DELUGE OF LOVE {My Ondoy Wedding Story}

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As published in the 2009 – 2010 Beatiful Weddings Issue of the WEDDING ESSENTIALS magazine

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While typhoon Ondoy’s record-breaking amount of rainfall may have, understandably enough, forced the majority of people in Metro Manila to postpone their scheduled celebrations, Couple Eli and KY literally chose to brave the storm and push through with their wedding.”Itutuloy ntin ‘to (We’ll push through with this) whatever happens. Kahit sa’n pa kami ikasal (We can get married anywhere)!” said the groom the day of their wedding, and was anyone ever truer to his word?

It is perhaps true, what they say, that when things get down to their worst, there’s nowhere to go but up. Maybe because of the storm, they thought that nothing else could go wrong. But perhaps this is truer, what Harry from When Harry Met Sally said, that “when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Hence, no snow, sleet, hail, or, yes, rain , could stop this wedding.

Maybe they just couldn’t wait to be together, and no amount of rain could keep them from saying their “I do’s.” But for whatever reason, it is love and devotion that helped this couple transform this wedding from what could’ve been one major disaster into one of the most beautiful and intimate weddings that photographer Randall Dagooc of MangoRED has ever captured. And if this couple was brave enough to get married despite the deluge, and inspire the people around them to work their best through it, then surely they are ready for anything. The terrible floods brought about by typhoon Ondoy caused numerous weddings, parties, and other big occasions to be postponed or canceled, and left a lot of suppliers stranded in their cars in floods and/or traffic. But a precious few weddings still pushed  through despite of calamity, proof that all a wedding needs a bride, a groom, witnesses, and an officiator for it to push through. Below is the personal account of Randall Dagooc of MangoRed who covered a wedding in the pouring rain and high water (Taken from his Facebook note)

WE MADE IT! WE F*CKIN’ MADE IT!

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10 AM

• Alis kami (We left) Ortigas to go to Alabang for a wedding. Wedding ceremony is at 3pm sa (at) Fernbrook.
• Stuck sa (on) C5 for 2 hrs. U-turn then daan kami sa (we used the) Fort-Bonifacio-Mckinley-Nichols route.
• Stuck in Fort Bonifacio (Lawton Road) for another 2 hrs. 5 meters per hour ang takbo ng mga sasakyan (was the speed of vehicles).

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2 PM

• Sabi  ni (Said) Teena (coordinator), moved daw ang (the) ceremony to 5 p.m.
• I said “Sh*t! Choke point lang nman is yung bridge sa may (The only choke point is the bridge near) Nichols! Sabi ko lakad na lang kami (I said, let’s just walk) then brave the flood!Bahala na si Santino (The expression means, roughly, what will be, will be).”
• Got out of the car amid the massive traffic. Lakad kami (We walked) Al, Rex and me from Mckinley Hill to Nichols. Basang basa sa ulan, naka-white pointed shoes,coat or in short, naka formal attire (Drenched in rain, we were in white pointed  shoes, a coat- in short, in formal attire).
• Si Rex nakabalot ng plastic (Rex wrapped himself in plastic). Ako nakapulot ng tarpaulin ( I found a tarpaulin). Si Al, naliligo sa ulan na parang street child (Al frolicked in the rain like a street child do).
• Then may nadaanan kami military surplus shop na ngbebenta ng military raincoat ( We passed a military surplus shop selling military raincoats).
• Ate! Magkano raincoat?” sabi ko. (Lady,how much is the raincoat, I said.)
• Ate: ”450 pesos isa…”(Lady :450 pesos each.)
• Ako: “ Sh*t!Basang 300 pesos lang pala dala ko! (“Me:Oh crap,all I have is 300 pesos,and the bills are wet!)
• Hanap ako ng ATM. Lakad ulit. (I looked for an ATM. Time to walk again.)
• May tumawag s’akin : ” Randall ! Randall! ” (Someone called out to me “Randall!Randall!)
• “Uy sina Wally Gonzales at sina RJ!” Bwahaha! Stuck din sa Lawton Road! (Aha, it’s Wally Gonzales and RJ! Bwahaha!. They’re also stuck on Lawton Road!)
• ” Chong, pahiram nman ng 1000 oh, pambili ng raincoat!” ([to Wally]”Friend, lend me P 1000 to buy a raincoat?”)
• Ayos nakabili. Lakad ulit for an hour. Naka-raincoat na,hehehe. (All right, I was able to buy it. Walked again for an hour.This time, in a raincoat, hehehe.)
• Nadapa si Rex sa sidewalk. (Rex tripped on the sidewalk.)
• May nagsabing batang kasalubong naming: “ Dad mga sundalo ba sila? ” (A passing child asked [upon seeing us}.” Dad are they soldiers?”

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3 PM

• Text si Teena- Stuck pa rin daw sya sa EDSA. At na move ang wedding ng 8 p.m. Tuloy na tuloy daw. Kahit mag cartwheel pa daw sya para matuloy. (Teena texted that she was still stuck on EDSA and the wedding was moved to 8pm. But it was definitely pushing through,even if she had turn cartwheels to make sure it pushed through.)
• Sabi ko,”Ayos, lupet nito!” (I said, wow,this is really something!)

