Our Principal Sponsors

I have been writing soo much about me and The Husband; but how could I forget the people who made US happen?

This blog’s edition is dedicated to the people who literally and figuratively walked and will be walking with us as Kelvin and I start and keep our marriage.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to meet our Principal Sponsors, our Secondary Sponsors, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, flower girls, bearers, and our parents!

Today I’ll start off with our Principal Sponsors or Ninongs and Ninangs:

My uncle and the mayor of Alfonso, Cavite; Hon. Mayor Virgilio Varias, and his charming First Lady, Mrs. Rosemarie Varias

Hon. Judge Gonzalo Q. Mapili Jr.  of Cavite, and his wife, my aunt, Dr. Leoncia V. Mapili, who not only ensures that the people of Cavite has sparkling set of teeth, but also has the most enchanting smile

Mr. Cesar Maligalig, and Kelvin’s aunt, Mrs. Dalisay Maligalig, who is also the Principal Statistician of Asian Development Bank

MSgt. Danilo Evangelista of the Philippine Air Force, and my aunt and feisty godmother, Mrs. Melanie Evangelista

Mr. Alexander Macalma, who just arrived from the States after recently retiring from the US Navy, and my elegant Tita, who prepared a scrumptious seafood lunch for us when we visited her in Cavite, Mrs. Virgina Gañac-Macalma.

My uncle, Mr. Gil P. Melo, and his wife, my ever stylish Ninang Mrs. Julie C. Melo. I pleasantly remember when we were still planning  the wedding, my family and I would always bump into them in SM.

My uncle Engr. Cezar Lamanero, who, sadly was not able to make it because he was in Dubai, and our enchanting Ninang who came all the way from Ilo-Ilo, Mrs. Josephine Lamanero.

One of our favorite Ninongs, Dr. Edgar Michael T. Eufemio, who is one of Papa’s treasured friends. He has also been a massive part of Kelvin’s life, having operated Kelvin’s  knees (yes, both of Kelvin’s knees) for his ACL injuries in 2008 and 2011. His wife, also our Ninang, Mrs. Anna Marie V. Eufemio, was unfortunately unable to join us due to a trip outside the country.

Another lovely pair, is our buddy Janno’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham and Josephine Rivera. Ninang Jo is one of our Ninangs who have given us the wisest and most important lessons of married life. I will forever treasure our dinner where we talked about the importance of family, children, and faith.

The last two ladies on the list are the loveliest and the sexiest Ninangs of them all. They truly are our second (and third?) mothers.

Mrs. Hydie F. Peralta, our good buddy JR’s mom, and the barkada’s surrogate mom. Ninang Hydie has been there for Kelvin and the whole barkada ever since they started in grade school and high school in Don Bosco Makati. If you want to know the history of the gang, Ninang Hydie is your go-to woman.

Mrs. Corazon Santos, our mother with another brother, and Kelvin’s best man, Jo. Even since Kelvin and I started years  years ago, she has always been our confidant, mother, and the barkada’s peacekeeper. Kelvin and I recently got into a major fight, two weeks before the wedding, and it was Ninang Corgie who helped us patch things up. Just like Ninang Hydie, Ninang Corgie has seen Kelvin and me, and the rest of the gang, grow from the young snotty boys, into the fine men that they are right now.

And there you go! I dedicate this blog to our phenomenal Ninongs and Ninangs who joined us on our wedding day and took time off their insanely busy schedules. Thank you so much po! With you behind us as our advisers and guides, we're more confident that our marriage will always be on the right track. Thank you for all your advice and guide even before our wedding day. We love you!

Next up are the lovely ladies and dashing men of our wedding party!

#KelandLeng2015

__________________________________

Hit me up!

Wedding Blog: http://www.kelvinandleng2015.blogspot.com/

My life's blog: http://www.sentimentsofleng.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliane.varias

My thoughts on marriage a month after our weddng

Kelvin and I have been married a month now, and a thousand things have been happening. A lot of people have been asking me about the changes and discoveries of a newly married life. Well, do I have a lot of stories for you!

