STUVE-YULO
Love is an Open Door
Brage Stuve and Ina Yulo met at a club called Maggie’s, in London. “I was with my flat-mates after a house party we had at our place and Brage was with a big group of his friends who were visiting from Norway,” says Ina. They caught each other’s eye and said hello, and spent the entire evening talking. “We spent the entire evening talking and eventually I said I was starving so he brought me to this 24hour restaurant next door,” she remembers, “I remember him showing me photos of his two nieces and newborn nephew. Who would’ve known they would eventually end up as our flower girls and ring bearer!”
They were together for five and a half years before they got married. Ina’s family flew to London for a vacation and since Brage’s family had never been, he booked them a trip to visit as well. The couple introduced their families to each other and hosted a dinner and World Cup viewing at their flat, and planned to have a pub lunch the next day together. The next day, Brage and Ina left their home late, which caused Ina to stress and not realize that they were going the wrong way on the Uber: “We ended up not at the pub but outside Blake’s, a boutique hotel in West London. I asked, “Is the pub around the corner?” to which Brage answered, “There’s been a change of plans” They went to an outdoor garden on the hotel premises, before stopping at a gazebo called The Birdhouse. “He proposed to me there and we celebrated with a bottle of champagne. He then walked out for a bit and upon returning, surprised me by having both our families and my best friend Chabeli walking in behind him,” says Ina. They all shared a celebratory lunch, and Brage shared that he had the ring
for six months, having bought it on a previous trip in Manila, at La Elegancia, a place where Ina’s family had been purchasing jewels for decades.
The wedding was in the Philippines, with a Filipino Welcome Fiesta to open the festivities for their international guests. “We had Filipino dancers from the Folklorico Filipino Dance Company, a bibingka and
puto bumbong cart, dirty ice cream, an insanely long boodle fight, Filipino cocktails, and traditional party games like newspaper dance and even a balut eating contest,” says Ina. “For many of our guests, it was their first time in the Philippines, so the welcome fiesta was the perfect way for them to not only meet each other, but get an introduction to Filipino culture as well. The stars of the show ended up being my dad’s pet tortoises with Philippine and Norwegian flags on their shells.”
Ina’s family is from Canlubang, Laguna, where Ina spent her weekends growing up. “It has a special place in my heart. The church where we got married is the same church that my parents and grandparents got married in,” she says. “My Tita Menchu, who sang as I walked down the aisle, also sang at my parents’ wedding. We held our reception at the Hacienda Sta. Elena Community House, which was designed by my uncle and godfather Jorge Yulo. My grandfather Tingot Yulo passed away when I was little, but he always loved orchids, so we made sure that we had orchids everywhere.” It was, in every way, a family affair.
Brage and Ina made sure both Norway and the Philippines were in alive their chosen theme of tropical chic. Accessories included tiny viking helmets on the groomsmen’s boutonnieres while the bridesmaids had native handbags and Philippine shell earrings. They followed Norwegian reception dinner traditions such as standing on chairs and kissing every time someone clinked their glasses, and had a number of speeches from family and friends, including the takk for matten (thank you for the food) speech. “I am nearly fluent in Norwegian and Brage is conversational in Tagalog, so we gave parts of our speeches in each other’s language as well,” Ina says. Brage’s mother wrote a song as a surprise and had the Norwegian guests sing it, and after the dinner and speeches, the dancing was interspersed with the constant yelling of “Skål!” (cheers) heard throughout the evening.
Guests dined on food catered by Cibo di M, but with a Norwegian and Filipino twist, like a roasted Canlubang
lechon with lingonberry jam by Lis Stuve, reindeer and moose salami, and seafood from the Philippines like Negros sea bass, Capiz scallops, and tiger shrimp. Instead of a traditional wedding cake, they served Baby Yulo’s greatest hits: strawberry shortcake, turtle pie, coffee crunch, and apple pie.
Having lived and studied in multiple countries, Brage and Ina realized they had wedding guests from over 25 countries. “Everyone was commenting on how it felt like we were at the United Nations. You could hear so many different languages being spoken and see people from all over the world mingling with one another,” says Ina. They had 30 Norwegian guests at the wedding, including the Ambassador to the Philippines Bjørn Jahnsen. “He gave a surprise speech and gifted us with a certificate saying Brage is 100% Norwegian and therefore must do certain things as my husband such as take me trout fishing and go to see the Northern lights,” Ina says. These memories will be remembered fondly.