{ weddings by vatel manila }: October 2007

Saturday, October 27, 2007

MORE PHOTOS OF THE HARVEY-ARA NUPTIALS (WE CAN'T SEEM TO HAVE ENOUGH OF THEM!)

Detail. The wedding ceremony setup. It is very simple, but it looks full. I always like the feel of its being ethereal. Anyway, I honestly think it is time to go back to the drawing board.

Sir Darren and Ma'am Erleen listen intently to the proceedings.

I did this setup all by myself (with a little help from the crew). I decided not to bring my florists so I can learn how to make it. It turned out that I made it look so much bigger than their version! Hmmm. Overeagerness brings out the best in me, methinks.

My capiz shell curtain takes centerstage again for the nth time. It's shining, it's shimmering, it's splendid!

Reception. This is by Martha's Plate, a caterer based in Marikina. Very amusing color scheme. It looks like it came out of a candy factory!

Photos in this entry courtesy of Mike Santos of TMF.

HARVEY-ARA (October 27, 2007)

My one and only event this October went with several hitches. Name it, we (almost) had it. I cannot put the blame on anyone because everybody did their best given the situation.

I will not go into details. Suffice to say that there is a need to reiterate this one golden rule during weddings, or any event for that matter: GET YOURSELF AN EVENT COORDINATOR. Anyway, we have to give it to the bride for taking care of almost all details by herself! Her courage and patience is admirable.

Ako naman, I don't complain when after doing the setup I automatically assume the role of a coordinator extraordinaire. I simply see it as going the extra mile pero naman, huwag lang sana dumating ng late ang major players, 'di ba? Like the priests, for example.

Anyway, I had great fun doing this wedding. Sir Darren was the most amiable Englishman I've ever met (not that I've met a lot of Englishmen). He is most liked by the children who hang on to him like crazy.

To Ma'am Erleen and Sir Darren, VATEL Manila sends you its warmest greetings and prayer for a most prosperous and happy life together. Thanks somuch for entrusting your ceremony to us. Cheers!

I know you know that I've done this same setup before. I know you are starting to see the trend: I have been sticking to one single look all the time (it's called 'branding'). I know that you also know that I am not doing this because I have no choice. I am doing this because the clients like it. (Channeling Miranda Priestly here: "That's all".) Anyway, the flowers here are different from the 1st time it was made.

I know you took a second look. These are not the three Kings from the Orient. They are priests of the Easter Rite (Catholic).

Ms. Erleen steps on the carpet with her Dad.

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OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR DESIGN

REFINED SIMPLICITY. This is something we work hard to perfect. While we may have differing views on what is "elegant", we humbly present here our guiding principles in design.

1.) Simple and tasteful. The Filipino's current penchant for the "production number-act" is something we have discussed and studied thoroughly among ourselves.

This may be something we have acquired from television and from our increasing buying power. In the end, our homes end up being filled - to every crook and cranny - with things: huge aparadors and dividers go side by side with knick-knacks from our travels, as well as with our seeming fetish for souvenirs from just about any event and place. In short, horror vacui. However, Filipino design as gleaned from our history and traditions, hardly border on the loud and boorish.

The work of our indigineous peoples and local weavers attest to the beauty of our artwork. This concept - simple and tasteful - is at the core our design sensibility.

2.) Conversation-friendly and comfortable arrangements. Although the aim to make our designs conversation pieces in themselves is already a given, VATEL MANILA draws the line on the theatricality that pervades the current design concepts of many catering and event firms in Manila.

In our review of current practices, many design firms resort to the "shock policy" - that is, they capitalize on their ability to shock guests with venues teeming with flowers, lights and other pompous what-nots like employing yards upon yards of fabric, supposedly to make it "an event like no other" or "an event to be remembered".

Sometimes, even tables - from the main sponsors to the guests tables in a wedding setting, for example - are filled to the brim with flowers designed to block guests from seeing each other thus impeding conversation; tables are bathed in silk or organza, apparently designed to astound the visitor BUT without consideration of their comfort or safety.

The end result: uncomfortable and crampy arrangements. While we only suggest and can provide suggestions as to how to put life into your own concepts, the overall idea, really, is to effortlessly evoke images of the grand and the sophisticated without being distracting and obstrusive.

In the end, the true winners will be you and your guests - with the reward of pleasant memories arising from the things your ideas and our guidance / expertise can do together.