Camina-Resurreccion Nuptials

the church
the reception
the motif
the proposal
the engagement ring
the invitations
countdown
the pre-nups story
photo of the week 1
the photographer
photo of the week 2
musings #1

it was the product of a lot of planning and several connivances with a slew of accomplices. however, things did not turn out as expected. but mostly in a nice way. there was a delayed dinner and a near-irritated girl hungry and wanting her dinner (sino kaya yun?). so we ended up having a witness and documentor to the "event" because my officemate and his room mate, sonny, had tummy troubles and was not able to do his field work so i dragged him along. thus, while the proposal was happening, sonny was clicking away using dixie (Nikon D40X). i actually thought he just wanted to play with my camera. obviously, i was mistaken.

as seen in the slideshow below, jan used a scrapbook for his proposal. when he gave it to me, i thought it was just a scrapbook. i mean, of course, it's not JUST a scrapbook... but i didn't think of it as a proposal. i absolutely did not see it coming.

and how much of an idiot am i? well, first, i was not paying full attention to it yet because the television was on and i caught glimpse PBB Celebrity Edition 2 when gaby just returned to the kuya's house. but when i realized that the pages were filled some un-mushy mush, i finally gave my full concentration as mush in quite uncharacteristic of jan. but i still had no idea. i just kept teasing jan... "uy, crush niya ako!" or "naks! mushy ka rin pala." or "aba, tinopak ka!"

i eventually came to a page with green sinamay. there was a piece of paper stuck on it with the words written, "Angie, mahal na mahal kita. Maari ba kitang makasama at makalakbay ng habangbuhay?"

you think i would have gotten it already.

na-ah! i had to tease him again, "uuuuyyyy!" it took about three seconds before i thought of reading again and that light bulb finally struck. another second and i notice that there was a flap on that green sinamay page. i lifted it and there it was - a peridot gem on white gold band - tied to the scrapbook.

so while rojean (also an accomplice), expected tears from me, i ended up laughing and laughing and laughing. at my idiocy, and at the carefully planned surprise. and yes, i forgot to say yes. i just kept hugging him and laughing. but i did ask eventually, "di pa kita sinasagot ano?" until I finally said, "syempre." then told him, "isuot mo naman!" hehe!

Additional anecdote:
the proposal happened last 27 november 2007, the day before he was going to leave for manila. there was no romantic setting whatsoever, but it involved a lot of diversion tactics. and my mom was informed that it was going to happen that night. fancy that.

but it was before that when jan asked permission from my mom. july to be exact. just as she was leaving for a two month stay at the states. and my mom, usually unable to contain news like that, she shared it to my siblings. she even ended up letting me know about it during one of our phone conversations while she was in the states.

M: blah-blah
A: blah-blah
M: nag-propose na ba si jan sa iyo?
A: huh? hindi pa noh. sasabihin ko naman sa iyo kung nag-propose siya. di no.
M: mag-propose naman daw siya sa iyo. may singsing na daw siya.
A: ma, sasabihan kita kung nangyari iyon. kelan ba naman ako di nagsabi ng mga bagay na ganyan.
and then change topic.

i really actually didn't give it much thought afterwards. i didn't want to ruin his efforts, as well as the surprise when the time comes. and the fact that he wants to marry me was nothing really new since he's mentioned it a couple of times. so i conveniently forgot about that tale from a little birdie. which was a good idea because i was genuinely surprised and happy.

some of the accomplices:
sonny (my officemate, his housemate, our friend) - he saw the whole thing being made
jerry (fellow fun house kid aka fuhker) - who was willing to share his printer
tatit (one of fuhker queens) - consultant to method of proposal
rojean (jvp batch mate) - consultant to procurement of supplies

while my dream proposal would have involved neil gaiman somewhere in the picture (and another couple beat us to it during the ad congress), i couldn't be any happier with how jan did it. it made up for his unromanticism. ;p

It's weird, really. My favorite color is blue and brown, so I would have thought I'd have chosen either of the two for the motif (with an inclination for brown, it being an earth color).

While Jan and I were discussing details about the wedding, I asked him what he thought would be a good motif. He suggested green since it was the color of peridot, my birthstone. At first, I was like, "but that's the color of DLSU!" Of course, I meant it in jest. (And thankfully, it won't be UAAP season by the time of the wedding so Ateneo can not blame me for disloyalty. Hehe!) However, I never really thought of green. I pondered for a while and thought, "well... it is still an earth color... and I can say the color of my work is green." So we decided on green. But I insisted on a darker shade, maybe forest green or olive green. Definitely not neon, and am not inclined to bright or pastel shades either.

Now, because of a Daily OM article, I feel a sense of serendipity with green. I never realized how perfect the color was for Jan and I as discussed below in the Daily OM 24 March 2008 article about the color green.

Unifier Of Opposites
The Color Green

Green is a combination of the colors yellow and blue, each of which brings its own unique energy to the overall feeling of the color green. Blue exudes calm and peace, while yellow radiates liveliness and high levels of energy. As a marriage between these two very different colors, green is a unifier of opposites, offering both the excitement of yellow and the tranquility of blue. It energizes blue’s passivity and soothes yellow’s intensity, inspiring us to be both active and peaceful at the same time. It is a mainstay of the seasons of spring and summer, thus symbolizing birth and growth.

