Pregnant Chronicles #2: Myths, Beliefs and/or Facts

Like the Philippines and other culture and civilizations in the world, Bangladeshis have their own traditions, beliefs, myths and superstitions regarding pregnancy. We can say we are living in a modern world already but beliefs don’t die just like that. Either it’s purely myths I find it weird because I grew up in a family that don’t believe in superstitious beliefs even if we are aware of those things. My own mom didn’t follow any myths but all 5 of us siblings grew up pretty well and we are all okay.

As soon as people finds out about your pregnancy, you will get tons of “tips and advices”. Others are facts but mostly are myths. You hear a list of “Do’s and Don’ts” but you seldom hear “words of encouragement”. You hear stories about the difficulties of pregnancy but no one will tell you the “joys of pregnancy… With all this things, I wonder why they don’t just advice “don’t get pregnant”. I’m not spared of this things and it’s more annoying if those people are your own family. And it’s weird that you hear these things from “moms” as if they didn’t know or no one told them before that “every pregnancy, every woman is different”. That, what works for you may not work for me and vice versa. I know sometimes they say this things but they mean no harm, but we pregnant women have lots of things to think and worry and be concern about already and it will be a great help if you will not add up to our “pregnancy woes” with your myths and beliefs.

These are the few things I come across with:

Don’t eat pineapple.

My MIL told me this because a pregnant lady had a miscarriage after eating pineapple. This is their conclusion base on what happened and not base on any medical diagnosis. I goggled about it and read that pineapple can cause early contraction but it isn’t included in the “list of food to be avoided during pregnancy”. It’s a good thing that pineapple is not my favorite fruit. How about “pineapple with/and milk”? No one told me it’s bad to eat this two together until I came here in BD. I tried googling about it but I didn’t find any explanation. Apparently, someone died after eating pineapple and/with milk, and again they concluded that’s the cause of death. If someone can clarify this or give veracity regarding this, please do share.

Don’t eat eggplant.

From my Filipino friends, according to them the baby’s skin will not be smooth if you eat eggplant. While from a Filipino-Chinese belief, it will make your baby’s eyes big & round instead of the chinky eyes. The fun part is the way a friend told me about it after posting a picture of eggplant in FB, it’s like a just committed a mortal sin. I just avoided eating eggplant after that, it’s doable anyway since I only want my eggplant cooked as torta or puki-puki which no one here wants to eat it that way. Now I’m thinking does it count when you are not aware that you are pregnant yet? I was not aware that I’m pregnant already last July and it was Ramadan so I’m always eating fried eggplant for iftar. My own mom ate eggplant when she was pregnant also, and again we are all fine and our skin is smooth.

Don’t eat raw/uncooked green papaya.

I know pregnant women should not eat anything raw, but my MIL specifically told me not to eat a raw papaya. Again, she doesn’t know why but she was told not to eat it when she was pregnant herself.  I wonder do the Japanese women stop eating sushi when they are pregnant.

Don’t eat eggs.

Not really “stop eating eggs” but my MIL wants me to lessen eating eggs like one egg per week only. She doesn’t want me to eat too many eggs because one of her relative had a miscarriage for eating too many eggs. And according to her, that was the OB’s diagnosis. While, an ex-colleague told me that her mom made her eat at least two eggs per day and she just gave birth with a healthy baby boy. My take on this is “anything that is too much is bad, pregnant or not. Everything should be eaten in moderation”. My own OB actually t told me I can eat anything as long as I don’t have problem eating. Really, the key is eating in moderation. With all the things my in-laws told me not to eat, funny thing that they didn’t tell me to lessen or stop eating sweets at all. My FIL actually buys ice cream every day for me even if I keep on telling him that I don’t want to eat ice cream. As soon as I reached my 6 months, I actually stop eating rice for dinner and eat only steamed fish with veggies for dinner and, lessen my sugar & sweets.

Don’t buy fish after dusk because the evil spirits will follow you. And don’t go out after 6pm.

To avoid the bad omen or to ward off the evil eye, pregnant women were given some ribbon to tie around their tummies. Our house helper gave me and my husband a wrapped matchbox that she prayed over as our talisman. I just carry it inside my bag so as not to offend her, and there’s no harm in carrying it anyway. Aside from that, I always carry a rosary with me. My faith in God is still stronger than any superstitious belief.

