Our Intimate, Minimalist and Contemporary Destination Wedding in Hong Kong

It's been almost two months since Vlad and I exchanged our vows in front of a civil celebrant and our family. I've been receiving comments from friends saying that our wedding is so beautiful, that it was simple yet very elegant. People keep on thinking how we managed to pull it off so gracefully with both of us not looking so stressed while staying (separately) at the convenience of our very own home. Honestly, destination weddings aren't that simple to pull off but with proper budget and planning, nothing will ever go wrong. Of course you must take into account the size of the people whom you want to be part of your special day. Some say the smaller the number, the easier it will be -- which is totally wrong! I would always want to think that the smaller the number of invitees, the harder it is to manage. But if you think about it, it is wayyyy better to be surrounded by people whom you love (and who loves you back) than with gazillion of people you don't even know/like. Just keep reading and I'll tell you what I actually mean by this. And so, for those brides-to-be out there, allow me to share with you our wedding preparation where you could prolly get some tips on how to nail down a destination wedding.

So right from the planning stage, both my husband and I wanted our wedding to be as simple as possible. We wanted it exclusive, minimalist and modern. Truth be told that both of us aren't really fans of big weddings or let me just be a little bit blunt and this is what I meant about the importance of the number of invitees that I mentioned earlier -- we neither want any drama nor a circus-type of wedding. By no means I'm targeting anyone here, all I'm saying is that this is OUR personal choice. Everyone is entitled to have their own interpretation of a "dream wedding", it's just that for us, this is what we want and we were so happy of the outcome!

My husband and I have been planning our lives together for quite some time and frankly speaking, I never thought these plans would turn into a reality so fast until the day he knelt down on his knees and lured me with this sparkly elegant brilliant-cut diamond ring. Haha! No, kidding aside, my husband is a very responsible, organized, loving, and caring man. We discussed everything we would do and wanted to do for our wedding. Please do not think that we chose to have a destination wedding to avoid inviting people. First and foremost, we do not intend to (and don't need to) invite anyone aside from our immediate family. Second, it's the middle ground for both our families. Third, this is the fastest and easiest place to ever get legally married (as far as I know) as there ain't bureaucratic BSness in terms of any paperwork! Lastly, it is one of my favorite place in the world and I would love our family and Vlad to experience it.

So yeah, after the 2015 New Year, I head off to Hong Kong to file for a notice to get married (I should probably create a blog about this experience and its logistics) and scout for wedding vendors. I mentioned earlier that destination weddings aren't that simple to pull off, but I guess I would now beg to differ. It was actually fun and acceptably easy -- well, at least based on our experience. I think the only problem I encountered, which is pretty minor, is how the heck will I travel my wedding gown from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong, but everything else came, if not perfect, at least right into place.

It's kind of amazing how fast we actually evolved in terms of trading. Everything we did, apart from me going personally there to meet with the civil celebrant lawyer and submit a notice of marriage, was through email interaction. We owe everything to the world wide web! It sounds a little scary especially for those OC people like me but hey, we really cannot control everything and as far as I could remember, I kind of accepted the fact that it's totally okay if not all your wedding plans would work out. You won't die and it's not the end of the world! One good example is that we haven't really ever thought about the weather when we booked an al fresco ceremony venue. When I saw this "garden-like" venue in Wan Chai, I immediately fell in love with it and without any hesitation, I booked it and told myself, "This place is perfect, Vlad will surely love it too and we should get married here, NOW!" Kidding! So fast forward, a month before our wedding where all decoration plans have been discussed and settled, we found out from numerous forecasts that it will be raining on our special day. I was horrified at first but then again, we were lucky enough booking this Mira Moon Hotel who is up and ready for Plan B. The hotel manager informed us that the opposite side of this al fresco venue has a similar garden-type touch and it is fully-covered. Whew, what a relief! But then, how truly blessed are we? Well, this relocation Plan B didn't happen as the bright blue sky greeted us when we woke up on the day of our wedding and granted us the most beautiful weather Hong Kong has ever had during the past few weeks at that time - so far as locals say.

