YuseffandRachelleDay: Ceremony, Shoot, and Reception

9/18/2015 12:44:00 AM

(A little back story, last May 3, we got engaged. See the story here. :) We both agreed to have the wedding on our 11th year anniversary which is September 6, so that would be four months of planning, which is just perfect since we're not keen on having a long engagement. 11 years together is long enough. Haha.. See my initial thoughts and plans on this post. We don't have a lot of expectations for the wedding, we just wanted it to be meaningful and fun. I'm happy to say that we got the wedding we dreamed of. It's nothing extravagant, it's just festive and sooo us. So without further ado.. here's my thoughts about our day...)


This is going to be one veeeerrryyy long post since I have a lot of thoughts about the day and I want to document it so I can look back and read all this fresh from my memory. I want to remember how happy our day was. :) 

Anyway, I've read a lot of forums / advice from brides about their day, and all they say is that let go, enjoy each moment, since it will go by really fast and everything will feel like one big blur. SO TRUE. I remember the day vividly but it felt like a blur. All the planning and the day is done just like that. Thankfully, we really just let loose and went with the flow, except for one very short moment that I panicked and got pissed.. haha.. I'll get to that very shortly.

Since our ceremony and reception were held in just one venue, everyone was already there even before us. It's great that a lot of guests came for the ceremony. 

This is Yuseff "waiting" for me. In reality, he was pulled from his friends for the waiting shot. Haha
casual groom, jeans groom, vest groom

I didn't know what happened during the entourage march, but I saw one video that people actually cheered and clapped when Yuseff walked down the aisle with his mom.. hehehe.. I won't be posting the entire march since well, it's a lot. But we have 5 pairs of bridesmaid/maid of honor and groomsmen/ best man, a ring bearer and my dad.

This is me NOT getting off for the march. This is just a photo shoot while waiting for everything to start. Haha.. 
Anyway, this is where I got a little pissed. While the car was going around, I saw our cocktail hour venue packed with people because they already opened the food carts! It was supposed to be open only AFTER the ceremony so the guests will have something to eat and do while we have our shoot and flip the venue for the reception. I panicked and tried to call our coordinator, but there's no signal. I learned later on that Yuseff asked to open the foodcarts since there's already a lot of people wandering around. I'm so pissed at that time. HAHAHA... ceremony was about to start and everyone was eating ice cream and drinking beer. hahaha.. I just calmed myself and remember to just let go. I forgot all about it once the curtain to the ceremony opened and I saw everyone and Yuseff.  Everything turned out great anyway, the guests are happy and fed, and they still went back for another round after the ceremony. 

Even though this is a little blurry, I love this shot. hehehe.. Me going to the venue. I'm actually hurrying at this moment since I know the entourage march is done and everyone's waiting for me. The car was parked quite far so I need to hurry. Haha

I'm not sure what I was feeling at this moment. I know I'm not nervous, excited maybe. I knew I'd cry for the walk, hence I don't have a decent photo. Haha.. this is the best I could find out of all the shot they took. 
bohemian bride, boho bride, simple wedding dress

bohemian bride, boho bride, simple wedding dress

We had two of our workers, who did the tiny house, our wedding backdrops, and helped during the set-up do the opening of the curtain. We just asked them to wear a checkered polo, jeans, and gave them a matching hat. 

I walked down the aisle while the song Yuseff made few years ago was playing. It's a song he did especially for the wedding. :) He recorded it a week before the big day, and I never heard the recorded song until the walk. I knew the song by heart, but with all the music my brothers did, and Yuseff actually singing, it was very special. I remembered Yuseff shed some tears :), and me crying and laughing at the same time. 

A prayer started the ceremony. 
rustic ceremony backdrop, wedding ceremony indoor


During the vows. :) 

Exchange of rings.



Entourage group shot

Both our immediate families. 

And we're married!! 

It's just a simple and short ceremony, around 30 mins tops, which is just how we wanted it to be. We walked out, did our photoshoots, while the guests wander around and eat.

This is the gazebo for the foodcarts. I'm somewhat jealous I didn't get to eat there. Haha.. It would be nice to spend time with our family and friends, but this is the only moment we have for the shoot.
ayala hillside clubhouse wedding, cocktail casual wedding

We are so grateful that it didn't rain the entire time we needed to be outside. I was worried since it's September and the rain is so unpredictable. I even checked and checked the weather forecast and it all said rain rain rain. But it was sunny from our shoot at the prep, during cocktail hour so the guest got to wander around the property and not be confined in the venue, during the post-nup shoot, and the entire day really. It only rained once everyone was inside for dinner. It really was a blessing. 
ayala hillside clubhouse, event venue, wedding venue


We did our post-nup shoot just around the venue. We're not really the photoshoot kind of people, haha, we didn't even bothered to have a pre-nup shoot, so this was fun. We're just whispering stupid remarks a lot of times.. hahaha

Yuseff: "Amuyin ko daw yung buhok mo.."
vintage groom, bohemian bride, boho wedding dress, jeans groom

I sooo love our shoes so I asked for this shot. 
brogues wedding shoes, leather wedding shoes, casual wedding shoes, brogues lace shoes

vintage groom, bohemian bride, boho wedding dress, jeans groom

vintage groom, bohemian bride, boho wedding dress, jeans groom

Our vintage / bohemian entourage...
vintage groom entourage, bohemian bridesmaid, bridesmaid floral skirt, boho wedding dress, jeans groom,

My lace actually got loose so he did laced it up for me. But the photographer missed it so we re-enacted. haha
vintage groom, bohemian bride, boho wedding dress, jeans groom

vintage groom, bohemian bride, boho wedding dress, jeans groom

It was our idea to exchange head pieces and do this. Haha.. 


vintage groom, bohemian bride, boho wedding dress, jeans groom, floral crown, simple wedding dress


Yuseff: "Magdikit daw tayo ng noo.. hahaha... ayaw ko nito!"