First, let’s talk about the general stuff:

• ·         I am not a big fan of house chores, but because I’m a wife now, I have to do them
• ·         When I was still single, I would ask my brother to travel from Batangas to Manila just to clean my house. Now Kelvin and I clean the house. Kelvin’s territory is the terrace and restroom, and I take care of the bedrooms, living and dining room, and the kitchen.
• ·         When I was still single, I didn’t cook at home because I didn’t like the idea of cooking for myself, eating alone, and cleaning up after myself. So what I did is I just go to the office and ask my colleagues to eat with me at the pantry or any fast food/restaurant nearby. Now I wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning to prepare our breakfast, and lunch that we take to work. I now have someone to eat with at home, and Kelvin cleans up and washes the dishes while I take a shower. J I also realized that I like cooking! It was my first time to cook Chicken Curry, giniling, and all other dishes and Kelvin seemed to love all of them. I’m just happy some of Mama’s spectacular cooking skills have rubbed off on me. Now my daily thoughts as a wife is, “What should I prepare for breakfast/lunch/dinner later/tonight/tomorrow/the next day/ next week?” I’m also excited to try out some new dishes and surprise Kelvin with them.
• ·         Last year, when I needed my clothes washed, I take my clothes to the laundry shop, and some of them to my Mama and she washed my clothes for me. But because I’m married now, I do the laundry – well most of it is delegated to the laundry shop, but some of it I wash by hand. But because I haven’t washed a single piece of clothing in YEARS, when I first did the laundry, I ended up with nasty abrasions on my knuckles.
• ·         I am not neatest person (alright, fine, I am not neat at all) but now everytime I leave the house I have to make sure that everything is in its place and the bed is made so that when the husband and I come home, all tuckered out from work, we won’t be stressed out by the sight of our messy house.

Second, here are the things that I do/did that (sometimes) drive Kelvin nuts:

• ·         He wasn’t very impressed with how I put our wedding gifts in the cabinet so he decided to rearrange them – which hurt my feelings;
• ·         He also wasn’t very happy with how I stacked the washed dishes in the dish rack so he rearranged them too; this time he asked me first
• ·         He didn’t like that my fried rice had big unpeeled garlic in them. He insisted that he was choking on them
• ·         He didn’t like that I left out one serving dish unwashed when I left for work. When I got home, I saw him sleeping on the couch and when I woke him up, he sleepily admonished me, “You didn’t wash the plate” – and that, again, hurt my feelings. I cleaned house and did the laundry before work, by the way
• ·         He wasn’t very happy that I forgot to take out the trash and decided to reprimand me the moment I woke up the next morning.
• ·         He was not happy that the china cabinet was blocking the fuse box. How in the world could I have moved that thing? What does he think of me, Wonderwoman?!
• ·         He asked me not to put hot water in one of our glasses because it might break. A few days later I did see one of our glasses with a crack on it. Whether it was the glass that I used, I am not quite certain.
• ·         (Again) Because I am not very neat nor organized, I’ve got a lot of stuff on the couch. Kelvin has politely asked me to remove my bags, clothes, make up, plastic bags, toiletries, pillows, bags of food, and what not off of it.  I’ve got so much stuff on there! So much that you can’t see the couch anymore! Haha!
• ·         It takes me quite a long time to get ready so he decided that I should take a shower before he does because I still have to put my makeup and lotion on, go through about 3 outfits before I choose the final one and move my stuff into a different bag.

Third, these are the things that Kelvin did/does that (sometimes) drive me crazy:

