THAT JOYFUL OCCASION

I wanted to entitle this “The Wedding” but realized I already used that HERE. I thought of using “Dale Weds Aya” instead, but it sounded a little too dry. So, I ultimately decided to use “That Joyful Occasion”. Simply because... it was!

the handsome Groom

the beautiful Bride

Dale Satur & Malaya Manalang

I would like to tell a thousand stories about this day, but my mind is crapped out at the moment. So I’ll just tell you two things:

ONE, the event was EPIC! It was very dreamy that I felt like being part of a fairy tale story, watching the main characters swaying from one moment to another, so deeply in love, enjoying every second of their day.

And TWO, I was so haggard on this day due to the following reasons:

1.     THE VEIL. I was part of the secondary sponsors, assigned to “the veil”, and I had no idea what to do since the last wedding I attended to was more than a decade ago. I barely had a memory of it, save the walking in the aisle carrying a pillow with rings on it. So anyway, I was nervous about messing up the flow, but I really couldn’t put my mind on it as I was more worried about...

2.     THE SPEECH. I was tasked to do the toast for the newlyweds, and I haven’t prepared a single word for my mini-speech, or in what part of the event should I do it. I’m sure I asked for this hassle myself when I scolded Dale about not choosing me as the Best Man /*Epal kasi, eh may kapatid ngang lalake si Dale! Ayan tuloy, nagka-oration portion pa*/. So anyway, I was nervous about blabbering unnecessary remarks about Dale (or maybe an awkward mentioning of Dale’s exes), but I really couldn’t put my mind on it as I was more worried about...

3.     THE EXAM. It was my exam day in UP Diliman. So I was sleepless on the eve of the wedding (memorizing formulas), and I had to rush answering 5 exams in the morning because I still have to fly from Diliman all the way to the other end of the world, Tagaytay. So anyway, I was nervous about having a mental block on the formulas, but I really couldn’t put my mind on it as I was more worried about...

4.     THE BARONG. I woke up that morning with nothing to wear to the wedding. We were told to wear barong, but I skipped on purchasing one the previous weekend because it was too pricey. I found an officemate who is more than willing to lend me his barong (Yay!). Only problem is, he was on leave two days before the event. So the arrangement was, he will leave the barong in the office before dawn breaks, right before they leave for the company outing /*Yes, that faithful day was also our company-wide summer outing which I had to miss out on =( */. So anyway, I was nervous because I was having crazy-thoughts about the barong being many sizes too big (or small), or my officemate forgetting bringing it, but I really couldn’t put my mind on it as I was too worried about all these things.

But enough of that. Let us re-channel our focus back to the joyful occasion. Allow me to give you a glimpse of that joy through these pictures.

BEFORE THE CEREMONY

with Jenina

la mujeres

Princess, Jenina, Zahara, and gay-man Charie

with CDO denizens Dale and ate Dianne - I didn't recognize her, gawsh!

pic with the groom

o, si Charie naman daw

THE WEDDING CEREMONY

queueing with the rest of the entourage

I saw my college blocmate RJ, he's one of the Groom's Men since he was Dale's dormmate back in college

the walk

the veil holders

pretty Ate Dianne Inres

The Bride's Arrival.

One of the best shots

beautiful moment

Katherine Heigl once said that the best part of a wedding is the arrival of the bride. She doesn't look at the bride though, unlike the rest. She wants to look at the groom, and see the joy in his eyes as he watches his bide walk the aisle. /*Not verbatim, I know. And it wasn't Heigl. It was Jane, her character in 27 Dresses.=)*/

So I tried to experience that, I only took a short glimpse of Aya when she arrived. I then averted my eyes to my friend dale. Damn, Heigl was right. At that moment, when I looked at Dale, I saw this.

That, ladies and gentlemen, was the happiest man I have seen in my entire life. The moment was just plain magical.

*sob*

pakyu Dale uy, gipahilak pud ko nimo

our Princess reading the Responsorial Psalm

exchanging of vows and rings :)

Aya's turn

Priest: And you may now kiss the bride.

presentation of the newlyweds

photo op time!

with the secondary sponsors - Look, it's me!

group hug daw

wacky!

balloons =)

Princess with balloons at the background

Jenina trying on the hat and shades

capturing this rare moment. lols

THE RECEPTION

the venue: Villa Ibarra

Wait, is that the Taal lake?

Oh, yes it is! Picture tayo sa Taal!

O ayan. Kitang-kita ang Taal.

Applied Math alumni. =)

RJ, Lonewulf, Princess, and my "paks" Zahara Guiamal

with my also-good-looking partner (hehe...ang umangal gumawa ng sariling blog) - after the mini-parade

Japan-japan!

The Toast.

Rome went first

Rome used to be the roommate of my sisses in Street Jazz

when she moved to a new apartment she met Aya, and eventually Dale - petite monde!

my turn now

Oops! Did I say something nasty about Dale? *grin*

with Rome and Abby. =)

I never thought I'd meet these two gals again.

Abby performing a song number - lovely voice =)

more pichur-pichur

And the cherry-on-top --- what a pleasant surprise

I'm such a sucker for fireworks, I recorded a video, plus I took around 20+ photos of it

BAM!

the balloon that saved me from that dreaded garter game

RJ trying to save himself from the same game

barely made it, haha

Now it's the ladies turn to save themselves

to be eliminated you have to hug the bachelor... Go Tot!

Cheater Jenina, Charie, Zah, and Franz - they hid to avoid the chance of winning

 Guess who won among the girls... our very own Princess! Hahaha

Oops Dale, can't wait 'till the day is over?

Princess will definitely kill me for posting this picture

Uuuuy.. Haha!

Before the night ended they aired the video coverage of the wedding, including the preparations, the behind-the-scenes, and even the wedding ceremony itself. With full editing and scoring. Pretty impressive! I will recommend these videographers, anytime, anywhere.

the vows... look at that!

Then the couple said their final message.

Aya thanking everyone. What a pleasant girl she is. :)

Now it's Dale's turn.

Last pichur-pichur

Yepuda means 'beautiful'

Me and Princess playing with the free photobooth shots. Love the one at the bottom right. Sorry, just stating a fact. Haha! Blog ko to!

To Aya and Dale: Thanks for allowing me to be a part of this joyful occasion. May you live a prosperous life as a couple. To Eternity! GUN BAE!

Lonewulf sings... “Even the best fall down sometimes... even the wrong words seem to rhyme... Out of the doubt that fills my mind... I somehow find you and I collide.”

=======================

Epilogue

After the wedding, we went straight to Pasig to catch our batch dinner. Pisay Gods! I so miss these guys.

(L-R) Jenina, Princess, Aizza, Gab, Pammy, Me, Jenny, Zahara, and Mildred este Sol