After the church ceremony, the Reception that was to follow at the Crowne Plaza Hotel was planned for 7:30PM. I should have made it an hour later instead because as things turned out, we were pressed for time. 

When all the picture-taking was done and over with outside the church, we finally got home close to six. Earlier, along the way, Gladys asked where all the flowers used in the church were (including the bouquet) because she said we needed to bring them to the hotel to use on the presidential table. A couple of phone calls to two of our friends who went ahead to bring some other stuff home turned up nothing. So I stopped the car and we looked for them in the trunk. None.

With friends at the Reception

Only did Myke remember that he placed them in a plastic bag and in the confusion that ensued, he said that he placed it yata in the garbage bin not knowing that they were still needed! Holy cow! I made a quick U-turn and we dashed back to the parking lot. If only I had a shot of the four of us – the wife included, wearing her bridal dress and all – scouring the plastic garbage bins, it would have been a priceless souvenir. Good thing that the place was in the shade and the whole caboodle of orchids, roses and geraniums were still in immaculate condition, none the worse for wear.

Now when we got home, the first thing that we checked was the computer. Our two boys made a slideshow featuring the time of our lives from childhood to the present which we were supposed to play as part of the program at the Reception. Well, the version that Myke made in Manila was so long and when I saw it, I thought either our guests would fall asleep or they’d walk out of boredom even before dinner was served. Could we shorten it some more, I asked my artist son. Yeah, sure, he said, but the problem was he didn’t bring with him the program that he used to create it so he had to transfer the original frames to Windows Moviemaker which he had to edit to I-don’t-know-what program where he had to do the final cut, etc. etc.

"Harana" time

In the end, it looked like a big Hollywood production that was running over-budget and out of time for its intended release. Since he arrived just two days earlier, there wasn’t much room for error (some scenes I wanted which I felt were central to the whole thing had to be chopped off) and when he finally got it all wrapped up and ready to burn, the computer started acting up. The Nero burner which was working perfectly before wouldn’t work now. What to do? I drove to the office after midnight, got an installation program, brought it home and reinstalled a new version of Nero. Still no go – that was before I turned in at 3:00AM to catch some shut-eye ‘cause early in the morning, I had to pick up the guy from his shop with the flowers to decorate the church. Noontime came and Myke was still fiddling around with it before he finally got it to work just an hour before we left for church. He said the burn process could take a couple of hours so we left it at that. But while the church ceremony was going on, and listening to the Father’s very good Sermon, half of my mind was thinking about the computer and hoping against hope that it wouldn’t throw a tantrum.

That’s why when we got home, that was the first thing we looked up and good that the thing was still running. It said that about half an hour more remained before the burn process finished which meant that it would be ready by 7:00PM still. Doable - as long as no gremlins inside the machine interfered.

We needed an Arabic sword to cut the cake

Meanwhile, I had to take James to the optical shop because his eyeglass frame got broken and said that without it, he couldn’t see. So how was he going to play the guitar later. We hurriedly went to several shops but not one of them had a replacement - neither could a quick welding do the trick. Well, I said, just use your sunglasses then which also had prescription lenses. That way, I added, you’ll really look like a rock star with your Fender. My cousin had brought all our three guitars plus amplifier ahead of us to the hotel and I advised him to set it up with the sound system guy.

Finally, we got the DVD ready, piled into the Mazda once more and I drove like a madman to Crowne Plaza, half an hour away. Exactly at 7:30, we walked into the lobby and proceeded to the ballroom. Everything was set up nicely as per our expectations, complete with candles and table nos. for our 160 guests. Some had, in fact, already arrived. Only then was I able to relax.

We received our friends at the door for about an hour before the program began. Gladys said a few words, I made a short speech, then the two boys took over. I was pleasantly surprised about their candor and warmly pleased that we were good parents in their eyes. They spoke from the heart so I knew they meant it.

First dance while the two guys played Santana's "Samba Pa Ti" on guitar

We finally had the slideshow and it went well without a hitch, thank goodness. Then it was harana time. A few months back, when we were planning what to do for the celebration, James told me we’d play some songs with me doing the vocals while he and his brother played guitar – he’s quite showbiz and game for anything to show his guitar prowess and this was one way of doing it. Yeah, I said absentmindedly and added that haharanahan kong Mama mo. Of course, I don’t sing (not even on karaoke) except on the occasional times that I pick up the acoustic guitar to run through a couple of old James Taylor/Jim Croce songs. But he kept on badgering me to the point that even Gladys joined in. Nakantiyawan ba. We ended up with two songs – one by Eric Clapton (“Wonderful Tonight”) and the other by Bryan Adams (“Everything I Do, I Do It For You”) which I thought were apt for the occasion. The problem was, the back-up lead – Michael – didn’t practice so we crammed just a couple of sessions when he arrived. In the car on the way to the hotel, we were still discussing his part and how he was gonna play it.

So there we were – all four of us on the stage with Gladys sitting on a chair facing the audience. I don’t know how I croaked through the Bryan Adams song but it came out okay, I guess. At least Myke finally did the solo lead flawlessly (James was on piano) and I got the strumming right. But I stumbled on the lyrics of Clapton’s song mixing up the verses and losing the chords on my guitar. When we ended, I wanted to hide inside the amplifier!

Tired but happy at the end of a hectic day

At least, the guests didn’t lose their appetite when dinner was announced and the buffet in the other part of the ballroom was opened. We had our pictures taken while going around the tables to greet and thank each and everyone for coming. Then a friend sang a couple of songs for us before the disco got going.

Several close friends with their families stayed on and we danced away till past midnight. I have never had so much fun in such a long time. When Gladys and I finally took a breather in a corner all by ourselves while watching everyone enjoying the music, she asked, should we do this once again in the year 2032? I took her hand, kissed her cheek and answered, you bet!