Wedding Reception Planning at Chateau de Busay
This page chronicles the planning and preparation of our wedding reception at Chateau de Busay or what we might call the "Behind the Scenes" of our wedding reception. Scroll down to see some photos of the planning stage.
Planning a wedding reception can be overwhelming especially if you don't have a wedding planner. After all, you want everything to be perfect because you're planning what might be the most joyful and most important celebration of your life. In a nutshell, these are the things that one has to consider in planning a wedding reception: choose a date, define your budget and come up with a guest list. In our case, the preparation for the reception started as soon as we were able to secure the wedding date at the Redemptorist Church.
Phase 1: Ocular Visit and Reservation
Reservation always comes on a "first come, first serve basis" so it would be truly wise to reserve early. Chateau de Busay can accommodate 2 weddings simultaneously. To secure your reception date, venue and accommodations, Chateau De Busay requires you to pay a reservation fee of Php 2,000. From there, you get to choose from two of their outdoor reception venues; By the Waterfall Garden or at the City View Garden, provided of course if nobody has booked ahead of you, otherwise you have no choice but to get whatever is available. We made our reservations on March 25, 2008, less than 3 months before the wedding date. It was a pretty good timing as all of the dates for the month of June were almost getting booked. Fortunately, our chosen date has not been taken yet. We initially reserved 100 guests for the reception. We also took this as an opportunity to take some pictures for our wedding site so my parents and our other guests living abroad to see. It was a very beautiful and sunny afternoon when we went there. Please click on an image below to view photos of our ocular visit and reservation at Chateau de Busay.
- Ocular Visit at the Upper Veranda of Chateau de Busay
- I and Wendell's mom takes a look at the Upper Veranda. We were escorted by a waiter who enthusiastically showed us around the place.
Ocular Visit at the Upper Veranda of Chateau de Busay
- The Green Background of the Upper Veranda of Chateau de Busay
- I and Wendell enjoys the fresh mountain breeze and the panoramic view of the hillside. It is past 3 pm and everything seems to glow in the afternoon sun.
The Green Background of the Upper Veranda of Chateau de Busay
- Just Taking a Stroll
- Me and Wendell's mon passing by the green grounds of the City View Garden and heading for the stairway that leads down to the Waterfall Garden which is located in the lower part of Chateau de Busay.
Chateau de Busay: Just Taking a Stroll
- By The Waterfall Garden Pond
- Me and Wendell sitting by the Pond. This part is located at the further end of the Waterfall Garden. A tree-shaded area with lush greenery all around and offering a most spectacular view of the hillside.
Chateau de Busay: By The Waterfall Garden Pond
- By the Waterfall Garden Grounds
- A green, spacious reception ground, a glimpse of the blue skies on a sunny afternoon, cool breeze and a nice mountain view are surely some of the things that will make you want to have your wedding reception here.
Chateau de Busay: By the Waterfall Garden Grounds
- By the Waterfall Garden, Hillside View
- Very romantic ambiance with the hillside as your backdrop. Nothing can truly compare to the beauty of nature...not even a classy ballroom of a five-star hotel.
Chateau de Busay: By the Waterfall Garden, Hillside View
- Path By the Waterfall Garden
- For those who are planning to have not just a reception but also their wedding ceremony to be held in Chateau de Busay, this area is the perfect place for a garden wedding since it is the most shady and the most airy part of the garden.
Chateau de Busay: Path By the Waterfall Garden
- City View Garden
- They call it the City View Garden because it gives a spectacular view of Cebu City and this area is what we choose for our wedding venue.
Chateau de Busay: City View Garden
Phase 2: Guest List and Seating Arrangement
So we've secured the reception venue and the date. That was easy. Well not quite...in fact we've only just began. This is the most tiresome and most challenging part in planning our wedding reception. In as much as we like to invite everyone in our "Big Day" one has to be realistic because we have to consider our budget. For this matter we decided to prioritize our family, immediate relatives and several of our closest friends. Its easy to come up with a guest list but the hardest part and somewhat frustrating, is how to finalize it and confirming our guest attendance which we badly needed for the table assignment. While there were RSVP cards that went along with each invitations, there were quite a lot who did not respond promptly while others did not respond at all. We had to call them ourselves to confirm their attendance. The list was never finalize until the night before the wedding and we discovered that we have an excess of 30 guests. I had to call Chateau de Busay at 11 pm to make arrangements for additional guests while Wendell hurriedly printed out the table numbers with the names of guest assigned for each table and the name plate for the Principal Sponsors' Table. It was hard work, but it was worth it. This is our Wedding Guest List and our Wedding Reception Seating Arrangement.
