Our Wedding Story

Last week, me and Nikki finally tied the knot. Shortly after I felt the need to write everything down just so that I don't forget anything and I get the details as close as possible to perfect. Why? Coz a miracle happened. There's no other way I can say it. Feel free to read and decide for yourself. You can verify these events yourself. Here it is...

The Perfect Wedding Day

Any events coordinator will tell you the perfect event doesn’t exist. No matter how prepared the event organizer may be, there will always be some form of glitch that’ll rear its ugly head and sometimes from out of nowhere.

As was the case with many couples that planned their wedding in 2020, ours got delayed from out of nowhere. The date was originally planned for October 13, 2019 but we decided to move it to May 24, 2020 for reasons unimportant to the story. Our line of th
inking went something like this:

“The wedding’s already been postponed. Nothing and I mean absolutely nothing will side track these plans. Not an earthquake nor a typhoon,” we thought. Little did we know, a virus would be the one to postpone our wedding a second time. This time, however, it was worse. With no end in sight at the time, we couldn’t pin a date down. So we left the date in the air for months.

Me and Nikki wanted a certain date though. October 13 was our anniversary so it was a no brainer for us. October 13 is also the feast of Our Lady of Fatima and she’s one of the most important players in our relationship. We wanted to honour her by celebrating an important milestone of our life on the day of her feast.

When the city offices started to open up, me and Nikki realized we could finally apply for a marriage license – the final piece of the puzzle for the requirements we needed to finally get married. The marriage license came out in the end of August which gave me and Nikki a month and a half to get everyone ready for wedding 2.0!

As expected, all our out-of-town guests couldn’t make it including most of our ninongs and ninangs, all our flower girls, and both maid of honor and best man, to name a few. During September, the future was also hard to predict. Would restrictions on events be eased? Tightened? We simply didn’t know.

We settled on having just 60 guests for the ceremony and strictly family only for the reception. We also had to look for another presider for the mass and marriage rite as our two original choices couldn’t leave their areas due to the lockdowns.

Now, was this the perfect wedding? On paper, it wasn’t. From the onset, it had hit too many speed bumps and had been derailed quite easily during the pandemic. But you never plan for the perfect wedding – you plan for the best possible one and plan we did. Looking back, though, it might’ve been the best possible wedding we could get. And surely with such a small wedding party, it would much easier to handle.

The Wedding at Cana

With Fr. Manny Uy as our new presider for the mass, our wedding was now back on track. Growing up attending Catholic weddings, I always just assumed that the Wedding at Cana was the default gospel for wedding masses. Such isn’t the case. Fr. Manny had us choose the first reading, the responsorial psalm, second reading, and gospel. I chose from what felt like a menu and still ended up choosing the Wedding at Cana story.

The thing that drew to me especially to that narrative was the idea of Mary being the greatest intercessor. As I’ve mentioned earlier, Our Lady of Fatima has played a huge part in our relationship and I liked the idea that she would feature in the Gospel reading as well. She does have just one message for us though, “Follow what Jesus tells you” and just allow the miracles to happen.

A key part in the story, which I tend to overlook every time I heard is that the couple whose wedding it was experienced a problem – a trivial problem at that! The wedding feast was about to run out of wine. While the narration was silent on this point, I’d like to think Mother Mary interceded on their behalf before being asked.

Anyway, back to the story. The day before the wedding and everything ran smoothly. Nikki’s wedding gown arrived right on schedule. Our coordinator, Shai and the stylist, Tita Debbie arrived in the hotel as well with lots of time to spare. We were even able to do a quick rehearsal in the hotel.

We stayed at White Sands, which our family owns. As the perks go, we got the best rooms for the Nikki to have her dress up and for the rest of her family to stay in as well. I needed to finish a few things for work and so exited earlier than the rest from dinner.

This is when we hit our first speed bump. The main elevator was out of service. Nikki’s brothers had informed me of the problem when they tried going down from their room to join dinner. Going down seven floors is fine for her brothers but the first speed bump was that even after dinner, the elevator still remained out of order! It was a minor speed bump at most since there was a second elevator. I used it to go up to my room and speed bump number 2!

