Wedding Digest Philippines Weddings. More fun In the Philippines Edition | Page 230
A SK T E
H EXP E R T
Mr. Julius Villamante
Fleurishing Wedding Style
Julius Villamante and his advisers, Anne dela Cruz and Bell Cotoco, have been wowing the international scene with
amazing floral styling. Two years ago, he decided it was time his kababayans get a glimpse of his creations.
Floral Beginnings to Styling Weddings
Villamante is actually a pharmacist when he met
someone from Flower Club Philippines. It was then
when he felt a strong desire to engage himself in the
flower industry, and also the time he met fellow floral
and style enthusiasts, dela Cruz and Cotoco. Soon
after, he went to Dubai, where his craft flourished and
where he met more people who will soon be part of
his business. For 6 years, he worked at Oleander, a
flower and landscaping company, which he represented
in competitions. He won several accolades in floral
arrangements, one of which is winning first place for his
team’s 7-foot arrangement for the BurJuman Centre’s
Floral Extravaganza.
For another competition, he went to Singapore and met
a lot of brides-to-be who were inspired by his style. This
encouraged him to put up his own place back at home.
Currently, Villamante’s Amante Fleur is the exclusive
event stylist for Manila Catering and was also tapped by
Chef’s Corner to do upgrades for their clients’ events.
Accessible Wedding Styling
“A decade ago, wedding styling was only available to the
very rich,” recalls Villamante. It was very expensive and
he says it was only the brides who were busy planning
the wedding and deciding on suppliers and so forth.
Today, both grooms and brides are more involved
in every detail of their wedding. “Couples are more
into themes; they want to be different from the rest.”
Luckily, event styling has become more affordable and
weddings, especially thematic ones, can be given the
expert style it’s worthy of.
Why Weddings are more fun in the Philippines.
“Elsewhere, event styling is really expensive. Here in
the Philippines, we can style events wonderfully and still
be less expensive. Our pieces are usually handcrafted
or from manual labor, we are very hands-on that way,
we put our passion and heart in everything we do. I
have friends from Lebanon and Japan who even try to
duplicate our creations.” This just goes to show the
Filipino’s creativity in anything and everything. They
use and recycle indigenous materials, and can include
local flowers in their styling.
Aside from the Filipino’s skill, they point out another
reason why weddings are more fun here, “The
Philippines has a lot of diverse settings, and that’s
why we can recreate a lot of destinations here. In
one wedding at Laiya, we were able to put together a
Mexican theme using our own materials.”
As for his take on Filipiniana weddings, he explains that
Filipiniana is actually a wide category still, “There is a
Filipiniana Fiesta, to focus in our colorful celebrations,
and there is a Regional Filipiniana theme which can
focus on one particular area’s culture... I personally
want to see a Spanish-inspired Filipiniana wedding
where we can use a facade of the ancient houses of
Ilocos and use items that come from that era. If the
budget is not a problem you can even do a theme that
will include all major regions, from north to south, so
the guests can have a taste of each. That’s more like a
Filipiniana combined with a travel theme.”
Whichever Filipiniana style you prefer, Amante Fleurs
assures they can make it for you...
AMANTE FLEURS FLOWER
S & STYLING
414-5871/ 385.9985 / 0916.66
[email protected] 55496
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