When we started out, we simply wanted to inspire fellow rebellious brides with ideas that no one would usually dare execute for their weddings. We created mood boards and curated pegs for weddings we wish would see the light of day. We wished for the rebellion to spread its wings and fly.
Welcome to the land of Fire and Ice. When our Rebellious Brides team planned for our Europe trip/shoot projects, we included a 5-day side trip to Iceland. Little did we know that we would all fall in love with this country. So much so that we decided to shoot here instead of shooting in London.
Iceland shook us to our very core and knocked us off of our feet. We literally still can't stop thinking about Iceland at this very moment. And we are already planning to go back...at this very moment.
With all the craziness that goes on in planning a wedding, sometimes you just can't help but wonder if it's better to just pack-up your bags and do the wedding somewhere else with a grand vacation in between. No?
Here's a concept that we did inspired by that basic mindset that some couples these days would rather just travel as they celebrate their union in a place that moves and inspires them. In this case, we went for another non-mainstream destination to do just that. This time, in Portugal.
If you are a bride who can multi-task wedding preps with work, if you are the kind of bride that gets excited to research every blog, every magazine, every wedding expo, and every wedding forum and take note of everything on your Pinterest board, good for you. But some brides don't have the time to do all of these things.
And that's why it gives us great joy to conceptualize and create thoughtful "wedding bibles" for our Wedding Agency clients who are finding it hard to streamline the ideas for their dream wedding . They might not look much to some people but our wedding bibles are meticulously created to ensure that each slide leads to a carefully edited cohesive story. They are like vision boards of what our clients want for their big day--making it easier to articulate what they want (and what they don't want) to happen at the wedding.
One of our favorite concepts that we created for one of our brides is this French vintage theme. She knew from the very beginning that she wanted a French vintage wedding but she wanted it to be unique. We were ultimately inspired by the French word "Je t'aime" (I Love You), The Little Prince, and delicious French breads when we created this for her. And we are sharing some of the boards from her wedding bible today to inspire everyone on how to to apply new ideas to an otherwise popular theme.
Hello, rebels! Yes, yes, we are quite sorry for going rogue once again for almost a month. Our team went to Europe and did a series of shoots so watch out for that!
We have another special editorial shoot to share with you today. The third that we have done from Oregon! But this time around, instead of showcasing gowns and wedding ideas, we wanted to focus on the place itself.
When you think of a destination engagement shoot or wedding location, it seems like it's always the same countries/cities that keep popping up. Just last Summer our Instagram feed was flooded with countless engagement (and even proposal) photos from Japan--like it is the only country in the world to do this.
If you were going to spend so much on creating travel plans for your engagement/wedding/and even honeymoon, wouldn't you want to go somewhere that's not as mainstream? Less crowded. More original. Wouldn't you want to go to a place like this?
LJ wreaks of being a Rebellious Bride. We don't have to know for a fact if she's really a reader. We just know she is. Okay don't fail us here. You really are, aren't you LJ? Haha.
Regardless if this is something we can verify or not, one look at her wedding to Ejay and you'll know that they do belong here in RB.
Rebellious Couple Aiza and AJ are getting married next month and they don't have a Save-the-Date session yet. Aiza is a self-confessed fan of Eat Bulaga's Kalyeserye/AlDub and she watches it every lunch break with her officemates. So when we suggested this AlDub photo/video shoot session for their Save-the-Date, they were super GAME!
How would you try to interpret the feeling of giving love a second chance and being in a long distance relationship? How about visualizing the feeling through a concept of Yin and Yang? That you have to go through the darkness before you can bask in the glory of the sun?
As our Wedding Agency nears its 5th year anniversary mark, we wanted to come up with a limited treat for all you newly engaged couples who may want to avail of our Wedding Agency service!
We are giving away 38% off on our regular package! Yippee!
If you are unfamiliar with this service, here's a re-published feature on the Wedding Agency from www.altunomedia.com
If you are an avid RB reader, you would know by now how much we gush about Batanes as a wedding venue/idea. We even wrote a piece on How To Plan a Cost-Efficient Batanes Weddingwhich already got picked up by several publications. And ever since we released that article, there have been more and more Batanes Weddings that we see today. However, there is still a lot of stigma around Batanes Weddings that the mere thought of it scares the hell out of engaged couples. Batanes gets a lot of bad press for being "that place with bad weather" and for being "that place that costs so much, it's more expensive to fly there than flying abroad."
To sort of "award" a couple for being one of the most rebellious in the world is something big for us because this is something that we wouldn't easily give out to just any couple. But we thought it would be fitting to recognize them today.
