The bridal car arrived at the church before 2:30pm. I'm not sure what's happening inside the church but when we arrived, the wooden door was already closed. There were some friends and relatives who waited for us outside (making usi *LOL) and taking photos. Ade (a friend of ours) couldn't stop gushing how perfect my make-up was. Hm... did she say "ang ganda mo?" or "ang ganda ng make-up mo?" *LOL* I was hoping to see the entourage march from the car but since the door's closed, I couldn't see or hear anything. So, we waited for a couple of minutes then Clarice came signalling that it's my turn. I stepped out of the car (with Niko's assistance) and waited for my once-in-a-lifetime bridal march. Veluz and Niko were fixing my train and veil while Bong (threelogy) and Dino were preparing their gears for the perfect veil shot. That's the time when nervousness kicked in. I started to tremble and had shortness of breath. Niko saw my expression and jokingly said "uuyy, iiyak na si Wanda!" God gracious! Lalo ako naiyak sa sinabi niya. I told Tita Veluz, "kinakabahan ako... ayaw ko na..." Hey, people do say stupid things when they're nervous. *LOL* I'm just so glad I had this bunch of supplier friends who were there to cheer me up and crack jokes just when I badly needed one. When all was set, the coordinators made the que for the door to open.


I clearly remember the cracking sound behind the opening door - the wooden door I fell in love with and see everyday on the way to and from the office. The guests gave me an applause the moment they saw me. Well, the clapping was actually choreographed by the church coordinator (Dennis) but hey, it's really a nice gesture to welcome the bride. Made me feel all the more excited! *LOL* I waited for a couple of seconds and took a deep breath before I started to walk towards the altar. Despite the short aisle, what made the walk perfect was the bridal march that accompanied me as I march down. As oppose to Sound Salad singing "Panunumpa" for the march, it was my groom serenading me with the song "Minsan lang Kita Iibigin..." Ok I admit, I mistakenly read Dex's text message a few days before the wedding and broke the surprise myself. *ARGH* As soon as I found out, he didn't admit either. So, I was thinking he wouldn't really do it. But hey, that's my groom! I had chicken skin all over. I tried hard to hold back the tears as I was sobbing uncontrollably. All eyes were on me and I felt really nervious. Actually, I felt a little stiff coz I was afraid I might trip. Went a little off balance actually but nobody noticed I guess *LOL* I met my mom and my cousin at the middle of the aisle and they walked me towards the altar. The moment I saw Dex in front of me, I couldn't help myself but I kept smiling and giggling. I dunno why. Sabi nila natawa daw ako sa mukha niya. Siguro nga. *LOL*

Sound Salad took charge of the music during the mass. There were response songs that were sung by our choir friends as well since Dex really wanted our own version of Our Father, which is in Chinese and lyrics composed by yours truly (love your own! *LOL*). The church florist and coordinator (Dennis) took care of the flowers and the altar really looked nice. Extravagant if I may say.

The mass was officiated by Monsignor Esteban Lo, Fr. Bong as we fondly call him. He spoke English, Filipino, and Chinese during the mass and was able to relate the homily with the bridal march. That's how personalized the entire ceremony was for us. There were no dull moments as Fr. Bong would make every body laughed out loud with his jokes from time to time.

During the exchange of vows, Fr. Bong whispered to us to just look at each other and he'll just guide us with the words. It's a total relief actually coz we have long forgotten about the vows, and certainly not words. Hindi naman daw halata. Mukhang memorize daw namin sabi ng guests. *LOL*

Another thing worth sharing. Dex was so funny when he lifted my veil for the first kiss. Sorry, he didn't lift it up pala. Halos hinagis na niya yun veil ko so everybody were really laughing out loud. Later on he explained na akala niya mas maganda daw sa pictures kung ganon. haha.. Nagmukha tuloy siyang atat! *LOL*

Anyways, the ceremony was a bit longer than usual since the homily was really quite long. But of course, the church people didn't complain since it's Msgr. Bong who's in charge of the mass. Hindi nila dare siguro.. haha.. We had to rush the pictorial though since our time slot's almost over and the next wedding's about to start. The pictorial was really a mess towards the end and we had to really make pacute to Dennis so that we'll be allowed to take a few more shots. Well, albeit chaotic, we were able to take picture naman with most of the guests.

