A Good Laugh Worth Remembering
March 16 was our anniversary since 2001. Yes, Yosef and I have been together since high school. For the most part, we just decided to always choose to love each other each day.
This was tested during our wedding preparation.
We always loved the beach. Our first trip as a couple was in Batangas, then Boracay. We have been in most of the islands in he Philippines. So initially, we thought we should have a beach wedding. That time I had my eye on the stilts and quaint chapel of Hacienda Moreno in Calatagan, Batangas.
The travel was just too far considering the elderly guests we invited. So we opted to check Tagaytay’s San Antonio de Padua. Oh, we just fell in love with the ambiance and the fact that it offered a lot of parking spaces. Problem was March 16 was a Monday and they don’t do weddings on Mondays. We had to agree to move the date a day earlier then.
The reception venue was the Balai Taal. This private estate of gardens overlooking Taal Lake was the perfect pick and it just melted our hearts when we first saw it. We booked the place right there and then.
When one never thought things would go wrong, you just sometimes find yourself in the middle of some unexpected circumstances. A few days before the wedding, I was already in my “bridezilla” mode, when the choir we booked just suddenly cancelled. For some reason I never got to find out really, we had to fix it and change the program to include just a wedding singer and a musical duo at the last minute.
On the eve of the wedding, giveaways of succulent plants transported from Baguio to Tagaytay were still being packed
and labelled with care cards. Friends who came in helped us out packed all 150 pieces of these. Yosef was busy with items we needed transported from Paranaque to Tagaytay.
Of all days, it was on the day of the wedding that some funny things happened. When I was just getting ready to be made up, I was worried that my makeup artist was not around yet. Then I received a text message from him: “Trish, kanina pa ako nandito. Hindi ako makapasok. Tumatahol yung aso nyo.”
OMG, I totally forgot about my golden retriever tied by the door way. And everyone there just blurted with laughter.
Then, my ride came. It was a bright-yellow restored Volkswagen Kombi owned by a friend who offered for us to use it for my bridal car. I was on board with my wedding coordinator when the driver asked me directions on how to get to the church. I don’t know why we didn’t use Waze that time and just relied on my rusty memory on how to get to the church from Balai Taal. We finally found our way to our destination.
CHURCH
San Antonio de Padua
RECEPTION
Balai Taal
CATERING, CAKE& STYLING
K by Cunanan
COORDINATION
Kiss the Girl Events
INVITATIONS
Printsonalities
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jaja Samaniego
VIDEOGRAPHY
Notion in Motion
GOWN
Bridesdream
BRIDAL CAR
Kombibs
MAKEUP
Gery Penaso
HAIR
Aries Manal
HOST
Francis Day
E NTERTAINMENT
Merjohn Lagaya
BOUQUETS
Vatel Manila
Soon as I got down, and while waiting, I thought I needed a smoke to calm my nerves down. And like in funny movies, my lighted cigarette got caught on the veil I was wearing and burned part of it. I got so freaked out but still managed to compose myself and walked the aisle as calmly as I could. As soon as I did, everything faded out to just the very essence of why we were all there that day. All I was thinking about was: “I am getting married to that man at the end of this aisle—my teenage sweetheart and best friend—the one who calms my anxious heart.”
Looking back, what truly made our wedding memorable was actually all the bloopers that happened that day and how we made it through. It was a good laugh worth remembering!