Hi everyone! Apologies if you haven’t heard anything from me lately. The latter part of 2011 has been very very very busy…. But in the midst of all the hustle and bustle…. a miracle happened and it’s probably the greatest Christmas gift that we ever received!

We’re expecting. 8 weeks to be exact as of today. Will blog about this wonderful experience very soon!

Merry Christmas everyone and a blessed New Year ahead!!!

* To take a peak at the latest shoots that I have been doing.. hop over at our Chestknots Facebook page and the official Chestknots website

Here are photos from the ceremony and some details along the way! Enjoy!

We had directional signs made which we hammered ourselves a few nights before the wedding.. yeh!

Our good friend Alex Pangalangan headed the making of our giagantic 7 feet tall names that filled the gigantor field of Manila Polo Club. Transporting these letters were a challenge! But boy was it worth it!

Yummy snacks awaited our guests. We selected these ourselves for they were our favorite snacks. Having attended hundreds of weddings.. I always get hungry during ceremony time.. and have some snacks towed inside my belt bag..teehee!

Tine wanted to personalize everything from even tagging the umbrellas and the fans that we gave out!

NERDS. Can’t live without them! Yan yan too!

Some other stuff we put out on display: the white baskets filled with rice to throw during the recessional, lolipops that Tine loved, the battery powered ice cream fans came from divisoria!

The resin chairs from Likha really fit the mood and feel of the ceremony set up that Teddy Manuel and team produced! Love every detail of it

We wanted to our guests to come in their summer formal attire and it was awesome that they followed the suggestions and colors we set!

The entourages hats were made by the very talented Tracy Dizon

We were able to sneak in Coffee too to join the celebration!

Hanging out with my Imagine Nation brothers! I wonder who’s next to get married..

The raiding of the snack shacks!

We had the monogram of our names printed in wood.. yes wood! Yes it’s possible!

My bestman was of course no other than my mentor and friend, John Ong. He has guided me through my career and calling as a wedding photographer and groomed me as a leader.. it was an honor to have him by my side during my wedding. Thanks so much Jong!

I could still remember walking down the aisle towards my parents! It was such a hazy experience!

Our siblings waiting their turn to walk down the aisle!

Couldn’t see Tine much from where I was standing at the front but my what a sight it was to see her walk down the aisle.. This was the only time that I was waiting for a bride down the aisle with no camera on tow

As tine was walking down the aisle, we had a custom made bridal march song sung by Doki and my brother… Man that made the tears even pour harder! Will post the song here when once the recording of it is done!

By this time I knew this was certainly it! haha!

We had the same sunset sky when I proposed to Tine in Punta Fuego last year.

Happiness!

Really love this shot by Dino Lara. Thanks Dino!

Off to the reception next!

At last, after a lot of sorting from tons of photos, we have narrowed it down and now we’re happy to be sharing it! Since it’s a bunch, will be posting the ceremony and reception in different blog entries!:D So let’s start with our wedding preps!

Being on the other end of the camera was certainly something getting used to.. am more comfortable and rather be behind it..hehe. Preparing for our wedding was really no easy task.. How things just fell in place was just amazing.. God-sized amazing. We started to formally prepare for the wedding last January.. and we got married in April! Talk about rushing it! Sleepless nights and constant trips to meet suppliers, travel to divisoria, and at the same time lookin for a place to stay already after we got married added to the still busy schedules of shooting client weddings and prenups AT the same time constructing and preparing Chestknots Studios was just craziness to the brim!

But thanks to the Lord, all the above things I mentioned.. got done His way and not our way.

Here’s the list of suppliers that we super duper thank for making our wedding possible!

Bridal Gown and Groom’s Suit: Cecilio Abad

Reception Gown: Joel Escober

Family Suits and Gowns: Jean Avallanosa-Dee

HMU: Aaron Lejarde and Randy Sta Ana of The Makeup Studio

Jesy Alto-Ocampo of The Color Artistry for the Lucas family make up

Photography: Imagine Nation Photography (Toto Villaruel, Carlo Cecilio, Jamie Lihan, Jason de Guzman, Derrick Lim, Noel Salazar, Arlene Briones, Gracielle Hernandez), Erron Ocampo, Dominic Barrios, Jason and Joanne Arquiza, Mango Red and Dino Lara.

