Wednesday, March 03, 2010

My Big Fat Pinoy Wedding

Foreword: I’m not sharing this anecdote to “show case” my wedding but to illustrate how impractical a church wedding now a days – BlogusVox

I tied the knot on the year the 20th century formally ended. But since I’m stationed abroad, my contribution with respect to its preparation wasn’t much, apart from supplying the finances needed for the occasion. My fiancée, her cousins, my sister and my Mom did all the groundwork. Her “traje de boda” and my barong were done by Leonardo’s, in which I paid a 5 figure amount at mura na daw yun. The couturier, who happens to be my cousin, told us it’s discounted, since I only paid for the material and labor. And that does not include what I paid for the “costumes” of our entourage. Other paraphernalia like flowers were airfreight from Baguio, and those tiny glass figure they gave away were bought in Manila including the printing of invitations with an RSVP embossed on it.

It may sound “classy”, but I particularly find the “RSVP” part silly. Literally, its French for “Respond if you please” or “tell-me-if-your-coming-because-the-caterer-charges-per-head” in plain English. You see, although we rented an “uppity” place for our dinner and social function, my family brought in the food and drinks. The main course was commissioned from a hotel chef while the rest was done by our local, but superb, cooks. So there’s no need on “counting heads”. We just have to make sure there’s plenty of tables and chairs. Officially, we have 300 guests, supposed to be a hundred and fifty persons from each side of the family plus a couple of dozen “extras”. Where I came from, if you invite “Mr. & Mrs. so and so”, expect the whole family (except the pets) to attend.

The photo studio who formally documented our wedding is another thing. The owner, a class-A smoocher, fawned on my fiancée like she’s royalty. Giving us a package deal worth another 5 figure that includes a wedding album and a full-length video that starts the moment she steps out of the shower and ends until I carry her to the bedroom and close the door. They even throw-in the photo album as a gift, and because of that, I’m so much “grateful”. But my fiancée was a little bit sore when she found out of my refusal to partake on their “dressing up” scene. They made do by taking pictures of my wardrobe, from my barong down to my shoes. It was well documented, except for my underwear which I’m already wearing at that time.

I’m not going into details on what happened before and, especially, what take place after the wedding. What I’m going to tell you are the events surrounding the church activities that really got my goat. But since this post is a little bit long, I’ll continue my story on my next post. Bitin ba?.

27 comments:

  1. HUWAW! as in huwaw kuya!
    hehehe
    that was quite a wedding..
    pero diba nga sabi naman nila... ayos na ayos lang na magkaron ng ganyan kabongga na wedding.. minsan ka lang ikakasal sa buong buhay mo.. you should give it your best kung kaya naman.. lalo na sa mga babae...

    bitin nga.. pwede po bang bukas na agad ung next post? hehehe

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  2. you had a very opulent wedding. That must've been every woman's dream and you were so lucky you had made her realize her dream.

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  3. Yanah, hintay ka lang ng konti, ha. Marami kasi akong trabaho ngayon. : )

    Ka Rolly, more like she's lucky for realizing her dream and I got to shoulder all the expenses. : (

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  4. Yes this is so bitin, otherwise I agree with the initial remarks, the expensive barong, the costly invitation cards, the locally imported flowers and reception arrangements - this was definitely one of the lavish wedding arrangement that the bride normally dreams of, I can't wait to read the next series of this post.

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  5. Hay naku ok lng po yan worth the price nman after di ba?

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  6. Pope, sa palagay ko hindi pahuhuli ang kasal nyo.

    YellowBells, alam mo hija, may pagka-sutil ka. : )

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  7. Bitin nga!

    Minsan lang naman daw tayo ikakasal kaya sa tingin ko ayos lang ang mga nagastos niyo. Pero sige, sa next post tiyak nandu'n ang 'cream' nitong post. Aabangan ko 'yon.

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  8. Love this post, Ed.

    Pricey but precious naman sya d ba?

    I can't wait to read the continuation of this post.

    Maswerte ka pa rin because you didn't go through the tension of wedding preparations. Masakit sa ulo un. Ask missus and she'll tell you.

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  9. hmmmp binitin pa kami hehehe, wow bongga pala ang kasal mo! nainggit tuloy ako hehehe parang gusto ko uling magpakasal as in renewal of vow syempre same husband no hehehe, by the way happy anniversary!! (teka kelan ka ba kinasal?? hahaha)

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  10. bitin nga. sana happy ending pa rin.

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  11. Naku, sobrang mahal nga ngayon magpakasal. Sa bridal gown pa lang 6 digits na. Okay pag maraming contacts na photo/videographer + florist, medyo makakatipid ng konti. Hahaha.

    Looking forward to the continuation of this post. =)

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  12. We just had a plain and simple wedding, my sister even called it a pauper's wedding event, no guests invited and no reception took place, nobody knows that we were even married.

    Our marriage took place in our local Catholic Church, me and my wife together with the officiating priest (my best friend priest), my Kumpare stands as my Ninong and my sister as my Ninang. It was ironic, but it was our decision to keep it as secret and practicable as possible as we value money so much during that time. But we have our honeymoon in Baguio, a friend of mine has offered us his house for a week stay.

    If me and my wife were given a chance to afford a grand wedding, we could have planned it, but we were not given that chance. This July we'll be celebrating our 20th year of happy marriage, blessed with 2 wonderful kids plus a daughter in-law and 2 grand children in addition to my growing family.

