{ PRESS FEATURE }

This marry month of May, Weddings by Vatel Manila is featured in two of the country's leading wedding magazines. In Metro Weddings, we are featured under the Style Makers Section, while a yacht wedding-inspired bridal bouquet and a Tagaytay wedding we worked on is featured in Wedding Essentials. We are very thankful for having been included in these two great issues. Please do get your copies now, thank you! ^_^
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FEATURE: { WEDDING ESSENTIALS MAGAZINE }

The wedding of The Pats is featured in the new issue of Wedding Essentials. We're very happy to have been a part of this celebration! Get your copies now! ^_^
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IT'S OUT & ABOUT!

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We're looking forward to this issue for two things. First, it's the first time that we have a couple who's being featured in this magazine! Second, it's the first time that items from our DIY team, {etc} Handmade Goodness, were used for an editorial shoot! Woot! Our sincerest thanks to the Editorial Board for making us a part of this awesome project! XOXO

{etc} Handmade Goodness IS ON PRINT!

We're very happy to share with you these page screenshots from the latest Wedding Essentials magazine where our customized items were used as accessories in this oh-so-pretty shoot of soon-to-wed Patrick Filart & Patty Laurel. Special thanks go out to the Editorial Board of Wedding Essentials for always on the lookout for new things, as well as new talents. More power! ^_^


Location Guide: Heima | LRI Design Plaza
Photographer: Everywhere We Shoot
Customized Items: {etc} Handmade Goodness
Other Props: Heima
On Patty: Pepsi Herrera | Chris Diaz | Benjie Alvarez | Jeffrey Rogador
On Patrick: Edwin Tan | Armando Caruso
Makeup: Lindsay Co-Alog
Hair: Eddie Mar Cabiltes
Text: Aurelio Icasiano III

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THANK YOU, WEDDING ESSENTIALS!

We are super kilig & excited to the roots of our hair for our recent feature in the latest ish of Wedding Essentials (out now! Get your copy!). The setup we made is inspired by the Italian artist, Piero Fornasetti, and the imagined setting is a museum or a penthouse in New York (the imagined guests were, of course, friends who share the love for film, music, and lit!). We simply can't get over the write up about our setup, parts of which we are re-posting below. *melts a hundred times over*

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you, Wedding Essentials, for continuing to support new & upcoming artists / wedding suppliers in the Philippines. God bless you always! :-)
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"One of the signs of a great stylist is his ability to realize the inspiration for his vision. It's one thing to dream up images of a flawless reception, and another thing to execute it to the last detail. Never has this been more accurate in Dylan Gozum's Cavalieri-inspired long table arrangement... Gozum's long tablescape is true beauty personified -- unassuming, straightforward, and ethereal. Set in his vision of a New York penthouse, Gozum puts together items from literature and art, tempering the visuals with floral blooms to exude an intimately elegant wedding vibe."

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Special thanks go to Ernest Pascual for helping us out with the graphics (candle holders, place cards) and to the Vatel Manila team (Aecy, Mishi, & LA), this is it! Thank you SO much for sharing with us your time and talent. The future is bright, and it's brighter because of your presence. *group hug*

Much love,

Dylan Yap Gozum
for Vatel Manila & {etc} Handmade Goodness

WEDDING ESSENTIALS JULY- DECEMBER 2011 ISSUE

Long before we ventured into the wedding industry, we have always been a huge fan of design. Graphics, furniture, product labels, fonts, architecture, fabric, aircraft, home products, even broadsheet layout: name it, we have been deeply interested in it at one point in our life. That is why when Wedding Essentials magazine asked us to dress up a 12-seater long table, we didn't need to look far for inspiration.

We have always been a fan of Piero Fornasetti, an Italian painter, sculptor, interior designer, and engraver. While he has a vast collection of work to his name, he is best known in the design world for his series on Lina Cavalieri, an Italian operatic soprano who was renowned both for her beauty and her voice. Lina was already 39 when Piero was born in 1913, but she eventually became his work's major inspiration when he saw a photo of her in a magazine. He eventually made 500 variations of her face which made their way into different items like vases, plates, chairs, & even wall paper (there used to be a Cavalieri wall in Heima Cubao, but it wasn't there anymore during our last visit.)
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Fornasetti used black, white, browns, and greens a lot and these are what we eventually chose for our table's color scheme. To bring out the rich color of the two-tone New Zealand Hydrangeas, we used a solid black tablecloth broken in the middle by a black-and-white striped runner.

