The day started early for me. I woke up at 5:30am despite insisting for my call time to be moved to 7am. It felt like the morning of Christmas or my birthday—it’s the feeling of anticipation for something so special and magical waiting to unfold.
Invites: Print Divas / Vinyl Figures: Gino Roberto Custom Figures / Shoes: Nine West / Perfume: Chanel
Belt & Cufflinks: Pierre Cardin / Perfume: Lacoste / Shoes: Preview / Watch: Armani Exchange
Rings: DSK Jewellery Shop (This is our family business so the link is to my mum's page. I put the S in DSK :D)
I got up to the chair to get ready, and in between strokes of brushes and pats of powder on my face—people are coming up to ask questions like “where’s your coordinator?” or “when will breakfast arrive?”. One thing you need to understand about me is that I am a very detailed planner and I always have backup plans, but on the flip side, I have also recently started to appreciate the joy to letting go and living in the moment.
Thankfully, I had the best maid of honour and sister in the world, Kristina (or Tinot as I call her) who immediately veered everyone away from me and resolved the concerns on her own. I am mighty proud of her for staying sane throughout the day!
Renz from Ville Sommet sure deserves a shoutout too. He wouldn’t let anyone stress me out either and was pulling them aside to see how he can help with whatever concern they may have.
Aside from Tinot and Renz, the other reason I managed to let go was of course my love, Ian. The day before the wedding I had a meltdown. It was all too much for me to hold in by that point—my shoes were left behind in Las Pinas (we’re in Tagaytay already), things are missing, and to top it all off… it was forecasted to rain.
I couldn’t take it anymore so I called Ian to vent. He couldn’t hear what I was saying due to bad reception which he knows would set me off even more. To calm myself down, I took a moment before I pick up the phone, so I walked around our marvellous reception venue first. Seeing the place at that moment reminded me of that time Ian decided to book this one even if it exceeds our budget. He saw my face lit up when the images of Ville Sommet popped up. This is when it hit me—none of the stuff I was worried about really matters.
Our wedding should be about us, our love. We are throwing this wedding to celebrate it with the people we hold dear, that’s all it is. It doesn’t matter that it’s raining, or things don’t go to plan. Our wedding should not be treated like a produced show or a launch event.
I still cried pretty hard as soon I heard Ian’s voice when I picked up the phone though. He sounds anxious and kept offering to buy me new shoes, and I cried harder when he was insisting to buy me comfort food. <3 This is another reason why I know we’ll be okay, not just on our wedding day but every day of our marriage.
Anyhooo, back to the wedding day.
Once Lyn & Dyna from Lyn Makeup Artistry were done with my “getting ready” look, I went outside with the very talented team of 24 Frames Manila. I’m not even kidding guys, just look at these shots!
Our only request from our coordinators and 24 Frames was for Ian and I to personally read our letters without us seeing each other. We didn’t think it would be possible considering the time and work it takes to make it happen—but alas, they pulled it off. It was easily my most favourite part of the day. It was just what I needed before I walk down that aisle.
Aside from the letter, seeing a butterfly roam around the bushes near me while I was waiting for Ian was also a tug in the heart. Not that I am a huge fan of butterflies per se, but my Tita Gina have a theory that her late husband, my Tito Leonard, makes his presence known in the form of a butterfly. True enough, if you watch our same-day edit, there was also a butterfly surrounding Ian in the part where he opens the gift I gave him.
On the way to the church, I took the bridal car—this was part of our package with our florist, Estrella’s House of Flowers—with Tinot and Daryl (one of the coordinators). Knowing that I didn’t eat much for breakfast and lunch before then, she insisted that I share her two-pack Oreo with her. But my sister has a history of fainting whenever she gets too hungry, so I forced her to stop worrying about my hunger because it will stress me out even more if she pass out. She knows me well enough that if my voice changed to a certain tone, it means I wouldn’t budge—she then happily ate her Oreos.
While the car was pulling up the chapel’s driveway, she was telling me how nervous she is. I found it sweet that my very chill and laid-back sister has now become the worried and responsible one; whereas I, the bride, could not give a damn about things going wrong. All I see is our quaint and charming chapel surrounded by Tagaytay’s natural fog, while I listen to our driver’s spot-on love song playlist.
She was eventually called by one of the coordinators to join the entourage to prepare. She once again worriedly looked at me and asked if I’m okay before leaving. As soon as she closed the door, that was when I had a moment to take it all in.
The years we have spent planning for this day, the tears I shed because of the cancellations, the hope we had when borders became open, finally being with our family & friends…all of it. It’s here. It happened and it is still happening.
Then someone knocked on my door telling me "let's go"
I held back my tears and mustered a smile
Time
was
going
slow...
As soon as I stepped behind the curtain, a gust of wind blew past. The coordinators panicked as the curtain almost revealed me to Ian. Meanwhile, I have already started crying because my attention was just captured by the music coming from the chapel. It was from the quintet, Symphony Rhythm Strings, they were playing “Kay Tagal Kitang Hinintay.” I couldn’t think of anything else aside from wanting to see my love again.
From Ian’s perspective, he said he started tearing up even at the sight of my feet! And here I thought we might not even get too emotional because we have already been married for three years.
The homily that Mnsr Rolly Ramos gave was really insightful. It centred on the three Ps to a successful marriage: Panginoon (God), Pagpapatawad (Forgiveness), and Pagbibigayan (Giving).
