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How to Plan a Micro Wedding in Cebu WITHOUT a Coordinator

Saturday, April 20, 2024

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(not my husband and I lol)

In a sea of grandiosity, there are couples who choose to have a smaller wedding and nowadays, there are ones who go for the micro celebration. It could be because of the practicality (smaller = cheaper), its intimacy or simply for its less stressful nature. I wrote about the advantages of having our micro wedding so click here if you want to check that out.


In other countries, venues and suppliers have started to cater to weddings with less than ten people. However, I realised that it's not as common here as one might expect. So I figured tapping into my experience and sharing some bits about how to plan a micro wedding in Cebu City without needing to hire a coordinator. 


Disclaimer: I am not a wedding coordinator. The only experience I have coordinating one is my own. All links in this post are not affiliates. This is not a sponsored post.


In this post:

  • Challenges
  • Where to Start
  • Ideas for Your Vision Board and Venues
    • Church Wedding
    • Beach Wedding
    • Garden or Mountaintop Wedding
    • Private Restaurant Ceremony
  • Other Bits and Pieces
    • Wedding outfit
    • Car
    • Photography


Challenges


When my husband and I decided to go the micro route here in the city, I did not expect to run into what I considered unneccessary challenges. Our wedding only had 4 adult guests, 1 child and 2 photographers.  From my experience, here's some of them:


  • Venues. I contacted the mainstream venues like hotels and resorts, but they usually cater weddings for usually 50+ guests. They will still allow you to have a wedding if you choose to do so, but you'll have to pay for the minimum guest requirement.
  • Coordinators. I also reached out to coordinators in the city mentioning our vision and the number of guests. Some of them straight up ignored my message while some are charging me at least Php 30k for decor alone.
  • Keeping it private. People talk, especially in the province so it was very important for us to keep this event a secret. We even asked for the photographer to keep it private until the day of the wedding. It is very common for Filipinos to take offense if they're not invited and if they find out you're planning something, some of them will just outright pressure you into inviting them as well. I'll talk more about this later on.


Where to Start


Before anything else, make sure you have the following sorted out:



Ideas for Your Vision Board and Venues


Church Wedding


For a church wedding, you most definitely can have a ceremony even with just a handful of your friends. Reach out to the church of your choice and proceed with the necessary protocol. I know someone who had her wedding in a church without any decorations at all and it was still the loveliest thing ever. If you do want to put up your decorations, the good news is that you don't have to go hem with it because it's a small ceremony.


Beach Wedding


This was one of our initial plans, but couldn't push through because of logistics issues. What I did find was beaches in Cebu and nearby cities are much more accommodating than the bigger resorts when it comes to smaller arrangements with some even offering catering even just a private dinner. If you're Catholic, kindly enquire at your church on how to go about weddings outside of the church building.

A good idea is you can travel with the rest of your wedding guests to a resort, have a sunset wedding and spend the night there with them.

If you want a sort of a destination wedding, I have contacted Amihan Beach Cabanas in the past and they were helpful and could accommodate the vision that I wanted. The best part is they allow dogs too!

Amihan Beach Cabanas website: https://www.amihanbeachcabanas.com/


Garden or Mountaintop Wedding


This can be in someone's huge backyard, a private garden venue or a mountaintop resort. What I like most about this idea is that there's not a single need for decoration though you can still choose to have them.

Nature will be the backdrop to your wedding and it doesn't get any better than that.

Payag sa Babag is an amazing venue fora mountaintop wedding. The view is perfect and they allow a small wedding ceremony without any additional charge. It will take a bit of drive to go up there and the main hut is not very large but should be enough for less than 15 guests. They also cater food.


Payag sa Babag Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/payagsababag/


Private Restaurant Ceremony


There are smaller cafes and restaurants in Cebu City with private meeting rooms or smaller venues where you can have ceremonies. Make sure to let the restaurant know about your plan to have a ceremony and confirm if they're okay with it.


Other bits and pieces


Wedding outfit


This will totally depend on your vision for the wedding, but you can go from the racks of a department store, to a wedding specialty shop or have it custom made. Apartment 8 Clothing offers really nice dresses fit for small or even larger weddings.

