Monday, November 10, 2008

Entry 2: Snail E-Mail

Decided to forego the gym this morning (hoping Banj could work out enough for the both of us) with the intentions of setting up our e-mail account with one wondrous mass of a contact list, so updates could be sent at the click of a button. Unfortunately, setting up the address book, is in itself, one huge process...

...so I'm lagging.

In any case, please add banjoandsarah@gmail.com to your address books, so things don't shoot straight to junk mail when I finally get my system (ahem), "working".

[You know what, if you want to be super sweet, you could even e-mail me at that address, so I could just click "Add Sender to Address Book". But that's only if you're nice.]

Other updates:

- Just so you know how inefficient we are, the church is still not booked. That's on Banj's to-do-list though, so if we end up doing the ceremony in an indoor basketball court somewhere, you know...don't trip.
- Finally got the specs in to the lady handling local packages. Should get prices within the week.
- A shout out to my girls...please erase any intentions of getting a male stripper for any sort of pre-wedding celebrations...I promise you, I will never speak to you again if I end up tied to some chair with some poor awkward Filipino dude doing a body roll move in front of me, to some whack Bryan Adams song.
- On the contrary, please throw my husband the illest bachelor party ever. (Min Yoo - you have my permission to go to whatever lengths to make it 'legendary'.)
- Banj's cousin Tony has a Travel Agent he's suggesting for heads flying in from New York. Here's his post:

[For those who are interested, I'd like to refer CC's cousin (Hazel - she is a travel agent) for airline tix because her prices were about $100-200 cheaper than Travelocrappity and those other sites. They should contact her. Also, if there is a group of 10 or more, she can add a $25 discount per ticket. Our dates are Feb 27 returning on March 13 at $1110 each inclusive of taxes.

Let me know ASAP
apmendoza3@gmail.com / 917.678.3579]

---

- We also sat down with two of my favorite artists, Rex & Joyce of Inksurge, the other day to brainstorm about invitation designs. After 5 minutes of trying to describe what we wanted, Banj and I just looked them, laughed, and said "just do your thing". They're the masterminds behind our Steak website [www.steakproductions.com], as well as the cover for the urban music compilation album we produced [The Urban Discovery Project], so let's just say, we know what they're capable of.
- I'm so not excited to compile addresses for mailing. But am so excited to finally get the invitations to you.
- I'm going to go add Banj to the list of authors for this blog now, so you can hear from him as well :)

Check ya later....
-s.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Entry 1: "Sarah, they need to book their tickets..."

Good morning (afternoon/evening) everyone, and welcome to our impromptu wedding planning blog - constructed perhaps more so for our sanity, than yours. Nonetheless, we hope to make this the one stop shop for all things related to the Meier-Albano nuptials, scheduled and "ready" for your presence on the 3rd of March, 2009, in the beautiful island nation of the Philippines.

So, simply because half of our guests are flying in to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime event (well, twice in a lifetime for us, since we've been married civilly for a little over 3 years now [yay, fast fact for those that didn't know!]), we realize that tickets need to be booked, and plans need to be made. That is why we spent the majority of yesterday evening in the company of our dear friend, Stephen Ku, who has somewhat involuntarily become the official/unofficial Boracay wedding guru.

Wait, Boracay?!

I sense some raised eyebrows.

Well, here's the deal - we're celebrating the Church wedding as a morning affair, in Manila at our parish church in Magallanes; St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori. There will be a relatively informal brunch afterwards, which serves as our opportunity to mingle with our guests, as well as do the cake cutting, picture taking, and give our wonderful parents a chance to say some tear-jerking words about how fabulous their children are, what an incomparable union this is, how blessed everyone is to know us, yada yada yada (and possibly in my mother-in-law's case, a reminder for everyone to please...please eat!).

Then, for those that have it in them to continue on this epic adventure, the journey shifts into high gear, as we bid adieu to Manille, and jet off to Boracay, landing on the paradise island just in time for a wonderful, laid back, carefree, sunset party on the roof-deck of The Tides, Boracay.

That being said, yes, I know - you need to book your tickets.

Stephen is extending his mighty hand to guarantee the most seamless and friend-discounted (we are after all, Filipino) travel plan and packages possible for the Manila-Boracay leg of the trip, so very soon, expect updated information on what Seair and The Tides are able to prepare for us in terms of airfare and accommodation prices.

For our out of country guests, we'll also be coordinating with Manila-based hotels, apartments, etc. to give you an option of where to lay your head whilst in the city.

So, in the meantime, if there's anything in particular you need addressed, do not hesitate to type it away as a comment on this blog. We'll try our best to answer individual e-mails in the event that they come, but it would be lovely if all questions, comments, and violent reactions in relation to our wedding could be consolidated on this site, so we can respond once, and hopefully simultaneously quell multiple other people's concerns. Besides, what a wonderful way to start introducing yourself to everyone else attending the ceremony/party!

A few things we'd like to clarify/note:

1. Single? We are not (entirely) responsible for playing Cupid for the duration of this celebration. Should we, however, feel you need to meet someone in particular, we may rig the bouquet toss and garter shebang, just to give you a nice kick start.

2. Sneakers are allegedly allowed at our wedding. Complete guide to dress code suggestions to follow later in this blog.

3. If anyone can sponsor Father Jim or Lester's ticket from New York to Manila, and back (optional), we'd love you forever (not that we don't already). Father Jim is an awesome and inspirational speaker, and Lester gives Banj nice haircuts. Both are very important to us.

:D

We'll check back in again soon!

Love,
S&B


Countdown: 119 days to the wedding!