Miguel Enrico S. Villena and Edna Patricia P. Mendoza fatefully met because of a common and found a host of similarities in each other. Both are self-confessed nerds and STEM (Science, Technology, and Engineering and Mathematics) graduates. Edz is a project officer for DOST under the Office of the Undersecretary for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change while Mico is a facilities engineer and project manager at the Philippine Geothermal Production Company. The couple’s intimate wedding was held at Jesus the Divine Healer Parish followed by a reception at The Hilton Manila.
Mico and Edz originally envisioned a wedding of 100 pax in January 2021, either at the church where Mico’s parents were wed or Edz’s, to allow for Mico’s family to return home for the holidays and the wedding. But due to the travel restrictions, the couple moved up their wedding to October 31, 2020 since they were no longer waiting for family.
The couple made sure to inject their personality and passions into their wedding, and as they say “the pandemic did not stop us from instilling happiness, meaning, and a showcase of Filipino craftsmanship.” Below, Mico and Edz talk about how they made their wedding unique, a few “imperfect” moments they had on their big day, and why they continued to enjoy their wedding inspite of everything.
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Your wedding details are so unique. Tell us more about the showcasing of Filipino craftsmanship.
MV: We co-designed our shoes ourselves and had it made by Marikina’s own Zapateria; my Barong was made of pinya fabric with Mother of Pearl buttons care of Tesoro’s and put together by Cornell’s Tailoring; the bride’s reception dress featured Binakol and Bungsamana hand-woven fabrics care of Anthill; and the bride’s bib necklace made of upcycled weaves and sustainable materials put together by Tropic Beatknik incorporates many elements and icons representing Edz’s adventures and loves in life.
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What were some of the challenges as you planned your wedding?
MV: Time, budget, and coordination were definitely the most challenging during the preparations. We both have a sense of balance when it came to spending. Some aspects of the wedding ceremony had to be kept low in cost, but other aspects were more important and deserved splurging and shelling out more. Of course, with less cost comes some compromise in quality. We opted not to get a coordinator, so we had to prepare all the requirements, coordinate all the details and arrangements with all the suppliers, and manage the day’s whole program flow on their own. This led to some stressful moments throughout the ceremony: the wrong music being played, the program not going as planned, and many others.
Without a coordinator, time and coordination came to be compromised next. We had many sleepless nights on the days leading to the wedding. We both have critical roles in at work, which meant escaping responsibilities from the office was difficult and close to impossible. Edz was only free the day before the wedding. Of course with the pandemic, coordination and communication with all the suppliers was not ideal. Though the ceremony as a whole was beautiful, happy, and memorable, it was not by any means perfect and without faults.
How did you handle these challenges?
Teamwork, and lots of understanding and patience. Wedding preparations became a pet project for us and we assigned roles and tasks to each other, helping each other out when tasks became too difficult to do.
We also knew the benefits of maximizing the presence of family members and two friends to help in the preparations and on-the-day coordination. With a couple of friends and the couple’s respective sisters available to help, we had our coordinators.
More than anything, we felt grateful, content, happy, and blissful. We knew that that would be the day when we would be joined forever in holy Matrimony in front of the Lord and in front of family and friends. Nothing could take away the happiness that the we felt with them, now as husband and wife, not even the mistakes that occurred during the ceremony.
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What’s your advice to other couples planning their wedding?
- Don’t be shy and look to friends and family when it comes to tasks and aspects of the wedding. If family and friends can give you what you need, maximize them.
- No work a week before the wedding as much as you can help it. Take your leave if you must. Maximize work-from-home if the option is available. Have enough time for the last-minute errands, tasks, and preparations. Last thing you want is coordinating and making, taking calls on your wedding day.
- Mistakes will happen. Be ready to let go of perfection.
- The most important above all other things is you are getting married. Enjoy the day and be happy knowing that you’ll be spending the rest of your life with the love of your life. Be happy, be grateful, be content, and be at peace.