Apartment 8 Official Website: https://apartment8clothing.com/


Car


If you and/or your guests do not drive or do not have a car, the best option is to rent a private car for the wedding. For parties less than 10 people, you can fit in a single van. I highly recommend Happeee Cebu Transport Services for this. They're very professional and have good rates.



Photography


This is an afterthought for some, but for our wedding I told my husband it's incredibly important to have photographs professionally taken because it's the best way to preserve the moment in the prettiest way possible. Your friend Jenny who takes cute Instagram photos isn't going to cut it, sorry. It's really different when you have a professional photographer with you. 

I did not want to have a videographer because having been a bridesmaid to weddings in the past, it was traumatising keeping a smile on for hours and getting directed constantly. I know it does make of a good Same Day Edit or other video output, but it just was not for me. 

I made sure to hire a photographer who agreed not to pressure or my few guests into anything. I asked for professional photos of the day as it is and more candid moments. We did have less than 10 Pinterest inspo photos but the rest were just natural occurences. Our photographer, Louis, delivered on this request and we couldn't be happier. I will link his page below. He is from Bantayan so if you're not having your ceremony there, there is an additional charge. We booked his hotel ourselves as a treat.




Hope this helps! 


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The Lies of Filipino Influencers

Thursday, April 18, 2024

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I have been coming across some Filipino "financial experts" on Tiktok - emphasis on the air quotes please. My first reaction was that they are trying too hard to be persuasive and they are so into their delusion that they're already comical...so I was incredibly surprised when I read the comments and indeed there are people who believed them. Don't even get me started on their believers on Facebook.


This got me thinking and reminded me of all the lies that I have seen Filipino influencers have paraded around social media recently.


via GIPHY


I thought I'd share them with you today. Some might deserve to be discussed in more detail and I'm hoping to get around that one of these days. I do strive to keep positivity in this blog, but I also highly value honesty and it has bothered me how some people with extremely large platforms are just leveraging their influence on the wrong side of the road.


Very important: I will not be naming any influencer and I urge you to also keep your guesses private. This is for educational and awareness purposes. GIFs used in this post are for visuals and not the ones referred by the headings.


In this post:

  • Excessive wealth and lifestyle
  • Get rich quick!
  • Poverty corn (replace *c with *p)
  • Extreme and unrealistic fitness journeys
  • Child explo!tat!on
  • Undisclosed sponsorships and fake reviews
  • Fake scenarios



Excessive wealth and lifestyle



Fridge restocking videos most probably have gained popularity during the pandemic and boy oh boy, it did not stop there. Those fridge restock videos are not necessarily problematic as long as you, the viewer, keep in mind that there is a very high chance (probably 95%) chance that those are not what their real fridge looks like especially for families. You and I know what a real home fridge looks like and it’s almost always geared for practicality and not the aesthetics.


Moving on…


via GIPHY


One does not talk about the display of excess wealth and lifestyle without the obvious rise of the flaunting of luxury life and designer items and unboxing. The question that always pops in my head whenever I see those videos is...


“Wow that person is soooo rich, I wonder what she does for a living.”

 

At times it would be from influencers who are from prominent and old maybe even nouveau rich families which makes the question easier to answer, but the thing is…there are some names I haven’t even heard of before. Even if I Googled them, all I got were pure speculations from chismis forums. Some do have businesses with mediocre or even lesser known products that they claim to have sky-high sales surpassing the major corporations in the country. A more logical source of income would be the money they get from being an influencer, but even those (I think) are not enough to support the very lavish lifestyles they live.

 

So...why do they do this?

 

The influencers themselves would be the only ones who know the real reason though it wouldn't hurt to speculate. It could be that they are trying to portray a lavish lifestyle so people would get hooked into signing up into reselling their products or being part of whatever network they're trying to build - a tactic that old school networkers or MLMs have been using for decades. It's the idea of "I bough all these with the money I earn from this and that and you can too, if you do the same thing".


Or it could also be just to brag. They just get some adrenaline on being praised and looked up for all the material things they possess. And they're willing to live beyond their means and/or in debt just to get ahead of the rest.


And there are also all the very shady conspiracies of their source of wealth which I won't get into.


