Madge's Christening overview

Yes, my Baby Madge's Baptism is done. But I still wanted to make a summary of what really pushed through with the checklist I made weeks before the event. 

1.) Church - Yes, Sto. Domingo is our final choice

The Altar

Price:

P 1,500.00 = Individual / Special Baptism w/ 1 pair of sponsor free

P 2,000.00 = for the Godparents

          P 100.00 = per succeeding sponsor  ( Madge have 11pairs )

TOTAL:

P 3,500.00 - P 1,000.00 (discount)

=P 2,500.00

2.) Catering Service - Yes, we really had Stars n Sun as our final caterer. I loved the design of the function room.

Here are the foods they served and the decorated function room:

carbonara

stir fried veggies

shanghai

roasted chicken

beef with mushroom in gravy sauce

fruit platters

choco dips and choco fountain

mallows

biscuits

wafer sticks

red velvet cupcakes from Epicurean Cupcakes

cupcake tower, cupcake and bear souvenirs

juice fountain

i really love this!!

the friendly staffs

Price:

P 22,175.00 ( 250/head for 70pax + 20% service charge + 1,750 upgrade fee from pancit canton to carbonara)

3.) Function Room = uh huh! Sto. Domingo Function Room, St. Thomas Hall it is! :)

Price:

P 3,500.00

4.) Invitations - main invite layout from Rads, and another layout of the Godparents made by yours truly..

main invite, forgot to place the time

Godparents

invitations

Price:

Photo paper (water proof) = P 50.00

Ribbons = P 9.00/yard (9 yards thick one) P2.00/yard (3 yards thin) = P 87.00

Paper for envelope = (P42.00 per piece, 2pcs.) = P84.00

P 221.00

5.) Souvenirs - cute little teddy bear keychains in acetate boxes from Divisoria for P40.00 each

cute bears

Price

P 2,000.00

6.) Photo Booth = a so-so layout and super konting props, is what I got from a discouned online voucher. But their prints are great.

layout

me, sleeping Madge and hubby

Price

P 2,699.00

7.) Cupcakes = I got 60 pcs from Epicurean cupcakes, 25 boxed, for the Godparents and 35 not boxed for other guests, this also served as Madge's Baptismal cake. P50.00/pc

Price

P 3,000.00

red velvet cupcake (grabbed from Epicurean's fb page)

8.) Photographer / Videographer = Hubby didn't pursue with his friend so we got Kuya Boyet (BusinessWorld's photographer) instead.

Price

P 1,500.00

I am very grateful to the guests who spent their precious time to join Madge's baptism and I am super happy with the outcome of my much planned event. Now, I can't wait to plan for Madge's first birthday on November..:D

Expenses:

Church                    =    P   2,500.00

Catering Service     =    P 22,175.00

Function Room       =    P  3,500.00

Invitations               =     P    221.00

Souvenirs                =     P 2,000.00

Photo Booth            =     P 2,699.00   

Cupcakes                =      P 3,000.00

Photographer         =      P 1,500.00

TOTAL:                         P 37,595.00

Madge's Christening Checklist

Since January of this year, I busied myself in planning and preparing for my baby Madge's Christening, from looking for the best church, to the invitations, catering service, photo booth and souvenirs. I went from sulit to multiply market place and facebook to search for the best stuffs for my little pearl's big day. I even read online forums to give me a clue on what to do on her baptism.

And now, 3 weeks before the event, I am so happy that I am almost done with all the preparations. (payments nalang ang kulang which has to be made on the day itself)

Here's a checklist of Madge's Christening:

1.) Church - Actually, I have 2 churches in mind; St. Peter's Parish in Fairview Quezon City and Sto. Domingo Parish in Quezon Ave., also in Q.C.
                   Why St. Peter? because we live near the place and it will be of easy access to us. And why Sto. Domingo Parish? Because most of the guests and the sponsors know the church and it will be hassle free for them going there.
                   In the end, I chose Sto. Domingo Parish, not only for the guests but also because they make me feel like a V.I.P. and I had discounts c/o Michelle Quezada (one of Madge's Godmothers). She works as a volunteer there that's why she knows the church people and she has really good access to the schedules.  hehe.