Videography: Mayad Studios and Wang Videography

Coordination: Christine Ong-Te Events

Event Stylist and Flowers: Flowers and Events by Teddy Manuel

Ceremony and Reception: Manila Polo Club

Host: Max Tiu

Band: Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and my brother’s band

Resin chairs: Likha

Tiffany Chairs: Josiah’s Catering

Cake: Sugarbox

And to the other friends in the wedding industry who lent a hand, gave advice, and prayed with us thank you.

*Shucks hope I didn’t forget anyone!

When we were thinking about our wedding invites.. we had a bunch of ideas and we didn’t know how to put it together! So we asked from help from the super genius creative, Danika Navarro of Hello Rio! We wanted an invite that could showcase our personalities, our line of work and the mood and feel that we wanted for our wedding. The printing was of course care of Kenstar! Much love went into the making of our invites. And we’re just happy that our guests enjoyed getting their copies..even some requested for theirs even after the wedding. ;D

Of course my wife wanted to give life to our respective hotel doors

Tine’s bridal gown was designed and created by one of the sought after and kindest friend we have in the industry..Tito Cecilio Abad! Tine’s reception dress was made the very hip fashion designer and who also has made hundreds of brides very happy; Joel Escober.

Tine couldn’t had a tough time looking for shoes for the wedding.. So she had them custom made! The chocolate inspired bouquet and the paper flowers of the entourage was tastefully created by our event stylist and good friend Teddy Manuel of Flowers and Events!

Forgive me, I couldn’t resist taking some photos of my soon to be wife that day..

Tine’s prep portraits was done by Erron Ocampo and Toto Villaruel

Meet our families!

Whew… next up am blogging our wedding ceremony tomorrow!

God had the biggest surprise when He gave the idea of trying out styling couples engagements/prenups. It started when I would show her my works and she would criticize what my couple’s were wearing. We researched and we didn’t know anyone that was focusing on this at that time. We then prayed for an opportunity.

Talk about timing, I then had 2 couples who wanted to have a concept for their prenup. One wanted to have a vintage themed shoot, the other a rocker shoot! Perfect! We humbly presented the idea during our meetings with our couples..hoped that they would like the ideas Tine presented.. and praise God that they did! That was the latter part of 2009.. and to boost, Weddings at Work recognized Tine’s new job title Engagement Stylist!

That experience was such an encouragement.. but afterwards I saw that Tine also faced a dilemma.. either to continue her corporate career or totally jump into being an Engagement Stylist. She was looking at her calendar for 2010 and it was still blank… and it looked like a safer choice to continue her corporate career. I continued to support her and encouraged her and asked her to seek God’s wisdom. In every major decision there were always 5 things that we considered: God’s word, Prayer, Authority, Circumstance,  and Peace. If all these things were a yes then that means GO!

Then finally she jumped.  And trusted the Lord for 2010 and beyond. We even got Coffee our lovable yorkshire terrier in Feb 2010 with almost half our savings.. and continued to pray for provision.. To fast forward a bit.. remember that blank 2010 schedule of hers? from a handful of clients during the latter 2009 to 100 plus clients in 2010!! Isn’t God amazing? and this 2011..she has already reached more than that in just first half of this year! * take note we even got married too!:D

photo by Jason and Joanne Arquiza

I just want to honor my wife for recognizing that God is bigger than any challenge that comes her way. I’ve seen her grow and mature in faith and become the “superwoman” God wants her to be. I admire her passion to put God first and I just see her continue to bloom in God’s love. Love you hon!

Photo by Erron Ocampo and Toto Villaruel

God still surprise my wife also! Like today she won a camera in a raffle from Forever 21!

God just orchestrated things and answered our prayer. Now we are married, doing what we love together, and now leading men and women of our team, Chestknots Studios.

We just dedicated our studio last July 28, 2011. Now we’re ready to rock and roll for this year and beyond!