Avoid taking a bath in the evening or you will get sick. That’s 4pm onwards!

Eat leafy vegetables (shak) to have a hairy baby.

Ok, I don’t believe this but I don’t want to have a hairy baby (my husband and FIL wants a hairy baby), so I stop eating shak. There’s already a big chance of having a dark-skin baby, making it hairy will make it worst. It’s fine if the baby is a boy, but I’m having a baby girl, so I prefer a smooth skin please.

Don’t eat anything black like the squid. Eat only white food stuff.

I’m not that fair, my skin-color is “kayumanggi” and so with my husband who is a Bangladeshi. He isn’t black skin but he isn’t fair, and his skin complexion is darker than mine. Even if we have families and relatives who have fair skin, our baby will inherit mine or his skin complexion or it can be a shade of our colors combined. My point is it’s in the genes and not on what I ate or eat while pregnant. I don’t think I will end up having a “white skin baby” if I eat all the white stuff and avoid eating black stuff. It doesn’t work that way. The same way that even if I’m going to rub my niece or nephew’s clothes on my tummy, my baby will not inherit their Chinese skin.

If it is a baby boy, you will look ugly, if it is a baby girl, you will look pretty.

Other people believe the opposite, if it is a boy you will look pretty but if it is a girl you will look ugly because the baby is getting all your beauty. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not, and maybe it’s just pure luck or coincidence. But the truth is, no matter what the gender of the baby is, there’s this “pregnant glow” and our looks change because of the way our hormones affects us and also our diet. No matter what we do, our hormones are crazy during pregnancy. That is something we can’t control. What we can control is our diet that is also affected by our hormones, and it takes a lot of commitment to control ones diet especially if we have those cravings. There are women who exert effort to look pretty but there are also some who doesn’t care less of their appearance since they are not feeling well at all to even spend time in front of the mirror. And there are the lucky ones who are just really pretty when they are pregnant. I was irritated when my sister told me that I look ugly now, what more if I’m having a boy. I didn’t argue anymore because I find it useless. Fact 1, even before, we knew that I’m not the prettiest among us 5 siblings, so why it will matter now that I don’t look pretty like her when she was pregnant. Fact 2, I’m not the fairest among us 5, so obviously if I turn darker around my neck, it will be more noticeable than her, right? I just shrug it off, what matters most is that my husband finds me pretty and getting pretties with each passing day. Who cares if other people think I’m ugly, as long as my husband finds me pretty and never fails me to show his love and asked me randomly “why do you look prettier and prettier every day.”

You are so big for your stage.

Again, every pregnancy and every woman are different. I’m petite; I’m almost 5 ft so obviously I will look rounder because I’m short. And, I’m really “tabain” even before getting married. And all pregnant women will gain weight, and will grow big. Even the skinny ones will gain some weight and flesh but since they are skinny to begin with, their weight gain will be minimal or unnoticeable in comparison to someone who is voluptuous in the first place. So please, stop saying “when I was at that stage, I was not that big”, “you look more than your actual week”, and blah blah blah blah. I love my baby bump so it doesn’t matter if I showed-off earlier than you or the others. Maybe because I had an easy first and second trimester that I really didn’t lose weight but actually gained weight because I feel so hungry most of the time and I can eat anything without feeling nauseous or vomiting.

Look only at beautiful people and fair-skin people to have a beautiful baby with fair skin.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And again, my baby’s appearance will not be base on the images/pictures or, the faces that I looked at or stared at – it are all in our genes. I don’t believe in “LIHI”. There’s no proven scientific or medical explanation to that. I told my mom “no matter how long or many times I stare or watch my niece’s pictures and videos, my baby will not look like her because my husband is not Chinese. Even if I stare at an actress picture, my baby will not look like the actress. I can say only this: my baby will be a beautiful one with the combination of my best assets and her daddy’s best assets. She will be beautiful on her own, an international beauty and my Ms. World. And, I’m in Bangladesh, not looking at someone who isn’t fair is next to impossible, and no one is going to stop me from staring at my handsome husband.

The baby will be a genius because she is an Aries as per my in-laws.

