"YES!!", what now?

Okay, many people fancy a fairy tale wedding, a lot of ideas comes to mind, but, where do I really have to begin? First things first, what kind of wedding do I want? simple? grand? exclusive? But hey, how much are we willing to spend just to say "I do" to my partner? As for me, I discussed it thoroughly with him, after all he's the one who'll allot the budget for it. ;) Next question is, who will do the ceremony? A priest? pastor? minister? or a judge? I was raised as a Roman catholic growing up while Ken is a (kind of) Christian, and, many prospective guests comes from several religions. Thirdly, where do I want it to be held? A lot of people gave suggestions and recommendations so we went and asked. How much for the place? food choices? ambiance? availability? so we can have more ideas and weigh for pros and cons. Fourth, how many guests? who are they? Ken and I aren't celebrities nor politicians so not everyone needs to know that we'll tie the knot. Only few important people in our lives are invited such as close friends and family members.

This illustration might help in managing your guest list, didn't work for me.
*photo from instagram

Wedding attire? As for us, we do not want to spend a lot of money for the clothes that you'll only wear once. For the groom: long sleeved top under a blazer, a pair of trousers and a top-sider shoes, while the bride: long flow-y dress and peep-toe shoes. As for the guests, we chose two colours that most people already have so that they don't need to spend a penny to buy clothes just for the occasion. Wedding rings? Believe me, we looked around; shops, online, and even ring makers. Since we are modern and practical couple, we combined traditionally and modernised ring. Program and details? I took advantage that people dear to me and to Ken gathered all together in one place so we'll try to make the most out of it without breaking a bank, as much as possible we want it to be fun and unforgettable.

It's better to involve him in every step of planning and you'll be surprised with his ideas and suggestions.

WHAT WE CAME UP:

Simple and intimate. Definitely not the wedding of the year, however, I am marrying the man of my dreams and that will make it a perfect wedding for me. Plus, all the people we love will be there which makes it my ideal wedding. 

Judge. Ken and I are not very religious people and a wedding is not about who will do the ceremony but mainly about the groom and bride. I am also sure that God blessed this relationship from the moment we rest our eyes on each other up until we breathe our last breath.

Event hall, early dinner. People close to me knows that I am not a very morning person and I love cramming (I know, I know). Like I've said, people came from everywhere so it is very convenient for everyone to start in the afternoon. The occasion is a semi-formal and it is very humid here in our country, no one is having fun while heavily sweating in a wedding (not unless you're in the dance floor) so we chose an air conditioned event hall.

Less than a hundred, at least. Up to the last minute, we can not be sure how many people will attend. At first,  we want it to be just with immediate relatives and friends which will make it at around 10 people each. While making the list of guests, we realised that both of us came from big families and made us think how friendly we were.

White and blue. I decided to wear a cream white dress and a combination of gray and white for the groom with green accents for both of us. No veil needed but I have my round bridal bouquet or i'll look like a guest, hahah!:D For the guests, we just asked them to wear something white or blue in any shade. We do not want people to use the motif as a reason for not attending.

a flow-y long dress with sleeves and a nude peep-toe shoes,  

Silver and plain. FYI: when fitting rings, your dominant fingers are bigger than the non dominant so try them on your chosen finger. I recently found out that in catholic wedding, the priest will tell you to wear it on your right ring finger. However, we decided to wear it on the left since that's the only finger that has a direct vein connected to the heart. ;)

Ceremony and reception are held in the same location. The ceremony won't take more than an hour, so it'll immediately be followed by a traditional wedding reception. The program will be traditional such as pabuhos (showering the newly weds with flowers), cake cutting, wedding toast, bridal bouquet and garter catching, pasabit (guests will hang money on clothes while the couple is dancing). Click here for more wedding inspiration.
Also,sweet buffet is very popular nowadays so the guests can munch some sweets during the program and wont get hungry until the food is ready. And yes, I did not mention about the invitation cards and giveaways. We are not giving away invitation letters because people are everywhere and we do not have all year to wait for RVSPs so we just send out texts messages and made some calls for faster response. When it comes to giveaways, photo booths will do the trick. I do not personally keep little figurines or stuff with date and name of people who have invited me, in photo booths, you have the picture of the newly weds and the guests so they'll surely keep it, no waste! ;) 

Anyways, are you like me who's planning a wedding? I hope my ideas will be helpful to you. Or you are already married? share me what happened in your special day. And if you have suggestions, you are very welcome to comment below. thankYou! x

- May Lynne

London to Malaysia to Philippines

Okay, so it's time to say goodbye to my home for nearly 4 years (ohhh, that's quite long). But heyyy, I'm going back to my comfort zone, yes indeed, with my loved ones and friends, the culture and the place like no other, Philippines!!