The very important takeaway is not to easily fall for the fake lifestyle that other influencers portray. Don't beat yourself up for not having what they have because a lot of those are not real or they're maybe going broke just trying to look rich.



Get rich quick!


Continuing the previous point of influencers portraying wealth to gain recruits, there's also the recent trend of the Get Rich Quick! - a scam as old as time.


via GIPHY


It is but a common thing to do that when we have the money, one of the first things we try to improve on is how we look. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just human nature. 


I am not even talking about extravagance by the first look. Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg always are in casual attire and they're not haggard. They still look respectable. If you have seen the Class of Palm Beach Tiktoks you'll see that there are actual billionaires who don't dress loudly but are obviously very classy. Here's one of their Tiktok videos to prove my point:


@classofpalmbeach #classywomen #classyvision #classy #palmbeach #palmbeachcounty #palmbeachisland #italia #italy #tiffanyandco #cartier #pictureperfect #dogmodel #luxurylifestyle #luxuryhomes #ralphlaurenhome #ralphlaurenstyle #beautifulwomen #oldmoney #oldmoneystyle #oldmoneyaesthetic #explorepage #viral #vanityfair #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound - Class of Palm Beach

 

I'm sorry if it's taking me a while to get to the point but I have one.


Anyway, going back, the reason why I had to specifically point that out is because a lot (if not all) of the fake and lying financial experts cannot even get the physical aspect together. On top of that, they also flex businesses that are either fake or too low level that it's impossible they generate millions in income.


They try to sell wealth when in fact, they might actually need it more.

 

For your quick and easy reference, I've prepped up this starter guide that the fake financial expert influencers often use:


  • Your education is only training you to be a slave.
  • The reason why you're poor is because you don't have a business.
  • Quit your studies, watch my online course instead.
  • The money you're paying for tuition should just be invested in my company's (guess what) financial training.
  • Need more money? Recruit your friends!


Poverty corn (replace *c with *p)


via GIPHY


Poverty corn is a lie many people choose to overlook because they think the influencer has the genuine concern. And we'll get to why I am pretty sure it's all fake.


Over the past few years, Filipino influencers have gotten pretty creative about their exploitation of their fellowmen's struggles and poverty. The most common would be "rich" influencers dressing up and cosplaying as poor people, taking videos and posting them online for millions of people to see. Another would also involve cosplaying for the sole reason of wanting to "experience what poor life is like" - this disgusts me to my core honestly. Other less common would be pranking minimum or below minimum wage workers in exchange for small rewards.


via GIPHY


I know you might think that it's a good thing anyway because they do end up giving away stuff and money  to those who are in obvious need for it. You may also think that it might help raise awareness and encourage other people to donate.


Well, if it's a genuine act of charity...why is it recorded, edited and uploaded for all the world to see? Most importantly - why is the video monetised?

 

Because strip the act of its facade, all we'll see is a devilish and selfish intent for no one's gain but the influencer.


Such act may be seen as kindness and may only be done to make the influencer look kind. It might give the influencer the positive publicity that he/she has always been craving after doing some real BS or maybe as a safety net reputation in case they do mess up in the future. Most times, it's to cover a scandal or to deflect from the rumours that the influencer is not a good person after all.


There are other ways to help people without exploiting the part of their lives they are most likely insecure about.



Extreme and unrealistic fitness journeys


via GIPHY


Society has broken how many women view of their own body so the last thing we need right now are influencers revealing their amazing bodies after a few weeks of working out...with the help of some diet coffee or smoothie they're trying to shove down your throat.


The false fitness journeys that the influencers try to fool us with is extremely harmful not only for its psychological effects to women in the country, but influencers also promote unrealistic fitness expectations, unhealthy relationship with food, eating disorders, possibly harmful supplements, etc.


They don't even have an ounce of conscience to admit if they've gone under the knife or have taken prescription medications just to help speed up the weight loss.


I really appreciate industry experts like Jo Sebastian (channel linked below) who debunk misconceptions of weight loss journeys, diets and wellness in general. I highly suggest you follow Jo if you want medically accurate information on nutrition.




Child explo!tat!on


This is more than just a lie, it's really sinister behaviour.

via GIPHY


I'm not an angel. I have followed a handful of family channels before and in the past, I really did find it fascinating seeing the family and the children grow up. However, when I read about and saw the horrors that those children go through behind the scenes, I came to a complete halt and never looked back.


