More video from the Flip Camera:

Introduction of the Parents and the entrance of the first big surprise of the night: the 501st Legion

and of course, the Newlyweds

Share

More Video from the Flip Camera

Introduction of the Principal Sponsors during the start of the Reception:

Share

More videos from the Flip Camera.

this was the Wedding Entourage entrance, complete with Lightsabers

Share

Just discovered these videos posted by Oneal’s brother, Ron. Here are Oneal and his parents waiting for the processional to start. This video and the ones I’ll post next were taken with a Flip camera.

Share

We have the wedding photos! Thanks, Pat Mateo! They’re awesome. We’ll post them as soon as we can! We got 3 cds, with a total of about 8GB of photos.

Share

Me and Oneal with my family - rej

This is a draft of the speech given by Marian Martin Layug, mother of the bride.

–

This day is a day full of gratitude. I thank the good Lord for bringing together Rej and Oneal and binding them in the holy bonds of matrimony. I thank you all for being here to witness this blessed event. You are here because every single one of you is either a family or close friend. You are here because you know and love them both. Your presence here is a blessing too.

Because Rej’s father, Fer, has passed on, I will speak for both of us. (minute of silence?). I thank our daughter Rej, whom we call Genine or Be, for being such a joy and a treasure from the day she was born to us. Speaking as a mother, in the midst of this cloud of happiness lies a twinge of pain. Our children are with us for only a brief moment in our lives. Today, we the parents of Oneal and Rej realize that they no longer to belong to us, because now they belong to each other.

My husband and I always knew that someday we would have to let our precious daughter go. On Rej’s bulletin board at home, is a birthday card that her dad sent her in 2001 when Rej turned 20. He wrote, “You are now a young lady but you are still my Be and you will always be for the rest of my life. All I want is for you to be happy.” Today, I believe that Fer’s wish has come true. Rej is truly happy now that Oneal and she are man and wife.

I thank Oneal for promising to be her companion in life from this day onward. I also thank my new balaes, Baby and Boy Rosero, for raising a fine son like Oneal whom they can be proud of.

Parents are like the character actors. Once we parents have delivered our piece, we leave the stage to our children. The last time we parents were the stars was in November 2008 when Oneal and Rej told us that they had decided to get married. I shall never forget something that Boy, Oneal’s father, said on that night. He said, “We waited 36 years to have a daughter.”

To me as a mother, it was very sweet to know that Oneal’s parents accept Rej, not just as a daughter-in-law, but as a daughter. I know that Rej is marrying a good man and into a good family. I also know that Rej’s Dad accepted Oneal as the man whom Rej loves. Before Fer passed away, he asked Oneal to take care of his daughter, of his Be, and I believe he is very happy that Oneal is fulfilling that promise today.

To me, that Rej and Oneal found each other is in itself a miracle. Sometimes I look at them and I say WHAT IF? What if we had never returned to the Philipines and remained an OFW family forever. What if Rej and Oneal had never been such keen Star Wars fans and never joined the New Worlds Alliance? But Thank Goodness their destiny was written in the stars, or more specifically, in the Star Wars, and they did find each other. That is a miracle.

This wedding is a demonstration of the miracle of love, of the love between Rej and Oneal. The miracle of love is that it can bring together two such different people and make them one. We are touched and awed by this miracle. It is awesome, it is divine, it is breathtaking. And we who love them the most pray that the love between Rej and Oneal will grow ever deeper and ever stronger through the years.

Share

Now that the wedding is done, photos of the amazing event have been flooding cyberspace. Check out the photos from Oneal’s camera, taken by the Managing Editor of Playboy Philippines, Misha Lecaros:

Ceremony
Pictorials
Reception
Cake and Cupcakes

Share

As I write this, Oneal is at Big Sky Mind for his bachelor party with the geek guys, and I’m at home with the cats and the laundry. Eight days to go till the big day, and my bridal shower is on Monday. (If you want details, please ask Jovan or Shey. I know nothing.)

I’m so excited that my nerves are in a frenzy. This past week we’ve been pretty relaxed, but now I’m listening to my bridal march song,  and I’m so psyched that just listening to the song brings tears to my eyes. (Check out my epiphany about it from months ago.) Ted of Manila String Machine says they’ve been rehearsing the music they requested, and I can’t wait to hear their renditions of the Star Wars themes we love so much.

In other news, we want our guests to know that we’ll be setting up a wifi router at the reception. We have friends and relatives who won’t be able to make it to the wedding, for various reasons: work, travel, etc. Also, as much as we’d like to, we really can’t invite all our friends. But we’d like them to still be part of the wedding, even if only through virtual means.

So we’d like to ask those of you with wifi-capable mobile/smart phones to post live updates during the wedding. I’m not sure if the router will be on during the ceremony (I doubt it), but it definitely will be during the reception! If you can post photos through your phones, even better! Post them on Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, even Plurk! This is the only way we can share our wedding with the rest of the world, as it happens.

Ron will be in charge of the wifi connection, so all guests who wish to connect to the Intarwebs can ask him for the password and other connection details during the wedding. Ron will also try to broadcast the wedding live via video streaming; if you know how to do this, input would be welcome! Send suggestions and questions to rej (dot) oneal (dot) 2010 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Yeah, yeah, we’re really geeks, we want to broadcast our wedding online. But hey, we’re not as bad as the couple that was Tweeting DURING THEIR OWN WEDDING CEREMONY. That was ridiculous.

Share

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

Share

Donation to the GMA Kapuso Foundation, September 2008, SM Marikina

As you may have noticed, we update the wedsite sporadically, but when we do, we post a lot of stuff! I usually write the long entries, and Oneal fiddles around with the code.

This time, we’ve added links to the websites of our suppliers, removed some clutter, and changed a few settings. Please feel free to leave a comment or two (or more)!

Also, please check out our other pages, as we’ve posted some updates:

• The 501st Legion
• Punkin
• Hunny Bunny
• Ceremony
• Reception
• Charity

– rej

Share