As a nod to Fornasetti's Classicism bent, we used concrete finials moulded in the artichoke pattern, one of the most recognizable objects in interior design (artichokes were cultivated in Naples in the 9th century). Half of the finials are in raw concrete, half were white washed. To add character to the Hydrangea, we added cobalt Eryngium & orange Carthamus tinctorius thistles, and bright green Anastasia Chrysanthemum.
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For better resolution, right click to enlarge image.
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Top L-R: The same striped runner was used to cover the chair cushions; a simple cream tassel was used to adorn the back of the white Tiffany chairs. The candle holders carry various versions of Cavalieri's face. The pattern was printed on parchment paper for that frosted effect. The green flowers gave the setup its life. CENTER: Each guest was assigned a character's name from world literature; in this case, Scarlett O'Hara, framed in a leather place-card holder. BOTTOM L-R: Concrete finials in the artichoke pattern broke the monotony. Complimenting the finials, artichokes were likewise placed in the center of the soup bowls; vintage-y plates were used to channel the Classicism vibe. Four black glass candelabra with tapered beeswax candles completed and added drama to the setup.
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For better resolution, right click to enlarge image.
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Location: Dusit Thani Manila
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Photographer: Aldwin Aspillera
Check his works here: Enoxx Wedding Art
Email: acaspilleraphoto@gmail.com
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Know more about Piero Fornasetti here. See his creations here.

W.E. ARE THANKFUL FOREVER!

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We've already written about this before, but it doesn't tire us to relay the story again & again because it's really just too awesome how things have fallen into place in just a span of twelve months. Last year, one of our heart's most fervent wishes was answered: to be featured in a major wedding magazine by 2011. But what do you know, not only were we featured in a major magazine in 2011, we were also featured in 2010! Moral of the story: Be careful about what you wish for (oh, you get the drift!). Truly, our God moves in mysterious and amazing ways. :-)

Vatel Manila wishes to thank the Wedding Essentials Editorial Board (Mss. Marbie & Kitten): you have no idea how you've raised our spirits (think Cloud 9!). You inspire us to continue the good things that we already do.

To the article's writer, Aurelio Icasiano III: for your sensitive, heart-warming, and very informative way of writing, we thank you! Keep on writing about the good stuff! :-)

We are stoked to be in the same magazine as some of our favourite wedding suppliers (who would have thought that the stylish couple who was egging us to smile during the Marriott shoot was, for crying out loud, THE Electrolychee! Aaaaiiieee, can we just die right now?!). Happy, happy to be in the same lineup as new friends, videographer Kris Matanguihan & cabalen Paolo Feliciano (whose interior photos we have so long admired). Super thrilled, too, to see the one, the only Jeff & Lisa Llarena of Jeff & Lisa Photography (the writer of your feature, Maggie Costello, was a school mate! Her sister, Katie, and I were in the same class in high school). The article on design tips featuring the work of the Details Diva, Ernest Pascual, is a must read!

We thank The Mango Farm; our dreams were planted and continue to be nourished in its most fertile soil.

To our fellow wedding suppliers: we always look forward to spending time with you during every wedding that we do together. Thank you for the most warm welcome, and for continuing to support us! Rest assured that we will do our very best to support you, too, in any way we can! :-)

We thank all our couples, both past & present: you inspire us to achieve greater things. :-)

We are truly honored, we are thrilled, we are are humbled. From the bottom of our heart, thank you very much, Wedding Essentials! God bless and More Power!

A.M.D.G. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
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WEEEEE!

The Beautiful Weddings magazine by Wedding Essentials is finally out and 9 out of 23 featured bridal bouquets (one of them is actually a Mom's bouquet. ;-p) were made by us. We are humbled by this feature.

We've only just begun. There's still so much more in store for us and our future brides. Suffice to say that by being featured in this amazing magazine, it means that we're here to stay! We look forward to being of service to more brides who want beautiful floral arrangements on their big day. :-)

We dedicate this honor to all our past and future brides: you who first believed & trusted. We cannot thank you enough.