Nope, I beg to disagree. My baby will be smart/genius regardless what her horoscope is, simply because she is my baby. Yes, I’m proud to say that. I don’t want to base my baby’s personality and capability according to the astrology. I’m not a hardcore believer on astrology, while I noticed majority of the Bangladeshis are that includes my in-laws.

Enough have been said and shared, and there are still lots of things to say related to pregnancy. Remember that while it can be true for some, it may not necessarily be for all. There are ways of fighting for a good and enjoyable pregnancy. You just have to be like a sieve, letting the non-sense and useless things go away and keeping the better, positive, more encouraging, nevertheless realistic, side of things, just the important and essential things. Learn to shrug it off, and above all, have faith in God that He will never leave you alone.

Here's an excerpt from Rica's blog:

"There's a way to fight what the world says, women. And even men - husbands of these wives; do pray with your ladies. Believe for the best and do everything by faith. Refuse curses and declarations others confess upon you and your body and I dare say there's a way to fight it, but that is only through the Lord who is greater than he who is in the world. Even the book "What To Expect When You're Expecting" poses disclaimers that every pregnancy is unique with symptoms that cannot be ascertained. yet I learned that we can be sure of one thing, and that is I can do this by faith and faith in God alone."

Groom's Suit and the Men's Barong Tagalog

the look & poise that I can't resist! Photo by Bryan Yap

My groom doesn’t like to wear barong tagalog, he prefers suit over barong. Majority of the men here in Bangladesh wears suit on special occasions and they know their suit pretty well. So, instead of having his suit done in Manila, he had it tailored here in Bangladesh. He went to Fit Elegance for his suit because the master tailor is well-known and was trained at Reid &Taylor. Even without fitting session, the suit was perfect fit.  I’m glad he wore a suit because he looks more handsome and dapper. I know he will look good in barong also but a suit fits him well. We bought his tie at Robinson's Department Store.

photo by bryan yap

As for my father-in-law and cousin-in-law’s barong tagalong, we bought a readymade one at Kultura. 

Wedding Extra Extra

DIY or Do-it-yourself is the "in thing". Brides do it for so many reasons.

1) Budget: some items are cheaper than what is available in the market or the quote given to you by a supplier. But like in business math, the materials cost is not the only thing you have to consider in computing your actual price, you have to include your fare, fuel (if you went via car), time you allotted for buying and your own labor. So plan ahead before going to the wholesale haven so that you can maximize your time once you are on your buying spree. If you want to save more, you might consider using recycled items. I did by using the extra wedding invitation cards of my sister's wedding instead of buying cardboard for the letter buntings, table numbers and others.

2) Personal touch: you have a specific theme perhaps or you just simply want to personalize your event.

3) The item is not available in the market.

4) Artistic flair. You are simply creative and you are into craft-making, and it's your hobby.

5) Free time. Yes, you have all the time in the world to be creative and do all the things you want to create and make.

Others may have other reasons, but what I mentioned are my own reasons, and here are my own DIY's.

Kissing bells with tags as wedding favors

Name plate

Embellishment on the sole

Tag for the bubble wands. The monogram was designed by my friend.

Recycled pomander by dyeing it in yellow and lilac

Handwritten notes for the moms

Embellishments on the Secondary candles

Embellishments on the Offertory Candles

Embellishments on the hand-me-down cord

Perfect Match for each other

Bible garter

Bangladesh handicraft, I requested a friend to sew it as the new cover of the ring pillow

Both pillows are hand-me-down from my sister, we changed the cover using a Bangladeshi pillowcase

Letter buntings

Table numbers are names of places we've been as a couple

I made our growing up avp too. Here's the link . 
*All photographs are by Bryan Yap.

Wedding Moments to Remember

“I will not remember what my wedding looked like. I will remember how it felt. Because at the end of the day, even really cool stuff is just that: stuff. It’s the love you share, the people who hold you up, and those precious moments of bliss and joy that you will remember for the rest of your life. And none of that is for sale.”

