SUPPLIER SHOUT-OUTS

As the big day approaches, the LLDDL and I want to give thanks in advance to just some of the many people working very hard to ensure that our wedding day will be as meaningful and memorable as when Leia awarded those medals to Han and Luke. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and rest assured that when I'm at Post, I'll recommend that all y'all be invited to every nearby International Bridal Fair. After all, why should Pinoy guys be the only ones to have to suffer through those?

Kidding! Just kidding, sweetie! I enjoyed every bridal fair we went to!

(...every...single...weekly...bridal fair)

(BTW, after the wedding, the LLDDL will be addressed as the LLDD-hyphen-L)

Gown by Veluz

I'll be honest: I had never heard of Veluz -- or any other bridal designer for that matter -- prior to all of these wedding preps. (I'm a guy, sue me.) I do, however, know enough to know that the gown is the one thing that the bride must be perfectly happy with; the one thing we had to get right. So choosing the right designer was a big responsibility that caused a lot of anxiety and trepidation. Like choosing a child's school, I suppose. Or a proctologist. (um, so I've heard)

All our fears, however, were soon erased. I had two simple metrics for ascertaining how happy the LLDDL was with Veluz: A) could you wipe the smile off the LLDDL's face during/hours after every fitting?

That would be no.

. . . and B) is the design studio filled, not just with the future brides, but with their future husbands? In Veluz's case, there was always a steady stream of current and future clients, all with grooms in tow on their absolute best behavior. The mere fact that men were there (and not, say, waiting outside in the car playing PSP) told me everyone realized the brides-to-be were so very happy that Veluz was making their gowns that us fellas better just sit quietly and not do anything to screw this up or there'd be hell to pay. So sit quietly every dude did. For hours.

Stay strong, my brothers.

Hair and Make-up by Jesie and Raymond

Again, as the top photo shows, you simply couldn't remove the smile off the LLDDL's face throughout the whole process, and that was all I needed to know. On the other hand, the waiting area was strangely devoid of menfolk, despite the presence of a comfy couch, flat-screen TV and DVD player.

On closer inspection, all was revealed: the shelf had an alarmingly high rate of discs that appear in The Definitive List of DVDs No Dude can have in Their Collection.

No Seagal? No Requiestas? Tsk.

Barong(s) by Armie

Near my apartment, on the street I pass through every day to get to work, was this small boutique I never noticed, wedged somewhere between a bank and a motorcycle shop. Fortunately, the LLDDL had a natural-born talent for spotting window-display dummies from kilometers away, so one day we just looked for the store and walked in -- and happily discovered an absolute treasure trove of great Filipiniana. The owner could hook you up with pure, uncut piña straight from Laguna (you know, the good stuff). Heck, the materials were so fine, I had two barongs made, and will just make a game-time decision on which one to wear on the day itself.

Which led the LLDDL to exclaim, "Hoy! Bakit ikaw ang may Second Look?!"

Entourage by Baby

Is there any clothing and textile emergency on earth that can't be solved by a quick trip to Divisoria? I say no.

(I may or may not ask the LLDDL to wear something like this on the honeymoon.)

Photos by Jayson

I'll be honest once more: I dreaded the Pre-nup. For someone with self-diagnosed social anxiety disorder like me, the thought of going through Guy and Pip poses in public was not appealing at all. And as my older married sister put it, "In my time, we didn't have a Pre-nup. We just had a Nup."

This is where the LLDDL's inspired choice of a young, cool, extremely nice-guy photographer came in. Jayson immediately put us at ease, telling stories, cracking jokes, and generally making us feel as comfortable as possible. Before long, we didn't notice the camera pointed at us, or even all the point-and-snicker passers-by in the area. (still...Frak all of you!) And as the day went on, it just got more and more fun and enjoyable. Jayson even allowed us to channel our inner model and go through some goofy fashionista poses for the heck of it. Needless to say, the LLDDL nailed every "fierce" or "pouty" look asked of her, whereas my modeling range was somewhat more limited . . .

... from the "Smell the Fart"...

... to the "Constipated"...

... to the "Angrily Constipated".

Regardless of my patent Zoolander limitations, however, I have no regrets going through the Pre-nup shoot. Aside from the sheer fun of the whole thing, the LLDDL and I now have a DVD-full of romantic/dramatic/hilarious photos that we can take with us for the rest of our lives.

Hell yeah.

Wedding Related Postscript -- one of the best things about wedding preps is being able to reconnect with old friends during the distribution of the invitations. You get to see how fat people are getting, catch up on some gossip, and be asked to go inside their homes. In the case of "Yagballs", my old college buddy/kumpare/co-fantasy league manager, I was invited to check out his paintball collection. I thought, "cool", and expected to see a few interesting pieces. More appropriately, I should have thought "Tremors" and cried "Broke into the wrong God damn rec room, didn't ya!!!"

In his defense, "Yagballs" insists this is the way you get ready for marriage.