Whether I deliberately took my time until I felt the hype of it was over, or I was just too caught up in the feelings and celebrations, I am – FINALLY – writing about when I got married to a wonderful human being in a civil ceremony last August 2018.
We had an intimate civil ceremony with a small group of family and friends, in the middle of the week, with an officiant that we know and respect. We had our reception at a fabulous restaurant where everyone can face each other and talk. We had a great wedding entourage. I have the most amazing Matron of Honor and Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids, friends and family who helped make arrangements, and who all came together to listen to me and E (yes, I have dubbed the hubs “E” for blog purposes) exchange our heartfelt vows.
The best tip that I can give to those considering getting married is — HIRE My Big Event as your wedding coordinator. I thank my stars every day that MBE was there to facilitate all the paperwork, remind me of things to be done, feed me on the day, and whip me and E into shape to take on the event. MBE was a godsend. Period. For people as busy as myself and E, who barely have enough time to sit down to discuss the guest list, we need people we can count on and can keep their head above the fray.
We were lucky enough that my former law school professor and former law school dean was available to officiate the wedding at the Supreme Court. It was nice to have some personal connection with the officiant, because it immediately made me feel that our ceremony was meaningful. And he was completely charming and engaging as well. The ceremony lasted under an hour. Nagdala pa kami ng doughnuts and burgers in the Dignitaries Hall, just in case may magutom. Burgers were sponsored by my brother, doughnuts by my parents. Total cost for that ceremony to be held at the Supreme Court is Php 300. Registration at Manila City Hall was approximately Php 3,000. Having a Supreme Court Justice unexpectedly read out your favorite excerpt from The Prophet for your wedding …PRICELESS.
Our reception was held at the classic Casa Roces, in a small function room for 22 people. It was a brilliant idea by M, my Matron of Honor. The restaurant was about a 30-minute drive from the Supreme Court. Including a few bottles of wine, for about 5 course meal (which we did family style anyway), we paid something around Php 30,000.
As for those who have complemented me on Instagram and Facebook for my wedding outfit – a white crepe pantsuit with matching cape blazer – thank you! I actually just bought all the pieces at Zara, and put them together myself. That set cost a little under Php 8,000.00 — my wedding wallet was happy! I completed the ensemble with a choker of south sea pearls and a set of diamond and south sea pearls drop earrings, all care of mom. The choker is a gift, the earrings — I am working on that. 🙂 She of course hated the idea that I was in pearls because of the superstition that wearing pearls spelled tears for the marriage. I just figured that it was pretty inevitable that some tears are to be shed, so I might as well look fab on my wedding day. And pearls just make everything more …sophisticated. I did my own make-up, and had my hair done by my neighborhood parlor. My bouquet was made by one of my bridesmaids and sorority sis, R – and she managed to incorporate my favoritest flower of all time, the stargazer lily, in the bouquet.
I think the only real struggle I went through was arguing with E about the suit he was going to wear. I loved his grey suit, and he agreed it was a nice day-time suit to wear, since we were getting married at 1400 hours… pero gusto nya blue yun shirt nya, with matching cobalt blue tie. LORD. And we woke up 5am in the morning on the day of the wedding day to start arguing about it. By 9am, taas kamay na ako. I was insisting on a nice crisp white shirt to go with the grey suit. But, I wasn’t going to let E’s unique color coordination get in the way of my salon appointment. So I just said, “Whatever you want. I already told you my preference,” and just justified that this is probably how parents deal with their children some mornings – yun para lang pumasok na sa school, hahayaan na lang na nakasuot ng superman costume yun anak nila at pabayaan sumakay sa bus at mag attend ng class.
In the end, he wore the white shirt. Pinanganak lang talaga sya para inisin ako.
While our civil ceremony was something we enjoyed very much, it was really something that we needed to do for our destination Catholic Wedding this October 2018.
More on Wedding #2 …soon! So excited!
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