01.30.11 - Couturier: Cecilio Abad

*Photo taken from Nelwin Uy

Our Options

If there's one thing a bride values most other than groom during a wedding, it should be the bridal gown. For this, Joyce wanted to splurge, and to splurge means, not letting me pay for it since according to her, 'babaratin ko siya'. Well, she might be right as I initially thought a gown would only cost P25K-P30K max! Apparently, cost of a gown can get as high as 160K. That's when my jaw dropped! I am just thankful my wife-to-be knows me too well and accepts me for who I am.

Veluz Reyes - She is probably one of the most sought after bridal couturier in the country. From what I know, her gowns start at P80K. Unfortunately, she's booked already for our wedding date. I'm sure this somehow disappointed Joyce. (for Veluz's Blog)

Cecilio Abad - Ironically, it was me who discovered CA for Joyce after going through some wedding blogs. Joyce somehow liked what she saw. CA would probably be a very good alternative after Veluz. He was W@W's Supplier of the Year for 2008. He also seems to be really soft-spoken and a very genuinely nice person. His shop being 5 minutes away from where Joyce was staying in Manila also helped. (for Cecilio's Blog)

Our Choice

We got lucky with CA because he only accepts 3 weddings a day and on the day of our wedding, Joyce will be the third. Upon knowing this, Joyce immediately set an appointment with CA for a sketch. Before doing the sketch, CA asked Joyce to wear this tube-like outfit. If I'm not mistaken, this is being used to somehow get an idea what type of body figure the bride has. I think CA gave Joyce a couple of options to choose from. Of course, it was quite difficult to make a decision on the spot, so Joyce decided to sleep over it and she did some research online so she can visualize the sketch better. After a couple of days, Joyce decided to book him already. Oh, while at CA's shop, I learned about fashion terms like 'drama' and 'tulle'. And all this time I thought 'tulle' was only for boys.

Rate: I believe CA's rates start at P65K.

Update!!!

This morning, Joyce had her 3rd fitting. She asked me if I wanted to go with her and see how the gown looks like. I declined the offer since I wanted to have an element of surprise on the wedding day. As cheesy as this may sound, I can visualize myself looking at her for the first time in her wedding dress as the church door opens - a scene I often see only in wedding videos, so now would be my chance to experience that feeling.