You Make Mary- Go- Round

“God is the author of our love story. You are my happy ending and new beginning. I remember the first pot-it you gave, “Love bears all things, believes all things, endures all things. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:7)” You are my best friend, my joker, my king, my partner - You make Mary-go-round. I am excited to build a future with you, with love that is overflowing, love without measure, love that continues to grow. I will be a WIP Wife in progress. I Love You.” - Mary’s vow to Brian

Our story started when Brian reached out to me through instagram asking about our business connections. Ironically, our companies were already partners way back. He is the bubbly type and I’m the more serious one. He stays in the north while I am from the south. He would go to me almost everyday and he was quite surprised how I love wine. We dated for 2 years when he proposed to me in Kyoto. The wedding planning was easy at the start, we initially planned to celebrate in Nuvali but because of the volcanic eruption and typhoon, we decided to do it in Manila instead. We also attended various wedding expo’s and we are very lucky to get the suppliers we want. My husband is an avid fan of history and we both appreciate the classic era - from fashion to ways of doing things. So, we finally decided to have the ceremony in Manila Cathedral and the reception in Champagne room, Manila Hotel.

Having a wedding during the pandemic is very challenging. We had our plan A, B, C from 300 guests down to 150 down to 80 or 50. We are very lucky to push through with 80 guests and feel so loved and blessed because we still got to celebrate with our loved ones. Our wedding theme is ‘wine and champagne’, we are both very hands on in the planning and did a lot of DIY designs too. Our invitation looks like an old newspaper, some of the bridesmaids’ gowns are inspired by the 40’s, and I wore a cute head piece in the reception, thanks to the young and upcoming designer Rosbert Villar.

There are few highlights of our wedding that are so memorable for us and for the guests. (1) Our priest Fr. Godwin, gave a wonderful message on 3G’s: Growing together, Staying Grateful, and being Godly. (2) Our wedding has the most speeches, our Godparents,

friends and relatives who couldn’t come, gave their best wishes. During the reception, our parents, Godparents, friends, and siblings also have their short and sweet messages. Our cousin, sister and niece also sang my favorite song: Can’t help falling in love. (3) Me and Bri personally chose, made and packed the giveaways, we also had a golf putting game, and we also curated our own special drinks. (4) A lot of guests loved the set-up by Il Fiore, given that The champagne room is already so lovely, we just added roses, vines, carnation, and yes grapes! (5) Brian’s family is quite the conservative one, while mine is a modern family, because of this union, both my parents and half siblings were there to support me. and last but not the least, our dance, we rehearsed last minute and had little fights because he was not taking it seriously, but it was so funny how he made it so perfect during the day itself.