Price:
P 1,500.00 = Individual / Special Baptism w/ 1 pair of sponsor free
P 2,000.00 = for the Godparents
          P 100.00 = per succeeding sponsor  ( Madge have 11pairs )

TOTAL:
P 3,500.00 - P 1,000.00 (discount)
=P 2,500.00

2.) Catering Service - Originally, Max's Restaurant was the reception in my mind after Madge's Christening. Since Max's Q. Ave. Branch is just one jeepney away from the church, i thought it will be easy for the guest to proceed there after the baptismal ceremony. Besides, the restaurant already have their baptismal package (with invitations, souvenirs, etc.) so it will be a lot easier for me to plan for other important things for the event. But when they changed their baptismal packages, I decided not to get them. (medyo nagtaas kasi sila ng packages)
                   So, after searching the world wide web for a budget friendly catering service, I tumbled upon Stars n Sun Catering Service. (their website here) It was also referred to me by Michelle (again) and she stated good reviews regarding their service. So with no but's, I decided to have them for the baptism. I got the package worth P 275/head with complete set up, BOTTOMLESS fresh fruit fountain, and a free chocolate fountain with dips.

Price:
P 21,175.00 ( 275/head for 70pax + 10% service charge)

3.) Function Room = Sto. Domingo has a reception area which is usually rented for weddings and baptismal. The St. Thomas Hall's rate is P 7,000.00. But we're lucky enough that our caterer has a tie up with Sto. Domingo that's why we had the function room for 50% off.

Price:
P 3,500.00

4.) Invitations - To be honest, I had lots of designs I personally made for the invitations. But in the end, I decided to get the help of my officemate, Rads for the layout. I only had to buy the photo paper, ribbons and scented papers for the envelopes from National bookstore and printed it somewhere free. :D

Price:
Photo paper (water proof) = P 115.00
Ribbons = P 50.00
Scented Paper = P 80.00-P 100.00
P 265.00

5.) Souvenirs - when I saw the cute teddy bear in acetate box on an online store, I thought this would be the perfect giveaway for Madge's Christening. So when I got the chance to visit Divisoria, I looked for it and purchased 50pcs for 40pesos each. It's cheaper compared to the 55pesos online price. It's already complete with the ribbon and tag and acetate box.
                   The only thing which broke my heart is when I found out I'm missing one piece. I only got 49pcs of the souvenirs. Worst, I counted the giveaways at home that's why I didn't get the chance to get that one piece. I tried to text the shop yet they didn't reply.
                   If you're planning to buy from Divisoria, I advise you to count the souvenirs first before leaving the shop. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they only miscounted the stuffs.

Price
P 2,000.00

6.) Photo Booth = It was never my plan to have a photo booth on Madge's baptism. Not only that it costs too much and its out of the budget but I also feel this isn't necessary. but when I bumped to Ensogo's great deals and saw a Photobooth worth 2,699 for a 3 hour photobooth package, I grabbed it. (Ensogo's a website which offers discounted deals)
                   Iclique photo by Perfect Moments Photobooth (check rates here) gives us a very good deal of 3 hours unlimited shots with free standee, an onsite master, customized photo layout, backdrop, soft copy on CD and props. At first, I had a hard time contacting and communicating with them but they assured and confirmed me that they have already saved and scheduled May 18 for me.

Price
P 2,699.00

7.) Cupcakes = This wasn't also on my list but when I saw events which has cupcake towers, I feel I got to have it for my angel's Christening. Kim, an online blogger and a friend (also one of Madge's Godmothers) has an online shop (Epicurean Cupcakes) offering baked goodies specially made by her sister. They sell cupcakes for 50 pesos each piece, already with box and/or cake topper. There's an additional of 120.00 for the tower.

Price
P 2,500.00

8.) Photographer / Videographer = Of course, this would never be out of my list. We are lucky Fritz has a photographer friend who works in a photo shop. He only asked us for P 1,500.00 pesos for his fee and for the camera rentals. (He doesn't have his own DSLR so he has to rent from the shop)

Price
P 1,500.00

It's roughly 3 weeks before Madge's big day from now and I'm a super excited and a little nervous at the same time. :)

Expenses:
Church                    =    P   2,500.00
Catering Service     =    P 21,175.00
Function Room       =    P  3,500.00
Invitations               =     P    265.00
Souvenirs                =     P 2,000.00
Photo Booth            =     P 2,699.00   
Cupcakes                =      P 2,500.00
Photographer         =      P 1,500.00
TOTAL:                         P 36,139.00

Celebrating my 25th Birthday with mi hubby @ Orange Nest Hotel

Having an 8month old baby tummy didn't stop me from celebrating my 25th birthday. Originally, I bought a voucher worth 949 instead of 1900 for 2 persons with free breakfast in a suite at Orange Nest Hotel from Metro Deal for my baby shower. But since I realized we wouldn't fit in one hotel room, I just bought a 1br suite from the office for the event. Take note, Orange Nest Hotel Suite only fits a maximum of 5 persons.

