Ruby Bayan, our ninang
Our principal sponsors at the wedding are awesome, wonderful people, who happen to be very good friends and close relatives of ours and our parents. But one truly awesome ninang is Ruby Bayan, mom of my best friend and our best man Dante Gagelonia.
Tita Ruby is based in Florida, and is a woman of many trades: she writes, does Web design, creates gorgeous jewelry, does her own carpentry and gardening, and is often sound engineer for her husband, Mike Llamas aka DJ Stoney Burke.
When we asked her to be ninang, Tita Ruby jumped onto the Star Wars bandwagon without hesitation. She scoured the Web for a costume she could wear to the wedding, and not only did she indeed wear a costume, but she made it herself too! And she modified a costume that was purchased for her husband. Check out her costume construction progress on Multiply.
Bridesmaid jewelry
In addition to the awesomeness of her costume, she also gave us a wonderful wedding gift: bridal jewelry for me, and jewelry sets for my bridesmaids and main and matron of honor! We gave these sets to the bridal entourage on the day of the wedding, and they all shrieked like teenage girls when they saw the beautiful, beautiful things. Check out the jewelry and the process of making them on Tita Ruby’s blog.
Tita Ruby, thank you for being an awesome ninang!
Tita Ruby, Dante's mom, was our ninang. She made the costumes that she and Mike are wearing.
May your helmets embolden you
to explore worlds beyond your wildest dreams
while your boots keep you firmly on the ground.
May your armors flaunt your battle scars
as the Force remains strong
within you and among your younglings.
Always.
Sure, we’re stressed, but it doesn’t feel like the end of the world, or like a deadline looming. It feels more like the rest of our life is about to begin, and we really can’t wait.
So what have we been up to? I’ve been trying to tie up loose ends at work so that everything’s okay when I go on leave. Oneal’s been doing the same, I think. Together, we’ve been delivering wedding invitations, getting RSVPs from the guests, and preparing for the despedida de soltera, which is happening this Friday.
Perhaps among the most exciting things we’ve been doing of late are the attire fittings, and the dance lessons. 
I can’t wait to see my finished dress and veil, and Oneal’s really excited about his barong. And last Sunday, we took our first dance lesson!
In the days to come, we’ll be meeting with our ninongs and ninangs, finishing off supplier payments, and pampering ourselves in time for the wedding.
I can’t wait till I’m married to my hunny bunny.
– rej
Typhoon Ondoy has sidetracked many people, and many plans. That weekend, we were supposed to have a family pictorial! Obviously, we had to cancel it.
Since that weekend, and through the other typhoons that have blown through the country, we’ve been busy with relief efforts here and there. Also, Oneal has a new job, and I have two new projects that keep me busy. So you can understand how our wedding planning got sidetracked.
Now we’re gathering our wits again, and going through all our wedding checklists to see what else needs doing. Fortunately, there’s not a lot left. All the major suppliers have been booked:
- Ceremony and reception venue – Fernwood Gardens, QC
- Caterer – Shangri-La Chinese Restaurant
- Florist for the church – 15-58 Flowers and Styles
- Florist for the entourage – Go4Flowers
- Photographer – Pat Mateo
- Videographer – 30fps
- Cake artist – Our friend, Reitch Calabia
- Couturier – Our friend, Jenny Rojales
- Rings maker
- Bridal jewelry – Our ninang, Ruby Bayan
So now, here’s what we need to do next:
- Book the hair and make-up artist
- Complete our wedding documents
- Draft and finalize the missalette
- Design and finalize the invitations
- Decide on the music for the ceremony
- Decide on the music for the reception
- Decide on the preps hotel
- Finalize the reception program
- Attend a pre-cana seminar
There’s more that needs to be done, but these are the most urgent. We’re working on some of them already:
- Some of the documents have been obtained while a few others need to be requested.
- We’ve canvassed 4 hotels in Quezon City already.
- I know which HMUA I want to get.
- Jovan is working on our invitations.
Some things need more work than others, obviously. But we’re getting there. Wish us luck! In the meantime, it’s my birthday on Saturday, and we’re flying to Bora for a much-needed vacation. Yay!
– rej
Our best men with Oneal at the Eraserheads reunion concert
These are the wonderful people who have agreed to play an important part on our big day:
Our Best Men
Paul Julius Martin Catiang – Our housemate, and my orgmate and friend from college, Paul is a little too enthusiastic about Monty Python. He’s also our C-3PO!
Dante Gagelonia – Our housemate, and my best friend from college, Dante loves many of the geek things we do, and it’s hard to pin down what he likes most.
