This was the main reason why our family came home to the Philippines for a quick three-week vacation last month.  We usually visit our home country for an annual holiday during the cooler months of November and December, which also happened to be my papa and mama's birth month, but this year was an exemption -- because my younger brother got married to his girlfriend of eight years and of course, we cannot miss it for the world!

The celebration of their union was simple but unconventional.  My brother is a low-profile type of person and he doesn't like being the center of everybody's attention.  Hence, he decided to totally get away with all the wedding traditions that we usually see in a typical reception.  So yeah, they didn't have the cutting of the cake, wine toasting, releasing of doves, father-daughter/ mother-son/ bride-groom dance, speeches, etc.  Instead, they just chose to have a scrumptious dinner, good music, and fun games.  It was a great night!  In fact, even my four-year-old son had enjoyed the party (which simply meant there was never a dull or boring moment during the program)!

Apart from being a well-reserved individual, my brother also happens to be a very frugal spender (a.k.a. "makunat" in Tagalog).  He doesn't like spending on things which will just be a waste of money.  That's the reason why they didn't bother to buy flowers to decorate the church's aisle.  [Trust me, I saw how the church staff threw all the flowers (from a preceding ceremony) in a black trash bag before my brother's wedding started.  And it's like throwing away thousands of pesos in a span of one hour!]  In addition, he also just wore his old barong, pants, and shoes for this event.  He basically didn't wear anything new that day and I really admire him for that!  He's that matipid!  He doesn't like to spend money for himself.  Rather, he opted to splurge on entertainment (i.e. band, lights and sounds, host), prizes and giveaways -- something everyone would enjoy and appreciate.

As a guest, I appreciated that they provided refreshments for everyone right after the ceremony -- that way, our tummies are filled with something before we left the church because who knows, we might get stuck in traffic! Moreover, I loooooved how we didn't have to wait that long for the reception program to begin.  Meaning, they didn't starve us to death waiting for dinner, lol!  I suppose the bride and groom had their "post-nuptial" pictorial done before the ceremony even started -- so their guests won't get hungry and bored waiting.  Indeed, our comfort and satisfaction as guests were thoughtfully considered in planning this wonderful affair.  Kudos to the newlyweds for a job well done!

To view their SDE by Lumniscate Photography, click HERE.