The lie, I believe, is when parents or the adults in those childrens lives try very hard to portray a happy family, healthy parenting at the expense of the children's private and intimate moments. Everything is just out there for the general public to see. There are even those who go as far as recruiting sponsorships even before the child is born or organising meet and greets with their minor children.


The lie is when they pretend they're good parents, when they're actually milking their childrens' youth for higher views and monetisation.

 

Children cannot consent and even if the parents say "oh they just love the camera", it does not actually mean the recorded clips should be publicised. It's a parents' job to make sure the pave the way for their children's future without using the child as a shovel for it.


I honestly don't think there's any reason that can warrant a child getting exploited online.


The internet is not a safe and child-friendly place no matter what anybody else say.


I know I don't have a child of my own yet, but as a human being who was a child once I have the right to say this: 


If you fail to protect your child from getting exploited online or you're the one exploiting your very own child, you are a failure as a parent. I'm not even sorry I said that.



Undisclosed sponsorships and fake reviews


via GIPHY


In the topic of undisclosed sponsorships, there is a little bit of a gray area because in the Philippines, we have no laws or regulations defining what the influencers' responsibilities are when it comes to disclosing their sponsorships unlike in countries like the UK or the US, they already have set regulations. So here, if the influencer's stand is that they don't disclose because they legally do not have to, they're actually not in the wrong.


However, the thing we can hold on to here is ethics. 


How many times have you seen celebrity or influencer vlogs with very obvious product placements but the influencer is pretending it's something just part of their everyday life? Like they have that box of creamer just lying out there in their counter standing out?


There's also more local influencers, particularly in the food and travel space, showing off a restaurant's new menu or a room tour at a hotel and we as consumers cannot tell if they're telling us their honest thoughts or if it's a PR script.


via GIPHY

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with sponsorships. 


Let me just make that clear.


The influencers lie when they try to film an ad or a sponsored post and structuring it like a regular review or experience vlog when the truth is they have been paid to feature the business. For example, there are food/restaurant vlog influencers who seemed to like every single new restaurant in the city. It's very suspicious and the general public's review of the restaurants being mediocre or bad in real life would be proof that they're not telling the truth.


My best guess is that videos that are structured casually or just like other regular reviews, people respond to those more positively than obvious advertisements. It's less invasive and kinda looks more authentic. As consumers, we just have to be mindful of what content we consume and to take it upon ourselves to go the extra step and research for reviews from the general public or the non-influencers.



Fake scenarios


As a society we really do love some good juicy drama which may be the main reason why some influencers stir up one when they're losing the spotlight and there are also some who regularly create drama in their daily vlogs. They like to convince people that their lives are just like those TLC reality shows...but worse.


via GIPHY


I don't know how the influencers and some of their audience think it's normal that when two people fight in a household, there is an instinct to get a camera and record it.


How, after a hundred pranks prior, they still are not able to detect when something is off in a situation and it may just be another prank?


The answer is (surprise, surprise) that it's most likely fake and scripted.


Regular life is usually boring and those influencers know that. Or maybe their actual normal personalities are also very boring. They have to constantly think of rifts and film those to generate intensity in their content.


These are the types of content that we have to avoid forming parasocial relationships with. If they fight, let them fight - we're not a part of it and at the end of the day after they hit record, all might be well with them. 



I hope this somehow helps you decide whether or not it's worth believing an influencer you've been doubtful for a while now.

Parasocial relationships are harmful because the influencers and celebrities leverage that so you would spend more and more of your money and trust on their products or the products they promote.

Always be mindful online.

Stay safe!


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· ·

Getting Civil Registry Documents at PSA Regional Office in Cebu City

Monday, April 1, 2024

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PSA Regional Office Cebu City Gaisano South Colon


I have found myself needing PSA documents many times than I could have ever wanted. For some reasons, everyone seems to want original copies of everything. I usually order online just for convenience's sake. 


However, in times of great urgency, the best way really is to visit the office for a chance to have the document on the same day or just within three days. And that was the case for me a couple months ago so I decided to just write about my experience so if you're also needing to go and this is your first time or it has been ages since you've gone, this might help you prepare for it.



