The Big Day - Preparations and the Ceremony

I woke up at 7:00am to the sound of my phone ringing. It was Gervy, asking for directions to the reception venue for the cake delivery (apparently, she didn't receive my email of the map the day before). I gave her the directions then tried to go back to sleep, but I then received a message from Lourd around 7:30am that he was already near. I literally jumped out of bed to take a shower before he arrived.

It seemed surreal that the day we had been looking forward to for so long had finally arrived! By 8am, I was ready to start the day.

While waiting for the suppliers to arrive, I started arranging all my stuff so that all my bags were ready to be loaded into the car before going to the church.

At 9am, Lourd finally arrived (apparently, his message earlier meant he was already near Tagaytay...hehe!). He took a look at my hair and said "Girl, ang haba ng hair mo". Then he said to his assistant "May gunting ka?" and then let me sit down to cut my hair. It took all of 5 minutes for him to get the length (and style) he needed for my chosen hairdo. We then proceeded to having my hair set, then it was makeup time! We were just talking and exchanging stories while I was being made up.

Soon after, one of the coordinators, Marese, showed up. It was so funny when she arrived, because her husband was with her. And it just so happened that her husband looked a lot like Danz, so I was panicking because I thought Danz was on his way inside the house!

Anyway, I lost track of the time because I wasn't wearing a watch, but the suppliers started showing up one after the other - Playback, Mimi and Karl, Ria and her team, Veluz and Flower Stories. The house was pretty big, so things weren't chaotic. But every now and then I received a phone call from suppliers asking for directions or from my brother who apparently got lost in Canyon Woods. I tried to get a bite to eat, but somehow I couldn't eat more than a few spoonfuls of rice and chicken.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to get dressed. Veluz and Niko helped me get into my gown and shoes, while Mimi started clicking away. The pictorial was really hard for me since I didn't know how to pose, and I didn't do any research on what I could do. It's a good thing that both Mimi and Karl were very patient and tried to guide my movements.

I had to take a quick break after some of the portraits to get a drink because I was so thirsty by this time. Good thing Niko still had some Mountain Dew left! Otherwise I may have just fainted again!:)

We left Canyon Woods at 1:30pm and I was at the church by 1:45pm (Danz was actually outside the church when we arrived, and he hurriedly went back inside when he saw the car approaching). I was left alone inside the car, where I took the time to pray and rehearse my vows. Every now and then, some of my friends or relatives would approach me just to see how I was doing.

2:00pm came and went and I was still in the car because our officiant had not arrived! We were able to contact him though and he was already in Tagaytay. One of my Titos went to the car and jokingly asked me if I still wanted to push through with the wedding. The coordinator seemed to be more nervous than I was because she kept asking me if I was doing okay.

Finally, at 2:30pm, Bishop Ted arrived! So I was finally able to get out, and Lourd had to do some last minute retouches because my hair got messed up while I was in the car. Veluz and Niko fixed my veil, and I made my way up the steps to the Chapel. My Dad and I stood outside the church for a few moments, waiting for the chorus of my bridal march "Come What May". This was it!

The doors opened, my veil was flowing and I finally made my walk towards Danz. My Dad stepped on my gown twice and I had a hard time walking because the floors of the chapel were uneven.:) At the middle of the aisle, my Dad commented out loud "Bakit lahat kayo nakatingin sakin?" (Grrr!) But I just smiled and kept walking.:)

When I got to Danz, I had no idea what to do! Do I hold his hand and let him lead me to my place? I decided to go to my seat on my own, and at this point I was thinking to my self "Do I keep holding my bouquet or do I put it down?" I ended up holding it up to the homily.

The ceremony was very light-hearted, especially because of Bishop's jokes during his homily. He skipped a few parts of the ceremony, like the Unity Candle and our exchange of personal vows, but it was fine with us, since these weren't really discussed fully with him.

When it was time to light the nuptial candles, my friend Bless informed me that there were none! So she and my brother Francis had to improvise and used the candles that were supposed to be for the Unity Candle ceremony. It didn't fit properly though, so they had to wait for some of the wax to melt so that they can somehow make the candles stand.

The rest of the ceremony went perfectly well. When the veil and the cord were placed on us, I whispered to Danz "Don't move, the cord might break!" He in turn whispered to me "My knees hurt!"

It isn't obvious in the pictures, but I was perspiring for the most part of the ceremony! I could feel the sweat gathering on my forehead and trickling near my ears.:)

Anyway, when the mass was over, it was time for the most awaited moment. We were looking at each other because Bishop didn't say it right away. He explained to us, "Lets sign the contract first before the kiss ok?". Haha, I guess he sensed our eagerness. So when we finished signing, he finally told Danz "You may kiss the bride"