A Sunset Wedding in Bangkok
An evening after-new Year’s reunion dinner– I have not seen their family since the pandemic, so it was a pleasant encounter to meet my tita-friend’s son whom I did not expect would be my husband-to-be, after choosing to be single for quite some time.
Almost five months later, he collaborated with my mom on ideas on the proposal, which was pretty unrehearsed at the Catholic Church where I was baptized in Greenhills. Jay and I share a penchant for antiques and things with history, and mine was visiting colonial churches. So even if Sanctuario de San Jose at Greenhills East wasn’t that old, it was for me, the perfect proposal.
After my August birthday celebrations, we started planning for the December 2023 wedding. With only less than three months to do it and given the fiancé-then’s out of the country base in Cambodia, my father-in-law suggested Bangkok, Thailand which coincidentally was the venue of another milestone of my life during the 54th edition of the Miss Universe pageant in 2005 where I represented the Philippines.
Having a background in the hotel events industry, I decided to take the lead in planning my wedding since Bangkok was a familiar go-to destination where I would frequent more than annually. Already pinpointing the venues for the main reception at the traditional Thai riverside venue of Shangri-la Bangkok’s Salathip, it was the perfect backdrop showcasing elements of Thai culture and history. The second reception in the evening was a place where I always wanted to go to with Jay but booking it ahead made it difficult with his erratic schedule as a captain pilot overseas. So this was the perfect opportunity to celebrate it with him and our intimate number of 100 guests, seeing the glittering sites along the Chao Phraya river breezy boat ride.
Back and forth visits once a month to Bangkok made it exhausting yet fun, but most of all more feasible to complete all the wedding-planning with the fiancé, and we sourced all our suppliers in the Land of Smiles for practicality’s sake— except for my wedding gowns/attire— beautifully done by renowned Renee Salud for the Catholic ceremony straight to lunch reception, to change into a subtle dazzling sleek dress by Jun Escario for the fabulous Saffron Cruise evening reception.
Come wedding day, it was the day of reckoning—-and my final walk as a 40s single woman with both my wonderful parents down the aisle was an emotional time as I am very close to them. The handling of hand from father to groom was a symbolic transfer of my life to be as a Filipina Catholic bride. But, meeting the husband-to-be at the end of the aisle with his beaming look gave me a sense of peace that this moment was actually happening.
The ceremony was co-officiated by The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Monsignor Quitorio, and the moment blessings were given we were directed outside the church for the first kiss (in Thailand, it is tradition that you are not allowed to kiss the bride inside church).
We proceeded to the main reception at the Shangri-la Bangkok, welcomed by my event host Bb. Pilipinas title holder and Miss International 2008 semi-finalist and former CNN PH anchor Patricia Fernandez, who let the principal sponsors and entourage sashay the riverside grounds at Salathip.
Three sets of Thai cultural heritage dancers capped off the Thai-themed luncheon after the words of wisdom speeches given by our parents and ninongs.
Come sunset, it was time to reset and hop aboard the Saffron Cruise by Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, who docked at the Shangri-la pier and made the evening cocktail dinner celebration the cherry on top with a breezy, joyful three-hour ride along the historic and glittering Chao Phraya river.
More than overjoyed on our guests— family and friends who travelled overseas and celebrated this momentous occasion with us, with hopes that their trip was worthwhile. It was our souvenir to end the year with a bang!
Kap Khun Kah Thailand! Definitely, another one for the books.