Except for a handful, not many from showbiz attended (or were invited to the) Christian wedding of Monica Pauline “Nikki” Gil, 28, and Francis Benjamin Jerome “BJ” Albert, 31, last Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate in Cabuyao, Laguna.
“We want our wedding to be quiet and low key,” Nikki said in an exclusive interview with The STAR last March when she first talked about her and BJ’s three-year romance.
Actually, even if BJ has showbiz connection he opted to put up his own business. His mom Lily is the sister of Jose Mari Chan and his dad Butch is Joey Albert’s brother.
“Yes, BJ is exposed to music and showbiz,” added Nikki in that interview. “He likes listening to music. He’s not exactly a musician but he does play the piano. It’s just a hobby.”
Aside from Joe Mari and family; Universal Records managing director Kathleen Dy-Go, talent manager Arnold Vegafria and Gary (Edgardo Jose Martin) Valenciano were among the sponsors, other showbiz guests included Iya Villania-Arellano (Matron of Honor), Robi Domingo, Sam Milby, Erik Santos, Christian Bautista, John Prats and his soon-to-be-mom-wife Isabel Oli, and Richard Poon and his wife Maricar Reyes.
“It was the most memorable wedding that I have ever attended,” recalled Kathleen whose company released Nikki’s latest album Love Revisited. “Nikki was teary-eyed as she was escorted to the altar by her father while BJ was crying all the time. It was so touching.”
In his wedding vow, BJ said, “I just used to see you in Ateneo. I can’t believe that you are standing here today to become my wife.”
In her reply, Nikki said, “I prayed to the Lord to give me somebody who would love and take care of me. You are my answered prayer.”
The wedding capped a three-year romance that Nikki managed to keep from the public, making a leak on social media only in December last year when BJ proposed to her. They kept the wedding date a secret.
“We were introduced by a common friend, only to find out that we had been sharing the same circle of friends from way back even before I got into showbiz,” was how Nikki described how the romance started, several months after she broke up with her showbiz boyfriend. “We have so many intersecting connections because we also both studied in Ateneo. He was taking up Psychology and I, Literature. I graduated in 2009 and he was ahead of me. Maybe we were not aware that our paths were crossing. He was telling me nga about several encounters we had, although I don’t remember any of them. Apparently, he knew me back then through our common friends.”
At the reception, Joe Mari sang two of his hit songs, Can We Just Stop And Talk Awhile and Christmas In Our Hearts (a top-seller duet with his daughter Liza). Then, he was joined by his children in singing When I Fall In Love. Gary dedicated How Did You Know to the newly-weds. Richard sang, too.
Asked during the STAR March interview how she would describe BJ, Nikki smiled, her eyes lighting up, “He is sunshine, he is light, he is love,” adding, “If I were to describe him as a person, he’s a people person, very amiable, very proper, super-intelligent, very responsible and very prayerful as well, which is the thing that I’ve been asking God about a man I’d end up with… a man of God.”
When Iya, Nikki’s good friend, was asked to speak, she reminded BJ not to hurt Nikki.
“I knew what Nikki went through because, after the break-up (with Nikki’s showbiz boyfriend) I was with her all the way,” added Iya.
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