Anyways, my flight is scheduled at 10:40am on December 31st (yes, I availed my visa upto the last day) and since my place was few hours away from Heathrow, I planned to wake up as early as 5am. But I had a despedida dinner the night before and finished at around midnight so I decided not to sleep and pack the rest of my stuff instead (yes, I'm a crammer!!)

I arrived in the airport at 8am and expecting to meet my friends there before I leave but few of them didn't make it. My allowed luggage wight for check in is only 25kls and 7 for the hand carry, I only managed to fit in 20kls in my violet luggage and it is nearly breaking, I tried to fit it all in because I can only have one to check in. Also, I paid 5gbp to wrap it with plastic to prevent airport disasters and not to peep out anything from the inside. Then, my hand carry was a maroon luggage (7kls) and a yellow shoulder bag(3kls). Those already sounds like a disaster!

Good thing, not alot of people were traveling that day so I smoothly checked in my luggage and fortunately not asked to weigh my 2hand carry stuff, phew! I saved few pounds there! 

I had my goodbyes and off I go! I passed the immigration freely and went to the waiting area for the plane. We were like 20minutes delayed (yes, not only in Pinas!) and then had my seat. I got Malaysian airline so it has passengers going to Asia and Australia. Asian family man on my right and a quite big white man on my left side. 

The trip to Malaysia was okay except when the plane is taking off, I always get that ringing in my ears and feels like its bleeding. When we arrived in Malaysia, I was expecting of the view of Petronas but all I saw was desert. Ugh!

No, I'm not a missus yet but I don't know!!

Thank goodness I brought my little sketch book with me and entertained myself for few hours before my connecting flight to Pinas.

I sat near the gate where the plane dropped us, not knowing that my connecting flight was in the other terminal, good thing I checked an hour before the flight!!

I have to go in a train to be able to reach the other terminal!!

Pulling a 7kl luggage and carrying another 3 in my shoulder, panicking!!

I was all sweating in Malaysia since I'm all wrapped up from winter London!

When I get into the connecting plane, it was like a bus, you can hear the wind and feel every turn of it!!

All in all, I had a smooth flight (but jet lagged). Wasn't properly hear the immigration officer when asking for my passport and the personnel trying to help me with the cart, spent few minutes waiting for my luggage and my mobile's battery was empty. I am also desperate for a wee, no tissue in the toilet  and sticky airport floor! Hello Philippines!!

But all of those fade away when I saw my family waving at me, the boyfriend is coming near to fetch my stuff. Ohhhh worth all the hassle!!

No, it's not my birthday but I'm looking back.

I don't know about you but since i moved in the UK, life became more simple and it helped me to be more appreciative of the things, especially people around me that made me happier and thankful even more.
Yes, at first it was not that easy for me with all those adjustments that I made such as living miles and miles away from my loved ones which includes my family, my man, friends and all random people that made me whole for the past 20years of my life. Also, I had a totally different environment, from the weather, people, language, location, public transport and everything.
On the other hand, it also gave me more opportunities to discover great things around me and challenge myself on how to cope up with all the said changes, but most importantly, I can say that I had a different view of life now. By saying life became more simple, I learned to stop and look up at the sky, I also thought of the last time I looked at the clouds and smell the green grass as the wind slightly kiss my cheeks.
From then on, I don't just stop because I'm tired, I started to enjoy staring at the blue sky and watching people passing by. Little by little, I'm loving everything around me. I no longer get fuzzy to have the latest stuff out in the market, I don't know, maybe because I know I can have it if I want to, and since the things I have still serve me well. Just like the people in my life, I'm so blessed to have all the people around me. You all helped me to what I am right now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect, some pissed me off, others made me cry but surely all of you are part of my life. I even include in my prayers all the people I met/saw. Someone I sat with in a train, a bus driver, an elderly woman in the park, a cashier in a grocery store, a patient I passed by on my way to work, I mean all of them, I said it's random right? Some may laugh but I don't mind, it made me too.
I just want to share to you guys how happy I am living my life! Thank you! xx