Our exit march was accompanied by the upbeat song "Seasons of Love". Actually we didn't just walk. We were holding each other's hand and were literally swaying all our way out of the church. With the music and the sway-sway, love's in the air talaga. At least, that's how we felt. :) When we reached the door, we were showered with LOADS of party poppers and flower petals by our friends and relatives. Would you believe we bought like 3 dozens of poppers in total? It turned out nice naman sa pics. *LOL* Then we had dove release afterwards. May blooper dito, will just include it in the bloopers list at the end of this post. As in... :)


After the ceremony, we took some pictures around the school (yes, St. Peter the Apostle School beside the church). Dino bought 2 packs of popcorn sa turo-turo. Akala ko nung una gutom lang sya. Hehe props pala namin. I so love the pictures we took on the students/yaya waiting area and the school gate. Yan ang powers ni Master Dino! He was able to turn something not so eye-catchy into a work of art. galing!

After a round of picture taking at St. Peter, we were thinking where should we go for the sunset shots. Dex said he was hungry and he needs to eat! Dapat nga McDo kami but we can't think of a McDo branch with sunset view. *LOL* In the end, we decided Harbor Square is the place to be. *LOL* By the way, another booboo here. After we have decided where to go, napag-usapan namin na Dino will ride in the bridal car so that we could take some photos. Siyempre, natural lang the PA coordinator should ride along with the photo and video team. But Ms. PA requested na sa amin nalang daw siya sasakay coz the boys kept teasing her. I was like, uhm.. o.. ok. But of course, I would prefer if Dex and I could ride the back seat by ourselves so that we could have a full shot of the bridal car. Pero naawa naman ako kay Ms. PA kasi talaga the boys were teasing her. So pumayag na rin ako. So yun nga, mukha kaming merong chaperon sa mga photos namin sa bridal car. Yan din ang comment ng friends namin, meron daw kaming chaperon. *LOL* Note lang, it's no biggie actually for us, nakakatawa lang. :D


We were a bit early for sunset shots when we arrived. So nagparty muna kami doon. The boys ordered Tapa King and beer. Nag-happy hour muna kami *LOL*. Surely, there were lots of people staring at us. It's just amazing how relaxed Dex and I were and the wandering eyes didn't make us a bit uneasy either. And so, we waited for the sunset and had a couple of shots by the Harbor. After a few shots, we decided to go to Baywalk naman para buo ang sunset shots. Takbo naman kami sa next destination parang Amazing Race. *LOL* We were dropped off in front of Aristocrat. Tuloy pa rin ang pictorial while we were crossing the streets. There were quite a lot of people that time so we can't find a spot where we can have a full shot. Nakiusap lang kami sa mga tao to free up a little space for us. Siyempre nung nagpipictorial na kami, nakapalibot na sila sa amin. There were even photography hobbyist taking our photos that time. Diyan palang kami nakaramdam ng hiya. *LOL* Anyways, after the pictorial, we headed for the reception na.

Bloopers that happened during the ceremony:

1. Fr. Bong delivered his homily at the left side of the altar (the table where the readers usually stand), so I have to tilt my head to the left to be able to make eye contact with him. Little did I know, natatanggal na pala ang false lashes ko sa left eye since medyo hapit ang veil at natatamaan sya. Well, of course no one noticed. I learned about it only when I saw the raw photos. HAHA... here's how I look... funny isn't it! *LOL*


2. One of the ninang's gown was broken when they were called to go up the altar. I only knew about this when Clarice was doing a round-up after the reception. Pumutok daw yun zipper and ninang's back was almost half naked. God gracious! Buti nalang, Clarice stood behind her to cover her back while she was at the altar and was able to do some remedy on her gown afterwards. The saddest part here is, we were the ones who insisted to provide that ninang's gown. :( I can't bare to blame the supplier for the accident but it's really sad and diyahe for us. That ninang didn't show up na sa reception. I hope she's not mad at us. HAAAY...

3. I've been reading a lot about dove accidents, most especially sa blog nila dino and threelogy. I can't imagine this could actually happen on our wedding. Nung dove release kasi, Clarice handed us the doves then nagpose muna kami for picture taking. The dove I was holding flapped its wings so nagulat ako at nabitawan ko sya. As in, ang lakas ng tili ko in front of all the people. *LOL* Buti nalang, sanay na ang threelogy guys with these kind of incidents. Would you believe, CJ (threelogy) was able to like grabe the tail of the dove in a blink of an eye! (see pic below) Buti nalang, or else walang partner ang dove ni Dex. hehe.. Btw, shortly after we released the poor thingies, one of it went straight to the hands of the bystanders. Kainis.


Wow, this surely is a long long long wedding kuwento. And I still have the last installment to post. Stay tuned... promise, it won't be this long. :D

credits: paper by michelle coleman, clustered frames by nancy comelab, staples by lisa whitney

Labels: wedding