KASALAN 2005 IMAGES

As promised, here are some images of the recent exhibition we just participated in.

The event poster. The overall theme is Filipiniana. Sawang sawa na daw ang organizer ng foreign-influenced wedding themes. Buti naman!

The decoration at the main entrance of Megamall's Megatrade Hall 1

Wedding photo of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos (original on display; freshly autographed by the guest of honor, "Love, Imelda Marcos")

The guest of honor arrives rather late. We were standing outside the Hall for half an hour. This is at the 5th level of Megamall Building B, where the exhibition and trade halls are.

My first time to see her in person, would you guys believe? She's old now but elegant as ever. She wasn't wearing much jewelry since most of her collection are now on the government's auction block. She made sure she said something about it during her opening speech. And yeah, she did a spiel on how we should do all things beautifully. The operating word here is beautiful. Imelda will always be Imelda.

The booth I designed for The Mango Farm. Most brides prefer this tone as motif so I used pink and orange chiffon as backdrop. The flooring is authentic Vigan tiles, one of the mango farm's leitmotif. There are kilns near this area of Mandaluyong where you can buy them. Shredded paper was placed underneath the tiles so they won't break. The tiles were a last minute addition to the booth, along with the bamboo planters on the top poles. The 2 lounge chairs were borrowed from the den.

The structure is actually steel but bamboo poles were split and wrapped around them. No nails. Just lots of rope work done by an experienced marinero (seafarer). Or so that was what I was told, he he but I am impressed by how well it was made. The fabric had to be sewn by hand as it was too slippery. Of course we had to discover all that as we went along. Talk about learning things the, uh, slippery way! The beadwork had to be strung and sewn onto the fabric, too.

We had no other booths beside us so we stood out as one is about to enter the Hall. We were the first to break the 7-feet height restriction as this booth is ten feet tall. I designed it originally to sport a Maranao prow accent on top (yes, that design made famous by Locsin, Imelda's favorite architect) but we were pressed for time. This is the reason for the unusual shape but this is the best we could do in two days. Besides, who said booths have to look boxy and boring?

What do you think of it? Let me know :-)