Why were there tears?
Well, maybe because of how our vows went :)

JOJO
MEC, please hold my hands, palms up, so you can see the gift that they are to you.

These are my hands, that hold yours on our wedding day, as I promise to love you all the days of my life.

These are the hands you will place with expectant joy against your stomach when God blesses us with a child, the same hands that will be so gentle when I hold our baby for the first time.

These are the hands that will work long hours to earn money for you and our family, and the hands that will care for and discipline our children.

These are the hands that will be nicked and bruised from fixing things around the house to make you more comfortable.

These are the hands that will caress your body through the years, and will countless times wipe tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief weigh on your mind.

These are the hands that will assure you of love and companionship, that someone is a witness to your life.

MEC
JOJO, please hold my hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you.

These are the hands of your best friend, that are holding yours on our wedding day, as I pledge my love and commitment to you all the days of my life.

These are the hands that will hold each of our children in tender love, soothing them through illness and hurt, supporting and encouraging them along the way, and letting them go when it’s time.

These are the hands that will massage tension from your neck and give you comfort when you are sick, and console you when you are grieving.

These are the hands that will hold you tight as we struggle through difficult times, the hands that will hold you in joy and excitement and hope, and passionately love you and cherish you through the years.

These are the hands that will give you support as I encourage you to pursue your dreams.

And these are the hands that will assure you of love and companionship, as I choose to be a witness to your life.

PRIEST
(to both) These are the hands that will enter the Sacrament of Matrimony. These four hands will be your armor and shield against the evils and temptations of the world.
These are the hands that will reach out, first to each other, then united, will spread your love and your sacrament to all they touch.

These are the hands that will ease your parents' loneliness as you leave the nest, will first teach your own children the marvels of married life, and will be a sign to friends and strangers alike as to just how wonderful married life can be.

Now, please join your right hands and declare your consent before God and the Church.

JOJO & MEC
(to each other) Baby, with the Lord God as our witness, I promise to love you in good times and in bad. With all that I have and all that I am, and so let’s pray.

Grant us O Lord, to be one heart and one soul. From this day forward for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

PRIEST
And I, by the authority of the Church, calling on all those present here as witnesses, confirm and bless the bond of the marriage which you have contracted. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

ALL
Amen.


We were both crying when we were reading our vows. And our friends and loved ones were crying because we were crying. :D

See... we originally wanted a handfasting ceremony. But I later decided that might be too pagan or Wiccan. And we wanted the handfasting ceremony not because we're into witchcraft, but because ever since we first started going out... Jojo's assurances to me in times of trouble has always been that he'd always be holding my hands.

And then there's also that fact that our hands contain a real lot of nerve endings, which is why God's hands are always depicted in paintings and what-nots... always implying that He holds us in His hands, where He's most sensitive.

And isn't marriage all about sensitivity... to each other's needs and desires and dreams and well-being? :)

So, since i've gotten mails about it... DO FEEL FREE TO USE THE VOWS IN YOUR OWN WEDDING. I plagiarized most of it (the witness thing was all mine, syempre, but that was inspired by Shall We Dance?) anyway, and just made it more concise. Just make sure your groom is willing to say a mouthful... and your Priest is ok with it. :)

Moving on to other things... for those who have the time, click HERE for more pictures :)

So far...

... Jojo and I haven't settled at a normal anything yet.

We are presently occupying the apartment house my parents used to rent out. That's one of their 'gifts' to us to help us save for our own future home, knowing we're just starting out.

But the days after our wedding saw us sleep in several different beds: the hotel room, our bed, Jojo's old bed at their house, a bed in Lipa at my parents' house there, the bed in Marinduque (where we had the first of our many honeymoons)...

Then Jojo had to leave me for 2 weeks.

(Funny aside: i've been anxious about sleeping with him full-time, because I've never been used to sharing a bed with someone else. Plus, he snores and I was scared he'd deprive me totally of sleep. But I found out he doesn't snore so badly, and when he does, a nudge usually takes care of things. I also found myself making SIKSIK him, wanting the feel and smell of him when I sleep. And when he was gone, I felt so alone in our queen-sized bed that I took to sleeping in my old bed again. But since he got back, it was just riding a bicycle and my sleep was untroubled again)

I planned to purchase little things needed for the house, racks and shelves and other space-saving and space-managing things... but all I ever got around to doing was organizing some of our clothes and freshening up the smell of the cabinets with Dove and Irish Spring soaps (Dove for my things, Irish Spring for his).

I also got sick... and my Baby asked that I really sleep at the other house so that if anything happens to me, there'd be someone around.

Then I had to go attend my SIL's wedding without Jojo, and it was weird sleeping over at his old bed without him. But I love that his family really treats me as family now, and I love that am getting to know them more and more. And it's kinda bittersweet to be the one telling tales about them to Jojo (when he got back).

And as usual, my Baby didn't forget to bring presents for my loved ones as well.

Anyway, there are a lot of things we have yet to do before we're really SETTLED... like:

1) Transfer my clothes from the other house to our home
2) Get shelves and drawers for Jojo's stuff
3) Replace the old linoleum downstairs
4) Purchase regulator for the gas tank so we can start using our stove
5) Replace the cable for the cable :D
6) Get a sofa set
7) Buy pots and pans (we only got one pan from all the wedding loot)

We also have to deal with updating our records and change-of-status/name... but the marriage contract isn't due to be available till the 28th.

We also have yet to submit our chosen pics for our wedding album :D And get what we could reimburse from PICC.

All in good time, I guess.

Jojo & Mec: the next chapter

(THE WEDDING KWENTO THAT WILL TAKE DAYS TO FINISH)

The day before the wedding, it rained!

