I'm no fashion addict but all these fashion blogs by the Zamboanga Bloggers makes me want to share some of photos from my vanity shelf. I am interested in fashion but only into photography and videography, not much for personal use :D. I can't afford those fancy clothes in the magazines that i read so i just mix and match what i have in my wardrobe. But if someone gave me hundred and thousands of bucks to spend, ill throw all my existing clothes, go to manila and shop at Topman, Zara, H&M, Aldo, etc and build my own walk-in closet. Oh what a dream! Anyways, here's my first post in a new serie called That Style where i share my fashion insights for casual guys like me. They say that Fashion fades but style is eternal. :D

FILIPINO TIME - Not a good thing for party planners. You always want to follow a timeline for your party because every second counts. It is expected that the actual programme starts one to two hours late than the time stated in the invites. You may expect your guests to come late but there are diligent guest, too, that come on time or earlier. Since the programme has not yet started, what will the guests do while waiting? You don't want them to get bored. So what you can do is provide them activities to do during this time period.

First, they can sign the guest book or better yet a fun guest frame where they can do more things than just writing their name. Check out the guest frame i did for the party here. Next, make a game for the guests to find their seats using escort cards. Check out 10 great escort cards ideas for your party here . You can also provide cocktails or something to nibble and hire a band to entertain your guests while waiting. And of course, to make the most of the spare time, set up a fun photobooth.

Photo Booths are trending party must-haves nowadays. It has become the alternative for little figurine tokens given during wedding receptions. It is more personalized and you can have the printed photo in a matter of seconds or minutes. Many photographers package this in their services or you can rent a photobooth machine in photo shops. It may cost 5,000 to 8,000 pesos depending on the number of prints or hours. But, you can also set up your own photobooth as long as you have the necessary skills. Here are things that you must consider in setting up a photo booth.

1. Backdrop. Have a good backgorund for your photo booth. This may range from simple tarps to elaborate themed sets. If you dont have a budget, you can use a nice fabric with patterns. I prefer woven patterns than printed ones. If you want a customized design, you can print your design in tarpaulins for 25-50 pesos per square foot. You can also make a 3-dimensional set by adding props (e.g. sofas, tables, sculptures, etc) coherent to the theme or motif of your party. You don't want you guests to blend with the background, right? So, for me, the simplier the better. Here are some backdrop ideas for your event.



2. Lighting. Provide good lighting for your booth but make sure you don't disrupt the overall lighting and ambience of the venue. You can turn off your lights during the program. Good lighting will prevent harsh shadows in face and glares in tarps. You can use flourescent flood lights or LED lights provided by the sound and light suppliers. Just make sure the backdrop is clear but the subject must pop out from it.

3. Props. This puts "fun" in fun booth. You can provide props like hats, shades, and frames. Let your guest do crazy poses be creative in using their props. Don't let them rush in thinking for a pose but don't let them take too much time in the booth. There are people waiting in line, too. For our party, we prepared chalkboards, moustaches and bowties for props.



4. Camera. Professional photographers use DSLR cameras but Point-and-shoot cameras and even webcams may also be used as long as the image resolution is high. You can use a USB cord so the photo is saved directly in the computer. But you can also manually save the files from the memory card. Laptops usually have a memory card reader.

5. Laptop. Desktops are too bulky and hard to transport. Use a laptop equipped with right softwares and specs like memory card reader and USB ports.

6. Template. The design and layout makes your photo souvenir unique from other photos. Your layout indicates when, where, and what event the photo souvenir was taken. It has a photo of the celebrant(s) taken from their pre-shoot. It also has 2 to 3 empty frames where the photo will be placed. Graphics may also be included as long as it's relevant to the theme of the party.

7. Software. We use photoshop and its feature actions to automate the layout process. Click here to learn how to make photoshop actions. After laying out the photos in one layout, we immediately queue the file to the printer. There are also photobooth softwares that programs it all for you - from taking pictures to layout to printing. However, it may cost you a little money.

8. Printer. We use the handy Canon Selphy printer to print our photos. Its a small printer that lets you print high quality postcard size (4R) photos. However, it may take a minute or more to print one photo. There are lots of photo printer out there that prints in a matter of seconds.

9. Presentation. After printing, you can place your prints in frames or envelopes. You can also make a claiming station where guests can also see the photos of the other guests. We clipped the prints in abaca rope using wooden pegs along side the old photos of our parents. You can decorate the area according to the theme and leave your Thank You message for the guests.




10. Facebook. Lastly, post the photos online and tag your guests. Upload it in high resolution so they can download it and reprint it afterwards. Let your party be a memorable and talked about one with these photos.

So there you have it. Just be creative in setting up your photobooth and have fun! Of course, if you don't have the patience and luxury of time to think about all of these, Seed Interactive is always at your service :D Check out some of the pics during the party.

