Wedding Highlights - Reception

This is the time of the day that my whole family seemed to be on crack, lol. Tin, Nikki and Pia rode with us in the limo since they were gonna be responsible for registration. The limo driver started driving South instead of North. What sucks was that we had several guests following us. Angel was driving the Rover and she ran out of gas. She made a quick exit in Mountain View to get gas (and saw the Google campus I believe). We had to give her directions since she wasn't familiar with the area. As soon as we got to the venue, we rushed Tin and Pia at the reception table since they were the ones in charge. Much to our relief, people weren't going in yet. Phew!

Anyway, Violeta the coordinator and Marky the DJ wasn't done preparing yet. I'm still not sure why place cards were on top of the table and not on the plates, why the table numbers were orange when I have ivory numbers in the restaurants storage, and why the DJ didn't set-up lights. Al and I were waiting on the side in hiding while visitors were having their drinks on no-host cocktail hour. As soon as the venue was done, we had everyone registered and seated (Nicole helped out too with registration). People got their spots and mingled, while I called on the entourage to prepare for the intros. As people sat, Marky introduced himself as the master of ceremonies, while he started introducing the parents (we scratched the grandparents section since they weren't ready, hehe). The DJ started playing Let's Get It Started by the Black Eyed Peas when he introduced the bridesmaids and groomsmen. They did their funky little dances and movements (Mickey was the most animated). Marky then played the intro music to Chicago Bulls games and announced our entrance and played Mo' Money Mo' Problems by P. Diddy since the lyrics say I'm Coming Out sampled from Diana Ross's song which we thought would be perfect. As soon as we entered, the entourage made a spontaneous tunnel for us to go into, and then we did our hi-fives like when you're being introduced in a basketball game. All for the sake of fun.


Anyway, Pia and Jep were up with their speeches. Pia choked (haha) coz I think she was nervous and teary-eyed. Abs said out loud 'Jep help' which I thought was funny. Anyway, Jep's speech was hilarious, and he prompted people to raise their glasses to give us a toast. Champagne was served previously by the courteous Ming's staff to allow this to happen. Then dinner was served.


At first the DJ played some weird 80's pop music (imagine Highway Run, haha) which wasn't what we wanted. Al was laughing and he told Marky to play the jazz standards CD we gave him. The ambiance was about right for dinner, and some people were amused to hear Paul Anka sing Smells Like Teen Spirit, True, and Wonderwall. Well, the latter is OUR song.

Another highlight was the hitting of the glasses. Everytime guests do that, the couple is supposed to kiss. It so happened that a couple of those are from Camila, my 2-year old niece, who copied others and kept hitting the glass after that. Jep had to tell her off, hehe. Another highlight was when the Gatmaitans (except Michelle who's watching coz she can't drink any since she's preggy) brought some Henenssy to me and Al, and we all drank a shot of it. At first they won't say what it is and Mickey said it's tea. But we guessed it was Hennessy. I think that gave me a buzz, and I didn't need any chaser for that, hehe.


After dinner, Al and I decided to make our table rounds for photographs. First up were my dear co-workers. I'm glad they made it although my boss didn't show up. Then we made our way through friends, grandparents, and family. It was fun, but I soon discovered at our last table that they were sitting on the restaurant couch (diner style) when I paid for chairs and seat covers. Sucks! Had I known, I wouldn't allow them to sit there. But they didn't mind (especially my cuz, coz she got closer seating arrangements with a guy friend she likes).

Marky then announced the cutting of the cake in time for dessert. We had to scratch Sophia's singing performance since we didn't have a Karaoke machine. We also had to scratch the video montage since our LCD screen didn't work with the laptop (It must've been a monitor settings issue). Anyway, we didn't know what to do with the cake-cutting, but the videographer showed us how. It was fun as Al ate the cake himself (he's supposed to give it to me). He has a quirky and weird sense of humor. Then we had our toasts too. The coolest thing I think Al did was to pop the champagne open. I hope it got caught on video. Anyway, the sad thing is Al put some cheap champagne (free one from our limo service Le Grande) on the cake table instead of the Korbels we had for our guests. Our cool waiter Tony also gave us the top of the cake to keep and then pictures were taken with it. They served cake and we got compliments for it. It was a 3-layered mocha rum cake with vanilla icing care of Lanny's Bridal.


Then after a few sips, it was time for our first dance. Marky played Just Like Heaven by Katie Melua. After that, he announced the bride and father dance, as well as the groom and mother dance, with the music I Will Be Here by Steven Curtis Chapman in the background. I heard that Daddy and Al's mom were crying, but I didn't notice. I was just casually talking to Daddy. Then came the money dance. Marky played our first dance song again, but Al told him to skip it. Then Somebody (a Depeche Mode cover) was playing. At first we thought people won't come up for the money dance, but our first partners were Anthony (my half-bro) and Lola who danced with Al. Awwww. It was a fun dance with family and friends. I think I was sweating afterwards, hehe.


After the money dance, I had to throw the bouquet. Marky was counting to 3, but I pretended to throw it, and people were gonna catch it. Then Marky counted again, and said 2 1/2. Funny. Then the actual count happened, so I threw the bouquet and Cherry (my half-sis) caught it. The Al had to take my garter off, and he surprisingly put his head inside my skirt! Nino the photographer told him to do it again, and I screamed 'bastos' but he got the garter, and tossed it to the guys. Mickey caught it! I was hoping Jomar would get it coz that would be funnier. I think Phil was bummed out about not getting it since he would love to put the garter on Cherry, hehe. But Mickey put it anyway, and I wanted to say that's gross coz he's my cousin putting the garter on my half-sis! Haha! Then again, they are not blood related.


Marky then announced for us to take the podium for our thanks and speech. After saying our thank yous, we told every to start dancing, and Marky played Earth, Wind and Fire's September. We had hoped for some manila sounds, but he didn't play those songs and a lot of people were disappointed. He made up for it by playing some new wave, but I think he played too much new wave ('ya know I hate OMD, hehe). I think the only one I liked was Selfish by The Other Two. Nevertheless, the people enjoyed the music, even grandma's were dancing which I think was cool. Then Dong grabbed his CD of electric slide which kinda scared me, but turned out to be cool. Overall, it was a great night for all of us. Al called it the best day of his life. It is officially the best day of my life too.