My door wouldn’t open. After being closed for close to 6 months, the batteries on the electronic door knobs had given up! Having no way to call the outside world, I took the other elevator down and informed our staff of the issue – main elevator was down and the door knob of the groom’s room wouldn’t open!

I met with Nikki and we decided to go up together. I would bring her to her room so we could get some rest before the big day. And then speed bump number 3!

Just as the second elevator reached the seventh floor, the elevator malfunctioned and stopped! We rang the emergency bell but it didn’t seem like anyone was on their way. The elevator’s emergency battery did kick in and we were able to get off on the seventh floor safely. I said good night to Nikki as I went back to my room. Our staff, Jeson, was there to open the door manually and change the batteries on the door lock. I then asked Jeson if the main elevator was fixed. He told me that he couldn’t contact the maintenance team for the main elevator. He would do all he could but ultimately, nothing was done about the main elevator.

I couldn’t sleep so well that night. Every time I would wake up, I’d check if the elevator miraculously fixed itself. It did not. Only when I resigned to leaving it all up to the Lord was I able to sleep well.

I woke up on the big day and the first thing I check is if we were able to get hold of the maintenance staff of the elevator. Jeson was able to contact them and so I thought we were in the clear. Everyone would simply need to use the secondary elevator to go up and down. The solution seemed simple enough.

Despite the minor hiccup the night before, everyone who used the second elevator was able to use it without any issues. I was even able to use it that morning! Then came another speed bump. Elevator number 2 was out of service as well! My heart sank. Both elevators couldn’t be used and the bride was on the seventh floor while the groom would be on the sixth floor. For anyone to come to us, they would need to walk up 6 or 7 flights of stairs!

I went back to praying as hard as I could. I asked Mother Mary to intercede on our behalf. I was very worried about anything and everything that involved people going up to our rooms. Every time a groomsman went up to my room, I’d worry about them walking up so many flights of stairs. When our photographer, Hejie and his team arrived trying to catch their breath, my mind panicked as well and I didn’t know what I could do for them. I overheard two people say that Nikki’s grandma, who is close to 80 years old walked all seven flights of stairs!

The news about the main elevator wasn’t reassuring as well. There was a broken piece and the replacement was still in their office around an hour’s travel time away! Everyone was trying to reassure me that it was fine and that I should take my mind off the elevator issues.

Looking back, it was probably God’s way of telling me to chill out and enjoy the day. He is, of course, bigger than any problem the day could throw at us. I am happy to report that this is when the miracles started happening. Call me a religious nut but it was only through Mother Mary’s intercession that these things started turning in our favour.

In one of my many short prayers that morning, I asked God to spare two people from the elevator woes. I didn’t want Nikki’s grandma to walk down seven flights of stairs. (I would carry that woman down if I could.) And I didn’t want Nikki herself, in her wedding gown, to have to walk down the seven floors as well. I had gotten ready with my groomsmen and I told them we’d all just walk down for our photoshoot.

I met up with my family and we had our photo shoot. After our little pictorial, we got good news. The elevator was fixed! At that point, I didn’t know which one was fixed but I was happy all the same. Then a second call came – the other elevator was also fixed! Not only did Nikki and her grandma not need to walk down the stairs, they had their pick of which elevator to use!

When one asks, one must thank so I said a quick prayer to thank God for answering my prayer. People who hear the story up to this point won’t call it a miracle as two fixed elevators doesn’t add up much to being a “miracle”. Don’t worry, the rest of my story will hopefully not disappoint.

Till Death do us part...

I finally eased up and proceeded to enjoy my photo shoot with my groomsmen. Shortly after, I was with my family on our way to the church. We left White Sands at 1pm for a 3pm call time. Everything cooperated with our short drive. No car troubles, no heavy traffic. Smooth as smooth can be! We arrived close to 2pm and we were literally the first people in church.

