God: The Real Wedding Planner
Every woman has her own ideal wedding. Some girls even planned theirs as early as age fourteen. I am no exception. I had mine for years but never did I imagine it to happen on my birthday.
It all started seven years ago when Nesty and I were working as OFWS. He was assigned in Doha, Qatar while I was working in Singapore. The thought that we share the same sky, greet the same sun and worship the same God made us survived the challenges of a long-distance relationship.
Nesty calls me “Friday” as his endearment which started from his hugot line: “Ako ang Thursday mo at ikaw ang Friday ko kasi ikaw and kinabukasan ko.” So we then started calling each other Thursday and Friday. Pretty original huh?
One time I joked about getting married on my birthday, that way, “you’ll just have to give me one present, instead of two”. Then in September 18, 2016 he gave me a ring I thought was meant as a birthday gift. It was the day he proposed (I think?).
We started planning for the wedding in March of 2017. Since we were offshore, we commissioned the services of a wedding planner whom Nesty know personally. Everything from the church, the theme, reception details, accommodation bookings were entrusted to the creative ideas of the coordinators. I was not so particular about how things should be and left it all to the discretion of their team. We trusted that she will do the task according to contract.
Until 18 days before the wedding date, we tried to check how things were going. To our dismay, accommodations were not booked and the reception reservations were confirmed only for 60% of our guests. Good thing I did not have her take care of my gown, the invitations and our giveaways. Our wedding planner failed to deliver what was promised in the package we signed up for. Worst, the entourage gowns were not ready. At this point, I was panicking to death.
Then, God sent us angels in the persons of my husband’s sister-in-law, Pam and cousin Jackie. They both did works of magic and helped us through in finding a new wedding coordinator who would pick up from what was there and get everything done within the very limited time left. Jackie’s husband provided the photography and video graphics required for all the photoshoots. All was miraculously done in 2 impossible weeks.
On September 18, 2018, my birthday, the impossible became possible and I got married. I could not contain the happiness in my heart. No one ever had the slightest idea of what we went through before this day. That cold afternoon in Tagaytay, everything went smoothly as we prayed it to be. It was not the wedding we planned for, nor the one we expected. It was even better!
I can only attribute it to the Greatest Planner of all planners – GOD. He was our Real Wedding Planner who gave me a memorable wedding day and an unforgettable birthday. Above all, He gave me my Thursday!