‘I love you with all my soul’

A wedding in our family is always met with great enthusiasm. My niece, Christel Dayrit Boncan, experienced this early on upon the announcement of her wedding date to longtime beau, Mike Constantino.

Christel is an entrepreneur while Mike is the country sales director of Yahoo Philippines and lead vocalist of a band called The Conscious and The Goodness.

For Christel’s mother Jaqui, my elder sister, it was an emotional year replete with laughter and tears.  Loving Mike was easy but letting go of her youngest daughter Christel from their family abode would take a lot of getting used to.

My younger siblings and I immediately discussed plans for the traditional wedding festivities leading to the big day. We wanted each moment to be meaningful, memorable and sometimes funny to keep our Ate Jaqui’s tears at bay.

The year breezed by quickly as November finally came. We kicked off the wedding month with family get-togethers and a bridal shower where my youngest sister Yvonne came up with a guessing game called “10 reasons why Mike loves Christel.” Among many precious things we learned, top of the list was Mike loves the way Christel prays for him.

A loving tradition we enjoyed hosting was the despedida de soltera. This send-off party was most relevant to our Dayrit-Boncan family for two reasons.  It was our chance to get to know the groom’s family — the Constantino clan — in an intimate setting before the wedding through a no-holds-barred sharing of hilarious family anecdotes. Secondly, this is the night we sent the couple Mike and Christel on their blessed way making doubly sure that they didn’t leave empty handed, but filled with our good wishes, advice, prayers, words of wisdom and memorable gifts of the heart. That night was a roaring success as each family member gamely participated and we discovered what a wonderful family our Christel was marrying into.

Then the wedding came. Christel, wearing a Francis Libiran wedding gown, was a picture of bliss as she entered the Skye at the roof deck of the W Building at The Fort, the venue of the Christian wedding ceremony. Mike had that peaceful glow blanketing his aura all through out. A highlight of the beautiful wedding ceremony was a love letter written by Mike for his beloved bride and soul mate. 

“I love you with all my soul,” he read to Christel.  “You are my favorite soul. And when the head can no longer process thoughts, and the heart can no longer beat, I take comfort that the soul — your soul and mine — can still exist somewhere out there, together. I love you with all my soul.”

At the lively reception held at the White Space in Makati City, Mike delighted family and friends by singing with his band. After midnight, I kissed my Ate Jaqui goodbye and went home with a happy heart, touched by the generous gesture of the newlyweds who donated their cash gifts to the survivors of the monstrous typhoon, which hit the Visayas a week before their wedding.

(Would love to hear from you at miladayjewels@yahoo.com.)