paul vincent - our photographer

An online poll via facebook was conducted to let our family choose among the shortlist of our choice photographers. There was Pat Dy, Mimi & Karl, Paul Vincent and Oly Ruiz (Metrophoto).  We did this because Ferdie is leaning towards Paul Vincent's unique and wide range of techniques, while I was so in love with the old world glamour of Metrophoto's portfolio. I just added two more experts, whose works we love too, to spice up the poll, hehehe.

And the winner is.. via unanimous decision.. Paul Vincent delos Reyes of Paul Vincent Photography.

http://paulvincentphoto.com/blog/

I'm happy with the result as I realized that technique and consistency in the output will win over just glamour shots with a lot of post processing. I have nothing against Oly Ruiz, hey he's my bet! But Ferdie knows better when it comes to the technicality of photography. 

I emailed Paul the next day for an appointment and Ayvih, his wife, promptly responded. Paul then apologized and requested to meet us earlier as something came up (they will participate in the upcoming bridal fair at SMX). We will meet on a Friday night.. in Quezon City (traffic horror!). 

Off we went to their office cum residence at Veteran's Village with a dinner stop over at SM City North EDSA. Being creatures from the South, we decided explore SM North first. Paul was still coming from Manila so we have plenty of time. 

Of course we got lost finding Paul's address, hahaha! With google map in hand, Ferdie patiently guided me towards our destination.

We didn't expect Paul to be bubbly, down to earth and easy to talk to (thanks for the free same day edit slideshow!). And his smile.. it was contagious. We love him sobra! We didn't mind that his rates are higher than the average. Photo & video are our non-negotiables, second to food. I'm glad we booked him. 

He just have a few quirks: 

He's very OC about the projector to be used for his SDE slideshow. It has to be top notch, so as not to sacrifice the brilliance of his photos. And that's understandable, I'm an OC too.

He does not allow back up photographers.. :-/ He explains that he has a 7-man team (3 photographers, 4 lights & sound assistants). Add to that the videographer's team of 5 (I think), and we have ourselves a happy chaos. My cousin is a wedding photographer and I want him to be our back up sana. I hope he does not get offended. I'm sure he'll understand. Right Kuya Alvin? 

We bumped into him the next day at the wedding expo. He introduced us to his wife and his good friend Phoeben Teocson.. who is the topic of my next blog.

vatel manila's dylan gozum

Ferdie and I are so lucky to have the luxury of time to prepare for our big day. A major advantage is that most of the reputable suppliers are still available for our wedding date which falls on the peak season of December. The early bird catches the worm, as they say.

Dylan Gozum of Vatel Manila is one in demand florist/stylist. With his unique and tasteful creations, many brides would want him to execute their dream bouquet. Note that he doesn't repeat any arrangement twice. 

http://vatelmanila.blogspot.com/

I first got in touch with him last July through email. He immediately responded and gave me a form/checklist so he can customize a proposal for my entire entourage. He even posted a shout out on facebook: "is working on a black and old rose motif wedding with toile as inspiration. Cute!" 

I'm flattered that he liked my motif

After several email exchanges on the details (entourage head count, gown colors, barong or suit, etc.), he finally got back to me with his proposal. All I can say is "wow!". I immediately replied, "what a great proposal dylan.. i love it!  let's meet and talk about the details as the date approaches."

The quotation is quite reasonable too! I was expecting it to be expensive, coming from a premier florist.

So there, we got ourselves a deal for our flowers.