Supplier Rating: Jill Lejano, Photographer

Hello, wedding preppers and web purveyors.

Before I launch into our supplier rating for Jill, first let us tell you why it’s been hard to blog. There are plenty of reasons: no dsl at home (so difficult for my techie husband) yet because we just moved into our place and have not yet been graced by a phone line; busy at work; busy fixing up our place on the weekends; and we’re still recovering from the jetlag and hangover from our 2-week vacay *that needs another vacay after it*.

We went to Bogota, Colombia, for my Kuya Fred’s (and his now wife, Natalia’s) wedding. We did lots of eating – as in eating MEAT, which they have a lot of (well, cows) in Bogota, lots of drinking, and lots of dancing. The eating, drinking and dancing combo – despite the drugs/crime/third-world status of Colombia – has a lot to do with why Colombians are so happy, I think. There’s nothing that a shot of arguadiente or an hour of salsa with friends can’t cure.

Kuya and Nat at Andres Carne de Res, dancing – what else?

Their wedding was held at Hacienda Santibella, and it was g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s.

Bogota itself was so interesting… it was like Los Angeles, Miami, Manila, and parts of New York balled up in one place.

Their wedding was intimate (120 people) and quaint, but still so romantic and fun to be at, and it was so worth the journey to get there. So congrats to my new sis-in-law, Nat, and to my brudda, Kuya Fred!

On to the supplier rating for a certain Ms. Jill Lejano.

Jill’s an artist and a cool cat. She’s also a professional, she’s damn good at what she does, and she’s a lot of fun to be around. If you’re looking for a traditional portaiture for your pre-nups, or for the old stuff that you see in your Tita or Lola’s wedding albums, then Jill’s not the person to call. But if you want fun, tongue-and-cheek, and candid – the kind of stuff that should be blown-up, framed and displayed – then Jill’s your girl.

I guess, yes, she was our “second” photographer, but that’s just cos we hired her after we hired Terry. But to us, they’re both professionals and extremely good at what they do, and we’re grateful that they shared our big day with us.

A few shots of our pre-nups in Laguna (Casa San Pablo, to be exact) and Alabang:

A few shots from the wedding:

Although Jill took amazing digital shots (all included in our wedding album, along with Terry’s), what we really loved were her lomo/film shots.

Supplier Rating for Photographer, Jill Lejano: 5 stars.

To learn more about Jill and what she does, click here. To inquire about her wedding rates and package, please contact Jill at suplada80@gmail.com.

Don’t worry, party people. She’s not in the least bit suplada so don’t be scared by the e-mail addy! She’s game for what you and your significant other have planned for your shoots.

Jay and I with Jill, on the dance floor 🙂

Chinkie Uy Agregado/Metro Eventscape Planners

Yup, this is a supplier review.

Chinkie Uy Agregado and Metro Eventscape Planners: 5 (out of 5) stars

Chinkie was very different from the other two planners I interviewed (JP and Nenita Zagala). She was around 15 minutes late and sleep-deprived when we first met, which normally wouldn’t bode that well for a supplier meeting, but for some reason I was ok with it. She was a lot warmer and easier to talk to, in my opinion, than the other two suppliers, and it didn’t feel like a stiff “interview,” which it kind of felt like with the others; it was more of a coffee date with a friend. I tossed out a few images from my scrapbook, a few ideas, and she contributed her own ideas as well, and then for the most part, we just kind of chatted and got to know a little bit about each other. I just followed my instincts with this one, as I tend to do with most of my decisions, and I called up Jay and my Mom to tell them that I think I had found a coordinator who we could all work with that same afternoon after our first meeting.

In terms of personality: Chinkie is one of the nicest and most genuine people I’ve ever met, so hands-down, she gets 5-stars in this department.

For promptness and correspondence: She’s not great with e-mails, but I have high expectations since I work in media and check my work mail every minute. That being said, she will get around to answering your queries over e-mail, but it may take a quick text to her to remind her to check her e-mail. If you’re the kind of person who needs to get an email reply within the day – you should make this very clear with your suppliers, so that you don’t have mismatched expectations. Chinkie is much better with phone calls and will pretty much tell you what you need to know if you just give her a quick call. The only times that she didn’t answer that promptly were over the weekends (when she’s on the job as most weddings are over the weekend) or late at night (when she’s asleep!).

Looking back, I think I would sometimes get apprehensive because Chinkie has a really relaxed way of doing things, so I would be thinking, “Hmm… does she really know what she’s doing?” But about 2 months before the wedding she went full throttle. She would call often throughout the week or text to confirm appointments or payments; she mediated between a problematic supplier and I. She made little tweaks and suggestions on how to make the day-of run smoother. One of those suggestions was the hagads – we had… 6 hagads 8 hagads guide us through Manila traffic, which came in so handy on the day of (imagine this route – Makati-Alabang-Makati – on a Saturday afternoon/night!).

She exceeded our expectations and her staff was professional throughout our wedding. We didn’t hear a single complaint from any of our guests – and our entourage enjoyed being told what to do, and when to do it. I’m sure there were a lot of things that could have gone wrong or did go wrong – but Jay and I were oblivious to them because we were too busy having fun, and I think this is testament to a job well done on the coordinator’s part.

Chinkie and her staff made the day a seamless flow of one fun event after another, and for this we are truly grateful.

To reach Chinkie, please click here or text her at (0917) 328-1893. Images 1 & 3 by Jill Lejano. Cliquebooth image by Clique, the party photobooth. For more images, click here.