February 24, 1996. Mike took the plunge that would change his life forever. :P

It's been ten years! Here then are ten interesting trivia about our wedding:

1) There was a wedding because someone made this very uncharacteristic, unromantic marriage proposal:

(Flashback to September 1995 in Moalboal, Cebu. We just had dinner by the beach with some of Mike's friends. I was seated beside Mike, we sat across his friend, Ebet. )

Mike (to Ebet) : Pre, kilala mo ba yung Mayor ng Cebu? Close ba kayo?
Ebet : Hmm... medyo. Bakit, pare?
Mike: Eh kasi, gusto na naming magpakasal nito eh (elbowing me as he said that).
Ebet takes a sip from his beer bottle and smiles. End of out-of-this-world marriage proposal. :)

2) We had wanted the reception to be at Baluarte de San Diego (in Intramuros) but a rock concert beat us to the date. It would have been a dreamy, outdoor reception...

3) We made our own invitations, doing them on Powerpoint and printing them on special boards I myself cut!

4) A great number of the wedding souvenirs was made with tender loving care by the manager and staff of the CoEd Dept. of the Philippine Science Centrum, during office hours. :P

5) My gown is by Tammi Candelaria, closest friend of Fanny Serrano. (Why am I sharing this? Wala lang. Trivia nga e!)

6) The person who was responsible for bringing Mike and I together in the first place--Melody de Leon (Mike's teammate at work who was also my blockmate in Freshman year in UP, who later, on a chance encounter in PhAn, urged me to apply with the Philippine Science Centrum) doesn't even know what she brought about. :)

7) Of the 120 or so guests, only 4 were from Mike's immediate family (my parents-in-law; Kuya Joseph who was the Best Man; and a cousin, who happened to be in Manila) and about 20 from his circle of friends. (His siblings, totaling 12, were all in North Cotabato at that time and my parents-in-law shook their heads at the fortune it would cost us to fly the whole family in for the wedding.)

8) We were married by showbiz-zy reverend Msgr. Nico Bautista, who, unknown to all, was giving smart-alecky remarks throughout the ceremony. When we drank the wine, for instance, he told Mike, "Ubusin mo na." When Mike did, he said, "Tomador ka pala."

9) One of our ninongs, then Commodore (now Ret. Admiral) Eduardo Ma. Santos is also my brother Ryan's ninong sa binyag, and who later also became his ninong sa kasal. He says we must really trust him so much. :P

...and lastly:

10) The lady who did my hair and makeup is the mom of one of my exes! (Buti hindi ako pinapangit!)