It has been a week since our wedding books arrived and I cannot get over it. I've already wasted hours flipping the pages and ogling at the same thing for days, and it still was not enough.

I can't help it. Our wedding is no doubt one of the best days of my life and that is probably because it was then when I have seen Jan do a dirty dance in front of me in public. You might be wondering what's the big deal about that? Well, he doesn't know how to dance, he was not drunk but he did it anyway because men do things they don't do even if it looks silly in the name of love, don't they? Haha!

Anyway, here's a flip through of our beautiful wedding book:

When Jan and I planned our wedding, we agreed to keep it simple because it reflects who we are individually and as a couple. And also, truthfully, we're on a tight budget.

But we all know that even the simplest weddings can burn a huge chunk of money—in a blink of an eye at that. Budget was a big deal for us. And since we splurged on travel and made a trip to Japan just a little over a month before the wedding (hashtag that, priorities hehe), we decided to scrimp on some wedding details.

Don't get us wrong. We want our wedding day to be special. It's just that, extravagance isn't really our cup of tea.

The succeeding posts in this blog would most probably be all about our wedding because, honestly, I have not gotten over it yet. Our wedding is nothing short of amazing. It is magical but it's real. It's simple but it's the best. It's cheap (by current standards) but it's definitely full of love.

Here's the same-day edit video made by Love Dot Date Production. I love everything about it and it melts my heart every time I hear Jan's vows.

Hello everyone! I'm back to reality... but in a much better reality despite going back to a monstrous work load needed to be done pronto. I'm finally married to my travel buddy, my soul mate, my best friend!

I know this blog still has a lot of catching up to do, but for now, I'd like to share our special day as captured by our lovely guests:

Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope.

That's what I keep telling myself every time I come across a hashtag for the wedding.

One friend suggested #anJANnasiSARAH.

Big NOPE.

Less than 20 days before the big day and I have finally felt a tinge of pressure.

I thought we have already settled almost everything when I realized there are a few more things needed to make our wedding personal and extra special. I know we want to keep things simple, but here I am, lumalabas na ang kaartehan ko.

Ang dami ko palang gusto, si Jan napapakamot na lang ng ulo. Here are some:

All this time I thought wedding preps are unbearably stressful it can bring out that bridezilla in you. But that is not the case.

You see, we only have less than a month to prepare. With Saturdays as our only free time, technically, we only have 3 days to iron everything out. We are still looking for a cake, our custom wooden guestbook is yet to be created, our guest list has not been finalized yet, I lost our wedding ring holder (the one I carved our names on), our marriage license is yet to be released, we're in the middle of printing our invitations, and we still got a few more items to be ticked off our checklist. But! We already have our shoes and that is good enough for us. Haha.

Jan and I went to the casa last Saturday for Bill's periodic maintenance service (PMS). Since we still have 2 hours to spare before our turn, we decided to go to SM to pass time and browse for wedding rings.

We went inside Odysseus Suarez and I was glad to see the same friendly man who accommodated us before. Initially, Jan and I wanted platinum rings but since we’re not some senator's kid who can easily burn at least 80k for these tiny handcuffs (the design we wanted costs around 100k), we settled for the poor man's version of platinum instead, the white gold.

After days of anxious anticipation and nights of reading horror stories of rejection and denial, Jan and I reached the highest level of excitement when we received our passports with approved visas yesterday that we did not feel the strong earthquake that shook our city.

You see, the biggest fear for a would-be and even a seasoned traveler with a weak passport is not getting lost in a foreign country. It is getting denied of visa or worse, getting offloaded in the immigration.

And for someone who does not have a normal and stable office job, having an approved visa, especially in one of the G7 countries, is such a share worthy success story for me. And I think I have to prepare myself for more "the anticipation is killing me" moments because that is just one of the many visa applications that we'll have to go through.

I took a day off from work last Monday so I could dedicate my day for the visa and wedding preparations. What I planned was to get my PSA birth certificate (BC) in the morning and meet with our coordinator and photographer in the afternoon.

Three of my friends told me it only took them two to three hours to get their certificates at PSA. So I took the shot of getting the BC myself since it's also the cheapest way. I only had three things on my to-do list, I figured I can still do some shopping for crafting materials since I have the entire day for myself.

I would have loved to write about the 2018 that has been awesome or whatever topic that's fitting for the new year but I am more excited to share this with you.

You see, I never really thought a bridal bouquet can cost so much. Php 5,000-7,000 seriously?! No, thanks.

Today, I decided to create my own bridal bouquet because aside from the fact that we'd rather spend our money on more important things like a fridge full of frozen yogurt, I was bored as hell as well.

Plus, crafting things makes me feel giddy all the time.

So here's what boredom got me:

I have got to admit, when I was ten, I already knew the exact dress I want to wear for my wedding day. I want one that screams royalty. A sparkling ball gown, adorned with diamonds, having a 6-hoop petticoat underskirt, and all that jazz.

More than twenty years later, I do not want myself anywhere near that kind of dress. It simply does not suit my style. Not a single, tiny bit. And for once, Jan and I agreed to fork over our dream wedding from our own pockets—which opened my eyes to the sad reality that, weddings, even the simplest ones, can rack up a huge bill in a blink of an eye. With our budget, honestly, the gown is the least of my priorities. I mean, I'm not that willing to spend a ball gown that could cost half our budget that will only be worn once, for six hours at most.

I suppose the wedding preps should have gotten me busy. But truthfully, I have no excuse for not posting regularly.

Honestly, Jan and I haven't gotten far with the wedding preparations. We'd love to think we're busy but all we’ve been doing is play Big Fish. Yes, that terrible messenger game that does nothing but spam and steal time. And we can't stop.

We still have six months to go—which caused a bit of panic to my friends who have gone great lengths to prepare for their big day. Don't fret! We have made progress, of course! We have already scoured the jewelers for our rings (okay, we only went to one). And drove around the city to do ocular inspections of the possible venues (okay, again, we only went to one). What can I say? We were sold. Immediately.