Jan. 17, 2017. When Camille Prats woke up on the morning of her wedding to VJ Yambao, she wore a simple white dress, donned a handmade flower crown and hurried to the church in her tsinelas. They had to rush back to their hotel room to look for a more church-appropriate footwear. At 8 o’clock, Camille was fresh-faced, clutching a simple bouquet made of lilies of the valley when she walked down the aisle of the Nuestra Señora dela Paz y Buenviaje Parish Church to meet (again!) VJ who was wearing a white polo button-down shirt and khaki pants ensemble.
In less than an hour and with less than 20 people as witnesses, they were declared husband and wife, shared their first kiss as a married couple, and then went their separate ways to prepare for their second wedding in the afternoon of the same day, this time during the reception.
Their decision to have two weddings (one simple and one grand) was, according to a guest, “the couple’s way of putting God in the center of their marriage, while being able to celebrate their love in the way that they have always envisioned.”
VJ, a businessman, was Camille’s grade school classmate who has migrated to the States. He popped the question in July of 2015 but Camille already had the date 1-7-2017 in mind long before he asked for her hand in marriage. “1717” was an auspicious date, so auspicious in fact, that when Camille booked with event stylist Gideon Hermosa, he had three other bookings and four inquiries for that same day. So Gideon it would be.
Venue of the event was the Prats-owned Nayomi Sanctuary Resort in Batangas. Camille and VJ kept the guest list short and sweet, with just about 150 guests.
“We really made sure that it’s going to be a small gathering,” said Camille. “Mas madali i-manage, plus we wanted to make sure that we are able to go around and say hi to everyone. We wanted to share our joy with them. So we narrowed it down to the people we were closest to, those we have a deep relationship with.”
While Camille and VJ’s renewal of vows was a happy and teary-eyed event, the reception was a rip-roaring fun time. While the guests enjoyed the delicious food from Juan Carlos Catering (another family friend of Camille’s), they were entertained by the hosts of the night, Camille’s best friend Ginger Serranilla, her Mars co-host Suzi Abrera, and her Kuya John. “Lahat ng bala niya sa Banana Sundae, talagang nilabas niya lahat!,” recalled another guest, referring to John’s Kapamilya show. The party lasted until almost midnight.
It’s lovelier-the-second-time-around thing for Camille, widowed by the untimely death of her first husband, Anthony Linsangan, by whom she has a son, Nathan. As she shared during her bridal shower hosted by Goody Philippines a few weeks back, VJ coming into her life was not only an unexpected turn of events in her life, but an answered prayer as well.
“I felt that Nathan was longing for a father. But not having a father doesn’t make you less of a person. That’s what I always wanted him to feel. I told him that he can always share stories about his Nong Nong (John) who I always tell him is his second dad.”
When VJ came along, Nathan was around five years old. Camille asked Nathan if he liked VJ and if he could be part of their family.
Said Camille, “Being in a relationship doesn’t mean that it’s only me, eh. Kung ako, nakaka-move on, baka ang anak ko hindi. I don’t want him to grow up thinking that people always leave, that nothing is ever permanent. So kaya I really made sure that VJ and I were really in a stable relationship way before we went into putting Nathan on board.”
After a few days, Nathan came to Camille and said he was okay with it.
“I told him that we could only choose one, we cannot choose any other person anymore. ‘If you choose Tito VJ, it’s him na forever.’”
And it seems that, indeed, Camille and Nathan have found forever in VJ.
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