A wedding in Tacloban

On the morning of our wedding day, I woke up alone in my room. Later, my best man came over to keep me company and assist me whenever necessary. The bride had two connecting rooms in the same hotel, where she stayed with her maid of honour and bridesmaids. We were not allowed to see each other on the wedding day until inside the church. We passed messages by SMS or via the bridesmaids.

We had to rise early, and from 7:30 we received the hairdresser, make-up artists, the film crew, the photographer and his team, the designer of the wedding gown, and the wedding coordinator with her assistants.

We married in Tacloban's largest church, the beautiful Santo Niño church. It was a catholic church wedding, with all the elements you expect from a catholic wedding: The vows, the exchange of rings, the prayer to grant us "to be one heart and one soul, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part".

Six people (three men and three women) are involved in the candle, veil and chord rituals: The secondary sponsors.

Secondary sponsors are usually close friends and relatives of the couple, and our wedding was no exception.

The two candle sponsors lighted the big church candles, to "light our path ahead". Later, the veil sponsors placed a veil over our head and shoulders, to "clothe us as one". And finally, the chord sponsors used a chord to "bind us together". The chord had the form of an 8, and was placed over our heads, over the veil.

After the wedding, most of the guest went to the reception venue, though some of the European guests went to their hotel first to cool down in their airconditioned rooms or in the pool - it was a very hot day!

The bride and groom had no time to rest: We went to three landmark sites in Tacloban for our pictorials.

The first site was the white building of the Capitol, the seat of the provincial government. On the steps and between the pillars, the photographers took photos of us and (part of) the entourage.

Outside Jose Karlos, a Tacloban cafe, some more intimate pictures were taken: The bride and the groom kissing, for example, or drinking together from one glass with two straws. Most of the entourage had disappeared by now, only a few helpers remained.

Our final location was the Santo Niño Shrine and Heritage museum, a mansion build for (but never used by) Imelda Marcos, and now a museum.

You can see a few of the photos on our website.

The reception was in Le Jardin de Tacloban, a function hall on the outskirts of Tacloban City.

The program included, of course, the usual highlights, like the cutting of the wedding cake, the toast (with crossed arms) by bride and groom, the toast by the best man and maid of honour, speeches by principal sponsors and family members. Other highlights were a song by the sister of the groom and sister of the bride (in perfect Tagalog!), a dance show by the bridesmaids, and the kuracha (a regional traditional dance).

You can see more photos of our wedding on our website.