What started as a reluctant blind date ended up in an altar date. But what a grand proposal it was that took place beneath the Himalayan mountains of Nepal! At the dazzling height of 12,000 feet above sea level, who wouldn’t be swept off her feet? In the most dramatic setting ever staged by a man so in love with a woman, here is the story of beautiful Monika Lietz Cruz and the dashing love of her life, Maurice Cruz.
How did the two of you meet?
Maurice : We had been together for four years when I proposed. We met on a blind date arranged by my Ateneo buddy Benjie Lopez. It was both our first time to go out on a blind date. At first I did not feel good about the concept that Benjie had to twist both my arms to give in to it.
I am so fascinated by the proposal setting. Please describe the time of day, the place, the climate, and the feelings you both shared when you proposed marriage to Monika?
Maurice: Monika and I had just finished a three-week trek in the Nepal Himalayas where we had climbed to an altitude of 12,000 feet to catch a glimpse of three 8,000-plus meter peaks (there are only eight of them in the world). On the way down from the mountains, I felt a kind of certainty that she was The One for me. Before heading back to the capital city, Kathmandu, we decided to recover from the trek in a little town that sat on the banks of a holy lake surrounded by the peaks we had just visited. After a few days, I realized that there would be no better place to ask for her hand than here because of the sheer beauty that surrounded us. So one afternoon, with the setting sun as additional backdrop, I took her out on a rowboat to a secluded corner of the lake, got down on one knee, and proposed. The Himalayan peaks that looked down on this little boat with two young travelers in it were our silent witnesses.
Where did you get the engagement ring that you gave her when you proposed?
Maurice: Since this was an impromptu proposal, I didn’t have a traditional engagement ring prepared. What was I to do? I even thought of waiting to propose in Manila with a proper ring. But if I did that, I would stand to lose the chance of a lifetime, in the atmospheric beauty of this Himalayan Hideaway. Ring or setting, ring or setting? I decided on the latter because it can’t be replicated anywhere else in the world. And for a ring, I later went to a Tibetan jeweller and had something made that I knew Monika would love. The jeweller eventually became our friend. Much later on, when I told Monika of this dilemna, she said that my proposal was just perfect.
Monika, how did you react when Maurice proposed marriage to you?
Monika: I was absolutely 100 percent surprised and speechless. I really didn’t have a clue he was going to propose. Before that, when we were in the Himalayas, he was talking about our future together. I wondered why he was bringing up that topic. It was only when he actually went down on one knee that I understood. I felt ecstatic and very impressed by his "staging of the proposal." It was the proposal of a lifetime, a story I hope our children and grandchildren will tell theirs.
I heard that your wedding at Punta Baluarte was such a feast for the senses. What made it so special?
Maurice: We wanted to have a wedding that was intimate and fun. This meant keeping the guest list down to 90 and finding a place that would encourage people to relax. Since Monika and I love the outdoors, we settled on Punta Baluarte because it is by the sea. We tried to personalize our wedding by Monika organizing it. She and I wrote our own wedding announcements and invitations (we even chose the paper, which came from India). Our wedding cake was a replica of the proposal scene replete with miniature mountains, lake, and a boat with two people in it. All these were edible, of course.
Monika: The wedding motif was a Balinese garden. Despite the "informal" beach setting, the wedding attire was black tie. We had a wonderful evening and a great party. The following day, we saw all our family and friends again for breakfast. Not only was our proposal perfect, our wedding weekend celebration was, too.
You got married at a time when people were out on EDSA demanding for then President Estrada to resign. How did you manage to get out of Manila at the height of People Power 2 to push through with your wedding?
Maurice: The day when majority of the senators decided not to open the second envelope was the Tuesday before the wedding. Monika and I and two good friends (Cynthia Dayco and hubby Roland Benzon) were folding misallettes at our dining room table. We turned off the radio after hearing the news. Then there was silence in the room. We feared the worst rioting in the streets, followed by martial law. Who would come to our wedding now? Should we cancel the bookings we made with Punta? Our priest! He’s at the Edsa Shrine every day! What if something happens to him?
Monika: It was definitely an unwelcome surprise. All I could think of was "Why now?" Do you know I even had a contingency plan to get our priest out of Manila a day earlier in case martial law would be declared and the roads out of town closed off on Saturday (our wedding day). We had asked a dear family friend to officiate and it was his name on our marriage license, so I knew there could be no "substitute priest." At worst, we were prepared to just get married with the priest and two witnesses in case none of the guests could make it out of Manila.
Very early in the morning on the day of the wedding, my aunt Cora Zulueta and brother Michael Lietz picked up the priest at Mary the Queen parish in Greenhills. They made it to Punta but not without having to drive through all these back roads as EDSA/Ortigas was obviously impassable.
Given the unstable political situation in Manila, did all of your 90 guests make it to your wedding in Punta?
Monika: All but five people made it to our wedding. We even had an Elvis impersonator loosen up the mood at that critical transition moment right after the speeches but before the dancing starts.
As nerve-wracking as it was, all that stress, anxiety, excitement and finally the "happy ending," looking back on all of it now, if I had to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing.
I also heard that the wedding car you used was very unique.
Maurice: Our "getaway car" was a red 1962 Porsche 356. It took my dad and I five years to fully restore it to its original showroom condition. Right after I had proposed to Monika, I told her about the car. I told her, too, that her wedding dress had to fit in the 356 and she needed to endure a short ride to the reception with no aircon.
Monika: When he told me his conditions I replied: "Is that all? No problem!" I fully understood that he didn’t want to ruin the originality of the car by installing an aircon. I was very game about using the 356.
Did your 356 fully cooperate during the wedding?
Maurice: Oh yes. But a month before the wedding the car still wasn’t running because we ran into an unexpected problem with the transmission. This was December 2000 and the wedding was in January 2001. There wasn’t any time to have it completely overhauled, plus Christmas was around the corner. I told Monika that there was a possibility that we wouldnít be able to use the 356. But she was unrelenting and wouldn’t take no for an answer
Monika: I wanted the 356 to be our wedding car even if we had to have a horse pull it away from the chapel! But there was no need for that in the end because Maurice’s good friend and professional restorer, Martin de los Reyes, found a transmission specialist who fixed it.
I heard about the sign that you placed on the car. It didn’t read "Just Married," did it?
On the morning of our wedding day, I was prepping the 356 with my brother, Carlo Cruz and my dad, Toto Cruz. We added one last coat of wax, laced the car with sampaguita, tied a bunch of Lavazza coffee cans to the rear bumper, and hung the classic "Just Married" sign over the license plate. But then I realized that on our wedding day (Jan. 20, 2001), President George W. Bush and President Arroyo were getting sworn in and so was I! So I made a new sign to hang on the back: "Just Sworn In."
Before taking the vow, how did you spend the last few minutes of your being single with your parents?
Maurice: Another unique thing that I did before the wedding was to drive myself to the chapel in the 356 with my mom, Tillie Pelagallo, by my side. Although it’s not standard protocol, I just thought it would be a really special thing for a mom and her eldest son to share a few intimate moments together just before he gets married.
Monika: One of my most memorable moments of the wedding ceremony took place as I was about to walk down the aisle with my dad, Rudolf J.H. Lietz. Pachelbel’s Canon in D was playing and Dad and I knew we would start crying. As we took the first few steps, he started cracking jokes. We surely braved the wedding march, laughing all the way.
(For comments, email me at miladayjewels@yahoo.com)