Now in terms of colors, our color theme came out of nowhere. In my mind, I will wear the simplest (and cheapest) ivory-colored flowy laced gown that is available out there. The real challenge for me here is our family -- what am I going to request for them to wear? I want us all to look stunning in pictures! So I've been searching around and I came to see some posts over Pinterest about Pantone which is really good at matching colors! After seeing the 2016 Pantone Color of the Year, I assigned particular colors for everyone. I wanted for my two flower girls to have a matching lace dress so I took the initiative of having theirs tailored. I personally picked and bought the fabrics which (mind you) isn't gonna be cheaper comparing to just buying a ready-made, but you would get a chance of choosing the design you want and kind of rectify it to have your own personal touch. For the ladies, apart from assigning the colors, I requested for their dresses to be in any kind of design that they feel comfortable with but should not be longer than below their knees and that it should have some touches of lace. For men, well this one's no-brainer! Trousers and white long-sleeve shirt with bow tie looks very clean and modern which would definitely go well with a garden-type wedding. Of course I wanted Vlad to stand-out too so I requested for him to wear a rose quartz bow tie with suspenders and khaki trousers while the two gents will wear serenity bow ties and dark grey trousers.

Now in terms of wedding vendors, as I mentioned earlier, all transactions are through email exchanges and wire transfers, right from our very talented photographer to the perfect Hong Kong reception any couples would ever dream of!

Fact: almost everything in Hong Kong is quite pricey but definitely worth it (so be a bit lenient and don't fret).

Photography

After reading a lot of blogs from other brides, if not the food for the reception, couples should really spend their money for photography during their wedding. Well, think about the famous line, "A picture is worth a thousand words". True that, so Vlad and I agreed to have a professional photographer who will shoot candid moments during our wedding. Just so you know, my husband and I are sorta private human beings and we don't like the usual "behind the scenes" or those "everything is needed to be captured" kind of photos. We just asked for a simple, on the spot, and natural ones. And so we found this photographer through web searches and we instantly love all of his work from his website, plus his rate card is just the regular rate for most Hong Kong photographers. We only met him a day before our wedding day and he understood and delivered exactly what we wanted. Our photos came out absolutely amazing and very natural! He captured most of the moments that we will forever treasure. Wanna take a peek?

Venues

Enable to get legally married in Hong Kong through a civil celebrant, Hong Kong government is requiring at least one of the marrying parties to go physically there and file a notice of marriage. This notice takes a maximum of two months to be approved. Once approved, law firm will notify the couple which includes a draft of the marriage certificate with the name of the civil celebrant who will conduct the marriage ceremony. Civil celebrants are lawyers who are authorized to provide religious or non-religious marriages. In our case, we Vlad did an extensive research about the civil marriage process in Hong Kong and found out that hiring the services of a law firm who will process most of the paperwork is much easier. After one of the marrying parties sign the petition and pay the necessary fees, the law firm will now do all the leg work. In addition, law firms across Hong Kong are also equipped with ceremony-themed venues to choose from where couples would exchange their vows once petition has been finalized, scheduled, and approved. So before reaching Hong Kong, my mind is already set with this one particular law firm in Wan Chai and then I would just go around to find a nice restaurant nearby that offers private dining for our reception. When I got back to the hotel I'm staying, the hotel manager told me that we could actually pick other venues (with extra fee) outside those law firm's 4-walled rooms! Great! This trip was an advantage after all. Now I can freely select our venue! Since I happen to befriend this hotel manager, he approached me over dinner to talk about some of their available venues for our wedding ceremony and reception. You see, Hong Kong is well-known for its scenic Victoria Harbour, my husband and I have been talking about to at least book a reception with a view of the harbour. The moment the hotel manager showed me their Oasis Garden and Club House from The Gloucester, I was totally bought! These venues are just right and perfect for us. I couldn't contain myself and immediately said yes to both venues! Oasis Garden looks spacious and homey while Club House's panoramic view of the harbour from the 45th floor is breathtaking! Not to mention that both these venues are just a minute away by foot from the hotel we plan to stay.

Oasis Garden 1

Oasis Garden 1

Club House

Catering
What is a hotel without any catering services, right? Since we booked our venues from Mira Moon Hotel, it would be much easier for us to also book their catering services. The hotel manager showed us different set menus (including children menus) and their specialty is Spanish cuisine. So we picked a 4-course meal with a 3-hour open bar service.

Dinner Menu

Kid's Menu

Hair and Makeup
I mean I have to admit, I'm not against makeup but I don't like wearing them. For me, it's time consuming and needs a lot of hard work although special occasions like this, I guess I have to suck it all up. Haha.. sounds like a torture! But honestly, I'm very thankful I did hire a professional makeup artist and hair stylist -- it saved all the "girly" hassle. I love how I turned out to be, natural and blooming! Nakkssss. I found out about this Hong Kong-based MUA that has a lot of good reviews from, where else, the internet! Sassy Hong Kong is a good start to search for anything related to weddings, and that's where I read about good MUA in Hong Kong and picked Kalamakeup. At first, I was skeptical to hire their service because the main MUA herself wasn't available on the day of my wedding. Though she highly recommended her next-in-line MUA and oh boy, she's a real artist! I only had a chance to personally meet her 2 days before my big day to have a makeup and hair trial which is basically included in the price you're gonna pay.

