Another December wedding.

December of last year, my brother got married to Ate Maui. This year is Ate Ching's turn. As of yesterday, she's now Mrs. Pacita Cadlum-Carillo. Or should I say, Dra. Pacita Cadlum-Carillo? =)

Her wedding was yesterday afternoon in Tagaytay, and my dad was given the task to give her away, to represent the late Tito Ely, Ate Ching's dad. Tita Beng was one of the principal sponsors. My mom decided to stay home (as she doesn't want to leave our house empty at all times), so I ended up going as well as an ordinary guest. Haha, I was so relieved not to be a bridesmaid like Ate Shang, because I honestly don't like having a dress made in a color that I don't usually wear (the motif was fuschia pink with a touch of ivory).

Dad, Tita Beng and I, along with Tita Des, had planned to leave for the Tagaytay early (the wedding was at 3pm), and decided to just get ready and change into our clothes at the reception venue, where the bride was doing her final prep touches as well. We got Kuya Arnold to drive us, and because he didn't know the entire way, we convoyed with Tita Lyn, Ate Shang and Kuya Butch and Dep.

We arrived at Casablanca an hour before the wedding, and Tita Beng and I dashed into one of the rooms to dress up. Thank goodness Tita Beng had her hair and makeup done already, and I opted to do mine (a rare moment! Congratulate me, hahaha!) before we had to leave the house, so we were ready within 10 minutes. Dashed to the church, which took us a long while as well because the traffic was really bad, arg. Eventually the wedding got delayed for half an hour because of the darn traffic jams. The funniest part of the entourage was MM as the ring bearer. He refused to wear his barong because the material was too itchy, so Kuya Bobot had to carry him down the aisle (while still in his sando) along with the pillow for the rings.

The ceremony was quick and simple, right on up to the photo ops in front of the altar. Dad, Tita Beng, Tita Des, Kuya and Arnold and I immediately headed back to Casablanca for the reception because the parking area was super limited. Tita Tess, Dave and Nitz (who were late so they didn't make it to the ceremony) were already there when we arrived.

At first, the prospect of attending a wedding and reception in Tagaytay thrilled me because I love the cool weather. But at that time, when the sun was already setting, I suddenly realized that it's sort of a bad idea to have an outdoor reception, especially in December. By the time the sun had completely set, we were freezing. Thank goodness I brought my bolero jacket to cover my bare shoulders. Dave and I gave Nitz a great alternative. We untied one of the pink chair accents and handed it to her to use as a shawl. Aside from that, we asked the caterers if they were serving any hot drinks, such as coffee or tea. Nope, they weren't. So Dep requested for cups of water for our table. Anything to keep us warm, hahaha!

Aside from being frozen at the reception, I had a blast being with my cousins and relatives again. The only odd thing I noticed was that I was getting closer to those cousins that I never thought I'd be closer with, and getting distant to the ones I used to be close with.

Sounds familiar. It's like the relationships with some of my friends. Oh well.

Congratulations and best wishes to Mr. Johnny and Dra. Pacita Carillo!