Slowly, guests started arriving. After six months of being in quarantine, people can become very chatty. Everyone was practicing social distancing still though which I appreciated from everyone. I saw people I hadn’t seen in so long. A dear friend of mine even flew in from Zamboanga! Everyone who knows me and Nikki know that I’m the more emotional one and though I didn’t cry, I couldn’t hide how happy I was at finally seeing other people I had only seen in Zoom calls.

Andi, another coordinator started calling on everyone to settle down. At that point several people where still noticeably absent – 4 out of 6 principal sponsors, 1 secondary sponsor, and Fr. Manny. Truth be told, I assumed that we would start at 3:30pm so it didn’t bother me at all – sometimes God grants ignorance for good reason. Everyone did arrive a few minutes after 3pm (I’m not quite sure as I wasn’t allowed to carry my phone anymore).

The wedding march is not something so grand that it needs to be detailed. Honestly, it was over rather quickly. I saw that our photographer had a camera pointed straight at my face and so I made a mini-promise to myself that I wouldn’t cry.

It was then time for me to see my bride enter. Nikki’s parents marched ahead of her and waited around three-fourths the length of the aisle. The church doors then opened and the song, “When God Made You” played in the background. I saw Nikki in her beautiful white dress. She always looks beautiful but I can honestly that was the most beautiful I had seen her. And she was walking towards me. When that realization sank in, it was game over for me. I was crying like a baby but still trying to hold back whatever tears I could.

I went forward to get my bride from her parents who walked her the remaining steps to the front of the church. I brought her to my parents who I gave the biggest hug to. Me and Nikki made our way to the front of the church where I was still crying my eyes out. When Fr. Manny met us in front of the altar, another realization hit me.

After months of delay, this was the day the next chapter of our lives would start. I balled like a baby and Fr. Manny just told me to let it all out and so I obliged. I was able to compose myself and I was able to get through the rest of the ceremony without crying.

My sister was our veil sponsor and hearing her welcoming Nikki into our family was one of the best things I heard during the mass. At the end of everything, we got to walk out the church and see all our friends who came. Remember, we only allotted 60 guests for the church as we had a lot of seniors in our families. Most couples say they couldn’t remember who went to their wedding. Me and Nikki can remember who didn’t.

Photo shoots after the wedding are common but I forgot that we still had to do one and we did it in the steel parking of Sacred Heart Church. What I thought was a mediocre place for a photo shoot became the site for my favourite wedding picture of the entire bunch and one which the Church asked if they could use for promoting weddings in the church!

When it rains, it pours

After our post-nup pictorial, it was time to head back to White Sands for our even more intimate family only reception. My parents still wanted to have the entire place decorated. We had beautiful garden set-up which I only caught a glimpse of leaving for the church. It wasn’t finished yet so I was excited to see what it would finally look like. It was around 5pm and time when most working people go home from work.

Now, I had been on weather patrol for weeks before October 13 and not once did it show that it would not rain in Lapu-lapu. Not just that, there was a more than 50% chance of thunderstorms! I had honestly expected the worst and that we would move to the back-up venue. But given everything that had happened already, I was more confident than ever that it would not rain.

On our way to White Sands, we could hear the thunder rumbling but so far no rain had hit us so we were still saying it wouldn’t rain. At this point, everyone was already in White Sands except for Hejie’s crew and everyone in the couple’s car. We took two different routes going to White Sands. Our car got stuck in traffic a bit but like I said, other than probably 5 drops of rain, we were basically as dry as a bone.

We arrived before Hejie’s team and everyone was waiting for us. The thunder was still rumbling but I commented that all I noticed was the cool breeze which probably came from a part of Lapu-lapu which was raining. Things started to sound crazy to me when someone mentioned that Mango Avenue (which was where our church was) was already flooded because of the rain. Mango Avenue normally doesn’t flood as well so this news came as a shock to me. This rain was no run-of-the-mill rain, in other words.

While I only found out a day later, most of our staff that left White Sands that night experienced heavy rain just as they left the resort. They all assumed the set-up was moved to the backup indoor venue. Tita Debbie wanted nothing more than Hejie to arrive so we could have our photos taken with the decors. She worked hard all day for that and simply moving to an inferior location would’ve been heart breaking for her.