Okay, I just want you all people to know that this is just a random thought. There's no big change that recently happened to me, okay. Actually, I wanted to type this in my twitter status (that also go to my facebook status) but since this is random, I can not cut it into 160 characters so I decided to type it in my personal blog. And yeah, I don't want to forget this amazing thought I have in my mind at the moment and  I know it will make me smile every time I read it. Which is basically the reason why I made this account. ;)

- May Lynne

from Needles Park to Newport then Sandown Pier

The Asian in me, a mandatory pose before heading to Needles Park.

Yes, it rained.

Finally, after few hours of bus ride, we reached the Park.

The needles rocks and lighthouse

From a distance, from where I was standing.

Chairlift going down the cliff

Let's get it on!

Ohhhh my . . . !!

Panicking face!

Look how wobbly it was!!

Please do not ask too much from me, how can I manage to smile while sitting on a chair
few feet high away from the ground, cliff, water.
Okay I'm lying, I smiled.

It was dark, windy and cloudy when we left Sandown to visit the one of the tourist attractions in Isle of Wight which is unfortunately located on the other side of where we stayed. I know right! As I was saying, we rode a blue double decker and it started to rain, and mind, we did not get a direct bus from Newport to Alum Bay (by mistake), which was a good experience because we're able to tour the island by just sitting inside the bus and enjoy the view.
Anyways, we arrived in Needles Park and the sky started to become clear. I first had a peep at the Needle rocks and roam around the park, I was planning to get unlimited ride ticket to the chairlift for £6 instead of a return ticket for £4 but it's so windy that they may stop the lift early that day. So I took the return and rode the lift. At first, I panicked because it was wobbly and so high!! :P but when I saw that it wasn't that fast, I started to calm down (I got no choice, I was already up there). :D
 As you all know, I'm not a theme-park-ride fan, I just do not like the idea of a fast ride. I'm not really afraid of heights, as long as it's secured and slow, I'm cool with that. ;)

Old school carousel

Also, we had the chance to see how they made some of glass vase that they sell in the park as remembrance. It was great for a pound, £1. However, the vase itself was quite pricey. Well, if you saw how it was made, may be you'll pay the price.

It's getting darker again, time to leave.

Basically, Newport is the centre of Isle of Wight but do not expect a lot. The place have lots of shops but not that usual high streets stores. But then, you can still enjoy the place, anyways, it's good to visit places that you have never been. ;)

Hello Newport!

Nothing much to do, okay. Back to Sandown.

Just a quick visit in Sandown Pier, few minutes walk from our B&B.

Knackered? yes, may be a little. I've seen a lot and I had fun.

Hi sweeties, have you visited Isle of Wight? Where is your favourite town and what made it your favourite?
Have you ridden in the roller coaster? tell me about your experience, I have never been and what can you say to convince me to try it?? x

- May Lynne

Sandown without the Sun

Spinnaker tower shot from the ferry to Isle of Wight

 FERRY SHOTS :

Inside the steam train to Sandown

HELLO SANDOWN! Basically, we stayed in this place. In case we get disappointed with the chosen location, at least we have a few-minutes-walk beach. Actually, it was my first time to go on a bed and breakfast (B&B as we call it here in the UK). Usually, it's a residential house wherein you can rent the rooms and they will provide the breakfast, no hassle. When we look it up in the internet, there's no pictures but we're desperate to spend the weekend in there besides, we're not that picky when it comes to the room. Of course, it must be clean, safe and comfy.

Perfect tree

Yeah, I love direction signs.

The not-so-high-street high street

Mandatory stupid shot

going down by the beach

More than two hours train ride from London to Porthsmouth, roughly 30-minute ferry ride to Isle of Wight, 30-minute steam train ride to Sandown and 15 minutes walk to the B&B. It was indeed a tiring day. Basically, we just did some scouting in the place, not to mention the moody weather. Sandown didn't disappoint me. It's a very relaxing place, no wonder elderly people chose spend their holidays here. I think 90% of people here were in retiring age. Made me wonder "Am I that old?", I also like what they like. Yay!! 

- May Lynne