a dem wedding atbp.

Hung-over from the blissful night of Leng’s wedding. Wow. There are just some words that could describe it – overwhelming, heartfelt, dembudly joyous, and serendipitous.

 

Put four of your lovely dembuds in a red dress and that’s what you get. Absolute fun and gorgeous photographs. It was like prom night relived. This time instead of awkward dates, we have the loves of their lives by our side, husbands, old flames and best friends.

 

There were so many reasons to celebrate. Let me tell you one by one, why I chose those four words.

 

Overwhelming. Yeah, the place was fantastic, the chapel was solemn and the ambience was set for romance and happiness. We came just in time. It rained a little. Maui said didn’t you notice, for every DEM wedding there was rain? In Boracay, morning before Rose’s wedding we were swimming at the beach til noon and it drizzled just before the ceremony. At Ais’s CDO celebration, it was raining throughout the mass. Of course at Hacienda the forces of nature did want to join at the reception to serenade Maui and King, and make the toasts more warm and intimate. It was raining yesterday the whole afternoon, then at 5pm when the show was about to start, all blue skies. Maui and I walked in our hot crimson outfits. Everybody sort of glanced and stared. We were wearing hot red to a wedding, everybody noticed. Little did they know that it was at the bride’s request. All dembuds should be in red. Ruby was a bridesmaid so she was all glammed-up and glowing in her long gown and 3 inch heels. Rose, the ever-ready, ever efficient friend/coordinator was wearing the Oscar worthy gown, so she easily blended with the entourage. Anyway, we walked in and sat and about 10 minutes later the ceremony started. The whole ensemble dressed elegantly, the ladies in evening gowns, the men in barong and in they walked the red carpet in pairs and marched down the aisle. How adorable were Leng’s little nieces in their white bubble gowns with red belts tossing red roses on the floor. Her little nephews bringing in the rings and the arrhae dutifully marching down the aisle like grown men on a mission. Suddenly, the big wooden doors were shut. Dramatic. It was like a seen from an Italian movie. The doors were antique and the setting was like Tuscany. Door opens wide and there she was the gorgeous bride with a smile most charming. Everybody sighed. She was a vision. Her gown was cut deep, and it hugged her frame, and draped like a goddess dress, veil to the floor. She smiled and walked ever so slowly, nodding along the way, carefully placing each step on the floor. Everyone lay silent. When she passed our way we saw the back part of her gown which was missing. Maui and I looked at each other and said, “Backless! Ang taray ng lola mo…hehehe”..and on she walked to the crying groom who couldn’t be any happier.

 

Highlights of the ceremony –the bride was soft-spoken and demure when she said her vows and Yes’s. The groom meanwhile couldn’t hide his eagerness and blurted each “Yes Father” like he was shouting it to the world. Hahaha. Leng called Sherwin, Sherwin. And Sherwin called Leng, Love.  At one point the priest made a slip and called Leng, Love. I went in to do my bit carrying the candle at the offertory. Lucky me that I had to place it up on the table at the altar so when I turned to go down I got to say hello to the beaming couple. The UP-PGH med choir provided great music, and their voices melted the crowd. Maid of honor, a Dr. Cinderella even did a solo middle of the mass. At some point we said to ourselves, hmmm, these doctors can sing. What else can we do? It felt like it wasn’t enough to be an engineer, or a pilot, we have to be good at something else too. In a not so usual fashion, the priest did not hurry onto “you may kiss the bride” even after all the rites. The couple was serenaded by a last song, and everybody kept saying to Sherwin “kiss mo na, kiss mo na” and he was asking and trying to lift Leng’s veil up and then the priest said later,later.. Finally the song was over and the magic words were said, and they kissed and everybody clapped. Pictorials went afterwards, and the funny thing is when our turn came and the lector said “D”,”E”, “M”, next is “D”, “E”, “M”..hahaha like we were acronyms of a sorority or a dance group. It seemed like the latter when all the girls moving closer to the altar were in red. We made a lovely photo. So now the guests understood that we were her barkada and we really made a conscious effort to be in red. For fabulous photos of course!!. Hahaha. Then they said “pisay friends”, and of course it was still us. The doctors Mutch and Raissa just went it and joined us. It was obvious that we were friends with the photographers, Mimi and Lem, because we had more shots that the other groups. Hmm..clearly an advantage. We always get to do both serious and wacky shots. We went out and I met my date for the night (hahaha, isiningit ko lang…pagbigyan na) who looked so pretty in a silver dress. She wasn’t able to join the pisay friends photo so we had a mini-pictorial outside the church while waiting for the couple to come out. And when they did, they were greeted by showers of rose petals at the door and shouts of hurrah from “D”, “E”, “M”..We walked the long romantic walk to the reception area, and checked what our table was. I said date because I was with Maui and King, Rose and Dax, so I needed to be with someone because Rubs was with the entourage (palusot, palusot, hehehe)..We walked in side by side to find out that our table, no. 17 was already full. Huh? I thought was it Leng’s intention to keep us in pairs, and mingle with the crowd? Apparently there was a mix-up and the usual Pinoy way of not following the rules, occupying a table that was nearest the buffet (hahaha, bakit nga ito ang nakareserve for DEM? Hahaha..halata)..We eventually found our “will-do table” but Rose and Dax had to sit with the other table. Good thing was we were nearer to the stage and the couple and we had prime seats. And so the talk began. Mau, am sorry for being in a bubble last night, there was a whole year of catching up. Our table number was called and we got our 2^nd pictorial with the bride and groom by the bridge. This time people really knew we were in with the photographers because we got about 10 shots, and we were really compressed, and wacky, and the photographers coaching us how to pose. Then we attacked the buffet tables. All the food was sumptuous. Tempura, lechon, beef, fish, chicken, pasta –everything tasted great. I had to declare my south beach diet be temporarily put on hold. To reset diet tomorrow, was my motto. And we ate until our dresses couldn’t take in anymore. Hahaha. We didn’t even leave room for desert. Then they had the speeches and AVPs. Highlight was a surprise AVP from the groom. It was like a business presentation – a short, quirky powerpoint file, script at hand as he was explaining from his point of view how he got to marrying Leng. Poetry, hundreds of anecdotes later, he ended with a song for the bride and he cried in the end. Ahhh, all the girls in the room sighed. I swear all the girls went to their partners, why don’t you sing for me like that? And every man there went home feeling a little less. It was heartfelt because Sherwin really, really loved our little darling Dembud Leng, and he couldn’t contain what he felt and we were so happy for them, basking in the sunshine of their happiness. I’m sorry I missed the bouquet toss, and ritual. My “date” had to go home so I had to accompany her outside. It was a great 3 hours spent and it felt weird inside me. I knew it was the little “happy” trying to stretch its arms and giving a yawn last night. It’s been hibernating a while now so it felt weird. I handed her over to boyfriend/driver who was waiting outside and I shook his hand, and kissed her goodbye and that was that.

