First things first

ironically, our first big decisions for the wedding -- the date and church -- weren't actually our first choices for them.

deciding on december. initially, we thought of getting hitched in early january 2008 (the better to spend that christmas bonus, eh?). plus, january held two significant dates for me: my dad's death anniversary (on the third) and birthday (on the 30th). and january weather in the philippines is just absolutely beautiful.

then the pinoy superstition of sukob reared its head in the form of my sister. for the uninitiated, sukob dictates that it is unlucky for siblings to marry within the same calendar year. my (currently unattached) older sis reasoned: "but what if i meet the man of my dreams in 2008? i don't want to have to wait another year to marry him!" uh, okay ate.

and so we chose the last saturday of december: well after the christmas rush and before our overseas friends and relatives have to fly back post-holidays. plus, it's a long weekend for new year's. hurray!

choosing a church. i liked caleruega ever since i sang there with a group of glee club friends for a wedding: the red brick, the floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows, but most of all the brilliant acoustics. i remember staying there with my friends to sing a few more songs after the wedding was done, simply because it sounded so beautiful in there.

however, since caleruega is now THE church for tagaytay weddings, it was booked for every single date marlon and i considered, a full year ahead! hanging up the phone after my fruitless inquiry, i had a sudden mental picture of a mad, stampeding horde of brides, all rushing to get the same church, the same dates, the same suppliers in december. (apparently, december is the new june.)

it's a good thing we went to charlie and gerwin's wedding.

else we wouldn't have even thought of chapel on the hill -- a charming, rustic, circular chapel that was, yes, on a hill, but also just a short drive from caleruega.

photos from gerwin and charlie's wedding by guido jacinto

when we called, the date we wanted was wide open! success!

and there it was: december 29, 2007 at the chapel on the hill, batulao, batangas. once we put a date and a place to it, suddenly, from something we only occasionally thought of, or dreamed about, our wedding became real.