in the end, love conquers, endures

(for the first part of this post, all about my best friend's wedding, please click here.)

"love is patient, love is kind. it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

-- corinthians.

my best friend and sister just gave a new meaning to the words late bloomer.

indeed, at an age when most of us singletons are already giving up hope on finding the one (including neo of matrix), she found him and oh how she blossomed right under our inquisitive eyes, inspiring even the most jaded among us to hope and even dream that someone, maybe not the dashing knight in shining armour all the time, will surely come our way even late in life to complete us.

in her case (no, she isn't old. she's still in her twenty's), he isn't just a dashing knight in shining armour.  he's also ever patient and romantic. he proved that distance doesn't matter when you are in love. no thanks to philippine airlines. or any other airline. oh you should hear how many times the bride and the groom had to fly in and out of the country just to be together.

of course, they're also grateful to modern technology, skype and what have you, which helped reduce the distance between the philippines and the united states to a mere push on the ipad and iphone, or samsung galaxy for that matter, a hi here and there, followed by sweet whisperings of i miss you among others.

then like magic, it was as if they were together. that time, space and for that matter, distance, don't exist. that what is important is at that at the end of the day, they can talk, share each other's great or lousy day at work, a horrendous traffic jam caused by flooding and incessant rain, a tiring coverage of press events, and a trying day with news sources who cannot be reached just when you need their comments.

believe me (and i hope my sister won't mind me for sharing this), i have been witnessed countless of times to those romance-filled skype calls, done even when they were on the road, attending a party, resting at home, or simply dreaming about the day when they can be truly together, under a home that they built, sharing a love that hopefully will last through more than three lifetimes.

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it was  a perfect night to get married. late in december, when trees are blooming, the weather is a bit chilly regardless of the threats of rain, the stars although few, far and in between, are alive and cheering,  christmas lights on trees and walls added shine to the already luminous evening, inspiring everyone to come in dressed elegantly for one of the most anticipated moments in our friend's life.

everyone is cheerful. bitching is strictly forbidden. problems are left at the gates, to be claimed later on.

then my friend arrived, dressed perfectly, like a princess, walking in slow motion amid cheers and ohhs and ahhs from her love ones. a bit nervous, i suppose, but still captivating. ravishing. fantabulous!

like a fairy tale princess, she walked slowly and then kissed and claimed her nervous prince at the altar. as the choir sang songs about love and romance and happiness.

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let me start again.
once upon a time...
but we all know the story.
don't we?

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hearts went a flutter. tears flowed. laughters overflowed. vows exchanged. promises of eternal love, loyalty and dedication were shared with a hundred or so family and friends. then more tears, followed by a cheerful applause as the bride and groom, a bit shy, a bit awkward, a bit hesitant sealed their undying vows of love with a kiss. ah, it always ends with a kiss.

the power of kiss. that's how the valiant prince awakened cinderella. or was it sleeping beauty. that's how belle tamed the beast and turned him into a handsome prince once again (and not a frog). that's how snow white captivated the six dwarves who were against the idea of letting her live in their small chalet in the deep of the woods, in the thick of a forest.

the kiss. the vow. the overflowing love. inspiring another friend to plan her engagement and possibly her wedding right at our table, while we were sipping wine, coffee, juice, soft drink, and watching with starry eyes our friends -- the newly weds -- paused for photographs, greeted friends, danced, went through the seemingly endless traditions of slicing the cake, freeing two beautiful white doves into the sky, putting rings on each others' fingers, then more dancing, cheering and kissing.

they were shining, shimmering and splendid -- donna and jun -- the newly weds. the ones who proved us cynics wrong and the romantics right that love will always conquer everything. always endures.

to jun and donna arevalo, our best wishes and cheers for a blissful union.

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some highlights of the wedding of the year, held on the twenty eighth of december at the picc courtyard. it was a garden wedding like no other.

* while waiting for the ceremonies to start: the princely looking central bank governor amando tetangco, ever youthful with glowing skin, led the wedding sponsors, paired with the glamourous and gorgeous former far east bank and bpi bank public relations executive chell jacob.

also in photo are east west bank pr alan tumbaga, manila bulletin's fil sionil and central bank's pr ramon lozano. all radiant in royal blue gowns and barong tagalog.

* lovely friends at the red carpet. what are they wearing?! d(onna) & g(atdula) of course!

* the very cute coin bearer dale, charming the guests with his killer smile, as the pretty flower girls huddled in the background, waiting for their cues to march down the aisle.

a few years from now, dale will surely light a lot of young girls' hearts.

*the gorgeous wedding assistants, one of them is dale's mom. guess which one of them?

* the pretty flower girls' turn to march. someday, it will be their turn to wear the wedding gown.

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the couple and the bride's family - radiant mommy leticia and dad -- and the groom's handsome brother.

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during and after the cermonies.

* modelisque sister, who worked tirelessly that night as one of the two hosts. i simply fell in love with her dress that i asked her not to change anymore into another costume.

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donna's wonderful and lovely family. i always admire and envy how happy and solid they are. every time i see donna's facebook posts about her family having dinner and outings, i can't help but also remember my family back in wonderland.

incidentally, one of her nieces, is a young journalist as well. this early, she has shown a lot of promise. keep up the good work, dawn!

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*heartthrob, balladeer, and actor markki stroem begged me for a souvenir photo. who am i to refuse? 

anyway, the versatile filipino-norwegian star set the evening on fire with his lovely voice, gorgeous face and sexy moves on the stage as he serenaded the guests and the new couple with beautiful jazzy songs. markki, if  you still don't know him, has starred in two films, including the sexy amor y muerte, an entry into the prestigious cinemalaya two thousand and thirteen. in the film, he appeared mostly in his birthday suit, if you know what a i mean, triggering a mass hysteria in the audience.

but fully clothed, or parading on stage in an underwear, or appearing naked on the big screen, markki surely knows his moves and how to win hearts, mine not included. chos!

* this handsome young man couldn't help but....

fell under the spell of mahatma gandah's charms. causing sister kler to shout in horror! thanks for being a sport, young man. you are fabulous.

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oh before i forget, the wedding cake was divine. i love it. i finished two servings of it. not too sweet, not too soft, either.  tamang-tama ang timpla, parang pag-ibig lang nina donna at jun, nahinog sa tamang panahon.

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that's all fairies, witches, princesses, bitches, queens and wannabes.

have a romantic two thousand and fourteen to all of us. may we all find the loves of our lives!!

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song for the day: i finally found someone.