First Post as Mrs. Panda

Welcome to the Blog of Mrs. Panda! :)

After 3 weeks of getting married, moving to the condo and spending the first holiday with Mr. Panda J I can finally write my wedding supplier review!

1. Bridal Gown – Carmen Lazaro Couture by Von Lazaro http://vonlazaro.blogspot.com/

*** I did my research on couturiers that are easy to talk to and reasonably price J I came across the blog of Leah, a fellow w@wie,  here's the link of her review :) 

http://leahdeleon.com/2011/06/01/suppliers-rating-carmen-lazaro-couture/

I sms’d Von and he was very prompt in replying to my messages (plus points for him!) he gave me his home office address in Vito Cruz and after two weeks, I visited his place and 30mins after I signed a contract with him and paid my down payment. I already have the peg for the gown I wanted and Von made a few tweaks at the design to match my chubby figure haha.

 

Pros:

-          Von is very accommodating to his clients and he listens to them, a big plus for a OC Bride like me who is also very visual. Von easily adapts to his client’s needs and wants. But he is honest enough if your wants and needs are feasible and pleasing to the eye. His corset is perfect, fills in the right spaces and trim down the right areas haha. His gown is so light, I can run in them. despite the fact its a semi ball gown :)

-          His price range is L.O.V.E J

-          His staff are really nice and supportive with my diet haha

-          During the wedding preps at the Hotel, Von helped my mom with her gown even if we did not got the mother’s gown from him. He even stitched some part bec  it was bit long for my mom and when Von saw it he immediately assisted my mom. They even steamed my nephew’s clothes when they saw it wrinkled. Plus points for them for being so attentive and going extra mile for us. J

-          Von treated me like a good friend while waiting for the Priest to arrive (our wedding priest was late for more than 30mins) he kept on assisting me with my gown during the ceremony and reception too J

 

 

Cons:

-          I should have my last fitting 5 days before the big day, but when we got to his place, von was shocked to see us, due to his heavy and crazy load last Dec, he overlooked our schedule, I ended up getting my gown 2 days before my big day.  The mini delay caused me stress, but it was worth it when I saw the final output J

 

 

 

(von took whis shot with his iphone yata. still waiting for the other pics J )

 

If you want a reasonably price gown and the materials are still exquisite. Go for Von J

2. The Atrium and Courtyard @ Enderun College

*** I found this beautiful place at FN Girltalk, it’s a culinary school with events venue. We booked the place two years before our big day, without food tasting and super konti reviews. We gambled on this place and I can definitely say, we did the right thing on booking this place.

 

Pros:

-          Beautiful Façade

-          High ceiling, Glass window, French doors

-          Reminds me of Hogwarts haha

-          Delicious Food but not the usual buffet menu

-          Iyett is lovely and adorable to talk to.

-          Powder rooms are really pretty J

-          The place is rich for photo ops areas

-          Carpeted staircase perfect for photos too.

 

Cons:

-          you have to book first and pay the downpayment before you can do the foodtaste

 

-      they will olny provide you the food, dinnerware,table/chairs,venue. the rest you have to outsource (ie. tent, flowers,sound system)

-          foodtasting is a bit expensive

-          strict with corkages and we have to pay extra fee for buffet scoopers

-          waiters need to be extra attentive for requests, Mr.Panda’s mom requested thrice for a glass of water,

-          students are loitering at the main lobby, our bridal car was parked in front and they were sitting on the steps. Our guests have to squeeze themselves at the main door bec they were blocking the way. Our wedding coordinator tried to ask them to move a little, but the students snubbed them. I have to call and text Iyett while I was waiting @the bridal car ( but before I contacted Iyett, I asked the guards to do something about it…. But after 10 mins wala pa din….)

 

 

3. St. Alphonsus De Liguori Parish, Magallanes Makati

*** We used to hear mass at this church and buy bibingka at shell station. Child hood memories. J  I am in love with its structure and minimalist altar, the aisle is perfect for my bridal walk… not too long, not too short. J

 

Pros:

-          the look of the church is perfect for me J

-          love the parish office interiors

 

 

Cons:

-          poor communication with the parish admin

-          incompetent parish office staff

-          they changed the priests in charge to us, and the new priest was late for more than 30 minutes. The priest was really apologetic, but I really felt bad bec we saw our original priest arrived earlier… our wedding reception program was crammed bec of the delay. We caught the Friday rush hour traffic bec of these.

-          A bit expensive

4. Vienna Cakes

We cancelled our reservation with them. Enough said.

 

5. Ysa Cake Artist

*** I googled for a cake artist located at the south and I came across Ysa’s FB site http://www.facebook.com/ysa.cruz   I messaged her via facebook and for half the price of Vienna cakes I got my dream wedding cake.

 

Pros:

-          the price is incredibly low. My parents thought I was joking when I told them the rate Ysa gave me.

-          The cake is delicious. We still have some of it in our fridge, but malambot pa din siya when I ate some yesterday. J J

-          She provides free food tasting

-          Ang linis nya mag design, even better than most publicized cake artists ( with tons of wedding expo experiences, ang dami ko na nakita lol)

-          I emailed her a low resolution peg but the outcome is still perfect

-          Ysa is a joy to work with she’s very easy to talk to and very polite.

 

 

6. Rejectcrew

 

w@w awardee J one of my favorites

 

Pros:

-          Kuya Elmer is heaven sent to OC brides like me. He reassured me numerous times that he will be there on my wedding day and all my requests were accommodated by his team.

-          I love how the lights complimented our venue and our theme without any hint of an eyesore.

-          Kuya Elmer apologized to us re: our 1^st dance incident even if its not his fault J

-          He did not ask for a down payment and refused our token of gratitude.

 

 

 

Part 2 of Wedding Supplier Ratings will be posted tom :) Thanks for reading!