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Almost Diplomatic - carolific - Diplomat’s Wife - Wedding - Wedding Planning - Affordable - Alvin Malasig
in Diplomatic Incidents, How-Tos, Personal Musings

Marriage: How we got our dream wedding without breaking the bank

October 12, 2015
18 Comments
Almost Diplomatic - carolific - Diplomat’s Wife - Wedding - Wedding Planning - Affordable - Alvin Malasig

Everyone at my wedding! (Well, almost! Francis, our photographer, was obviously taking the shot)

Four things: Lots of research, careful planning, friends and family who love us dearly, and a teeny tiny bit of luck

When my husband proposed on February 2013, we got into planning our wedding right away. We had a theme, a budget in mind, and 8 months to get everything in place. Sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it? But truth be told, wedding planning isn’t as bad and excruciating as some people might think. It was actually a breeze for the both of us. (I didn’t turn into a bridezilla at any point in the planning and even on the wedding day!)

Almost Diplomatic - carolific - Diplomat’s Wife - Wedding - Wedding Planning - Affordable - Alvin Malasig

Nope. No bridezilla! Although I did cry on our wedding day – a lot.

With a husband who gets a kick out of planning along with friends and family who were ever so supportive, we got what we always wanted. A very classy (if I may say so myself) and intimate wedding with just our closest family and friends where we were able to talk, laugh, and mingle with everyone which made everything just oh-so special.

Plus, we were also able to go on a honeymoon in Singapore and Bali within the wedding budget! How much did everything cost? Php 250,000 (Conversion rates: MYR1=Php11.04, EUR1=Php51.92, USD1=Php45.69)! Which is basically unheard of in the Manila wedding circuit these days.

**In case you’re looking into having your honeymoon in the Philippines, you can check out this post by Honeymoon Backpackers!**

Almost Diplomatic - carolific - Diplomat’s Wife - Wedding - Wedding Planning - Affordable - Sofitel

In fact, someone who writes for a wedding magazine found out about our wedding, saw the photos, and was eager to write about it for a feature on intimate weddings. However, when I told him how we did everything by ourselves and how much money we saved by not going through planners and all the people in the wedding business, he told me he couldn’t write about it anymore. Why? Because the magazine will lose advertisers. 😛

So I won’t go into detail about everything as this is not a timely wedding guide anymore since it was two years ago. But I hope what you read here will be great advice to anyone who’s in the planning stage! 🙂

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in Expat Life, KL Shopping, KL Tips, KL What to Do

Events + Photos: KL Vintage Festival 2014

September 4, 2014

Last Sunday, Malaysia celebrated Hari Merdeka (Independence/Freedom day) which commemorates the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule. The holiday was extended to Monday, September first, and since my husband had to make a quick nip (ok, not that quick – he was there from 8:30am until almost 4pm) to the embassy because the whole team as well as our Ambassador needed to rush a few things for our President, I was able to get most of my chores out of the way before he got home and we decided to check out the Kuala Lumpur Vintage Festival.

We left the condo at around 4pm and took the Monorail to the Maharajalela station which was basically connected to Stadium Merdeka – the festival’s choice of venue.

Upon entry to the stadium are walls filled with photographs of the Malaysians’ heroes and revered leaders.

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in Beauty & Fashion, Diplomatic Incidents, Events

On Diplomatic Events + Egyptian National Day #OOTD

August 7, 2014

It is only now that I realised how long I have been attending diplomatic events – National Days in particular. For someone who’s not a diplomat per se, I’ve had my fair (ok, maybe more than fair) share of diplomatic parties back when I was working as a journalist.

When I married my husband, it was like sealing the deal: I’ll be attending these things for the next couple of decades or so. Not that I’m complaining. I find such events fun and very informative – a chance to learn about other cultures – and to make new friends.

To be honest about it, Diplomatic Events (be it National Days or cultural showcases) are very important. Whether you show up or not can be deemed a statement (so always RSVP!), friendships are made, bilateral relationships are strengthened, meetings are set over food, introductions that can lead to new and important projects between governments and private organisations are made, ideas are born, and some important talks and exchanges of views between diplomats are done on the sidelines. It’s not just a party as how some people would describe it. It’s so much more.

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