10 October 2026
Mary the Queen Parish and Shangri-La The Fort, Manila

I remembered my vows. I remembered our dance. After all the preparation, the one thing that forgot its assignment was my toe.

Coach Eric had reminded me to point it when Toff dipped me. I had practiced so much. And then, on the actual night, my foot apparently decided it had contributed enough.

That is a small but very honest introduction to our wedding: a day I had thought about in extraordinary detail, and a day that still managed to surprise me. There were beautiful gowns and orchids, a church full of people we loved, and an enchanted forest waiting for us at the reception. There were also two bites of breakfast, nerves over a bowl of soup, and a bride who wanted very badly to play her own claw machines but never got the chance.

On October 10, 2026, I married my Toff, my first and last boyfriend. For everyone who could not be there, and for everyone who was there and wants to remember it with us, this is how the day felt from inside the gown.

Before there was a wedding there was a joke

Toff used to be the groomsman who could bring a plus one but never had anyone to bring. One day, he jokingly told his friend Jed, “Don’t worry, I’ll bring a plus one to your wedding.”

Jed took the assignment seriously. He asked his cousin and suit maker, Bernie Ngwe, to help find someone for Toff. When Bernie asked what he was looking for, Toff’s answer was, “Anybody… basta maliit.”

Fortunately, Bernie understood that compatibility required a little more than a height requirement.

On July 14, 2021, she called me. I was hesitant. She stayed on the phone for three whole hours, telling me about Toff, until I agreed to give one date a chance. I did not want all her effort to go to waste. I certainly did not know that one day she would be designing the clothes for our wedding.

Our first date was at an outdoor park during the pandemic. Afterwards, I even brought Toff along to distribute food packets for members of a business club. Very romantic of me to include errands on the first date! But I remember feeling comfortable. I did not have to fill every silence. We could simply be together.

We had both been single for 29 years. With other people, I had sometimes felt I needed to be at my very best to be liked. With Toff, I could just be me. He liked me in regular clothes, without makeup, long nails or lashes. For five years, he made the two-hour round trip every week to see me. He carried my bag, made sure I had eaten, and would rather go hungry himself than let me go without.

I noticed, love. Even when those things became familiar, I noticed.

A year after that phone call, I went to Jed’s wedding as Toff’s first ever plus one. On May 30, 2025, during a La Union trip with our close friends Kim and Jannel, Toff proposed on an empty beach during blue hour. There was a light drizzle around the proposal and rain afterwards. It was just the four of us, and it felt right.

Then, after more than a year of wedding planning, the date we had been putting on invitations and group chats was finally done.

Three siblings and three gowns

The night before my wedding, I was still awake until around midnight with my siblings, Tomas and Kelly, helping steam my three wedding outfits.

There is something very us about that memory. Before the ceremony, before the photographs, before anyone called me a bride, we were siblings together, making sure the gowns were ready. Tita Beth had kindly lent me her mannequin so we could display the gown properly. Thank you, Tita Beth. Even that small kindness became part of the preparations I now remember with affection.

The three of us took a picture together on my last night before becoming a married woman. At the time, we still had practical things to finish. Looking back, I am so glad we stopped for that photograph.

I was about to begin a new household, but I was spending those last hours with the people who had shared so much of my life already. Kelly and Tomas were there, steaming fabric and helping their sister get ready for a day that would change her life. It was such an ordinary way to show love, and such a lovely thing to have before a wedding.

Five in the morning and a bride with printouts

My wedding day began at 5 a.m., after a very short night’s sleep. By 6 a.m., the Rev Santos makeup team had arrived, right on time.

I was ready with printouts of the hair, makeup and outfits I wanted. Of course I had printouts. I had thought about these looks for so long that I wanted to be able to point to the details instead of trying to explain everything while half awake.

One choice surprised the team: I wanted my hair down for church. They told me brides usually choose an updo. I understood why, but I also knew how I felt about my own photographs. I liked some updos on me in phone pictures, yet I preferred the way loose, face-framing waves looked on me in professional photos. I had grown my hair for a year, and I wanted to use it.

So I chose long waves, with extensions for my getting-ready and church looks. It felt like a big decision then. Now, looking at the pictures, I am so glad I trusted myself. The hair framed my face in the way I had hoped, and I loved it. I kept my hair down for the whole wedding.

