Shamcey Supsup: ‘I’ve found the best guy in the universe!’

MANILA, Philippines - Here comes the most beautiful bride in the universe: Bb. Pilipinas and Miss Universe 2011 3rd runner-up Shamcey Supsup who is set to marry print model/businessman Lloyd Lee on December 29 at the UP Church of the Risen Lord in ecumenical rites at 1:30 p.m.

“We chose Dec. 29 to wed because feng shui-wise, it was the only auspicious date left for the year,” Shamcey explains why they chose a year-end wedding. “The next lucky date is March 16 next year and we couldn’t wait that long.”

Shamcey, 27, and Lloyd, 32, must be so in love they couldn’t wait a mere couple of months more to get married. “It’s one thing to be in love with a person and another thing if that person feels the same way about you. It’s hard to find a person like that,” she says with a twinkle in her eyes.

As for the choice of the church, Shamcey explains, “I drew this church when I was an Architecture student at UP and so, when Lloyd and I were looking for a church, I told him, why not this?”

Boy meets and dates girl

She met him at her birthday party in 2011. “We were introduced by his cousin Carolyn Ty who joined the Bb. Pilipinas contest with me,” Shamcey relates. “She asked if she could bring somebody to my birthday party and I didn’t know she would bring a guy. She sat beside me and asked if I was dating anybody and I said no. Then she pointed at her cousin and said, ‘He’s single, maybe you should go out sometime.’ I said, ‘He looks like a playboy. He’s not my type. Baka naman lokohin ako nito.’ But she assured me, ‘No, he’s okay.’”

They started dating and, exactly a month after they met, they became official. They got engaged after two-and-a-half years of being together. “We were already on when I went to compete for Miss Universe in Brazil,” Shamcey points out. “We kept in touch all throughout so he hardly slept. He would stay up to catch me on the phone and then go straight to work (he’s in textile manufacturing). Until now, we communicate on the phone all the time. If one hour passes and there’s no text, we wonder what’s happening.”

Lloyd was Shamcey’s first boyfriend. “I told myself that if I was going to have a boyfriend, he was the one I would marry,” she shares.

Shamcey says she’s found the best guy in the universe. She enumerates the things she loves about Lloyd: “He does not hang around much with friends, di sya mabarkada, he’s close to his family. And I like the way he treats other people. He’s the calm type of person. He makes me feel our relationship is more important than anything else. That I come first.”

He’s the one

Shamcey’s posivite he’s the one. “Both of us come from a strict family. Both of us have a curfew, we’re not allowed to go out of town, etc. Because of that, we understand each other. We both like to eat, we go to different restaurants to try Filipino, Chinese, mostly Asian food. There are times when we would have three dinners in one night, if we see something delicious to try. We also both love watching movies — sometimes, we’d watch the same movie three times.”

And then there’s this other sign that he’s the one: “My mom has always been my big critic. But when she met Lloyd, she had nothing negative to say about him. The only thing she could say was that Lloyd is always smiling, ‘palangiti itong si Lloyd,’ she said.”

But of course, Shamcey wanted a guy who was taller (Lloyd is 5”11”) and Lloyd did not want a girl who was very tall (Shamcey is just 5’8”).

No, the couple did not have a prenuptial agreement. “We don’t need one,” Shamcey is quick to declare.

The rings

It’s the first wedding for both families — Shamcey is an only child while Lloyd is the eldest of three children. So you can just imagine how excited — and over the moon — both families are. This was evident at the couple’s Chinese engagement party last June 16 at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, where they will also have their wedding reception. Aside from the engagement ring, Lloyd gave Shamcey what the couple calls a “promise ring” which the groom himself chose.

“Actually, we already exchanged wedding rings during our engagement party; I showed mine to my mom and she asked, ‘Are you sure you’re wearing it?’” Shamcey relates. “But I lost it when I attended an event in Nueva Ecija. I know I should not have worn it at once, I should have kept it first. It must have slipped because my fingers are too tiny. Lloyd’s parents got a bit mad when they learned about it.”

Shamcey and the ring were just not meant to be. “I thought the one I lost was too big and the stone was too thick.”

Happily, Shamcey got a cheaper replacement, which is just the ring she wants — a smaller band with smaller diamonds.

She further relates, “But they were saying it’s malas because I lost my wedding ring.”

Here come the bridal designers

Shamcey is not superstitious. She’s even fitting her wedding gown, which Lloyd has seen.

“Lloyd was at my shop to accompany Shamcey for the fitting and I told him to get out of here, he’s not supposed to see his bride’s gown before the wedding,” says Cherry Veric with a chuckle.

Cherry Samuya Veric Atelier at the Ramona Apartments in Ermita is doing Shamcey’s wedding gown for the church ceremony while Francis Libiran is doing the gown for the dinner/dance reception at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.

“Before I met Cherry through another Bb. Pilipinas candidate, I already had a peg of what I wanted to wear on my wedding day and I was looking for somebody who could do it,” she notes. “Luckily, I found Cherry.”

