Chapter 17: Hitting the Bingo for Our Postnup Reception

Jun 10, 20206 min read

It's finally here, the last of our wedding saga. Oh, it was quite an adventure from our Tinghun, to our destination wedding, and lastly to our Manila postnup reception. It's tiring, but thoroughly fun. We got thrice the priceless memories we can ever ask for. Definitely no regrets here! Details on planning for this postnup reception here.

We were quite chill during the day. It's not until around 3PM which was our call time to go to the venue for our hair and make up. We just relaxed at home while some of our suppliers were there already at 8AM for ingress. They needed all the time they can get for the setup!

Once we arrived, my HMUA, Ms. Joyce Jimenez arrived soon after and immediately started with my makeover. After a while, my family had also arrived with my mom waiting her turn for her makeup.

Around 4:30PM, our P/V team One R Graphic Studio has also arrived and we got ready for our quick prep shoot. It's just a couple of shots since the room was quite small.

After that, I went back to Ms. Joyce for my final gown look. Meanwhile, One R went to the venue to capture some of the elements and styling.

That's our dearest coordinator Ms. Monina on standby as she checked everything if it's in place

So far, Arc Interiors and Events, the event stylist packaged with our catering, was able to pull off the desired design we wanted, as well as the cake from Angelyn's Cakes. We were so pleased with the outcome. The overall look and feel gave a simple, not-over-the-top but classy and elegant ambience, just the way we wanted.

After we finished dressing up, we posed for more photos while there's still time before the guests start arriving. The concept and style of One R was more on glam poses, which we believed was also suitable for the event as we're already married, so there wasn't much storytelling going on, nor any symbols needed to capture. We simply enjoyed the photoshoot overload, families included!

The guests started arriving so we went back to the holding room and wait for the right time to start the program, while our families stayed at the venue to greet and welcome the guests.

We felt the time flying during our Coron wedding, but this time, it's us who's waiting for time to catch up. Finally, it's 8PM and our dearest emcee Ms. Carolyn Batay officially started the night. Of course, like a true wedding reception, we were honored to have our parents and principal sponsors parade for their introductory march for one last time. However, we opted not to include our bridesmaids and groomsmen anymore as some of them were already back abroad and it would also be consuming much of their time. Also, if you've noticed, we no longer have a strict dress code. Any gowns, dresses and suits will do. We wouldn't want to give another burden to our dear Ninongs and Ninangs.

After them, it was our turn. We've done this before, but the feeling was still surreal . Once we got up on stage, we immediately had the dinner served. Nobody wants hungry guests, right? Particularly the elderly, otherwise you will not hear the end of it! Tjioe the Caterer was also kind enough to include a simple waiter's parade. Food was as usual, superb! A lot of our guests aren't really familiar with Tjioe as they're used to big Chinese restos like Century, East Ocean and Gloria Maris. So it was a nice move from us to let them taste their glorious food, and they definitely did not disappoint. A lot of our guests were pleasantly surprised and pleased with the dinner. Another happy transaction with Tjioe that we'll surely choose them again someday!

Afterwards, we went for a good-old table to table group picture with the guests, then with our principal sponsors and parents and finally we were seated to eat with them together, all while our emcee serenaded the guests with Chinese songs. Of course, we wouldn't want to miss Tjioe's food! We decided to eat with them together for a change, since there wasn't much activity anyway. The night was supposed to be a relaxing one, and it was.

It's time for the first two rounds of Bingo! Our coordinators distributed 4 cards per guest. It's funny to see how different cultures and behaviors are across different backgrounds. Normally, people would be shouting for their desired numbers to hit Bingo, which would make the game festive. On the other hand, our guests were downright serious! It was quiet, but all of them were intensely concentrating and participating with their cards. Noises and claps emerged only when a winner was declared. What a formal Bingo setup we had, but fun nonetheless. It was nice to see the elderly entertained, almost forgetting to eat! It didn't take long for winners to hit Bingo for both rounds, as we kept the pattern simple (single line) so we wouldn't take too much time per round. We gave away an Asahi Oven Toaster for the 1st winner and an American Tourister luggage for the 2nd winner.

Who said we couldn't do the wedding gestures for the second time around? Still felt like it's the first time to us. <3

This was immediately followed by a grand toast alongside our parents. Then, like most Chinese weddings, it was a tradition for the Chinese association to gift something to the newly married couple, usually a novelty symbolic figurine, while the parent member of the couple would give back money as donation to the association.

We're down to our last agenda of the night, which was the last round of Bingo. This time, the pattern was a cross (+). It took a bit longer than the first two rounds, but the night was still early anyway. We had the time. Can't believe I would ever say that on an event! It only took around 15 mins before we declare the last winner who won the grand TCL smart TV. Coincidentally, it was my father-in-law!

The night ended just on time around 10pm. No guest left earlier, and we were even able to do the traditional greet-them-while-they-leave gesture, which is almost non-existent nowadays. On their way out, a lot were complimenting about the food. We made sure to pass the love to Tjioe once it's time to pack up. We were also able to give away the excess wedding favors from Coron along with our honey bottle favors.

The wishing tree that our coordinator set up was also filled with wishes from the guests. It was a nice choice we picked from the list of freebies as we get to keep another memento for our wedding saga.

Lastly, the night wouldn't be complete without obligatory photos with our dearest emcee and coordinator team. They've been with us through this whole journey and we knew we would surely miss them once we settled down. We're really looking forward to do other future events with them.

See how chill the entire night was? We unexpectedly had a good time too. We certainly believed our elderly guests appreciated this kind of program flow with a timely start and an early finish. Grand wedding receptions usually start very late, and end very late. Because of that, guests are already hungry prior to dinner, and once they're finished, they tend to leave earlier. Could be due to avoiding traffic, other appointments, work the next day, or maybe they simply wouldn't want to stay any longer because they can't relate much to the activities. These were exactly the kind of things we were avoiding which was why we first decided to have a destination wedding. Separating the type of guests by having a separate reception turned out to be a great idea because we were able to tailor the expectations and make everybody happy and enjoy the night, including ourselves!

Well, there you have it! This concludes our wedding planning adventure saga. It was a long road, but a good one. Moreover, we learned so many things and became friends with a lot of people along the way. I also discovered my love for weddings and events. It was truly an exhilarating and unforgettable experience.

It's time to say hello to married life!

#kaxianjiansiclarice

***All my posts are in no way sponsored or paid. I narrate our wedding planning adventure like a diary, with only actual facts and experiences.***

Chapter 17: Hitting the Bingo for Our Postnup Reception

Reception Planning Team:

1. Bride & Groom

2. OTD Coordination: Monina E Events & Mark

3. Venue and Ceiling Lanterns: One Esplanade

4. Catering, Cake and Event Stylist: Tjioe the Caterer, Angelyn's Cakes, Arc Interiors and Events

5. Lights and Sounds: Sensitivity Lights and Sounds

6. Photo / Video: One R Graphic Studio

7. Emcee: Carolyn Batay