The long waves and glam makeup I chose for my church look.

What surprised me was how easy the hair work felt from my side of the chair. So much was happening, but I barely noticed the extensions being put in and the styling taking shape. The finished look seemed to arrive around me while I was busy being a bride.

Breakfast was less elaborate. I managed about two bites of an egg and bacon sandwich. By around 9 a.m., the Mayad photo and video team had arrived, and the morning was moving on.

The photographs before the first tears

My first look was a light blue getting ready gown. The team arranged the invitations and wedding details so beautifully, turning things I had seen separately during planning into photographs that looked like they belonged together. I loved seeing their creativity at work.

We took pictures in that first outfit, and I had photographs with my main gown before wearing it. Seeing the gown there, ready for me, was its own little reminder of what the day held.

All three outfits were by Bernie Ngwe. There was something very personal about wearing her designs. This was the friend who had stayed on the phone for three hours to convince me to meet Toff. Now she had made the clothes I would wear to marry him. Bernie has both heart and an eye for what she does, and her place in our story goes back much further than the gowns.

Along the way, Darlen, my bridal assistant from Wedding Treasures & Events, arrived. I was so grateful to have her. It is one thing to know you will need help with a wedding dress. It is another to live through a day of outfit changes and realise how much easier it is because someone is right there, ready to help.

At around 11:30 a.m., I had my first look with my family.

That was when I became tearful. Until then, there had been so much to do that I could move from one thing to the next. Seeing my family brought me out of that practical mode. This was really happening. I was getting married, and these were the people who had known me long before anyone knew me as Toff’s girlfriend.

I chose a family photoshoot that morning instead of a separate bridesmaids and maid-of-honour shoot. I am very happy I did. I wanted my family to have that first gown look with me. The morning belonged to them.

The drive with Papa

At around noon, Papa and I left for church in a white Montero. Having him beside me made me feel secure. I could be a bride on her way to her wedding and still be his daughter, sitting beside someone whose care I had known all my life.

Despite the traffic, we reached Mary the Queen Parish in Greenhills West, San Juan City, at around 1:05 p.m. Our ceremony was set for 1:30 p.m., and I was very proud that we were there in time. After all the planning and all my concern about the schedule, being ready felt like an achievement already.

While I waited in the car, I saw my bridesmaids and members of my Chua family making their way into church. That touched me more than I had expected. They were no longer names on a list or people I was messaging about call times. They were there, walking into the place where I was about to become a wife.

There is one thing I should explain about the video. Some people noticed my big sighs in Mayad’s same-day edit. A little of that was my drama for the camera! Please do not imagine that I spent the whole car ride sighing quite so theatrically.

But the feeling just before the doors opened was real. At that point, there was no more planning to hide inside. It was time for me to walk.

When the church doors opened

I had thought about the entrance. I lowered my head for that dramatic opening of the doors. Then I looked up, saw the people and the cameras, and became very aware that everyone was looking at me.

I started walking faster than I meant to. One of the coordinators called out for me to slow down, so I did. Was it the most perfect bridal walk? In my mind, probably not. But it was my first time walking down an aisle as a bride. I was feeling everything while trying to remember how to move inside a very large gown. Such is life.

Then Mama and I looked at each other, and there were tears in both our eyes. There was an understanding in that look that I cannot fully put into words. Mama had been there through the practical, unglamorous parts of getting me ready, too. We even had our own little pee-pad story behind the scenes, a detail only the two of us needed to understand.

And now she was giving me away.

I was walking towards the man I wanted to marry while looking at the mother who had cared for me all my life. That is what I remember most clearly about the walk. I can think about my pace and my posture afterwards. In that moment, Mama and I knew what it meant to be there.

The promises I had been afraid of getting wrong

One of my biggest worries was making a mistake during the ceremony or the vows. I wanted to say the words correctly. I wanted to remember what to do.

In the end, the ceremony felt sacred and went by so quickly. Thankfully, I got through the parts I had been worrying about without the mistake I had feared. We were there together, saying the promises that would make us husband and wife.

For Toff, the vows were the heart of the day. The promise to be true to each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, meant the most to him. He also loved our first kiss as husband and wife, and the kiss at the church doors. I love knowing that the moments he treasures are the ones when we were finally married.

