Pia Reyes, make-up machine

Thank you post #1

All couples — and I mean ALL — invest in photography or videography, which is totally understandable. What I don’t understand is why not as many brides invest in their make-up. Or why few grooms understand that it’s a very necessary expense. I mean, would you really want to look at photos where you don’t look  pretty? They’re going to last for all eternity, you know, so you might as well have the most beautiful version of yourself documented.

This is why it took me forever to book my hair and make-up artist. I did two trial make-ups and reviewed the portfolios of at least 20 experts before landing on the website of  Pia Reyes. You know that feeling when you finally find The One? You get nervous (because you might not be able to afford her) and then giddy (because you could) and then you gloat (because you found a gem in the wedding world). I went through the whole thing.

I booked Pia, a make-up artist for Lancome, without a trial make-up, just a few e-mail exchanges on rates, pegs, etc. Now I don’t normally do that, but I was so sure, based on her work (then, mostly in the fashion industry), that Pia could pull off the look I wanted — and as always, I was right (LOL).

Looking at our photos now, I know I could not have made a better choice.

Tres Hijas: This is me (right) with my sisters Argen and Abbie, all of us at different stages of evolution. LOL.

The tools of the trade:

The bridal suite scene: Pia and her hairstylist Dave Lopez photoshop everyone — my mom and sisters, my coordinator-friends, Rhoel’s aunts and our flower girls. Make-up sessions started at noon, five hours before the wedding.

A final check:

And this is it, folks — smile for the cameras!

Pia and Dave also gave me a second look for the reception. This is us with our favorite pastor, Nuel Nanez, and his lovely wife Iris, AFTER the reception. Hail the staying power of make-up.

SIDE STORY: A day before our wedding, we treated our guests to a sunset sail on paraws. Problem was, we arrived late from Kalibo with our suppliers and had only about 1.5 hours to rest and get ready for the event. Pia and Dave, both freshened up, took no more than 20 minutes  (I swear they’re a mean make-up machine) to hide my stress that day.

My only regret in all this — yes, I do have one — is that I can’t afford to get Pia to do my make-up everyday for the rest of my life. 8 )

Our Tab: Can’t tell coz it was a special out-of-town arrangement.

Try Pia: 09178485632, piareyesmakeup@yahoo.com

Where credit is due

I owe a lot of people a lot of things (NOT money, for the record): I promised to post our wedding photos heres, I promised to give a detailed suppliers’ ratings/review to help other brides at weddingsatwork, and I promised my favorite suppliers that I would put their work up here, as a token of my appreciation. But alas, life got in the way — new civil status = domestic chores, new place = frequent guests, new job = fatal workload, and a hundred other new excuses.

But on this rainy Saturday, cooped up at home, the sky outside my favorite shade of gray, I remember the good promises I made to good people. I intend to fulfill them. Yes, like, NOW. I’ll give a glimpse of our big day by paying tribute to the suppliers whose loving and efficient execution of their tasks spelled the difference between a wedding we would rather forget and one we will always cherish. I’ll put tips and side stories, too, for the brides out there (see, hitting three birds with one stone!).

I dedicate the following posts to the people who worked their magic on our beach wedding — we will be forever grateful. (ALL PHOTOS ARE FROM OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS PAOLO FELICIANO AND EDWIN BACASMAS)

P.S. I am encountering some minor technical glitch in my blog, so bear with me for the delayed posting.

Beatles, beaches, etc.

It’s John Lennon’s birthday today, and I’m having a terrible time fighting nostalgia after watching Paul and Ringo’s 2007 interview with Larry King (replayed on CNN earlier). There’s something about the Beatles’ music that gets me all sentimental. All the time.

I remember when I was in grade school, my dad, a big Beatles fan, would wake up the household with a Beatles album blasting from the cassette player (Either that or something from the Beach Boys or Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Yeah, I know these guys — and yeah I’ve lived through the cassette era!).  On some nights, he would play the piano or guitar, and we would do a Von Trapp-family-singers number of a Beatles or Elvis song. Imagine dad + three daughters + mom (occasionally) belting out an all-Beatles repertoire (with voicing! LOL). Thank God we had nice neighbors. In high school, I decided to go for the guitar, and the first songs I tried to learn — in vain — were Yesterday and In My Life.  We changed addresses but the private concerts continued;  the neighbors remained nice. In college, there was the Eraserheads but I wasn’t that big of a fan like the rest of my generation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve ever really been a serious follower of any band in particular, but I’ve always had a soft spot for those divinely doing covers of the Beatles (like the Bloomfields).

Meanwhile my show went on: I finished school, got the most stressful, most rewarding job, found love, learned my lesson, turned to Paul, John, George and Ringo for some form of comfort, flitted, fluttered, got caught.

After a year of neurotically charged wedding preparations, I walked down the aisle — sand, technically — my sisters before me, my mom and dad on either side, and my four favorite boys in the background. That day, my life changed to the tune of Here, There, Everywhere. It was pure love.

So you can understand why, lying on the couch this afternoon, I turned to mush watching all those Beatles clips. It’s not the first time I wished I had lived in the 1960s so I could legitimize this affinity to the sons of Liverpool.  I will forever love their music — they remind of good things.

And on this particular instance, they also reminded me of my blog. I owe this space a lot. I’ll try harder. For now, let me share a site that can help those who need some inspiration for their bridal march or first dance, or just something to calm the nerves. Enjoy the best of the Beatles here 8 )

Signed: