Sooo, what is an Anti-Bride?

A lot of my friends, colleagues, relatives, etc. have been asking what is an anti-bride? Because apparently when they hear anti-bride this image comes to mind:

Linda Blair-ish face, head turning, scary monster. Flame spewing when things are not in order, no that isn't an anti-bride, that is another famous bride description the bridezilla. (bridezilla illustrated below.) to find out what a bridezilla is you can click HERE.  LOL.

So, going back what is an Anti Bride?

No, it is not related to being Anti-Christ or anything,  anti-brides are not anti-marriage. 

They're not anti-wedding and they're certainly not anti-groom. They are not necessarily against the white dress though they are probably, more open to a wedding dress in color or period costume. 

Anti -brides don't believe that the wedding is "all about the bride." As shocking and as rare as it may sound. To them it is all about the solemnity—and the vows the couple will make.

 An anti-bride lets her bridal party decide what to wear. As an anti-bride, they rather have her friends wear a dress that they like, that they feel beautiful in, and that they can wear and feel beautiful in again, something they can wear once more than just gather dust in their closets. 

She opts for nontraditional wedding invitations. Whether the couple designed it themselves or their best friend and brilliant graphic designer offers to do the legwork, An anti-bride want the invitations to reflect them as an individual couple, not an ideal that others aspire to.

 

 Probably the best way to describe an anti-bride is that they are non-traditional. In the end, as long as  she and the groom are planning to show up, the anti-bride knows that everything will work out just fine.

Filing for Marriage

When getting married, you and your wife/groom-to-be have to submit to two major institutions. The state and the church, here in our host country where we plan to get married; we have to file for a notice of marriage at the ROM (Registry Of Marriages).

Since they only require you to register as early as 3 months before your preferred wedding date and as late as 1 month before tying the knot; I  (being the better apply quick or might forget about it later) decided to register on time, so I headed down to the ROM one fine saturday morning and filed for our

intention to get married. Yay!

I know it may sound as daunting as it looks, being away from your home country and planning to get married in a foreign land; but as it turns out it is not that hard after all, the instructions and requirements can be seen on their website and if filing online is not your thing you can head over to there and their friendly and helpful staff will make it a breeze. 

Some of the initial requirements when filing will be: 

1. Groom's Name , Particulars and passport number.

2. Bride's Name, Particulars and passport number.

3. Solemnizers Marriage License number.

4. Exact Date and Time of Wedding.

5. 2 witnesses; you should have their complete name and passport numbers as well.

You need not have all these at hand, you can write them down and key the information in. Once all information has been encoded all you have to do is submit and pay the necessary fees and ta-da! filing done, they will then give you a schedule for the verification of documents that you have entered.

You can find more about these on the ROM website here

DIY Prenup Photos

So here they are, our DIY Prenup photos :)

It took quite a lot of online planning (i wasn't physically present much) , searching for location, clothes and accessories. I thought it would be impossible to do; but we managed to get it done :)
 So one fine march morning we finally had our prenup photo shoot. We began taking photos around 6:15-6:30 in the morning; the location - inside the village my fiancee lives in, there's a man-made lake, an open field and Mt. Arayat in the background :)

Credits:

Photography - Sister-in-law to be :)
Flowers (2 sets) - Brother-in-law to be :)

Location, Wardrobe,Styling, Hair and Make-Up - Fiancee

Post-processing - Me

Concept - Us

The first few shots :)

Going back to our younger years :)

This was sorta sudden, we didn't really plan to have a photo shoot inside a tricycle, but "manong" was kind enough to lend us his ride hahaha! He actually stopped by and was watching us so we asked his permission

if we could use the tricycle. He was so accommodating he even helped set up the props :)

 Look who decided to join us :)

Kite flying anyone?

 My Fiancee made the pin  :)  and the dress  :)

Final set of photos   :)

  

Did I mention that there's a barn nearby as well? 

All this done in just about 4 hours 30 minutes more or less, we had the "pamamanhikan" that day as well so we had to wrap it up quick. We had tons of fun doing this and I must say any place can be a great prenup location with enough planning. Til my next post! :)

Pamamanhikan

There is a Filipino tradition called "pamamanhikan". Pamamanhikan is where the man and his parents visit the woman's family and ask for her parents blessings to marry their daughter. This is also the time for the parents of the woman to get to know the parents of the man. 

During this occasion, the man and his parents bring some gifts and food. They say that the food they bring should have "pancit" and "kakanin" (noodles and native delicacies usually rice cakes) for a long and sticky marriage.  :D

So, last march 10 my parents went to Pampanga for the pamamanhikan.. :)

                                         Yes, I came prepared, Hahahahaha!

Where it all begins

So after 10 years, my girlfriend and I have decided to take our relationship to the next level; despite being together for so long, asking her to marry me ain't easy...

I asked the question February 4 2012. She said "Yes." ( yes, I know, some think its already an obvious answer being together that long). I still feel like I won the lottery. :)

so it begins.. this is our story, this is our journey :) the non-groom and the anti-bride..