Meet Rebellious Bride Jamie and Rebellious Groom Doug.
If you see photos from their first wedding, it looks just like any other wedding. But oh my, it totally is not. First of all, they got married without as much as knowing their names. They were arranged to be married. Second of all, they weren't arranged to be married by their families -- they were arranged to be married by a TV Show called Married At First Sight by FYI.Using psychological, spiritual, and sexual intelligences that were compared to that of techniques used by the CIA, Jamie and Doug were paired based on their history, belief systems, personality and sexual compatibly among other things. Third of all, they had only a few weeks to see if the match was a good one. Then they would have to decide if they will divorce.
Rebellious Bride Nikki couldn't have said it any better. To her, being rebellious was as simple as opting for an underrated wedding venue. And that was all they ever needed to make their celebration uniquely their own.
Yes folks, WE ARE ALIVE!!! Sorry if it felt like we abandoned the blog. We've had some unavoidable technical difficulties (aka third world Internet problems) and it happens to the best of us. It's been frustrating. As in eye-twitching-stressed kind of scenario for the past few weeks. But let's just move on, shall we? And we have a good one today.
Samric Mante of Woodstock Cinema Shares:
You guys remember the band Mojofly right? well yes, two of their band members are getting married! That's Lougee, the vocalist. And Ali, the drummer! Woot! Since this is an engagement video, you might probably think this is one of those cheesy, cliche type of videos. Oh no my friend, THIS IS NOT.
Armed with just a projector, some handy dandy google images, and white shirts, Rebellious Couple Euny and Tim came out with a creative engagement session that was anything but ordinary.
Rebellious Couple Glazel and Archie have the cutest story. They met at a Volkswagen store. And the rest you could say, is history. Inspired by this serendipitous moment, their wedding theme revolved around the VW and the retro vibe. But that was not the only thing that made the bride rebellious - she sang her vows and she wore a bridal gown rental. Not to be outdone though, the groom was not your usual groom because he was hands-on and got involved with a lot of the logistics when it comes to having all the Beetles make its way all the way to Baguio. Oh to be brave and creative!
It is always so wonderful and interesting to know how each and every culture celebrates weddings. It is a testament to the fact that there are so many ways to formalize and create a wedding - and that doing it in the church, wearing a white dress is definitely NOT the rule of thumb for everybody else in the world.
Wedding ideas are aplenty for church-based and big-budgeted weddings. But what if you don't necessarily want to have that kind of wedding? What if you are having a civil wedding? What if you want an intimate wedding? What if you just want something different for a change? What if you don't want to spend too much on the wedding because you'd rather use your money on other things like the honeymoon or your home - but then of course you also want the wedding to be special, right?
We recently celebrated our blog's anniversary with a yacht party and it definitely felt like we were planning a wedding (CLICK FOR RELATED ARTICLE).
Watch our awesome video made by Woodstock Cinema (formerly Colors & Co) - for better viewing choose HD as settings
We realized that our party can be a source of many ideas for rebellious couples such as yourselves. So in this article, we will prove to you that a fabulous, unique, and tasteful rebellious wedding for just 300k is possible. Not just possible but very doable!
But first, check out these delightful photos from our party as captured by Studio XOXO
How to replicate this yacht party for your wedding:
WHY A YACHT?
When we were deciding on where to do our party, one thing that we wanted to do was treat our guests the "rebellious way." Our guests were mostly wedding suppliers who naturally go to wedding festivities on a weekly basis and so changing things up a bit was something we constantly pressured ourselves with. Needless to say, we wanted our guests to be excited to go to our party and we wanted them to genuinely enjoy themselves with a new experience. That's when the idea of throwing a yacht party came to be. Keep in mind that your guests (including yourselves), probably already went to soooooo many weddings to last a lifetime. So why not make them feel special by treating them to something new--yes it's your day but your guests/loved ones are just as important. And so apply the same train of thought that we went through when we were planning our party.
At first we had some concerns--what if it rains? What if the water stinks? What if the boat is rocky and everybody got sea sick? What we discovered though was that none of these things became a concern on the day of the event. Sometimes being too much of a worry wart isn't a good thing and it attracts the negative things that you keep thinking about. The yacht we rented from Manila Luxury Club was docked at the CCP Terminal B area (not in Manila Yacht Club). And luckily, the area there doesn't stink as bad. And once the yacht sailed, fresh air was actually available (haha). It also didn't rain and the ride was pretty smooth, not choppy at all. The best part was that the yacht could accommodate up to 50 pax. That means that if you were to seriously consider this as your wedding venue, you could invite as much as 40 guests - which is not so bad. Why 40? You need to count your caterer, photographer, videographer, and yourselves. So leave the remaining 10 pax for that.
