2012 is the
year of the dragon; throughout the year weddings and many other special events
spread out and tried to make the cut in the belief that the year of the dragon
will bring forth good fortune! That or they just want to celebrate all in
December.
Having gone
through the ordeal of wedding preparation myself, i know how the men’s side of
things went. Wedding nowadays are super
expensive and people are making good business out of the bride. They know, once they convince the bride to go
for the more expensive option, they know the groom has no choice but to say
“yes dear”. The couple can spend up to a
modest P500 / guest to a super spend of P2,500 / guest. And after the couple has gone through
infinity times on revising their guest list, to their super final short list
(which can still change in the final week) – you as the guest should feel
honoured, and you better think really hard before you even say NO. Imagine the effort they went through to
prepare for their special day and the money that they spent on their
guests. The least you can do is to RSVP,
dress up, and enjoy celebrating the special day with them. So again, THANK YOU to all my friends who
went through the trouble for inviting me and the wife, enjoy your life together!!!
The whole
year i haven’t attended 1 single wedding, and then December came. I don’t exactly recall which invitation i
received first but all of a sudden, this is how my December looked like:
I suddenly
had 7 weddings to attend all in a month’s time.
So here we go:
Neville +
Andy
Wedding #1 Dec
4, Tagaytay – Neville was a childhood friend from preschool in JASMS. The wedding was at Church on the Hill, and
the reception took place in a private home which the couple had rented. It was an intimate wedding, guests were
limited to 80 pax, friends and family only.
The reception was very homey and comfortable, soon as the guests arrived
at the garden reception the women were given scarves and the men beer. They even told us that they went up to Tagaytay
a week before to spruce up and prepare for the reception. The couple were really hands on, on this and
it really showed. Intimate, simple, and
straight up from an English garden wedding.
The highlight for me was when the groom danced Gangnam with the drunk
guys, with me being one of the drunk guys.
Carlo +
Roxy
Wedding #2 Dec
11, Makati – Carlo and Roxy are friends and teammates from running and
triathlon. Wedding was in a church in
Makati, Kamagong area the ceremonies was nice and sweet, and their personal
vows were true tear jerkers. The
reception was at Sofitel, i know what you’re thinking: chocolate chip
cookies!!! Right on! This was a fun party as most of our friends
from the triathlon team were present and it was a good way to drink up and
celebrate the calendar year as it ended.
Again, i almost got drunk.
Alan + Kate
Wedding #3
Dec 12, MOA – Kate is Mayen’s elder sister; church wedding was at MOA. This church has a certain appeal if you are
also into old churches. I must admit, on
a normal day the parking here is not so holy as it is right beside SM MOA. The highlight for me was when i finally met
mayen’s aunt from the overseas which i had a difference of opinions with. Reception took place at Traders hotel along
Roxas blvd.
Paulo + Bia
Wedding #4
Dec 15, Antipolo – Paulo is a friend from elementary years from JASMS, and we
recently connected again for a project.
The church wedding was at Dela Strada church along katipunan, followed
by a reception at Mango Farm, Antipolo.
It was my first time there and it had a rustic feel to it. The couple comes from the advertising
industry so a lot of the guests either had coloured hair, suits, or standout
hair cut or hairdo. As unique as their
individualities were, the games were unique as well. One of the highlights for the guests (well at
least for me) the father of the bride speech where the mother of the bride was
already signalling him to wrap it up
and the 5 minute fireworks after the reception program.
Paolo + Tin
Wedding #5
Dec 18 – church was at mt. Carmel and reception was at Plaza Ibarra along timog
ave. Paolo is a teammate from Secondwind
multisport team, so as you guessed it – the teammates was present again. At this party i did not drink alcohol at all
cause i came by way of scooter to avoid the holiday traffic building up. The
highlight for me was when our table stood up for the prayer and Eya (not
listening) said out loud: tayo na sa buffet???
JP + Melody
Wedding #6
dec 19 – church was at Greenhills and reception was at Edsa Shangri-La. When those gigantic doors of the Isla
ballroom opened, only one word entered my mind: WOW. They rented out all 3 major ballrooms, which
housed 50 tables of 12. They had a
separate backdrop for the host, performers and a gigantic LED screen for the
videos. The attention to detail was
above and beyond, it was the most extravagant reception i’ve seen – so
wonderfully extravagant that i told my friend, “the only thing missing here is
if it rained rose petals”. I bet, if the
ballroom only had more space the couple would have gotten the full line of the
philharmonic orchestra! Highlight:
wedding video, it was so nice. The
concept was (i think ha) love in the time of social media.
Third +
Johanne
Wedding #7
dec 23 – wedding and reception: Ville Sommet, Tagaytay. It’s funny how Mayen realized that our 7
wedding streak started and ended at Tagaytay.
My friend was Third, he was our host / tour guide when Drew and i
stopped over at Hawaii before heading home.
The couple was so nice and easy to get along with. On our last night, they took us out for a
steak dinner; we laughed and enjoyed each others’ company. Highlight: star studded wedding: Rica
Peralejo, Drew Arellano, kuya Kim Atienza, Piolo Pascual, and Aizza Seguerra! The
food was catered by Bizu – CHAMPION!
10 Things I’ve
learned after 7 weddings:
1 Bring
a candy or gum, the time from wedding to reception is a true test of your
appetite
2 Leave
the church soon as you can and proceed to the reception to get good parking
3 Having
said this, make sure your parking at the church makes for a good and easy way
to leave
4 At
the buffet, get small portions first to sniff out what’s good and what’s not so
good – lahat ng buffet may isang dish na sablay :P
5 Always
bring a hanky for you or your date
6 Match
your watch with your socks AND wear comfortable socks as leather shoes are
really painful to wear!
7 Get
a great, spanking belt
8 It
would be wise to have at least 2 formal pants, one for barong or one for the
suit
9 Men
are lucky cause we only wear Barong or Suits for these formal events, no more
pressure to think of what dress to wear
10 Don’t
mess with the Barong Tagalog – do yourself a favour and don’t buy the tie-died
ones, or those couture barongs. Its meant
to be white, and traditional.
see more photos here
