Venue: Jade Palace Restaurant, Shaw Blvd, Pasig City
Rating: 10
Price: Very affordable!

The food was excellent. Fresh, tasty, authentic Chinese. I must admit I booked Jade Palace because I know my papa will love the food. He’s very keen on Chinese cooking and I’d like to believe he loved the food this time, as opposed to the blah-food during my wedding. Hubby and I attended a baptism 2 years ago here in Jade and we both like the service and the food. Back then, we knew we’d book Jade for a family event in the future. The service was prompt, the waiters polite, and the manager was friendly, approachable and not imposing. Hindi nga niya tinuloy maningil sa akin after the party when she saw I was breastfeeding. Hinintay pa niya talaga ako matapos bago siya lumapit uli. Marami rin kaming na-take out, meaning generous ang serving. The aircon was ok, too. Malamig naman. The sound system was average, before kasi dumating yung guests, hindi agad mapagana nung waiter yung CD player, eh.

Balloons: Anna of all About Details
Rating: 10
Price: super cheap, P700 for everything na.

Anna was recommended by fellow mommy. She used their services too during her daughter’s dedication. Simple lang ang request ko for the centerpieces, pink and white balloons, hindi maarte para hindi natatakpan ang face ng mga guests at pwede silang mag-usap-usap around the table. Another plus sa kanila is that we didn’t have to meet up before the event. Text-text lang talaga ang negotiation, tapos nagkita na lang kami sa event mismo. Maaga pa nga sila dumating, mas maaga pa sa amin! Mabait din si Anna, wala akong reklamong narinig from her.

Cake: Miss Virgie
Ratings: 10++
Price: reasonable

Miss Virgie did our wedding cake. And back then, na-impress na kami sa kanya kasi kuha niya agad yung concept na gusto ko sa wedding cake namin. I just gave her the cake topper tapos siya na nag-design ng cake na super nagustuhan ng mga guests ang itsura. For my baby’s dedication, I didn’t bother calling up other cake makers. Si Miss Virgie na agad kinontak ko. Over the phone lang din at get na niya agad ang gusto kong mangyari sa cake. I asked for a chocolate cake this time, kasi nung wedding carrot cake ang ginawa niya for us. I love the hot pink and blue cake for Aliya. The miniature and edible baby feeding bottles, baby spoons, crib, bib, etc na nakapalibot sa cake were so cute! May hot pink na name din ni baby around for a more personalized touch. I caught some of the guests taking their pictures beside it, haha, gawin bang mascot ang cake! Basta, I love Miss Virgie, dali pang kausap!

Photographer: Jade Palace’ in-house photog
Rating: 8
Price: 4k for labor, printing and album

8 kasi hindi naman mala-Paul Vincent si Manong kung kumuha. Btw, Paul Vincent is our genius photog during our wedding. Eh si Manong, syempre mga simpleng shots lang naman ang style niya. We didn’t expect much anyway kasi mura lang naman. Besides, hindi naman malaki yung venue so hindi rin naman siya makakaikot gaano to take artsy photos. The album is ok lang din, mabilis din makuha. It took a bit longer, though kasi hindi kami nakapili agad from the contact prints which shots will be included sa album. And yes, contact prints talaga, hindi pa uso sa kanila yung ilalagay sa CD tapos dun kami mamimili.

Invites: Hubby’s artist-friend for lay-out, Digiprint for printing
Ratings: 8
Price: free yung lay-out, P6.50 per piece for printing

Maganda naman, pero syempre could have been better. But then, since this is not naman an engrande celebration, ok na sa akin yung invites. Cute din ng baby ko sa photo that hubbyy chose for the invites.

We just bought white envelopes sa National Bookstore and hubby photocopied maps of Jade Palace.

Officiating Pastor: Pastor Ed Bacani
Rating: 10!

Pastor Ed is our Ninong sa wedding and a very close family friend. He considers us his children and considers my daughter his apo. Good thing he officiated this event kasi he knows us very well kaya very personal ang message niya. He also has a sense of humor. The guests all laughed when he said that my daughter is the “prinsesa ng Multiply” because right after I gave birth, nasa Multiply na ang sangkaterbang photos ni baby. In my site, in hubby’s, and in my sister’s site, too.

Hosts: our friends Simon and Jacque Tan
Rating: 10+++
Price: priceless!

Nagtuturuan kami ni hubby kung sino magre-request kina Jacq na mag-host ng dedication ni baby. And so one afternoon while we were chatting sa may gate namin, (we’re neighbors din kasi), nagsenyasan kami ni hubby. Natalo ako sa senyas and I ended up being the one na magpakapal-muks kina Jacque. Syempre hindi sila naka-hindi. Hehe! Jacque even went to the extent of doing the programme and emailing to me her suggestions. Kahit fully-booked sila that day, they even accommodated us! And the hosting ha? Alive and fun talaga! Kaya nila ang guests namin! Energy kung energy talaga! Thanks mare at pare!

Aliya’s Outfit: Robinson’s Galleria
Rating: 9
Price: P350

Cute kung cute and easy to slip on, but because silk yung cloth that they used, madulas sa kamay. Kaya pag umiiyak si baby and squirmy, ang hirap niyang buhatin kasi parang mahuhulog siya. The cap and shoes that came with the gown were big, too. Hindi na namin pinasuot. She changed into a simple dress after the ceremony but because we forgot to buy shoes, nakayapak siya sa lahat ng pictures niya! Oh my!

Guest Sheets: DIY ko!
Rating: 10 of course!
Price: magkano lang ba ang illustration board? I did spend a bit, though dun sa mga stickers that I used to design the sheets.

Dahil feel kong may personal touch, and feel ko ding magtipid, I opted not to have guest sheets printed professionally. I just asked our maid to cut the boards (makapal kasi, di kaya ng kamay ko), then I designed them na by myself. It only took me 45 minutes to make all 6 sheets!

Tarpaulin: lay-out by hubby’s friend, printing by a printing house beside Jade Palace.
Rating: 5
Price: can’t remember, mura lang to.

Since rush ang paggawa ng tarp, last minute na lang din nagawan ng lay-out ‘to, so we didn’t get to approve the photos chosen and the printing was kinda dark. Para tuloy ang itim ni baby. Hubby was upset before the party started kasi disappointed siya sa outcome.

Music: Bless our Little Girl album
Rating: 10
Price: P250

Hubby and I decided to use this album because we both love the songs here. We used to play this often when I was still pregnant especially when we learned we’ll be having a baby girl. The song “Lord I Dedicate” was what we played over and over during the Ceremony.

Souvenirs: Ninong Vhon
Ratings: 10
Price: Free

This one is really a surprise. Although Vhon already informed us that he’ll be shouldering the give-aways, we didn’t expect that these Teddy Bears’d be neatly and cutely packed with my baby’s photo and thank you tag pa.

Prizes for the Games: TOY KINGDOM
Rating: 10
Price: less than a hundred each

I found these cute little dolls in Toy Kingdom thinking they’d make for nice Christmas gifts. But when I was planning the games for this dedication, I realized we need to have prizes syempre. So I asked hubby kung pasado sa kanya yung mga dolls as prizes, um-oo naman siya. Patawa lang si Simon (Tan, ni Jacque) kasi when he was hosting, he said collector’s item daw yung mga dolls. Haha! Kung alam niya lang, around P60 lang ata yung mga yun!

So there. We were satisfied and happy talaga with the outcome of the event. We know when my baby grows up, she’ll appreciate the effort we gave in giving her a memorable dedication and of course, she’ll appreciate, too the love and prayers of those who attended.