Planning my Son's bear-y adorable Christening Party

Planning a budget friendly christening was a challenge to me because the media is so full of extravagantly styled parties; but in a sense that we wanted our event to be intimate as possible, we opted to have it bear themed (because we call our son Teo- bear) and invited our closest family and friends to celebrate in welcoming our son Liam Mateo to the Christian World.

We named our son Liam Mateo (Liam- meaning resolute protector, Mateo- meaning gift from God)

I'd like to share to you how we did it for less than 30k. Here's our supplier ratings to help you with your own planning too. Hopefully this would also be constructive to the suppliers we mentioned below.

CHRISTENING SUPPLIER RATINGS

1.       CHURCH- NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE SACRED HEART 4/5 (Recommended)

P2,500 for Solo Baptism 4 pairs of ninong and ninangs included, additional 500 per head for extra sponsors.

Beautiful Baptistry, airconditioned church although it would be nice if they replaced the bamboo behind the baptistry with live plants, the ones that are planted looked sad and dry and even dead. Instructed that we should not be late to prevent the rescheduling of the event. Unfortunately, late sila nag start both sa Seminar and sa Christening itself. Mabait naman yung staff so we still recommend them.

2.      RECEPTION VENUE- SHAKEY’S MAKATI AVENUE 5/5 (Highly Recommended)

5 Monster Meal deals (good for 50pax), tarpaulin, event venue, sound system included.

Medyo nahirapan lang with scheduling at first kasi they were hesitant; I initially wanted a weekend event pero they wont allow daw kasi peak days, then when I told them na lunch time nag hesitate sila ulet, pero in the end they allowed us naman since 2hrs lang kami sa venue. Overall the Staff were polite and very accommodating; and the food was served on time. They set up the food buffet style so that it will look more presentable instead of having it per table.

3.      INVITATIONS AND FAVOR TAGS-  COLORPRINTS 5/5 (Highly Recommended)

High Quality prints, accommodating seller, fast transaction and fast delivery, extra prints were also shipped. No Cons.

4.      CUSTOMIZED CAKE AND CUPCAKE SOUVENIRS- DAILY SPREAD 4/5 (Recommended)

P3,200 for 6” diameter cake, 50 pcs cupcakes with favor boxes

Saw the supplier through Instagram and was impressed with their work, they were the only ones who offer Party Packages that are very affordable for the output. The cake was moist and not too sweet, the fondant doesn't have a waxy texture but a marshmallow-y one and the designs were very close to the inspiration photos I gave.  The only thing we did not like was that they don’t deliver the orders; on the day of the meet up they were late. Hopefully they resolve this in the future because it’s the only issue.

5.      BALLOONS- BEBS TOY BALLOONS 2/5 (Not Recommended)

P2,000 for 2 half cake arcs and 50 pcs ceiling balloons

I got them as our supplier kahit mas mahal siya sa offer sa amin sa Shakey’s kasi I thought Beb’s matagal na sa business, kilala na, wala akong magiging problema. I booked them and paid them full 2 weeks before the event. I clearly indicated that the set up time was 10am para pag dating naming after the ceremony kakain nalang at naka set up na lahat. Unfortunately, pagdating namin sa venue, nakakalat pa ang balloons at yung half cake arcs palang ang naka set up, tinanong ko yung nag se-set up ng balloons at sabi nila kakarating lang nila, which was 12pm na, so I asked if I can call their office, sad to say hindi man lang sila apologetic at hindi raw kasi sumagot yung kausap ko nung tinanong nila yung set up time. Sabi ko, nakasulat naman sa copy ng receipt yung set up time diba? Nakakahiya sa guests namin na ngayon palang kinakabit yung balloons. Ang sabi ba naman sa akin “Mabilis lang naman yan ikabit maam eh” Wow….Kung maaga kayo dumating at mabilis lang ikinabit edi sana tapos nayan ngayon. Haaayyy…it was very disappointing na ganung service ang naexperience namin. Maganda naman yung quality ng balloons (although I doubt they installed ALL 50 ceiling ballooons) so I gave them a 2. Find a different supplier.

6.      BOB AND ZAB LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY 5/5 (Highly Recommended)

*Special Rate

Bob and Zab were very easy to work with, comfortable kaming lahat kasi their young. They got all the shots na importante sa ceremony and even details sa reception. They also asked me to bring a flash drive so I could get RAW copies of our photos after the reception. No cons. You can view some of our photos through their online portfolio here.

So that's it! Good Luck planning mommies!