A WEDDING MUSICIAN’S WOE – MIDAS HOTEL

The performance was done for an elegant wedding at the Midas Cafe and told that I have to get the fee on Monday being a working day for it was handled by the purchasing department of Midas Hotel knowing that we would be paid that same night but dismay befall me and what can I do but to come back for our minimal fee as wedding musicians.

 

Then, Monday came and went to claim our fee coming from afar just to settle but it was so frustrating being told that the check had to be prepared. Before hand, I was told that they would pay as in cash. I spitted my dismay that for a small amount they have to make hard for us musicians to claim what was due us. I couldn’t do more so went home feeling disgusted.

 

Then on, I kept following if the check was ready but it had to be signed yet and the signatories were still busy. That fair reasoning annoyed me that much but still gained my composure.

 

I waited until Friday because I was told it would be ready by then. Reaching the accounting department I went to claim my check but it was named Augustine Music and Events instead of Mario Lupato which I told them to put, so I could not encash it because my bank account name is Mario Lupato. I asked the lady who attended me if there was a way for me to have it in my name and said that I have to wait until Friday. I suggested that they type my name above Augustine Music and Events but she argued that signatories still were needed and they have to wait for them to do sign.

 

I didn’t leave yet thinking there might be another solution to this. The lady didn’t even bother to let me sit and kept answering the phone never paying attention to my dilemma. Then, once again told me that they couldn’t do anything. Maybe, the chief accountant felt that I wanted to settle this problem that same day and went to the cashier department if something to be done. At least, she had little understanding rather than the other lady.

 

With the help of JOANNE, I happened to ask her name, to give me the cash instead. Without her I would be troubling following up our talent fee again and again. When she said to pay me cash instead, my trouble was over.

 

I WANT TO THANK HER THROUGH THIS BLOG FOR SHE IS A PERSON WHO UNDERTSTANDS SOMEONE’S TROUBLE.

 

TO YOU JOANNE, FROM MIDAS HOTEL ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND MAY THE BEST IN LIFE BE YOURS. 

WEDDINGS AND BEYOND – AUGUSTINE MUSIC AND EVENTS

Weddings and Beyond Bridal Fair slated on January 14 and 15 started the year with a blast. It was hugely received as guests kept pouring in to attend to their wedding needs with a wide array of suppliers that sprouted in PICC forum.  Though it coincided with another bridal exhibit at the Mall of Asia, Weddings and Beyond pulled through with greater mark, obviously. And proud to say that I had the time with my ware exhibited.

 

My observations centered to some points need mentioning. A certain lady by the name of Marianne made us comfortable by moving around and asking sincerely if we were okay. That simple gesture dictated that personnel of Weddings and Beyond have that distinct advantage through what we call personalized service. Second point was during the ingress and egress, they were not intimidating when it came to that point. I felt relaxed with bringing in and out my needed materials for the exhibit. Third point was all suppliers were handed a tikoy for Chinese New Year is near. Imagine how many suppliers attended. But it serves as a promotion, one thing sure. Fourth point I would blankly say that this was a colossal event and they started it right.

 

I had fun moving around, too and saw varied tastes as they arranged their booths. Some made it so grand that spoke their success as suppliers. Few had simple booths, like mine but managed to hand my leaflets which was my paramount concern to at least know that Augustine Music and Events is something worth hiring as they visit our website displaying our passion and dedication to the world of entertainment and dedicated wedding planning service.

 

Once again, I want to thank Marianne and the rest of Weddings and Beyond helping small suppliers like me start the year right. For sure, God provides.

AMERICAN-FILIPINA WEDDING RECEPTION AT THE LOUNGE

Presenting the grand entrance of the couple where they walked in between the members of the entourage standing with a lively music proceeding to the presidential table and the assistance of a wedding coordinator making sure everybody is positioned before the next part of the wedding program.

A wedding highlight started with the father and daughter dance with the chosen song by the couple as a meaningful one, for sure. Supposedly, some party poppers would make it more dramatic but it isn’t allowed in the venue but what is important is the wedding song that makes their dance.

Then, the father of the bride turned his daughter to the groom for the so called traditional couple’s first dance as a universal gesture of celebration for a wedding not only in the Philippines.

Mike Nowill from the United States came alone to marry his love one and it was very obvious that he really loves Jen, a pure Filipina from the Philippines and both are still young. I heard Jen will be leaving soon to join her husband to the United States but still Mike wants to see some places of our beautiful country.

The wedding turned organized with the wedding coordinators easing all the burdens for a smoother flow and the wedding reception program devised by the couple turned just right.

