A count, a Filipina & a fairy tale

Eight years ago, Mary Nic Gerardi was in Manila with her mother Vicky to look for Filipino products as her wedding giveaways and to meet with a Filipino couturier to make her wedding gown.

She excitedly told me that she and her fiancé, Count Ronnie Metternich, were refurbishing their future home, a castle in Bavaria, Germany, as the venue for their wedding.  The refurbishing took longer than expected so the couple decided to get married in simple rites with family and a few close friends in attendance.

Today, Countess Mary Nic Metternich is a radiant wife to her count and mother to two adorable children, Flaminia and Louis. They are in Manila on their first visit as a family and enjoying every minute of their stay. They could not say enough good things about their visit to Amanpulo, an exclusive resort in Palawan, where they enjoyed seven glorious days of beach life.

It’s been a fairy-tale story for this beautiful Filipina, who has lived in Germany for most of her life. In 1998, Mary Nic was fresh out of university and had just started her own PR and event-planning company. She was so tired after a day’s work but a male friend insisted on bringing her to a party at the Adlon Hotel in Berlin. The party was hosted by the finance minister and attended by Berlin’s important people.  Mary Nic reluctantly went and there she met the count.  There was mutual attraction between the two and 11 months after their meeting, he proposed marriage. They tied the knot 10 months later.

Mary Nic says, “I am so blessed to have met Ronnie. He is my soul mate. He is a very good husband and devoted father. I dread to think what could have happened if I did not drag myself to go to that party! Luckily for me, I did. The Lord planned it out for us to meet and everything turned out to be perfect.”

During the recent dinner hosted by good friend Tina Pamintuan, former First Lady Imelda Marcos was a guest and was seated next to Count Metternich, who enjoyed Imelda’s wit and sense of humor.  Imeldific presented Mary Nic with an interesting necklace from her newfound hobby of designing and creating inexpensive jewelry. For raw materials, she uses crystals, shells, beads, corals, natural pearls, tortoise, and semi-precious stones. She joked that her pieces are guaranteed to “tarnish and disintegrate.”  She also gave the couple a small clock mounted on an exquisitely cut emerald crystal on a white crystal stand, which she claims is made in China, and gave the count a silk tie. Mary Nic loved her necklace and instantly wore it. Imeldific showed her that the face of the cameo in the center was in Mary Nic’s likeness.

The Metternichs enjoyed an evening of Filipino hospitality at its finest: good food, great wines, piano music, but most importantly, the right blend of interesting people. There were diplomats, businessmen, media people, bankers, movie personalities and artists.

During her visit eight years ago, I interviewed Mary Nic for People Asia magazine. Her photo shoot, directed by Philip Cu-Unjieng, was at the poolside of the Peninsula Hotel where she was billeted.  This time around, she doesn’t have time to spare  as she plans to show her husband and children more of our beautiful country during the remaining few days of their stay.