There are lots of moments but some are starting to fade. The wedding day was stress-free, thanks for my A-Class suppliers and the love of friends and families.  There are moments that I will forever remember, just want to share it here too. Honestly, I can’t remember the set-up, decors, or even the taste of the food anymore but until now I can still remember the smiling faces, unusual moments, and funny moments. True enough, it’s not the cool stuff that will stick to your mind but those precious moments of bliss and joy, and how I wish it's the same with my guests too. Here are the precious moments:

•  15 absentees out of my total 100 guest list. That's almost perfect anyway because all the most important people in my life are present. It's like a Family reunion. Special thanks to friends who came home from australia, hongkong and saudi just to attend my wedding, and friends who travelled from ilocos just to be with me also.
• When honey was playing/fidgeting with the arrhae and ring box while we were on our knees, facing the altar.
• When honey was making faces at me, trying to make me laugh while i was saying my wedding vow! Mischievous husband!
• When I was standing outside the church, waiting for my cue to enter, my friend's dad, Tito Willy, approached me, gave me a peck and his wedding wish. One of the sweetest gesture that day! 

Photo by Bryan Yap

• Our couple’s first dance, even without the mood lights, I find it romantic because honey was singing the song to me while we were dancing. Brings me back to our dating days, when he swayed me to dance in the privacy of our home while singing acapella of our love song.
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Photo by my bro-in-law

• The father-daughter’s dance to the tune of "Butterfly Kisses" that suddenly became a “family dance”. My papa who hates wearing barong, took off his barong as soon as he reach the reception venue, so he was feeling shy when we were dancing with his in-shirt on and no barong, so he decided to call my mom, and then my sisters to join the dance. If only the quartet played “sasara ang bulaklak, bubuka ang bulaklak, darating ang reyna, pakembot-kembot.”

• The prosperity dance because I want my husband and my in-laws to experience and witness one of the Filipino traditions. It was fun, and I actually advice my friends about it beforehand, and my friends are really cool, they pinned their money shaped into heart, sash and crown.
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Photo by Bryan Yap

•  I want my honey and his mom to have their moment too, so we added a mother-son dance.      

• W@W love was present that day too and I even heard from one supplier “having Benz as a guest means the w@wie couple are big time”. hahah! It’s just so happened that we became friends :-)

My husband's cousin got the garter, while my cousin lost the female's game.

• The single’s game. My wedding is the third in our family, but it’s a first time that we had the “single’s game” added in the program. It was fun and all my female cousins were game, too bad my male cousins went home with my grandfather before the game, thus we only had two bachelors left as all my friends are married too. It was an extra-ordinary experience for my husband's cousin, even if he was aware of this game, it is really his first time to be part of the game.

My High School friends with their respective families. I will have my own baby next time we see each other again.

• It’s like a highschool reunion with all my friends around and a family gathering will all my relatives around too. I’m glad that my family enjoyed the event too. Nakakataba ng puso when my sister said “it’s the best and most relaxing wedding she attended so far”.

• The night before, my in-laws surprised me with their traditional bengali way of "pamamanhikan" by giving me slippers in a tray with a lighted candle, gold jewelries - that i'm supposed to wear everyday, especially the bracelet as this is the symbol that you are a married woman, I can't be "bare" as the jewelries are symbol of abundance & prosperity in marriage, and things that I'm supposed to wear/use on the first night like toiletries, perfume and nightgown. Too bad, the bengali sweets were confiscated at KL Airport.

• And the wonderful speeches, from the best man, maid of honor, parents and friends. Awesome, witty, inspiring and very heartfelt :-)

       my mom's message: Peachy & Alvin, we are very happy for both of you. Alvin, welcome to our family. You have married a very unique girl - resourceful, cheerful, kind, creative & always willing to lend a hand. Peachy you are now a wife, a part of a unit & half of a couple. As a married couple you will have good days & bad days. Always celebrate the good days, and because you can't avoid the bad, learn from them. Find happiness in the simplest things & joy in being together. Respect each other & every now & then, give each other space. But always start & end your day with a kiss, a hug, & those three important words I LOVE YOU. We wish you all the happiness in the world. Congratulations!

Bride's friend's message:

Peach, Alvin, Congratulations again. 

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mika. Peach and I have been friends for 16 years now. We’ve been through thick and thin together, or in our case, fat and thin. Sexy na kami ngayon!  

We passed college, thesis, practicum and the board exam together. We’ve even survived the floods of UST. One time, we got stuck in the car because of the rising flood, and someone stole my side mirrors. Peach freaked out on my behalf. If it weren’t gross and insanely dangerous to wade out, Peachy might have run out to catch the guy. She epitomizes the expression small but terrible. So Alvin, always stay on Peachy’s good side! 

