I stayed up till 3am Saturday night watching all video samplers i got from the bridal fair (sori, im not being rude but i didn't bother to view Joel Salindong's work after watching the first 3 minutes of the cd sampler).. :))

Loel and i are both movie geeks. And though we don't plan to splurge on our own wedding video, i still enjoy browsing through various websites looking for new styles and ideas. My opinion on these three leading videographers are rated as follows:

Jason Magbanua - No one can beat this man. Yet. He was able to perfect his skills and this is evident in his every coverage. If only we have the budget, we will definitely get his services.

Bob Nicolas - I've been hearing good reviews on bob's work and i was not disappointed. In fact, one particular AVP made me cry twice and yes, i watched it twice. It's maybe because i somehow know the couple having exchanged few emails with them. Or maybe because i was simply moved by the film. After watching the whole compilation, now i'm having second thoughts on Jason's.

Threelogy - When we started our wedding preparation i was keen on getting threelogy for 3 reasons; 1. they are my fellow Thomasians & i guess co-JCBA din (loyal eh!) 2. heard they're fun to work with 3. met several satisfied couples who attested na ok nga cla. And since we can't afford Jason, i thought of getting threelogy. But after seeing bob's work and compare it with threelogy's, im in doubt again. =)

If and when we have the budget, we might probably get Bob. I just need to add a few thousands from our original budget na pang Threelogy and i feel we can get Jason's work with a more reasonable rate. Well, that is if and when.. Hay... :((

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After having brunch, mom and i once again prep to go back to PICC bridal fair. This time i am keen to book Ville Sommet. Hay, finally! finally! After this, i can somehow go back to my normal self and attend to my other responsibilities (school, backlog from work, clean my room, etc..) I am really ecstatic.. As soon as we got there we proceeded to meet Ms. Dolor, retrieved our yesterday's notes and readied my pen to sign. Imagine my great dismay when Dolor said, "ma'm, the owners did not allow me to give you the venue based on our previous rate" I was dumbstruck! Ha? "Eh how much na???" i exclaimed. "Yung latest rate mam, less mo yung use ng aircon since hindi nyo naman po gagamitin". Hu-wat?!!! How come? "I was here less than 24-hours and we agreed to settle now. So, you mean if we paid the fee yesterday we still get the old rate?" Now, i'm trying to control my temper. I'm no bridezilla. But you see, searching for the perfect venue has been my life for the past 3 months! We drove 4 weekends to tagaytay, spent hours and hours infront of my laptop just to find The Place. This is not happening.. I don't want to go back to step 1. Ang hirap humanap ng venue! Pramis! As nicely as i could utter, I asked Ms. Dolor if she could try to again inquire with the owners as ours is an isolated case naman. I mean we asked several times how much is the rate, she agreed it's still the same and now a day after hindi na raw pwede?!

So she texted and we waited. I was fuming inside. I now understand the feedbacks i got na mejo confusing cla kausap. I asked for the owners' number na lang, ako na po kaya makipag-usap. "Eh corporation po kase eh, so several directors ang dadaanan." Quiet ulit ako. Then a message beeped. And she read: "Mam, hindi daw po talaga pwede eh. "

Hay, stressed na ako. I patiently explained to her that we could hardly squeeze in our budget the rental fee for Ville Sommet but since we really like the place we made some, no, major adjustments in our wedding budget. Meaning, we have sacrificed other suppliers that we like in place of another more affordable ones. And it's not only about money. We have agreed, yes just verbally agreed, that we're settled on the old rate. It's just not fair and very unprofessional.

Seeing that i am seemingly annoyed (was trying to hide it but i guess i was turning beet red), Ms. Dolor offered to call one of the owners again. So we waited. And prayed. I was mentally taking note never to agree on anything without having it written in a contact. Mejo matagal ang usap. At this moment i was just praying that if God really wants us to have the place then Thy will be done.

As it turned out, God has other plan for us. Whatever that is, i have no idea. I just felt weak and drained..

So i thanked Ms. Dolor, gave her my card (just in case things will change!) and left the booth. In fairness to Ms. Dolor, she promised she will personally discuss the matter with the owners and give me a call whenever there's a positive news for me. But that didn't make any difference.

I was on the verge of tears. I was extremely disappointed, annoyed and stressed out. I dialed boying's number and explained what happened. He became upset too for he learned to like the place based on the photos i sent him. But loving as he is, he suggested to take the offer if i really, really like the venue. I told him, ndi bale na lang, mahirap din ang magulong kausap. If as early as now we're having difficulties dealing with them, what more on the actual affair? Hay ulit.. Buti na lang mabait ang groom ko. I was somehow pacified. I was debating with momi whether to book the venue anyway since ok naman with boying. Momi said no na rin. Baka nga daw it's not meant for us. Hay.. We walked around broken-hearted :((

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I was calming myself by re-visiting several booths. Momi didn't complain seeing how sad i was. We passed by Jason Magbanua's booth and inquired. Jason, himself was there talking with some clients. The girl who assisted me showed their special rate for the duration of the fair. P85K for that great video including AVP! Hmmm.. In normal occasion, i would have impulsively jump in. It would have been therapeutic to spend on something after having such a bad day. But no. This time it's different. I have to control my shopaholic tendencies and try to conscientiously budget our budget. I owe it to my bebe =) I didn't bother to talk to Jason as i see he is somehow conotic (sori, prejudiced eh). Nahihiya lang ako.

So we moved to another booth, and to another, till we passed by Bob's booth again. The girl who previously assisted us beamed when she saw us. I motioned, is this Bob? Referring to the guy who was entertaining some guests. She nodded yes and i introduced myself. "Ah ikaw po pala si Jap." I told him how Selle & Dyoks' AVP moved me to tears. "Ah you know them pala.. They're here o".. It was such a delight to finally meet this couple! You see, i've been exchanging emails with them for several wks now as i find their opinions and ideas helpful for our own prep. They had their own wedding in Tagaytay also January this year and they generously share their experiences with some suppliers. They are the ones who introduced us to Kaye. And of course to Bob. You know when you meet someone and you feel that you'll hit it off well. That's how i describe meeting them. They are genuinely nice. My mom thought they're my friends from school kase daw super chika kami. =)

Going back to Bob, i interviewed him a bit. Asked for his style, delivery period, payment terms, etc. (including nego on his best package of course!) He seemed very humble and courteous. I excused myself and called back Loel. I have the feeling that we found what we're looking for in Bob. After weighting things, i went back to the booth and asked for the contract. Everything written is okay with me. And so i filled up the form, discussed our music preference (we're into altern rock) and paid the fee!

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That evening, as Loel and I were talking, we thought of how the day unfolded. We realized that we can't have everything we wanted no matter how carefully we planned them to be. There may be some disappointments, but God has His way of turning gloomy days into brighter ones. Like finding better suppliers, meeting new friends, bonding with my mom.

And that is what i call Serendipity. =)