The cost to rent the yacht? P83,000 including the following:
3 Hours use of the Yacht (It will sail around Manila Bay)
2 Hours use of the function room (For your caterer's preps and for your guest's holding area)
Unlimited cocktail bar
DJ, Lights, and Sounds
Yacht crew to assist you and your guests
This new experience: PRICELESS
THE DETAILS
Being on a budget doesn't mean you can't be as tasteful as you can be. For our party, we used the color palettes of black, pink, and gold for our details/props and then we used "fashionista red" for the dress code. We also did a lot of calligraphy and chalk scribbles where possible because doing so immediately adds a lot of texture and character to any event.
For our looks we had custom-made skirts created by designer Ryan Madamba. Each one was carefully designed with the yacht theme in mind - Ryan made sure our skirts were breezy and light so that it goes with the wind as we sailed around Manila Bay (perfect for pictorials). The skirts were also bridal in a way as it had a train. So for your wedding, why not consider having a 2-pc look? Perhaps a white skirt made by Ryan Madamba and then pair it with an embellished white top? Not only is this look so beautiful and stylish, but it is also very practical since you can still wear it for any other occasion even after your wedding! If you are interested in having Ryan make a skirt just for you, this can cost anywhere from P4,000 - P8,000 depending on the materials to be used.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Let's keep in mind that even if you are on a budget, the objective is to be TASTEFUL even if you are on a budget. Sure you can have a skirt made in Divisoria - but there's a technique in having the right tailor-fitted skirt made. Besides, being on a budget doesn't mean you can't spoil yourself a bit. You are still a bride after all.
As for our invitation and calligraphy, these were done by Wallflower & Paper - our newest favorite calligraphist because their style is just so rebellious in a sense that they experiment with a lot materials and layouts. Cost for invitation and menu layouts are at P5,000.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Let's keep in mind that even if you are on a budget, the objective is to be TASTEFUL even if you are on a budget. And printing something using an excessively cursive font like Scriptina is NOT tasteful, dears.
A yacht party is not the kind of theme that you need to overly style because the yacht in itself is already part of your "decor." Plus, when you start sailing the Manila skyline will be your backdrop. The bright city lights are surprisingly cool - there really is no need to style the yacht any further. But having said that, it would also be nice to have just a few touches to add a little bit of personality. What you lack in styling you can overcompensate with colorful and creatively decorated desserts, floral centerpieces, printed table cloth, and charmingly wrapped giveaways. These things go a long, long, way!
Our uber cool "Chalk Cake" and our black/gold/pink printed macarons were all made by Sugarplum Pastries - what more is there to say? The photos speak for itself. They were instant hits with our guests! For a 3-tier hand painted cake like ours, and to have customized macarons of 4 dozens, the cost will be P13, 800 in total. The cost can still be lower if the cake won't be hand painted.
Our floral centerpieces were made by Jacqs Florals Design Studio - a favorite florist here in the blog. We love working with Jacq because she's so fun, creative, and sweet. For our flowers we specifically requested for pink flowers with a metallic gold base. We imagined how it would look like in contrast with the black & white striped table cloth and thought that these would make such a sensational combo. Each centerpiece is P500. You'll only need about 5 centerpieces since the yacht can only accommodate a few tables. Total cost would be P2,500
Our giveaways were made by Pluma PH. We just accidentally came across their mugs and stationery at Mrs. Graham's and we immediately contacted them to have our own custom mugs and notepads made as giveaways. Geli of Pluma PH was such a breeze to work with! We had the words "Rebel Today!" printed on the mug and "Do Something Rebellious" on the notepads. They were also the ones who made the calligraphy artworks as part of the fee. Then, we wrapped the gifts on black construction paper, tied it with gold and pink ribbons, and wrote "XOXO" on the black wrapper using a chalk pen. The mugs and note pads are at P150 each, plus the wrapping materials from National would be around P1,000. All-in-all, giveaways for about 50 people would be at around P8,500
THE CATERING
At the end of the day, wedding guests want to be treated to good food. Good food that doesn't run out midway into the party (LOL). We absolutely love Q Provisions because their food is just simply DELICIOUS. As in yes, here in Rebellious Brides we are all picky with our food and we are dead serious foodies - that kind of delicious. And we don't even like the taste of some of the more popular caterers, mind you - we are that picky (and maarte with food, we know and admit to that). And Q Provisions is not just delicious but generously portioned and reasonably priced. They are also "rebellious" because they are so easy to work with and so open-minded. I mean, most caterers would say N-O to an intimate wedding and a venue like a yacht. But when we told them that our event was in a yacht, their reaction was YES! GAME! LOVE IT! And that's the kind of caterer you would want to work with on your big day! Plus, we love the fact that they have printed table cloth fabrics at no extra charge (TIP: Ultimately when you have printed table cloth you won't need to pay so much on styling anymore).