PRAYER BEFORE MEAL – WEDDING EMCEE PHILIPPINES

For Couple
“Lord God, Creator of the universe, Father of us all, we have gathered here around this dinner table to celebrate the love and commitment that have united (bride’s name) and (groom’s name), in a wonderful bond of marriage. Bless, Father, this food that we are about to receive with grateful hearts as a sign of your continuous bounty and providence. May your generous blessing descend also upon these newly married spouses,their families and friends present here at this joyful banquet.We make this prayer in the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, on God for ever and ever. Amen”

AUGUSTINE MUSIC AND EVENTS – WEDDING PORTAL PHILIPPINES

MARIO LUPATO READS THE SOLDIER BY RUPERT BROOKE

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

KING’S SPEECH – MARIO LUPATO

In this grave hour, perhaps the
most fateful in our history, I send
to every household of my peoples,
both at home and overseas this
message spoken with the same depth
of feeling for each one of you as
if I were able to cross your
threshold and speak to you myself
Over and over again we have tried
to find a peaceful way out of the
differences between ourselves and
those who are now our enemies. But
it has been in vain. We have been
forced into a conflict. For we are
called, with our allies, to meet
the challenge of a principle which,
if it were to prevail, would be
fatal to any civilized order in the
world. Such a principle, stripped
of all disguise, is surely the mere
primitive doctrine that might is
right. For the sake of all that we
ourselves hold dear, and of the
world’s order and peace, it is
unthinkable that we should refuse
to meet the challenge. It is to
this high purpose that I now call
my people at home and my peoples
across the seas, who will make our
cause their own. I ask them to
stand calm and firm, and united in
this time of trial. The task will
be hard. There may be dark days
ahead, and war can no longer be
confined to the battlefield. But we
can only do the right as we see the
right and reverently commit our
cause to God.

If one and all we keep resolutely
faithful to it, then, with God’s
help, we shall prevail

WEDDING EMCEE PHILIPPINES RECITES POETRY

---

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
‘Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness, -
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim:

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:
Already with thee! tender is the night,
And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
Cluster’d around by all her starry Fays;
But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;
White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;
Fast fading violets cover’d up in leaves;
And mid-May’s eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain -
To thy high requiem become a sod.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is fam’d to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side; and now ’tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music: – Do I wake or sleep?

AUGUSTINE MUSIC AND EVENTS – WEDDING PORTAL PHILIPPINES

THOUGHTS ON: FUNERAL MUSIC AND BEREAVEMENT

Best performances are made when people around are in their focused state like during a funeral mass where silence is evident and parts for words and music stand out. Funeral music reflects reverence not only the music choice but the controlled delivery same with the words said for the deceased.  It is the time to express the real essence what a song is performed with intense feeling and sincerely sharing the beauty and meaning of a song.

 

I had the privileged to sing for a funeral mass and doing so made me feel how important sharing during this moment of bereavement. I was there not show how good I am. I was there sharing sentiments of the highest order and just in that moment could lead you to really what is right at that particular stance without someone telling you or directing you what is proper. You are there like a member of the family among the intimate gathering of mostly relatives and close friends. And sharing special song relating to the occasion is added drama to life and a milestone being an artist in the true sense of the word.

 

There is no hush during bereavement. Even the photographers and video man where in just one corner never moving here and there like during weddings and capturing only special moments to avoid the flashes now and then. There are not much color around except for more of the whites and blacks as an indication of respect. Well, a sort of controlled intensity but the beauty of it all is once in awhile we have to be around where drama is a part of life to be involved with.

 

I can say that the few hours I was with the bereaved family doing my share is a reflection that every moment in one’s life indicates no certainty and doing, thinking and helping in a way are the best things to do while on earth. If you don’t have much money to afford sharing, maybe talents voluntarily shared serve as an alternative without asking something in return but if it gives and insisted, feel free to accept.

 

Here, time comes so fast and ready for grasp

Where certainty reels like tough task

Whispering in silence not asked

Come to me and live another life that last

As substitute for eternal presence at dusk

For death is another feat to trust

augustine music and events

GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY OF HEART – AUGUSTINE MUSIC AND EVENTS

It was awesome to be involved with an affair prepared by the children to put up a remarkable bash celebrating the 50^th wedding anniversary of their parents. A golden wedding is a feat to reach and the best has to be offered for the celebrants.

 

The wedding songs and music selected by the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lucena speaks of their taste in music. The old standard songs and music still top the wedding music choice list and many longs for the forgotten songs of the past to be heard once again because their unique melodies are felt from the hearts. It is during a golden wedding where romantic music lingers in the air. You can feel what the song or music is telling you especially if wedding musicians come to play and musicians in the Philippines are passionate when it comes to the old classics. It is also the reason why Filipino music is one of the best in the world. Everybody loves music from the Philippines.

 

The wedding ceremony where the couple renewed their vows is a chapel near the middle of the vast Veteran Memorial Hospital where it sits. It is a small circular chapel ideal for an intimate number of people for a mass celebration and far from noise from the busy street nearby. It is cozy, too because it is an open kind of chapel where air passes through and lots of light making scenes photographic.

