A dream wedding come true in the homeland we love
by Jaygee Zaldivar

James and I first met on July 2002 in a local community sports event. James was playing for a rival basketball team and I was playing for a volleyball team. James and I shared a few quick glances until we were finally introduced by mutual friends. Unfortunately, that would be the last time James and I see would see each other until the following summer, I later learned that James went away for school in Austin,TX. During the next few years, James would come home from school during the holidays and we began to see each other more and more through our mutual friends. Eventually, even the distance between us could not stop our relationship from developing from mere acquaintances to friendship and finally true love. We made it official on November 26, 2004.

James proposed on our anniversary on November 26, 2008 at our favorite park here in Edinburg, TX. James took me to this park for our first date where we held hands for the first time and shared our first get to know each other conversation under a beautiful, bird-cage style gazebo. It would be in this very gazebo where James surprised me with a romantic picnic and asked me to “start a new chapter in our relationship” and to be his wife. I remember being so completely happy, overjoyed and filled with tears. But I was absolutely overwhelmed when I later found out that James had met and asked my parents for my hand in marriage just the night before.

During the next few weeks James and I began the wonderful and exciting process of wedding planning. First things first, location, location, location! We dreamed and discussed so many potential cities, countries and even planets. But weeks had past and we became a bit frustrated since we still had not decided on a venue for the wedding. So we changed directions and started focusing on talking about the essentials that James and I would absolutely need present at the wedding for the entire experience to be memorable and fun. This strategy definitely worked better for us since we were able to find a common ground and essentially make a decision on the venue for the wedding. James and I absolutely wanted as many of our family members present at the wedding so we decided to get married in our lovely and romantic homeland of the Philippines!

We announced the venue to our family and our closest friends and everyone was excited, especially those in the Philippines. James seemed to be the most excited, he could not stop talking about all the authentic Filipino dishes he was going to eat once in the Philippines. Eventually, we decided to get married at Tagaytay Highlands. It was very important to James and I that the venue we chose would have multiple amenities/activities available to our guests since the majority of them would be traveling from other cities in the Philippines and other countries as well. Also, James and I absolutely loved the scenery at Tagaytay Highlands and the view of Taal Lake from the Midlands Veranda, where the reception would be held was incredible. We also liked the Madre de Dios Chapel for it small but personal feel and its close proximity to the reception area at Midlands Veranda.

Once we picked out our venue, hiring a personal wedding planner was next on our agenda. James and I felt strongly that this would be one of the most important decisions we will make for the wedding so we definitely took a little bit more time to make the decision. We wanted someone that was very creative, client focused and will try her very best to understand and create the couple’s dream wedding. Also, we wanted a wedding planner that truly was enthusiastic about the wedding process and enjoy our special day with us. For weeks, James and I interviewed several potential wedding planners and decided to hire the young, fabulous and fun Ms. Teena Barretto. We felt very comfortable with Teena, she listened to our concerns and she was very confident that she can create our dream wedding. Since we were planning a wedding from overseas, we definitely needed Teena’s services for the entire year, so we decided to sign up for her Full Coordination Package, which James and I are absolutely glad we made that decision.

Choosing the theme for our wedding was a challenging but exciting process for James and I, who definitely had conflicting ideas. Typical James wanted a theme concentrated on his favorites: New York City, Frank Sinatra and Jack Daniels whiskey, how romantic. As for me, I dreamed of a beautiful, elegant and sophisticated venue. We worked very hard to find a compromise and eventually we were able to incorporate ideas from both sides and decided to create a wedding based on a 1920′s – 1930′s Vintage inspired theme.

James and I flew to Manila, Philippines 6 months before the wedding to meet our suppliers and to really start the process of creating our dream wedding. We had a difficult time getting around Manila and Quezon City because of heavy traffic but it was worth the trouble since our suppliers were very warm, friendly and were willing to adjust their time when we were running late. We were so busy meeting with all our suppliers in the Philippines that we didn’t have the chance to take our engagement photo session with Oly Ruiz of Metrophoto. Fortunately, Oly was accommodative enough to meet us in Las Vegas a couple of months later for our e-session, where we took pictures between 3:00-5:00AM on the Las Vegas strip! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, most of the time!

