this entry was meant to be written last oct. 22. but several days before and even after oct. 22, husband & i were in utter lack of precious time. so what about that date? 5th wedding anniversary lang naman namin. thanks God, despite our busy sked, we were able to hear the very early morning mass at st. claire in katipunan & have dinner at moa. i recall, we had dinner at the pearl manila on our 1st, spent 2 nights at manila mandarin on our 2nd, gulfed a huge box of pizza on our 3rd & spent the whole day at the beach in binogawan on our 4th. 5 years hence, the joys of marriage...the joys of going back to our wedding day.
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oct 20, 2001 - - - 2 days prior to wedding day (oras, samar)
in the evening, my younger sisters baby & jingle arrived from manila. they had loads of flowers straight from dangwa (read:calla llilies, mums, roses & stargazers) and my 3-layer vienna cake. yes, my sisters hand-carried the heavy, fondant cake. w/ them were auntie lina, auntie elen & uncle ted, all from vancouver. it was uncle ted's 1st philippine visit after about 30 years. i later learned that he carried 1 layer of the cake during the 1-hour manila-tacloban plane ride & 3.5 hrs. tacloban-oras land trip. oh how sweet of him. the cake must have been heavy that he suggested that my sisters better elope next time.
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oct. 21, 2001 - - - 1 day more & it's wedding day!
everyone was busy at home (as reception was to be held in our backyard aka remedios garden). the florists from tacloban arrived past noon w/ a truckload of pillars & white life-sized cherubs. oh man, was i relieved? more than relieved. in the afternoon, we attended mass & had confession. the last time i confessed face to face a priest sans the tabing was before i had my first communion in grade 2! it felt like we were going to be executed! the church rehearsals followed & we headed home which proved to be even busier than i could ever imagine.
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oct. 22, 2001 - - - wedding day!!!
i think it was about 4am when the dawn serenade passed by our house (read: a band playing soothing music goes around town as if saying 'hey people wake up. it's darlene's wedding!' [side kwento: we learned later in the day that uncle ted wanted to video-tape the dawn serenade, but was too late as the music was almost done when he woke up]).
by 9am, the heaven's poured rain! my tears fell w/ the drizzle. as i watch the rain in our balkon, uncle gerry joined me and said something like it will rain heavily in the morning so nothing will fall in the afternoon. i was relieved by his assurance (as if he can control heaven) . in my heart, i knew God will grant us a rain-free wedding. that very hour, my future husband then, was already being made up & had no choice but to abide by my rule that his preps be as maarte as mine. after his mock-preps, he slept!
my groom gets ready to wed
by 11am, the up-do of my entourage started. the hours ran so, so fast that i saw myself done, made-up & in the center of the standard wedding prep picture-taking session. when i went out of the room, my 3 nephews (anjo-9; jase-4 & jm-3) handed me my bouquet. oh how i love my nephews! my parents' role at this instance was to cover me w/ my veil.
aren't they cute? jm won't even let go of his lollipop!as i was alighting our 100-yr old vintage stairs w/ tatay & nanay behind me, i couldn't hold back my tears. i'm the first cordero to ever alight that stairs in a wedding dress! (i mean, my grandma from whom my father & his siblings inherited the centennial house, alighted the same stairs in a wedding dress before she married a cordero, right?).
this used to be my giant slide!
as the bridal car (aka my sister's white toyota) was traversing the street across the church, i could see future husband at the church doors as if anticipating my arrival. my heart jumped. oh my! it's for real, i'm getting married (side kwento: i later learned that future husband's heart also jumped the first time he saw the bridal car). so would it not be too baduy to say that 2 hearts can really beat as 1? 
the white figure at the church door is dear hubby the sight of our lovely entourage in periwinkle and our ninangs in gray queuing outside the church made made really, really, really happy. i'm getting married na nga.
i just stayed in the car while our wedding party had their march. and when it was my turn, i had my cue to take my first step when i heard the first key of shania twain's 'from this moment' (read: in 2001, i didn't imagine it would be as gasgas as it is today). from the church door, i could hardly see the 10 faces at the altar beaming at me. 10 priests? yes, 10. we only expected the bishop, the church monsignor and a family-friend priest. the other 7 priests are all friends and their presence was a pleasant surprise. that included fr. nilo, who was vacationing from new jersey. who would not be happy? 10 priests on your wedding day? any bride would feel ecstatic.
2-layered veil barely covered my back!
but aren't the flowers amazing & cherubs heavenly?
i tried holding back my tears as i walked towards my parents. and when tatay 'gave' me to future husband, i could see my parents & future in-laws trying to hold back their tears. the many faces around us were also in tears. so i gave in. i knew i had to cry or else i'd have a heart attack. 
we will forever be grateful to these priests who blessed us on our wedding
when we reached our seats, futurehusband whispered 'tama na'. it meant, stop crying, the bishop is here. the bishop was all smiles when we got near him. maybe he was naaaliw with my halgulgol.
our wedding ceremony turned out as solemn as we wanted it to be. but in the end, the bishop had to ask me before the signed our marriage contract if i'm sure about marrying husband, to which i just smiled. i think he also asked husband the same thing. cool bishop indeed.
what an honor to have the bishop officiate our wedding! that's me kissing the bishop's ring
after our 'official kiss', we hugged so, so tight that i could hardly breath. we both cried while the audience applauded. i think the captured picture of our embrace says it all.
believe me, husband never held me that tight. ever.
breaking the heartwarming moment w/ our cutie bearers & flower girls
we reached remedios garden before sunset. the beaming faces who received us were all familiar. what could be any happier than an occasion where family and friends are present. aaah, it's our wedding.
the last to enter, who else?
husband & i opted to say our 'thank yous' during the first part of the reception since we wanted all our guests to hear how grateful we are for their presence, for which reason, i could not help but shed a tear again.
instead of the the dove release, we 'released' candies from a hanging bell to the delight of our kiddie guests.
and oh, our vienna cake...we had it placed atop branches of a driftwood auntie lina salvaged in monbon beach in 1999. i also had a barbie doll in a wedding gown like mine, and a ken in barong stand in one of the branches. we thought the dolls could be our mini-us, but with husband's protruding tummy and barbie's extra-ordinary figure of 8, i doubt! yet still, no one could ever be more handsome than dear hubby that day. and he assured me that moi was all pretty. call that mutual respect (mutual admiration is an understatement).
our wedding cake w/ our mini-us on the right
after a series of 'kuratsa' and 'aminodos', and the sumptuous buffet prepared by the leyte park hotel chef and waiters we pirated for the event, and the overflowing wines, spirits and beer, with an instant sing-along seession on the side, we called it a night; i mean a day at 4am, october 23!
that's the visayan tradition of helping newlyweds start their new life together: shower of money while dancing the kuratsa
and the most important thing aside from the solemnity and privacy of our wedding, and the overflowing love from family and friends, it didn't rain on our parade!
really happy!
end of our wedding story. meanwhile, we continue our journey. so help us God.
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there was one time i asked husband what he thinks of our 10th anniversary. he said it's just as simple as reaching the 10th year. but of course! hmmmp. so i go straight to the point: will we celebrate? i mean....you know? he smiled. i smiled back. that's actually how he proposed exactly 6 years ago. only that, now, the roles have been reversed.
a snapshot of our baguio honeymoon. that's me actually convincing husband that we renew our vows on our 10th year! (yes, ganun kaatat)
