5 Secrets for a Super Fun, Happy Wedding

When Dodong and I decided to get married, there was one thing I wanted: A super fun and happy wedding. I was sure I did not want any cheese and mush (or maybe just at the minimum level) and, most especially, tears on our wedding day. Our wedding was a CELEBRATION! Because after long years, we decided to tie the knot. Now I am so glad to share with you our secrets on how to have a super fun, happy wedding…

#1: Make it colorful!

I do love all things bright and colorful. My color palette preferences are on the warm side, so it is summer colors all the way. I chose a set of very fresh and happy colors. Some people say it was quite a lot of colors, but for me, I didn’t mind at all. I knew that these were the colors I wanted our wedding to have.

Check out some of the colorful details of our wedding…

#2: Comfort always before style (at least for us)

I know weddings are once-in-a-lifetime chances to dress up, be pretty as a princess. But for me, my comfort will determine my sanity. I wanted to be sane on our wedding day, so I choose to be comfortable versus pretty. Dodong agrees on the stand on comfort before style. But utmost comfort did not mean that we totally skimped on style.

I made sure my wedding gown could help me breathe, move around and EAT! I worked with good friend Michi Calica for my gown. She gave me the perfect gown: a bright white, cotton eyelet gown. Totally fresh looking and comfy!

Dodong, on the other hand, got himself custom made Nike ID sneakers, which had the colors of the wedding AND some cheesy details. He had his name engraved AND the our wedding day. So cute right? He even ordered these from the US! Unfortunately, customization is not yet available in the Philippines. Sorry guys…

Dodong and I were able to move around and entertain our guests without getting irritated. In fact, quite a number of family and friends really found the styling very cute!

#3: Invite only super close family and friends

This was difficult. If we did not have a working budget, we would have invited as much as 300-400 people. But since we did have a ceiling budget as well as intimate space in the reception venue, we limited the guest list to super close family and friends. So Dodong and I decided to keep it at 80 pax maximum.

Initially, we wanted to have only immediate family then close friends. Immediate family defined as parents plus siblings. I wanted to limit it just because I do come from a VERY big family with at least 50 pax from my side alone. But then upon request of the parentals, we expanded the guest list to include extended family. Since the venue was again limited, we chose to include Uncles, Aunts and a sprinkle of close cousins. The guest list then increased from 80 pax to 100 pax, which is still quite an intimate number at least for Philippine standards.

Having super close families and friends meant understanding all the insider puns and jokes. Looking at the photos, everyone had a pretty good time laughing!

#4: Ditch some traditionals and make it your own!

We’ve been to so many weddings and the traditionals do get kinda old and boring. Duh. They are traditions, but we decided to give our wedding a more personal and fun touch. Instead of the usual singles games, like bouquet throwing or musical chairs games, we made a children’s party inspired game. Since most of our guests were newly weds as well, we threw in a couples game too. Couples should have fun at weddings too right?

Check out the photos and guess what were the mechanics of our games

#5: Last but certainly not the least, Work within a budget

Save yourself the headache after the wedding and pay all bills on the wedding day! I was the budget keeper and made sure we did meet our target budget. Admittedly, we went a bit over because of unexpected expenses; but it was fine because we went over by just around PHP 10,000. Not bad at all right?

Looking back last June 16, our little celebration did fulfill my vision of a truly super fun, happy wedding. We were smiling and laughing (like ROTFL!) 98% of the entire wedding from the church ceremony to the reception! I wish all couples would enjoy their big day as much as we did

P.S. Thanks to Toto Villaruel, Shayla Sanchez and Nicolai Melicor of Imagine Nation Photography for our wonderful photos

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay