Just Another Game

Ask any married couple, and they will all tell you the same thing — there is no such thing as a perfect wedding. Well, the least you can do is prepare for all possible mishaps (that’s what your wedding planner is for). Before Mariel and I went to Cebu, we still had a lot of loose ends to tie up, namely:

1. Canonical Interview – Since the wedding was out of town, and we were trying to minimize on costs, we scheduled one two days before the wedding. It was also the first time we saw the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral up close.
2. Bridal Car – My aunt was trying to find out if we could get a good deal with one of her contacts, so we had decided to wait it out.
3. The Slideshow/AVP – Since I used to do this a lot, and had access to most of the pictures, I decided to do this myself.
4. Transportation for the guests – Since the hotel was a good 30-40 minute drive away, we were decided that we had to take care of all guest transportation (if you’re planning on doing the same thing, this is one of the biggest last minute costs you’ll encounter).

Now why did I bother to list these things down? Because coming from someone who has gone through all the stress, the bride or groom should be spending the last few days before the wedding relaxing. Or getting a massage. Or playing videogames. And I did none of these.

The night before the actual wedding, I helped Mariel transfer to her suite. After which, I went down to the lobby area to have a drink with my friends. Apart from having to worry about the arrival of most of our guests and family, it was the first timeI actually got to relax (apart from the sporadic 20 minute “quiet breaks” I would take in my room). We stayed up till about 2 to 3 in the morning, finishing a bottle of vodka and rum in the process.

And then the big day arrived.

When I woke up in the morning, I felt calm. I was sure that I had done everything that needed to be done. Our wedding planner was due to arrive after breakfast, to be followed by the team that was going to bring my suit, and all the dresses. I had a good breakfast with my family, and almost everyone who mattered in our lives were there. Everything was running smoothly until we were about to leave for the Church. Hala.

By 1pm, after all our pre-wedding pictures were taken, I walked out of the hotel to look for the van that I was going to take with my friends. You guessed it, the damn thing wasn’t there. After confirming it twice, the driver of the other van we had rented for Pat Dy’s team told me the other van was still at least 30 minutes away. It was already 1:30pm then (the wedding was at 2:30), and the Church was at least 40 minutes away. Stress! Our wedding planner made me ride with the photographer van instead, leaving behind around half of the entourage. I spent the time in the van trying to compose myself, thinking that the only thing that mattered then was that I made it to the Church on time.

I arrived at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral at around 2:20pm, about 10 minutes before the wedding started. The Church was packed. It felt like a politician was getting married, where in actuality, there were just two non-Cebu people who decided to re-plan their wedding in less than 3 months.

At 2:30pm, the entrance song played. My friends were not able to walk down the aisle, but it didn’t matter. The hour or so I was stressed out before getting to the Church was soon forgotten. Seeing friends and family there, complemented by how beautiful the atmosphere was in the Church was more than enough to make me fight back all the emotions. Holy shit I was going to get married.

Before I knew it, the doors for Mariel had already swung open. Everything was perfect. All the things that go wrong in weddings, believe me, they won’t matter — and it sure didn’t matter for me then. My bride was being escorted by her parents in a beautiful gown (it was really beautiful, and she was beautiful in it). Before I knew it, it was time to give my dad a handshake (didn’t bother looking at his face because I knew he was already crying), and my mom a kiss on the cheek. And then I picked up Mariel, and we took our place before the altar.

Yes, I was nervous, but not during the ceremony. I was nervous of getting caught on film or video with tears in my eyes (my dad and younger brother were the ones who got caught, see 3:23 of the video below).

When I think about all the preparations Mariel and I did, I can very much say that given the chance, I would go through it again. When I was still working in Summit, I had been involved in several events that required me to forget about sleep. Whether I was doing legwork, or editing some video, I knew all the sacrifices would pay off in the end. In this case, the sense of accomplishment was multiplied tenfold. If you’ve never done manual work before, like following up on guests, reservations, and flights, and you’re in the process of planning your own wedding, I highly suggest you don’t rely preparations on family members or solely on the wedding planner. It’s only once in your life that you actually get to plan your wedding.

Sure, you’ll have photos and videos to remember the wedding by, but the hurdles you have to go through to get to that point, those are priceless.

Of course, there is still the incomparable Kate Torralba and Pat Dy, who made the wedding as wonderful as it is. These two people should be part of the “Wedding Dream Team” if there was one. Thank you as well to Ms. Em Ravina and Janice Jacaban of Be Resorts, Peddy Acebo, as well as Bong Abella of Koncepts and More. And to everyone else who had to put up with our tantrums (specially the Jimenez, Cancio, Chua, and Manaloto clans), thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU. You people, are doing the Lord’s work.