Worth the long wait

The 12-year wait was worth it.

The long-held dream wedding, Zoren Legaspi’s “surprise” for Carmina Villarroel, went smoothly as secretly planned on Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Fernbrook Gardens in Las Piñas City-Alabang (airing as a TV special titled Always, Forever [A Wedding Like No Other] next Saturday, Nov. 24, on ABS-CBN after Maalaala Mo Kaya).

The couple’s twins acted as secondary sponsors, Cassy as Maid of Honor and Mavy as Best Man.

Paul Cabral designed two gowns for the “unsuspecting” bride, one for The Proposal and the other for The Wedding.

The “conspiracy in silence” was hatched by Zoren in connivance with Carmina’s manager Dolor Guevarra, talent manager Shirley Kuan and the guys at Selecta, the brand being endorsed by the Legaspi family.

Other “conspirators” were: the ABS-CBN Special Events Group, Charisse Tinio and her Nice Print Photography team, engineer Alex del Rosario of Juan Carlo as caterer, Chinkie Uy-Agregado of Metro Eventscape Planners, Badang Rueda for flowers and décor, Mary Ann Cuenca of Top Cakes, 3rd Avenue Band for the musical entertainment (with My Valentine dedicated to the newly-weds), Knotville Favors for the souvenirs, Print Divas for the scrolls (etc.), Studio on Wheels for the “photo-man” services, Dragon Fireworks, Digital Fusion (for the LED wall) and LST Lights & Sounds Mobile.

According to Lizelle Jimenez-Santillan of Margarush Events Margarita Booth, Zoren got intoxicated from tasting the wines during one of the pre-nuptial “secret” meetings.

Here are the wishes of three of the eight wedding sponsors (Sharon Cuneta begged off because her eyes were reportedly puffy from crying after that embarrassing reply-tweet to Kris Aquino whose name was used by an impostor; Sharon said sorry to Kris and sent her a Carrot cake):

Kris Aquino: “The strength of their love is an inspiration. May they share a lifetime of peace, love, laughter and unity.”

Cory Vidanes: “I wish them a lifetime of happiness, abundance, love and many more children as they live happily ever after.”

Ben Chan: “May they continue to enjoy each other as their relationship takes another chapter. This was long overdue. It’s so heartwarming to see Zoren-Mina unite in the presence of their children. This has been their life-long dream.”

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