In my letter to him, I had tried to explain why I wanted this life with him. I did not know whether there was really such a thing as “the one.” I knew I could be myself with him, and I wanted us to keep doing life together. Standing beside him in church gave those words a promise to live by.

Allan Naval provided our church music, and Bezalel’s Floral Designs created the ceremony flowers and entrance arch. I was surrounded by details we had chosen, but what mattered most was being there with Toff and the people who had brought us to that day.

Orchids and photographs outside the church

Soon enough, I was outside with my bridesmaids, taking pictures. It was the first proper chance I had to be with them that day, and we got some lovely photographs together. In their blue gowns, with the white umbrellas around us, they were finally beside me instead of somewhere else in the day’s preparations.

I was very happy to have my own wedding umbrella as a little prop, too. It was one of those details I simply wanted, and I am glad I included it.

And my bouquet deserves its own moment. I loved it. It was big, full, luxurious and filled with orchids. I loved the way it looked against my ballgown, but the orchids also meant something to me. My paternal grandparents grew them in their garden. Carrying those flowers brought a memory of the family I came from into the day I was beginning a family with Toff.

I am also so glad I chose a full, poofy ballgown for church instead of a mermaid silhouette. I loved the skirt and the way I felt in it. That gown gave me the bridal feeling I had wanted.

Then it was time to get back into the car. This time, Toff and I sat together. It was only a short journey in a very full day, but I was beside my husband. I had spent the morning preparing to marry him. Now we had actually done it.

Walking into my enchanted forest

Back at Shangri-La The Fort, Manila, we had more photographs to take and a venue to see. Our reception was in Bonifacio Hall, and I had wanted an enchanted forest for so long that seeing it come together felt like a treat I could finally open.

Kyno Kho Flowers and Events brought the foyer and reception styling to life. There were orchids and forest details, blue and gold with touches of pink, and fireflies worked into the design. People who knew me could recognise me in it. That made me so happy. I wanted our wedding to feel like ours, and it did.

The fireflies were for Papa, Dr. George Chua, who loves them. I also love sunflowers. To me, a sunflower is a sun and a flower in one, and I love both. Kyno included just enough hints of them to make me smile without losing the forest I had imagined.

Our invitations were by Jon Malinis of Deskarte Design Studio, and the studio also created the photo gallery and Instagram wall. Toff made our e-invite, and I created our monogram and animation. It was lovely to see something we had worked on ourselves become part of the celebration around us.

There were memories of our life before the wedding throughout the space. Even before the speeches began, our guests could look at our photographs and see pieces of the story that had brought us there.

The claw machines I did not get to play

I saw the claw machines and wanted to play so badly. Of course I did. Claw machines are one of our favourite things to do on dates. Having them at our wedding was a little piece of our ordinary life that we could share with everyone.

But being the bride came with a surprisingly full schedule, and I never got my turn. One of my regrets is not having enough time to wander through the foyer and enjoy all the activities myself. I would have loved to experience that part of the wedding as a guest for a while.

Still, hearing how much people enjoyed it made me happy. Some guests won a stuffed toy from a claw machine for the very first time in their lives. What an exciting little memory to take home from a wedding! And mind you, the chance of winning was only one in six. The machines were not automatically handing everyone a stuffed toy. Getting one was a proper victory.

Everyone who did not win a stuffed toy received a consolation prize, so they still had something to bring home. Mother Carol chose the animal prizes to suit the enchanted forest, including squirrels, monkeys, rabbits, birds and elephants. Guests of different ages kept playing until all the prizes were claimed. Our date activity had found a very enthusiastic new audience.

Quantum Amusement Corporation supplied the claw machines. There were different little chances for guests to try their luck.

We were honoured to have The Matcha Tokyo, one of our dream suppliers, at the wedding. I may not have played the claw machines, but I did manage a photograph with a matcha drink. Small victories for the bride! Dimsum Manila was there with its dim sum cart, and the hotel had canapés, coffee and tea for guests to enjoy.

A special thank-you to our godparents Charles and Anna Paw for The Matcha Tokyo treats. I loved that guests could find something to do, drink or enjoy while waiting for the main program. They had given us their time, and we wanted them to have a good evening with us.

Soup and three things still on my mind

For the night look, the team touched up my hair and removed the extensions. They kept the waves down, and I was happy that my own hair still gave the look I wanted. Rev Santos deepened my makeup a little for the evening. It felt right for the reception and the photographs.

There was also a meal for me. In reality, I mostly drank the soup. I was still nervous because three major things were waiting: our first dance, my speech and the father-daughter dance.

I had practised the dances at least three times a day, sometimes more. I wanted to feel prepared. I wanted our guests to enjoy watching something we had put real effort into. And yet, even after all that practice, the thought of doing it on stage in front of everyone still made dinner difficult.

I changed into my dance outfit. Before I had much time to think about it, we were getting ready to go on.

Turning Page and the toe that forgot

Our program began with our host, Candice Tan, welcoming everyone and acknowledging the people who were part of our day. We had made room to recognise our principal sponsors, our parents and entourage, our Bible bearers and my confirmation godparents, Raul and Elizabeth Antonio, and Toff’s beloved grandmother, Apho Dolores Wong.

For our entrance, the pre-wedding video led into the reveal of Toff and me on stage. We began with “Turning Page” and then moved into “Uptown Funk.” I liked having that change in mood. We could have our romantic first-dance moment and still enjoy being a little playful together.

For two people who joke about having two left feet, simply getting through the choreography felt like an achievement. Coach Eric Yu Villaluz had helped us prepare, and thankfully I remembered the dance.

Except for the toe.

When Toff dipped me, I forgot to point it. Coach Eric had specifically reminded me, and I still forgot. In the photograph, I can see the detail that might have made the line smoother. But after all those rehearsals, if one little toe was the thing that escaped, I can smile about it.

We had done our first dance as husband and wife. I was so relieved, and very glad we had learned it together.

A speech for the people who got us there

Next came my speech. I began by thanking everyone for being there, especially those who had already spent the afternoon with us at church. It had been a long day for them, too. They deserved the round of applause I asked them to give themselves.

I told the story of the joke that had brought Toff and me together, and I thanked Bernie. She had introduced us, designed our gowns and suits, and dressed our entourage. It was quite a journey from “basta maliit” to a wedding reception.

Then there was Mother Carol.

People say planning a wedding takes two people. In our case, there were three of us. At the busiest point, we had 20 supplier group chats, and Toff’s mother was in all of them. She spearheaded so much of what everyone was enjoying that evening. After more than a year of planning and organising, I wanted her to hear, in front of everyone, that we saw what she had done for us.

Her birthday was the next day, October 11. It felt right that the evening also gave us a chance to celebrate her. Mother Carol, I said it then, and I mean it now: thank you for giving so much of yourself to our wedding.

I also thanked our parents, Papa George and Mama Vivian, and Papa John and Mother Carol, and the more than 320 family members and friends who had come. Some travelled a long way. Some changed important plans. Every person in that room had a life of their own, and they had chosen to spend part of it with us.

Finishing the speech was a relief. The first dance was done, too. I could begin to relax a little. With the help of my angels, at one point two or three people helping me get dressed, I changed back into my ballgown. I wanted to wear it again for photographs with our guests, and I am so glad I did.

Dinner and one more dance with Papa

Dinner gave everyone a chance to settle in, eat and enjoy the evening. I liked that our program had room for a quieter meal as well as the activities.

Papa gave a touching speech about how I would always be his baby, even as it was time for me to grow up. Hearing that on my wedding day carried a different weight. Only a few hours earlier, I had been sitting beside him on the drive to church. Now I was his married daughter, listening to him speak about letting me begin this part of my life.

Then we had our father daughter dance. Papa might tell you that was the most difficult part of his evening! We had prepared for it, and I am so glad we did. I wanted us to have that memory together.

As much as I had worried about remembering the steps, what matters to me now is that I got to dance with my father on my wedding day. I can watch it again and know that we made time for it. I do not have to wonder what that moment would have been like.

The speeches I could listen to again

My sister Kelly, my maid of honour, gave a wonderful ten minute speech. Everyone admired it. Kelly admired it, too, judging by the fact that she had already watched it at least ten times afterwards! I love that she was happy with it. She should be.

