After months of planning, meetings with suppliers and spreadsheet encoding, everything just seemed to fast forward to our wedding day. We had a quick wedding rehearsal with Pastor Larry (our officiating minister), our coordinator Ate Rose, my maid of honor Jirah and Maow, the best man. Honestly, I never gave the wedding ceremony choreography much thought. Iniisip ko lang–automatic na yan. I’ll do my slow bridal march towards Dave and Papa hands me over to him. There was more to it. Pastor Larry and his wife, Tita Joy coached us on the bridal march–where to look, how to carry ourselves. It’s so different from the Powers walk I learned in JRP!
Upon reaching the altar with my parents, I’d have to kiss them goodbye, Dave would have to pay his respects with a mano or a handshake and then my father formally turns me over to him. I swear, when Pastor Larry was describing that to me, I couldn’t help but tear up. I’d be the first daughter my Papa would give away in marriage. After the rehearsals, Dave and I agreed that we won’t be exchanging sweet, emotional messages nor see each other until the wedding day itself.
I cried before sleeping because I kept thinking about God’s faithfulness and how He still writes love stories. From #HappySingle to a #HappyBride. Thank you everyone for journeying with me.
Ingrid Nieto-Pagulayan 