Peach brought me to Vigan, my first out of town trip, ever. We got stuck in the bus for 13 hours . But Peach was there to liven things up. We even had a theme song for that trip. This guy’s in love with you pare. There is no one I’d rather be stuck with that long than Peach. (Pause) And then there was Cebu, Puerto Galera. We conquered the Angkor Wat! Peach, I hope your adventures with Alvin will be as fun and exciting as ours, and I look forward to hearing lots of kwentos from you. 

I have a huge library of stories, but I feel we might not have enough time and will just be repeating what others have or will share - that Peach is a wonderful friend. 

Even though distance made it difficult for us to remain involved in each other’s lives, Peach constantly makes an effort to keep in touch. She always takes the time to meet up whenever she’s here in Manila. 

So when I learned that Peachy and Alvin were getting married, I gave her the best advice I could think of: DON’T. Obviously, she didn’t listen to me. But kidding aside, I was very happy for my friend. I was even happier to have finally met Alvin when he was here last year to meet the family. 

Marriage and weddings were things we talked about before. To see her now, happy and be with someone she deeply loves, and loves her in return, I am truly blessed to be part of this celebration. 

Peach brought me to Vigan, my first out of town trip, ever. We got stuck in the bus for 13 hours . But Peach was there to liven things up. We even had a theme song for that trip. This guy’s in love with you pare. There is no one I’d rather be stuck with that long than Peach. (Pause) And then there was Cebu, Puerto Galera. We conquered the Angkor Wat! Peach, I hope your adventures with Alvin will be as fun and exciting as ours, and I look forward to hearing lots of kwentos from you. 

I have a huge library of stories, but I feel we might not have enough time and will just be repeating what others have or will share - that Peach is a wonderful friend. Even though distance made it difficult for us to remain involved in each other’s lives, Peach constantly makes an effort to keep in touch. She always takes the time to meet up whenever she’s here in Manila. So when I learned that Peachy and Alvin were getting married, I gave her the best advice I could think of: DON’T. Obviously, she didn’t listen to me. But kidding aside, I was very happy for my friend. I was even happier to have finally met Alvin when he was here last year to meet the family. Marriage and weddings were things we talked about before. To see her now, happy and be with someone she deeply loves, and loves her in return, I am truly blessed to be part of this celebration. Peach, good luck to you and Alvin. I hope your party never ends and wish you both all the best. 

Supplier's Review: Weddings at Work

They are not supplier but wedding preps wouldn’t be easy without the help of online forums. And I’m so glad that there is Weddings at Work or W@W for short. Even their W@W Primer booklet is full of practical tips.

I found out about W@W in year 2007 when I started helping my sister in her wedding plans and my college friend was also preparing for her wedding, and as for me, I was dreaming of my own wedding. And since then, I promise that I will be a member of it once I get the chance to prepare for my own wedding. And that’s exactly what I did after honey proposed to me, I joined the W@W group. And, it’s the next best thing I did apart from saying “Yes” to honey.

I will be forever grateful to this online forum as it was really helpful to me during the preps especially I started as an overseas bride, and kudos to the founder Mimma Benz and Didda Abet for creating this forum, and changed the perspective of wedding preparations.

Through the group, I was able to borrow some of the creative works of other w@wie brides, and this is the Travelling W@W Love. How I wish I have something also to share to the community but all my DIY’s were for personal use and not generic use.

The travelling birdies of OJ

The wooden heart of Joed

The fabricated LOVE of Lalaine

The Long arm stapler of Mimi

 There were lots of online contest also. I wasn't lucky to win any of it, but I'm glad I got this consolation price from the joint collaboration of The Pretty Palette by OJ and JoedShares, two lovely ladies who decided to venture as suppliers.

Consolation prize from The Pretty Palette by OJ

I also won from W@W Auction a dessert buffet bar from Purple Dish. The Auction happens once a year and exclusive only for active W@W members.