While in the Philippines we worked closely with Teena and our wedding designer Beth Amat of Eve & Co. to create the vintage feel that we were looking for. We shared ideas back and forth and we looked at pictures that we collected from several books, magazines and wedding websites.

To really kick off the vintage feel right after the wedding ceremony we decided to rent a 1933 Ford convertible as the bridal car from one of our suppliers, Don Robert. James and I really had a great time taking pictures with the car while posing for our wedding photographer Oly Ruiz of Metrophoto.

As for my gown, I was very difficult for me to decide whether to purchase the gown in the states or in the Philippines. Eventually I made up my mind and purchased one in the states. I felt more comfortable purchasing a gown locally, where i can easily make adjustments anytime. The gown was designed by Oleg Cassini, it’s ivory/champagne in color and features a sweetheart neckline with a princess style silhouette with pick-ups and a French under bustle effect on the chapel length train, embellished with embroidery, lace and absolutely exquisite beading detail.

But for my bridesmaids I decided to have their dresses designed by Debbie Co. I really wanted to choose a color that would be unique, elegant and of course vintage. After analyzing different color combinations, I decided to use black as the primary color with green crystal beads for the bridesmaids and green for the maid of honor. I decided to use a long gown in black silk satin as the general design and modified them according to what i thought would best complement my bridesmaids.

The wedding cake was designed by Joy San Gabriel. She used 100 miniature cakes made up of coffee caramel and strawberry shortcake covered with white whipped cream icing. The miniature cakes were displayed in a multi-tier stand alternating with apple green button mums. The stand was topped with white and black feathers and decorated with black crystals in keeping with the damask theme. The mini cakes were part of our giveaways which our friends and families enjoyed.

For the reception at Midlands Veranda we decided to use black & ivory with chartreuse accents as the main colors for the wedding. We also decided to use a black & white fleur-de-lis backdrop.

As centerpieces for each table , we decided candelabras that resembled a chandelier type design and arranged flowers both on the base and the top of the candelabra. Crystals were also used to hang from the candelabra. For additional vintage details we added cigars, feathers, fedora hats and miniature record players on the tables. The lights and drapes designed by Lights & Sensitivity did a wonderful job of complementing the vintage design arrangement of Beth Amat, the combination of their work created an elegant yet vibrant mood.

James and I really focused on making sure that we had good, quality music available for everyone to enjoy throughout the wedding ceremony and reception. We both love music as a couple and our families love to sing and dance. For the wedding ceremony and for the early part of the reception we hired 92 A.D. and their performance was truly amazing. I found myself mesmerized by their amazing talent and they did not fail in bringing happy tears to my friends and family, maybe James too! We also hired Composed band to continue after 92 A.D. to play music from different genres including big band to complement our vintage theme. Their versatility was exactly what we were looking for and we enjoyed the mix of music they played. For the dancing portion of the reception, we decided to hire DJ McCoy and he got everyone dancing on the dance floor, including James!

James and I are very grateful to have had our dream wedding come to life. It was a year long journey that would never have been accomplished without the support of our friends, family and of course our wedding suppliers. We have learned many things about ourselves throughout this experience and we are so happy that we were able to celebrate our special day in our homeland with those we truly love.

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3 tips for soon-to-wed-readers on how to have a beautiful wedding

1. Work together as a couple – Make sure to really understand what both of you truly want for your wedding and find a compromise.

2. Hire a wedding planner – A good wedding planner will try his/her best to make sure your dream wedding will come true. You’ll appreciate a wedding planner’s input on small details to helping you design your entire wedding theme.

3. Have fun! Remember this is your special day, relax and enjoy the celebration.

Photography by Metrophoto

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