Anna Maria a princess bride in Oliver Tolentino

Hollywood actress Anna Maria Perez de Tagle exchanged “I do’s” with Scott Kline Jr. before a star-studded crowd last Saturday, June 29, at the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California, the same church where Lea Salonga and Rob Chien were wed in 2004. Anna Maria, who grew up on the Disney Channel, looked like a princess in a custom Oliver Tolentino wedding gown that featured an 8.5-meter train.

A Fil-Am like her husband, Anna Maria grew up acting alongside the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, and Demi Lovato in Hannah Montana and the Camp Rock movies. More recently, she co-starred in Godspell on Broadway and appeared as guest in Charmed. Her father is actor Artie Perez de Tagle and her grandmother is the legendary Sylvia La Torre.

“After they were set up by a cousin,” recalled Oliver in an earlier Funfare exclusive, “Anna Maria and Scott (an aerospace engineer whose mother is Filipina and father is German-Irish American) had their first date, fittingly, at Disneyland. The courtship over a shared love of music, food, travel, and the same core values, lasted two years when Scott proposed at 11 a.m. on 11/11. Anna Maria quickly accepted and Scott sealed it with a heart-shaped ring surrounded by double halo pink diamonds.”

In the wedding service, Artie and wife Evelyn waited for their daughter at the halfway mark of the aisle. When Anna Maria appeared, the crowd gasped.

Anna Maria and fiancé Scott Kline Jr. give each other a toast.

Beverly Hills-based Oliver, who was among the principal sponsors, collaborated with Anna Maria on her dream gown: An off-white long-sleeved silk organza ball gown with a 28-foot train (8.53 meters). The entire gown featured fully hand-beaded lace with thousands of Swarovski crystals. A 33-foot veil (10 meters) completed the fairy-tale look.

When Anna Maria walked towards her parents, all the crystals sparkled in the light and her train and veil filled the entire width of the church’s cathedral. She carried a bridal bouquet full of cascading white roses, peonies and calla lilies.  

Her parents escorted Anna Maria the rest of the way. 

“Mom and Dad fought emotions as Artie put his daughter’s hands in Scott’s and they took their seats on the front row,” related Oliver. “Overall, the wedding motif was purple, Anna Maria’s lifelong favorite, so naturally the entourage reflected her love of the color.”

Emmy-winning actress Uzo Aduba served as Maid of Honor. Aduba, who won two Emmy Awards for her work on the soon-to-end Orange Is The New Black, co-starred with Anna Maria in Godspell. They became best friends. Aduba flew from working in New York. Oliver created a custom purple silk chiffon gown for Aduba, a hand-draped silk chiffon with fully hand-beaded embroidered bodice for Evelyn, and a darker shade of purple off-shoulder gown with a hand-draped beaded bodice skirt for Scott’s mom Maria.

Photos courtesy of Anna Maria Perez de Tagle and husband Scott Kline Jr.

For Lola Sylvia, Oliver designed a champagne silk chiffon gown that featured a hand-beaded lace bodice with 3-D flowers and bell sleeves, and for Scott, Oliver added special touches to an Armani tuxedo that had sentimental value to the groom.

The remaining bridesmaid dresses were by Filipina designer Pia Gladys Perey, originally from Australia. The dresses were in different purple shades and silhouettes.

At the ceremony, Lola Sylvia regaled the crowd of 200-plus guests with a slow rendition of Ave Maria during the offering to Virgin Mary. Her voice moved many to tears since she was singing for the last of eight grandchildren to marry.

Godspell castmate Eric Krop also sang My Heart Belongs To You, but Anna Maria surprised Scott when halfway through she pulled out a microphone and started singing the song directly to him. The groom was visibly moved.

At the reception in the ballroom of the nearby Hilton Hotel, dear friends and Hollywood actors Maria Canals Barrera (Wizards of Waverly Place and Camp Rock) and David Barrera (Generation Kill) watched Anna and Scott as they had their first dance to N*Sync’s This I Promise You.  

Bride and groom with Anna Maria’s grandparents, Celso Perez de Tagle and Sylvia La Torre…

After that, the bride and groom surprised the crowd with a duet of Forever More by Side A. Scott had never sung publicly before. They followed that with a first dance to Kenny Roger’s Through The Years, joined by their parents.

During the reception, Anna Maria changed into an entirely new Oliver Tolentino gown that had guests gasping anew. The dress was more manageable than the voluminous gown so the couple could do a second dance to Bruno Mars’ Finesse. The reception dress was off-white silk tulle with long see-through sleeves. The ball gown had a bodice hand-beaded in a Baroque style, running down the sleeves, with layers of tulle for the skirt.

The reception ballroom was bathed in a purple glow created from special gobo projections that changed color shades. The tables were covered in purple confetti. Alexa Flowers created centerpieces incorporating colors of summer (L.A.’s current season) like white and purple hydrangeas, mokara orchids, and purple lisianthus. 

The couple cut a five-tier heart-shaped wedding cake by Pastry By Jazmyne. There was also a dessert table, all in the purple theme with ube flavored sweets, created by Café 86.

…and the secondary sponsors.

Additional Fil-Am vendors were: Girl Meets Bongga (hair/make-up), Kyrie Design and MPGrafx NYC (picture canvases featured in reception), and Let’s Make A Memory (for photography, videography, DJ and emcee duties).

Right after the reception, the newly-weds jetted off to Spain for their honeymoon. They will make L.A. their home.

Incidentally, Oliver is coming home on July 18 to work for several weeks in his Makati boutique. (For inquiries call 02-8567088). 

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)