We have compiled our favorite prenup pictures (engagement sessions) of numerous soon-to-weds taken last year. Among them are favorite photos submitted to us by wedding photographers and W@Wies alike. We also culled our archives in the W@W FB page and chose the best from those posted, shared and liked in the page.

Presenting the 12 Best Prenups of 2012 . . . .

photo by Chuck Ronquillo of Cherryblocks

photo by Edu Cortez of Extreme Details

photo by Ian Santillan

photo by Vinz Matias aka The Rockin’ Photographer

On the eve of their 1st monthsary as a newlywed couple, we share with our readers the inside story how Zoren Legazpi jumpstarted his surprise wedding plans to Carmina Villaroel. As what the groom said in the TV Special that aired on ABS-CBN, “lahat ito nagsimula kay Charisse.” He was referring to Charisse Tinio of Nice Print Photography.

We asked Cha to write this particular feature so we get a firsthand info how everything came about.  Read on . . .

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One fine evening in October, I received a phone call from Mr. Zoren Legaspi. I have never met him and was only referred by a common friend. He said he wanted to meet with me immediately about plans he had for Carmina. My heartbeat instantly became faster and to my head, I was thinking, could this be the long awaited wedding of Zoren & Carmina?

And so we met a few nights later at Shangri-La mall and with me was all my past celebrity clients’ samples. I began showing him Ogie Regine’s wedding album, John Estrada-Priscilla Meirelles wedding, Kyla-Rich wedding and more. At this point, Zoren asked me what made these past weddings extra special, to which I began giving all the unique ideas those weddings had, one by one. Now we all know by now why all those paled in comparison to the BIG idea he had all this time. But that’s getting way too ahead of my story

Then, Zoren started showing me flash mobbed weddings in the US, and at this point, I was totally at an awe with the grand plan he had for Carmina. WOW! How can a man totally pull off this kind of wedding given their celebrity statuses wherein “gossips & news” move like wild fire in showbiz land.

Then I focused on the logistics for the wedding. I asked what he had at that point or concrete plans, & to my surprise, nothing yet. That was October 1, 2012, exactly 44 days before the target wedding date which was November 15th.

I then started asking several questions, main one was, “Zoren, are you sure you want to do this grand plan, it will be very tedious, & will entail a lot of work given the time frame of 44 days, I just want to give you the reality of it?” He simply replied, “Charisse, I have never done anything so special for Mina in all our 12years, so I really want to do this ONE special surprise for her.” Whew! At this point, I was teary-eyed. Here’s a man, so madly deeply in love with his partner — such a great love story. And I knew that this wedding will be history in the making. Imagine, Zoren & Carmina were to get married, BUT, the bride won’t have an the slightest idea at all. How can anyone beat that?

And so for 44 days, we went into some serious work. With this I mean, much thought about the suppliers I would be recommending to Zoren, as well as many sleepless nights, long hours of meetings with all the suppliers & ABS-CBN people, secret calls between Zoren and me, and last minute things to do for the “wedding of the year.”

November 15th was the date. Such a historical, momentous date. I knew it would be special, but little did I know that it will become THAT phenomenal.
The day went by with no glitches, & Carmina arrived at promptly 2:30 pm for a supposed Selecta Ice Cream commercial shoot. She looked relaxed as ever, holding a Starbucks coffee in one hand– clueless & innocent, and if I may quote Boy Abunda’s statement, “My God, she doesn’t have an idea but the world will change for her in like 2 hours….”

The whole time that we were all in the holding room, we were all watching Carmina being made up through some hidden cameras set up in her dressing room. All the guests, family & friends, and suppliers were all giggling, teary-eyed all at the same time. The level of excitement was truly unimaginable. One woman’s dreams were to be fulfilled right before our very eyes in just a few minutes.

The surprise started with a “scripted” fight between Zoren & the commercial asst director which totally made Carmina upset. Afterwhich, at the height of those emotions, everyone around Carmina started dancing to the tune of “I Saw the Sign.” Carmina was caught by all our cameras to have looked like she was floating, not having a slight hint of idea what was happening, then Boy Abunda appeared infront of her and shortly Zoren, her prince charming, entered to serenade her with the song “Grow Old with You.” At this point, everyone in the holding room was crying, and I mean, not a single person was an exemption. It was certainly one of the most heart warming scenes I have ever witnessed.

My most favorite part, amongst so many, was when our camera caught that one photo wherein Carmina, about to walk down the aisle, was met by her kids, Mavy & Cassey. The photo just sums it all up for me. On November 15th 2012, Zoren made these three people in the photo the happiest people on Earth because that night he fulfilled his promise.

This wedding touched millions of people, not because they are celebrities, nor because they had a grand extravagant wedding, nor because they were much publicized before-hand, but because, this wedding was a spec of hope to many. It just clearly showed that Fairy tale is still alive & that dreams do come true. True love exists and that all of us are dreamers that one day we will all find that ONE true love of our life.

Thank you Zoren & Carmina for sharing your story with us. . . . It is indeed one of the best weddings of all time.

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• to see the rest of the official wedding photos of Zoren & Carmina, click here.
• to see the highlights & sidelights of this flash mob, celebrity wedding, watch the video below.

Sometime in August, we posted the poster above on the wall of the W@W FB page.  It was a prenup/engagement session for a fraction of the usual price.  W@Wies (members of the W@W eGroup)  were further given a 50% discount when they signed up.  If you missed out on this one, we suggest you LIKE our FB page as we post/share more promos from wedding suppliers in our timeline.

As for the W@Wies who joined the Prenup Marathon, the feedback we got are positive.  They are all happy and amazed how organized everything were.  Props to team Imagine Nation for organizing this event!

Read here for the story and photos on how it went.

This prenup video you’re about to see is EPIC - and we’re not loosely using the word. First off, this premiered in a wedding reception via this superwide screen (36 footer with 4 projectors controlled by a watch out computer).

Most of the scenes were shot within the premisses of SM malls (Cubao & Megamall).  The couple is Chris + Candice. The dance scenes were choreographed by Jill Ngo. This wedding film is directed by Dominic Velasco of Imacron.

Now hit play.

We got an email from a Chinoy couple based in the UK who did their own prenup pictorial.  They didn’t just style the shoot, but they literally called the shots (with the help of a tripod, of course!).  Here’s what their note said . . .

Hi W@W! My groom and I are Tsinoy currently living and working in England. Both of us are aspiring photographers. We had a DIY e-session here for our shabby chic vintage wedding in May to be held in the Philippines. I am just wondering whether you would be interested to see them and hopefully gets featured.

Both Irvin + Charisse are into photography. They do have plans getting into events photography, and they’re just giddy to be the first couple in their own portfolio.

• read here for a behind-the-scenes account of engagement session
• checkout the rest of the images via charissejoyphotography.com