Beginnings
Weddings@Work began as a product of a
dream…a dream wedding that is!
We are John & Bennette Rana, newlyweds
who embarked on the couplehood bandwagon on October 26, 1998. We
had 16 months to prepare and realize our dream. A long and tiring
experience but someone's got to do it.
We began our long journey by scouting
for possible suppliers for the Big day. We've bought magazines,
read the newspapers and even attended bridal fairs just to look
for prospects and know what they can offer. We found out that not
all potential wedding suppliers are out there advertising their
wares in the market. Some are just in a remote barangay making quality
souvenirs. We ourselves found candles made by prisoners of Muntinlupa.
The wedding industry in the Philippines (John used to call it the
'wedding mafia' until most of them became our friends) is relatively
small with an atmosphere of friendliness and willingness to help
for those who just ask. Looking back, we observed that the most
reliable wedding professionals were the ones referred to us by previous
brides or recommendations by fellow suppliers themselves. We know
we wouldn't have realized our plans without their valuable help.
A goldmine of new and creative ideas
is the Internet. From a release of butterflies instead of rice &
petal
confetti to having a SHE as a 'bestman(!)'. Really, the possibilities
are endless! Webpages, mailing lists and newsgroups are our source
of inspiration for the creation of our own personal wedding page
we called: 1026 Online !. Since, many people (locals & foreigners)
sent us e-mails asking questions about getting married in the Philippines,
who made the gowns and souvenirs, etc. The number of visitors to
our site stunned us and we concluded that these surfers ask us these
questions because there is a very little information about Filipino
Weddings over the net and they grab whatever stuff they could lay
their hands on. Filipinos have a way of making their own weddings
a production number compared to other countries which don't turn
the special occasion into an extravaganza. It's really surprising
and sad to note that sources of wedding information in the country
are still relatively few.
That's why we felt the need for this
website. We want to help cut down the couple's time in the scouting
process, braving the weekend traffic in search for their perfect
supplier. Here, we let the mouse do the clicking & picking so
brides have more time to attend to other wedding details while the
groom budgets for their options. We present every wedding professional
side-by-side and ultimately have the couple decide. We intend this
site to be a virtual one-stop-shop for any aisle-bound couple…and
for the curious, a site to showcase what Filipino Weddings are made
of--so expect this site to be ever evolving. The contents and substance
of this site will be based on what we perceive are needed by the
Filipino community and if there are things we've missed-out, we'd
be very happy to hear from you about it.
We at Weddings@Work hope to be the couples'
best friend. A been-there-done-that duo willing to share the tricks
of the trade. We will be here to help as much as we can without
taking the place of your wedding coordinator. We don't pose a threat
to anyone in the industry instead it's our desire to have every
wedding professional promoted here. We will create our own niche
within the industry and hope to be everybody's friend.
A word of advice: before choosing the
right suppliers, make sure you've chosen the right partner . . .
(I'm glad I did!). |
