The Day Before the Big Day

May 8, 2009

Woke up at around 8:00 am and had breakfast with mom, Arvin and Jerome. Yes, Jerome and I violated the rule of not seeing each other the day before the wedding. Since 5 pm pa the next day ang wedding namin, we just thought what the heck, more than 24 hours away pa naman yun eh. Kaya pwede pa magkita. Hehe. Anyway, after breakfast mom, Arvin, and I, together with Eding, went up to Tagaytay while Jerome went back to his apartment to grab his barong and other wedding stuff and headed off to Sta. Rosa to meet up with his family before they all go together to Tagaytay.

Arrived in Tagaytay a little after noon and went straight to the house that we borrowed for the special day. The house is owned by my mom's friends, Pie and Rina David, who were very kind to let us use it for a few days. The house was so beautiful! With all the stained glass walls and the beautiful backyard. We were greeted by a nice lunch prepared by my lola, Tito Roy, Tita Ethyl and the kids who all went up to Tagaytay the day before to settle in. I will forever be grateful for them as they braved the storm, the notorius Tagaytay fog and the blackout just to make sure that things are all ready before the big day. *sniff*

Anyhoo, my cousin, Ate Kathleen, and Mylene arrived after lunch to pick me up and whisk me to Nature Spa for a much needed pampering and relaxation. We were also joined by my mom and there we spent 3 glorious hours of body scrub, detox and massage.

While we were at the spa, the rest of the family were getting ready for the 'rehearsal dinner' back at the house. My mom arranged a small get-together for family and friends who will be going up to Tagaytay the night before the wedding. We felt that it was a nice way for both families (Jerome's and ours) to bond and get to know each other in a relaxed setting since weddings tend to be hectic and crazy with all the preparations and other stuff that needs to be taken cared of. It was also our way of saying 'thank you' to our friends who made an effort to travel out-of-town and wholeheartedly lent us two days out of their busy schedule (most went up right after work kaya sobrang thank you talaga!).

For the food, we flew in CNT's famous lechon from Cebu, had Eding cook her delicious kaldereta, inihaw na bangus and Ceasar's Salad. The first to arrive were Jerome's dad, mom and his sister, Ate Wena (Jerome was left in the hotel since di nga kami pwedeng magkita. Haha.). Then came Lolo Boy and his sisters, Granny Minnie and Granny Dolly, who were our ninangs for the wedding. My officemates, Miel (candle sponsor), Noemi (veil sponsor), Tricia (offertory), Ann (impromptu commentator) and Ann's son, Alex (bible bearer), were also one of the first ones to arrive. They left the office on the dot kaya maaga sila nakarating. Hehe. Soon after came the Serrano Family with all my half-uncles and aunts and cousins. Ang saya kasi it was the first time for the siblings to all get together as Tito Roy's family is based in Cebu. It was actually heartwarming to see them all together, eating, drinking, smoking and laughing loudly (now I know where my unique laugh came from!) as they exchanged one funny anecdote after another.

At around 10:00 pm, my bestest friends arrived - Susan (martron of honor), Hubert (groomsman), Rachel (maid of honor) and Chiqui (bridesmaid). As they already had dinner (hindi pwedeng gutumin si Susan kasi buntis), they just came along to check up on the bride. As usual, pinatawa na naman ako ng pinatawa ni Hubert. Hehe.

I retired to bed after Susan and the others had left which was probably at around 11:00 pm. Before entering the room, I remember glancing back at the Serrano family who were still huddled around in a circle, drinking and laughing and right there I knew that tomorrow was going to be the best day of my life as I had all my family and friends with me.