Church: Holy Eucharist Church
Reception: Raya Garden Clubhouse
I was nervous in planning Anika's baptism. I wanted so many things to make our first baby's official "party" the best one that I feared we might go bankrupt hehehe. It was a lot harder compared to planning our wedding. Weddings i know but Christening? Not.
However, Alvin only gave me a budget so i started working around it. At first, we were eyeing Magallanes Church for the baptism ceremonies. When I went there with Toots, we were informed to get a letter from our parish stating that they are allowing us to have the baptism in another church outside the parish. Sadly, Holy Eucharist Church did not allow us. So without choice, we booked Anika's baptism there. We just opted for a private baptism and got Father Ariel (Alvin's friend priest who married us) again to baptize anika. Easy lang the requirements: our marriage certificate, anika's birth certificate and the list of godparents (with a fee of 20pesos each). Church: CHECK
Next, I went to look for a caterer for the event. I was eyeing Conti's for their catering services (good food, i tell you) however, their fee was really as in super out of our budget (80k?! Di na lang diba?) I'll save it na lang for anika's first birthday hehe! So anyway, my brother in law's son was baptized a month before Anika. They were saying that their caterer was not that expensive. The food was not that superb pero pwede na for the price so we got Blue Petals Catering (http://www.bluepetalscatering.com/). They were easy to talk to except during the food tasting. Saan ka naman nakakita ng food tasting na 2 viands lang ang pinatikim sa 8 na viands that i chose?! The package that we got was Php 240 / person plus additional one full table set up, mineral water and ice.
The godparents' candles and wrapping of godparents' giveaways were d-i-y'ed by me (see related blog post)
Here are some pictures that my hubby took:
Anika's tarp was designed by my good friend Anika's Ninang Michelle Pineda-Pastoril and was c/o by Ninang Faye
These were what Anika wore. From left: her baptism white dress from St. Patrick's in SM (Php550), white shoes from SM (Php150), white bonnet from Baby by Rustan's (300+ pesos ata), brown dress gift from my friends in Amsterdam, Sonny & Leah and two piece jumper dress from Debenhams (Php1500)
Anika's ninang peachy helped me design the godparents' candle
Alvin, Anika and I, together with Father Ariel
The beautiful ninangs(from left to right: Bing Wijangco (with baby victoria), Michelle Arnaiz, Nessie Matias, Arch Peachy Ramos, Faye Prado, Atty Vivian Tan, Katie Taylo and Blanche Ramos)
Not in photo: Michelle Pineda-Pastoril, Rain Parumog, Mia San Luis, Barbie Abrogar, Hannah Vargas and Nicole Fonacier
The handsome ninongs (from left to right: Toots Rubio, Cholo Matias, Noel Rubio, Arman Taylo, Dino Taylo, Clint Erastain (Hannah's fiance), Paul Sombrero, Jason Gonzaga, TJ Taylo, Abbey Polintan, Alfred Retazo
Not in photo: Ernel Gonzaga and Archie Polintan
I had to post it because this is my first picture with all of our brothers. Good genes run both our families noh? =)
Cupcake tower, a gift from Ninang Hannah.
I found their site popping from my facebook newsfeed so i decided to looked it up. I got it from French Kiss Pastries. They were also easy to talk to and was very flexible with the design and colors that i wanted. You can check out their website at http://www.frenchkisspastries.com
The cupcakes cost from 50pesos to 60pesos a piece depending on the design, plus the delivery charge and plus the cupcake stand. I ordered 50 pieces of their cupcakes in three flavors: mocha, vanila and chocolate =)
This is a close up picture of the bear. Soooo cute noh? Bear has a burping pad pa! haha! i love it!
The tarp and cake with anika's gifts! Thank you very much!!
Wowa here with Anika resting. Thank you Ninang Michelle for your gift =)
Cutie Gabe (the pretty daughter of Josh, one of our childhood friends) holding the balloons which she took home. These balloons served as additional centerpiece decoration.
Finally at home with all of Anika's gifts. To all our family, loved ones and friends, THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!
PLANNING A CHRISTENING EVENT LEARNINGS BY ME:
1.) Do-It-Yourself some of the things you will be using for the event. For a lazy person like me, it was very fulfilling!
2.) Personalize.
3.) Do not rely on RSVP. Seriously. We paid for the 100person catered buffet. We invited 140 guests. 120 RSVP-ed. Still, only like 70-80 people came!! Sayang talaga all the left-over food. I asked pa my mom to bring additional bilaos of pancit and siomais. After the event, there were 4 bilaos left!! Imagine I was asking our guests to take home not only ulams but isang bilao talaga of pancit!! Hay! Now i know na talaga. I was over estimated anika's guests kasi because before i always under estimate my birthday guests and my Tita Judith gets mad at me because she cram-cooks (cramming the cooking hehe) the food kasi super daming tao pumupunta. Like i tell her, expect 30 guests then mga 70 ang pupunta. Ganun. So anyways, charge to learnings.
4.) Get quality catered food that your mom approves. Though the guests weren't complaining, my mom (who is so meticulous with party food) kept on commenting that we should have gotten a better caterer. Don't worry Wowa, eh di next time, sagot mo na yung caterer haha!
5.) DO NOT FORGET THE SOUND SYSTEM. Period.
6.) Plan how you will beautify yourself (read: go to the parlor) beforehand and not on the day. Ayan, nalimutan ko tuloy ang sound system dahil inuna ko magpa-blow dry!
7.) Hire a professional photographer. No offense to my hubby (who appointed himself to be the event photographer), but after the event and you see the pictures, you will realize that it is really sulit to hire a photographer. Since Alvin was participating in the baptism rites and had to entertain some of the guests, there were a lot of things and people that he forgot to take pictures of. Plus it's better for both of you to just relax and mingle with the people on these kinds of events.
8.) Search the internet for ideas. Canvas the prices. Ask for recommendations from your other mommy friends
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