Phase 3: Choosing the Wedding Menu and Food Tasting at Chateau de Busay
And of course the most important part of a reception is undeniably FOOD. As part of their wedding package, Chateau de Busay has a choice of wedding buffet menus. I'm not a very choosy person when it comes to food and although I'd had my share of fine dining experience we just decoded to leave it to my mom to choose the menu. We immediately scheduled our food tasting as soon as she arrived from Las Vegas. We finally agreed with the following set of menu which would include Rice, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Pork Fillet with Apple Sauce, Sauteed Vermicelli, Braised Pork loin with Eggs and Chopsuey. For desert we will have Chocolate Cake Squares and Mango Soufflé. In addition to these menu, there will be 2 whole roasted pork and 1 roasted calf. It was a week before the wedding when we made the drive back to Chateau de Busay for the Food Tasting of the menu of our choice as well as to to finalize other details relating to our wedding reception. The following pictures below were taken during our Food tasting in Chateau de Busay on June 14, 2008 at 5 pm. Please click on an image below to view photos.
- Driving Up to Chateau de Busay
- My mom drives the car going up to Chateau de Busay for our Food tasting. On the front seat is my stepfather while me, Wendell and her mom are seated at the back seat
Driving Up to Chateau de Busay
- Arranging for the Dress-Up Accommodations
- We have decided to have the dress-up at Chateau de Busay, so we also made arrangements with Ms. Ellen (center) to prepare a room for us. We chose the room with the spacious dressing and make up area in the bathroom.
Chateau de Busay Reception Planning: Arranging for the Dress-Up Accommodations
- The Main Course Menu
- This is the table setting with the menu of our choice; Rice, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Pork Fillet with Apple Sauce, Sautéed Vermicelli, Braised Porkloin with Eggs and Chopsuey.
Chateau de Busay Food Tasting: The Main Course Menu
- For Desert
- For desert we will have Chocolate Cake Squares and Mango Soufflé. Hmm ... never had Mango Soufflé before. And it's served hot and frothy. That's really interesting! Ok, cool. Let's taste it then.
Chateau de Busay Food Tasting: For Desert
- It's Tasting Time
- This is the best part... it's chow time! This is Wendell and her mom obviously enjoying the food. So how's the food Wen? Oh, I see you're busy eating. Never talk while your mouth is full especially if your mom is at your side. Heheheh!
Chateau de Busay Food Tasting: It's Tasting Time
- Dinner With Gusto
- My mom and stepfather relishes each bite. Hmmm! Everyone seems to be so quiet nobody even cared to look at the cam. Oh well, time for me to stop being a paparazzi, I'll just put the camera down and join the fun.
Chateau de Busay Food Tasting: Dinner With Gusto
Phase 4: Outlining the Wedding Reception Program
It doesn't really take a genius to come up with a wedding recepton program. All it takes is just common sense, keen observation and a bit of resourceful informaton from the internet. If you had attended a wedding recption before, then you will prabably have an idea of what's gong to happen in a wedding recxption party. There are also a lot of weddng reception program formats available in the internet for your choosing. Its basically up to you how you wouuld want things to flow in you wedding reception. We made the wedding recption programme ourselves and instead of hiring am Emcee to carry out the programme, we arranged with our Best Man, Mr. Donald Sabandeja to be our Master of Ceremonies. There is a part of the program where the Emcee had to introduce the Principal Sponsors, Family and other Guest, for this we made an Encee script for him so he will have a guide on how to introduce these persons properly. Clcik here to view our wedding reception program with some photos.
Phase 5: Floor and Physical Arrangement Planning at Chateau de Busay
The last part of the preparation was laying down the floor plan and physical arrangement of the wedding reception venue. This meant the overall arrangement and presentation of the place, like how and where we want the tables and chairs to be arranged, table tops, skirting, slipovers, floral arrangements and other decor.This part was a breeze since this is part of their wedding package. Chateau de Busay will arrange everything for you. All you have to do is specify your preference. With the able help and guidance of Chateau de Busay's Operations Manager, Mr. Victor Millora, it did not take long for us to agree on an arrangement. It was agreed that the wedding reception will be held at the City View Garden and with the Rooftop as an alternative venue in case it would rain. Table tops and floral arrangement will be based on our color motif which is Matte Gold. It was also fortunate that I have a distant cousin, who worked there, Mr. Arnold Arcilla personally made sure that that everything was followed as planned. Click here to view our wedding reception floor and table plan.
- Floor Planning
- Chateau de Busay's Operation Manager, Mr. Victor Millora sits down with us and makes a sketch of our preferred floor plan.
Chateau de Busay Reception Planning: Floor Planning
- Discussing the Details
- Mr. Victor Millora and my mom discusses other details while I went about to double check the floor plan. I wanted to make sure if it was really what I wanted.