What we'll remember from our wedding day.

Internet has been wonky and the days have been incredibly busy post the wedding.  I haven't really sat down for supplier evaluations and I'm not really sure if I want to.  For now I'll just do a rundown of the moments that touched us during the wedding.  I'm sure I missed something.  There's just too many and it all went by in a blur (of tears, bliss and disbelief). 

Warning: super long post ahead!  Enjoy though!

How despite the 8am ceremony, the church was filled with our family and friends. Even to the point that some were already standing outside. We really didn't expect it. And we are deeply touched that people really made an effort to wake up Godforsakenly early to witness our wedding. Usually, only a handful would attend the ceremony with the rest waiting at the reception. We were so blessed that almost 95% were at the church. It was overwhelming. Really felt the love.

The ceremony being officiated by our great uncle, Rev. Msgr. Amador Foz. His homily was so inspiring. I was crying through like half of it. And it means so much that he was also the one who united my parents in marriage. Isn't that like, so cool.

My mom's labor of love - the katsa bag souvenirs she'd all sewn herself. She also bought the ribbon and wire accents from divisoria and rolled then tied them all beautifully. The bags were purely her idea that she began pitching months before the wedding. I had told her that it was totally out of my budget already. So she took it upon herself to get it done. Thanks mom, you're the best.

The dance with Daddy that sent me bawling like a baby. The original idea was to call both our parents after we started dancing, then do the switcheroos of partners. But Chips suggested that I should dance with just my dad instead. It was a change we made just the night before, and I'm going to be eternally thankful that it happened that way. See, my dad isn't the best dancer in the world (he's worse than someone who has two left feet, if there's such a thing) and he hates dancing in front of people. I hugged him. Twice. And the tears came down like a crazy tsunami. I think it's also the part that sent the whole ballroom in an outpouring of happy tears and sniffles.

My wedding gown - a genius of a creation by Niko Hernandez. He totally understood my traditional-slash-weirdo personality. And my need to be different without going overboard. The result is a gorgeous to the nth power wedding gown, comprised of two looks. A slightly conservative yet askew church look, and a somewhat avant-garde reception look which involved tearing off part of the lace and replacing it with our furry friend I aptly named Fred. All I could say is that Niko totally rocks.

The entourage's lovely dresses, by Kat Corpus. Despite all the little bumps along the way (alterations here, there, elsewhere), everything pulled through. The hues were lovely. Kat also understood the style and theme I had in my head. The fabrics she found totally matched the intent. And the designs were simple and yet so elegant. My entourage couldn't stop gushing about their dresses.

All the support from our family and friends. We couldn't believe that so many of our confirmed guests were, in fact, confirmed! People always say that 20% of "confirmed" guests would later on just not go. We're proud to say that at our reception, there were no empty tables. It's really surprising. Even our coordinator couldn't believe the turnout, especially since it was a holiday. We are so blessed! So many came to share in our joy. And they even stayed until the very end of the programme. Until the end of our thank you speech even. It's absolutely lovely. We can't thank everyone enough.

The fabulous food, suite and service at The Peninsula Manila. It's safe to say that everyone loved the food. Chips and I agreed that we wanted to have a sit-down meal, so as to avoid the bustle of people standing up and walking around for the buffet. If anyone is booking or looking to book The Peninsula for the reception, do get the salmon as the appetizer. It is absolute heaven. And I don't even eat fish much. You can also expect nothing less than luxury and special treatment when you stay there. If only I could stay there like, every day. How I wish.