And so I decided to use it for my 25th birthday bonding with hubby. The room is ok. It doesn't look like a suite for me, its actually more of a standard to deluxe room (didn't reach my expectations).

The Facade

Orange Nest Hotel is located at Malate Manila. The place is suited at a residential area and is near many 'carinderias'. It has its well known coffee shop which is Kape Pilato that offers different mixes of coffees and yummy cakes.

Kape Pilato

The hotel doesn't have a decent lobby like the other hotels. The staffs didn't welcome us with a warm smile and we even had a hard time requesting for a ref inside our room which is supposed to be automatically there.

Anyway, upon entering our room, I felt really disappointed. The room didn't look like a suite...at all! It's small. A double sized bed, cabinet, 24 inch (or smaller) LCD TV, will welcome you.

4th floor lobby

4th floor's mini veranda

Toilet and bathroom with hot and cold shower

laundry room like-area, Fritz's smoking room

Due to budget constraint, we packed some food we can have for our dinner and brought foods from the house.

Fritz ordered me a slice of chocolate cake...

ugliness ng preggy-ness

Another thing which broke my heart is the breakfast!! eerrr!! I regret paying the room service fee! My pancake menu was ok, hubby's Filipino breakfast is good, but my gawd! The coffee wasn't even hot and my ICED tea was merely a tea minus the ice. It took us more than an hour for our breakfast to be delivered in the room.

A pancake, slices of apple and pear, hotdogs and my iced tea.

adobong baboy and manok with fried egg and fried rice

the lukewarm coffee

All in all review?
*The place wasn't really astounding
*The receptionist wasn't friendly
*The staffs who delivered our breakfasts were nice
*HOT coffee should be HOT and ICED tea should have ICE
*Room service is always late!

Im glad we had a great bonding time amidst all the 'kapalpakan'

Baby Shower (Fernandina 88 Suites Review)

I chose Fernandina 88 Suites for my baby shower last October 28, 2012. I got a GC from my office worth 50% off its original price. A deluxe 1 bedroom suite with free buffet breakfast for two for only P1,999.00 instead of P4,000+.

Before I even decided to choose Fernandina 88 Suites, I made sure that I can have my party here, with no corkage fees for foods and drinks and up to 10:00 p.m. allotted time for guests. That's why I was a little disappointed when the receptionist had to call my attention about having a party inside the room when they allowed me to have my baby shower when I asked them beforehand. My hubby and friends tried to bring liquors inside the room and the guards didn't let them in. They had to call me from our room and I had to talk to the receptionist and tell him I wasn't informed we cannot have beers inside the suite for they allowed me to have a party. (of course I know its their SOP yet I made this up so as  not to spoil my baby shower..hehehe)

Okay, over all, I am still satisfied with their services. :)

I had the deluxe 2 bedroom suite because they said no 1br suite is available that time. I thought I would have the other room for free yet, they locked it. Clever. hehe.

Upon entering, the living room with the sofa bed (yes it is a sofa bed) and T.V. will greet you. Here's where we held the baby shower. 

On the other side is the kitchen and dining area. I think utensils are by request. They don't store their kitchenwares inside their cabinets.

The cabinets and drawers don't have anything inside..the ref is full of foodies and liquors (w/c of course is not for free)

The room is actually big for just two persons. It's spacious that hubby's friends got to do their bonding moment here.

Medyo magulo na kasi I forgot to take pictures before the party started and before the guests arrived.

without the lights

with the lights

The toilet and bathroom is okay with all the toiletries good for two.

clean with hot&cold shower

The buffet breakfast wasn't really extra special. The typical hotel breakfasts were served. (American and Filipino cuisine). What made it really nice is the suuuuper accommodating staffs who welcomed us with warm smiles upon entering the Roof Deck Bar and Restaurant. We were lucky we're the only guests having breakfast that time that's why we had a good spot.

