were one of the first out of all our friends and batchmates. It wasn't until about last year when the wedding boom started for us, with people started getting engaged and married left and right.

I attended a total of 4 weddings this year and they were all held during the last quarter of 2013. Which means a very pregnant me! It really is so much fun attending weddings, because you know for sure there'll be drinks and people are there to really let loose and get wasted (at least my friends are haha!). But since I'm preggy, I can't really par-tay so that just means more drinks for everyone! ;p

We're also one of the first to have kids in our group so what's good is that they're almost always guaranteed to be part of the entourage (yey!). But it also means we can't stay out too late since we'll be dealing with temper tantrums and sleepyheads as the night goes on (booo!).

Anyway, here's a glimpse into each of the 4 weddings we went to. :)

Wedding #1

This was the wedding of my brother-in-law which was held in Cebu. We were all part of the entourage - hubby was the best man, I was a secondary sponsor, Miley was the flowergirl, and Sabe was the ringbearer (although he refused to walk!).

ceremony was held at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral

reception was held at Shangri-La Mactan

super yummy everything

Wedding #2

This was the wedding of one of our college barkada and it had a Parisian theme. It was honestly one of the most beautiful receptions I had ever been to with all the gorgeous flowers and overall set-up.

I got my dress from Miss Selfridge at 70% off!

Rizal Ballroom, Makati Shangri-La

loved the photobooth set-up!

Wedding #3

Another wedding of our college kabarkada, this time held in Tagaytay. This wedding was held on November 9, the day after typhoon Yolanda hit! Everybody was really anxious the week before just reading the news about how this was the biggest storm ever (especially the poor couple since their reception was going to be outdoors!). We were all just praying that the weather wouldn't be that bad on the day itself. But lo and behold, the sun actually shone that morning and there was only some slight rainfall before the ceremony. :)

Sabe was the coin bearer, and again he refused to walk so I had to carry him down the aisle! Hope he gets the hang of this soon though, since he'll be the coin bearer again for my cousins wedding in January. ;p

got my dress at 50% off from a store called Mags in Southmall!

Reception was held in Angelfields, Tagaytay. They had the whole place tented up last minute!

silly faces for the photobooth ;p

Wedding #4

The last wedding was my high school barkada's and I was a bridesmaid and Miley was a flowergirl again. I really loved our dresses and all the colors of the entourage! And all the details down to the reception was just lovely. :)

Being able to be part of all these celebrations is just so wonderful. Especially seeing and feeling all the love in the air (naks!). I kept joking hubby that it was a good thing we already got married because it would be so much pressure for me if I had to plan a wedding now with all those gorgeous ideas to compete with haha! I think there would definitely be some things I'd change if I could get married again now (like getting an on-site video done!!! grrr, my biggest regret!). But of course, each wedding is beautiful in its own way and when I look back at the pictures from our special day, the main thing I'm reminded of is that was the start of our lives together. I can only wish the same happiness for all the couples in this new chapter in their lives... :)

Scenes from the weekend

Finally, we were able to go out last Saturday after all the rains and floods had subsided. The first thing we did was go have our measurements taken for the upcoming wedding of my friend. I'm going to be a bridesmaid and Miley will be a flowergirl. Miley was so excited since she thought we were going to fit her dress already hehe. But I saw the designs and it looks adorable! I can't wait to show you our dresses when they're done! :)

Another thing I had been wanting to do for the longest time was to give Sabe a haircut. His bangs had grown so long they were always in his eyes already. I had considered cutting his hair myself but Hubby forbade me since it didn't go so well last time haha! Anyway, off we went to Cuts 4 Tots in Glorietta where he got his previous haircuts (here and here).

I was already pretty nervous going in since I knew he didn't have the best experience the last time, especially with the razor. And I was right since he immediately remembered the place and didn't want to go in! After all the coaxing with toys and videos, he still kept saying NO. So we just said we'll come back after he falls asleep...

Once he fell asleep, we raced back to the salon but once Yaya carried him, he immediately woke up! But the barber started talking to him and saying "we'll just comb your hair ok?" and before we knew it, the barber started cutting away already! Plus, it was a good thing they had a Cars 2 DVD because it kept Sabe distracted pretty much the whole time. We asked not to use the razor anymore since it would scare him and the whole haircut went smoothly. We were all breathing a sigh of relief after since Sabe was such a good boy! I think he won't be scared anymore for his future haircuts. :)

Here's the BEFORE and AFTER look. And we all just love it!

Hope you're all enjoying the remainder of the long weekend as well! :)

Our Little Flower Girl

I was in National Bookstore when I saw this book and I knew I just had to get it. And it was on sale too at just P100! Even better. =)

You see, the little girl on the cover looks just like Miley when she became a flower girl for the first time last year. Look, they're even wearing the same yellow gown!

Mommy & Miley all glammed up

Miley was about 1 year and 8 months during the wedding, the youngest among all the flower girls. She was really more like a saling-pusa haha! We were already expecting her NOT to walk, so we agreed that Vins would carry her if ever (I was not willing to risk tripping on my long gown and heels).

When they were lining up, two of the other flower girls were crying and didn't want to walk too. I was so proud of Miley because even if she didn't want to walk, she didn't cry. Plus, she wore the headpiece and held the flowers all the way down the aisle. Good job baby!

During the ceremony, Miley went to the back of the church were she started loosening up and playing with her bouquet. I guess she was happy her part was over. =)

Anyway, back to the book. It's so cute since there's even a certificate inside to commemorate the day she became a flower girl. I should remind myself to fill that up.

The book also comes with free practice petals inside. I remember the months leading up to the wedding, we would make Miley practice walking. We even bought her a floral headpiece and a basket of flowers to make it more realistic. I was afraid she would remove the headpiece from her hair during the wedding, but good thing she didn't. I guess the most important thing to remember when your child is a flower girl (or has any part in the entourage) is to just relax and know that you can't control things. I had to remind myself not to be such a stage mom and not be upset or embarrassed if Miley didn't want to walk or smile. We must remember that we ourselves get nervous if we were the ones walking down the aisle with everybody looking at us. I'm sure kids also feel the same, maybe even more. So just enjoy the moment and remember that this is not about you or your child, but the couple who are getting married. It is their wedding after all right? =)

Anyway, this book is really made for Miley. Look at the last page of the book above and the picture below. Awww, exactly the same. =)

My brother-in-law is getting married next year, so we can expect Miley to be a flower girl again (and Sabe as ring bearer yey!). At least, she'll be a lot older by then so hopefully she'll already walk down the aisle. And what's perfect, this book will surely help us practice. =)