The 24th Day of November has Come!



The day we have prepared for, the day we have waited for.  It has finally arrived! …and ended. Sorry.  I would usually post pictures, but we haven’t really taken pictures ourselves. And I can’t wait for the pictures. I want to do this post now…this morning after the wedding when memories are fresh and while we are still in a state of bliss =). Oh by the way, photoslide is at the end of the post =)

 Preparations at the Crosswinds
Both of us woke up early that morning mainly because Jen had to be made up. I, on the other hand, needed to make sure I would be able to welcome all the guests who arrived. Many of the guests went to Crosswinds and hopefully some of them had the time to go around. As the day progressed, the suppliers came. While we were busy prepping up, the photographers came – the team of Daniel Lei.  We requested them to focus on many details, and focus they did. Later on, we will see the logic of all the weird poses and angles! A few minutes later, the team of Anna Sotto arrived. The coordinators immediately organized everybody and assisted all our guests consistently. Kris Bacani and her hair stylist Alex arrived at almost the same time and started to do their magic to Jen immediately.  RCJC then arrived with the bouquet. We were really surprised with the flowers of the entourage because they consisted of Gerberas that had black centers. They really blended in with our theme. The bride however had a bouquet of red Ecuadorian Roses. The bride’s room was all busy and crowded, like a mall on a Sunday morning. My room was like the Christmas village in April. =)
                When we were all ready, just in time, the vintage cars arrived -- a muscled white Buick and a slick & sexy Jaguar Mark V from Don Robert. Me and my family immediately went inside the Buick and led the convoy to the church. On the other end of the convoy was the Jaguar. Onboard was the most beautiful passenger it had ever seen.
Ceremony at the San Antonio de Padua Parish
                As we arrived at the church, the parking lot immediately became jam packed! As I entered the church, I tried to welcome everybody as much as I could. The church became immediately filled with guests and it soon became impossible to shake hands with everybody. As we lined up the entourage, I was so proud because we were able to complete it just in time as the march started.
                The view of entourage coming in was really amazing. It was one of the few privileges of being a groom! I got to see them and the bride didn’t. So I could only share to her how amazing her whole entourage looked.  As the last of them reached their seats, the crowd went quiet. Libante ensemble started to sing a beautiful rendition of the Promise then the church door opened. Everybody saw the person that they had all been waiting for – the my bride.
                She was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. At that moment, to me the church was empty. Just me and her. Her long sparkling gown, her red bouquet, every small step she took on the aisle was like a beautiful dream. She was met by her parents halfway and as they reached the end of the aisle, her parents handed her over to me. I held her hand and looked at her. The dream. It was now real. We walked up the stairs and faced the altar. In front of God, and in front of everybody, we were ready to make the covenant.
                Father Joseph administered the mass with so much solemnity. The mass was so serene from the ceremony itself to the nuptial rites – the veil, the cords, the candles, the exchange of the rings, and the exchange of vows. They all went smoothly. The only downfall was that I was sweating so profusely the whole time! I thought I’d lose half my weight back there. Yes, I’ll mention it here because it’s not like nobody noticed. For the record, it’s not that I was scared. It’s a medical condition. =)
                Then the mass ended and the priest announced that I could now kiss the bride. We faced each other, I lifted her veil. And in front of all the people close to us, we sealed our commitment to each other and our commitment to God – with a kiss. For about five seconds there, we were the only people in the world. The sight of all our guests smiling warmly, hearing them clap made us appreciate all the support they had given us. The photo ops followed and we had the opportunity to thank everybody as they approached us. The exit from the church, seeing all the people waiting outside for us was a sight we would never forget. After a few photo ops on the church belfry, we then went inside the Jaguar Mark V on our way to the reception.
The Reception – Collosian Gardens
                As we arrived at Collosian Gardens, I was so surprised to see how many cars were parked. We thought the space was already big enough but there were just too many. I secretly worried if I could actually feed of all them. =) But that was just a thought, what mattered was that they all came. We waited for our queue at the end of the bridge to the reception venue.  When the music started, we just walked our way towards the cheering crowd. We were so happy that 1) they all had seats… and 2) despite the travel time, they all looked so happy.
                Town’s Delight served good food and did a good job in decorating the whole place. The program started immediately. The whole reception lasted for about 2 hours only – which was exactly how long we wanted it to be. It was a brief but fun evening. We slashed out the traditional rites like the flower toss and the garter game and replaced them with games. In between games, we personally prepared several AVP’s to keep their attention glued – such as grow up pictures and tribute to parents. Anna, the host, did a good job in engaging the guests. We were also proud of the magnetic cards by Partyshots and the digital photo frame by Frame Up. At the end of the program, we gave away the centerpieces and as a final act of gratitude, we flashed an AVP (in rolling credits as seen at the end of a movie) showing names and pictures (of those who have FB accounts) of our guests.  As it flashed, we went around to thank everybody.
End of Reception
                As everybody started to leave, we tried our best to show all the suppliers and all the guests how grateful we were for making our wedding day wonderful. All our hardships, all the planning, all the time spent they were all worth it.
                Later that evening, all the suppliers and all the guests have left. The parking lot was suddenly empty. There was only my car in a windy Tagaytay night. Then we were back in the car again… the two of us alone – only this time we were filled with so many memories.

Watch the photoslide show here!