For Shamcey, Cherry designs a long-sleeved full Chantilly lace gown that gracefully outlines the body, similar to what she wore at the Miss Universe pageant. But no, she won’t be wearing a tiara. “It’s see-through and instead of beads, lace will cover the gown,” Cherry describes. “The gown has a short veil and is simply embellished with white opal crystals. I made it really simple because Shamcey is a simple girl.”

“I’m not showing the actual gown to my parents because they’re very conservative and they might ask me to have it changed,” says an apprehensive Shamcey. “It’s better to surprise them.”

So far, Cherry has done two alterations on Shamcey’s gown. “Because she’s been losing weight.”

Shamcey is back to her pageant weight of 109 lbs. with an enviable 24-inch waistline. She confesses, “But I try not to skip any meal. I eat a good breakfast of rice, eggs, hotdog or fish; also a hearty lunch and an even bigger dinner. And I always have chocolates, sweets or biscuits on hand to ward off hunger pangs.”

For the dinner reception, Francis Libiran is doing something a lot different from the wedding gown — it’s a floor-length, more sparkly gown.

For the wedding’s color motif, the couple has fallen for the colors of autumn. They went to Korea last year to shoot their prenup photos and they were inspired by the orange, brown, and earth colors of fall.

Shoe, what else is new?

Shamcey’s dainty feet will be shod by Nereku shoes. The five-inch designer stilettos are made of leather and covered with the same lace material as Shamcey’s gown. Shamcey has indeed found her perfect solemate: The soles of the shoes are accented with Swarovski crystals.

For the wedding cake, Emily Uy Swing of Sugar Box is making a most elegant and delicious five-foot, four-layer fondant carrot walnut cake inspired by the bride’s gown. “It’s shimmery with a pearlized floral design,” Emily describes.

And the amazing lace motif spills over to the wedding tokens — coasters made of lace.

To keep her altar date with her dashing groom, Shamcey will be ferried in a super stretch Cadillac Escalade limousine, which some lucky lady members of the press got to try  last Monday —  along with the bride, of course!

For her date with her derma last Monday, Shamcey was fetched by Facial Care Centre, of which she’s the latest endorser, in an Escalade. Surprise! Surprise! It’s the exact same bridal car that will bring Shamcey to church from Edsa Shangri-La Hotel where she’s billeted on the eve of her wedding. “I was really surprised when NJ Torres (of Facial Care Centre) fetched me in an Escalade,” Shamcey gushes. “I wanted a simple car for my wedding, but Lloyd wanted something extraordinary.”

The most radiant bride in the universe

Facial Care Centre is making sure Shamcey is the most radiant bride in the universe on her wedding day. “I’ve been doing facials to make the color of my skin even. I had been exposed to the sun when I was working as an architect and visiting the construction sites, and I was not very maarte so I wasn’t putting on sunblock.”

Shamcey has been undergoing a combination of facials at Facial Care Centre — RevLite Total Rejuvenation program and LaserLight Hair Removal program. Only recently did she start the hair removal program and she’s already starting to notice a big change — finer  and lesser hairs. Soon, when the program is over, she’ll never have to feel the pains of shaving or waxing again.

RevLite is Facial Care Centre’s newest non-invasive treatment touted as a total rejuvenation solution for the skin (being a beauty queen can be stressful). It uses the most sophisticated Q-switched lasers in the world, emitting a smooth and even heating to target and lighten uneven skin tone and hyperpigmentation as well as cases like freckles and melasma. Shamcey is currently on RevLite for her arms, legs, and face. (Call 892-SKIN to enroll in a RevLite Total Rejuvenation program.)

Shamcey and Lloyd sometimes book an appointment for a facial and get a couple’s room, like going out on a date.

The wedding song

The radiant bride will march down the aisle to the music of Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years. Some 1,200 guests from near and far are expected to come for the wedding. A Chinese lauriat will be served at Edsa Shangri-La where guests will occupy two ballrooms and there will be two hosts simultaneously entertaining two different sets of guests.

The couple will host another reception in General Santos, Cotabato where Shamcey’s parents come from, to accommodate friends and relatives who cannot come to Manila.

A week after the wedding, Shamcey and Lloyd are off to Canada where Shamcey is doing a fashion show. “It’s work, but we’re extending our stay in Canada and going to New York as well,” says Shamcey. “I wanted to go to Europe for the honeymoon, but it’s winter there now, not a good time, so we’re postponing our European trip for later.”

After the wedding, the newlyweds are moving to a condo while building their dream house. But of course, Shamcey, one of the top 10 placers in the architecture board in 2011 with an average of 86.6, is designing her dream home. “I did the initial concept/design, it’s very homey with browns and earth tones as the dominant colors and a touch of wood,” she describes. “Its main feature is a swimming pool on the second floor, right outside the master’s bedroom. It’s like a lap pool where I can swim for my exercise. As for Lloyd, he’s really into fitness so he has his treadmill.”

But the most beautiful thing about this home is that it will be full of love and laughter.