‘You are my biggest blessing’

Last Dec. 23, when slender beauty Roan Isberto of Del Monte became the bride of businessman Chuck Castro, she confided during her vows that she felt it was wrong to pray to God for sunny weather on her wedding day.

“When we passed by the church last Sunday to pray, I felt that it was wrong to ask God for sunny weather during our wedding since He has blessed me with so much and to date, you are my biggest blessing,” Roan told Chuck at the altar of the San Juan Nepomuceno Church in San Juan, Batangas. “No fancy words today, just a lot of thank yous. Thank you for always putting my needs, wants and insecurities before yours. For your never-ending patience in attending to my needs, wants and insecurities. For being the perfect partner to my ‘steady life.’ You are indeed my good karma.

“I ended my prayer that day with ‘Lord, Ikaw na bahala sa amin,’ since I’ve always trusted in His big plan. And today, I can confidently say, ‘Love, ikaw na bahala sa atin’ — because I know that there is no other person that I’d rather spend my forever with. I love you.”

For his part, Chuck told Roan before God and man that words couldn’t describe his joy that he would now be waking up beside her for the rest of their lives.

“Words cannot describe how happy I truly am that I am not just marrying you today, but that I get to spend each waking day with you. To be able to wake up beside you every morning. To have those meaningless conversations that keep us laughing for minutes. To be able to love you, and be fully loved. It’s funny how serendipitous our lives were, yet we never really took notice of it. I think God really planned it out pretty well. That all along, it was for us to live in each other’s arms, happily ever after naman pala. You make everything amazing. I love you very much.”

* * *

It was destiny that brought the couple together — they stayed in the same condominium building when they were in college (he at the Ateneo and she at UP Diliman) and were office mates at Colgate, but there were no sparks. He resigned from Del Monte a year before she joined it.

Then, after Chuck resigned from Del Monte to join his father Dong Castro’s corporation, their paths crossed again. He dropped by his former office while he was having his car serviced at Honda BGC. He saw Roan. It was only then that they heard bells and whistles.

And then there were wedding bells.

* * *

Chuck and Roan were hands-on and fiercely independent wedding planners. So their idyllic and romantic wedding at San Juan Nepomuceno and reception at the beachfront of the Acuatico Beach Resort in Laiya, Batangas bore their imprint — and only theirs.

 For instance, Chuck’s ring bearer was his 32-year-old Ateneo buddy Ernest Buan, who marched seriously down the aisle holding a pillow like it bore the crown of Queen Elizabeth II, so careful was he not to drop it. The candle sponsors were also both male! Talk about the aisle less traveled!

One part of the wedding Chuck and Roan didn’t plan for was when the officiating priest forgot to announce at the end of the ceremony, “And now you may kiss the bride!”

The guests made up for it by calling out, “Kiss! Kiss!” And the groom happily obliged.

* * *

Chuck’s mother Didit Castro, a former executive of The Peninsula Manila, revealed during the reception that she was so stressed out before the wedding because of the million and one things she WISHED she had to do. Instead, the couple left her to relax and enjoy the months leading up to the wedding and the wedding itself.

As we sat under the lantern-lit white tent set up on the beach, Didit remarked she was stupefied at how well the wedding turned out, and she was even more proud of Chuck and Roan. “If you dare ask what I feel  right now, I might not be able to give you one good answer. I have mixed emotions.

“Sad...because definitely, I will  miss you Chuckie. You have been mine alone for 32 years, and the mother in me perhaps wants some more years with you. But I know you are just around, and will continue to be around, after tonight…But honestly, I am very happy tonight because I now have another daughter. I welcome you to the family, Roan.”

Although it was an evening reception, the newlyweds gave out sunnies as souvenirs. Drinks overflowed as guests feasted on salad, steak and prawns. 

The rains didn’t dampen the festive spirit, and some guests trooped back to their beachfront cottages at nearby Acuaverde resort at 3 a.m.!

Chuck and Roan began their married life on their terms — setting the tone for their life together. And they did so with a lot of love and support from family and friends, and a style all their own.

* * *

You get to know a person, they say, by the company he keeps. In that case, I am certain Chuck is a Good Samaritan, a man for others in an everyday way, because of the kindness we received from three of his friends from his student days at the Ateneo: Alvin Quizon, Joe Silva and Waldo Bautista.

On our way from the wedding ceremony to the reception at Acuatico in a fairly remote part of Batangas some 20 minutes away from the church, our car (with my husband Ed on the wheel) hit a jagged piece of rock on the road. The right front tire burst, causing a loud pop that attracted many.

As we turned to a nearby convenience store to check the damage, the three gentlemen alighted from their SUV and immediately offered their help. “Do you have a spare? Do you have a jack? Can we change your tire for you?”

They didn’t know us from Adam and Eve.

When my husband, seeing them in their barongs, politely declined and headed for the nearest vulcanizing shop, Alvin told me, “You know it might be easier to change the tire than to have it vulcanized.”

Anyway, they stayed with me until Ed returned. (It was then we realized we were headed for the same party.) A good thing they didn’t leave us because it turned out the vulcanizing shop was closed. Immediately, the three men took off their barongs, and Alvin got down on his hands and knees and changed the tire, with the help of his friends.

We probably would have managed, but since they are more youthful — okay, you get the picture.

So as we rejoiced in Roan and Chuck’s union that night, we also rejoiced at the gift of perfect strangers who gave perfect kindness at a moment when it was needed most.

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)