reality-check wedding vs reality-TV wedding

In today's age, getting married can be quite extremely stressful.  Couples had to spend a lot of time meeting the coordinator, bargaining with the suppliers, attending requisite marriage seminars, fitting gowns, and the most stressful of all - blowing away all their savings just to turn all these stressors into a 5-hour kodak moment to be remembered by them (and their guests) for the rest of their lives!

Getting married here in the Philippines would cost a couple about PHP300,000 (USD 7,050).  This estimate (a very modest one I must say) covers everything from gowns, to the venue, the church, entertainment, lights & sounds, tux/barongs, flowers, car rental, photo and video coverage, hair & make-up, and food for about 150-200 guests.  Everything at its simplest form.

An extravagant one would probably cost about PHP700,000 to a million pesos (or even more if couples are undeniably rich!).

Oh, did I mention, the couples have to deal with non-wedding-related expenses too.  There's their daily expenses apart from their upcoming wedding - food, transportation, clothes for work & leisure, water bills, electric bills, credit card bills, etc.  You get the point, right?

That's how it is here in the Philippines.  Middle class couples.  Even local celebrity couples!
Total opposite from Hollywood royalties!

Just like the very recent wedding of Kim Kardashian to Kris Humphries.  They may have spent a 20-30 million dollars, but boy, they were able to get some back by earning a whopping $17 Million by having it televised!!!

I thought it was genius!  Haha!  I mean, they definitely made the most of their (well, mostly Kardashian's) popularity there.  I haven't really seen the whole wedding footage.  Just had a glimpse of it. 
I loved how their theme is very elegant.  Black & White.  What could be more elegant than that!

But the challenge probably for the wedding organizer is how to actually keep everything elegant despite the humongous number of guests (500-1000) + TV network crews all over the event place!
Now, here are a couple of photos to tickle your imagination of how grand the wedding was.

Ellen DeGeneres once owned the Tuscan mansion

I see Black & White Curtains!

That is one HUGE & ELEGANT centerpiece cake!
Photo from http://www.resellyourwedding.com/blog

THAT Headpiece is a statement right there!  Way to go, Kim!  Totally you.  Photo from People Magazine

Photo from E! online

There had been comments that KimK's Wedding dress (by THE Vera Wang) is very similar to
Kate Hudson's in the movie BrideWars - by Vera Wang too of course!
Credit: Claire Folger/20th Century Fox; N/C & usmagazine.com

SOOO ADORABLE! CUUUUTIEPIE Mason!

Grandiose, eh?  I guess it's fitting for a ROYAL Hollywood Family.  But what about the Humphries?  I wonder what's their take on this supposedly family/close friends event only but has become a very public one.

Don't get me wrong.  I love weddings.  I am grateful that some celebrities are ok with the idea of sharing their wedding to the whole world.  Viewers may either like it or hate it.  Some would be inspired to have to work hard to have their very own grand wedding for themselves.  Some would settle for what they have and WHO they have. 

Suppose a TV Network offered you $5Million for them to televise your wedding, would you do let them?

Straight from the Universe,
margaret



why i blog

Despite my hectic schedule, I've decided to start blogging.  The reason for being is that:

1. It's a good way to vent out whatever it is I am feeling - rant or rave.

2. It's a good way for me to practice communication skills in English.  I'm a Filipino and I live in the Philippines, which makes English as my second language because here, we use Filipino to communicate with almost everyone.  I'd like to improve my English and be more comfortable using it.  My main objective is to be able to express myself in English be it in oral or written communication, even as I run ideas and thoughts in my head!

