Richard and Kathleen's wedding was originally set on April 12 at Santuario di San Paolo in Fairview with 100 guests. But due to COVID-19, they had to postpone their wedding reluctantly. "We felt sad and siyempre nanghihinayang kasi almost everything was ready to go. However, we know that everything happens for a reason and God has a better plan for us." Eventually they accepted the situation, putting everyone’s safety first.
We love how the couple candidly shared with us their intimate wedding experience and their 8-day preparation for it!
Why did you still have an intimate wedding event though your initial wedding was just postponed?
"Since our initial marriage documents will expire by June, we had an idea to do a civil wedding in the mean time. So we visited our church office to get our requirements. To our surprise. they offered na ituloy ang kasal sa church but with only immediate family and sponsors as guests, and having wedding rites lang din. Renewal of vows na lang on April 8, 2021! Of course, we said yes kasi gusto talaga namin na makasal sa church rather than a civil wedding."
Tell us about the beautiful details of your intimate wedding!
"We only had 8 days to prepare for our intimate wedding, but I enjoyed the preparation so much!
The white dress I wore I ordered from Instagram (Jhajhing Bangkok clothes) at 680php only. Ang dami nagandahan and they can’t believe na it’s so cheap lang! Groom's polo was from H&M and then he used his slacks that he already had.
Rings: We decided to buy temporary rings since nasa London pa yung rings namin. I got mine from Jacatel for 740php only, ordered it on their IG and delivered it within the day! It was so nice. Richard’s ring is from Silverworks for 1,100php only.
Guests: Only our parents, 1 set of principal sponsors, and my 2 bestfriends attended our wedding ceremony. So that's a total of 11 people. We all observed physical distancing inside the church and everyone wore a mask. I was a bit sad because my dad, siblings and nieces couldn't attend due to enhanced ECQ placed in our area. However, they joined us at the ceremony together with my other relatives via live streaming or FB messenger video call. We then celebrated at Richard's house together with his family.
Food: I thought of ordering everything via Grab food na lang para less hassle din. Lunch lang naman kami, so we ordered Max's chicken, cake, lasagna and other pastries from Conti's, inihaw na bangus, and my husband's cousin brought pork BBQ and palabok. My mother-in-law made leche flan and beef with broccoli. Basically, it was a whole potluck. It was different from anything we've expected in a typical wedding. It was warm and I loved how we could still celebrate this milestone despite the unfavorable times!
Photos: We only used my iPhone to take all the photos. I assigned my bestfriends as the photographers."
How was the overall experience? Is there anything you wanted to change?
"It was really an indescribable feeling! Sobra sobra yung happiness namin! Kahit ilan lang yung guests, we didn't feel that the church was empty. We even thought that the ceremony felt more solemn.
If there's anything we can change about that day, yun yung sana wala yung COVID. It feels so weird not to be able to hug everyone. And also, sana nakapag lakad din ako sa aisle. Pero still, kuntento na kami sa kung anong nangyari. It was magical. It was memorable."
Would you recommend the following: Having an intimate wedding for soon-to-weds? A small intimate wedding now before the big wedding later on?
"I experienced planning for both a big wedding and an intimate wedding. If only open lang yung mga stores, I think mas magiging maganda yung intimate wedding namin.
Yes, we recommend a small intimate wedding now then a big wedding later on (especially to those who've already planned their postponed big wedding)! To be honest, sabi namin ng husband ko is 'sana pala nag intimate wedding na lang tayo'. It was less complex and stressful to plan, we felt more relaxed and so did our guests, smaller cost, more manageable, and it's more personalized and we got to celebrate with the people only closest to us.
What really matters to us is makasal kami with God's blessing in front of our family and closest friends. At the end of the day, our focus is the marriage and not the wedding.
We will push through with our big wedding as part of God's plan. Even though we're already married, we're still excited for that day to come. 'I get to marry you twice!' Richard said."
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