My Refrigerator Door

A couple of years ago, Roselyn Tiangco brought me her mother's Ramon Valera bridal trousseau and asked if we can cut the train and use it for her wedding gown. It was a Philippine terno in ivory satin, with bugle beads cascading down the front like waterfalls and a 5 meter train trimmed with Guipure lace and tons of pearls. I was aghast with the thought - no, I wouldn't dare desecrate a Valera. Roselyn and I agreed not to touch the vintage gown, we collaborated instead on simple Dior inspired gown for her wedding. Early this year, Roselyn's mom Mrs. Linda Tiangco brought the Valera gown again, this time it would be for her wedding anniversary. The 50 year old gown gown still fits her perfectly but the bodice was already discolored and some parts of the train were moth eaten. Mrs. Tiangco told me to take my time to study the gown and see what I can do with it. For a month or so, I was just looking at the gown on the dress form, hoping Mrs. Tiangco would change her...

An hour early for the wedding ceremony of Meg Salvacion , I decided to wander the streets of Old Marikina. It was my first time beyond the River Banks and I was pleasantly surprised the city wasn't painted blue and pink. Lining the main street are well preserved pre-World War II houses. Monuments stand on street intersections and along the Shoe Museum, their version of the Walk Of Fame. A beautiful quaint setting for a modern bride's wedding. Quaint houses in Marikina's Calle Mayor Shoemaker Monument Shoe Museum Walk of Fame Monument to Blessed John Paul II Century-old bell The main altar of Our Lady of the Abandoned Modern bride, Meg Salvacion arrived in a top-down sports car.

I love weddings and I love weddings at the Peninsula. Always, it's a joyous moment as a newly wed couple enters the lobby and the string quartet at the gallery would pause playing it's standard classics and shift to 'Here Comes The Bride'. I truly enjoy wedding receptions at The Conservatory and the Rigodon Ballroom, as they are grand and intimate at the same time. Yesterday, along with eleven of the Philippine's most brilliant fashion designers, I presented wedding frocks inspired by my favorite TV series, Downton Abbey. It was quite a challenge working with very fine tulle and French lace, but I was really happy with how the pieces turned out. Jackie Aquino superbly directed the fashion show, an orchestra playing Taylor Swift songs as models paraded our creations. For a change, I took photos of this grand event using Instagram. It captured the mood and old world charm of The Peninsula Manila and it's many beautiful weddings. Instead of the usual huge...

I always cry at weddings, maybe because I develop a certain bond with the bride during the months of wedding preparations and jitters. It is much more so, when the bride has been my client and friend since her prom or debut. I would go on and make her first suits for work, her gown when she becomes a bride's maid and then the trousseau for her big day. I met Angela ten years ago, she with the toothsome smile, our fittings would go on for hours because of the hilarious banter that goes in between. When she messaged me her happy news last year, we met up and she brought her mother's well preserved wedding gown. It was to be our inspiration for her unique design, a simple gored gown in silk Gazar with a hood fashioned from French lace. I was filled with joy looking at her as I was fixing her lace hood before her bridal march. And as I saw her hug her father at the other end of the aisle, I could already feel warm happy tears streaming down my cheeks. Angela's beautiful...

She prayed for sunshine. Every time she came to my atelier for the fittings of the male entourage, bride Shereen would go to the nearby Sta. Clara Monastery to bring eggs for the nuns and pray for good weather. A fter more than three weeks of rain, the sun came out on her wedding day. Hamilo Coast, the wedding venue Patrice Diaz made the beautiful bridal gown. Patrice and I rode a golf cart to the wedding chapel. She prayed for sunshine.

A hundred models walked down Peninsula Manila's grand staircase in the most beautiful designer wedding gowns as a string ensemble played Filipino love songs. After the bridal parade, the trousseaus were put on exhibit at the hotel lobby. Flower girl Adrienne Yabut Francis Libiran Aranaz Designer James Reyes The Peninsula Lobby