Beyond romance

CEBU, Philippines – It was a fitting prelude to the Valentine month and a gift from February 1 birthday celebrant Dodong Gullas. Couples that had been living together as husbands and wives for many years finally had their day at church. Their unions had already produced children, more than one kid with most of them, but they could never afford a church wedding on their own.

In a Christian nation like the Philippines, a marital union is not solid unless sealed in a church wedding. And while in truth a church wedding does not really require the usual frills, it has come to be associated with at least a bit of trappings. The women, especially, wish to be able to take that ceremonious walk down the aisle to meet her man at the altar - an event that certainly costs some money.

Romance, of course, is very much a part of married life. And it is the highest gesture of romanticism to pledge one's loyalty for another before God. On the practical side, a church wedding puts the couple's mind at rest, thinking that their union now has divine blessing.

And so, the 41 couples that were part of the mass wedding last Thursday, January 29, at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, can now focus themselves on productive pursuits for their families. The event was under the auspices of the Jose R. Gullas Halad Foundation, for the third year in a row.

The project covered everything for the couples: wedding outfits (including makeup for the brides), church ceremony, and reception dinner - with each couple having their own wedding cake, which was baked personally by Mrs. Nena Gullas, wife of Halad Chairman Dodong Gullas.

Mr. and Mrs. Gullas' sponsorship of the mass wedding was total. They saw to it that it had the trappings of a very special occasion. They made sure that it was something that the beneficiary couples would remember  for the rest of their lives.

A wedding at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral is always memorable. And comfortable too for the couple and their families, since the church is fully air-conditioned.  The Cathedral is traditionally the wedding venue for the scions of the city's rich and famous.

Dodong Gullas wanted to give his beneficiary couples at least a hint of glamour on their wedding day, making sure that each pair looked the part as well. On the other hand, his wife Nena worked in their kitchen until 3 in the morning just to finish the exact number of mini-wedding cakes for the couples. Considering all the monetary cost and physical labor involved in the mass wedding, Mr. and Mrs. Gullas did it not because it was easy to do - but because they really meant to do it.

In truth, organizing the mass wedding was much, much more tedious than how the outcome might have conveyed. The various arrangements to be made were head-breaking for the JRG Halad Foundation staff, especially so because Mr. and Mrs. Gullas wanted it to be truly special for the couples. And, truly, it was.           

The annual JRG Halad Foundation mass wedding project walks the extra mile, so to speak, to make the event truly memorable for the beneficiary couples. But that the couples are treated to a romantic experience on their wedding day is not even the main point of the project. It goes beyond mere romance - for the wedded couples to walk in the tenets of the faith in all their days together.