Shai was on the edge of her seat as well. I assured both of them that it would not rain. And just to ease them a bit more, I told her that nothing – absolutely nothing will ruin the day anymore. My mom had earlier told both of them that moving to the inferior indoor venue was not an option – not realistic in the mind but my mom knew in her heart it wouldn’t rain.

Hejie and his team did arrive shortly after and we went to work right away taking pictures of the set-up with us. Me and Nikki were enjoying every single second of that but at the same time we wanted dinner to start since we knew everyone was waiting for us and hungry – it was already 7:30pm. In our original plan, me and Nikki were supposed to practice our first dance one last time before the program started but Shai said she didn’t want to take the chance that it would start raining before our first dance so dance we did.

We had some missteps in our dance in the beginning but we found our stride later on and even made some last minute adjustments. As a person with two left feet, I cannot stress how miraculous this was, in and of itself.

The program proceeded and we could still hear the sky rumbling – threatening to put a stop to the festivities. A strong gust of wind blew through the garden bringing with it a cool chill. If you were afraid it would rain then, that gust would’ve scared the crap out of you. Nikki and I, however, enjoyed the cool breeze. “It will not rain. We prayed too hard for it,” we thought. The program continued.

Nikki’s maid of honour couldn’t make it because of the pandemic so she recorded her speech. It was during her speech that we felt a few drops of rain hit. The White Sands staff was readying the umbrellas for everyone. I said once again to Nikki, “It will not rain.” It simply couldn’t! We had prayed for good weather too much for it to rain now. And just like that the small drizzle stopped! The program continued.

We ran into possibly two or three more rain scares and every time, I just knew that it wouldn’t rain. And every single time, the program continued without a hitch! My brothers-in-law were able to give their speeches dry. My father-in-law gave his speech as well dry. My dad welcomed Nikki into our family dry. We were able to see the same day edit from Hejie, which I loved. One shot he took was an aerial shot of the clouds. I didn’t even realize how heavy they looked all day! But the program continued.

Only two speeches were left in the program. One was a poem dedicated to our parents who brought us up and loved use before we loved each other. The last speech was mine. The rare occasion of being able to individually thank each single person present in the guest list presented itself so I naturally grabbed it. And I was still as dry as a bone.

The program ended with two games we prepared for our family. We ended the program and some people came up to us to have their picture taken with us. The program ended finally and Shai and Tita Debbie could breathe sighs of relief as they packed up everything that they needed to pack up.

Being the couple, me and Nikki weren’t able to eat together with everyone else so we continued eating in our seats. Then one final drizzle came. We had our food transferred to the indoor venue. This time, I knew it would rain. It wasn’t ten minutes after the program ended that the rain poured – and it poured hard. By this time, me, Nikki, Shai, Tita Debbie, Hejie, Anya (my sister) and Ryan (our host) were all inside enjoying the leftover wine. For Ryan and Hejie, it was the first time they paused since the program started and it was their first taste of any of the food that night.

It was a nice moment where me and Nikki got to spend our reception bonding with our wedding suppliers over wine and food. Hejie stayed a bit longer since he also got news that many parts of the city were flooded. Every time we recount the events of that night, it seemed as though there was an invisible barrier around White Sands that didn’t let rain enter until the wedding program ended.

Our family driver and Nikki’s mom’s driver recounted to us that they experienced heavy rains just a few meters away from gate of White Sands. It was then that the invisible barrier around White Sands started to sound like it actually happened!

Putting everything together, I can’t help but think God’s wedding gift to us was the Wedding at Cana. He gave us reasons to worry and He gave us his mother, the greatest intercessor, and prevented the rain from touching our little intimate wedding reception. Again, it was a trivial matter in both cases – wine and a nice reception – but this little experience has made me believe, more than ever, that God loves marriage and wants to bless it every way He can. I pray everyday that I’m the best husband I can be to Nikki until the day I die.

To Our Lady of Fatima, thank you always for your prayers. If our wedding night was any indication of the power of your prayers, me and Nikki will surely want more where that came from!