Remember that "nursery rhyme" about brides walking down the aisle with a little bundle of joy inside the tummy?
Yes, as you must have known by now, Ruffa Gutierrez (5’ 9.5" tall) is four months pregnant when she swapped "I do’s" with Turkish George Hamilton lookalike Yilmaz Bektas (5’ 10.5") in a fairy-tale sunset wedding at the garden of The Fort, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Although vaguely hinting at it, Funfare withheld that "vital" information and left it to the couple to make the "surprise" announcement halfway through the reception at The Tent nearby. All along, I knew about Ruffa’s delicate condition but I didn’t want to preempt her and Yilmaz. You know, why spoil a well-planned and well-organized event dubbed as the wedding not only of the year but of the decade (unless, which I doubt, another showbiz wedding can surpass its scope and spectacle?).
When Funfare mentioned a few issues ago that Ruffa fainted on the two-hour Lufthansa flight from Istanbul to Frankfurt during a stopover, the reasons given were that Ruffa wasn’t eating and resting enough (true!), excited about her forthcoming wedding (true!!) and suffered dizziness due to turbulence (true!!!). Missed out deliberately was the main reason – yes, that she was infanticipating and therefore having morning sickness.
Because of her fainting spell, rumor soon spread that Ruffa was pregnant. Asked about it, Ruffa gave a big smile for an answer. "If I am (pregnant)," she told Funfare, "then it’s a blessing!"
When Yilmaz confirmed it at the wedding reception, he held up a pair of tiny white shoes, saying those shoes would be worn by their baby due Aug. 15. The announcement brought to mind the same one, that time made by Charlene Gonzalez during her and Aga Muhlach’s wedding in May 2001. Six months later, Charlene gave birth to twins.
Now, the "scoop": Ruffa is giving birth to a girl as confirmed by ultrasound during her two-day hospitalization in Frankfurt. But Ruffa said that she and Yilmaz would welcome even a boy, as long as the baby is normal.
"Soon," Ruffa told her crowd of glitterring well-wishers, "my mom will be known as Lola Annabelle and my dad Lolo Elvis (Presley, Eddie’s favorite singer)."
Ruffa and Yilmaz are leaving today for Maldives for a three-day, ehem, honeymoon ("Actually," laughed Ruffa, "our honeymoon has long been over!") and then they’ll proceed to L.A. to rest. They plan to settle down either in L.A. or New York, depending on where they can find a home to their taste.
Because of her pregnancy, Ruffa said that their second (Muslim) wedding scheduled in Istanbul on May 11 (their third anniversary as sweetheart) will be postponed to next year.
"Siempre naman," added Ruffa, "after giving birth, I’ll have to shed the extra poundage I’m sure to gain between now and Aug. 15. By then, I should be as slim as I used to be already."
Incidentally, did you know that Ruffa’s $15,000 (roughly P700,000) gown designed by Inno Sotto was partially burned during the pictorial after the reception? Somebody must have thrown a cigaret butt which landed on the six-meter veil.
"Luckily," laughed Ruffa, "I didn’t get burned. Grabe!"
Oh, yeah, grabe!
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)