For our menu, we had the following appetizers: Sliced Salpicao, Salmon Croquette Balls, Sauteed Pork, Chicken and Mushroom Risotto, and Tuna Caper Pasta. For the main courses we had: Roast Beef Carving Station, Braised Beef, Garlic Mashed Potato, Paella Valenciana, and Fresh Green Salad -- all for P995 per head. PLUS we have a 20% OFF exclusive discount with them so that's just P39,800 for 50 pax!
PHOTO & VIDEO
When it comes to wedding photography and videography, we will never tire of nagging you to get the best of the best. And having a tight budget is not an excuse to get just any team. At every price range there are gems of photographers and videographers to choose from. All you need to do is do your due diligence. Be very. very, careful when getting cheap suppliers who give you good rates even in wedding expos. Some are fly-by-nights, some are bogus modus operandis, some plagiarize other suppliers' works and pass it as their own portfolio. Rule of thumb: Always run a background check on the suppliers that you are considering by asking previous clients about their own experiences, verifying if their portfolio is really their own work, finding out where they trained (and double check if those info are true). NOTE - we've also heard that some suppliers "name drop" that they know us - please email us first to verify if this is true. Speaking of our blog, if you are a fan of the blog, might as well get a team that we rave about or a team that we always feature - especially features from recent years. We are not trying to be snooty or anything. We are actually just looking out for your best interest. Because nothing is more tragic than a well-planned, creative wedding that doesn't really come out in the photos and videos because the team did a poor job of documenting it. Having said that, for our yacht party we got two photographer teams. 12 Masters Photography's works was featured from our first post (CLICK FOR RELATED ARTICLE). And then we also got Studio XOXO for this feature. Always choose a photographer team that shares the same vision, personality, and taste as you do. It's never just about getting somebody who can shoot a camera. It's about creating a bond with a team that is about to capture the most important day of your lives - somebody that will capture your most beautiful self, your tears, your kisses, your moments with loved ones. Don't ever think that taking these photos are as simple as taking a photo from your phones either. Because IT IS NOT. Studio XOXO is giving a special promo for our anniversary. You can get their package for only P40,000 which already includes Prenup & Wedding Photography Services, slideshows/AVPs, edited photos, and prints.
For Videography, Woodstock Cinema (formerly Colors & Co) did our uber cool video and they are also giving a 20% discount for video services which comes out at only P28,000
Here's a final cost breakdown that we did for you:
*All prices were correct at the time that this article was written in the Year 2015.
As you have seen, everything that we suggested above and plus other additional expenses have so far amounted to P264,600 and the balance is at P35,400 - which you can use for wedding rings and for the church ceremony. For the wedding rings we have an exclusive 10% off from Atelier 818 (formerly Cuenca Jewelry) which you can email us directly for inquiries. The church ceremony can simply be done in a chapel near the area which normally costs just about P5,000-P10,000 or if you don't need it to be in a church, you just have to pay for the pastor to do the ceremony aboard the yacht during sunset (so romantic!). We hope that you found this article useful and if you have any questions about the exclusive discounts that we have that you can avail for your own weddings, feel free to email us for any clarifications! :) Happy wedding planning! CREDITS:
Concept and Direction by The Wedding Agency by The Rebellious Brides
Catering by Q Provisions (IG: @qprovisions / FB: Q Provisions)
Invitation & Menu Artwork by Wallflower & Paper (IG: @wallflowerandpaper)
Cake & Macarons by Sugarplum Pastries (IG: @sugarplumpastries)
Flowers by Jacqs Florals (IG: @jacqsfloral)
Rebellious Brides' Kai, Mica, and Niña's Skirts by Designer Ryan Madamba (IG: @byryanmadamba)
Rebellious Brides' Kai, Mica, and Niña's Jewelry by Cuenca Jewelry (IG: @cuencajewelry)
Makeup by The Makeup of Mica (IG: @themakeupofmica)
Giveaways by Pluma PH (IG: @pluma_ph)
Photography by Studio XOXO (Carlo & Hyds Cecilio - 09178282275)
Videography by Woodstock Cinema (Samric Mante - 09177955900)
With Special Thanks to Oh Happy Day! and Manila Luxury Club