    If God permits us to live long enough, plano namin "ulit" magpakasal as a renewal of vow on 2015 - our 25th wedding anniversary, and I'll send you an invitation.

    God bless you.

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  13. my wedding with lolo is the most "tipid" kasi ako ang nag decide na ganun lang.

    400pesos barong tagalog in baclaran
    150 pesos tshirt inside
    2500pesos satin long dress RTW Baclaran
    sapatos namin luma, make up ko ako lang
    then photographer namin friend ko, 2.5megapixel na cannon ixus video/camera, lol
    wedding reception for 12 persons;cost 6,000pesos
    kamay kainan dads saisaki, eat all you can, hahahaha.

    then nag hotel lang kami sa makati, nag honeymoon sa subic at bagiou.

    Not many relatives,not many guest.

    I believe the wedding is for both of us, blessed by God.
    We married in Quezon City hall.

    Who can beat that, lalo na naturingan French ang asawa, haha.
    5years na si Lolo nyo married sa akin.
    5 years of long suffering.

    Abangan ko ang next entry mo.
    Im sure, "long suffering" din lol

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  14. Sp bitin naman the story, ok, wait ako sa susunod na kabanata.

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  15. RJ, aayosin ko and draft this weekend para maihabol next week.

    Nebz, naku pasalamat sila't sila lang ang nagde-decision. Kung nandoon lang ako, maraming pagbabago.

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  16. Sardz, thank you, pero sa july pa!

    donG, sorry kung bitin at sorry pa rin, kasi rant ko ito.

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  17. Ms.Jo, sa palagay ko, when its your turn, hindi lang ganito. : )

    Pope, if only my wife is as understanding as yours, I would also like a much simplier wedding (pero hindi naman katulad ng sayo). One thing I'm glad, we're both wed on the same month.

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  18. Francesca, mukhang minadali ang kasal nyo ah. Minadali habang "hilo" pa sayo si lolo (jok jok jok)! >: D

    sheng, chuureeee!

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  19. well deserved wedding for you and your darling bro. I'm sure she was thrilled . women love these celebrations ! As for the expenses, one time lang naman - kaya okay lang hehe :)

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  20. Mas mabuti na yung sakit ng bulsa kesa sa sakit ng ulo sa pag-aasikaso, hindi ba? In the years to come, whenever you open your wallet, you will see the picture of your wife and children where you money used to be LOL. Just kidding.

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  22. Siguro depende talaga sa life style ng magpapakasal. As for us tight ang budget. kaya kung ano na lang ang mapagksyahan tat time.

    Minsan tuloy nakakalungkot makita ang mga couples with smörgåsbord wedding, after few years mababalitaan mo wala na sila. ten years ago a friend had there wedding which cost his family 200k.

    what matter most, kahit simple basta long and lasting relationship.

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  23. I've always been a firm believer of spending within one's means. I am happy that my husband and I were the ones who shouldered the "big ticket" items of our wedding 12 years ago. Apart from not burdening our parents or other family members, it certainly made us feel good that we seemed to be starting off our life together on the right foot - that is, being responsible enough to fend for ourselves without resorting to borrowing money just to be able to show that we had a grand wedding. Also, I agree that what matters more really is the life after the wedding ceremony.

    Pwede namang magsaya nang hindi mababaon sa utang. Di kailangang bongga ang kasalan. Mas importante ang basbas ng Diyos sa pagsasama kaysa sa magarbong party para sa mga kamag-anak at kaibigan. Kung kaya, okay lang... pero kung hindi, huwag ipilit.

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  24. blogusvox, uu, minadali ko na, baka bago isip ni Michel,higpit ng competition, pag tumagal siya sa Pinas, dami ganda pinay sa manila, haha. what if masulot si Lolo sa akin, haha.
    Bah , my interests first before others noh!

    Seriously, kaya niya minamadali, NIYA ha, kasi one year process total bago maayus ang mga kapapelan bago payag ang french embassy na maikasal kami, then aalis na siya to France soon, layo kaya, 8000miles, mahal pa ticket, 3X siya flight to phils in a year,sa kaek ekang papeles na yan, so wala na kuarta,wala na time.
    haha, tapos bili pa ticket ko to France.40 days after the marriage, lipad na ako to join him!

    Kaya sabi ko, sa judge na lang, 3000pesos 15minutes ceremony, kain sa resto, in one hour tapos na!

    so ayun, no stress!!!!

    In five years namin, everyday naman nasa honeymoon kami kasi panay gala all over europe or Pinas.
    But I wish I have your wedding too, with all those beautiful bride's maids and girls and abays and ninangs ang ninongs, then ako ang pinaka importante sa lahat, ako bride eh.

    But, basta kasama ko Lolo, okey na ako.

    Pero minsan nag rereklamo na si Lolo, sana daw kesa pakasalan ako, binili na lang niya ng Mercedes car ang pera niya, hahaha.
    Batukan ko nga!

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  25. bw, thanks. Friend talaga kita. That's what friends do, console one another. : )

    bertN, that's one consolation. You got memories to return to.

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  26. LifeMoto, yes, I've seen weddings like that. Uutangin magkaroon lang ng bonggang kasal. Pagkatapos, habang buhay na sakripisyo dahil nag-uumpisa palang, lubog na sa utang.

    Pinky, my principle exactly. I made it a point na hindi na umasa sa magulang after my graduation from college.

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  27. Francesca, ang mahalaga nagsasama kayo ng matiwasay. Oy, nabalitaan ko, French citizen ka na pala ngayon. Kongrats!

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