After the shoot, they retouched my make-up, and off we went for the reception. They did show our photos avp first, then the entourage entrance.

For our grand entrance, we settled early on to use the song "We are the Champions." Not the normal grand entrance song, but we always say "champion!" when we accomplish something, so we find it very fitting. Haha... 

Around three days before the wedding, Yuseff had this idea, and he had this NBA trophy/lamp made to carry our rings for the ceremony, and to be used for our grand entrance. Suited our song very well. Haha.. 

Our first dance. Song: One friend. :)

The kiss.

Our cupcakes. Yuseff's mom baked his favorite banana cake and macaroons. It's actually everyone's favorite, really really good!

Us on our "first date"
colorful wedding reception, fun unique wedding reception backdrop

The speech and toast by the maid of honor and best man. While my maid of honor gave a funny and light-hearted speech, the best man, Yuseff's brother, have a simple but very touching speech. Don't be fooled by our smiles, tears were shed. Hahaha

Cheers!

After the dance, cake, and toasts, we did the photo per table to officially open the buffet. After everyone got their food, we went to the buffet too to get our own. Haha.. They offered to bring us food but we really wanted to do it ourselves. But as they say, you won't be able to eat. I told myself I will eat no matter what, but when you're at the moment, you really have no appetite at all. Maybe it's the emotions? Adrenalin? But we barely touched our plate. Sayang. Haha

My brothers and cousins played us some songs. I really was looking forward to this. It's great to have them play during the wedding.
colorful wedding reception, fun unique wedding reception backdrop


Our impromptu dance while they were singing "Awitin mo at Isasayaw ko"

After the performance, they played our proposal video. Yuseff said a few words before they showed the Avp. Funny story, while Yuseff was speaking, there's a flying ipis doing his rounds in one corner! HAHAHA.. Some guests didn't notice but I did. Our hosts managed to kill him after a few flights.. It's funny, but if it did flew near us, I'll definitely run. HAHA

We have two games. One is guess the Movie title which we have 10 winners. And the other one is "Chinoy Henyo." Originally we have 8 pairs do the game, but no one got the answer, although their bits are very entertaining. Haha.. So we got 2 more pairs... The last one, my cousin and his partner, got the answer, buzzer beater. 

The celebration after they won. Haha...


After the games, our host invited both our families on stage for a prayer and for them to say a little message for us. It was a roller coaster of emotions. One minute we're laughing, then we're crying, and then we're laughing again. It was something special. 

Mother and son dance. Song: I'll be there by Jackson 5.


Father daughter dance. Song: Top of the World but in another rendition. A slower one.

Chose that song since I love singing it as a kid, and everyone knew how I love the song back then. Plus, it really has a sweet message. Yes we both cried. Hehe

Our second dance where Papa pass me off to him. Song: Through the Years. It's so apt since we have been together for 11 years.

I remember telling him.. "Pinapanood pa din ba nila tayo? Haha.. Weird"

Us giving our message of thanks to our family and friends. Again, don't be fooled by my smile, I did cry. Gawd I cried a lot. Haha.. I just took this chance to thank everyone not just for the day, but for everything they did for us from the beginning.

After that, we spend time with the people who stayed, got a lot of photos, drank some more, and spend some time at the photobooth. Haha...

Sooo that was our day. Well that's the short of it. Haha.. This is a photo-full post, but believe me, I have 4000 more.  It truly was a special day for us. We went in knowing that everything will not be perfect, and it's not (hello flying ipis! haha), but it's more than what we expected. We just wanted a meaningful, intimate, laid-back and fun day, and we got it. There's a lot of laughter, and I was told that I'm not the only one who's in tears. :) I can't wait to get the raw videos, we got all the raw photos right away and it's fun to see in still frame all that happened that day. What more the vidoes?! Can't wait :)

Obviously, we love our wedding. It's sooo us and I couldn't ask for more. Now here we are at the Tiny House about to start our lives. We still find it funny calling each other husband and wife. Haha... Anyway, my next post will about all the details, DIY, and styling of ourselves and our venue. I'm not sure how to do the post because we did a LOT. Stay tuned!


(You may see the Preps here / DIY and details here / and Supplier's Review, budget, and SDE here)

11 comments

  1. What a beautiful wedding! Congratulations and best wishes!

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  2. Lovely Wedding! And very personalized, loved loved the vintage vibe/theme. <3

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  3. You had a very wonderful wedding! Congratulations and best wishes! :)

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  4. Congratulations Yuseff and Elle on your special day! You looked so so lovely and what a beautiful dress!

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  5. Congratulations to your wedding. Thank you for sharing your big day photos with us. Wedding is truly a celebration of union of two people to become one. I saw your project and you are amazing designer. I'm glad I found your post. Home Security | Home Automation

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  6. Oh...I love your wedding, Elle! It's so simple yet heartfelt. Just by looking at your pictures, I can tell that both of you were really happy. Congratulations champions!

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  7. hi. ms. elle baka naman pwede pa help pa isponsor sa ayala hillside... feb 20 n un event wala parin ako mkita mbook na venue. :( khit non resident rate.. cge na pls.. ang perfect kasi tlga ng clubhouse na to for both ceremony and reception na... (long aisle)

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  8. Hi anon.. sorry I'm not in the position to endorse since aunt ko yun and humingi lng ako ng favor. Anyway, you can ask all your suppliers baka may kilala sila. I heard kasi from our caterer na they help din their clients kung kelangan ng sponsorship. :) Best of luck!

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Thanks for dropping by. I'd love to hear what you think! :)

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