The search is finally over. After some months of exhaustive hunt for photographers, we finally booked our supplier. And the winner is... tada --- DINO LARA!!!


Searching for photographer was the only thing that made me crazy for the past few months (aside from booking the reception venue). There were so many choices. All the photographers in our short-list were all very good -- Dino Lara, Fol Rana, Mimi and Karl, Nelwin Uy, and John Mateos Ong. As I mentioned before, it's really a battle of quality VS value.

Right from the start, Dino's work have captivated my eyes. I remember seeing his site as early as 2004. There weren't any wedding plans then. But his price, man, even if we can afford it (as of writing), I would probably starve myself for days to be able to overcome the guilt of spending such an amount of money. So I started to look for other photographers that offer lower prices. I missed to mention in my previous blog about our meeting with Nelwin Uy. We were so attracted by his work and packages. Grabe, lahat ng freebie nasa kanya na. So I was kinda having second thoughts na about getting other photographers instead of Dino. However, no matter how attractive other photographers' package seem to me, I would always find myself going back to the thought of getting Dino. Ang utak ko ay lagi nalang.. sana.. sana.. sana... I was only able to decide (sort of) when Dino offered a special package for this Wedding Expo at NBC Tent. Nagulo na naman ang utak ko... bumabalik na naman ang loob ko kay Dino. Just this morning before going to NBC tent, I even made this scoreboard thing in my ever reliable steno notebook and listed all the suppliers' offer and their respective prices. Si Nelwin pa rin ang lamang (I just so love his guestbook!). So isip ko, sige na nga si Nelwin nalang kasi he's such a nice person and I'm sure we could get more freebies from him with a little hirit. But even then, I still texted Mimi and Jong for some questions left unanswered. Mimi & Jong -- sorry for being so kulit! =) Ayun, so punta na kami ng NBC tent. I told Dino I'll be dropping by. So ikot ikot muna kami. Then we saw Dino's booth. To my surprise, he was so kulit and so talkative~! So different from the first time we met him at his house! Isip ko, aba ang kulit din pala netong si Dino. I thought he was straight serious afterall. So I gathered my bargain powers and started to haggle for more freebies. Nasa isip ko, kung di siya pumayag, then goodbye na siguro talaga sa kanya. At first medyo isip isip pa si Dino. I started to make kulit na to him. I even showed him the scoreboard I made earlier this morning. Hirit niya - "ngek, ako pala pinakamahal sa listahan mo!" Sabi ko "oo nga e.. pero lagi ka parin naming hinahanap-hanap in the end." Hehe to make him feel guilty!! After a while, he whispered -- "sige na nga"... He agreed to almost all the freebies we want included in the package!! I was so surprised! Puwede pala tumawad sa mokong na 'to! He asked "so sign na?" Even if I wanted to book him right there and then, I asked him for a few more minutes to think it over. I want to look around pa kasi if there are other photographers in the expo. He said "Ok lang. Basta kung kukuha na kayo ng ibang photographer, inform mo lang ako through text para I won't wait." Ang bait at open-minded talaga ni Dino! So we continued our photographer hunt. After 15 minutes of lurking around, Mr. D said "Book mo na si Dino kung gusto mo. Para matapos na. Siya naman gusto mo right from the start." HEHEHEHE!!! At long last, no objections from Mr. D!!! So we hurried back to Dino's booth and booked on the spot! Chika nga e.. we met Jon and CJ (threelogy) lurking around din. Hirit ni Dino sa kanila -- "Hindi niyo man lang ako ni-recommend!!" hehe which was of course a joke. I remember Jon commented that all the suppliers in our shortlist were very good. Magmini-mini-mayni-moe lang daw kami kung sino ang kukunin sa kanila. Sure naman daw we'll be happy of their services! hehe.. basta ang kulit nila! Since we booked on the spot, we were able to get a LOT, I mean A LOT of coupons for the raffle. Halos mapuputol na kamay namin ni Mr. D just filling up the forms. As in, napaupo na kami sa sahig sa sobrang daming fifill-upan! Although not hoping that we will win, but who knows! That's a trip for 2 to HK!! I miss HK!!! Dream ko talaga to be able to tour Mr. D around HK kasi I was assigned there before for more than 6 months. I miss shopping there!!! And the sale!! Grabe, parang nagagaga na ulit ako. :p

Happy Happy ako coz we had a big big big accomplishment today. =) And oh! We also won an arrahae (tama ba spelling?)... basta wedding coins during the raffle c/o Matus Jewelry. Yupee!! Sulit talaga pumunta sa bridal fairs! *WINK!*

P.S. Mr. D doesn't want to be called Mr. D in this blog. Ang corny daw. Ok fine! Starting next blog, I will call him daft... that's his chat nickname. Bagay ang daft sa kanya... silly! :)

P.P.S. Side kuwento pala. I was thinking (before we booked Dino) na ipapabahala ko nalang kay God kung sino ang makukuha naming photographer. I know medyo mabilis ang bookings for Dec-Jan weddings so kahit na takot na takot akong mabook si Dino, I still took time to look for other photographers. Isip ko, pag sa expo hindi pa siya booked, sign na siguro na we should book him. E knowing he's so in demand, malaki nga yun chance na he'll be booked na. Surprise surprise talaga... hindi pa rin siya booked as of the time we met him today. Ang alam ko usually 1 year in advance ang booking sa kanya. Isip ko, meant to be na talaga siguro. :)

P.P.P.S. Mimi, Karl, Jong, Fol, Nelwin - Thanks a lot for everything! Believe it or not, gustong gusto ko talaga kayo mameet in person even before. Siyempre I know I have to choose only 1 photog for our wedding. Pero gusto ko talaga kayo mameet kasi hanga talaga ako sa powers ninyo. I, myself, like photography very much so talagang gusto ko mameet ang mga idol ko sa photography. Keep up the good work and I'll always be your fan! I hope we could work in the future --- hehe sa baptismal naman? :)

Labels: wedding