On D Day...

As previous brides have put it, everything that happened during D day was a blur. I wasn't aware of the time and certainly wasn't very much aware what's gonna happen next. I kept telling people around me, "kasal ko na ba 'to? Ba’t di pa nagsisink in sa akin?” My mind was kinda clear before Toto started putting make-up on me. The moment I got my butt on the hot seat, wala na... I was lost. :)

Lemme recall what happened on the day of the wedding. As in blow by blow account of every single detail. You know, I’m getting forgetful these days so I really want to jot down whatever I could remember (more on memory woes in my future post).

At around 7:30am I was already wide awake. Couldn't sleep partly because of the crowded bed and my nephew (Pete) constantly mumbling "let's eat..." behind my ears. I decided to just get up and have early breakfast at the lobby. This is also to make sure I won't bump into Dex accidentally as I was pretty certain he's still in dreamland. So there, mom, Pete and me - 3 of us went to the café at the lobby – note: "without" even taking a bath (gross ba?) *LOL* Mom didn't have breakfast as she's vegetarian before the clock strikes 10am. Pete and I, on the other hand, were all out feasting all sorts of food on the buffet table. *yummy* By the way, I have to mention this. In the middle of breakfast, I got a text message from Dino's assistant asking me about the details of the preps (hotel, room number, etc). That brought a big question mark on my face, wondering if the suppliers were already informed about the details and their call time. Call me paranoid, but I think the situation was a bit odd. 2-3 hours before the call time? Not wanting to assume anything, I sent out a friendly reminder to some of the suppliers who were expected to arrive early. Is this what you call OC-ness? *LOL*

We finished breakfast at around 8:15am and by that time, my sister-in-law and the other chikitings were already at the hotel. See, when you put the boys together in
one room - chaos! They were begging me to let them have a swim on the pool. As much as I’d like to make the most out of the money we paid for the room, I couldn’t give in coz no one's gonna look after them. Pete then asked me if he could just "swim" on the tub instead. Next thing I know, I was clicking away like crazy coz the sight of a 10-year-old-naked-fat-so (as I fondly call him) squeezing himself inside the tub was just too funny.

At around 9am, I got a text from Dex saying Angie's assistants (a makeup artist and a hairstylist) have arrived and they were starting to put make-up on some of their relatives and female entourage already. A few minutes later, I got another text from Clarice naman saying the call time of Toto will be 10am and their team will also arrive around that time. I then went to take a quick shower. Same time, Dex and his mom went to have breakfast naman at the cafe. After coming out of the bath, I was able to visit and the girls at Dex's room and make a lil chitchat. I was relieved when I saw some of the girls all made up by Angie's team. I was a bit worried at first since I haven't seen Angie's make-up in person and I certainly don't know if her assistants were as good. Thank God their make-up weren't a disaster; in fact, they all look blushing and cute. Coincidentally, almost all of the girls in the entourage had curly hair on the wedding day. That just proves, curls are in! *LOL* (another story about curls in future post). I didn't stay long coz Dex could be back any minute.

The first suppliers to arrive at my side were Toto's team and the Threelogy boys. The mobile make-up station was setup facing the window and the bay view was really breathtaking. Imagine the mood! :) Toto’s team started working on the mothers first so I was basically just loitering around. Btw, around that time, I already got the CF card from yaya who went home early in the morning just to look for it (aaawww… di naman ako halatang spoiled diba? :p ). So there, my plan of shooting my own wedding materialized. As Dino put it in his blog, I was his guest photographer for the day. I think “trying hard” guest photographer is a more suitable term. *LOL*

After a little while, Teddy's team arrived. Mader (mother-in-law) was quite surprised when she saw the manangs who came with Teddy. Florist pala sila ng Binondo Church, where she attends mass almost everyday (hehe totoo yan). Ruben was fixing my hair when Teddy handed over the bridal bouquet that’s wrapped in japanese paper. He asked me to open it, tipong - "hey... it's a surprise!” And indeed, I gasp out of excitement the moment coz I was really very happy with his work. Teddy very well remembered how much I love Martha Stewart's creations and polka-dotted ribbons. All I can say about the bouquets -- it's so me! I wish the video guys were able to capture the moment I was unwrapping the bouquet – you should see the expression on my face. :D

Moving on with the story, Clarice's team arrived in a short while. They were around 7 (or was it 8?) in the team. The personal assistant or PA (my bad, I forgot her name) that was assigned to be with me knows how to speak Chinese so it's really a relief on my part at least she’ll be able to communicate with my mom. They introduced themselves to us and then head to work immediately.

Dino's team arrived in a short while when Toto was doing my make-up. Upon their arrival, I handed over the camera to Dino na. He was quite amazed with my new baby and started putting different lenses on it. Kung hindi lang ako minemakeupan, magpapatutor talaga ako sa kanya ng photography. *LOL* His back-up Robert was very funny too - super comic ang facial expressions. After a little chitchat and some rounds of kulitan and asaran, they started shooting na.

While everybody else was busy doing their thing, a rush of panic suddenly occurred to me -- I forgot to memorize my vows! I could have just read what's printed on the misallette. But unfair naman kay Dex coz I specifically told him to memorize his lines the night before. So there, I was striving to practice and memorize my lines while Ruben's doing my hair... with the photo & video guys giving me hints from time to time. Funny nga coz CJ was telling me to save my energy coz he's 100% sure I'll forget everything once I step up the altar. *LOL* Pero siyempre, I still tried my best to remember everything.

Next suppliers to arrive were Veluz and Niko. They waited for a while coz I wasn’t ready to get dressed yet. Funny nga coz Niko was my official telephone operator for the day. Pano kasi ring ng ring yun phone but everybody's too busy to pick it up. :D Veluz naman brought her newly born lil girl and left her at the lobby para makapag-breastfeed siya in between breaks. Awww... wonderful mom isn't she? OT: Veluz always keeps me away from her baby whenever I visit her place. Know why? Coz I have a very bad habit of waking up babies that are fast asleep! *LOL*

From this point forward, vague na ang memory ko sa mga happenings. I can’t remember the exact sequence.

Around noontime, all the suppliers in the room were telling me to have lunch. I don’t really have the appetite coz I had a really heavy breakfast. But they still insisted so I obediently grabbed a few bites. I was offering them my extra piece of fried chicken but no one took it! Pinagkakaisahan ako! :D After lunch, I was asked to brush my teeth and have pictorials na. Dino enjoyed taking pictures of me with “siga” pose. You’ll see a lot of those in the wedding pictures. :) I admit I'm a cam-whore, so the entire pictorial session was really heaven for me. *LOL* Siyempre, added excitement pa na IDOL ko ang kumukuha sa akin. :D

The pictorials didn’t take too long. In a little while, I was already being dressed up by Tita Veluz and Niko. Toto and Ruben started to fix my hair and make-up. I was like – what’s happening!? All the suppliers worked full-force talaga – so overwhelming! I have to mention how much I love the detachable straps of my gown. Fully embroidered with swarovski crystals – winner! These straps made the entire look of the gown so vintage! You should see how Niko attached them on the me – I mean on the gown (see picture below).

In the middle of everything, one of the coords (I believe her name’s Mariel) came from Dex’s room and these were her lines: “Oh My God! Super kinakabahan ang groom! Ang putla-putla niya at kanina pa siya nanginginig!” Veluz, Niko and I looked at each other and we were like saying “Si Dex? Kinakabahan? Impossible!” He’s always a tough and kulit guy, not even weddings will bring him on his feet! *LOL* The trembling part – well, if you know him personally, you would know that’s his NORMAL state. He’s trembling 24 hours in a day. *LOL* Then, Mariel relayed Dex’s message – Niko was “summoned” to dress him up in his room! HAHAHA… I was really laughing out hard when we went to Veluz’s place after the wedding and talked about this incident. Ang akala niya yun groom binibihisan din ng couturier. Sabi ko hindi, ang bride lang!

Oh anyways, back to the wedding scene – it didn’t take long for Niko to dress up his “royal highness”. He was back at my room in a breeze. Tita Veluz saw the necklace I bought to pair up with the crystal cuff Niko made for me. She said, it looks so nice and I can wear it even I have the straps on. Ang unang plan kasi namin, sa recepton ko na isusuot yun necklace para lang hindi bare ang neck ko. I so love my accessories! Panalo yun cuff ni Niko!

By the time I was almost done, the female entourage all gathered at my room for pictorials. This was where the glitches came in. The gown of the flower girl (tulle part) was too long. Actually base on the design, the satin portion of the skirt should be shorter to show the fuchsia petticoat inside. But somehow the measurements weren’t correct since the petticoat wasn’t ready yet when the kid had her last fitting. I was the one who picked up and delivered her gown so dun na siguro nagkamali. We knew about it before the wedding and Zandra said we could cut the extra tulle. Another glitch – the zipper of the bridesmaid was broken (permanently went off rail). These glitches caused some panic and tension in the room. Good thing I am blessed to have Veluz and Niko beside me who came immediately to the rescue. (note: I still love Zandra to pieces even though there were glitches on her outputs.)


After all have been settled, we had a few shots and then I bid everyone good bye (still in my usual jolly and not so tensed mode) and left the room. While I was walking along the corridors, I felt sudden rush of nervousness. I don’t know why, it could be the walls of the corridors. Despite the nervousness, I reminded myself to smile – hey, I was on cam! *LOL*

When we arrived at the lobby, there was another bride taking pictures. Excuse me - talbog ka sa beauty ko! *LOL* Joke! Ang yabang e noh? Pero totoo – I felt so pretty that time. Everybody’s eyes were on me. Star of the day talaga ang feeling ko! Then it was my turn to take pictures at the staircase na. I was a little disappointed that time as we didn’t have enough time to take more pictures anymore coz the clock was tickin’ and it was pass 2pm already. The coords were already rushing us na so I wasn’t able to bargain for more shots. Oh anyways, after the pictorial we went straight to the front door of Diamond hotel. The bridal car was already waiting for us *LOL*

Do you know: we did this Chinese ritual wherein the bride (that’s me) has to throw a fan (as in pamaypay) while the bridal car is leaving. Then the family of the bride has to pick up the fan and turn away in the opposite direction. Mom said this signifies the bride will still maintain the closeness with her family even after the wedding. Kasi nga diba sa Chinese, when a girl marries a guy, she’s considered a family member of the guy’s family na… not her own family. Gets? I didn’t know about that before. :D My brother was the one who picked up the fan since my mom was with me in the bridal car. :) I wasn't sure if everything was captured on video coz the suppliers already left the hotel when we did the ritual. We'll see when we get the raw videos this weekend (which is another story in the future posts).

By the way, another blooper - when we left the hotel, I noticed the bridal car going to the opposite direction. Si manong driver pala doesn’t know the way to St. Peter! Super tawa ako ng tawa! The bridal car was borrowed from Dex’s friend (who lives in Las Pinas) and his driver was our chauffer for the day. I totally forgot to brief him about the directions! Si manong naman ang comedy hindi rin umiimik na di niya alam yun daan haha.. muntik pa pala kami maligaw niyan. Funny blooper talaga – kahit papano nabawasan ang kaba ko. *LOL*

credits: vintage frames by nancy comelab, strings and random ribbons by natalie braxton, staple by michelle coleman, fonts: Pea Breathe Easy & Vaguely Repulsive

Labels: wedding