In Quezon City -

La Mesa Ecopark
UP Diliman
Ninoy Aquino Parks & Wildlife
Ateneo de Manila
Ayala Technohub

In Pampanga -

Lakeshore
Abe’s Farm
Grand Palazzo Royale
Fontana
Holiday Inn Clark
Claude Tayag’s Bale Dutung (House of Wood)
Mahogany Farm

In Tagaytay -

Tagaytay Highlands
Sonya’s Garden
Nurture Spa
Canyon Woods
Caleruega
Cliffhouse Tagaytay
Antonio’s
Ville Sommet
Taal Vista Hotel

In Baguio City -

Burnham Park
Camp John Hay, including Manor Hotel
Session Road
Tamawan Village

In the Ilocos Region -

Fort Ilocandia Resort and Casino
Vigan
Bangui Windmills
Pagudpud
sand dunes of La Paz
Sitio Remedios in Currimao
Paoay Church
Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

In Mindanao -

Pearl Farm Resort
Eden Resort
Dahilayan Gardens – Bukidnon
Enigmata Treehouse, Camiguin

We had our prenuptial shoot at Island Cove resort in Cavite two weeks before our wedding. Why did we choose this place? Maybe because I still haven’t tried the resort (nothing grand about the experience) and I didn’t really want to go too far since we were already very busy before our Big Day. I am glad our session with my make-up artist and the Redsheep team went well.

Here are some important things to consider when planning your prenuptial photo and/or video shoot:

1. Pick your location. Factors to consider: proximity, the photogenic factor of the place or maybe the location’s significance to both of you as a couple.

2. Pick the photographer. This is a given, right? Take note that modern photographic equipment these days already have a video function so it’s better to shoot two birds with one stone.

3. Choose your theme. Black and white, pirate, sunset, garden, beach, carnival… the possibilities are endless. In our case, since hubby and I met online, we made sure we had a Mac laptop and an iPhone during our photo shoot, since these were part of our long distance relationship The photoshoot theme is also best discussed with your photographer since he might have his ideas too.

4. Don’t forget your hair and make-up artist! You still need to look good, even if it’s just a prenuptial shoot:)

5. What to wear. Actually, your outfit would depend on what theme you like. For a shoot in the park, for example, it could just be as simple as casual shorts and tees. Best to choose bright, attractive colors though.

6.Practice your smiles, expressions and poses. The prenuptial shoot will usually entail you and your partner holding hands and embracing but practicing how to be at your happiest also helps.

7. For best results, make a checklist. Do you need food? Do you need extra set of clothes? How about sunscreen, umbrellas, sunglasses? (helps if you’re shooting in the heat of summer) Keeping in mind all the things you need makes you organized and less stressed during the day of the photoshoot itself.

First of all, happy holidays to readers of this dormant blog, LOL. Updating this site more often now happily counts as one of my New Year’s resolutions, if only to share more info with betrothed couples and hopeful brides out there. Forgive my delinquency pls.

Over Christmas, I was trying to compile an animated presentation of our holiday pictures and suddenly remembered this nifty site called animoto.com. First heard of Animoto because our wedding photographer used this website for the audio-visual presentation of our prenuptial pictures. Please see video above, this was shown during our wedding reception.

I remember then, our wedding photographer, Guj Tungpalan of Redsheep Photography gave us a link to the above video so I can embed it in my blog or favorite networking site like Facebook.

It took my own tinkering with Animoto to find out how easy it is. Now you can make your own video, slideshow or audio-visual presentation from the file of wedding photos and prenuptial pictures you have on hand, for sending to family and friends or uploading to Facebook, Twitter and others. Talk about being a tech-savvy, modern-day bride, hehehe.

How to do this:

1. Choose your photos. It can be from your own collection, or the ones you’ve already uploaded to photo-sharing sites like Photobucket, Picasa or Flickr.

2. Upload the appropriate music, which can either be the library of songs from Animoto itself or your own selection. It can even be from your own recording.

3. Finalize everything. Animoto will send you a link to the video you just made.

Prices for these are quite reasonable. I paid as little as $3 for our family Christmas slideshow, or you can opt for $30 for unlimited access for one year. Just be sure to have your credit card details or Paypal account ready.

Disclaimer: Am in no way affiliated or connected with the service, but I’d happily recommend them if you want a do-it-yourself, professional-looking video or slideshow