Makeup and hair style trial

Flowers and Decor
From all the vendors we hired, I believe it's all about the flowers and decoration that we had numerous interactions with, and they have been very very patient. Remember my Pantone color theme? Well, this is where I want to see most of those colors. I only want to see rose quartz, serenity, white and black colors. I even made a doodle art on how I envision the wedding ceremony venue should look like. The Oasis Garden is already beautiful as it is - open area, greens around, stoned tables, water stone landscape, etc. It just needs a little touch of colors and flower designs.

Flower pillars

Flower petals

Table flower

Lace design

Clips for polaroids

Sample polaroid

Bridal bouquet

Boutonniere and corsage design

Guest chair

Doodled venue design

Cake
It has been a tradition for most weddings to have a wedding cake. They say a wedding cake with good quality ingredients symbolizes a long-lasting, rich, and happy marriage. Okay, I don't believe in that but of course, as a bride-to-be, I wanted to have a cake on my wedding and I seriously looked for a good baker to provide us a simple and yummy one-tier cake with few cupcakes. Although there has been a bit of a problem with our cake, but what the heck?! It's still a cake -- a soft and moist beautifully-made chocolate cake and everyone (especially the kids) enjoyed it.

Cake design goal

Our actual cake :)

So that's basically it -- our own dream wedding! And we lived happily ever after. The end. :) Ta-ta!

Colors: Pantone Color of the Year 2016 - Rose Quartz and Serenity / Photographer: Kenneth Lim Photography / Venue: The Gloucester, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong / Bride’s Dress: BHLDN and Leda Ladies Gown / Bride’s Shoes: Vivienne Westwood + Melissa / Groom’s Attire and Shoes: JC Penney / Hair and Makeup: Percy of Kalamakeup / Flowers and Decor: INES Weddings / Catering: Mira Moon's Supergiant Tapas and Cocktail Bar / Cake: Since Rm 1409

Xioms' First in Sandpit!

It was almost five years ago when I came to Abu Dhabi, UAE (aka sandpit) to search for better opportunities. I cannot say it was a hard battle, actually, I was lucky enough to find a decent, good-paying job at a university. The only thing that's keeping me to be completely happy is living far away from my kiddo. Given the fact that communication nowadays are quite easy, it's still hard to be away with your most precious possession in life. But I sucked it all up as they say, "for the benefit of your child's future".

Indeed it was a good benefit as I was able to provide Xioms whatever she needs in life, even extra ones that usual kids can't have, and have Xioms enrolled in a good school. I always thought of bringing her here to see how I have been living my life and for her to realize (in some sort of a way) that life ain't like a piece of cake. I'm not one of those OFWs who have miserable lives and are being brutally managed by their employers, but I want to show and teach my kiddo, as early as now, how I am excelling at work and how patient and honest I am to earn money to get all the things she needs so she'll be proud of me and appreciate all tangible and intangible things even more.

Anyway, at first I have never imagined I would be able to bring Xioms in sandpit even for just a vacation. I have the means, don't get me wrong, but I always think that it's better to save it for future emergency needs. But there was this one person who made me realize that money is not everything. The longer I have been living outside Philippines is the amount of time I already missed seeing and knowing my child. Although I always come home at least once or twice a year, it's still different! And the fact that I have the power and means of having her here, even for a short period of time, I shouldn't have any excuses at all! Money comes and goes which isn't really that important, the one that has great significant value of all is the quality time you could spend with your loved ones.

And so hurriedly I processed all Xioms' (and Mom's) documents and have them flew over and they stayed here for a month :) Documented pics are all here and the below is my most favorite one.

Stoked at Dubai Mall's Aquarium

Toodles!

Hundred Islands, Pangasinan

On our way back to Manila from our recent Palawan trip and before the new year starts, we were off again for another adventure and this time to the northern part of Philippines -- the famous Hundred Islands, Pangasinan!

It was actually Mom who organized everything and this time, the whole family is included. Mom rented a house that could fit us all. She also managed to organize a full-day boat ride to go island hopping.

We decided to go on a road trip to Pangasinan and left very early morning to avoid traffic. Usually, it is a 4-hour or so drive from Manila straight to Pangasinan (without traffic of course) but we made a detour to Mom's land somewhere in Nueva Ecija first which adds up a couple more hours to drive from there to Pangasinan.