• ·         To take care of the pesky mosquitoes, Kelvin bought a bug spray and uses them at home. The thing is, after using it, he leaves it lying around in the house and I keep on putting it back in the cabinet only to find it again in another location the next day! I have lost count of the number of times I’ve seen that thing on the table, in the kitchen, and in the living room. The same goes for the bathroom cleaner!
• ·         Once Kelvin gets home, he leaves ALL of his stuff in the living room. That includes his shirts (the clean ones and the not-so-clean ones), socks, underwear, trash, and everything else. And not just the living room! He leaves them on the dining table too!
• ·         On our first weekend as a married couple, we bought tons of stuff for the house, including a toothbrush and toothpaste holder. So, can someone please tell me why Kelvin still leaves his toothbrush on the sink?
• ·         Kuya Manuel (a family friend and jack-of-all trades) installed a bolt lock on the door. So why doesn’t Kelvin use it?
• ·         Kelvin farts ALL THE TIME
• ·         Kelvin puts food in the fridge and he doesn’t cover it
• ·         Kelvin eats cold pizza
• ·         Kelvin drank ALL of our wine
• ·         He uses the serving dish for the rice as his own plate so that he doesn’t have to wash ONE extra plate

As much as he drives me crazy, he still does a lot of things that make me go, “Aww…”. So for the last list, here are the things that I love about The Husband:

• ·         When he leaves the house before I do, he makes the bed so that when I come home, I have a nice neat bed to lay my tired body on.
• ·         He pulls his own weight with the chores by taking care of the garage, restroom, dishes, the trash, and tidying up the house.
• ·         He always tells me that he doesn’t want me doing too many things at home and he doesn’t want me to tire myself out.
• ·         I have been sick for a number days and my asthma is acting up especially in the middle of the night. When I suffer from coughing fits in the middle of the night, Kelvin would wake right up, hand me some water and my inhaler, and tap my back. He’d then wait for my coughing fits to settle down and then he hugs me back to sleep.
• ·         Before bed, he sets up my nebulizer, and makes me use it so that I don’t cough as much at night.
• ·         When we wake up in the morning, he makes sure that I take my use my maintenance inhaler (yes, I have two inhalers) and take my vitamins.
• ·         Every morning Kelvin makes sure that there’s water in the restroom for my bath.
• ·         Even when I work late, he waits for me either outside the office at Starbucks, or at home. He waits for me to get home even if it’s almost midnight just so we can have dinner together.
• ·         He takes his provider role very seriously. As soon as he gets his salary, he gives all of it to me so that I can pay our bills and buy the things that we need
• ·         He goes with me to the grocery store to shop for groceries and carries ALL of them home.
• ·         One night I was craving for ice cream and I couldn’t sleep, he took me to the grocery store at 1am just so I could buy my ice cream.
• ·         He lets me buy the things that I THINK we need for the house.
• ·         He takes me to Resort World and buys me ice cream crepe. J
• ·         He still texts me everyday when he gets to the office, during his lunch break, and before he travels home from work. He still asks me if I have eaten and asks me how I am in the middle of the day.

Aww!

So there you go, folks! I told you a thousand things have happened.

What have I learned in a month?

Marriage is indeed tricky with a union of two individuals with pretty strong personalities. Kelvin is his parents’ firstborn and he’s used to making decisions, and lived with his family for 28 years; while I am the youngest in my family, I hate taking orders because I usually make the decisions, and I am used to doing things my way without anyone telling me what to do because I’ve lived on my own for more than 8 years. This means that we usually butt heads especially when we don’t agree on things and I refuse to do the things he asks me to do (which usually annoys the hell out of him).

It’s a good thing that Kelvin and I have agreed, years and years ago, to be really open to each other and tell each other what we think, what we like, dislike, and all other things. In our first month together, every time we find something that we do not like about each other or what the other person has done, we immediately and politely tell each other. This is so that we don’t get offended, and think of ways on how we can change whatever it is we need to change.

In the beginning it was difficult. I took offense and got upset when he said something about the things I’ve done. I felt like I wasn’t doing a good job as a wife, and that somehow I failed. But then I realized (and he also told me) that whenever Kelvin comments about the house, he doesn’t do it because he’s complaining or criticizing me. It’s just that; a comment. He is just telling me what he wants so that I can think about it, compare it to what I want, and come up with a solution that we both can mutually benefit from.

But then on top of everything, even after all the fights, disagreement, tears, cleaning, washing, cooking, lack of sleep, and all other things; I can still say that marriage is spectacular. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I can say that getting married, or marrying Kelvin, that is – is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. We have a lot of differences but those differences are actually what make our marriage work. I am not looking forward to our inevitable fights in the future but I sure am excited for the “kiss and make up” moments. If you know what I mean. *wink wink*

#KelandLeng2015

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Hit me up!