There is something especially moving about hearing your sister speak at your wedding. She knows the person you were before this day. She had been there with me the night before, helping steam the gowns. Now she was standing in front of our family and friends, giving her words to the day. I was so glad I had asked her to be my maid of honour.

I wanted the people closest to us to have a place in the evening, and I wanted our guests to hear from the people who had known us through different parts of our lives.

When it was time for Toff’s parents to speak, there was an unexpected development: his father was still in the bathroom. Mother Carol went up on her own and told everyone exactly that.

It was so genuine. After a day with carefully prepared entrances and rehearsed dances, that very honest explanation was wonderfully human. People loved it. I loved that she could simply be herself in front of the room.

The speeches were among my favourite parts of the wedding. I remember how quiet people became as they listened. There was so much history in the room, and for a little while we could hear it spoken aloud. Our families had loved Toff and me separately for years. Now they were there to celebrate us together.

The little moments between the big ones

The evening also held our cake cutting and wine toast, photographs with our parents and sponsors, and the chance to give gifts and say thank you. I was grateful that I found time to give my bridesmaids their gifts. The day could move so quickly that even something important could easily be swept into the next activity.

We managed a few minutes of pictures at the Instagram wall and the forest backdrop in the foyer. I would have liked more time there, but I am happy we have those photographs. I also loved putting my ballgown back on so that guests who wanted a picture with us could share that look with me.

For the rest of the evening, we had planned games around our favourite songs and little facts about us. The woodland match in the explorer guide booklet belonged to the forest theme, while “Name the Song Then Sing It” brought in our playlist. There was team trivia, too. We chose food keepsakes and other small prizes because we wanted people to have fun with the details.

The growing up video, created by Moments into Memento, brought our earlier years into the evening. Mayad’s same day edit let us look back at a day that had barely finished happening. I understand why wedding films matter so much now. You live the day from one place, with one pair of eyes. Afterwards, you get to see the faces and moments you could not catch yourself.

Toff’s thank you speech was part of the closing program, followed by more photographs and the after party. We had prepared an evening that could become a little less formal once the main program was over, with music and time for people to come up to us.

I was very tired, but I stayed until the end. We had asked our guests to give us their day, and I wanted to be there with them through the last part of it.

The people who kept looking after me

Wedding Treasures & Events deserves a very heartfelt thank you. Ms. Vangie (Evangeline Go), Eugene Oda and the team put so much care into what they did. I felt that they were giving us the best they could. Darlen’s help throughout the day was part of that care, and I was glad I accepted all the help I could get.

There was another kindness near the end of the night that stayed with me. Around midnight, as we were wrapping up and the venue needed to be cleared for the next day’s event, our hotel wedding concierge was still with me.

I asked how long she would stay. She told me she would be there until she had brought me back to my room.

I had not expected that answer. By then I was exhausted, and it meant so much to know someone was still making sure I was all right. So many people had seen me at my most dressed up that day. I felt very grateful for the people who were also there when I was simply tired and needed help getting back upstairs.

At two in the morning my sister was still on duty

Even after the reception, Kelly was taking her maid of honour duties seriously.

At around 2 a.m., she went to the room where Toff was spending time with his friends and told him, “Your bride is waiting for you.”

Now that is a maid of honour.

I was already very sleepy, but I waited for my husband. And when we were together again, one of the things we did on our first night as husband and wife was fold clothes.

I had written to Toff that I looked forward to our ordinary days, the ones with nothing special planned and us simply happy being together. After a whole day of gowns, vows and photographs, we were already doing one of those everyday things.

I love that memory. We had spent the day promising to share a life. There we were, starting with the clothes.

The first week of marriage according to Micki

Of course, I have a few marriage jokes already. They are funny because there is some truth in them.

When I woke up and remembered that I was married, my first thought was essentially, “Hindi ko naman pinagsisisihang pinakasalan si Toff… so far.” (Haven’t regretted marrying Toff so far) Please appreciate the reassuring part of that sentence, love.

Then there is the driving. Lately, going to Toff has meant about two hours each way, four hours in total in a day. Is getting married worth a four hour drive? Questionable. The husband is lovely. The traffic requires further discussion.

