Eric Cachero is a visual artist whose body of work consists of paintings, sketches, graphics and other commercial design works.

My initial encounter of Eric’s work wasn’t through an art gallery.  On the contrary, it was via the wall photos/profile pics of a couple of mutual friends in Facebook.  And those led me to his album full of line art like the ones below.

(click the image to see more)

To me, the images looked like the headshots seen along the bylines of newspaper columnists. So impressed that I sent Eric a private message to ask if he’d be willing to do the same for soon-to-weds who may be interested to have their portraits done by him.  I figured some couples may want to have their line drawings printed on their wedding invite or in their souvenir mug or something.

For a simple sketch such as those above, it cost P1,500/person (plus P500/additional person). Aside from a soft copy/digital output, he’ll also hand a 12 x 15 hard copy in Giclee prints.  All he needs is a clear and high resolution photograph of the subject. He can produce the artwork in a matter of days after client’s approval.

By the way, in the course of our correspondence, Eric told he’ll draw me. That got me excited! We haven’t met, and simply based the sketch in one of my photo is FB.  I must say, he did a pretty amazing job with accurate facial hair and all.  Now, my FB profile proudly displays one of his artworks. 

Checkout Eric Cachero’s FB profile to see some of the linear artworks he has done. You can send him a private message from there or you can contact is mobile number: 0918.916.2895.

Been seeing bling-bling hoodies like the one above in wedding photos and onsite videos of some W@Wies for quite some time now.  But it’s only now that I learned that it’s from Ade Sy-Singson, herself a former W@Wie and now runs Runway Brides which sells these hoodies that has literally become a bride’s new ’status’ symbol.

“Suprise your husband-to-be and your guests as you proudly carry your new surname!” — that’s how Ade puts it.

And reading the brides’ testimonials in Runway Bride’s fanpage, the grooms seem pleased. The new in-laws should be, too!

 
(bridal bouquet by 7 Lily)

February weddings don’t have it easy. While its past the tail-end of the wedding peak season in the Philippines which is around December/January, it’s the time of the year when prices of blossoms soar to all-time-high due to huge demand in time for Valentine’s Day. And it’s not just the prices that’s the problem, the anxiety over the quality and quantity of stocks become also become major concern. The Dangwa Flower Market in Manila is so chaotic around this time that it feels like there’s a mad fiesta!

With this in mind, we have invited some of the wedding industry’s finest florists to participate in a fun challenge: to make a bridal bouquet without using any flowers. It sounds crazy but these floral artisans immediately agreed the moment we presented them the idea.

It is not our first time to involve suppliers in this kind of undertaking. In 2006, we asked the make-up artists for a Diva-to-Diva Makeover; and the designers, to sketch a Bridal Gown for P20k. In 2008, we had a Wedding Planners’ Challenge: How Low Can You Go? wherein detailed budget breakdown of the most affordable wedding they could muster good for 100 guests. While the price quotes in these previous challenges may now be obsolete, the basic essence remains: that wedding professionals rise up to any challenge and deliver what is expected of them.

For our florists challenge, we asked Mimi + Karl to capture the images of the florists’ unique creations. Their photography tandem are known for the beautiful shoots of wedding details so they were a shoo-in for a project like this. We set our sights for an afternoon shoot at Fernwood Gardens to serve an appropriate backdrop for our (un)floral subjects. On the day of the shoot, the table where all the bouquet were laid down practically looked like cornucopia were fruits and vegetables abound. Felt like harvest time!

Participating in this fun challenge are (in alphanumeric order): 7 Lily, 2171 Floral Creations, April & Karen Yu, Henry Pascual, Jun Hen, Robert Blancaflor, and Teddy Manuel. What they came up with are as colorful as conventional bridal bouquet, except these weren’t conventional at all. Far from it, actually. We even saw some that would be a perfect accent for themed weddings.

Each of us in the shoot has our own favorite, but we are not telling. We’ll let you decide. [READ MORE…]

Meet Feliz Diestro — an engagement stylist. A what?! Well, it’s kinda like an image consultant cum personal shopper for soon-to-weds planning a prenup pictorial.

(Feliz at work with W@Wie, Lon (ni Rey) | photo by Jayjay Lucas)

Aside from Feliz, we don’t know if there are anybody out there who does the same professionally.  But there seems to be a market for this new career.  She started last year by tagging along with her boyfriend who happens to be wedding photographer (that’s Jayjay Lucas of ImagineNation Photography) helping him with his client’s clothing for the shoot. She enjoyed doing it, so he encouraged her to do it professionally.  Nowadays, she works with other photographers as well.

Although, we urge soon-to-weds to conceptualize their prenup session themselves in consultation with their chosen photographers and make do without this additional expense, there simply are couples who do not have the time nor network to scour for props and backdrops for a concept shoot.  Some doesn’t even have a concept to begin with. This is where help comes in.

Feliz says, most of her clients so far are “fly-ins”– overseas Pinoy brides/couples who been away from the Manila for some time who needs assistance styling their engagement sessions.  She has already put together concepts for prenup shoots with a 20s era feel to rockstars theme.

Her rates are posted in this page.

Upside Down Wedding Cake by Grand Cakes

We’ve all heard of upside-down cakes.  But an Upside Down Wedding Cake?!

A quick search via Google Images would return very limited images.  Above is one of the couple of images that stood out.  It’s a neat trick, it’s creative, and it’s definitely an eye-catcher.  It’s amazing how cake artists make such a reverse, multi-tiered cake stand up without toppling over.  It an ‘engineering’ feat!

It’s definitely for soon-to-weds who want to make a statement. Cutting a slice would take some figuring out though.