Zayne's Baptism

We welcomed Zayne to the Christian world on January 22, 2016. (I know, I know. Why am I blogging this just now? Better late than never, eh?!) Anyway, my husband and I decided to have our daughter baptized before my maternity leave ended. We didn’t really get the chance to thoroughly plan for the said event, but I’m glad that it turned out really well. Our stay-out helper started with us just a couple of weeks before Zayne’s baptism so I didn’t really get the chance to go out of the house to “physically” do the preparations. Apart from taking care of Zayne, my husband and I also agreed not to take her out of the house before having her baptized. It’s not really because of the pamahiin. We were just being extra careful since a newborn’s immune system is still very fragile. Checkup lang ang labas niya ng bahay, tapos uwi na agad. So technically, her baptism was the first time that she was welcomed by our family and friends, and the “world”, too. Hahaha!

Nanay and Tatay sporting the New Parent’s Look
Good for Boyet he was able to hide his tired eyes with sunglasses! :p

Church: San Agustin Church

We were supposed to have a private baptism at Shrine of Jesus. But when my husband called to reserve, we found out that the only available times were 8AM and 4PM. We then decided to check out other churches, but most of them require a clearance from our parish. The parish where we belong does not entertain private baptisms. Running out of options, we decided to check out San Agustin Church. If you’ve been following me through this blog, then you probably know that it holds a special place in our hearts since we also got married in the same church.


San Agustin Church didn’t require us to submit a clearance from our parish. There was no seminar prior to the baptism, but the priest incorporated it during the ceremony. Kapag hindi pa naman naintindihan ng mga ninong at ninang ang role nila sa anak ko sa haba at linaw ng paliwanag ni Father, aba ewan ko na lang talaga! Haha!


We were also assisted by someone from the church before up until after the ceremony. And because it was a private baptism, we literally “owned” the entire church. Incidentally, the priest who officiated the baptism happens to be an acquaintance of one of Zayne’s ninongs. He opened the altar gate and allowed us to come closer to the altar for the picture-taking. Hihi. And of course, let us not forget how picture-perfect the church is. Lakas lang maka-we-also-got-married-here senti! :p




Reception: Tempura Japanese Grill

As soon as we booked the church, our next struggle was looking for a reception venue. We were initially leaning towards Cabalen in Robinsons Manila, but they told us that they would just be allotting a portion of the restaurant to us. Since it would be the first time for most of our friends and relatives to see Zayne, we wanted the reception to be as private as possible. My husband then went to the strip of restaurants along U.N. Avenue since it’s one of the closest to San Agustin Church. We narrowed down the choices to Shakey’s and Tempura Japanese Grill. My husband is not really the biggest fan of pizza and pasta so we settled with the latter.


It happened to be the perfect choice. The restaurant can accommodate up to 70 people, and they allow private functions. They offer different party packages. Apart from the food, they also took charge of the tarpaulin and the invitations.


Food is undeniably delicious. Our family is a big fan of Tempura Japanese Grill for years. They were also very quick when we had to make additional orders of tempura on the same day.







Cake: My Sweets’ Haven

I didn’t even bother looking for any other supplier to do Zayne’s cake. Her Ninang Joie made a beautiful apple carrot cake for her. I’m not really a fan of fondant cakes. Yes, they look great on photos, but they taste like bleh. Sorry, it’s just not my cup of tea. The fondant itself is just too sweet for liking. Anyway, we didn’t really have a specific theme for Zayne’s baptism so I just Googled “pink cakes for babies” and sent some of my pegs to Joie. Ayun na. Si Joie na ang bahala. And just as expected, her creation was simple yet very elegant. And more importantly, the cake was very delicious!



Photographer: Dar Calado of Frames Perfect Studios

Looking for a photographer became a challenge for me. I only hired a photographer once in my life. Ian Santillan did our wedding. He was also more than generous to do my maternity shoot when I was pregnant with Zayne. Although I would have wanted him to cover all our family’s events, that would be impossible. Haha!

I was too busy taking care of Zayne to even search for photographers. But luck was on my side, when my friend and fellow blogger, Sha, posted her family’s photoshoot. It was done by Dar Calado who happens to be the hubby of our college classmate, Pau. From inquiring for their rates up until booking the date were all done online. We met Dar for the first time on the day of Zayne’s baptism! Hahahaha! Feeling ko kasi, basta may kumuha ng pictures, ok na!

Much to my surprise, Dar delivered far beyond our expectations. He worked as “quietly” as possible so he was able to take not only photos but also people’s emotions. Ayun kasi ang mas importante sa akin more than the photographer’s “techniques” in taking photos. We were supposed to have a short photoshoot before the event, but Zayne decided to latch for hours before her baptism. But I’m still glad that Dar was able to take more than enough photos to help us remember that special day. Aside from the good quality of photos, his rates are also reasonable. Plus, he’s so easy to work with!
















He gave us two formats of the photos – FB size and full resolution. The photos I used for this post have already been resized, ha. It will be too photo-heavy if I put the actual formats. Hihi! So if in case you’re looking for photo/video coverage for any occasions or you simply want to look at his portfolio, do checkout the FB page of Frames Perfect Studios.


Photobooth: FlashBox Studios

Time was not on my side while preparing for Zayne’s baptism. I would rather look at my sleeping child than make some DIY souvenirs. Instead of going to Divisoria to buy personalized mugs or keychains, I decided to book for a photobooth. My brother and sister-in-law got the services of FlashBox Studios for their wedding. All transactions were made via email. Sobrang dali kausap. I just gave them photos of Zayne and asked them to create a pink template with touches of other pastel colors. Ayun, tapos ang usapan. 

UPDATE: We got them once again for Zayne’s first birthday party. Unfortunately, their service was not as good as we hoped it to be. See our review here.

flashbox studios


Zayne’s Dresses: Sabina & Co.

Online shopping became my best friend while I was on maternity leave. I didn’t have the luxury to leave Zayne and go to a mall so I decided to just buy Zayne’s clothes from Sabina & Co. I found out about this online store from my cousin, Hazel. She buys some of Zoe’s clothes from Sabina & Co.


Both of Zayne’s dresses used during the baptism ceremony and the reception were actually tops which come with leggings. At dahil kurips nanay ako, I used the top as a dress. Now that Zayne is already ten months old, she still gets to wear the dresses she used for her baptism as tops naman. Haha! And would you believe that I only bought each set around PHP300?! :p


Planning for Zayne’s baptism gained me the following awards: Best in Cramming, Best in Budgetting, Best in Recycling (since I got the services of the same suppliers that I’ve already worked with) and Best in Kenekshens (‘yung iba kasi, out of friendships lang ang puhunan sa pag-book, haha).

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