our first wedding gift has arrived!

since i'm officially now a bum (i resigned from work, after 3 years and 3 months, just last monday, november 15 - more on that in a different entry), i just stay home and attend to last minute wedding prep details and also prepare for my migration to australia (read: clean room!).

anyway, i got a call from an aunt who lives pretty near us. she said she's sending her driver over to drop their wedding gift for us (thinking that she's speaking with my sister instead of me). i was so excited to receive our first wedding gift (well, we did receive our wedding rings as gift from my sister and there's the package from my friend in chicago...but this is wrapped in a wedding-themed gift wrapper with a card "mr. and mrs. eric dominguez")! of course i texted eric immediatly upon receiving the gift. i think he's excited as well...who wouldn't be excited receiving gifts anyway? i so wanted to open it but resisted the urge since i think eric and i should be opening our wedding gifts together. anyway, the gift came with another box (not wrapped, so i opened it). inside is a very nice aqua colored oriental fabric covered guestbook with our main invite pasted in the inner cover. i really hope we could use it for our wedding given that we already have our ceramic guestbook platter and guestsheets...

cabin# 9-108

finally! travel unlimited (the travel agency arranging our star cruises superstar virgo honeymoon) went to my office after lunch (yes, i was in the office yesterday even if i've already resigned to work on my clearance) yesterday to give our tickets and confirmation slip for our december 12 star cruises honeymoon! i was just so excited...you see in addition to the wedding, one thing that we're also preparing for is the honeymoon. :-D of course we want it to be extra special and we want it to be as soon as after the wedding! we were just so lucky that there is a sailing date of december 12 (our wedding is just the day before!).

anyway, we'll be flying to singapore via singapore airlines flight sq71 on december 12 at 8:15am (given our reception will end at around 11pm the day before and we have to be in the airport at 5:30am the next day, does that mean we won't sleep anymore???).

based on our confirmation slip from star cruise management limited our itinerary is singapore, penang, phuket, singapore, malacca, port klang and then back to singapore. we will check in at the singapore harbourfront centre on december 12 at 12 noon and the ship will leave the port at 4:00pm.

they have already assigned oceanview stateroom with balcony cabin#9-108 to dominguez frederick and marguerite alarcon autumn (argh! they got my name mixed-up!). there is a lay-out of the ship in one of the brochures the travel agency provided. i immediately checked where cabin#9-108 is located. it's at deck 9 about four cabins away from the elevator. deck 9 is also the only deck in the ship which doesn't have any restaurants, bars and other public guest services areas. that means peace and quiet for us!

we're on balcony class and received a reminder to look for the red carpet when we check-in in singapore. we'll definitely be cruising in style!

here's what their website has to say about balcony class:

Welcome to Your Private Piece of the Ocean

In the privacy of your very own balcony, you can dine, dance or day-dream as the sea shows you some of the most beautiful scenes on earth, sky and water. Welcome to the luxury of Balcony Class.

PRIORITY WELCOME Enjoy a refreshing complimentary welcome drink the moment you step onboard after your special priority check-in.

WINE & DINE A special dining credit is extended exclusively to all Balcony Class passengers. You can use it for food and beverages at any of our 16 bars and restaurants except for cabin service and the mini bar in suites. This is in addition to six sumptuous meals we'll serve you everyday.

REVIVE AT THE SPA AND GYM Balcony Class passengers have access to our fully-equipped fitness centre and spa. Enjoy our sauna rooms and Aquaswim facilities. Or relax with a Shiatsu, Swedish or Asian traditional massage*. Blissful therapy for body and soul.

FRONT ROW SEATS Preferred seating is prioritised for Balcony Class passengers. At dinner, dine close to or at the Captain's table. In the 930-seat Lido or Moulin Rouge showroom, you'll get some of the best seats. And at the Bella Vista and the Windows Restaurant, Balcony Class passengers get the best ocean view.

also, we were advised to dress elegant casual for the gala dinner night on tuesday (while sailing from phuket to singapore) which is a main event onboard. i feel like it's going to be just like in the movies...

we'll be back in singapore from the cruise on december 17 and we'll be staying at the meritus mandarin hotel in singapore for 3d/2n before we head back to manila on december 19 via singapore airlines flight sq76 on december 12 at 4:55pm.

is it too obvious that i can't wait for our honeymoon??? :-D

did i mention that yax ni jon (another w@wie who will be getting married on december 9) will be in the same cruise?

on wines and a very busy tuesday afternoon

with less than a month to go, i have already conditioned myself that i'd be very busy with last minute wedding preps.

so far these are what we've accomplished in the past couple of days:

after scouting where we can buy the cheapest asti martini (went to s&r, sm supermarket, rustan's supermarket and two liquor distibutors - mama said to look in hi-top supermarket as well but i wasn't able to check out the prices there anymore), we bought 5 cases of asti martini (read: 5x12=60 bottles of asti!) at s&r last sunday. eric and i decided to buy just 20 bottles of asti but my papa insisted that if we're going to serve wine, we have to serve unlimited wine and not just one round for toasting. looks like there's going to be drinking on our wedding...which remineds me to inform our guests to come prepared (bring a driver)!

