yes. i do.

some side kuwento first.

while jan and i were checking our e-mail in puerto princesa, i decided to drop by facebook. since we had some extra time left, i thought of updating my profile. i thought to myself, how many people would actually come over to my page and view it? and then, agh! it registered as a notification! whaaaduh? i didn't know facebook did that. and i didn't think people read their notifications either, because i don't. eng. they do pala.

so i had some friends call or text or send me messages of congratulations and best wishes, which i really did not mind, except i was a little embarrassed for advertising myself that way. that was such a boo-boo! LOL.

anyway.... yes, i did get hitched. we even have a blog for our friends and relatives far away, so they can keep track of the activities going on. we might be keeping it for a while. jan seems to have a lot to say after bombing his speech. :p and it would be interesting to keep track the early stages of our marriage.

back when i was younger, i hardly imagined getting married. i mean, the only thing i can really picture was being in front of the altar with someone. so it was a little bit of a stress for me and jan to do a major production number like a wedding. i mean, if it were helping out for a friend, we were probably able to do more.

i was also pretty busy during the last six months that i was only really able to pay attention to the wedding three weeks leading to the wedding. jan was more hands-on than i was. he got the caterer, gave instructions on what the set-up would look like, what food will be served and all that. most of the stuff i did was my dress, my make-up, the flowers and asking help from friends (mimo to officiate, earthen vessel to sing, etc.).

the stress was really building up for both of us. plus i had other things to deal with other than the wedding, like family matters and work. so i vowed that the day before the wedding, i will try to do things but not push it. and by the day of the wedding, i will just make sure that the priest, jan, me, God and a couple of witnesses are there and that is what should matter.

on the wedding eve, i wrote my speech. it was the only time i can thank the many people who have made the wedding possible through their generosity and kindness and support. the wedding may not have been perfect, but it sure made me realized how loved we were. that i need not wait for my funeral to feel the love of my friends and family. ang galeng talaga.

if just to make our lives a whole lot easier, i would have just dragged jan and our family to a small secret wedding. then go, ta-daaa! we're married na. not much fuss, more practical and no less lovely.

but then, jan and i would discuss that idea every so often, i would end up going... sayang ang kasiyahan na maibabahagi natin sa iba at nila sa atin. walang tutol sa atin. everybody is excited to see us together. why deny them the joy? why deny ourselves that happiness?

the wedding may not have gone the way jan or i wanted it. but it so full of blessings that we can't ask for anything more. of course, we do replay a lot of things on our minds. stuff that we should've done. stuff we needn't do. how it would have been better. but then, our friends enjoyed it. they felt warm and fuzzy and tingly... and that was what i wanted. and so, in it's imperfection, our wedding was perfect. :)

and here is my message to the well-wishers of that day. i added some ad lib on the day, but this is the main gist.

Thank you very, very much for coming to the celebration of our togetherness. With all sincerity, it is an honor to have all of you here today.

This is a wedding about love and friendship. But not just between Jan and I, but those of our friends and family as well. This wedding celebration became possible through the contribution of time, talent, resources and ideas of many, many people. The kindness and generosity we have received has been overwhelming. Our love for each other has been fortified by the love of others for us and our love for others. We have been blessed by wonderful friendships. It truly is a beautiful way to send us off to our new life together. Thank you for the good vibes and the good wishes. If we can’t be able to return it to you, we hope to pay it forward. May God bless you tenfold.

I have with here with me right now, a man who has never faltered in showing his love for me. I do have to coax him to give me flowers or take me to a date. But he has shown his devotion in more constant, more moving ways. Braving the traffic to pick me up from the airport, since he knows how much I hate the struggle for taxi. Driving me home at night as I sleep at the passenger seat. And most of all, leaving his comfort zone for many months to see how my world in Davao is like. Constant things that can sometimes be taken for granted and major things that would be hard to ignore. That is how he has shown his love. Not to mention, he has been given good character references way back to grade school. :P

Today, I said yes to this man. He, who is both my sanity and insanity. Yes. I do. Such simple words, yet such big ones too. This yes, said today, but lived everyday. Yes to the good things, and yes to the not so good things. I do. I do to everyday little things. I do to the nice and not so nice realities. And it’s not like choosing a school or a course that you can shift from if you don’t like it. It’s not like getting a job or working as volunteer, that if the time comes you get tired or you feel it’s not for you, you can quit. This is a yes to a lifetime commitment. Yes to the highs and lows, to the successes and failures, to the trivial and to the essential. So I trust this commitment to God to help us live our life together by and by. And work towards the point that Amb. Dee and Mrs. Dee has achieved, both our parents have achieved, 30-40-50 years of togetherness… to that point that we are old and gray, still holding hands and hearts. Forgetting where we are supposed to go, but going on anyway because we are with each other. Still loving the other as we do to this day.

To everyone, again, thank you. Your well-wishes shall sustain us for the years to come. As you go home, I hope more than the flowers or the dress or the food, you remember that it is a day when love triumphs. It is a day when two people who found each other entrust their love to God. That despite the many evil things happening in the world, there are also the beautiful things to be celebrated.