The vows were tested early, too. The hot water stopped working, and for a week I was showering in shiveringly cold water. “For better or for worse” arrived much sooner than expected, straight from the showerhead. I had imagined the adjustment to married life in many ways. I had not pictured being quite that cold.

And after growing my hair for a whole year for the wedding, my message to the hairdresser became: the wedding is over, cut it off. Five inches. The long hair assignment had been completed.

Toff has his own adjustment to report. Counter-Strike used to have a more generous place in the evening; now there is the matter of sleeping early. He has also made a joke about returning his bride after the wedding night. I consider the return policy discussion closed.

We can laugh about these things because we are learning what it means to bring our everyday lives together. There is still traffic. Appliances still break. We still have our own habits. We also have someone to tell the story to afterwards, and someone who knows why it is funny.

A few things I would do differently

There are details I would change if I could do the day again. I would ask the photographers to capture every table, even when Toff and I could not join them. We removed most of the table-to-table photos to keep the program moving, but our parents or other family members could have joined the guests in our place. Every table held people who mattered to us. I would have loved a photograph of every one.

I would also make my preference clear about photo printouts and sleeves without supplier logos. Branding can be part of the standard design unless you ask. I would have liked those keepsakes to carry our wedding details and the memories in the photographs.

I would find a way to enjoy the foyer activities for a few minutes. And, naturally, I would point my toe.

But I am happy with so many of the choices we made. My hair down, the extensions for the first two looks, the glam makeup, the full ballgown, the orchid bouquet, the family morning, the drive with Papa, the dances we practised, Kelly beside me, and all the help I accepted. They are part of why the day felt so personal.

I am especially glad I wore my ballgown again for the guests who wanted photographs. I am glad we chose suppliers who cared. I am glad I stayed until the end, even tired. When I look back, I can see little decisions that gave us memories I would not want to lose.

To everyone who was part of our day

If you were with us on October 10, thank you for coming, for waiting, for listening, for celebrating and for being in our photographs. If you could not be there, I hope this has let you spend a little of the day with us. We felt your love in the messages and wishes that surrounded the wedding, too.

I can be very particular about a hairstyle, a photograph or the timing of a program. Writing this has reminded me how much of the day was held together by people quietly looking after us. Kelly and Tomas with the steamer. Papa in the car. Mama looking back at me in church. Mother Carol in all those group chats. The hands helping me into a gown, and the person still beside me at midnight.

Those memories are why I will always feel loved when I think about our wedding.

And Toff, my love, please keep taking me on dates. I still want our park walks and our claw-machine games. I want us to keep making an effort, even as we get comfortable, and to keep choosing each other when life is busy or ordinary or the shower is freezing.

Of everything I chose for October 10, marrying you is the choice I am happiest about.

You are my first and last boyfriend, and now you are my husband. I loved our wedding day. I love that we get to have the days after it, too.

This is our love story. I love it because it is ours.

Our wedding program

For anyone following the day through our photographs and videos, here is the outline of our day and the reception program we prepared. Reception times are approximate planned times; the memories above tell the day as I experienced it.

Time	What we planned for the day
5 a.m.	My day began at the hotel.
6 a.m.	The Rev Santos makeup team arrived and preparations began.
Around 9 a.m.	Mayad photo and video coverage and getting-ready photographs.
Around 11:30 a.m.	My family first look and photographs.
Around noon	Papa and I left for Mary the Queen Parish.
Around 1:05 p.m.	We arrived at church and waited for the ceremony.
1:30 p.m.	Wedding ceremony, followed by family and group photographs and pictures outside the church.
Afternoon	Travel to Shangri-La The Fort, couple portraits, venue reveal and preparations for the reception.
From 4 p.m.	Foyer activities, photo gallery, Instagram wall, claw machines, The Matcha Tokyo, coffee and tea.
5 p.m.	Official cocktail hour and Dimsum Manila, with hotel canapés served through the cocktail period.
6 p.m.	Bonifacio Hall doors open, with elders prioritised from the holding area.
Around 7 p.m.	Candice Tan welcomed guests; acknowledgments of sponsors, Bible bearers, Apho Dolores Wong, parents and entourage. “Dancing in the Moonlight” accompanied the family and entourage entrance.
Around 7:10 p.m.	Pre-wedding video, couple reveal and first dance to “Turning Page” and “Uptown Funk.”
Around 7:20 p.m.	My welcome and thank-you speech.
Around 7:25 p.m.	Prayer before meals
From 7:30 p.m.	Dinner, my change back into the ballgown, photographs with parents and sponsors, gift presentation and songs from our host. Guest activities resumed during dinner.
Around 8 p.m.	My parents’ speech and the father-daughter dance.
Around 8:15 p.m.	Woodland-match icebreaker using the explorer guide booklet.
Around 8:20 p.m.	“Name the Song Then Sing It,” with selections from our playlist and prizes for guests.
Around 8:40 p.m.	Cake cutting, followed by the growing-up video. Our evening also included a wine toast.
Around 8:50 p.m.	Time for siblings Kelly Maid of Honour to speak.
Around 9:10 p.m.	Team Toff and Team Micki trivia.
Around 9:30 p.m.	Speech by Toff’s parents.
Around 9:35 p.m.	Mayad same-day edit, followed by Toff’s thank-you speech.
From around 9:45 p.m.	Guest photographs, more music and the after-party, with the venue celebration wrapping up by midnight.