Solong solo namin ang resto

buffet table, a spread of all the yumminess

fresh fruits, veggies, breads and pastries

 pineapple juice, mango iced tea, cereals, eggs

like most buffet breakfast tables, they also offer cooking your preferred egg

hubby not liking me taking his picture..:))

I don't really drink coffee so I ordered hot choc to complete my meal. Like some other breakfast buffet, Roof Deck Resto and Bar don't offer the hot choc on the free breakfast buffet so I don't have much of a choice but to order it.

All in all, I really had a good stay at Fernandina 88 Suites.

Baby Shower with friends!

Being preggy for the first time means wanting to document each and everyday of your pregnant life as much as possible. Trying the 3d/4d ultrasound and having a baby shower is a must for first time (soon-to-be) mommies. So when I had the chance to have my 3d/4d ultrasound for free (c/o my mom), I grabbed it with no but's! And..when a friend offered to organize my baby shower, of course, I did not hesitate to say yes.

I learned from the web that baby showers are mostly done when mommies are already on their 8th month of pregnancy. So, we did it on my 8th.

Girlfriends and ninangs talked about the event over facebook and kept the details from me. What broke my heart is when I thought I would just be attending the party and not organize it myself in the end. I actually dunno what went wrong over their conversations on facebook. I wouldn't want to spoil my baby shower so I took care of it myself. Nonetheless, I enjoyed ze process.

I was the one who planned for the flow of the shower. I searched the net myself for games suited for the occasion. After days of looking for fun and somehow unique games, I decided to have three for my baby shower. Games such as Naming Baby items (paramihan ng baby items), Guessing game (full name of the baby, mommy's tummy size, etc.), and the 'how well do you know mommy-to-be' wherein I made the participants guess what attributes from mommy and daddy I want my baby to have.

I made this for inviting my friends online:

I also took care of the prizes for the games and the giveaways. Again, I searched the world wide web what I should consider for the giveaways. My friend organizer suggested I buy loot bags and fill it with candies and stuffs for my giveaways and prizes. Me and hubby went to divisoria (Manila's bargain place) to buy cheap finds for the occasion. I bought paper bags for 6pesos and 10pesos each. We went to Divisoria Mall to buy candies ranging from 35-120 pesos a pack. Its a good thing since it would be a lot costly if you buy it in the malls.

candies and giveaways

game prizes

the loot bag

what's inside the loot bag?

I also made bookmarks with Madge's (my baby's name) 3d picture on it for giveaways. Jorge, an officemate/friend helped me on editing the final layout. I printed it in the office and had it laminated for 15pesos each.

I made the papers for the games myself without anybody's help..hehe

Bookmark

Everyone agreed for potluck for the foods. My friends grouped themselves and planned what food to bring. Officemates brought graham cake, Fritz's friends brought the buko pandan, my college and highschool friends contributed for the drinks, paper plates, spoons and forks and cups, Kim also bought another dessert, brownies from Goldilocks, my mom bought two big boxes of pizzas. I brought a 2 kg spaghetti cooked by my mother-in-law and hubby.

 The theme of the occasion is stars, since I consider Madge as my shining star. :)

I chose Fernandina 88 Suites for the location of the party. I got a gift certificate from my beloved BusinessWorld for P1,999.00 for a P4,000.00 deluxe suite inclusive of breakfast for 2.
(I'll write a separate blog for the hotel)

It was a sunday, and I still have to go to the office in the morning before I proceed to the hotel. At 2:00 p.m. I logged out of the office and went to Cubao to meet my early bird friends.

We had photo shoots while waiting for the others.

The shower will start @ 3:00 p.m. but since they're all used to the so called "Filipino time", we started the program at 5pm.

First thing the gang did? Eat! hehe.

CLOCKWISE: college friends, office buddies, mom with friends

After satisfying our tummies, we then moved on with the games.

game on!

While we are busying ourselves with the game, the boys busied themselves with their beers.

from the left: daryll, jay, bruce and hubby

The program was fast, (actually, frustrating din dahil minadali talaga sya..hahaha)

After the kainan and games, as cam whores as we are, we then posed for our photo shoots. hehe.

pag si Kim (kimiviajera.blogspot) e present, maraming kakalokang shots!

Gifts were given by friends:

It was a very tiring yet fun-filled day for me and I thank everyone who cared to join us celebrate my baby Madge's baby shower.