Elvin Peria

Labels: edel ramilo, elvinperia, Personal Experiences, Photoshoot

Our Photoshoot

This is quite overdue. It has been more than a month since we had our prenuptial photo taken by four generous gentlemen together with their partners. It was an awesome experience because it was our first photo shoot and we got to meet great photographers. And what made the experience unforgettable? The prenuptial photo coverage was for free! Yes. You've read it right. It was for free.

How did we meet them?

The story started years before we were born. There was a young girl and a young boy who fell in love during their high school years. It was their first “puppy love” experience. However, before the guy officially courted the young girl, he suddenly disappeared. The girl asked herself what went wrong.

Years have passed and the young boy and the young girl reconnect through Facebook. Both of them now have their own family. Both of them have a well-established career outside the country.

One fateful afternoon, they've decided to meet together with the girl’s younger brother and sister. They went to bowling to have a game and after that they ate at a restaurant in the Philippines, the country where they first met.

During that discussion, the guy learned that the girl’s younger sibling is getting married. So he offered his services for free. The rest was history.

How did we prepare?

Initially, the plan was to make the prenuptial photos very unique. We wanted our families to be part of that photo shoot. Can you think of anything more unique than that? However, Kuya Edmond (the guy who offered his services for free) told us that he will consult first his partners.

Due to time constraint and complexity of our idea they told us that it is not feasible. Since their services are free we agreed not to include our families in the photo shoot. We just hoped that sooner or later the idea we have in mind will materialize. (This will be included on another story - foreshadowing)

He instructed us to prepare at least two to three sets of clothing. So we searched our wardrobes for the perfect match. Actually, I was the limiting factor here because I had a limited number of clothes to wear. So I bought some clothes in SM while Edel searched for the perfect match in their wardrobe.

Here's our planned outfits. We actually prepared five matching outfits but I'll just share our top three picks (honestly I forgot the other two outfits).

Outfit 1 : Angels

Outfit # 1:

Elvin – White longs sleeves with bowtie + Black pants + Black shoes + small pink wings
Edel – White ¾ sleeved blouse + knee-length leggings + favorite sandals + pink wings

This outfit symbolizes our intention to be pure, holy and heavenly Also it is a reminder to ourselves that our relationship should be God-centered. In fact, most of the things used on this outfit (like the wings, bowtie, blouse and long sleeves) were recycled from our costume during Halo-win Sunday in Feast Laguna. By the way, I proposed in Feast Laguna two weeks after that event (11/21/2010).

Outfit # 2:

Outfit # 2 : Red Theme

Elvin – Red Polo + Dark colored Jeans + Black shoes
Edel – One floral red dress + Swarovski necklace pendant + Brown sandals

The second outfit symbolizes the fun and the explorer side in us. These set of outfit made us feel that we’re fun, happy, vibrant and most importantly in love. To be honest, the Swarovski pendant is the result of our frequent trips to Divisoria before. The red polo is the first polo I bought without looking at the tag price (just for experience).

Outfit # 3 : Serious Look

Outfit # 3:

Elvin – Long sleeved with black vest-illusion polo + Black pants + Black shoes + Bruno Mars style hat
Edel – One piece long-sleeved with black vest-illusion dress + favorite sandals

Outfit number 3 represents the serious part of us. These outfit made us feel that we can be serious in making things happen most especially in fulfilling our dreams as partners in life. The formal look represents our seriousness in life. The matching pattern and color represents that we are partners in everything we do. And lastly, the comfort these clothes bring (though looks formal) symbolizes that we’re happy and joyful inside even if we look serious on the outside.

These are just sample photos. More photos on our facebook profile pages.

Until my next post,

eLviN

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Labels: Blessings, Bo Sanchez, edel ramilo, failures, Gratefulness, inspiring stories, Personal Experiences, Something Helpful, Stories

Edel gave me a surprise that I didn’t notice

Here’s the story.

Valentines Day. I got home from work tired and exhausted. Even though I’m tired and exhausted I decided to give Edel a visit (which I always do – please take note that Edel is a good source of positive energy. One smile or hug or kiss from her can really expel the exhaustion from me).

Most of the time Edel is doing some school tasks on her laptop upon my arrival. However, that day she’s using her niece’s laptop. I wonder why.

So I asked her, “where’s your laptop?”

She responded, “Upstairs”. Then she requested me to get her laptop. I agreed.

I didn’t know that she did that on purpose. I didn’t know that there’s a surprise waiting for me upstairs. However, I failed to recognize that.

Here’s what happened.

I went in her room. I was surprised that the lights were lit. That scene was very unusual but I didn’t mind. I saw her laptop sitting on her bed. I grabbed it then went out of the room. While walking, I noticed that there were pieces of paper posted on her mirror that says:

When you look to me I can see the GREATEST story LOVE has ever told!

I thought that those were affirmations. I thought the word “you” refers to the one looking at the mirror (which is Edel most of the time) and the word “me” refers to the mirror. I got confused, so I went downstairs to give Edel her laptop.

Then I asked her, “what’s about those paper posted upstairs on the mirror?”

She smiled.

And then I told her that I didn’t get it.

We went upstairs then as we open the room; I realized that there were a lot of papers hanging on the curtain. There’s also a paper posted on her TV saying “Happy Heart’s Day Ming.”

Gosh!

What happened to me? Why I didn’t notice this?

Photos from Edel's Valentines Day Surprise

I failed to see the surprise Edel gave me. I asked for forgiveness and gave Edel a hug. I also greeted her and said that I love the surprise she gave me.

I realized that I failed to see the blessings for being focused on the things that needed to be done.

With this incident, I realized that blessings are really everywhere. Most of the time, we fail to notice them because of our busyness. We fail to notice because we’re looking on other things.

Bo Sanchez is right in his previous article. He said there that most of us are problem experts. We see problems as they are going to happen. By putting our attention on our problems we fail to see God’s blessings appearing in front of us.

I’m not saying that we don’t mind our problems. What I’m saying is that let’s be aware of the blessings coming our way. This way, we will not miss any magical moments like this.

For sure God is giving us a lot of surprises from the moment we wake up each morning. But because we’re too much focused on the tasks that we need to accomplish within the day, we oftentimes fail to give Him thanks. We fail to see the blessings He is constantly giving us.

Appreciate the beauty of God’s surprises. He’s surprising us everyday.

Until my next post!

eLviN

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