Dessert Buffet bar by PurpleDish. Photo by Bryan Yap

The forum is not just a helpful online forum anymore, it became a circle of friends and extended families. It made my wedding preps meaningful and bearable. They are there virtually and physically to cheer you up, enlighten you when things starts to be blurry, gives you tips and advices, lend their ears when you need someone to listen, and to show you things that you tend to oversee. One tip that I'm really glad I did was the "plastic container" for the couple's food, think about a tiffin box. It was Joed who thought about it, since the bride and groom seldom enjoys the reception food because 1) they are busy with their guests, and 2) they are in a cloud nine and the taste of the food doesn't really register (it happens to me), and left-overs are not a sure shot most of the time, so it's better to reserve a food for the couple to bring home with them, thus you require the "plastic container" so that your caterer can reserve food for you. I'm glad I did this because I was able to enjoy the reception food back in the hotel. I should have done it also for the dessert buffet.

I’m lucky to be part of the W@W community as I did not find only friends but gained families too. The W@W Love can just engulf you amidst the wedding preps, and even after the wedding, the friendship never ends. It’s a bond you never thought it is possible in a cyberworld.

Summer Lakwatsa with the W@wies at Ugu Bigyan

At the W@W Booth during the Bridal fair

Dinner at IHop

Catching up before leaving for Bangladesh

The lunch date that started it all - my kaladkarin days

More lunch dates 

as wedding guests in a W@wie wedding

meeting randomly

Cheers to our fellow w@wies for the never ending love and friendship! =)

Supplier's Review: Photographer: Bryan Yap

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bryan Yap Photography (Pre-Nup and Wedding Day)

Peso Power: Php 30,000 Service Only

Inclusion: Unlimited digital shots for the duration of event and service of Bryan Yap + 1 photographer

Highly Recommended

Bryan Yap and his team after our wedding reception

Among our suppliers, he is my and honey’s favorite, having said that, this may sound bias but it isn’t! Two thumbs up for him and his team. He actually became my sort of “wedding tips advisor” and an “ear” during the wedding preps. Bryan is not that popular in the wedding industry, it's not because he doesn't have the talent but simply because he doesn't know how to market himself. He doesn't advertise much, I think he enjoys his low-profile and let the word of mouth works for him. Most of the time, he works as the second photographer of high-profile photographers and that's were he gets the chance to improve and hone his skills without too much pressure a main photographer usually gets. And, working from behind gives you the talent of looking for every nook and cranny just to capture that most prized moments.

Bryan was referred to me by my friend who is into photography too. I actually forwarded all the portfolio links to her and ask her opinions regarding my choices. And she notices that majority are post-processed already. Obviously, I don’t like someone whose photographs are just good after post-processing so they were all slash out from the list, and the search continues. I’m in search for someone who can deliver raw images with great output already. That’s when Mika referred me to Bryan’s website, and even asked her friend for feedback regarding Bryan’s service since they hired him for their wedding and after a year, to their first child’s baptism & birthday event. Yes, that’s how satisfied the client with Bryan’s work that they became loyal clients.

During the time I was still inquiring, I was surprised to received at least 1 paragraph answers to every questions I asked him. It’s not the usual “template answers” I received from other inquiries. I thought at first it’s his way of “sales talk”. I even get annoyed with his “OK’ in every end of the sentence. Then, as we continued with our communication thru emails which I noticed he usually answers in the wee hours, I’ve realized that he is just one friendly-talkative-photographer and not just “sales talking” me to get his service, and his “ok” is his manner of speaking in reality without being an airhead. So it seems we are becoming chums even if I haven’t book him yet, and even started sharing insights regarding wedding preps woos and other stuff. And well, it’s a small world really, because his partner was a student in Fine Arts where I used to teach, and she is from our province and supposed to be a distant relative. Thanks for that, I got an additional freebie.

Even with his great output, we decided to book him for his “service only” because of 1) budget wise it’s more affordable, 2) honey thinks photo albums are dust-collectors and in this country, dust is like your second skin already, that’s how dusty it is here, and 3) I want to do my own lay-out as “scrapbooking” is one of my hobby, and honey is my number one fan and critic. And, if ever I decide in the end that I want an album, I can always go back to Bryan and ask them to do it and will just pay for the fee.

