Our Wedding Kuento Part I

A recount a few days before the wedding, from the bride’s point of view We’re finally married!!! For a little intro… We became “us” in 1997. Jasper proposed Christmas of 2000 and we pegged our first wedding date for October 2001.Why the first? Well, God had other plans for us I guess. The first time I told my mom about our wedding, she requested that we wait a little longer as she felt we were not ready for that next step yet. So we moved our wedding to May of 2002. March of 2002, Jasper’s cousin Ceasar Cromwell Belen +, died in a tragic car accident, so in respect to the family, we decided to move the date again to September of 2003. Unfortunately, 2002 was not a good year as Jasper’s Dad and his brother both underwent operations respectively. So we again moved the date to December of 2004 to allow us to prepare for the wedding both emotionally and financially. It wasn’t easy and we were both very frustrated reaching a point where we were both thinking “maybe we were not meant to get married” as there were a lot of things happening to postpone our planned wedding. But I guess God was truly wise as this was his way of preparing us for our upcoming marriage. We delved into the preparations at the start of 2003. We reserved the church February of 2003. Then we were approved for membership at W@W and seriously canvassed and reserved for suppliers March 2003. During this time we had a lot of fun and learned lots of stuff with the help of W@W. We met a lot of suppliers, W@Wies and most of them became our lifelong friends. We participated in a lot of W@W activities and doing so made our preparations fun! And like they say, time flies when you’re having fun, now the long wait is over, we’re finally married! 5 DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING December 13, 2004 My Supervisor: “Nyree I’m sorry but your leave for December 16 and 17 was denied as you don’t have any leave credits yet.” Me: Whaaaattt?!! So let me get this clear, you want me to walk out of this office on December 18 (which is my wedding day) at 8:00 AM (which was when my shift ends) and go straight to the hotel, have my hair done, make up and all , and then go straight to the church and walk down that aisle?!!! Is this company crazy or what?! My Supervisor: I’m really sorry but I couldn’t do anything about ir. Me: Okay, okay, I really don’t have any energy to fight over this right now, and warnings and suspensions are the last thing I want to think of, but just let me take a leave off work on the 17th, at least let me sleep peacefully the night before. Give me any memos, suspensions and warnings that you want I really don’t care anymore. (then I turn my back on her, muttering curses under my breath, wishing I could torch down that wretched call center) December 16, 2004

4:00 PM Gowns were delivered yay! I was talking to our day coordinator, Raquel Ocampo of Bridester for the details on the wedding day. We finished talking at about 6 PM yikes! Still had shift at 11PM and I haven’t slept yet waah! But I had to take a look at my gown before I slept, so I took a peek and was very awed at how Farley made the simple gown design I gave him into an elegant gown. I soo love my gown but I have to sleep now. DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING

December 17, 2004 2:00 AM – Middle of my Shift I was soo sleepy and was trying so hard not to fall asleep on my console. During my first 15 minute break, I approached my supervisor if I could do a half day shift and go home as I wanted to get some rest, at least, before I plunge into the busy atmosphere later. But, as usual, that @#$!*&! Call center did not allow me to. So I was sniffling all through my calls, with tears falling from my eyes. I so want to get some rest already… 8:00 AM –End of Shift From our office in Makati, went straight to Jasper’s house and checked all the items inside the boxes that were to be brought to Century Imperial Palace Suites and Batis Asul. After checking the items, had breakfast with Jasper and went to Batis Asul to deliver the items for the reception. When we arrived there, we were awestruck! The staff from Balay Kandila were already setting up the place for our wedding and it was so so elegant! More than we expected! Also the “sala” area was transformed into a cozy one with Christmas tree and the colors matched our motif! This was done by no other than Ate Joy, the wife of Kuya Jun of Batis Asul. We were soo excited already and after some chit chat with Kuya Jun, we left Batis Asul and went back to the house. We were pondering where I was to get a body form. Farley Castro (the one who did my gown) said he could lend me one but I had to fetch it from his home-shop in Malabon. I didn’t have any time to go there anymore. Besides, I was really tired coming from shift and all so I called Farley again and asked if he could get anyone to deliver the body form at the hotel. Being the very nice person that he is ( He truly is promise! Read more on our suppliers ratings) he agreed but said that the body form will be delivered at 6 pm pa daw. I said okay that’s no problem and said my thanks. Another task done. 1:00 PM “Where the hell is the receipt from Century Imperial?!?!” I was looking all over for it but can’t seem to find it. I requested an early check in at 12NN and yet I am still here. Grumble! Grumble! Finally, at 1:30PM we decided to go straight to the hotel and see what the hotel staff could do. Jasper and I arrived at Century Imperial 15 minutes later and was ushered to our room in as little as 5 minutes! The staff of Century Imperial were very pleasant and did not give us a hard time. Jasper helped me fix things up there and stayed while I took a rest. He stayed until my parents arrived at around 8 PM. Oh and the body form arrived exactly at 6 PM. =) My mom and my youngest (and only) sister stayed with me and slept at the hotel while my Dad went home cause no one was left at our house. We had a great time bonding with each other. My sister placed my gown on the body form and we were silent as we looked at it. It was my last night as a “Ms.” Finally, around 10PM we all went to bed. Next “Our Wedding Kuento Part II” D-Day!!