Pretty long post. If you’re too busy to read everything, skip to Thursday before the wedding :).
Week before the wedding. Almost everything is in order. That was the week the entourage are scheduled to have their final fitting. For the flowergirls, it was to be their second and last fitting, together with their shoes. Much to our dismay, the feet of two of the girls, Nikki and Ayen, grew about half an inch from the time they had their measurements taken about six months ago. Nikki also grew up about 1.5 inches! Lesson learned: Little girls tend to grow really fast (especially the feet), so it is advisable to have their dresses and shoes made later than everybody else.
Around this time as well, I was resigned to the fact that our entourage would not be complete. My sister Sherry, who’s Matron of Honor, was not able to take leave from her Masteral Externship in the US. Jao, Rissa’s partner for the candle, got himself a new job and was sent abroad for a month and shall be back only on the night of our wedding day! My family had a slight problem with the mom of one of the Junior Bridesmaids, that I never expected the kid to still come to the wedding. I sent her dress and shoes though. One of the Ninongs was suddenly on a Business trip abroad (He sent his chief of staff to stand for him.). One of the Ninangs who is Chinese said early on she can’t promise she’d be there as her dad is critically ill (she asked that she be proxied instead). Lesson learned: I cannot control circumstances.
Weekend before the wedding. On Friday (June23), my fabulous Baddicts lady friends threw a shower for me (while their better halves threw a stag for Hubby somewhere in QC). We did it at my brothers’ apartment, and sans the naughty strippers, it was actually a blast…endless eating and chikahan (and wondering what our partners were up to, hahaha!) Later, we met with the boys at Starbucks Metrowalk to cap the night off.
The next day was Joaquin’s (my nephew and ring bearer) 3rd birthday parties day. :) So it was a no-wedding-planning day. He had 2 parties that day, a Jollibee kiddie party at SM North Annex from 10-12nn and then an Italianni’s party at Greenhills from 3-6pm. It was a tiring day but Joaquin even had enough energy to play with his gifts until 11pm that day!
Sunday was farm day, another non-wedding related day. We woke up really early and drove to San Miguel Bulacan, hiked a bit, planted some trees, harvested some mangoes, and was back in Quezon City a bit after lunch. I rested for a while and started to ready myself for a dinner get-together with my college galpals at Marina in Glorietta. What’s supposed to be a last-single-birthday-get-together-and-some-announcement-day for Rissa turned out to be a shower for me really. Hehhehe…of course I expected that my friends were up to something but I didn’t want to spoil it for them. Nax! It was sad though that some other friends of mine didn’t make it, even if Odie and Rissa were planning for that day for a month or so. My then h2b was part of the planning, yessss! :) It was a wholesome affair with us having a very quiet dinner , albeit naughty conversations, eheh. I opened the gifts right there and Rissa happily snapped on with her cam, and with me sheepishly showing off the lingerie they gave. The highlight of the night is the distribution of the souvenirs of my shower: P*n*s-shaped chocolate lollipops! Hahaha! So cute!
Monday, June 26. I had my final fitting (for my bridal gown and reception dress). My dresses fit really well, I’m so glad! About a week ago, I insisted on having my fitting even if I was not scheduled to have one…only because I felt I gained weight…which I did huhuhu. So the days leading to that fateful final fitting day, I was dieting! And my dieting paid off, huh! I was asked to go back the next day for the fitting of my hotel preps clothes.
Hubby picked me up from Eddie’s shop and off we went to meet up with Clarice for our final meeting. We met her at Starbucks Congressional. That, my friends, is when I realized we are actually okay with everything. We summarized the things we need to do and prepare, like payments and small details for the wedding. What can I say, Clarice is so organized, discussing things part by part, making sure not to miss anything! Then we practiced a bit: how I should walk on the aisle, meeting my parents down there, leading to my groom, kissing my parents, how Ane should take my hand from my dad, him leading me to his parents and then finally to the Altar. Man! That gave me the bumps!
Oh by the way, we started offering eggs to Sta. Clara in Obando this day. And we continued doing so until Friday, the eve of the wedding.
Tuesday. I was not able to go back to Eddie but I did a little shopping for beddings for our new bed. I had the urge to do that since we hardly did anything for the pad we are going to live in. I realized the least I could do is prepare the bed we are going to sleep in!
In the evening, my Kuya Jun helped me with the Trivia Cards (
Mec’s idea) and our email address cards, so our guests can email their shots of the wedding to us (
Nap and Rhea’s idea). We also prepared the Table names for the zoning as well as the Menu cards for the Presidential and VIP tables.