Our Maid of Honor
Kat Magallona, MD
Kathleen Magallona, MD – My close friend and classmate since fourth grade, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Kat is also active in their church choir.
Our Matron of Honor
Joanna Marie Orena Cemine – My best friend from high school, and classmate since fifth grade, Anna is now married and has one son.
Our Secondary Sponsors
Our Candle Sponsors
Jovan, our Candle Sponsor
Jovan De Ocampo – My college orgmate and our awesome geek friend, Jovan is into Transformers and Harry Potter.
Julius Rivera – Oneal’s barkada since grade school, Physical Therapist and very physical. lives in romantic Sonoma valley and very romantic.
Our Veil Sponsors
Amaris Grace Cabason – My cousin on the mother’s side, Amaris is going to be a brilliant lawyer one day.
Orland Gregorio Axalan - Oneal’s buds since high school, athletic, one of the other big Star Wars fans in the barkada, has taught his son well about the Galaxy far far away.
Amaris, our Candle Sponsor
Our Cord Sponsors
Celeste Pampolina – Oneal’s cousin is based in the US, and can’t make it to the wedding. Representing her at the wedding will be Oneal’s neice, Danielle Luna.
Mario Madrid - Oneal’s barkada since grade school, the group’s accountant, recently married and soon to be a father.
Oneal's barkada, L-R: Odge, Martin, Mario, Caloy, Oneal, Julius, Nick and Iñaki
Our Groomsmen
Ronaldo Rosero, DDM – Oneal’s brother, and our dentist!
Nick Joseph Santiago - Oneal’s barkada since high school, Chef, restauranteur, matchmaker and asthma inducer.
Martin Luna, MD - Oneal’s barkada since grade school, married into the family, now emergency room doctor on speed dial.
Our Bridesmaids
Nina
Nina Lou Reyes – Awesome geek friend, Nina loves Star Trek and the Lord of the Rings most of all. also the Philippines’ resident Princess Leia.
Mary Ann Marchadesch – My friend from college, Mary Ann is a devoted Doctor Who fan.
Mary Ann Ortiz – Meann is the founder of Star Wars Philippines. She loves Harry Potter as well.
Our Flower Girls
Maxine Enriquez – Dexter’s daughter
Martina Llamas – Iñaki’s daughter
Mary Ann
Our Ring Bearer
Miguel Paca – Caloy’s son
Our Coin Bearer
Joey Torres – Oneal’s inaanak
Matron of honor Anna with our Bible bearer, Gabby
Our Bible Bearer
Gabriel Cemine – Anna’s son, and my inaanak
Thank you, everyone, for being part of our entourage! Soon we’ll post our Principal Sponsors.
– rej and oneal
I owe so, so, so much to Tita Peachy, my mom’s friend from college, for finding us our priest, Fr. Clod Bagabaldo. We met him last Tuesday, and the meeting went so well!
We met at Bizu in Greenhills at 8PM, since he said Mass at 7pm. He seemed a little lost as to why we needed a meeting in the first place. He said that for most couples he’s marrying, he doesn’t meet them till the wedding day itself.
So we explained that we wanted to get to know him, and for him to get to know us, so that we were all on the same page about the wedding. We wanted to know if there were any rites we were forgetting about. I also wanted to consult him on the matter of my confirmation certificate, and the bridal march.
Most important of all, we wanted to tell him we were having a Star Wars wedding, because we wanted him to understand how important Star Wars is to us. We wanted to show him pictures of the costumes the entourage were wearing, because we’d heard stories of other priests refusing to proceed because the bridesmaids wore strappy dresses, of the hemlines weren’t low enough, or some other objection. If Fr. Clod had any objections, we wanted to hear them early on, so we could address them.
Well, it turns out we needn’t have worried at all. 
Fr. Clod is very open-minded, and he says whatever we want is fine. All other things associated with weddings are just fluff, traditions that aren’t crucial to the marriage rite. If all we wanted to do was get married, the rites would only take 15 minutes! He even said that since everyone was there already, and we had prepared so long for the big day, then it was just as well that we have a full Mass and have the parents and the principal sponsors play a part in the ceremony.
We asked him about the entourage attire, and the bridal march, and he just waved our worries away, and said those aren’t really important. The bridal march isn’t part of the marriage rite, so why should he mess with that? When we showed him the pictures of the attire, he admired them and said they really were different, and that was that!
In short, I should have known that Tita Peachy knew me and Oneal well enough to recommend for us a priest who was not conservative. Tita Peachy, thank you so much!
