Wedding Supplier Review - Videographer: Vidlens Productions

We met Brian and his team a year before our wedding.  By that time, I had already watched several Same Day Edits (SDEs), browsed videographer websites and sent a couple of email inquiries to shortlisted suppliers.  As early as then, there were some videographers who were already booked for our date. Imagine!

Selecting videographers (even photographers) is quite tricky.  These talented people have different styles. Some works were very dramatic, others were clean and simple.  It really depends on what you are looking for.

I picked Vidlens because I believed Brian and his team had a natural talent even if they were relatively new compared to the other videographers.  Their rates were also very reasonable and their packages offer flexibility to the clients' wants. I also liked that during our meeting, we shared our expectations from one another (e.g. I wanted a less ma-drama, more fun and upbeat theme; while he shared his style).  Brian was also very patient and he explained to me their package offerings, how an SDE differs from a wedding film, how they work etc.

I find that its very important that the videographer listens to the client and I'm happy Vidlens did just that.  As a matter of fact, from the time I booked them to the actual wedding day itself, I must say they exceeded my expectations.  Lalo pa silang gumaling! :) I'm so glad we picked them.

So here it is our Same Day Edit Video by Vidlens Productions:

The Wedding of Andrew and Andrea | SDE from Vidlens on Vimeo.

What to Expect During Your Engagement/Pre-nuptial Shoot

Andrew and I decided that we would have a pre-nup/engagement shoot a couple of months before our wedding, because of two reasons:

1) To build rapport with our photographers

I read in a forum, which I was religiously following during the wedding planning period (Girl Talk - Female Network),  that these shoots help you to be comfortable with your photographer.  These could also provide you a chance to be familiar with how to work with the camera prior to your wedding so you're not camera-shy any more on the Big Day.

This proved true for us. We were much better "mowdels" during our wedding, haha!

2) It was part of the wedding package we purchased

Aba, sayang e! Hahaha! :)


I'm no expert, but here are some of the things I think all soon-to-be married couples should expect from their engagement shoots:


Its not as easy as it looks  
I swear! Hahaha! Do not get us wrong, Drew and I are sweet and touchy-touchy in person, pero iba pala talaga pag may camera. There was a point when our friends who were with us were teasing us already, "Anung nangyayari sa inyo? Di naman kayo ganyan in person ah!" For some reason, our smiles were a bit awkward at first but thankfully, it got better as the day progressed.

Photo Credit: Jamie Camille Photography

It really does take one full day
We naive people, especially the husbands-to-be, might think an afternoon of taking photos would be long enough. But no! We stand corrected. Hahaha! The ideal time to shoot would be around 1-4 PM. Apparently, if you take photos mid-day, the sun casts a shadow and you'd look like you have eyebags all the time. While, of course, if you shoot late in the afternoon, you won't have enough sunlight. And so you wake up early, prepare everything and get dressed. Your make-up artist (Shout-out to Lio Javier, you were awesome!) arrives by 10:30 AM, you finish by 12:30. You arrive at the venue afterwards and start shooting for hours. Before you know it, you have little sunlight left and you start packing up past 5 PM already.

Photo Credit: Jamie Camille Photography

You can't do it alone
What are friends for? To bring your portable fans and cellphones, to order food, to run errands, etc. User-friendly lang talaga. Hahaha! But seriously, you guys need an extra pair of hands to help sort some things while you're busy being cute in front of the camera. Trust me. :)

Photo Credit: Jamie Camille Photography

The props and set-ups actually help
We did not hire a stylist or creative director for the shoot. It was just all us and I wanted it to be simple and laid-back. Some couples go all out on the set-ups and I respect that because that's their thing and probably because they have more money to spare, haha! As for me, I just brought an Instax Camera and a guitar.  What I did not expect was that these props actually helped us with the poses and the awkwardness, haha!  It was that something to hold on to pag ngawit na ngawit ka na kaka-smile at kaka-pose. :)


