White lace, promises and sampaguitas

What would you do if you had the stature and the means for a grand wedding, but were caught between delicadeza and the desire to have a wedding befitting a Malacañang resident?

You walk the tightrope of delicadeza, that’s what you do.

Though most people would have frowned on a wedding where champagne flowed from fountains, they would have also felt let down, if, say, presidential son Mikey Arroyo and his bride Angela Montenegro just eloped and got married in Hong Kong. That, to a lot of Filipinos, would have been tantamount to leaving them out of the wedding. Hecha fuera.

For in a world where weddings provide a psychological boost to a people enveloped in a pall of bad news, few, if ever, will also forgive a President for taking away from them the diversion of a fairytale wedding. Weddings make you believe in happy endings. Weddings in Palaces make little urchins dream of – and work at–becoming Cinderellas. No, you don’t take away weddings from people sustained by dreams.

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It is to the credit of the Arroyos and Montenegros that they came up with that hard-to-concoct mix of elegance and simplicity for the wedding– from the Mass at the St. Augustine Church in Lubao, Pampanga to Malacañang, where an evening reception was held.

People close to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo say the wedding planners had even suggested a fireworks display in the Palace grounds during the evening reception, but the President vetoed the suggestion.

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The first thing former President Corazon Aquino told me when I saw her at the Palace reception was, "Were you at the wedding ceremony in Lubao? It was beautiful and solemn." She also loved the giant hydrangeas that were given to the female wedding sponsors, of which she was one.

Another guest who went to Lubao, Anna Marie Periquet, said the church ceremony was beautiful in its simplicity, "In keeping with the times." Walang borloloy. The church was refurbished, that is true. But the decor for the wedding itself, according to Anna, was not lavish. Just white roses and chrysanthemums cascading from candelabras on the aisle and in the altar, and a couple of palm trees by the church door.

For the 6 p.m. reception at Malacañang, my husband and I had expected a traffic nightmare on J.P. Laurel Street and found none. Security was tight and efficient, but imposed no inconveniences on the guests.

An ornate carpet was laid out on the road leading to the main Palace entrance. The road was lined by tiny alabaster angel figurines perched on inverted crystal glasses, so that one felt like one had just passed through heaven’s gate. Thousands of clusters of white roses and sampaguitas laced the Palace lawns, like white foam on a sea of grass. Crystal fish circled the fountain in front of the Palace, whose grounds were spruced up by tents draped in tulle. Inside the tents were round tables draped in white lace, with sampaguita buds strewn on the table top.

Inside the Palace, yards and yards of sampaguita garlands were draped on the main staircase. Sampaguitas were everywhere, making me hope Teyet Pascual, who spruced up the Palace for the wedding, bought them from street children. That would have set them up for at least a year’s baon.

The President, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, Angela’s parents Herman and Charito Montenegro mingled informally with some 1,300 guests who just milled around the Reception Hall, the Ceremonial Hall, the State Dining Room (where platters of 13 varieties of cheeses catered by Gaita Fores of Cibo were laid out on a long table) and the Rizal Room (where a sushi bar was set up).

"What is your gift to Mikey?" I asked the President, who, like a real good host, even offered me the glass of champagne handed to her by a waiter.

"The wedding!" she said. Is it possible to be mother of the groom and President at the same time?

"Oh yes!" she exclaimed. "Right after the wedding, I was on the phone with Gen. (Ernesto) Carolina." (The President left the reception at a little after 8 p.m. for a one-on-one meeting with Energy Chief Vince Perez).

Charito Montenegro said she had only one piece of advice to her second daughter Angela: "Support your husband all the way, whether he goes into politics, business or showbusiness. Ako, if I wasn’t supportive of my husband, siguro Rose (Angela’s youngest sister) would not have been born!"

Herman Montenegro, on the other hand, was misty-eyed when I asked him how he felt that night. He was at a loss for words, even though he had already given away his eldest daughter Emilie in marriage a few years ago.

Mikey’s younger brother Dato offered the toast to the newlyweds, and he said it all: "I wish you will be as happy as all of us are happy for you tonight."

Dato was with his lovely fiancee Kakai. They plan to marry next year.

Unlike in the wedding of Beaver Lopez and Jackie Ejercito three years ago, during which guests stayed till the wee hours of the morning, Mikey and Angela’s guests started heading home after 10 p.m. As wedding souvenirs, picture frames made from Mt. Pinatubo ash were given to lady guests.

The newlyweds spent their first night as man and wife in the Palace.

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Already, Angela seems to be taking her mother’s advice to heart. For the honeymoon, she wanted to go on a Mediterranean cruise, but Mikey wanted to go to San Francisco.

Well, today, the newlyweds are flying to San Francisco.