Thursday, January 28, 2010

We're in love all over again!

It was a Monday, the day right after Jeff arrived in Cebu, we had our pre-nuptial photo shoot. Basically it was part of the wedding package that we had with our official photographer. The location was at one of the luxurious beach resorts in Cebu, Shangri-la Mactan Resort & Spa. I remember it so well. Rolando Pascua, the photographer, wanted to get a sunrise shoot so we had to wake up darn early. Jeff still had some jetlag while I, on the other hand, was feeling so jittery and anxious with how the pictorial would come out. It was a hot and muggy day and for the pictorial to look good, we had to change into different outfits several times. While a beach setting was already perfect for the shoot, we wanted to have a different location for the afternoon shoot as well. After we ate lunch, the photographer then led us to the remote and picturesque Busay Hills. It was indeed a very romantic ambience. I love the provincial feel of the place. However, the experience was not as comfortable as the morning shoot. If you've lived in the Philippines or even visited the country, you know how it would have been like to be out in the open under the scorching afternoon heat of the sun. To make matters worse, we didn't have a decent place to change outfits so we had to do it inside our van which is totally uncomfortable. It really was a good idea to hire a personal make-up artist that did the retouch in between shots. Do I sound like a celebrity now? Well, if you'd be photographed for 9 long hours, you'd feel like a celebrity, lol. One thing I've learned from that day, it's super duper hard to be a model, so I'd rather just be a simple Jenn, hahaha! Don't get me wrong, we had so much fun during the shoot. It's a once in a lifetime experience and we savored it until the last minute. Anyway, we're ecstatic that the shots came out great! My friends loved it and it makes me smile every time they'll say they want to get married again after seeing my photos, hehehe! Below are some of my favorite shots. If you want to view more, visit my Pre-nuptial Pictorial album on Facebook...

*Click photos to enlarge*














Saturday, January 23, 2010

Wedding Highlights Video

You've seen the photos...

Now, let me present to you the video highlights of our wedding done by Franz Arrogante and his team. This covers the preparation down to the church ceremony. I personally picked the music background, "When God Made You" by Natalie Grant. It's one of my favorite Christian wedding songs and I've always wanted to use this for my wedding video. Below is the lyrics of the song and the video of course. Enjoy everyone!
It's always been a mystery to me
How two hearts can come together
And love can last forever
But now that I have found you, I believe
That a miracle has come
When God sends the perfect one

Now gone are all my questions about why
And I've never been so sure of anything in my life

I wonder what God was thinking
When He created you
I wonder if He knew everything I would need
Because He made all my dreams come true
When God made you
He must have been thinking about me


Friday, January 22, 2010

Bye Philippines...Hello U.S.

Our long vacation is over. We're finally back in the U.S. For some reason, there's something depressing about coming from a tropical country to a cold winter place. I'm surprised that even Jeff thinks that way. He misses the warm people, tropical climate, and being in an island where you can see the ocean even just on our daily commute to the mall. On his 1 month stay in the PI, we've been to Shangri-la and Plantation Bay resorts and to my dad's small province of Samboan where we stayed at a beachfront place. I couldn't blame him if he misses the breathtaking views and the relaxing sounds of the waves. On my part, I miss my family, the public transportation, mall shopping and other fun stuff we have done back home. But that's life. We're back to reality. Jeff is going back to work on Monday and I am going back to being a simple housewife in this very quiet small town. On a brighter side, I'll be able to get back full time with my blogging and Facebooking activities, hehe. However, I have to get my much-needed rest first. The flight going back was long and exhausting. It was hard to get a decent sleep while on flight. As tired and sleep-deprived as we are, I don't think sleeping pills are necessary. I bet we would pass out even on the couch for the next 24 hours or so, lol. As a matter of fact, as of this writing, Jeff is taking a beauty rest. I'll have mine after this update.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

A sneak peek of our Philippine wedding

It's been almost a month since I last updated my blog. I've missed blogging but my wedding and of course my hubby are my first priorities while I'm on vacation so pardon me for not actively blogging lately. The good thing is "I'm back"... with a vengeance!!! The first 2 weeks of Jeff's arrival was tough. He was sick probably because of the extreme climate change. I was so proud of him though for trying to enjoy Christmas and New Year despite an imperfect health. He was back to his lively condition on his 3rd week here up until our Big Day. I'm sure most of you know about the wedding. We've been preparing so much for this. It has always been my lifelong dream to be a fabulous bride and my groom made my ultimate dream wedding come true. It went perfectly well. I was ecstatic with the outpouring support from family, friends and relatives especially those that took time off from their busy schedule to be a part of the memorable event of our lives. We "tied the knot" and renewed our commitment for the 2nd time before a priest on January 9th, 2010. I was the happiest girl on the planet and he was the most handsome groom on that day. I am so proud of our wedding so I would like to share it with you. We have partial official photos but I can't post all of them yet, so let me just leave you with a few sneak peek shots of our wedding day. A big thank you to our official photographer Rolando Pascua and his team. My wedding was even more special because of the great pictures that he took. Kudos to you guys!

*Click images to enlarge*