Bahay kubo

Vlad and Xioms trying to make friends with Mr. Cow

I don't know about you but province life seems to be boring yet relaxing and calming. The quietness is just so full of happiness within. Birds singing under the magnificent bright sun, wind blowing that helps trees dance, cows lazily munching some greens and so on -- all reminds us how simple life could be and they are all actually free! Carpe diem! Anyway, getting out of my zen now, we eventually went back to the road for Pangasinan.

We reached during nighttime, well, because we got a bit lost haha. Important thing is that we reached our final destination so we just relaxed, gulped some cold beers and snoozed for tomorrow's adventure.

Morning came and we are now off for island hopping! Yey! Few pics below.

Such an amazing view

with  my baby Xioms

shades of blue and green

I must agree that the view from the top is absolutely amazing but mind you, these islands are not the same as Boracay or El Nido that are actually accessible and easy for people to swim. There are some spots but it's either full-packed or quite dirty. I couldn't actually say that it was a spectacular experience and that we really really did enjoy the island hopping though the place is worth seeing. And oh, you cannot go see and hop on all those islands - they say it is "prohibited" to go to most of them. I wonder why? Anyhoo, that's it. Till my next adventure. Toodles!

Puerto Princesa and El Nido

T'was the time of the year to again explore some beautiful islands of the Philippines. I usually head back to Philippines anytime of the year but these past two years, I've been lucky enough to spend Christmas holidays with my family and Vlad.

This year, we wanted to go back to the amazing Coron but instead chose Puerto Princesa and El Nido for a change which is btw, also in Palawan island. Of course, all air and land arrangements were settled upon our arrival and we basically spent 3 days in Puerto Princesa and 2 days in El Nido.

Touchdown PPS!

The moment we landed Puerto Princesa, we just dropped our luggage, ate lunch and then went out for a city tour. Quite honestly, there really isn't that much to see in the city. Puerto Princesa seems to look just like Manila, quieter but in a more industrial way. From what I recall, we've been sent to some uninteresting places where we felt obligated to either pay fees, donate some cash, or buy stuff we don't really like or need. Despite this experience, we tried to make the most out of this city trip. We just hoped that the underground river trip the next day will change our views over Puerto Princesa.

Happy terno!

Xioms somewhere in the PPS city proper

Croco Xioms!

We were told that subterranean river in Puerto Princesa is amazing and spectacular. It was even labeled to be one of the seven wonders of nature, sooo exciting! With much anticipation, we woke up early and was picked up by a mini van to go to the range station. When we arrived, we were supposed to ride a motorized boat to Sabang, an entry point to the underground river, but was told that waves aren't friendly at the moment. As we are about to raise our eyebrows, our tour guide came back and told us that there is another route but by foot and it's a 5-km long jungle trail -- this brightened up our mood and we thought that this is even better! Apparently, we need to leave Xioms behind and she's cool with it. Besides, she's been there just a few months ago. And oh, we were told that during trekking time, whenever we see monkeys, we can smile but we have to avoid showing our teeth. Why? Well apparently, these wild monkeys seem to find humans smiling widely as a threat. Plus, we shouldn't be bringing any plastic bags and we need to leave any shining stuff we have, unless we would want to be robbed by these freaking monkeys! Hahaha... and so the trekking begins!

At range station

Road to the jungle

Road to the jungle

Vlad at some cave during the trek

The jungle is quite impressive! The sound of our feet walking past the slippery trail, winds blowing, and some unusual birds and other animals are kind of refreshing to ears. When we reached the end of the trek, we were welcomed by those huge lizards who act so cool as if they own the place and of course, loads of nasty yet funny looking monkeys. Then off we go in a canoe trip to the underground river. The canoe trip lasted for an hour of chills and darkness. So what can I say? Hmmm... I wasn't impressed. Sure, it's one of the places you would tick off of your bucket list but I don't have plans on returning. To be blunt, I DID NOT enjoy the underground canoe trip. What I surely enjoyed (and I can speak for Vlad as well) is the hiking and trekking to and from this underground river. That, I would definitely do over and over again.

All sweaty but super happy!

Hello there!

Why so serious?

Beautiful rock formation, isn't it?

The small boat that takes visitors to the underground river

Yep, after the entry point, my phone is totally useless

So we went back to the hotel (kinda disappointed) and just positively pondered on the next day's Honda Bay tour. In our minds, this should never go wrong as this is an island to island tour. Palawan is known to have breathtaking islands and pristine beaches. The next day came and oh my, we were never wrong! We spent the whole day swimming and snorkeling around Luli island, Starfish island, and Cowrie island. The only downside is that it is very crowded but hey, it's super peak season so what else to expect but we definitely enjoyed it!

The jam-packed Cowrie

Docking out Luli Island

The night on the same day of our Honda Bay tour was a bit tiring because we went for a 6-hour land travel to El Nido. Funny fact: we spent our Christmas eve inside a van either sleeping or munching chips for noche buena. So lame! Haha!

We reached El Nido past two in the morning yet the streets are still fully awake with drunken tourists walking and hanging out in some nearby small bars. We decided to put Xioms to sleep while the two of us went for a night cap in front of the beach. Yes, our resort is right in front of the beach and the best part aside from the cool sea breeze and the splashing sound of the wave crashing onto the shore is that... there are hammocks :) Vlad and I literally just sat there, gulped our beers, and grinned at each other. Such an amazing feeling. The next day...

Early morning relaxation while my man and kiddo are still on bed and zzzzzz...

...is another island hopping day and this time, at El Nido!

Yep, that's our boat ride

We've seen different types of lagoons and beaches. We went to both small and big lagoons, Shimizu island, and Seven Commandos beach. Similar to Coron, we were again awestruck with those stunning limestone cliffs and turquoise-green waters. Ahhhh... must have been nice to wake up every morning seeing that beauty.

Rock formation

Small lagoon

Big lagoon

Seven Commandos

So there you go, our almost a week adventure in Palawan. Call me biased but Philippine islands are definitely impressive and beautiful! Okay, enough of the bragging, till next time, ciao!

Breathtaking Banaue Rice Terraces

T'was part of the plan during my last trip to Philippines to see and visit the famous Hagdan-hagdang palayan or what everyone knows as one of the 8th wonders of the world, the Banaue Rice Terraces. I arranged the whole trip with the travel agency called shore2shore since time is precious and for us to avoid any sort of hassle.

Banaue is located in the northern part of Luzon within the province of Ifugao. Going there was never easy because your only option is to ride a bus for like 10 hours or so. The best time to travel is by night (last trip I think is at 10PM) so you'll reach there very early in the morning to enjoy the scenery and explore for more sightseeing. Honestly, I am not a fan of long trips especially if you are not in control. Both bus going to and from Banaue doesn't have proper AC controls - it was freezing cold during the whole trip! Passengers literally have their own scotch tape to cover the blowing AC on top of their heads! Also, drivers are quite reckless. For goodness sake, it's a bus loaded with passengers, going through a two-way very dark road and they drive like we're going to hell! So my advice: sleep during the whole 10 hours! It will save you a heart attack plus you'll be refreshed and energetic by the time you reach Banaue.

But you know, you will easily forget about this horrendous bus trip when you get to Banaue. We reached around 7AM in the morning and head off to a small office for tourism registration, then to a nearby coffee shop. This shop is in a great location! While sipping our freshly brewed coffee, we had a stunning view of the town proper. It was lusciously green everywhere and houses were built like they are pasted on those green mountains - it looks awesome!

My baby enjoying the sun, weather, and scenery

Right after this short coffee break, we finally meet with our tour guide to start on the whole day Hapao rice terraces sightseeing tour. The tour includes going to ethnic villages, Pine Forest Resort, and short Hapao trek. The best part is mingling with the native Ifugaos (indigenous people of Banaue). They look so cool though it seems a little staged and some sort of a "business" for them seeing the tourists. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind handing over a little cash but what I don't like is that they're like forced to wear those traditional clothing to entertain and get some money from people. Anyway....

One of the amazing views in Hapao. Perfect for ADU photo-op!

With the lovely Ifugaos

The two famous Banaue rice terraces are called Bangaan and Batad. It is said that these terraces were built around 2,000 years ago by Ifugaos (indigenous people of the region) largely by hand. These rice terraces are set in the mountains, approximately 5,000 feet above sea level.

The second day of our Banaue trip was the exciting yet challenging whole day Batad tour. We were picked up by a jeepney from the hotel to go to the saddle (for like an hour drive) where we started to trek Batad terraces. The view from the top is absolutely serene and amazing. And oh, Tappiya Waterfalls is also on the way :), which is quite rewarding after 2 or 3-hour trek (each way, and depending on your pace)!

Golden green terraces during January

Muddy pool of barren

Breathing in as much clean air as I can

The most difficult and dangerous part of the trek is going down these terraces. Aside from it being steep, it is sooo slippery! I feel envious with Ifugaos going up and down at those very narrow trail, it looks effortless!

So there you go. I'm still alive and writing this blog so yeah, we made it! I would definitely do it again and again and again. Ta-ta!

Where did my money go? A total of Php 16,400 for two which includes return Ohiyami bus trip, environmental fees, tour guide, 2-night hotel accommodation with breakfasts, and snacks during the tour