3. Sharing is good.  One may learn a thing or 2 from other people's experiences.

4. In relation to # 3, as one understands and relates to the other person's feelings/experience, there's a connection.. right there!  So connection may somehow lead to acquaintance, which may later on lead to a certain level of friendship :)  Ain't that a good thing?... finding connection with another human being? :)

These are my main reasons why I started blogging online.  What's yours? :)


Straight from the Universe,
margaret

my new toy

I am so looooooooooving it! Below are the product specifications and my thoughts about it (in blue font):

PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
Processor:		AMD E-Series Dual Core Processor AMD Brazos E350 (1.60GHz, 1M Cache)
Chipset		AMD A50M Fusion Controller Hub
Memory:		2GB DDR3 [i added another 2GB DDR3 for only Php780 / USD18.44]
Hard Disk Drive:		500GB [pre-partitioned - drive C; HP Recovery; & HP Tools]
Optical Disk Drive:		None
Graphics:		UMA Graphics
Network:		802.11b/g/n WLAN Bluetooth(R) Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN
Operating System:		Windows 7 Home Basic
Physical:		Dimension: 29cm x 21.4cm x2.1-3.07cm Weight: Approx. 1.60Kg [<3 how lightweight it is!]
Display:		11.6" HD Brightview Display
Webcam:		Integrated Webcam [1.3 MP]
Audio		Altec-Lansing Speaker [my MUST-HAVE for a laptop]
Battery:		6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery
Ports:		1x VGA port 3x USB 2.0 ports 1x RJ45 ethernet port 1x HDMI Port 1x headphone-out/microphone-in combo jack Multi-in-One Card Reader
Features:		A dual-core AMD Fusion processor E350 for fast Web surfing and smooth HD video Fast, easy, trusted Web browsing with Windows Internet Explorer AMD Radeon HD 6310 discrete-class graphics and support for DX11 Our CoolSense technology, which adjusts the temperature when the PC is not on a stationary surface An 11.6" diagonal high-definition§§ (720p) display[crystal clear, baby!] A full-size island-style keyboard[does not accumulate dusts much :) ] Multi-touch trackpad Support for 1080p HD content playback Dolby advanced audio and Altec Lansing speakers for premium sound A 6-cell battery that keeps you running for up to 9.5 hours 5 free HP games, already loaded on your PC ENERGY STAR® qualification

Perfect for professionals and students alike. I haven't tried hardcore gaming though, so I can't recommend it to gamers. But there are reviews I found on the web that it serves the gamers perfectly fine as well.

Oh, did I mention that I got this new toy for only PHP 21,500 / USD 508.51?!?! :)

Straight from the Universe,
margaret

my latest auditory addiction

Everyone, this is THE Johnoy Danao. His voice is my latest addiction. Go ahead and listen to him now. I'm sure you'll search for his other videos on Youtube right after. :)

He performs live via podcast hosted by DJ Mo Twister.  Here's the Good Times: Acoustic link:

http://battleaxenetwork.com/category/podcasts/good-times-acoustic/

Props to phootyzzz via Youtube for this video;

as well as Battleaxenetwork - Good Times Acoustic

Straight from the Universe,

margaret

at wits end

It's almost 3 am...

It's been 14 hours since I started to work on my take home midterm exam for Cognitive Psychology, and boy I still have a blank word sheet on my screen!

There are 4 questions that I need to answer in an essay form, and gah! This is just so frustrating!

Oh, did I mention that it's due tomorrow at 6pm! Man, this is killing me bigtime! Not that I did not learn anything from the 2 months that I had been attending this class. It's just that I have the answers in my head, but I am finding it hard to squeeze them out.

Have you ever been in such a situation? Like you know you know the answers to the questions, but you just can seem to find a way to speak them out.. you can't seem to organize your thoughts in a manner that it would make great sense.

It's frustrating! And I feel like pulling my hair out!!! (As if that's gonna help extract the answers that I need now!) Ugh!

Such feeling of frustration brought me here.. into writing a blog. I figured I need to just vent out and let these words keep flowing until I find the rhythm, and then in a bit be able to (God-willingly) write down my answers for the essay questions.

And maybe I should do some exercise that induces focus. I think there is such a thing. I'm gonna have to search youtube for such.

Anyway, I better get going.

Straight from the Universe,

margaret