Boracay’s "I do"

Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as love at first sight. Take it from dashing Leonard "Bong" Tirol, who fell for the lovely Amanda Onrubia Guidotti the moment he laid eyes on her. That was five years ago when he was handling the Pasig Pirates basketball team and she was the team’s muse.

It was in resplendent Boracay where Bong, an island native, proposed marriage on a diving expedition. As they went deeper in the water, he led Amanda to a tridacna gigas where, upon opening the shell, she found an engagement ring.

Recently, the couple sealed their vows in a ceremony held, naturellement, in Boracay. Bong’s famille is, apres all, one of the island’s biggest landholders and owners of the popular White House Resort. The three-day celebration, organized by Louie Cruz, palanggas, the groom’s mother Nenet Tirol and Amanda’s uncle Lori Guidotti, began with a luau-style despedida de soltera at Boracay Terraces.

The wedding, officiated by Rev. Isauro David, was at the Holy Parish Church where the bride, in a Randy Ortiz creation, arrived in a stretch golf cart decked with flowers. The gorgeous al fresco reception for 200 invitees was held at the Sea Wind resort. It was already sunrise when the last of the wedding revelers drifted off, but for Bong and Amanda, dahlings, it’s just the beginning of a beautiful life together.

Remember, palanggas, "The Son of God became the Son of Man to change sons of men into sons of God." Smile. See you.