In this post:

  • What civil registry documents can you get at the PSA office?
  • Where is the PSA Regional Office in Cebu City?
  • Booking an appointment
    • Things to bring
  • My experience at the PSA Office
    • Step One. Main entrance
    • Step Two. Filling out the forms
    • Step Three. Screening
    • Step Four. Encoding and Payment (+Fees)
    • Step Five. Releasing



What civil registry documents can you get at the PSA office?


  • Marriage certificate
  • CENOMAR for unmarried citizens or Advisory on Marriages for married citizens or those with history of annulment or those who require a declaration of their current marriage
  • Birth Certificate
  • Death Certificate


Where is the PSA Regional Office in Cebu City?


The regional office is on the ground floor of Gaisano South Capital Building, Colon St, Cebu City.



Part One: Booking an Appointment


I recommend that you book an appointment online prior to going to the office. They do take walk ins but if there's too many people at the office, you might end up waiting in line longer. 


Go to https://appointment.psa.gov.ph/ and click on "Civil Registration Service Appointment System" (see photo above).


The next page has very detailed information on the next steps to complete the booking of your appointment. The entire booking process is actually very simple and straightforward. To make sure you have a successful booking, wait for the appointment confirmation email before closing the appointment window.


Things to bring:



Part Two: My experience at the PSA Office


Step One. Main entrance. I went to the main entrance which is along the side of Colon St. I couldn't take a photo of this entrance because I was too scared to use my phone in the area. I did see a lot of photos on Google maps though in case you're curious about it. This is where the queue started. The security guard on this entrance checked my appointment confirmation and valid ID. 


PSA Regional Office Cebu City Gaisano South Colon

Step Two. Filling out the forms. I was told to fill out a form for the specific documents that I needed. Each PSA document has a different form colour and one form is only for one person which means you need to fill out multiple forms if you're getting documents for multiple people. 

Prepare all the necessary information that you need to fill out the forms. To check what information you need for your document, see links below:

You can also find pdf versions of the forms here: https://psa.gov.ph/application-form

PSA Regional Office Cebu City Gaisano South Colon

PSA Regional Office Cebu City Gaisano South Colon


Step Three. Screening. In a table just near the door is the screening area. There was a queue and when it was my turn, I was asked for my appointment confirmation and the forms I filled out. The staff validated my information by asking me a series of questions. After the validation, the staff stapled a priority number on my paper and I was told to approach any empty counter since there wasn't many people at that time.

If there happens to be a lot of people when you go there, there is a tv monitor near the payment counters for the priority numbers.


PSA Regional Office Cebu City Gaisano South Colon


Step Four. Encoding and payment. Since there was no queue, I went straight to an empty counter and I was told to place my appointment confirmation and form stapled with the priority number and my valid ID in a basket at the counter. The staff further validated all the information I wrote on the form and asked for my payment.


After paying, I was told by the cashier that I can go back the next day or wait for an hour for my document. I chose to wait for an hour.


As of the writing of this post in December 2023, these are the PSA schedule of fees at the regional office:

  • Copy issuance of birth certificate, marriage certificate and death certificate: Php 155.00
  • Authentication: Php 155.00
  • CENOMAR: Php 210.00
  • CENODEATH: Php 210.00
  • Viewable online (Birth, marriage, death): Php 130.00
  • Viewable online (CENOMAR, CENODEATH): Php 185.00
  • Doc Print: Php 80.00
  • Premium annotation: Php 255.00

The latest schedule of fees can be found here: https://psa.gov.ph/application-form

PSA Regional Office Cebu City Gaisano South Colon

Step Five. Releasing. For my document, I need not need to wait for the next day. I was given a choice between the next day and the next hour to which I chose the latter. When it was time, I approached the releasing counter. She asked for my form and receipt and printed out the documents that I applied for.


In conclusion...

The process only took around 20 minutes plus the one hour waiting time. It was surprisingly quick. I went on a Wednesday afternoon but I'm not sure if it's the same in the morning or in other days.

The office also had good air conditioning. Not the best service, but they also weren't terrible so I was overall happy with how my afternoon turned out.

Hope this helps! 

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