There are going to be a lot of cheesy and corny poses
Ahh, these are the "nose-to-nose", "mam-look-at-your-shoulder-while-you-sir-place-your nose-on-mam's-forehead", "skip-sabay-smile" poses that you will be doing.  You may think you look stupid, but in all fairness it looks nice on cam. You'll be surprised. So do your best and go for those poses! Make it fun. Laugh it off! Minsan lang naman. :)

Photo Credit: Jamie Camille Photography

Its tiring but fun
I bet you will also say out loud, "Nakakapagod palaaaa!" after the shoot. And it is normal and quite understandable. Mahirap maging artista/model. Haha! Think about it, you will probably do atleast 3 looks. This means 3 change outfits, 3 areas or more to shoot in, several re-touches, a gazillion poses and non-stop smiling.

But at the end of the day, it was also fun.  You will get to do some stuff that you never imagined you would do, haha! You'll feel very pretty with your hair and make-up (finally you have a new profile picture). You will enjoy the behind-the-scenes jokes and bloopers. You'll get to know your photographers, how they work, what's their style. And you would definitely know that you need to stretch out your neck gracefully so that you won't have double-chins in your photos. ;)

Photo Credit: Jamie Camille Photography

Photographer: Jamie Camille Photography

HMUA: Lio Javier

Venue: University of the Philippines - Diliman

It's been TWO YEARS!

Two years ago, I got engaged. :">

Yes! I am now happily married and I'm also expecting! :) It's been 3 years since I last posted an entry and now that I am on my 32nd week and under complete bedrest, I have decided to revive and revamp this blog.

This time, the theme for my blog would be, "These are all the many changes in my life". Hahaha! Kidding aside, a lot of things did change for me, in a good way. :) So let me start by sharing to you what happened last September 14, 2014.


I was scheduled to leave for a leisure trip with my mom to the US the following day. As far as I can remember, it was a 2-week trip and I told Drew that we could spend that Sunday, before I left, together.  I had already suggested weeks before that we go to one of my favorite places - UP Diliman, which is also near my mom's place, so he can simply drop me off after there.

On that day, he picked me up and I remembered it was raining quite hard.  But when we were driving along the University Avenue, the rain stopped and I motioned for him to turn left on the next intersection. We were going to have lunch in Chocolate Kiss and I knew a shorter route.  He insisted on parking near the Faculty Center, which was a fair distance away from ChoKiss. I asked why and he shared he wanted to walk from there and enjoy the scenery.  It was quite a weird suggestion to come from him but I figured he probably knew how much I missed my alma mater and how I would enjoy walking down "Freshie Walk", so I did not complain.

Finally while walking, he guided me towards Beta Way and I saw there were pink balloons by the entrance of the walkway. I started feeling awkward and nervous. I told him we should not pass there as there might be an event. He just smiled and we continued to walk towards the balloons.  He grabbed one and the text read, "TeamAndreyap" and then I felt my eyes sting as I tried to calm myself.  Then I saw two of his friends taking videos of us and that confirmed my hunch. I started crying. Hahahuhu.

And so we walked and one by one his friends appeared bearing flowers and chocolates.  Halfway along Beta Way, I asked him, "Alam ba to ng magulang ko?" and he replied, "Bahala na." Haha! Soon we reached the other side of the walkway and I saw my friends and my sister. I cried some more.

Drew then got down on one knee, took my hand and then launched into his proposal speech. Ang lalim, purong Tagalog. Haha! Ang ganda. :) After the phrase, "Will you marry me?", he pulled out a ring and I immediately said, "Yes!" Now ladies, if you want more drama, pause for a moment and count "1, 2, 3" before saying yes. Sayang hindi ko nagawa, may konting kaba sana. Haha! I was crying and smiling from ear-to-ear and everyone was cheering. :) Drew then showed me a photo from his phone of him and my parents.  Apparently, he took them out for dinner to formally talk to them about his "plan". I appreciated that gesture so much and cried some more. Haha!

And as planned, all of us had lunch in Chocolate Kiss after. :)

And there you have it! What happened two years ago that sparked all these new and exciting moments in my life. :)  I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Photo Credit: Carla Villarama

Photo Credit: Jerome Kang