The part that I really appreciated was when he told us that since he is now a part of our story, he takes it upon himself to pray for us. It really meant a lot to me. I know for sure that we need a lot of those, not because I anticipate a lot of problems, but because marriage is a lifetime commitment. There will be hurdles and challenges that could be bigger than us, some we might not even see coming. Just knowing that people, especially our priest, are praying with us for the success of our marriage is such a huge thing. <3
Then Mnsr Rolly uttered the words that I only used to hear in third person perspective, whether in movies or as a wedding guest:
"Kristian, you may now kiss your bride."
After the ceremony, we of course did the obligatory photos. It was a surprise that I quite enjoyed this because the usual feedback I hear from couples is how tiring it is to take photos. But I liked it as it allowed us to personally thank everyone who came.
To our Ninongs and Ninangs, thank you so much for coming all the way to Tagaytay to celebrate with us. It surely was enough, but you also went out of your way to give us a gift! You guys are too generous to us. But as Mnsr Rolly said, we are also looking forward to your wisdom and guidance as we navigate our way through married life. We couldn’t do this on our own.
As we exit our chapel, we were welcomed by our wonderful entourage while they shoot bubbles and wave the ribbons I made (can you tell I’m very proud of them?). I see familiar faces that I missed so dearly. They were gushing for us and joyfully following the poses our photographers tell us to do—just looking around and seeing their happy faces filled me with love and gratitude.
Let me just take a bit more space to brag about our wonderful entourage. They not only helped in the planning—some of them even lent their talents in making our wedding more magical and personal, and some even flew from overseas! You guys have no idea how grateful we are to have you all.
From bottom left to right: Youki's beautiful calligraphy skills upped our invitation and place cards to a whole new level; Mary treated me to a mani-pedi for some relaxation before the crazy starts; Sena has always been my emotional support even when she's back in Japan; Tinot, well, I talked about her already; Paulene, aside from feeling for & with me all the time, she also helped with the FAQ arts; Bianca & Vanna, my two of my closest friends pero ganda lang ang ambag; Erica, she helped in our prenup shoot back here in Melbourne; Reena, helped with so much! She went to the food tasting, sourced choreographers (complete with a report<3), and was the one keeping the #BrideTribe group alive; Julia, my new cousin, sang a beautiful song in our civil wedding--it made our intimate wedding so much more memorable to me; Ate Kath, my new sister, has helped prepare the giveaways for the guests; Ariel, if it wasn't for you, Ian might have not passed his math subjects! haha; Shaun has helped a great deal processing our marriage certificate, you are such a blessing to us!; CJ & Julius, my cousins na ka-pogian at kwento lang ang ambag; Marron, my new cousin who woke the audience up with his pasabog entrance and made the most out of the open bar
Not in photo were Kiana & France due to freaking COVID; Kiana created the layout for our photo booth printouts; France produced an amazing AVP
of our life here in Melbourne (will post soon!) and surprised me with these flowers <3--love you both. We wish you were there!
During the reception, I’ve let go even more and was just going with the flow because of how much I trust our organised and professional host, Toni of Events Hosting by Toni. She could wake the party animal side out of anyone—even those who have already been stuffed full by the appetizers (which from what I heard already seemed like the main dish) by our caterers, RichGold.
The song we chose for our first dance was Helpless by the original cast of Hamilton. Everyone was surprised that Ian danced and even did a solo! I knew this will be a massive surprise because even back in school when dancing is mandatory, Ian never really joined. He just swayed his body a bit and hid in the back.
A lot of you asked me how I got Ian to dance, and the answer was simple… I honestly didn’t even have to force the idea. I just randomly asked him what he thought about a choreographed dance, and he immediately said yes. Even I was shocked! Then he followed it with, “alam ko dun happy babygirl ko e” (I know that’s what will make my baby girl happy). And that’s the 1 millionth time my heart melted since I met this guy.
Lucky, I know Ceejay, a talented choreographer from way back. He understood the assignment, and came up with this fun but romantic dance number that we can learn in a span of three weeks! He is so easy to work with and will always check in on us if there is anything we wanted changed. You are a blessing to us, Ceej!
More than the razzle dazzle of this wedding, this is also about our beautiful families joining—"the Rodriguez-Vizcayno and Perocho-Jamisola merger”. We couldn’t be more thankful to both sides for supporting and blessing our relationship with your guidance and love. We can’t wait to spend more time with you all when we go back home again!
We started our wedding weekend with the intention of actually being present in our wedding—feeling, seeing, and taking it all in. I am glad that by being surrounded with family & friends who care deeply for us, suppliers who are passionate about their craft, and God who reeled us back to what truly matters, we got to do that. We look back at our wedding with such fondness for all the laughter, ugly cries (and boy there were lots! I thank 24 Frames in advance for not releasing them ever), and drunken appreciation messages by yours truly (yes, the crew who stayed back knows this all too much). I may be a little tipsy then but I meant every word!
To anyone who is still looking for “the one,” be still. God’s plan is always better than ours. Listen to what He has to say. If I followed the standards the media or those who are closest to me has set for love, Ian & I would not be here. But I prayed every day for God to lead me where He wants me—it did not made sense at first, I was scared. And now, looking at Ian and seeing our life together unfold every day, I am eternally grateful I listened.
You know how some young girls dream of their wedding, right? There are only three things that are a must-have for me: (1) a sweetheart neckline with balloon skirt wedding dress, one that’s fit for a Disney princess wannabe; (2) to be surrounded with people who are happy for me & my groom—those who are there to celebrate our love with us; and (3) to be married to a man who not only makes me feel like a subject of an Ed Sheeran song, but also takes care of me like a dainty little flower even if to the rest of the world I seem like “I got my shit together.” I got all three checked!
As magical as our wedding is to us, I know that this is merely the beginning of our story (the three years we had before this was the prologue, the warm up). Sabi nga nila, papunta palang tayo sa exciting part.
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