We celebrated our second wedding anniversary last December 28, 2015. I write this post, more than a week late, because we have been so busy these past few days with the usual holiday shenanigans. When Bistek and I woke up on the morning of the 28th, his first words to me were, “Happy anniversary, Hun.” And I uttered to him, “Shucks, two years na pala tayo! At eto, may baby na sa gitna natin!” Then Kobe gave us his “kilig” smile that he always bestows on us the moment he sees us every morning. 🙂

Bistek and I have gone very, very far since we first met waaaaaay back in high school. Yes, we met during the “interaction” of our classes from two exclusive schools back in the 90s. Our closest friends are familiar with our love story, and it warrants a different post altogether. But here I just want to recount the events on our wedding day, which took place on December 28, 2013.

We got married twice that day – our official (contractual) ceremony was in St. John Bosco Chapel in Makati the morning of the 28th with our family, and our celebratory (grand) ceremony was held at the chapel in Tuloy Sa Don Bosco in Alabang in the afternoon. We had to do this since contractual ceremonies are not allowed at Tuloy Sa Don Bosco since their chapel is not a parish church. We fell in love with their chapel the first time we saw it in 2009, and we vowed that we will get married there no matter what.

We had our wedding preparations at Vivere Suites. This is where we had our first date back in ’04, at the roof top restaurant. I remember having a glass of red wine on the eve of our wedding day, with my two bridesmaids Rain and Mara, to calm my nerves since I was so elated that I could not sleep! We all had to wake up early so we can be in Makati before 8:00 am for our wedding ceremony with our immediate family. I put on a simple white dress and off we went to get married. The ceremony was so intimate, and very memorable. There were less than ten people present there. Our friend, Fr. GC Carandang officiated the wedding, and his homily was so touching that we all cried. Events from that morning until the moment I was about to enter the chapel in Tuloy Sa Don Bosco were a blur (since we were running late). I just remember taking deep breaths seconds before they opened the door for my entrance.

The chapel was filled with our family and friends, who came to celebrate our love with us. As I was walking down the aisle, cameras were flashing, and I was taking deep breaths all the while looking at my husband, who stood frozen by the altar with an awkward smile. Fr. GC officiated that ceremony as well, and he gave a different homily, though it was equally touching and memorable as the one he gave that morning. Bistek and I laughed and cried (I mostly laughed, and he mostly cried) as we read our personally-written vows; and I remember thinking that we both chose to begin our vows the same way, by recalling moments from our past in high school, where we first met.

We had our reception at The Palms Country Club, also in Alabang. We started our celebration around 6:00 pm for cocktails and ended at around 1:00 am! We had so much fun with all our guests, and I remember our friends kept telling us how yummy all the food was, and how they had such a blast at our wedding. I was so honored that my ASAP Sessionista friends all agreed to sing for us at our wedding, so I had my band arrange a (20-minute!) medley of 7 songs “Sessionista-style” to entertain our guests. And Bistek (who loves music as much as I do) surprised me with 3 song numbers with his own band, and one of those songs was a song he wrote for me for our wedding day. So my rockstar husband upstaged me that night, much to everyone’s delight! 🙂 After the program, my band stayed onstage to play rockeoke for all our guests, so many of our friends stayed until after midnight to celebrate. I remember changing to flat sandals so I can move around easier and mingle with all our guests.

We had a rocking-great time at our wedding, and it is by far the most memorable night of my life. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to eat all the food that our friends were raving about! 🙂

This is the first time I wrote about our wedding, and albeit it is two years late, I want to say thank you once again to everyone who made that day perfect! Many of you know that getting married nowadays is like staging a major production event, so I am very thankful that all our suppliers were very professional, but very accommodating to our personal preferences (and budget limitations!).

Here are more pics from our wedding. Credits to Niceprint Photography, our official wedding photographer and videographer. 🙂

Here is a complete list of our suppliers:

• Church: Chapel of the Forgiving Lord, Tuloy sa Don Bosco, Alabang, Muntinlupa – beautiful, beautiful church! Such a shame that it’s not allowed to be an official wedding venue.
• Reception and Catering: The Palms Country Club – oh, their food is to die for! I wasn’t able to eat the whole spread on our wedding day, though I was able to sample the best ones on our food tasting, yummy! The good thing about The Palms is that they serve superb food at prices much lower than five star hotels. Their ballroom is also nice, though you will be limited to a maximum of 350 guests. Also, you need to be endorsed by a member to be able to use this venue.
• Officiating Priest: Rev. Fr. GC Carandang, SDB – you may contact me if you want to get him.
• Bridal Gown: Cheena Ng-Lio of Amour Manila – Cheena is a very talented designer. She can work with what you envision, and is very flexible. She is super nice too! 🙂
• Groom’s Tuxedo: Nat Manilag – Bistek loved his tuxedo custom-made by Nat Manilag. He was very accommodating to us!
• Entourage Gowns: Tina Daniac – Tina was so nice to accommodate my requests for bridesmaid dresses.
• Makeup: Bem Abeleda of Glo Minerals – Bem is a good friend, and she has been doing my make up for ASAP ever since. So I didn’t want to get another make up artist for my special day. Despite the rush during preps, she was able to do my make up flawlessly!
• Hair: Tin Sevilleno – I loved how Tin did my hair – an up-do for the ceremony, and soft waves for the reception. She is currently abroad though! I miss you, Tin!
• Skin Care: Dr. Celia Faustino of MD Aesthetique – Dr. Cel has been taking care of my skin since 2009. I had several RF sessions with her leading to our wedding day.
• Nail Care: Nail Files – no bride should have bare nails on her wedding day! I had a gel manicure with a light color two days before the big day.
• Photography and Videography: Nice Print Photography – Ms. Charisse of Nice Print was very nice and accommodating from the start of our preparations. They also did our prenup pictorial, and we loved it!
• Wedding Planner: Christine Ong-Te Events – I met Christine way back when I was a wedding singer, so I was familiar on how she and her team worked. It was a no-brainer when we chose her to be our wedding planner. And we have zero regrets, because our day was perfect! A special shout-out to our overall coordinator, Gelo Nadonga! 🙂
• Event Stylist and Flowers: Teddy Manuel – Christine recommended Teddy to be our events stylist, and it turned out to be the perfect-fit! He was able to work within our budget and even made a very beautiful, cozy backdrop for our stage. The set-up was classic and elegant, and just how we envisioned it.
• Wedding Cake: Fernando’s Bakery – Tita Pinky of Fernando’s Bakery made our beautiful cake just the way we wanted it. She put real roses on it, and all four layers were edible! The flavor was so yummy, too (banana walnut)!
• Church Choir: Tuloy Children’s Choir
• Photobooth: Pose and Print
• Sounds and lights: JR Music
• Invitations: Amis Print

LAST NOTE: I publish this post today, January 5 (which is coincidentally the wedding anniversary of my parents), looking back at our first two years together as husband and wife. Bistek and Cess version 1.0 was us pre-wedding, and oh boy, we had our share of stress-testing! Now we are Bistek and Cess version 2.0 and it has never been better, especially now that we have our little Bistek 2.0, Kobe! Cheers to more years full of laughter, sweat, blood, and tears together, Hun! 🙂

If you want to see our SDE (same-day edit) video, you may watch HERE. We originally used the song, “Everything” by Lifehouse, but Niceprint changed it to a licensed song so they can post on Youtube. I hope you like it! 🙂