Sweet Penguin Photography

*Click on the image to view it in full size.

Just a plug for these new photographers in the industry who have a fresh perspective on weddings - check out their site for some unique and bad-ass shots. If you want a non-traditional style of capturing your precious moments, then Vinz and VJ Matias can do the job for you (and with a low-price guarantee, too!)

*To learn more about Sweet Penguin Photography and their services, click here.

The (Former) Breakroom

A funny thing happened to me at work the other night. I just came out of the restroom and was about to go back to our production/operations area when one of my male colleagues (who was also incidentally about to enter the work area) made a comment about the room adjacent to the restrooms and the entrance to the floor. This room used to be the breakroom for the agents, but is currently being renovated and will be converted into another sleeping room.

This is how our short conversation went:

MALE COLLEAGUE: Wow, the sleeping room's almost finished!

ME: Yeah I know. Easy access for all of us.

MALE COLLEAGUE: I hope it's coed!

Okay, I think that was TOO much information. -.-

A Dream Bridal Convoy

And now, the piece de resistance for the whole month of January was of course, another wedding to prepare for!

Anthony and Jenny's wedding marked my very first Concept Magic project for 2009 (after months of not handling anything while I was in the U.S.) so I treated this as a new chapter in my event-planning life.

This wedding was actually my very first Honda Club wedding - and I couldn't be any prouder! Anthony approached me last December with only one request: to ensure that the reception program would be short, yet deliciously entertaining. And since he also requested that I be the emcee for the program, controlling the flow of things was not really much of a problem for me.

What I really found unique about Anthony and Jenny's wedding was what the couple termed as the "dream bridal convoy." I, along with several of our other friends from the Silver Brothers (a quasi-group within HCP) met up at Shell Julia Vargas (commonly known as BAS to many car enthusiasts) and escorted the bride in a huge convoy going to Christ The King Parish - the bridal car, of course, being one of Anthony's prized possessions: his kick-ass JDM-inspired Honda Civic EK. It was a truly unique spectacle!

I co-hosted the reception program with Mikko (remember the HCP Shredders in a previous blog entry?) and I felt truly relieved that everything went smoothly. We even finished the program ahead of time! I also loved the way Anthony was a good sport about everything - especially during the part where he had to do a pseudo-sexy dance to the tune of "Like A Virgin" while walking toward his new wife to remove the garter from her leg! That was definitely a bunch of laughs! (Too bad I don't have the video here - it would have been priceless!)

I guess we didn't disappoint the newlyweds that night, because a few days later, we received an email from Anthony and Jenny with a truly heartwarming testimonial. This is what they wrote:

"Concept Magic Events really made our dream wedding come true. We didn't have any idea how a modern wedding program runs but Concept Magic Events designed the perfect program for us. What we really wanted was to keep the guests entertained while we are away for our photo shoot after the wedding and our guests not to wait too long for the food.

After a couple of meetings with Concept Magic Events team, they were able to picture what we really want for our wedding. We trusted them to make our wedding a memorable one, and true enough, it turned out to be one of the most unique weddings they produced - from organizing the Convoy for the Bride, having a funny program and wonderful emcees, devising unique ways for the garter and bouquet tosses and putting a twist to the traditional couples kiss.

With Concept Magic Events Management, you are in charge of your wedding. They will know what you want, and do it exceptionally. Their wide experience in organizing weddings made this team the perfect help for couples who want to get married the extraordinary way."

Well, it was quite extraordinary, wasn't it? :-D

P.S. I was so happy with what they wrote about the company that I had our webmaster change the banner of the main page to an image of Anthony and Jenny's "kissing pose." The couple was extremely ecstatic about it. ^_^

*Click here to view more images of the wedding.

Starting It Right

New Year - new job, new friends, newly sold car, new site, new PC, and of course, a new wedding project! 2009 begins with many firsts for me - and I guess this marks yet another new chapter of my life.

1. New job.

After spending two glorious weeks undergoing core skills training with an 8AM-5PM shift in my new company's Makati office, I am currently living and learning in my new office environment located at the company site in Quezon City. I love the night shift, the food they sell, my workstation, the people who work with me, my parking space, my daily coffee buzz, the fact that I have internet access, and the fact that I'm starting to help people (in this case, call center agents) improve themselves. I like the feeling that I'm somehow useful and productive, yet learning more new things everyday! This trainer job is really working well for me, and is something that I would consider as a major contributor to my very good start of the year 2009.

2. New friends.

Aside from all the new friends that I've made because of my recent HCP comeback, I somehow got along really well with my core skills training classmates, that even though they are from a different account, I still constantly get in touch with them. It's funny, because I actually like meeting new people. I love interacting with others. That's why I'm so sure I'm going to have trouble creating my guest list when I have my wedding - I might end up inviting everyone!

3. Newly sold car.

There it went. One moment it was just sitting in my garage. The next moment, it's gone. I guess it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing for me. How I sold my UGLY car (yes, I named my former Honda Civic EK sedan "UGLY") in a matter of 6 hours upon posting it at the HCP selling forum is beyond me. But the damage has been done. After a year of owning the car (and several months of not using it while I was in the US,) I decided to let it go and find a new one.

Not that I'm complaining - I have yet to get used to owning and driving a sedan (after five years of using an EF hatchback?!?) I miss my former race cars, though. :-(

4. New site!

Well, after some brainstorming session with my webmaster (who charged quite an unusual price for the work he had to do - let's just say it was a unique transaction) I am very pleased to announce that Concept Magic's new site is up and running!

Here it is: www.conceptmagicevents.com. :-)

What I like about this new site is that it looks very professional, clean, user-friendly, and informative. I especially like the live form which one can use to make inquiries in the "Contact Us" section - because whatever is typed there would get sent directly to our email! Thus, there's no need to open your e-mail account and copy-paste our e-mail address just to get in touch with us. I like the convenience that this particular feature brings. :-)

I like the new layout of the site as well. It was a big transition for us - from being a simple .tk site to getting the prestigious .com - I believe this move makes the company image more credible, and assures clients of our integrity.

5. New PC.

Hey, I do have to keep up with how technology evolves every so often, so on an impulsive streak, I decided to buy a Dual Core CPU and a 19" LCD monitor - all in one day. It was really time for a desktop overhaul anyway. My ancient computer was on the brink of falling apart!

Notice the 5.1 sound system I hooked up (DIY style) to these old-school wide-ass speakers! Yeah, sometimes I actually work on both my desktop AND my laptop simultaneously - it allows me to multi-task. ^_^

So what else is in store for me at the start of the year? Read on to find out more!