And Fr. Clod, thank you for agreeing to officiate our wedding. God bless you indeed!
– rej
And for everyone else! Last week we finally hired our florist for the entourage. Go4Flowers is a business run by a former colleague of Oneal’s mom at PRC, and she offered to do our flowers.
As I said, I don’t know anything about flowers, and I’m not that picky. I only know what I don’t like.
Maybelle showed us many pictures, in her albums and on her laptop, and I found the flowers we like. Not only that, the whole entourage will have flowers! And for a good price too!
For the same price, other florists would have given us only a bridal bouquet, bridesmaids’ mini-bouquets, flower girls’ baskets, and not much else. But Maybelle is giving us not only all of those, but also wrist corsages for the secondary sponsors, flowers for the primary sponsors, a tossing bouquet, and I forget what else. And calla lillies for my bouquet! Pretty.
So, yay!
– rej
Last night Oneal and I brought my Maid of Honor and one of our Secondary Sponsors to the dress shop, so they could get measured for their dresses. My Maid of Honor, Kat, saw the pictures of my dress, and she shrieked! She and her boyfriend, Sonny, seemed pretty excited about the whole thing. She was asking how she should do her hair, and what everyone else would wear.
Jovan, our Candle Sponsor, was able to discuss with our couturier, Jenny Rojales, her suggestions and concerns for her dress. Jovan and Kat also got the contact info of the dress shop, so in case they want to go there on their own, for fittings or whatever, they cal call for appointments.
Tita Jenny showed me the type of lace they found in Divisoria, which they can use for my dress. She says she’ll go to Divisoria this week to buy it. Oh wow, it’s starting! I’m so excited. Everytime I see the pictures of my dress, my heart does a little somersault.
– rej
One of the first things you think of when you get invited to a wedding is, “What am I going to wear?” This is especially true of our own wedding. In response to the news that ours will be a Star Wars wedding, most people–especially the friends of our parents–say with a small note of worry (or is it panic?) in their voices, “Will we have to wear costumes too?”
Oneal’s answer has been, “If you’re going to wear a costume to our wedding, it must be screen-accurate! It must be 501st quality!” I tend to say, “Well, it would be nice, but you don’t have to!” with a sheepish grin. Let’s face it: Star Wars costumes are not cheap, nor are they easy to make. Imagine having to explain to your seamstress what tabards are!
If you aren’t up to the expense and stress of having a Star Wars costume made, that’s perfectly okay! Standard formal attire is completely acceptable: barong tagalog for men, dresses–cocktail, long, or otherwise formal–for the women. Our motif is white and gold, so I’m sure you can find something appropriate. But if you are planning to wear a Star Wars costume to our wedding, then YAY!
That said, here’s what you shouldn’t wear, because these costumes have been assigned/claimed:
- Sheltay Retrac, Bail Organa’s aide
This list will get longer as we get closer to The Day, so stay tuned!
Now that the holidays are over, we have a full year of wedding preps to look forward to. Securing the church and the reception venue were the biggest hurdles we had to jump, I think, and we’ve covered those. The ceremony will be held at the St. Francis of Assisi Chapel, and the reception will be at the Coral Tree Garden, both in Fernwood Gardens, QC. So now there’s the rest of the preps to think about!
Our next target is to find a caterer. Having selected Fernwood narrows down our choices, since we’re only allowed to choose from their accredited caterers. While it’s a little disappointing that it limits our choices, it’s also a relief because it limits our choices. We’ve tried a number of caterers (food reviews soon!), and only one of them is accredited at Fernwood. At least now we don’t have to search far and wide for our caterer!
Our criteria: We’re not that picky. We’d like the food to be yummy, of course, but we’re not looking for anything too specific. It would be nice if there were a good balance of meats and seafood, stuff kids will eat, and more importantly, vegetables and soup that Oneal will actually like. A chocolate fountain would be a very happy plus!
We’re also hoping that the caterer we hire can serve the food lauriat-style. We really don’t like buffets, because we want our guests to be seated and enjoying their food, not rushing to the buffet tables for fear of missing out on the good stuff. Besides, it’s awful to have to wait your turn at the buffet line!
Our other big step this month: we want to go to the dress shop! We already know exactly what I’m wearing, and we have a pretty good idea of what Oneal wants for his barong. We’ve also selected designs for the entourage. We’re going to ask our loyal costume maker, Jennevita, to make my dress and the entourage gowns. Should be fun!
Other updates: We’ve already asked some of the ninangs and ninongs, and about half of them are confirmed, yay! We’re also in the process of informing our friends that they’re in the entourage.
