THE BRIDE WORE WHITE PPE
Renowned rheumatologist Geraldine Zamora weds interventional cardiologist Lauro Abrahan IV in strikingly mindful simplicity
The church wedding of doctors Geraldine Zamora and Lauro Abrahan IV on Feb. 19 was striking in its mindful simplicity. Guests at the wedding held in San Pedro Calungsod Parish Church in Antipolo, Rizal, were limited mainly to family members, including her 12-year-old daughter Nala.
Instead of donning a long white gown, Zamora opted for a white personal protective equipment (PPE) jumpsuit with serviceable pockets, the only details being dark topstitching and “Dr. Ging” and “bride” in script on the upper left breast pocket. On her head, she wore a veil strewn with pearls and crystals that simulated dewdrops. Her groom also wore the same style of PPE but with “Dr. Sonny” and “groom” over his pocket.
The couple weren’t sure they’d be married in church until three weeks before their wedding date.
“It’s super significant for us how everything fell into place. I didn’t think it was even possible because my first marriage was annulled, so we really wanted it simple,” Zamora told Lifestyle.
“Gusto ko talaga ng PPE (I really wanted to wear PPE) but I’d heard that some churches are strict about not allowing brides to wear pants on their wedding day. But when Fr. Sandy Enhaynes said yes, we could wear scrubs, yun na (that clinched it).”
Personalized PPE
Both sets of personalized PPE were created by Adrian Pe (@senoritoaidz on Instagram), an Iloilo-based nurse who put together everything in less than a week. Measurements were all done through Viber and “pure trust,” Zamora said on her Instagram (@ging.md). “No adjustments necessary.”
Given their line of work, the busy couple couldn’t take time off to attend to the nitty-gritty details of the ceremony. The bride, a renowned rheumatologist, was only able to take a leave a few days prior to the wedding. (The groom is an interventional cardiologist.)
Zamora thanked her wedding coordinator from Bespoke Manila who became her “trusted BFF.”
Still, one could see the bride’s hand in everything, from
the flowers to the wedding cord the secondary sponsors draped around the couple. Florist Teddy Manuel (@teddymanuel on Instagram) gave in to her request to use dried flowers since “they would last longer,” while artist Regina Amil (@ramireginareine on Instagram) placed “Jesus” in the middle of the cord as requested by the couple.
The hand-tied bridal bouquet was a mix of dried peonies and hydrangeas. After the wedding, Manuel carefully untied the bouquet and inserted the flowers in a free-form installation made of twisted brass wire. He added fossilized leaves as foliage; the flower arrangement now hangs in Zamora’s walk-in closet. The florist also made several ring bouquets (dried flowers affixed to wooden hand-held rings) for the wedding. “It’s like potpourri now,” she said in a comment on Manuel’s post on Instagram.
The couple held a separate reception last weekend in Batangas, with a different set of guests who were not at the church ceremony. Zamora was able to wear the gown that her designer friend Pablo Cabahug had made for her. “I had to honor our friendship by wearing it also.”
The reception held at a friend’s resort was for the couple’s friends and coworkers. “It was really to make our closest front-liner friends feel the freedom we felt when we visited last December.”
During that time, she was feeling burnt out. “A lot of us wanted to quit by then,” she recalled.
Two months later, Abrahan and Zamora are legally husband and wife.
The Bible passage from Ecclesiastes that the couple chose to mark their union couldn’t have been more succinct: “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”