My dear friend Michelle got married, and was honored to have been invited.
Her wedding to her now-husband Darth was held in Pico De Loro. It was my first time there and it was lovely. The ceremony was held in St. Therese of the Child Jesus Chapel, although sadly, I missed it. (I will write more about this in the next post.) I did visit the chapel the next day to take some photos and it really is a beautiful with an incredible view of the sea.
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| St. Therese of the Child Jesus Chapel in Pico de Loro |
The original plan for the reception was that it would be held outdoors, next to the lagoon, and Michelle selected the theme based on a color aesthetic that she felt would blend with the nature around us. Unfortunately, it rained very heavily the day before and the ground was really muddy so they decided to move the wedding indoors. Despite this move, it was still an awesome celebration!
I also had a special role at the wedding. Michelle asked me to sing a couple of songs. She wanted me to sing the duet version of TJ Monterde's "Palagi" with the emcee, Katrine Sunga. She also asked me to sing a solo number and gave me free rein to choose what song to perform. I ended up going with Martin Nievera's version of The Promise (I'll Never Say Goodbye), which I have now sung at seven weddings. My familiarity with this cover version of a Melissa Manchester song from the 1979 movie The Promise that made me decide to sing it because I wouldn't need to practice it as much. That said, I had to sing it with live band so I had to arrive at the venue earlier than everyone else to rehearse.
As it turned out, the two singers who performed before me, including Katrine Sunga, were trained in the UST conservatory of music and Katrine has in fact performed internationally. I had to actually say right before I sang that unlike all other performers that evening, I wasn't trained in any conservatory and that maybe I should have actually been the first to perform haha. Still, I think it turned out okay.
The table I was assigned to during the reception included our other friend Irish and many of their college friends who were all really cool. After the wedding, I got to hang out with Irish and the other friends I made that night. Soon after, Michelle and Darth joined us. As it turns out, I actually know a lot of people they know because we went to the same college. What a small world! We hung out and enjoyed some drinks, food, and coffee (yes, I had coffee haha) before calling it a night shortly after midnight. After all, it was a really long day and we were all tired.
I booked a premier room at Pico Sands hotel so that I wouldn't have to make a long drive home late at night. My room was pretty spacious.
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| My premier room at Pico Sands Hotel |
It also had a balcony with a mountain view that was pretty good and very tranquil.
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| View from my balcony |
I needed to leave early on Sunday so didn't get to use the pool or other amenities but I did spend some time taking photos.
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| Pico de Loro pool area with a view of the lagoon |
On my way home, I was tempted to take a selfie at Kaybiang Tunnel but there were way too many people and no easy spot for me to park a car so I ditched that plan. That said, on my way to Pico de Loro, I noticed that there were some awesome views of the sea from the road and there were a few viewing point. I made a mental note of that so that on my way home, I stopped a few times to take photographs.
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| View of the West Philippine Sea from one of the many viewing points along Pico de Loro drive |
It was a beautiful wedding and while my full Pico de Loro experience wasn't exactly the best, I am very happy and honored to have been a part of one of the most important days of my dear friend Michelle's life.
