The reason why I flew to Manila in the first place happened on the fourth day of my vacation – Keso’s wedding. It started with me and Drew having our complimentary breakfasts at the Peninsula. I chose traditional Filipino food – tuyo, paksiw, ensaymada, fresh mangoes, plus a scoop of chocolate gelato. How I missed tuyo!
After that I bathed and rushed to Glorietta 4 for my hair and makeup appointment at Bench Fix Salon. I got back to the hotel just a few minutes before Joey and Gelle arrived.
We suited up, we girls in our bridesmaids’ dresses, the guys in their barong tagalogs. That’s when we realized that there was something wrong with Gelle’s dress, which was her first time to fit it. The design was not the one she picked and the sleeve was way too big. I had to improvise and sew part of it at the back so that it wouldn’t fall off her.
After getting dressed, we all piled into Gelle’s car and Joey drove us to Sanctuario de San Antonio church in Forbes Park, Makati.
The entourage was given instructions on where to stand and when to march. We were supposed to march in pairs with the groomsmen but Gelle’s partner was nowhere to be found, so the organizer asked us to march in single file down the aisle instead.
I was a bit nervous because it was my first time to be a bridesmaid and it was a teensy bit difficult to walk in my gown’s long skirt. I made it without any mishaps, though, thank goodness.
Finally, it was the bride’s turn and she was, in a word, bellissima. Once upon a time, I wrote a short story as my birthday gift for her, and the words I used to begin that story was very much applicable at this moment:
She was near tears, I could tell. But she tried her best to keep them at bay. Maybe it was because she did not want to ruin the face that her makeup artist had spent hours on perfecting. But it would not have mattered even if she had ruined the makeup. It would not have mattered even if there had been no makeup at all in the first place. She would still have been the most beautiful bride in the world, regardless.
For someone who was such a crybaby, she was really good at holding back. I wish I had her restraint. My own eyes were like the Niagara Falls right now. But how could I help it? No amount of willpower would have won against the power of the beauty that hushed the crowd the moment the wooden doors were thrown open. And as she walked – no, floated – closer towards me, I wondered how I could have been so lucky, to have her in my life for the rest of it. I also wondered how I could ever have not been struck by her beauty from the very beginning.
Well except for the near tears part. She didn’t look teary-eyed at all. She looked blissful and happy and excited to be married. And can I just say that I loved her tastefully exquisite Veluz gown? In Drew’s words, it made her look like a Spanish señorita.
After the wedding ceremony, we left the church and headed back to the Peninsula so that we can upgrade our room to a two-bed one as Joey and Gelle were staying with us for the night. Then we drove to the neighboring Makati Shangrila where the reception was held in the Rizal ballroom.
The bride and groom entered to a catchy tune, with both of them dancing energetically. Once in front, they broke into their choreographed first dance as a couple to the tune of “So Close” (a soundtrack from the movie Enchanted. Yes I know my movies!).
Then it was time to eat and it was a chinese buffet style dinner because the groom is Chinese. Each course was served one by one. Meanwhile, the bride changed into another gown – a Cecilio Abad – and the couple went around to each table for a pictorial.
After dinner, they projected the couple’s AVP which I had made as my wedding gift for the couple.
Then there were a couple of games to determine with single guy and girl guest would get to do the “slip the garter on her leg” routine.
Then they showed the video of the photographer Pat Dy’s photos of the wedding as well as the videographer Jason Magbanua’s onsite video.
Then Keso’s mom gave a speech before the father and daughter dance. I got teary-eyed at this part. I loved the song which I heard for the first time then – “I Loved Her First.”
The maid of honor and the best man and the couple also gave their speeches before the night ended.
To get an overview of the wedding and the reception, check out their onsite video which I shot off the wall projector.
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