And heavily.

And my Baby and I had several tiffs because we had a lot of errands to still do.

We checked in at Pearl Manila at 2:00 PM and separated soon after.

I found myself in a 2-bedroom suite all alone, no one fussing over me.

Worse, I had to buy snacks for the suppliers for the next day. So off I went to Rob Place. Got a massage first before grocery shopping.

Was basically alone till around 9 pm, when Rowie (my coord) came by to check on things.



My sis and cousin arrived at 9 pm too... with fresh pedis and manis... while I ruined mine walking the length of UN Avenue from dinner. (Thank heavens for hotels with toothbrushes)

My gown arrived at past midnight.

I was up till around 4 am. Not really anxious... actually, more depressed that nobody was fussing over me. I always thought you fuss over brides!

Left instructions to my sis (MOH) that I was not to be disturbed till 12 noon. And true enough, she and my cousin woke up very early to field calls... going about the suite as stealthily as prowlers at night. I didn't even hear them go out for breakfast...

Because I woke up at 7 am.

Then again at 8 am... only to hear my cellfone ring and have my panicky Dad scolding me about something trivial (like who's attending to our guests from Lipa?).

Then again at 10 am.

Then again at 12 Noon.

Ate lunch at 1:00 PM... delivery by my Baby who bought me noodles from Chowking... my sis and cousin found it adorable that he had his back turned when they opened the door... Jojo was adamant about not seeing my face before the ceremony.

ANGIE CRUZ arrived earlier than his 2 PM call time. I rushed to take a bath then. One by one, suppliers started arriving (coords, florist, photo/video team) and members of the entou started lining up to be made up.




We were all relaxed.


My bridal ekek

After the usual photo ops (nobody really rushed, we're all just some 3 minutes away from the Church anyway) and the uneventful car ride to Paco Park... the first person I saw was Jojo himself... his back turned to me and talking on the phone.

Since there was a wedding before ours (hello, Portia!), I had to sit and wait in the car... chagrined a little as I saw members of the entourage of the wedding after mine, already there.

Anyway... I wasn't nervous at all... I was even filled with a sense of melancholy to have arrived at the culmination of months and months of preps.

And then TET comes to me to tell me I could already get out of the Benz... and I see the set-up for the Golden Wedding, and walk past the guests to take my place where I shall begin my march.



My wedding was beautiful... so beautiful that a lot of tears fell from those who truly love us... (my MIL cried the whole morning, the whole ceremony!)







And FR. ED COROZA was delightful with his homily, stressing how important it is, that we chose to be witnesses of each other's lives as God was witness to our union.

(However, being mildly claustrophobic... I felt SICK and DIZZY at half-time, ahehe, bothered by the veils and the cord)

Well, yeah... one of our bearers didn't really like marching down that aisle... he never smiled the whole time. But Py wasn't pasaway (although we suspect, it became traumatic for him to see people close to him crying... like my sis and cousin, and his beloved Ninong... which is why, after 'un-liking' us for 2 days, complete with 'palayas ekek', he approached me and said, "Tita Mec, wag mo na paiyak Ninong ha?") and he looked so cute in his orange barong :)

Yumi (one of the flower girls) would give big smiles to everyone who said she was such a pretty girl. :)

And yes, my sis reminded people of Say from PBB... because of the hair-do. The hairpiece she used was originally meant for me, sent by Jojo's cousin from the US.

Basta, the wedding was solemn and very personal. And we really didn't think that 90% of our invited guests would actually go to the CHURCH, considering it was a working day. WE assumed only the closest family and friends will be there... and the rest would be at the reception waiting for us. I guess, in the end, everybody who showed up was CLOSE to us and LOVED us enough to take leaves and go undertime.

And yes, feel na feel namin our vows. Even Rowie (the coord) cried! Even Jojo's neighbors! Even my colleagues! (My Mom didn't cry, so conscious of the cameras... hmmpf! She cried New Year's Eve instead because she missed me that time since i spent it with Jojo's family instead).

Again, we had a very beautiful wedding.


Being this happy made us criminals, I swear!

Reception started with us and a torch parade. Food was abundant (and great too!) and booze was flowing!



But tears flowed again when my FIL gave his speech... telling everyone present that a thousand of his son, Jojo, can never replace ME, which is why my beloved has to forever honor and respect ME!


Our first dance was lovely... Austin of Bernie Pasamba tried his best to perform Mig Ayesa's version of BABY, I LOVE YOUR WAY :)

We had to cut the program short (leaving out the Anniversary dance which we hoped would celebrate married couples present) because the longest-married ones were starting to leave, it being a weeknight!

And of course, pa-cute lang the single men, nobody really attempted to catch the garter!





There was no bouquet toss... for the twist we planned for the evening was, to let the catcher of the garter PICK a woman he wants to honor, as most beloved to him, or most beautiful for him.

In the end, it was our Best Man who picked the garter off the ground... we gave him my bouquet to 'award'. He chose his ex (who was there with her family).

WE didn't really have other games nor planned other activities because we knew it was a weeknight.

My Mom and Jojo's Dad, my SIL and cousin... they had a field day over the videoke part of the night. Even DULCE, my emcee, sang before leaving the party.

We forgot to give the cakes to our PS, hehe... and photographers found my sis and cousin barefoot and running around the place... and Jojo's colleagues and La Salle friends stayed and tried to finish the kegs of beer... and of course, we were tired (hungry too!).



Back at the hotel, Jojo and I were delighted that there were ensaymadas for us to eat. And milk to drink.

I ended my wedding day with a shower.

And well... :)

(have to end here muna)