Lovi Poe reveals 2-year engagement, also considered Italy wedding

MANILA, Philippines — Lovi Poe commended her friends for keeping a tight lid on her biggest secret: she had been engaged for two years to scientist Monty Blencowe before they announced their engagement and tied the knot in the same month last August. 

The actress faced the press yesterday as she launched the newest collection of jewelry brand Imono.

"'Yun na nga. Since we're talking about it, two years before I announced, I was already engaged. And you know what's nakaka-proud? A lot of my friends know. The ones I already invited already knew that I was engaged for that long and walang lumabas," Lovi revealed. 

She recounted how her friends made the conscious effort to hide her engagement, even refraining from opening up about it among their common circle of friends. 

"Sabi ko, ang galing ng mga kaibigan ko ha. Test of friendship ito, 'no? Not a single thing came out until I announced. So ayun. Two years po. I'm so happy because my friends knew about it and they were just mum about it," she added. 

Even publicist Jun Lalin, who attended her England wedding last August, had to play innocent when he was asked by showbiz writers if the actress was getting married. He had his invitation five months before the wedding. 

Lovi said she is grateful to her family and friends for keeping it a secret. She wanted to share one of the best news in her life, but she withheld it out of respect for Monty and his family, who she described as "very private." 

Italian dream wedding

The actress also revealed that she had planned to get married in Italy. She and Monty went to different places in Italy, even checked out the dreamy destination wedding, Lake Como. 

"We went to so many places. I-share ko na lang. Two years before the wedding, I had a dream to get married in Italy. So we first met up sa England and we looked up Cliveden and that was the first place we saw. And then we flew to Italy, we went to Lake Como and went to these different locations to check out what would be the best wedding venue for us. We ended up choosing the first one that we saw... And also, there's another place in Sicily. 'Yung mga ganyan," she shared. 

They ended up tying the knot in England last August. 

Lovi said it was teamwork and hardwork for both her and Monty. 

She was taping for her show, "Batang Quiapo" while planning for her wedding. Ditto for Monty, who is a scientist.

"I was on the set. It was hard. It was hardwork but mabuti na lang my husband is very hands-on and very supportive. Kumbaga, my god, that was a dream wedding place. You know what I mean?

"It was so perfect the fact that he was just (saying), 'This is the best place for a wedding and I think it will be memorable.' I didn't wanna push this kind of place but he was the one who said that it's something that I would deserve. So he gave it to me. I'm so happy. It started with that," she added. 

Although they had a wedding planner, everything from the food and drinks were handpicked by her and Monty.  

"Teamwork talaga e. My taste is different from his taste. So kailangan talaga mag-merge 'yun. That was a perfect example of us meeting in the middle," Lovi said. — Video by Kathleen A. Llemit, editing by Anjilica Andaya

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