 

Back to the program, I found out that it was our very own Dr. Raissa who got the bouquet. Given she had 25% chance catching it as there were 4 single girls left in the room because people already started to leave. DEM cheered her on for a little acrobatics and she got it.

Afterwards, all the people slowly left saying goodbye to the couple and “D”, “E”, “M”

took to the stage and had more photos, with or without the couple hahaha. We were mad about that SLR camera , we thought every single second had to be caught and preserved for countless recollection afterwards. We took the signature “back photo” with the backless bride, and later was left there with Leng’s family and we left and signed out.

 

DEM was still drunk with joy so we decided to spend the classic tambay session in Makati for a couple of hours more. I was taking the first 3am bus ride back to Subic so we had some 2hours to kill. All the starbucks in the vicinity of The Columns in Ayala were closed, given that it was already past 12 pm and it was a Sunday. We walked by the neared McDonald’s and ordered coffee there. Very funny indeed. We ordered 6 regular coffees, large fries and occupied one wing of Mcdo. It was like the aftermath of prom night. Everyone was still up and giggly and our voices grew louder with each funny story and hirits. It didn’t matter that we were  not drinking A-grade espresso, the company was what was important. Even if we drank only water and sat around, we still could never run out of stories to tell. Like I always said, it feels great being with people you never run out of storied for. We were celebrating many, many things on the side, aside from Leng and Sherwin’s wedding which could very well be the last grand thing we’ll attend for some serious length of time. They were kidding that I was next, but as you know it may take some time finding the one I will exchange vows with and being in a country where I could actually do that. Hahaha. So kind of a long wait for the next one, unless Francia and Rubs have something up their sleeves. Binyag na ang susunod, ika nga. Speaking of why it was dembudfully joyful:

 

#1 Our First Officer King has become Captain King and would be conquering domestic skies soon. We wanted to ride a PAL jet going to Kalibo on our next Boracay get-away. We requested him to say at the P.A. system, instead of the usual comment on the view and the weather, “ And to your left of the aisle at seat 11B, my gorgeous wife and “D” “E” “M” aboard the flight and smiling because they got the pilot to announce their names..”

 

Hahaha. King and Maui, thanks for the wings!! I’m sure Vince will be eternally thrilled as I am grateful”..

 

#2 Our Rose got promoted (six figures, six figures)..after grueling deliberations to the point of role-playing with the big man bosses of Shell, they finally promoted a woman. A kick-ass woman. Woohoo. Good job Rose! Well deserved!!

 

#3 Our Dax passed with flying colors on his first test for his jouney to becoming CFA. This guy really loves finance and he’s prime example that passion brings brilliance.

Right now we can get him to give us investment advice for free, just give him regular coffee at Mcdo. When he gets certified as CFA, it’s a whole new story..Maybe he’d want to order chickenjoy na for advice. Hahaha.

 

#4 Our Ruby got her eyebrows shaved!! Hahaha. Hindi makaligtas sa hirit. Hirit of the night, “o, bakit galit ka Rubs?, nakataas na naman ang kilay mo ala naman kaming ginagawa”, which we alternately threw at her every 20 minutes from 7pm to 2 am yesterday..Haha..In fairness, her hair was geisha-esque (mala Zhang Zhiyi), and ang ganda ng lola mo. Sabi nga ni Raissa, ang haba ng leeg, walking tall and proud ang beauty.

 

#5 Me? Well, hmmm..could we count the 12 lbs I lost pre-South Beach Diet (28 more to go..) and will be re-starting on it by tomorrow again.. I actually fit in a dress haha.. Anyway, I was happy last night aside from these many reasons to celebrate, I actually had a moment of clarity at 4am at nlex..Yeah, it was serendipitous indeed..and maybe I am brave enough to do something about it..Somebody said “ Be Happy, K! Make up your mind!”, and I appreciate all the subtleties and the not-so-subtleties in that line (smile,smile..wink,wink)…

 

#6 I have no right to say the biggest news of the night..It’s totally something that should come from our Maui..All I can say is..our family is growing….;-)

 

Ais, Peng, Francia and Maita, you were always with us in spirit as we kept talking about you and how we miss you too..

 

Cheers!!! Mabuhay ang “D”, “E”, “M”…!! I love you guys..

 

Thanks for a beautiful Jan 20, 2008..Here’s to more of these overwhelming, heartfelt, Dembudly joyous, and serendipitous nights..(toast! toast! clink! clink!)…