After 40 loooong years, being a ring bearer is finally off my bucket list! YAY!

It’s not that my life wouldn’t be complete without being one.  But more about getting to experience something that I didn’t get to do as a little boy.  As you know, the flower girl and bearer roles are monopolized by the cute and adorable kids.  And we all know that not all kids are cute.  I unfortunately fell in that category in my younger years. As I shared in my personal blog, my brother got the gigs back then.  But I didn’t mind.  I didn’t like dressing up as a kid anyway.  I was comfy with sando & brief even when my family went out-of-town.  When I was in my teens, my Tita Azon (my mom’s youngest sister), “revealed” to me why I never get to see myself in pictures when I was younger.  She endearingly told me, “hindi ka kasi ‘presentable’ na bata.”  But that didn’t offend me.  She told me that at the time when my looks had supposedly “improved” in high school.  But don’t be fooled.  The revelation was not an ugly-ducking-turned-gander moment.  To me, I’ve always looked the same ever since . . .  handsome. hehe

Fast forward to our podcast when we chatted with Noel Salazar & Rae Venturanza for our wedding photographer + makeup artist couples in the wedding industry episode.  They were kinda asking me to be a Ninong in their wedding.  I said, I’m too young to be one.  I think the ‘ring bearer’ was my counter-offer, and they agreed.

GAME ON!

Sent Boy Kastner these two pegs for my attire as he was also doing the suit of the groom and his men.  I asked that I use  suspenders instead of a jacket or a vest.

We asked Dylan of {etc} Handmade Goodness if he could make me a boutonniere where we could somehow tie the rings. Noel & Rae we’re pretty weird and quirky to let me do what I want. And I wanted to rid of the ring pillow.

My bearer gig  yesterday went pretty well. I heard giggles from guests when I went to the altar to hand the rings.  Friends we telling me that I was a ‘cutest’ ring bearer they ever saw.  Of course, I knew they were exaggerating. I’ve got no match for those adorable, naughty, little boys.  But it still felt good hearing those.

Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Noel & Rae Salazar for indulging me in making my ‘wish’ come true!

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal!

9photo by Dino Lara)

Nino + Nina dreamt of being wed inside the St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. They got what they wished for and even flew in Dino Lara (photo) and Bong Sare (of Threelogy video) the document the whole thing.

This is more that just a wedding. It’s a weddimoon!

After the success of the very first W@W Assignment, we are happy to present to you the second in our series. We asked a wedding photographer to follow a photographer to document for our readers how a wedding cake is prepared days before the big day. Dominic Barrios took on the task and ’stalked’ Judy Uson for more than a week to watch her build a ‘tower’ from the ground up!

Great job, Dom! Thank you, Judy & Batch Uson, for allowing us to see how a 6ft. wedding cake is done.  Again, may our readers appreciate the long hours devoted behind each wedding work of art.

Head on to Dominic’s blog to see his completed W@W Assignment.

On February 25, 1986, the Philippines witnessed the Inauguration of two Presidents.  It was the ultimate standoff in the People Power saga 26 years ago. But this post is not about that.

TRIVIA: Did you know that the Marcoses and the Aquinos got married in the same year (1954)?   Both couples also got the same ninong in President Ramon Magsaysay who stood as Principal Sponsor in both weddings.

We searched online to look for old wedding photographs of our past presidents.  While we’re pleased with what turned-up our way (our Presidential wedding collection includes those of Aguinaldo and Quezon!), not all of our 15 Presidents have their blissful day immortalized on the web. 

Our virtual gallery of Weddings of Philippine Presidents (Kasal ng mga Pangulo ng Pilipinas) is still a work-in-progress. We promise to add to the collection especially if and when our bachelor president decides to join the bandwagon.

For now, this would do . . .

W@W Assignment is a series of timeline shoots assigned to different photographers to capture how wedding suppliers do their work from beginning to end and get a glimpse of some behind-the-scene images. The project is inspired by this blogpost by Dino Lara who covered the rarely seen images how weddings are made.

With this, we hope to give soon-to-weds an overview how much heart is needed to come up with a great wedding. If the wedding suppliers are treated right, they give you heaven & earth if they can.  But without mutual trust & respect, they still do their job but merely run on autopilot to get the job done.

To kick off the series, we start with the mother assignment which Benjie Tiongco willingly accepted to do for us. He covered all the bases for almost 24 hours! Benz got goosebumps when reviewing his assignment.

We’d also like to acknowledge Donna Romano-Uy (a W@Wie) for welcoming the idea and letting us sneak in her wedding, and to her of team suppliers for accommodating Benjie and giving him the extra space to be able to capture the images he needed.

Here’s the result of Benjie’s passion, dedication, and hardwork - W@W Assignment: Wedding Behind the Scenes.