This is one of the highlights of my setup for the party, the Guest Frame area. Traditionally, guests sign up in a guestbook located at entrance of the reception. Now, there are lots of creative ways to welcome your guests. A guest frame is a popular alternative for guest book. It is a frame with a little photo of the couple, some text, and a big space where guests can leave their messages or wishes.

Today, we are not limited to guest books and frames, we can spice up the start of the wedding reception with some nice activities for the guests. Here in the Philippines, we always expect people to come an hour late during parties and some will come just in time or earlier. So while waiting for the other guests, you can provide cocktails and make a band to play nice music. You can also setup a photobooth and give them more activities in the guest area.

For my party, I decided to make a DIY Guest Tree. It is an unfinished artwork where every guest can help finish it. The frame has an image of a tree without leaves. A palette with paints of different colors is provided beside the frame. Using the paint, guests will have to press their thumbprints on to the artwork. Their fingerprint will serve as a leaf and every guest will contribute their piece of leaf until the whole tree is filled. They should also sign below the fingerprint or give their wishes around the tree. It is a work in progress and it will only be completed by the guests until the end of the event.

I bought a nice wooden frame painted in gold. My cousin made the design of the tree and i hand-painted it on to the paper. The paper we used is a beige cartolina-sized special paper with a nice texture. The text and pattern for the ground is digitally printed. I cut it into shape and pasted it on the paper before painting the tree. I also made an infographic instruction so guest will know what to do. So here is the final look of the "Guest tree".



Finally, I decorated the guest frame area with lots of vintage stuff like pocket books, little clocks, paper cars and my dad's collection of nozzles and fireman snowglobe. We also clipped old photos with wooden pegs in abaca rope. The little posts were borrowed from our friend, Gerry DCarpio, who is also an event coordinator/stylist. We hand made the paper vintage cars using the templates we found in the internet. There is also a candy jar with peppermint candies we bought in La Tienda. A Check out more photos below.



Credits to Ryann Elumba (Seed Interactive Multimedia Production) for the photography, and me for the editing. I couldn't have done these without my dearest brothers and our cousin Wella, and her boyfriend, Lance. :D Thanks guys! Do check out the rest of the details of Project Red Party here.

Here's another essential part of event styling, the Centerpiece. My inspiration for the centerpiece are the beautiful skylines of New York. Since the tables of the reception are small, we have to create a small but elegant centerpiece without too much expense. It's all DIY here :D Here is the final look of the skyline silhouette centerpiece.



The centerpiece is made of black special board paper and we cut out the windows and shape of the buildings. A candle illuminates inside so the windows glow like the buildings at night. We also embellished the inside of the buildings with crystal stickers so when you peep inside you can see the sparkling details. Aside from the skyline cutout, we also made card numbers. It's made of white specialty board paper. I made the design in photoshop inspired by musical symbols and floral patterns. We printed it in the back side of the board paper and carefully cut them out. To put some color, we used the excess doodle pattern from the invitations. We placed them inside but not directly on the backside of the cut-out so there will be depth. You can slightly see the shadow of the cutout in the pattern when light hits it. Here's how our card numbers look like.

 

I love how the light casts through the window on the table! In addition, I also borrowed wooden decorative furnishings and little lamp post candle holders by Gerry DCarpio of GDC Events. Thanks so much Sir Gerry! :D You can also see the specially packaged sparklers that was used during the program. Finally, we added more candles and glasses, and sprinkled the table with sweet delights.

Thanks to my brothers, Mark and Aljo, and Wella and Lance. I couldn't have done these without your help!

Last month, i had my first opportunity to become an event planner for our thanksgiving party. I'll share little by little every detail of the party and share my thoughts and tips in a series of post called Project Red Party. I posted the moodboard that i created here which involves firetrucks, skylines and things related to music. The party is a double celebration since its my dad's 50th birthday and their 25th (Silver) Wedding Anniversary. They both work at the Fire Department where my dad is the city fire marshal and my mom is a government employee. Thus, the color motif that I chose is red, silver and black.

The first thing we planned out are the essentials of the party: the date, time, venue, and theme. After finalizing them, I started to create the moodboard and eventually the invites. I wanted to create a simple, fun-looking, hip yet elegant looking invitation without much cost. So here's the final look of the invitation. :)


The inspiration for the design is fusion of NYFD (New York Fire Department) and Jazz. We printed it in poster paper and embellished it with crystal stickers to give it a sparkling finish. The envelope is a 6-inch wide special scented envelope with a nice pearly texture. Then to give it a color, i printed a doodle-ish pattern in red paper and covered the inner side of the flap. On the other side of the envelope, we labelled it with the name of the recepient with some musical symbols. And finally, we sealed the invitation with a specially designed emblem of the event which is inspired by the logo of the fire department.

I'm personally satisfied with the design of my first-ever DIY invitation and my parents liked it too. Each invite roughly cost 15 pesos only. With a creative design and resourcefulness, you can really make a cool, cheap but expensive looking invite for your party. Here are some fun behind the scenes photos of us during the process of creating the invites.


Thanks to my brothers, Wella and Lance for helping me out :D More updates soon...