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4 PM

• After an hour ng paglalakad sa ulan at baha, tawid kami sa baha sa may Nichols yung may tulay..Massive! (After an hour of walking in the rain and floods, we crossed the flooded road near Nichols, where there is a bridge. Massive [flooding]!)

• Pagkatawid, lakad sa may SLEX ng konti habang pumapara ng sasakyan na pwedeng maawa samin .Buti may taxi na nasuhulan ng 500 pesos na pumayag. (After we crossed, we walked along the Southern Luzon Expressway while we hailed vehicles in hopes they would take mercy on us. Good thing we were able to bribe a taxi driver with P500 to agree to take us to  the venue.)
• Sakay kami. Sobrang luwag sa SLEX at andaming tumirik na sasakyan sa tabi. (We got on and rode the taxi. The SLEX was free of vehicles but a lot of stalled vehicles lined the road.)

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5:30 PM

• Nasa Preps na kami. Nangutang muna ako sa bride ng 500 pesos pamasahe. (We reached Preps. I borrowed P 500 from the bride for the cab fare.)
• Tuwang tuwa si manong. (The driver was delighted.)
• Tawag ako kay Chuck (Cherry Blocks) na taga-Alabang. Sabi ko “Chong pahiram naman ng tuyong sapatos,long sleeves at mejas oh?”. (I called Chuck who was from Alabang and said,”Friend,lend me dry shoes, a long sleeved shirt and socks,please!”)
• Dumating si Chuck (Chuck arrived) and we’re all comfy and dry.

WEDDING

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• Shoot kami (We shot [photos]) with Sir Raymund Fortun, Jok and Chuck.
• 20 relatives lang ng bride and groom yung nandun. Wala nang iba (Only twenty relatives of the bride and groom made it, no more).
• Inasikaso ni Sir Raymund yung church. Baha na kasi sa Fernbrook so wala na talagang pag-asa (Sir Raymund took care of the churh. Fernbrook was flooded so there was no hope [for proper reception].
• Instant lahat (everything)!
• Instant best man.
• Instant ceremony.
• Instant priest.
• Instant reception.
• Instant mami (noodles)

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Sobrang lupet ng wedding! (That wedding was really something!) Sabi ng (Said the) groom: ” Itutuloy natin ‘to (We’ll push through with this) whatever happens. Kahit s’an pa kami ikasal (We can get married anywhere)” Astig! (Cool!) Very emotional lahat (everyone)! I admire the courage and love of Eli and KY! Grabe (Wow). Inspiring! I’ll post the other details with photos this week.. may wedding pa kasi kami (we still have another wedding) tomorrow. Tulog muna ako (I’ll go to sleep first)… hehehe Bottom line: Weddings are all about the couple, not the guests who won’t be able to attend , not the cake, the gown, the details, the photos etc.

Anyway,salamat kay (thank you to ) RJ and Sir Wally.

Kay (To) Chuck!

Kay Atty. Raymund Fortun!

Kay Eli and KY

And sa pinakamalupet naming (and to our awesome team) team! Al, Rex, and Jap!

Sabi ko nga, kung ang mga conflict (war) photographers nakakapag shoot kahit patayan na, anu ba naman ang baha para sa mga wedding photographers? *yabang* hehehe  (I said, if during wars, photographers can shoot despite the terrible conditions, what’s a flood to a wedding photographer?Am I boasting? hehehe) Salamat sa lahat (Thank you to everyone)!

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SUPPLIERS WHO MADE IT THROUGH THE STORM:

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Scenta Flora – Ray and Bing Montes (event stylist) Soon-to-wed couples sometimes forget the essence of a wedding when they are so preoccupied with the frills and details of the wedding day. Ky and Eli reminded us of what’s important in a wedding- the proclamation of everlasting love for one another in the eyes of God. They showed us that no storm or calamity can prevent them from making their commitment to each other. It’s been an honor being their stylists even though we had to make last minute changes due to bad weather and floods.

Teena Barretto (coordinator) The Ondoy weekend of many firsts for me. I got stranded, I had to work on the wedding on my own (my staff was not able to make it), yet the support from the suppliers was unbelievable. Everyone was there looking after the others.Everyone offered a helping hand. The tags,titles,positions were all gone. All just worked as a team to make the “I do’s” happen for the couple.

Mich Lim-Reyes (makeup artist) The most memorable moment would be when most of the suppliers and guests were calling one by one that they would not make it because of the floods, there was much stress and tension in the room, but the couple, teary-eyed, announced that they decided they will get married come hell or high water. Suddenly, the room was filled with emotions: sadness but you could also feel the love and strong bond between them. It was very emotional.

MangoRed-Randall Dagooc (photographer) I realized that wedding is not about the guests or the details,it is really all about union of two blessed people. Like the famous saying, ‘duty comes first,’ every one of the suppliers gladly helped and greatly contributed in whatever way they could to make the significant event possible. It certainly shows the spirit of Bayanihan (community) is so alive despite all the obstacles that may come our way.

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