Wedding Blog: http://www.kelvinandleng2015.blogspot.com/

My life's blog: http://www.sentimentsofleng.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliane.varias

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlinsesLeng

Our Wedding Day Part 2: My Thoughts during the Bridal March

It was then time for me to meet my groom at the altar. After much pulling and tugging of my wedding gown, my dad, mom, and I were finally inside the bridal car, driven by a good family friend, and long time family driver, Kuya Val.

The reception and preparation venue, Valentino Resort and Spa, was not very far from the church. However, the road to the church was being repaired so the traffic was badly affected. This was also one of the reasons why the coordinators and photographers were late. Fortunately, when it was our turn to traverse the road to the church, the road miraculously cleared up! I guess God really wanted Kelvin and I to tie the knot!

Here are some pictures taken by Ate Ye on our way to the church.

When we finally got to the church, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of people! I saw a number of our relatives and friends from different parts of the country and of the world. I had to keep myself from jumping out of the car to greet, hug, and thank them for being there. 

Kuya Val then parked the car right by the driveway at the church door. My parents and sister got out of the car but my bridal manager asked me to stay inside the car and only come out when it was my turn to walk down the aisle.

As I was sitting inside the car, I was looking at the line of the entourage, trying to catch a glimpse of my groom. I finally saw him standing between his parents, behind his best men. I wanted to call out to him and run to him but at that moment, looking at him would have to suffice. I only had to wait a few more moments until I get to join him at the altar.

There he is!

But, boy, was it the longest minutes of my life! I saw the entourage lining up, preparing to walk down the aisle and I was just in the car, sitting there and waiting for things to happen. I was just a big bundle of excited energy; I was excited to see everyone, get married and celebrate! At that moment I was growing more and more impatient. A part of me was getting frustrated with all the shebang that I had to go through just to get married. First the make up, then the photos, and now this waiting! Thankfully, my photographer Brian kept me busy posing and smiling for photos.

Let's get married!

After a few minutes, everyone had gotten inside, the church doors have been closed shut, and I finally was allowed to step outside of the car. My manager asked me to stand right outside the church doors, with my head down. At that moment, I was alone (apart from the photographer and videographer capturing that moment). I had a few moments to myself and I took the chance to just breathe and feel that moment.

And then I heard my manager say, “Keep your head down, when the doors open, look up, and then walk.”

I did say I was excited, right? Up until that moment I wasn’t nervous. I was just happy that I am about to finally call Kelvin my husband, and I was excited for the marriage rites and the reception that would follow. But at that moment, mere seconds before the doors opened, I suddenly was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of emotions. I had absolutely no idea what I was so nervous about but I just was. In a few seconds the doors were going to open, and I will walk down the aisle to meet my parents and then be with Kelvin. I suddenly became nervous, happy, excited, and I don’t know what! To calm myself down, I just kept my head down, and focused on my breathing.

And then from under my lids, I felt and saw the church doors open, and I heard the first few lines of “She” by Elvis Costello. That was it. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then looked up.

I didn’t see the flowers that Mama and I painstakingly selected. I didn’t see the floral arch that Mama specifically ordered. I didn’t see the white drapes on the aisle. I didn’t see the decors and styling of the church. Not that they weren’t there. Apparently they were; I just didn’t see them. I didn’t see them because I was overwhelmed by the smiles and love that I could see from everyone. Because those were the only things I could see. I saw our friends, our families, our relatives, our families’ friends, and all of our loved ones. Some were smiling, some were even jumping up and down, and some were wiping tears from their eyes. I caught a glimpse of Kelvin at the altar and I just couldn’t resist it, I took one hand off my bouquet and gave him a quick wave before walking to my parents.

Halfway to the altar were my parents, I saw Mama with her back turned to me, wiping the tears from her eyes. I saw Daddy standing there, with a big smile on his face, and his eyes slightly glistening. As I came near them, Mama turned to face me (she looked soo beautiful!) and they both came near me and put my veil over my head. Once my veil is set, my parents then walked me to the altar to give me away.

