A little backstory before we get to the details and the main story..

When Jeff and I first got together we didn’t have much, so much so that our first anniversary was spent at a 17sqm, parking lot unit condo, we were renting, eating 50php chicken from 7-Eleven and sharing a tub of ice cream while binge watching horror flicks. With that, we made a promise with ourselves that we would step up our next anniversaries as far as our finances would allow us.

Fast forward to today, we had a plan to go to Lemuria and have a fancy, bougie fine dining dinner at their private pavilion, however as everyone already knows, because of this pandemic, we cannot. Now, I pride myself for being creative and resourceful, so I had an idea to turn our roof deck/bar/sampayan/gym/events place (we got a small place ok so some rooms are multi-purpose) into a movie theatre, and go back to our roots (our first anniv) when we didn’t have anything, and we just spent the entire day binge watch horror films and eating junk food.

Side note; Jeff is a frontliner so the task fell mainly on me, plus I wanted it to be a slight surprise in a sense that he knew what we were about to do but he has no idea how I'm going to pull this off

DIY and Decor

Since everything is practically closed, and most of the online craft stores, where I get my supplies from are closed, I’m left to my own devices and with the resources I have at home to decorate and make this whole thing happen. The problem: I didn’t have glue sticks for my glue gun, so I was not able to DIY a lot. Thankfully I already have some of the essentials to make this happen. For years I’ve been saving up used tin cans as well as clear bottles from liquor and cold beverages, and have been investing in some fake flowers and string lights. That's all we need.

DIY Pro Tip #1 one man’s trash is another man’s decor, if you often buy stuff with a pretty packaging or container , save them, collect them till needed. ive been saving up bottles of SB Coffee and various liquor and this copper tins from ice cream and desserts and it helped me decorate a ton of my parties in the past.

I wanted something romantic, whimsical, a little bit boujee, and super cozy. So let me walk you through it. For the bed area I used all white linen with a dash of earth tones to match the wood bench the wood projector holder, copper details and the warm lights perfectly.

DIY Pro Tip #2 christmas lights always adds that extra romantic, whimsical, cozy, glamour vibes. So invest in good ones that can last a lifetime if that’s your thing

DIY Pro Tip #3 stick with your color palette so even if you have a bunch of stuff it wouldn't look so cramped and messy. I suggest max of 4 colors. Unless multitude of color is your theme.

For the snack bench, I found online that 7th Anniversary = Copper, so we used recycled copper tin cans (from Arce Dairy and indie pastry shops that we ordered from last Christmas) as serving dishes for our snacks. For decor I used all the white knitted placemats that I can find, and placed candles and lanterns everywhere. 

DIY Pro Tip #5 if you’re having an event that requires a lot of candles, it’s a must to PREP THE CANDLES prior to the event. You do this by burning off the wax on the wick, so it’ll be a lot easier and faster to fire em up once needed

For the drinks area, I DIYed this white leather pedestal for the drinks using boxes from SNR, glue, thumb tax and faux leather fabric, we had our crystal glasses and decanter out as well as these copper goblets I bought two years ago but never used, filled these clear bottles (whose labels I scrubbed 2 days prior) with fairy lights. And randomly placed led candles everywhere

DIY Pro Tip #6 to remove the bottle labbles (paper type) just soak the label with lukewarm water, after 1 minute rub soap and scrub it off with a dish scrub, If it that didn't do the job add alcohol then scrub again (also works for sticker residue left by plastic stickers)

For the projector, I DIYed an old wood tray and made a projector holder to secure on the railings, as for the screen, I used my old photography backdrop stand and stretched a white linen blanket over it. At first I laced it with flowers and some lights but as we go with the evening I decided to remove them cuz I realized watching horror flicks with these florals and string lights is not the type juxtaposition I like, it just ruins the horror experience.

The Date

As mentioned multiple times we binge watched horror movies, no rationale whatsoever for the line up just horror films we haven’t seen before like; Ready or Not, Hereditary, Detention, Carriers, Child’s Play, and murder mystery Knives Out. 

We just watched and eat and watched and eat, Jeff cooked penne pasta, fry some potatoes, I made some cheese and hot dog waffles, 4 cheese dip for the chips, and popcorn. For snacks I got popcorn and tortillas from Frito-lay and sour tapes, Smores flavoured gummy bears, and gummy bananas from Candy Corner. We also had cocktails, it's Cherry Kurant (Cherry syrup + Cherry + Sprite or carbonated water + Vodka).

We had an awesome time, it was truly romantic and a bit suspenseful (cuz of the movies) but definitely a good time, will we do it again? Absolutely! 

As for a romantic speech, Im not really that sappy, I'm a scorpio, but here's my parting words for this article, Jeff and I are not soulmates, we are not meant to be, we are not perfect for each other, but we make it work each and everyday, simply because we love one another and intend to keep the love going for decades.