Wednesday. I went to Eddie to fit my Hotel preps clothes. I’m so happy with it! Kuya Jun, Joaquin, Susan and I went to the mall afterwards to buy Susan clothes for the wedding. She is assigned to look after Joaquin during the wedding.
We went home and continued doing the the table cards. Later in the afternoon, we had an intimate family only gathering at home to celebrate Joaquin’s 3rd birthday.
I also started preparing and labelling the boxes to be brought the hotel. Three boxes all in all, aside from my small luggage :)
Thursday. Ane was officially on leave until July 10! I was supposed to pick up the ento dresses and shoes from Eddie’d shop at 9am but the van I borrowed from my Mom broke down and they had to fix it first in Laguna. When it was finally running, the aircon gave up on the driver while cruising C5. So there, I was late for my appointment with Eddie’s assistant and I had to endure the heat and smog of the city!!! The shoes of Nikki and Ayen weren’t delivered yet so we had to go back and pick it up later that night. We delivered some of the dresses at Ane’s house and Ane was kind enough to accompany me (in Max, his car) to deliver some of the dresses in Bulacan (20minute-drive). We stayed in my shop until late in the afternoon. People commented how relaxed and ready we seemed to be. That’s actually how we felt. We were more than ready to spend the rest of our lives together!
When Ane refused to wait for me if I had my facial done, we decided it was time to head back to the city. The shoes were not ready yet, so we went straight to Brothers’ apartment and wait for the time. Since it was already late, I asked my Bro’s driver to deliver Nikki’s dress and shoes to their house while Ane and I delivered Rissa’s in Ortigas.
By the time we got back, The CD I asked my Brother Ryan to rip and burn for the entourage march was ready. It was instrumental and while listening to it, I was singing the lyrics. And it hit me! The song is actually about a couple who went separate ways! I naturally panicked and Ane was laughing at me and my idiocy, eehehehhe. The song is “Ikaw lang ang Mamahalin” by Joey Albert. I was taken by the melody that I failed to look at the song at it’s entirety (even if I play Martin Nievera’s version of the song in the car all the time!!!)! Imagine this happening at nearly midnight! And my internet connection suddenly decided it would falter…that I could not download another song that’s a lot more fitting. I tried to contact my “band” to share my dilemma but it was too late at night. Lesson learned: Not all songs with titles that include “Ikaw” and “Mamahalin” are perfect for perfect relationships and moments!
Ane left that night with me still worried about the song! Hahahhaha, napressure ang lola niyo! But I slept through the night still. It was the last night Ane and I were together…the next time we saw each other was while I was walking down the aisle to his arms. :)
Friday. I woke up early to fix my things, and finalize the contents of my boxes. My family was scheduled to check in at Edsa Shang that day. But I had to contact my “band” first…and it was agreed upon that my entourage march would be “Panunumpa” which shall be played on the piano live instead. At around 230pm, I was already settled in, and at 3pm, my assistant and two center attendants (one for mani/pedi, one for scrub) arrived to personally pamper me. Heavenness!! Haven’t had the chance to do that in a long time. In a while, I was soaked in bubble bath, read my latest local chismis mag, and enjoyed the moment. After the bath, I had my whole body scrub. Later, facial naman. After all that scrubbing and relaxing whole body massage, manicure and pedicure was next. I felt like a princess!!!
And then I remembered to remind Ane to have his manicure as well…He said he was already too tamad to go out as he had just had his bubble bath at our house! He even shared how he jokingly snapped at his parents saying “Lalayasan ko na kayo!!!” while carrying all his personal belongings to his new place, our place…which is just UPSTAIRS! Hehehe. Talk about being so excited…I bet he even embraced the new bed, ahihihi.
I didn’t go out for dinner anymore that night. I felt so refreshed already, so why spoil it? I just requested that some salad be brought back to my room so I could eat before I go to sleep. While my family was out, my Maid of Honor, Madel, arrived with her dad. She is going to stay with me for the night, acting like a real attendant hehehehe. When everybody got back, my bratty brothers decided to watch Superman and left Joaquin for me to babysit! Yep, I still babysat the night before the wedding! And the little boy refused to sleep until before midnight…after literally grabbing my side of the bed! The bratty brothers came back at 1am to fetch J. I was finally able to get my beauty rest.
Wedding Day. My breakfast arrived at 7am. That’s a total of 6 sleeping hours! I’m so glad I’m so used to that amount of sleep, otherwise I would have been grumpy on my wedding day. As Tanya texted, “Looks like a perfect day to get married!”, I smiled and silently agreed…thanking God for such a wonderful morning.
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Wedding day kwento, supplier ratings and post wedding kwento coming up! :)
