The Ceremony

We arrived 30 minutes earlier before the mass. I was told to stay in the car so no one will see me yet. I was getting nervous and very much high in anticipation. I thanked the Lord for He have helped us fulfill the only wish I couldn't let go - to have our closest friends be with us in the church. When everyone was inside, I was left outside thinking if everything back in the reception is ok. If we didn't left anything out that's too important. I know that there are a lot of things that didn't go as planned but there were no regrets or resentments for that matter in my heart. He showed me that the significance of the event is not just about the material things. When the door started to open, I see a glimpse of what my future would be. And at a pace of taking one step at a time, walking towards the altar, I see nothing but the sparkle of the soft light at the altar and the smile of the people i love looking at me with much happiness in their hearts. Halfway through, I saw my parents waiting for me. Just like how they've been with me through all the events in my life. Ready to give up their first-born child. But what God made me really see that time was the person on the other end side of the church. The person who can't looked at me, busy trying to hold up his tears. The person I've shared unforgettable moments with for nine years. The person I was about to spend the rest of my life with... more kodak moments

A year of preparation

We started booking for the church in July 2006 and started scouting for possible suppliers in september. The wedding date that was suppose to be august 25 became september 1. We managed to book the church, reception venue, caterer and coordinator at this early stage. I was really excited and started collating the flyers I got from the wedding expo when we went home for a short vacation in manila. We initially wanted to have a budget wedding where guests will enjoy themselves and remember the wedding as fun yet elegant affair. I never liked games that abashed the singles whenever I attend a wedding and I initially want this out of the program. I want our program to be just meant for dinner and dance without the tiring traditional cake cutting and toasting. I don't want any of our family to talk in front to make us cry. We want it to be purely fun in the reception. Emotional scenes should be left in the ceremony only as this is where the solemnity of the event truly lies. I started doing the save-the-date cards with a wishful thinking that it would help us save a big part of our wedding. Little things that I wanted to add in that small card that went unnoticed by others had amass a huge amount in our budget. So the idea of doing the invitation by myself was rejected by Rommel. Still, the year of preparation have given us enough time to prepare financially and mentally for what we're about to face.

Civil Wedding

In Singapore, church wedding is very very rare to happen. Aside from the fact that there's not much catholic here, it is also really expensive to do the church wedding. Though they have one option which is the civil wedding or ROM (Registry of Marriage). We agreed to have one only for the purpose of getting the marriage certificate in preparation for our church wedding since we don't want any hassle of applying one in manila. So on the 25th of January, year 2007, we took a cab, half an hour late, and went inside the Registry of Marriage, and was out 15 minutes later. Ceremony was only 10 minutes, the other 5 was for I don't know what. It was still fun. We had dinner with friends after the ceremony and things happen really fast. =) Here are the Kodak Moments

Much awaited proposal

After numbers of countries we've travelled together, friends who got married, had kids, and 8 years later, we finally decided that it's now time to take our relationship into the next level. Though for us, this is still a big step, some doesn't have that much enthusiasm as we do. For some, they feel like it's a project way overdue and doesn't feel like celebrating it. Some, especially our families, still share the same excitement. Still, we took things at its slowest pace to fully appreciate the taste of the ecstacy it will bring. It was January in 2005 that we decided to choose the date for the big day. Proposal came only in December of the same year. I was busy preparing my things at their place when he asked me to go with him at the rooftop of their home. The moment we got there, I instantly asked him to go back to the room since it was the middle of the afternoon and it was really humid. No idea, really, that I have ruined part of his plan. When we got to the room, he pointed a box on top of the pillow and asked me to open it. For years, whenever I see a box I always felt agitated, thinking that it contains the ring that i've been waiting for. But that box, never made me feel that way. Maybe because I was expecting a candle lit dinner and a romantic ambiance and not in his sister's room in the middle of the afternoon. I opened it and looked at the ring twice and asked him a couple of times if he's serious. He asked me to marry him and of course, I said yes with eyes full of tears and heart filled with gladness. Few months after, I asked him if he could do the proposal in a romantic way thinking that it will be the best story I could tell to my children and grand-children. He took back the ring and didn't say a word. I'm really a pain his ass :P August of 2006, he surprised me with a cable car dinner in sentosa and did the proposal again for the second time. And I realize, though it's romantic, the impact of the surprise is more on the first time. Well, at least now, I have two stories of the proposal to tell my grandchildren :) Btw, he told me that he didn't do the proposal over a romantic dinner because he knows that it's what my expectation is and the element of surprise won't be there. And yeah, he's totally right. =)

The story of us

I have once lived in my fairytale fantasy of finding my own prince charming. One who will take me out of my solitude. One who's so perfect in the way he talk and the way he smile, who's so blessed with all the richness of the world and intelligence that could make me learn a lot of things and of course, a prince wouldn't be a prince if he's not good-looking. But as I grew up, I realize that none of the qualities i was looking for could be found in one person only. I've been in relationships but none of it made me look forward to spending my lifetime with them. I guess, back then, I was still looking for my prince charming. Until I started working for a company I had no idea how my resume managed to land in the HR's desk. I noticed him on my first week and just became friends with him only after few months. We became close only after exchanging lyrics of songs through internal email and chatting in AOL and number of times we went out for a friday gimik with our other friends. Almost everyday, I was always looking forward coming in the office, always expecting him to touch my cheeks which he always does whenever he pass by on my cube. He was sweet and thoughtful giving me chocolait and crackers which he knows were my favorite, lending me his own jacket, and greeting me good morning through email everyday. We became closer and closer though back then we're still trying to be as discreet as possible, afraid of the office tsismis and of course the office regulations. But after all the struggles we've been through, we only became official in January of 1999. We were both offered a job in Singapore a year after and from then on, we continue our lives together. And I figured out, that finding your own prince charming isn't just about the looks or the intelligence or the palace he lives in. Your prince charming is that someone who could give you "kilig" moments, whom you could talk to and listens to you, who could give you strength when youre weak, who could be your only friend when everyone turns their back on you, who could have that patience when you're throwing tantrums, who encourage you everytime you're confidence is at its lowest and who could make you feel like a princess and the fairest of them all even if your own reflection doesnt think so. And I was glad and thankful to God, for I have found my own prince charming. :)