The dinner menu we prepared included Iberico pork, roast duck and suckling pig, followed by seafood soup, scallops with celery, a prawn-and-mango roll, Angus beef, poached broccoli with bailing mushroom, Canton signature fried rice and steamed grouper. Almond soup, wedding cake, tea and coffee rounded out the evening. Looking at that list now, I am reminded that I really should have managed more than the soup!

The people who helped make it happen

Our wedding was made possible by a great deal of work and care. I want the people behind it to have their place in the story, too.

Role	Supplier or credit
Church and ceremony venue	Mary the Queen Parish, Greenhills West, San Juan City
Reception venue	Bonifacio Hall, Shangri-La The Fort, Manila, Bonifacio Global City
Catering	Shangri-La The Fort, Manila
Wedding coordination	Wedding Treasures & Events, Evangeline Go and Eugene Oda; special thanks to Ms. Vangie and my bridal assistant Darlen
Wedding cake	Cakes by Mannix, Shangri-La The Fort partner
Invitations and graphic design	Jon Malinis, Deskarte Design Studio
E-invite	Christoff Sy
Foyer and reception styling	Kyno Kho Flowers and Events
Ceremony flowers and entrance arch	Bezalel’s Floral Designs
Bridal and entourage flowers	Bezalel’s Floral Designs
Photo gallery and Instagram wall	Deskarte Design Studio
Wedding photography	Mayad Studios, Mayad Creatives Inc.
Wedding videography and same-day edit	Mayad Studios, Mayad Creatives Inc.
Live feed	Preview Creative Media Solutions
Bridal gowns	Bernie Ngwe
Suits	Bernie Ngwe
Entourage attire	Bernie Ngwe
Hair and makeup for the bride, maid of honour and mother of the bride	Rev Santos (Rev Nyl Santos) and team; Instagram @revsantoshmua
Groom hair and makeup	Lenard Vasquez
Bridal hair colour	Kenneth Charlie Sta. Ana, Salon de Ayala
Host and emcee	Candice Tan
Lights, sound and LED walls	Forsc Ink Inc.
Reception music and DJ	Forsc Ink Inc.
Ceremony music and soloist	Allan Naval
Dim sum cart	Dimsum Manila; Instagram @dimsummanila
Matcha bar	The Matcha Tokyo
Claw machines	Quantum Amusement Corporation
Roving photobooth and Photoman	Anggulo Prints
Baby photographs and growing-up slideshow	Moments into Memento
Dance instruction	Coach Eric Yu Villaluz
Monogram and animation	Micki Chua
Pre-wedding photography and video	Hiraya Creative Visual and Agape by Hiraya
Pre-wedding makeup	Lenard Vasquez
Pre-wedding location	Tagaytay Highlands

With love and thanks as well to our parents and families; Jed and Bernie; our principal sponsors and godparents; Charles and Anna Paw for The Matcha Tokyo; Apho; Tita Beth for lending the mannequin; our entourage; our hotel wedding concierge; and everyone who helped us, celebrated with us or sent their love.

You gave us a day we will keep returning to. Thank you for being part of it.