A few feet from the altar, I saw Kelvin again and he had this big excited smile on his face. I give him a quick wave again - that was all I could do. It took everything in me not to run into his arms and grab the priest to get things started. Oh well, even if I was allowed to, I don’t think my dress was ready for me to run in it anyway.

I finally reached Kelvin at the altar, where he received my parents’ blessings, and I did the same thing from his parents. And then Honey took my hand, and we took our seats. This was it, we were getting married!!! Finally!         

 Watch out for Part 3! Some snaps from the wedding ceremony!

#KelandLeng2015

__________________________________

Hit me up!

Wedding Blog: http://www.kelvinandleng2015.blogspot.com/

My life's blog: http://www.sentimentsofleng.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliane.varias

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlinsesLeng

Our Wedding Day Part 1: The Prep

It has been days since Kelvin and I have tied the knot. I have been meaning to blog ever since Saturday but things have been awesomely busy I have not had the time to sit down and collect my thoughts.

And today I finally got a window! I came in to work early today – and when I say early I mean 7am early! Only to realize I have a meeting tonight at 7pm which means I can squeeze in some “me” time and write.

So if you’re reading this and you and you want to know how things went on our wedding day, read on!

My family and I woke up at around 6:30AM to have breakfast. We woke up later than planned because I was up half the night finalizing the seat plan with Mama and Kelvin. Mom and I had quite a fight the night before the wedding but made up a few hours before dawn. I also wasn’t able to sleep very well; because it was my last night as a single woman, I figured I better spend my last night wedged between Mom and Dad. I closed my eyes with Mama’s arms wrapped around me, and Daddy’s warm back pressed against my right arm.

Less than three hours later, I woke up to the sound of Mama rustling about getting ready for the day, while Daddy was softly snoring beside me, fast asleep. I didn’t sleep very well. Maybe because I knew what the next morning would be bring and I was too excited. I would be closer to the moment Kelvin, our families, and I have been preparing for. And the day was finally here. I jumped out of bed, kissed my family good morning, and looked at myself in the mirror.

The horror! There were two huge bags under my eyes, and my upper lids were a huge swollen mess. It didn’t help that my fight with Mama the night before left me crying, and my 4:30AM bedtime made it worse. Thank God my makeup artist advised me to put ice on my eyes and face the moment I wake up, and that’s what I did; I even carried my ice pack all the way to the restaurant for breakfast.

I saw Mama Kila (Kelvin’s mom) on the way to the restaurant, I asked for Kelvin and she told he was still sleeping. I had this crazy urge to make a mad dash into his suite, push his door open and jump onto his bed screaming, “We’re getting married today, honey! Rise and shine!” But I knew we weren’t allowed to see each other until the wedding ceremony starts, so I meekly said goodbye to Mama Kila, and joined my family in the restaurant for breakfast.

A few minutes after ordering breakfast, the resort staff informed me that my makeup artist and her team have arrived, so I rushed back to my family’s villa to get ready. I didn’t get to eat, I was too excited anyway. I was just all good and ready to walk down the aisle and marry Kelvin. But I knew that before that even happened, I had to get myself ready and into my wedding gown. I doubt if the priest will be too happy with a bride in her sloppy pajamas walking down the aisle, with crusties in her eyes. I didn’t want to scare my groom away either; although he has seen me at my worst days.

So I rushed into the shower, put my contact lens and robe on, and sat on the makeup chair. My fabulous makeup artist, Icel Galvez, and the rest of her team started working their magic on me.  They first started with my hair, where they sprayed, and twisted it into the style that I wanted. Then Icel worked on my face. While Icel was working on me, the rest of her team then started working on the rest of the ladies of my entourage including our mothers, and sisters. And there I was, sitting on the chair, having my face and hair done, getting ready to meet Kelvin at the altar. At the thought of Kelvin, I hurriedly sent Keith (Kelvin’s brother and best man) and Mama Kila an SMS, telling them to ask Kelvin to go get showered and get ready for the wedding team.