 

Before ceremony began, the Augustine Music performed touching wedding prelude music

that captivated the guests around with the solemn rendition of the light classical music which is familiar to many and after the prelude music provided by the wedding musicians, an old beautiful romantic song was rendered for the bridal march timely done even the center aisle is that short for the couple walked slowly to relish the special moment. There was the church choir to do the rest of the wedding songs and music and proceeded to the wedding reception venue where we will manage our instruments to be used as the guests arrived after the wedding ceremony.

 

It was nearly twelve noon when the guests arrived with reception music the moment guests arrived in droves and to cope up with the time, program started when almost all were in as suggested and let everybody come in from the photo booth section to start the first part of the wedding reception program.

 

I hosted the golden wedding program and enjoyed the moment with the children with their husbands and wives who did fantastic tribute by singing very relating wedding songs for a golden wedding. Even the grandchildren spiced the bash with their special dance number with the music from the thriller of Michael Jackson. The wedding program was prepared by the children and followed the program flow as it was with some insertions were needed.

 

The wedding musicians enjoyed their time playing beautiful wedding songs and music which are easy to listen to and observed that the couple were very intent when one of their favorite songs were performed like “Stardust” and “Smile”. And even the guests kept humming as they heard those old familiar music played by the Augustine Music.

 

A golden wedding is best to be engaged with when it comes to intimacy with the wedding program and wedding music. These are two areas where hearts are called to effectively relish the importance of a celebration with such wonderful contributions. A wedding program host or emcee either makes or breaks the affair and wedding musicians’ share with that splendid list of wedding songs and music add glitter to the party.

 

Once again, I am so glad having given the opportunity to host and sing for a remarkable golden wedding and my very share is, at least made the wedding day as expected.

WEDDING FLOWERS FROM AUGUSTINE MUSIC AND EVENTS

I remember three years ago when we took some time doing bridal bouquets and having fun with it then after a year doing flowers for weddings, we stopped. Then, all of a whim I began contemplating to delve once more into the art of floral arrangement.

 

It is special market for weddings and thinking to merge it with our wedding event planning, especially if it is a day wedding coordination to perhaps lessen their wedding expenses. You know that anyone can do flower arrangements but a certain skill is needed to create a wedding bouquet and flowers for the whole wedding entourage. Here is where creativity centers. It is an artistic endeavor and fun, for sure.

 

There are different kinds of bridal bouquet and numerous flowers to choose from, even colors come to play for needed consideration before doing the desired look.

 

The female entourage is thought about first by preparing the flowers for both mothers, the female principal sponsors may either have hand-held bouquets or corsages or wristlets, the maid of honor has her bouquet different from the rest, the female secondary sponsors have their own bridal bouquets, the bridesmaids and flower girls have their own, too. Of course, male members of the entourage normally have their boutonnieres with the groom having a different made boutonniere that stands out or maybe of different color.

 

Matching the use of flowers and color to the wedding theme is imperative before proceeding with the work. Act as a wedding consultant when it comes to flowers for you know better and say what you feel is best. Ask their suggestions, too and when it makes sense then do the work.

 

It is fun matching different kinds of flowers and employing certain artistry but playing safe rules for weddings. The classic floral arrangements for weddings stand the test of time in beauty and artistry. The case here is: the simpler, the better. Sometimes, simplicity means elegance and that what a bride wants. But if the bride’s personality is more daring; then, by all means experiment with the different types of bouquets or better let her decide and go on with her desires, with a little suggestion.

 

In the Philippines, the commonly used flowers are: asters, calla lily, carnation, daisy, chrysanthemum, gerbera, local hyacinths, peonies that usually come from Davao or Tagaytay, the popular Malaysian mums, of course, roses of varied colors and kinds, even sunflowers are used and of course tulips that are becoming the favorite. We have the uncommon ones but they are not often delivered in Manila and if there are, few are shipped and expensive. One caution, when a florist tells you that her tulips came from Holland, totally not to believe her. We now grow tulips and they thrive in cold climate like Baguio and Tagaytay. There are greeneries for tulips alone.

 

If you happen to be in Baguio and see a flower that blooms in a street side or in some corners, the city dwellers regard them as weeds but for those who haven’t been to Baguio that often, they are delightful fragile flowers longed to be picked and put into a vase as a floral design. Watch those lilies in the fields, they are sights to behold and they are just left there to wither and die.

 

It is true that wedding will not be complete without flowers and certainly they add beauty and elegance to a wedding affair. Flowers give life and color to a barren corner. It turns a dull place dazzling with the magic of a floral artist.

 

And as the bride walks with her wedding bouquet, a light shines through splendidly.

 

augustine music and events – wedding portal philippines