To the Editorial Team of WE (Ms. Marbee, you've been most gracious & welcoming!) & Tin Roxas (thank you for being the ever curious person that you are!), and to NicePrint and Jeff & Lisa for sending photos of our flowers, thank you! Thank you! Thank you! :-)

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Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. To God be the Glory.
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The Succulent Cacti-Craspedia bouquet of Mitch Gatlabayan-Carlos represented the batch in the Contents page. :-)

On the second page, the bouquets of Liza Vasquez-Miole, Karel Añonuevo-Bayarcal, and one of the Mom's bouquets we made for Cecille Cui-Thomas's wedding, make their appearances. On the third page, Mitch's unique bouquet makes quite a splash (for the second time around!). At the middle part, Jing Victoriano-Acob's orange-yellow bouquet holds it own ground.

Four of our bouquets appear on the last page of the feature. Not bad for a start! :-)

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Get your copy now! Visit We Heart Weddings today! :-)

WEEEEE!

A dream come true.

That, to us, was the call we got from the one, the only WEDDING ESSENTIALS magazine two weeks ago. The Editorial Assistant, Tina Roxas, was very very nice and asked us to be the next subject of their WE DISCOVERY section, a portion of the magazine devoted to up and coming wedding suppliers. For this, we only have all our beautiful brides to thank for their trust in our humble abilities. We send you our love! :-)

Yesterday, July 27, we had the first of three shoots for the January 2011 issue. The editors requested me to make two rose bouquets: one white, one pink. The white was to be clean and classic, while the pink, vintage romantic. We agonized over this for a while (given the short notice) and we were only able to improvise once we saw what materials were available to us.


The white rose bouquet was revised only once. It really was difficult to make a 6-inches diamater arrangement using roses this big, but it was the only way to meet the exacting requirements of the board, which was to draw attention to the roses. For this, we used a perennial, an Eryngium thistle, to fill in the gaps made by the roses. The subtle shade really makes the white roses pop out. Around the base, we used swamp foxtail grass which is available during the rainy season, to hide the rest of the stems and wiring. Because of of it's freshly-picked-from-the-garden quality, it reminded us so much of several films, Sense & Sensibility among them. This inspiration helped us finish the detailing of the handle. The base is a black and white toile with contemporary prints, with a lace ribbon folded in a fan manner & secured in place with a lace belt and a brooch. A sprig of black coque feathers completed the look. Jane Austen would have been proud.

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The write up we provided:

Windy fields, rustic charm, & youthful romance – these and more are brought to mind by this white, green, and mocha latte bouquet. Created with Jane Austen’s character, Marianne Dashwood, in mind, this arrangement attempts to capture Ms. Dashwood’s spontaneity, love of nature, and romantic idealism. We dedicate this arrangement to the kind of love that lives and breathes sense and sensibility.

In this bouquet: Vendela Roses, Eryngium giganteum (thistle), & Pennisetum alopecuroides (swamp foxtail grass).
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The pink bouquet was easier to conceptualize because the Philippine wedding scene is currently on a "vintage fever", as we call it. Everyone's all agog over anything vintage-y: cars, cage veils, brooches, feathers of all sorts, and laces. For this one, we only had to source inspiration, yet again, from films. My Fair Lady immediately came to mind (one of our favorite scenes there is the Ascot opening day! Watch it here!).

Although Audrey Hepburn's character, Eliza Doolittle, never got married in the film, it was implied that she would most likely do so (it would be so sad and tragic if she were to marry Higgins!). We used lots of lace to fill the space between the roses, as well as these lovely spotted feathers that gave the bouquet its sense of drama. The ribbons and the damask-patterned brocade ribbon completed the overall feminine feel of this arrangement. We're very happy about the outcome of this particular bouquet. It's just as we envisioned it. :-)

By the way, in case you haven't noticed the pendant, we found this online and ordered it immediately (yes, it's Audrey as Eliza!). Thanks, Jo Candi, for the tip!

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The write up we provided:

Every lady deserves a chance to be happy. Eliza Doolittle, excellently played by Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 film adaptation of My Fair Lady, knows this all too well. From a Cockney flower seller at Covent Garden to a lady with manners, Eliza’s character was akin to a rose in full bloom. If this bouquet does not make you want to dance all night, we don’t know what else will!

In this bouquet: Geraldine Roses, feathers and lace. Pendant featuring the likeness of Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle was bought online.
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Tomorrow, we're doing a profile shot and yet another set of floral arrangements next week. Will post updates! :-)