We booked him for “Service Only”, but I got some freebies for being a good client, and because Pie is a "distant relative", yes, I'm a "user". According to him, he gave me those because I didn’t demand for it but I asked nicely for it, and who could say “NO” to someone who asked it nicely, right? As for me, it's a gift that I gladly accepted, and it came when I was really upset. He added an SDE, and gave us free prenup pictorial within metro manila - but I cheated him coz we had our prenup at Sunvalley RealEstates in Inarawan Antipolo, of course I asked him first if it is okay if we had it there, and he said yes because he is from Marikina, he doesn’t want to do it at Eco park or Wildlife park as much as possible, and because I’m a good girl. And he also gave us a CD of selected pictures from the pre-nup to be shown during the cocktail hour. This was so much help because we only had our prenup 4 days before the wedding and I don’t have time to make one anymore.

Prenup pictorial by Bryan Yap

During our DIY pre-nup pictorial, it was a gloomy day. But it was perfect day somehow for a pictorial. It’s not sunny and it’s not raining hard too. It is humid but at least we were not under a scorching heat of the sun nor drenched in rain. We already have “The Notebook” as our peg just in case Mr. Rain will join us that day. Our pre-nup pictorial is too casual. Honey doesn’t like dressing up, he doesn’t want the “thematic pictorials”, and he just wants to ne at ease and is as he is. We had 3 casual looks 1) dressy look – I am also a girl and I need to show that, 2) couples shirt – we’re are just strolling in the park or hiking in the jungle, and 3) sporty look since he is a gym buff and I also want to show-off my toned-body care of my 3 months love affair with Gold’s Gym and discipline in eating. And well, I find a man who loves my least favorite part of my body – my big arms.

Prenup Pictorial by Bryan Yap

We had so much fun during the pictorial, even my in-laws find him friendly and jolly. You just simply easily ease-up with him because of his “gay-ish antics/style” and friendliness. It’s light and easy working with him. We were limited to certain parts of the subdivision but Bryan was able to capture a good angle and composition. Since we both forgot to bring our laptop, I wasn’t able to get a copy of the pictures instantly, but he came to my house the following day to deliver the CDs. That’s good service isn’t? It's good that we live near Marikina.

Bryan in action. Photo courtesy of my  bro-in-law

Come wedding day, Bryan and his team arrived earlier than the scheduled time because they want to do the details shot before everyone else arrives. Instead of two photographers, they had another one that day, so I have 3 photographers that day – Bryan, Pie and MC. After introducing the whole team, they proceed with their work. It’s a good thing also that they informed my coordinator that they want to start early because the night before that, Charisse came to my suite to arrange all the items needed to be photograph. Bryan just had to take those things and start shooting them; they don’t have to disturb me anymore because I was already having my make up done.

It was fun and easy working with the whole team. Obviously, I can’t still control myself from smiling, so all the “pensive look”, “serious look” was all failure. But they really captured the real me – “Bungisngis peachy”, and I caught them with their favoritism – they took a lot of pictures of Aiden, Mika’s daughter, my friend who referred Bryan to me, and who finally booked him for a family pictorial session a few weeks before my wedding day. That’s their first time to meet each other and they too have a great experience with the session.

Bryan’s style is a mix of everything – he can adapt to his client’s needs. He made sure that he can cover all the things that I require but at the same time making sure that he can deliver more than what I expect from him. He is open for suggestion too, if you like a certain pose, he will take it. My in-laws are uptight but he was able to chill with them and made them pose too. He gave me the raw images in DVD a few days after our wedding because we went home to Ilocos the day after the wedding.

Sharing our SDE by  Bryan Yap:

Alvin & Peachy's SDE Slideshow from Bryan Yap on Vimeo.

The only CON I can think about is they forgot to go back to the buffet table to take pictures of the foods. When I asked Bry about this, what he said was, the food were not ready yet when his team were taking details shot, but still it isn’t a reason to forget about it, so he was so sorry about it. It’s a small thing, it’s really not a problem but I’m into details too, that’s why I noticed that the food pictures are missing. But again, this small detail doesn’t affect their credibility and skills. I’m still grateful that I didn’t have to experience horror stories with my photographer.

He is one high-calibre photographer with the friendly rate every bride and groom wants to grab! By the way, I didn't request for additional enhancement to the raw images because I'm already happy and satisfied with the raw images! 

https://www.facebook.com/SunValleyEstates.Property

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTmwdJT0-Xg