The hunt for the wedding venue commenced late last year, and after a few trips (we're not an energetic couple when it comes to canvassing), Spanky chanced upon Casa Espanol on the internet. Since it was so near my house, we decided to visit the place. A pleasant granddad greeted us (he started the "business" but later on, handed it to his son and daughter-in-law), and we chatted about, not just the venue, but the intricacies of getting married. He gave us tips on how to save on costs, and I guess this pleasant conversation sparked our decision to choose Casa Espanol.
The jar centerpieces were Spanky's idea. He's a big fan of this wedding site, which features intimate garden weddings. So the months before our big day were spent on hunting for jars, and scrubbing them clean. Actually, the venue coordinator was a bit skeptical about the setup because she felt the jars were too small (she was used to towering centerpieces overflowing with blooms), but soon after, she got excited by the whole simple-themed wedding. Just last week, we got in touch and she told me that it was a fun wedding, and that she still remembers every detail.
We wanted our outfits to be simple; we didn't coordinate with each other because each of us had his/her own look in mind. Even when we were on our first year as a couple, Spanky always emphasized that wearing a barong on his wedding was a no-no; he just wanted to be dressed in a polo shirt. So he went for that ska-ish look with the long sleeved polo (on sale at Memo), the plaid pants (cloth from the Kamuning market, sewn by Bootleg) and the brown Vans (sponsored by Mama Ditas).
Meanwhile, all I wanted was a flower wreath for my head, and it just followed that the rest of my outfit should be simple. I didn't even buy new wedding shoes since my feet were covered by my dress, which was a gift from my ninang seamstress.
My upright bouquet was done by the guy who does the flower arranging for my neighborhood church. At first, I just wanted Malaysian mums, but he put his foot down, saying that they were too common.
The wedding cake was a gift from my sis-in-law, who makes customized cakes. She got the idea for the Patrick and Spongebob theme from our pre-nup photos wherein we were holding the character balloons. Then she used citrus colors to match the orange theme.
Souvenirs were done by my Spanky's sis and her hubby--choco tablea cupcakes. We had the stickers done in the neighborhood printing shop, whose manager (or owner?) surprised us with a free 8x10 version of the photo, saying, "Ito na lang ang wedding gift ko sa inyo." Thank you, sweet stranger.
The Wedding Dance was supposed to be choreographed by our dancer diva friend, but we couldn't coordinate our scheds. Spanky, who wanted the dance number scrapped from the program (but I was makulit), ended up choreographing it. Good thing people liked the dance. Thanks, Chris Brown for lending us your song, "Forever."And finally, can I just thank the universe (and my brother and Nessa) for our wonderful serendipity judge? Ours was Judge Gilda's first wedding outside the City Hall, and I'm so glad everything worked out great. Okay, here's a backgrounder on what happened: about a month before the wedding, I mentioned to my kuya that we still didn't have a judge. He told me that he could get his officemate's wife to do it. Hassle-free! Or so, it seemed.
We waited and waited and waited, and found out that due to some technical ek-eks, the judge couldn't do it. So they recommended another judge whom we didn't know. I balked.
So I asked help from friends to help me find a young, hip judge (I didn't want one who would drone and mumble throughout the ceremony), and no one was able to deliver. Until Nessa referred me to this judge, who couldn't also perform the ceremony, but whose assistant can aid us in filing paperwork for applying for a random judge.
And it turned out that she was the same judge whom my brother originally contacted! And it was her assistant who gave me hope that perhaps, they could request from the powers that be to allow Judge Gilda to preside over our wedding. And after a few more battles, the case was won. Judge Gilda was a gem.There are lots more behind-the-scenes stories, but for now, let us do a quick rundown of thanks to everyone who helped:
Our parents Ding and Ditas, Rody and Ping
Our siblings and siblings-in-law (Denise & Jake, Nikki, Donna, Ian & Penny, Franz & Sol)
Our entourage (the 2 Maxines, Javi, Ram, Trixie, and Lance)
Our principal sponsors (Tita Carmen, Alain and Bosing Cheche)
Liwliwa and Dang for manning the reception table
Liwliwa for the ring box
Mawj for the flowergirls' headpieces
Love and Albert (and Michie) for being the hosts
Our photographer-friends Dars, Jomar, Boogs, Peejo, Jops and Jayho
Beth for coordinating between us and everything Probe
Ros for beautifully dressing up the venue
Kuya Robert for designing and printing wedding invites
Yakkers especially Tet and Ella for organizing the bridal/groom shower, and to the rest of the girls for handing out the souvenirs
Mabes for the colored pens, and circulating the guestbook
And to everyone who came, witnessed our pag-iisang dibdib and joined in the fun.
Thank you, God.
*featured photos by Jomar Lianko and Peejo Pilar