At around 8:30AM, I realized that my wedding coordinators still have not arrived. Badz Gacuma told me that they had a number of mishaps on their way to Batangas and would be late. Mama, Ate Ye, and I then got to work, taking on the role of coordinators, calling and collaborating with the other suppliers. I While getting my face and hair done, I was on the phone with the florist, caterer, coordinators, bridesmaids, groomsmen, and photographers, who also were running late. At this moment, emotions were running high, my mom was starting to panic, and Ate was starting to rant about late suppliers and unprofessional vendors. It was a good thing I took a good look at the timeline that my coordinator sent me, and I had the contact numbers of all the suppliers. I figured, it wouldn’t help if I throw a fit and go bridezilla on the people in the prep venue. I was starting to get worried as well but I just kept my cool. The wedding was not until 2pm. We still had a lot of time. I kept repeating to myself, “I will not stress myself out. What matters is that I am marrying Kelvin.” With that mantra in mind, I kept myself calm and focused on what needed to be done.

At around 10AM the photographers and coordinators finally arrived. I was hugely relieved because I was starting to feel overwhelmed, with Mama panicking and Ate ranting her head off. I didn’t even get the chance to look at myself in the mirror! Almost everyone was furious by the time the coordinators got to our villa. From there they took over, with Ciara as my bridal manager. There were still a number of bloopers here and there, but nothing alarming, we were all able to sort things out eventually.

The photographers then got to work, taking pictures of all the wedding details like the veil, arrhae, shoes, bouquet, cord, etc. 

At this time, I was busy directing my bridesmaids and asking them to hurry getting their hairs and faces done. 

Me and my cousin and candle sponsor, Angel Guno

After a few minutes, the photographers asked me to go into the bedroom where they took a few shots of me. (Wedding people call this the “beauty shot”) As I have never modeled before (apart from the prenup photoshoot), it was pretty difficult for me and I was a little stiff at first. Thankfully Wilson, the lead photographer, and Ramil (the lead videographer) were very nice and gave precise but gentle instructions, which made posing easier for me.

But let me tell you, there were just soo many shots! Most of the shots were taken by the window but I was feeling antsy with the photographers and videographers asking me to face here and there, smile, look down, behind me, put my hands on my waist, neck; run my hands down my bouquet, dress, etc . It felt quite awkward to me at first with more than five cameras trained on my face and movements. But don’t get me wrong, I was having the time of my life, modeling the wedding gown of my dreams. (I will reserve a separate blog about my wedding dress; I want to make sure I do it justice) When noon came by, I was begging my photographers and videographers’ mercy. I just wanted to run out the door, drive the car to the church, and get married!

Kelvin was at another part of the resort having his pictures taken along with his entourage and family. Here are some snaps from his shoot!

My groom and his brother, Keith

Ang pogi!

My groom with his best men

Surprise!

Honey with the Tan family

Nevertheless, I wanted to make sure every moment was captured. So here are some more snaps!

Icel with Mama

Me texting the suppliers while Mama feeds me pancakes

Ninang Heidi and Ninang Corige

Lambingan with TengTeng

Mama Kila and Sohpie

Selfie!

My beautiful Mama

My sister and Maid of Honor, helping me put my shoes on.

My sweet nephew and our ring bearer, Prince.

My lovely family. :)

After a few more shots with my family and bridesmaids, we were then off to the church!

But there was another hurdle – getting me in my wedding gown into the bridal car. Papa (Kelvin’s dad) was very sweet to let us use their white Honda Accord as our bridal car. It was a little difficult to get inside the car at first, but with a bit of pulling and tugging of the dress, skirt, train, and veil here and there, I was finally able to squeeze myself in the car with my Mama to my right and my Daddy to my left.

And with one big sigh of breath, we were off to the church to meet my groom, his family and all of our loved ones.

Watch out for Part 2. The Wedding Ceremony!

#KelandLeng2015

__________________________________

Hit me up!

Wedding Blog: http://www.kelvinandleng2015.blogspot.com/

My life's blog: http://www.sentimentsofleng.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliane.varias

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlinsesLeng