Meet Darlene. She is a W@Wie who has recently gotten married to Gboy.

Their altar date was set last April 17, 2010 in Tagaytay. Wedding ceremony was slated at 1PM but during that time, vehicular traffic was on a standstill because of the Tour of Luzon bikeathon, and in the midst of the gridlock was this classic Mustang bridal car.

The bride got a call from her wedding planner informing her that she would have to forgo her bridal march if she arrived 30 minutes after the scheduled ceremony. Left with no other choice, the bride scooped her skirt, train, and veil of her Veluz wedding gown and started dashing towards the direction of the church. Following Darlene’s lead was her bridesmaid and her make-up artist, Eddie Bruan. Upon seeing them on the street, the photo and video guys also got out of their vehicle.

Oly Ruiz of Metro Photo captured in multiple shots as the bride emerged in the two-way gridlock.

“After about 15 minutes of running, we came at the intersection where everything was clogged-up and asked — forced actually — a tricycle to take all of us (all seven of us) to the church which was another mile away,” Oly narrated.

As for the groom, he had tried to hitch a ride with passing motorists but no one stopped. Good thing the couple’s ninang saw Gboy on her way to the church and gave him a ride.

If those weren’t enough trouble for a day, the bride also shared that her wedding gown got burned due to a spotlight under their table at the reception. Darlene further added, “I thought there we were done with all the mishaps, but ‘lo and behold: our big day has almost turned into our last day!!! We almost fell off the cliff due to break dysfunction of our car!!! My goodness! What a day!!! At least we have an exciting story to tell our grandchildren.”

Checkout Gboy & Darlene’s onsite by MG Video. An ample coverage of our dashing bride in the middle of the road and their tricycle ride can be seen towards the end.

Head on to Oly’s blog entry for his eyewitness account and more of the images from the event.

Cheers to Gboy & Darlene for their positive outlook despite the odds.

(photo by KJ Rosales)

On June 5, 2010, Roger Francis Alcantara and Noemi Katrina dela Paz (Roj & 3na to the W@Wies) tied the knot at the Mary Immaculate Parish, better known as ‘Nature Church’ in Las Piñas City.  But what got their nuptials featured in Manila Bulletin was the fact that they held their reception in a McDonald’s outlet!

Below is an excerpt from the said article:

With “I do’s” already exchanged, the newly-married couple treated their guests to the brand of fast food that they both love. Yes, the wedding reception – or “recess,” as the couple likes to call it – took place at a McDonald’s branch along Alabang-Zapote road.

It was a wedding party that was like a children’s party — and perhaps the first-ever wedding reception in a McDonald’s outlet — with an even more playful twist.

The chocolate wedding cake (by Truffle Park Co.) was fashioned to look like a Big Mac, McDonald’s flagship double-layered burger; instead of Roger and Noemi, two McDonald’s mascots were made to do the traditional Filipino Catholic wedding “money dance” while the 120 or so guests who filled the particular branch took home popular “Happy Meal” toys.

And to symbolize their union in a way utterly unique and special to them, the couple ditched the cake-tasting ceremony in favor of taking simultaneous bites out of a Big Mac.

“It was the best bite out of a Big Mac that I’ve ever had in my entire life,” said the groom. You’d better believe him; he’s had countless Big Macs in his burger-munching career. [READ FULL STORY…]

In her email posted in the W@W eGroup, 3na shared that she and her groom even went through the drive-thru window with their entourage in tow.

In sharing their story, the bride said, “I hope this serves as an inspiration to all the future brides out there. The best pa rin if you make the wedding your own.  Don’t mind what other people say, kasi kami nung una, ilang beses kaming tinanong ng parents namin kung sa McDo ba talaga kami; and they ended up enjoying the party as much as we did.”

The groom’s advice is best shared with his quote in the Bulletin article: “My advice to other couples who want to tie the knot is to personalize their nuptial, if they can,” said Roj. “Why become like a million others, if you can become one in a million?”

Below is Roj & 3na’s onsite video by Kris Matanguihan.

We’re not kidding!

Last night, we saw this picture posted by event stylist Teddy Manuel.  It got us curious.

(photo and flowers by Teddy Manuel)

As soon as we saw it, we immediately thought the groom’s probably a volunteer firefighter. We were sooo wrong.

It was actually the bride who’s in the fire brigade (she’s a volunteer firemedic)! COOL.

The bride is actually Kimberly Tan — the wedding host!  And she just got married to Gerald Evangelista yesterday. Here’s a shot of the kissing newlyweds atop the firetruck.  Some stunt!

(photo by John Mateos Ong)

Cheers to Kimerald!  (sorry, couldn’t resist typing that). 

 
(bridal bouquet by 7 Lily)

February weddings don’t have it easy. While its past the tail-end of the wedding peak season in the Philippines which is around December/January, it’s the time of the year when prices of blossoms soar to all-time-high due to huge demand in time for Valentine’s Day. And it’s not just the prices that’s the problem, the anxiety over the quality and quantity of stocks become also become major concern. The Dangwa Flower Market in Manila is so chaotic around this time that it feels like there’s a mad fiesta!

With this in mind, we have invited some of the wedding industry’s finest florists to participate in a fun challenge: to make a bridal bouquet without using any flowers. It sounds crazy but these floral artisans immediately agreed the moment we presented them the idea.

It is not our first time to involve suppliers in this kind of undertaking. In 2006, we asked the make-up artists for a Diva-to-Diva Makeover; and the designers, to sketch a Bridal Gown for P20k. In 2008, we had a Wedding Planners’ Challenge: How Low Can You Go? wherein detailed budget breakdown of the most affordable wedding they could muster good for 100 guests. While the price quotes in these previous challenges may now be obsolete, the basic essence remains: that wedding professionals rise up to any challenge and deliver what is expected of them.

For our florists challenge, we asked Mimi + Karl to capture the images of the florists’ unique creations. Their photography tandem are known for the beautiful shoots of wedding details so they were a shoo-in for a project like this. We set our sights for an afternoon shoot at Fernwood Gardens to serve an appropriate backdrop for our (un)floral subjects. On the day of the shoot, the table where all the bouquet were laid down practically looked like cornucopia were fruits and vegetables abound. Felt like harvest time!

Participating in this fun challenge are (in alphanumeric order): 7 Lily, 2171 Floral Creations, April & Karen Yu, Henry Pascual, Jun Hen, Robert Blancaflor, and Teddy Manuel. What they came up with are as colorful as conventional bridal bouquet, except these weren’t conventional at all. Far from it, actually. We even saw some that would be a perfect accent for themed weddings.

Each of us in the shoot has our own favorite, but we are not telling. We’ll let you decide. [READ MORE…]

Upside Down Wedding Cake by Grand Cakes

We’ve all heard of upside-down cakes.  But an Upside Down Wedding Cake?!

A quick search via Google Images would return very limited images.  Above is one of the couple of images that stood out.  It’s a neat trick, it’s creative, and it’s definitely an eye-catcher.  It’s amazing how cake artists make such a reverse, multi-tiered cake stand up without toppling over.  It an ‘engineering’ feat!

It’s definitely for soon-to-weds who want to make a statement. Cutting a slice would take some figuring out though.