When Korina Sanchez walks down the aisle of Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m., her three brothers — EG, Milano and Mickey — will give her away to her groom, Sen. Mar Roxas.
The air of romance will further be enhanced as the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra plays “Umagang Kay Ganda,” originally sung in 1979 by Tillie Moreno and Ray-an Fuentes, when Korina meets Mar by the altar. The song, a favorite of Mar, will also be sung at the wedding recessional by the choir, the UP Madrigal Singers.
The members of the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra are donating their service fee for Mar’s vice presidential campaign.
There will be six bishops to celebrate the wedding with Fr. Tito Caluag S.J. delivering the homily. As of press time, names of the bishops are still being finalized. The matrimonial Mass will be said in Tagalog.
Singer Basil Valdez has just committed himself to sing during communion.
As earlier reported, Korina will wear a Pepito Albert wedding gown. Mar will don a Barong Tagalog by Randy Ortiz. The female entourage will be in gowns by Patrice Ramos-Diaz while the male entourage will be in Barong Tagalogs, also by Randy Ortiz.
Filipiniana is the motif of the wedding. Ecru is the color motif.
There will be five pairs of principal sponsors, mostly family members of the bride and groom. Mar and Korina only made public their relationship in 2004 after he won the Senate polls by a staggering 19 million votes.
Mar’s 15-year-old son Paolo will be the Best Man while Dang Cecilio-Palanca, a very good friend of Korina, will be the Matron of Honor.
Baby James Yap, son of Kris and James Yap, will be the Ring Bearer, while Miguel Sanchez will be the Coin Bearer.
The First Reading will be read by Ted Failon while the Second Reading by Elay Antonino. The Prayers of the Faithful will be read by Margarita “Gaita” Fores, Mar’s first cousin.
After the 3 p.m. wedding at the Sto. Domingo Church, there will be no more reception. Instead, the couple will meet and greet their visitors who will instead be treated to refreshments and sandwiches in the church. Well-wishers from the public who will attend the wedding will be given a slice of butter cake from Goldilocks.
As reported by STAR entertainment editor Ricky Lo last Wednesday, the reception would have had 10,000 people in attendance, coming from all walks of life, eating the same food and treated to a short program of love songs. But with typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng plaguing the country, the couple decided to go on with the wedding but cancel the reception. Instead of just focusing on her wedding, Korina was said to be busy with relief work for the typhoons’ victims.
The traditional despedida de soltera was also canceled. It took seven months to plan for the wedding of Mar and Korina.
However, a source said, about 150 guests — family members of the bride and groom and their closest of closest friends — will troop to Bahay na Puti, the Araneta ancestral home in Cubao, for dinner. The entrée for dinner is reportedly typical Filipino food like caldereta, kare-kare and lechon to be prepared by Gaita Fores.
It will simply be an intimate dinner at the Bahay na Puti. No band, no fireworks at the simple reception. The love between Korina and Mar, perhaps, is enough to provide them the music that will last them a lifetime. And with love as the basis of their relationship, that’s enough pyrotechnics to light their romance — in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, till death do them part.
Gaita is also doing the flower arrangements both in the church and at the Bahay na Puti. Expect only rosal and sampaguita as the blooms in focus of the day.
The bride’s makeup artist and hair stylist have not yet been identified. Another source said Korina, who is very hands-on about her wedding, is still “conducting trial makeup.” The choice of bridal car has also not yet been finalized.
The table centerpiece will consist of wooden candelabras carved by artisans from Pampanga. These candelabras will be festooned with rosal and sampaguita, too. The wedding giveaways, especially to the principal sponsors, are Venetian mirrors and jewelry boxes from Pampanga. Korina traces her roots to Pampanga.
The wedding cake is by Heny Sison. There will also be several photographers to document the event. Of course, ABS-CBN will be there to capture the solemnity and surprises of the affair. The invitation, worded in Tagalog, was done by Noky Gatmaitan of Printsonalities.
Lights and sounds, including the logistics and security on Mar and Korina’s wedding day will be handled by Mike Miñana of Teamworks. Teamworks will also be present when the soon-to-be-betrothed-couple and their entourage hold a wedding rehearsal this coming Wednesday.
Wedding coordination is ably handled by Marichelle Ligon and her team at Bridesmaids and Company while overall production design of the wedding is by Gino Gonzalez.
Best wishes to Korina and Mar!
(Please e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com and my.new.beginnings@gmail.com. Have a blessed Sunday!)