Green is one of the reasons that spring instigates so much excitement and activity. As a visual harbinger of the end of winter, green stems and leaves shoot up and out from the dark branches of trees and the muddy ground, letting us know that it’s safe for us to come out, too. In this way, green invites us to shed our layers and open ourselves to the outside world, not in a frantic way, but with an easygoing excitement that draws us outside just to sniff the spring air. Unlike almost any other color, green seems to have its own smell, an intoxicating combination of sun and sky—earthy, bright, and clean. In the best-case scenario, it stops us in our tracks and reminds us to appreciate the great experience of simply being alive.

Green balances our energy so that, in looking at it, we feel confident that growth is inevitable. It also gives us the energy to contribute to the process of growth, to nurture ourselves appropriately, without becoming overly attached to our part in the process. Green reminds us to let go and let nature do her work, while at the same time giving us the energy to do our own.

Interesting, noh? And so perfect for the two of us too. Jan, blue and I, yellow. One, the temperance of the other. The other, the energy of the one.

It's not easy being green, says Kermit. Maybe not. But I hope it will be a whole lot of fun for us this June 13. ;p

jan actually took painstaking care in looking for an engagement ring (so he claims. hehe! and i believe him). he asked me what i felt about diamonds before. and unlike the typical girl, i told him i'm not a fan of it.

so that might have led him to the idea of getting me a ring with my birthstone on it. it was only actually when he presented me with the ring that i discovered what a peridot looks like.

afterwards, i did some research on peridot and liked what i found out. i loved that it is also called "evening emerald" or "olivine" because i like emeralds and i enjoy olives. Hehe!


some of the facts i picked up about peridot:

The vivid green of the peridot, with just a slight hint of gold, is the ideal gemstone colour to go with that light summer wardrobe. No wonder – since the peridot is the gemstone of the summer month of August.

The ancient Romans too were fond of this gemstone and esteemed its radiant green shine, which does not change even in artificial light. For that reason they nicknamed it the 'emerald of the evening'.

The peridot is one of the few gemstones which come in one colour only. The rich, green colour with the slight tinge of gold is caused by very fine traces of iron. From a chemical point of view, peridot is an iron magnesium silicate. The intensity of the colour depends on the amount of iron actually present.

These facts I got from this website. You can find out about other gems from that site as well. :)

Date: 13 June 2008, Friday
Church: 4 PM Nuestra Senora de Gracia, Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City
Reception: 7 PM Greenmeadows Clubhouse, Greenmeadows Subdivision

The first time I was able to encounter the Greenmeadows Clubhouse was during my matron-of-honor's wedding, where they had their reception. It was actually a nice, comfortable and roomy venue, without feeling like it was huge. Homey. Just the way Jan and I like things. But it was actually a long sojourn before we were able to finalize having the Greenmeadows Clubhouse as our reception venue.

Our first choice was really Sanctuario de San Antonio Parish Hall. It was near enough our church and could accommodate our initial guest list of 300 (!!! yes, yes. ang dami...). But. This is where our Friday the 13th luck faltered. June 13 just happened to be the Feast Day of San Antonio de Padua so the Sanctuario de San Antonio was unavailable. Boo.

So Jan had to quest for the venue for several months. He tried the Philippine Army Officer's Club but they took too long in giving us a quotation. The PAOC also had this fine print that should any national emergency occur, they can automatically cancel any event held there. Hmmm... a day after Independence Day... who knows what Trillanes might try. So that was off the list.

Lots of friends gave us leads (thanks guys! You know who you are!) to venues. From North Forbes to Bel-Air to Blue Leaf (can afford if we try to, but we don't want to. hehe!). But most of the venues can not accommodate more than 250 guests.

We were down to two venues: Lepanto Penthouse and Greenmeadows Clubhouse. If by feel, we like Greenmeadows. But then there were a lot of things to consider. It will be a payday Friday and traffic will be terrible. Getting to Greenmeadows from Guadalupe may take a while. On the other hand, if we book Lepanto, the guests will have trouble with parking and Makati one-way roads.

I did a survey with some friends, and most of them answered the same thing. True friends will go wherever it is we would like to have our venue, through hell and high waters. Thank you, guys! In the end, we decided on Greenmeadows Clubhouse.

It was a few weeks after the proposal and just a few days before I was due to fly to Manila. Jan mentioned during a phone call that he found a church he really liked to get married in. (*Jan thanks Ninang Carmela who gave the heads up.) He said he would take me there as soon as I get to Manila. I was unfamiliar with Nuestra Senora de Gracia in Guadalupe, even though for around seven years of my life the jeep I rode home frequently passed it by.

Finally, I got to Manila and he took me to the church. The moment the car turned the gate and I saw the facade, I immediately fell in love with it. It was simply beautiful. I loved how it seemed to bring you back in time. Never mind the cars parked, instead of the horse carriages. "Yes, I'd like to get married there!" I haven't even checked the inside. Hehe!

It was timing that we arrived there while a wedding was going on. We snuck inside and watched. The lighting was beautiful in the inside, perfect for dramatic pictures. Then I remembered to check the aisle. Perfect! Not too long. I dread walking a long aisle in heels. And just enough time for me to revel in the people, look at the groom and not want to run back to my mother (except she would already be there waiting by the aisle. hehe!)


We reserved the church right then and there. Jan and I both felt that it the place we wanted to have our ceremonies. Our reservation was timing, too! When we paid the weekend after our visit, the rates just increased! If we didn't reserve beforehand, we'd have been covered by the new rates. *Cringe*

It was only during our third visit that we realized it was a bit warm. So for those who will join us in the ceremonies, kindly bring fans. There are electric fans available, but it may still be a little uncomfortable.