#Biyayaforevs: Countdown to 100

I can't believe we're now just down to 100 days (technically, 102 as I write this) before we get married. It wasn't long ago when I counted down to 200 days. We've had a number of wins or ticked to-dos from our list from the past 100 days. So far, this girl's still a bridechilla. So what happened in the last 100 days?

We finished all the artwork for the invitation.
Our invitation is probably the most painful part of wedding planning for us. My brother started the paintings sometime in April if I remember it right. There were a lot of details we wanted to put in that it took him a while to finish and then my cousin digitized these drawings. I loooove all the artwork my brother and cousin created. A couple of weeks ago, we already sat down with our invitation designer (my good friend/bridesman, Ricky), and he told me we can have it printed by the 28th. Hopefully, that happens because I already want my lola to bring the invites for Tita Mia and Tita Cielo when she flies to the US on the 30th.

I had my first fitting.
I met with my wedding gown designer early July and had my first fitting. My gown turned out a bit different from what we initially discussed (for example, there will be no tulle overlay for my reception gown anymore) and the color was different from what I imagined. From our last discussion, it seemed like the appliques will be a bit different from the pegs I sent. I voiced out my concern over this because I couldn't visualize what my designer intends to do, but he agreed to show me the appliques before he stitches them on in case I didn't like them and need to have them changed. There needs to be some adjustments on the bodice, but so far, so good. I'll be fitting again this September. I can't wait!

We had our food tasting.
We booked our caterer before we even tasted any of their dishes, which wasn't so weird to me at first until my friends from a wedding support group told me that they all had their food tasting first before they booked their caterers. We finally had our food tasting last August 14. We dragged our parents with us, so they can chat a bit and get to know each other a bit more. I think that it went well, and we liked the dishes we tasted although they didn't serve everything on the menu, so we ended up with dishes that we really didn't get to taste. Lol. I am just really banking on Balay Indang's reputation at this point. We also grabbed the chance to show Yayay's parents what the venue looked like, and like everyone else we brought there before, we were met with "Ito na yon?" when they saw the entrance and a "Ah maganda pala at malaki" when they finally went inside. Haha. I really feel that we need to do something about that entrance. I will brainstorm with my entourage soon.

The parentals and the fiance's parentals.

Shelah and I went to Divi and finally bought the fabric for their gowns.
Let me be honest: I am not that excited about the fabric we bought. We couldn't find the right shade of red I want them to wear, so we settled on the darkest one we saw, which it turned out, isn't as dark as I thought. :( We bought some fabric last February, and it turned out darker than the one we bought last July. I am just hoping that this fabric will not turn orange in the photos. My photographer's shots tend to be lighter than actual colors. However, I refuse to let 20 yards of fabric go to waste even if Yayay said I should just buy again if I am not happy with the one I purchased.

We were able to get our wedding rings.
We had our wedding rings made in Mayfair at Binondo. We went there in June just to look around, but we placed our order in the same day. The wedding ring I ended up with was entirely different from the peg I saw online. I really like one with uneven edges in rosegold, which I saw from one of the jewelry makers I am following on IG. However, the woman at Mayfair said they can try to make it but it may not look exactly like the photo I have with me. They can fix it until I am satisfied, though, but I need to pay every time they'll do additional work on it. I didn't want all the uncertainties (and definitely not the additional payments), so I decided to just pick a design from what they currently have and place an order in my size. But because I can't seem to make up my mind, Yayay picked out my ring for me. It is beautiful and looks good with my engagement ring. Then after a month, we went back for it. I still can't stop myself from wearing it every now and then.

The BAWIES had a bachelorette party!
The BAWIES is made up of girls from the wedding support group that we're all a part of. Member of Weddings@Work are called Wawies, but the girls in our group turned out to be workaholics (most them are at work when we have our chat sessions) so we nicknamed ourselves Bawies, which means "Brides-at-work". So anyway, we had our bachelorette party at Victoria Court in Pasig last July. I am usually not down with spending time with people I haven't actually met, but these girls are pretty close to my heart and we've shared some really crazy things over the past few months, they aren't strangers anymore. The party turned out to be really fun (but, you know, what happens in Victoria Court stays in Victoria Court), so let's just leave that at "fun." ;)

The B@WIES - Aki!

The B@WIES + Aki!

I am continuing this post a month after and so far, we don't have the invitations yet (hopefully, this week), and my fitting was moved to October. Yayay and I also had the most exhausting 3 days last week, but we were able to file for our marriage license, go to Marikina to order Yayay's custom shoes, and have Yayay confirmed (finally!! We went through so much headache to have the details in his baptismal certificate corrected).

It's just 67 days til we say our I dos. I can't wait for the craziness to end, and to be able to see Yayay's face every single day. :)

Coming full circle

It was the year 2010 when I got my heart broken. I remember it was May 25, so around this time six years ago, I wrote a great deal about it in this blog and wrote even more emo, kadiri, heartbreak statuses in Facebook. My favorite social media site has evolved so much that it kept on reminding me about these posts every year. I didn't go around making a deal of deleting them. These weren't good memories, but these remind me that things will work out in the end. I like being reminded of that.

The past five years were ok. After all, it didn't take me a year to find someone who will make my heart go a-flutter again. I have lived my life as happily as I can. I am more in love now than I had ever been in my entire life. But you never really fully recover from heartbreak and the trauma it brought you. There are a lot of things in this world that brings back the pain. Not the intense pain I felt in 2010, but a tiny tug in my being reminding me that something awful happened a long time ago. To be honest, I don't even remember what it was like being with my ex. Sometimes, I'd stumble on his name in mutual friends' pages, and I feel like I don't know the guy anymore. That is weird because I have never forgotten the pain he's brought into my life.

Yes, the past five years were ok. Until June 20 this year rolled around. It was time once again for Facebook to remind me of my emo statuses from the past, but this year, sitting on top of the On This Day reminders, on top of all my shitty heartbreak posts, is this one:

 

And it felt like I have finally come full circle. It was a complete reversal of where I was six years ago. I felt like God told me, "Diba sabi ko Ako ang bahala sa'yo?" And, indeed, God has been so faithful to me.

He made sure that I never lost faith in my happy ending even when I was reeling in pain. Somehow, I knew that eventually it will work out. It didn't make the pain any less painful, but it helped me look forward. 2010 feels like a lifetime ago already. 

And now, here I am, a few months away from our forever. Sometimes, I look at Gerald as he sleeps, and my heart can't stop doing silly little dances. I am so lucky; I really am. God really made it up to me. Siguro sinasabi Niya, "Ayan ha. Bayad na Ako sa utang Ko sa'yo. With interest pa."