(photo courtesy of Oly Ruiz of Metro Photo)

Well, you’re not really invited, but you might as well feel like you were there merely by watching this onsite video.

Fact is, this is one of the few times an SDE (same-day edit) captured ample live audio snippets where viewers get a glimpse of the personality of the couple.  Their sense of humor shines through every clip in a familair Pinoy candor. To me, it felt like they were somebody I know personally.  The ceremony presided by a judge in Makati City Hall felt very relaxed, a refreshing departure from the ’sobfest’ we typically expect in a solemn church ceremony.

I know this is not a typical ‘get-it-over-and-done-with’ kinda civil wedding.  But who ever said that a civil ceremony should be plain non-event?

I’ve been told the couple wore a Randy Ortiz during the ceremony, after which, the bride slipped into a Paul Cabral creation in time for their Blue Leaf reception.  Add the fact that they got Jason Magbanua to do their video speaks that this is no ordinary civil ceremony.  Despite these, the video didn’t come off as trying to show off; on the contrary, it felt very spontaneous and unrestrained.  Unpretentious is the word.

Props to David & Jorene for proving that a simple civil wedding ceremony can be equally beautiful!

(Bim + Gen with Jason Magbanua | photo by Paul Vincent)

2009 may be considered the year of the most talked-about celebrity weddings — from the hush-hush (Ryan & Juday’s), to (what would have been) the grandest (Mar & Korina’s); and even to the widely email-forwarded, black ‘cemetery’ wedding of a front man of one of the country’s hottest rockbands.

But aside from the above mentioned, there were other beautiful weddings held last year which are also worth mentioning. These equally memorable celebrations were unions of regular couples. What made their wedding special hasn’t been covered by the media, nor has it been featured in glossy wedding magazines as of yet. Reason why we make our annual list every start of the year to inspire newly-engaged couples and other soon-to-weds early on.

Admittedly, a few of these weddings (celebrity or otherwise) have made an impression on us such that, we have previously blogged about them already. A number of those which made the list are destination weddings. We have decided to present them all in chronological order for a change. We’ll provide links to related W@W stories about some of these weddings whenever applicable. We’ll also provide crosslinks to suppliers’ blog, facebook albums, and the couple’s wedsite to bring you more images about a particular wedding and see what made it truly special.

As usual, the selection of weddings in this annual list were chosen by some of our friends from the wedding industry. They are the people who knew the each couple personally and witnessed first-hand each event as it transpired. They are the suppliers who helped shape the wedding that it was. They were part of the team which made the wedding, one of 2009’s best! [READ MORE….]

Yesterday morning, Dominic Velasco of Imacron posted in his FB account a video montage of some of the weddings his company has covered in the mid-to-late 90s. That was a time when analog and gen-loss (generation loss) were bywords in wedding videography, and final output were handed to newlyweds in VHS cassette.  The clip’s obvious lack of crisp in color we’re typical during the pre-digital age.  It’s cool to think that the weddings in the video preceeds the YouTube era.

Dom tagged the couples in his friends’ list who appeared in the video (all are married for 10 to 15 years already at this time), with a note that ‘un-couples’ can opt to untag themselves.  Fair enough. hehehe

Here’s Imacron’s ‘old school’ wedding montage.

Right on the heels of Manny Pacquiao’s victory against Miguel Cotto in their fight over the weekend, photographer Bern Mejias posted this boxing-themed wedding pictorial complete with a bride wearing a pair of gloves and high-tops.

The concept couldn’t have come at a much better time.  Bern calls it Pacman-inspired.  Checkout the whole set by clicking the image below.

 
(photo by Rudy Liwanag)

Dubbed by local media as the “wedding of the year,” senator and vice-presidential hopeful Mar Roxas (52) married broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez (45) in a well-attended ceremony at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City.

Their theme was appropriately Flipiniana.  The bride wore a serpentina-style piña gown by Pepito Albert sans the traditional bridal veil.  She walked down the aisle teary-eyed with her three brothers taking turns escorting her to the altar, as the groom awaited her.

The exchange of rings, the giving of the arrhae, and the exchange of vows were completely documented in this 10-minute video clip from ABS-CBN:

After the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds greeted hundreds of well-wishers who stayed and witnessed the entire proceedings on giant screens setup outside the church.  Afterwhich, the couple headed at the courtyard to partake of the simple merienda cena of local delicacies (pan de sal, puto, polvoron, etc) and refreshments.  Also seen was a white, flower-decked pedicab bearing the couple’s picture with the words “Bagong Kasal.”

The couple decided to call-off their grand reception banquet to be held at the Araneta Coliseum, and instead donated part of the P3-million budget to various charities and organizations which assist victims of the recent calamities that hit the country.

Here’s a visual narrative of what Mar-Korina’s reception would have been.

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Related Photos & Videos:

• The Roxas-Sanchez Nuptials (Market Manila | photos)
• Korina hands-on during wedding preps (YouTube | video)
• Preparations ongoing for Mar-Korina wedding (YouTube | video)
• Korina pays respects to deceased parents before wedding (YouTube | video)
• Guests arrive at church for Mar-Korina wedding (YouTube | video)
• Mar-Korina wedding ceremony begins (YouTube | video)
• An emotional Korina Sanchez walks down the aisle (YouTube | video)
• Mar, Korina now officially Mr. and Mrs. Roxas (YouTube | video)