Prelude:

When Bianca told me she needed help in planning her wedding, I gladly obliged, despite being a plane ride away. Whatever I could do, I tried to help. Fortunately and to our pleasant surprise, the church she chose had very limited slots and her chosen date was May 20 at 9am. I didn’t expect to be spending my birthday in Manila this year, but I was glad! It meant I would be spending it with the Jakarta famkada again, just like 2014 and a bit of last year.

We (Mom, Jana, me) left on the 18th, taking the last flight out by PAL. It was an early night for us because we wanted to avoid traffic, and we did. What I hated the most was that our flight was delayed by 2+ hours, so it was quite a bitch waiting in the airport. The only thing that consoled me was PAL planes are better, so it was a very comfortable trip. I joked to Jana that we spend more hours waiting in the airport than being on the flight itself.

It was such a great coincidence that the condo that Ate Checoi & Kuya Boboy kindly let us borrow for the weekend was just around the vicinity of the bridal hotel, the church, and the reception venue. This is the first time I’ve ever been in Quezon City and I was a little bit disoriented at first but it turned out alright. By the time we arrived QC, it was past 2am already. I fell asleep excited for the weekend’s festivities.

The Day Before the Wedding (Preparation & Bachelorette Sparty)

Friday was our planned “bachelorette” for Bianca. The ladies of the entourage—Abby the MOH, me, Noemi, Gia, Sally (Bianca’s close college friend), Carissa, and Patty—decided that we were going to plan a Sparty where we would do our nails, have foot and/or body massages, and just relax. Initially it was supposed to be in a salon within the area but I foresaw the day to be extremely hectic and crazy that I figured nobody would have time for logistics and going out of the hotel so Abby arranged the spa to come to us instead. Later on we would really be thankful of that arrangement. The sparty was set for 4 in the afternoon, after Abby accompanies Bianca to do her last minute fitting, and other bridal errands.

B Hotel in QC was Bianca’s choice so that’s where we booked a room prior to the wedding day for 4 of the girls too. In the morning, I met many of the Jakarta Titas during breakfast and then the Core girls for brunch. It was so good to see Noemi again after a year, Carissa, and although I have seen Patty and Gee for the past year, it was so good to be with the girls again–sans Bianca for the moment. After lunch, Carissa did some visa errands, and so did Gee and Patty in Novotel (where they were booked), so I went ahead and did an early check in and so did Noemi & Norvin and we spent the early afternoon just talking and catching up. Many stories to be had and many lazing arounds to be done. Always one of my favorite things to do with them.

Also I must note, for the whole duration of our stay and thereafter, B Hotel provided the best possible service. One of the best I have received, so to say. The staff were so nice, so courteous, so patient, and attended to our every need. I requested to change rooms THRICE during a one night stay, and they did not bat a single eyelash to it and to our other requests. Thank you very much for dealing with a bridesmaid-zilla!

To cut a long story short, the Sparty was a success, but the surprise wasn’t. It seemed like everybody arrived at the same time! I kept the sparty attendants in our room hoping that Bianca’s room would only be across ours and our surprise would be flawless, only to find out it was floors down below. So I had to bring the attendants to the right floor and lo and behold, we bumped into Bianca in the corridor towards the room after a failed stalling by the groom and me yelling, “Surprise???” in the hotel corridors while we were all on the way to the room. All of this while Abby the MOH was frantically blowing up the bride & groom balloons for the decorations. Thank goodness Sally brought enough cookies for everyone to satisfy our sugar rush!

After that everything went into place. We had our manicures and foot spas and pedicures and full body massages and head massages and everything was so good. I got to have some quality time with Bianca when we had our massage together. So happy we got to talk for a bit and catch up.

Time flew by so fast that afternoon and the next thing we knew it was nighttime and time to have dinner before we prepare for bed! Bianca was supposed to be asleep by 7pm because she had to be awake and prepare by 1am, but by 8-9pm we were still having dinner at the hotel restaurant. Pre bedtime preparations were done (like ironing our dresses–thanks Noemi for your expertise!!) and by 11pm we were all in bed. Bianca gets ready by 1am, and we had to start getting ready by 3am which we were wrong about.

Wedding Day

A little before 2am, Abby rang our doorbell because it was time to prepare. So early! I was glad I had a deep sleep despite the short time. Everyone was up and we had to call the Novotel girls Patty and Gee to come over to the hotel. By 6am we weren’t all ready yet–crazy right? Even though we all woke up so early we still underestimated the time it would take to glam up. The bridesmaids had a pre-shoot with the videographer and I hadn’t even done my hair yet so in that footage my hair is all messy and everything and it was just my makeup that was done. Haaaa.

We all went to the church a little before 8am for the 9am ceremony and after photos and greetings, we all walked down the aisle before the bride. My partner, one of the groomsmen and Chooch’s best friend told me right before we walked, “I still can’t believe this is happening!” and because it is summer in the Philippines we had already started sweating before the bride’s march. Also partly due to nervousness. The ceremony ended, and the entourage had a little photo shoot post-ceremony before we proceeded to the reception area. I had to give a speech that I was going to prepare the night before and totally failed because of all the busy-ness! What’s worse, I also went right after my partner who was such a natural in giving speeches. He delivered his so greatly and I couldn’t believe I went after him. I managed to create a small bullet point of what I was going to mention and even though that part (giving the speech) was such a blur to me, I’d like to think I did a good job because Bianca cried. I didn’t want to cry! So I didn’t look at her much.

Everyone had a good time during the reception and it was a chance for us to bond even though it was just for a short while and so many things were happening in between. I cried during Tito Ric’s speech (gaaaah T____T), and when the videographers showed their super well-made SDE (same day edit).. I burst into tears as well.

So there’s that. One of my best friends is now married and we were all there to witness it!