MABANTA-PEÑARANDA
Kathleen Mercado Peñaranda, cofounder of the online gift registry KnotsandPans.com, met Fernan Villonco Mabanta, partner at Turnkey Real Estate, five years ago through friends playing matchmaker. Never late for an appointment, Mabanta “was fashionably late that night but right on time for the rest of my life,” said his bride.
When Peñaranda and Mabanta wed this month, they held two celebrations: at St. James the Great Parish in Ayala Alabang on Feb. 11, with only 30 present, with a dinner reception at Chef Jessie Rockwell Club, and another on Feb. 19, another party with 50 people in Punta Fuego.
The daughter of Primitivo Jr. and Eloisa Peñaranda wore two dresses by Maureen Disini when she wed the son of Felix Jr. and Thelma Mabanta.
They originally planned to get married in September, either in Bohol or Boracay, so that their siblings who live abroad could come home, but the pandemic put a halt to their plans. The maid of honor and a bridesmaid were also stuck overseas.
“Fernan and I made the tough decision to get on with our life together and get married earlier,” Peñaranda said.
Two weeks before their wedding, COVID threw one more monkey wrench into their plans: The groom was indirectly exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus. Thankfully, it later turned out to be a false positive.
“Initially we just wanted our guests and vendors to be tested, but after that scare, we had all drivers, help and staff tested alongside the guests and vendors,” said the bride. “We hand-picked everyone who came and had to carry out the ‘no ring, no bring’ rule, which meant not inviting the significant others of our friends who we didn’t really know.”
She advised other couples: “Don’t prolong your engagement just because you want to have a bigger celebration. Just get married already! Identify your bare essentials and stick with them… Dream, but still have your feet on the ground.”