last tuesday afternoon, i submitted our remaining requirements to mt. carmel (wedding banns from both our parishes, list of principl sponsors with complete address of two principal sponsors). one last requirement is our canonical interview which is scheduled on december 8. and i thought the church requirements would never end...

i then proceeded to fernwood to settle some stuff. i was surprised to see that there weren't any events that afternoon in all four venues. i've never been to fernwood so quiet, peaceful and calm(and believe me, i've been there quite a number of times) . i went to the office and talked to our ae, joy, to reserve half of fernwood's courtyard (thank god it was still available and i was able to negotiate some additional number of guests with it), pay the chapel's aircon and pay for the glass dance floor. i also requested for the chairs in the chapel to be silver come our wedding day (there were silver chairs in the chapel that day) since sometimes i see gold chairs instead. joy immediately made a call and confirmed that it's going to be silver chairs in the chapel on our wedding day. i wanted to go around the garden (as usual) and joy accompanied me to show the improvements that were made since the last time i visited. they are currently constructing an arch on the entrance of the driveway of the two gardens. the falls and pond in cycad garden seems to be bigger to me. joy pointed out there were four swans in the pond (and a lot of ducks). the walk from the cycad garden (main reception venue) to the courtyard (where we're going to have the buffet tables) is just so beautiful. you have to pass by the entire side of the pond with the view of the falls just to get to the courtyard. am sure our guest wouldn't mind the walk to the buffet area.

after that, i went to korben in roces ave. (papemelroti's main store) to claim the gifts we'll be giving to our parents and i placed an order for our gifts to our principal sponsors. i then went to national bookstore to have our gifts to our parents wrapped.

that night papa brought home the 3 cases of chamdor sparkling bubblers i ordered from louis maclean (which is conveniently in the same building of his office). that's additional 36 bottles from the 60 bottles of asti that we already have! we decided to have sparkling bubblers available so our guests would have the choice between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink. the distributor of chamdor also gave us two personalized flute glasses which they'll be sending to my papa's office within the week.

i felt pretty good that tuesday as i was able to accomplish a lot on my list.

one month to go and counting...

exactly one month to go and i'm going to be a mrs!!!

i haven't blogged for quite sometime now. here are my updates:

1. mini easels for guestsheets have already been prepared by my sister
2. my uncle confirmed my reservation at makati shangri-la where i would be coming from (quite a trip to fernwood, but nice photo ops for sure)
3. order chamdor sparkling bubblers from loius maclean

more updates to come...

dressing outfit and a surprise

got na my dressing outfit!!!

in case you're wondering what a dressing outfit is, it's what the bride wears when she's being made-up and poses with the wedding stuff (gown, bouquet, rings, arrhae, etc.). the things that you learn from w@wies...

normally, brides wear the hotel bathrobe as their dressing outfit. eversince i started the wedding preps, i've told myself that i wouldn't wear the hotel bathrobe since i don't want to look like i just stepped out of the shower in our pictures. come on, do you let other people see you in your bathrobe when you just stepped out of the shower at home?

i have to laugh upon reading a co-w@wie's blogsite regarding her thoughts on wearing a bathrobe as her dressing outfit. she was saying something like she'd look like someone who is ready to enter a boxing ring. :-D

i have to admit though, i was contemplating in wearing a bathrobe (but not the one provided in the hotel) since i would find myself looking for one in victoria's secret and crabtree and evelyn. i'd find really nice looking bathrobes but they're just so damn expensive!

anyway, found the perfect dressing outfit at the knot.


bride hoodie and bride sweatpants


bride hoodie

now, i'll be looking like i just came from the gym and not the shower...hehehehehehehehe :-)

oh, and i found a surprise waiting for me from rhelynn, my highschool friend in chicago, to whom my dressing outfit was sent (she had to send it to another friend who visited the us to save on shipping cost). it was a gift box from victoria's secret beautifully wrapped complete with a bride and groom bear gift toppers. i won't provide any details anymore on what's inside. ;-)

my partner in life

since eric is in sydney, we just content ourselves to chatting via ym (thank god for internet!)

can't help but post this "excerpt" from our chat...good think he doesn't get to read this blogsite (i hope!).

autumn_alarcon: ikaw ba baby...are you sure na with what you'll be getting into?
eric : YES YES YES!!!
eric : eh ikaw?
eric : baby, aside from love and all the romantic feelings, syempre gusto ko rin ng may partner sa buhay
eric : para may katulong ako to accomplish things in life, di ba?
eric : tayong dalawa yun...
autumn_alarcon: :-)
autumn_alarcon: pwede na yun sa vow mo...

so now you know that we call each other "baby". baduy as it may sound, but hey we're comfortable with calling each other that...to each his own. :-P we do not however address each other that way when we talk to other people. don't you just hate it when people refer to their partners as "baby" or "honey" (or whatever it is..) whenever they talk about them? for example, "my baby just did the most romantic thing...". again, to each his own...