As they wished, Rodjun Cruz and Dianne Medina will cap their 12-year romance with a pre-Christmas wedding on Dec. 21 at the Manila Cathedral with only family members, relatives and close friends in attendance.
“We want it festive,” said Dianne, “so what better time to have it than during the merriest season of the year?”
The sweethearts have just come back from Turkey where they had their prenup pictorial which was a collaboration among them, Nice Print Photography and Travel Specialist Ventures.
“Our initial plan was to do it in Prague,” related Dianne who, at 33, is 11 months older than Rodjun. “But then, Rodjun’s mom (Melody Cruz Lustre) got sick last February so we had to postpone the trip. (Melody succumbed to pancreatic cancer in March. — RFL). Prague wasn’t available to Nice Print and Travel Specialist suggested Turkey which was just as nice.”
It was expensive to hire a make-up artist so Dianne had to do it herself. Her stylist was Jemi Nicdao.
It was during their stint at Star Magic when Rodjun and Dianne began going steady, having grown close as members of You Can Dance celebrity edition. It took Rodjun only two months to win Dianne’s nod.
“He had a crush on me and I had a crush on him, so ganoon kabilis.” (Laughter)
Both religious, they attend Mass and visit the Adoration Chapel together.
Rodjun is from the showbiz Cruz clan while Dianne counts beauty queens as relatives including former Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Gem Padilla, 2016 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Maxine Medina and 2019 Miss World Tourism Glaiza Perez. Dianne’s late mom, Maria Josefa Padilla Perez, finished among the Top 10 in the 1973 Bb. Pilipinas pageant won by Margie Moran. Former actress now US-based Edna Diaz is married to Dianne’s uncle Rene Perez (her mom’s cousin).
With both parents gone, during the wedding Rodjun will have to walk alone. Dianne will be given away by her father, Frisco Tito Medina, and her 94-year-old lola Corazon Perez.
“Our wedding will be festive,” said Dianne, “but we will miss family members who are gone.”
How the prenup shoot was conceptualized
Travel Specialist Ventures (TSV), the official travel service provider of Dianne Medina and Rodjun Cruz, facilitated their prenup photo shoot in Istanbul and Cappadocia in Turkey.
“It was a labor of love,” recalled Rowena Coloma (in photo with the couple), TSV general manager. “We had to wake up at 4 a.m. to go to the location to capture the sunrise for the hot air-balloon shots and wait for the sunset for perfect lighting to come up with awesome images.”
TSV provided visa assistance, airline reservations including extra baggage allowance, hotel reservations, local guide, meals, vehicle and support to the pre-nuptial team. TSV collaborated with a Cappadocia-based film company and the tour operator who knew the perfect locations, and also billeted the team in a five-star cave hotel that became their dreamy backdrop for several portrait photos in Cappadocia.
(For inquiries, contact Rowena Coloma at 0917-8341822 or visit their office at the Ground floor of East Wind Residences, 121 Malakas St., Brgy Central, Quezon City.)
(E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)