The surprise bridal shower

... really took me by surprise. It was held a week before the wedding and I was very sick with the flu. I wanted to stay in bed so I got quite annoyed that Vince and Kate insisted I had to fit my gown one last time. Vince had to drag me to Kate's atelier and when I got there...

S U R P R I S E !

So pardon my bleary self in these photos. I may have looked like a wreck but I was so so so happy this whole night.

Thanks - Kate, Mariel, Lana, Marcie (who provided these pics), Kat, Alvin, Francis, my surprise guests that I met that night, and of course, Vince!

Vince and I did it!

April 18, 2007

Villa San Miguel, Archbishop's Palace

Mandaluyong City

After eight full years of being I and you, he and she, him and her, Vince and I are now we.

I am now Mrs. Sales.

That’s just awesome.

Special guests

Aside from my best friend Aida flying in all the way from Europe, we were also grateful that Vince’s best friend, Jukka, also managed to get to Manila (from wherever in the world he happened to be—he’s a documentary producer) a couple of days before the wedding.

Theodore teased that we had celebrities in the house. What with our cousin Iza and the Valdes couple, Dennis and Tessa, in attendance. Well, these people are actually my friends!

P.S. Tessa featured the wedding in her column in last Sunday's society pages. I hope you all got your copy of Philippine Daily Inquirer! If you didn't, read the online version here.

What’s a wedding without speeches?

My dearest best friend Aida flew all the way from Antibes, France, just to be at my wedding. She was lovely. She’s my heart warmer.

Theodore introduces Papa who gave a sweet and funny speech (whew, no tears!).

Vince’s dad was up next. He admonished us all to take better care of our world now because we may not have a world to give to our children.

Vince and I thank our guests. I adore this man I married. Really.

The evening’s entertainment

We totally abused our friendship with Kate. Not only did she create our stunning gowns, she also sang us two songs! That Yamaha keyboard is a gift from one of her many male admirers, by the way.

My cousin, former theater actress Ate Tricia Jimenez, sang us a song, too. She was accompanied by my brother Theodore Amper and his string quartet.

The night’s undisputed star—the cake!

Well, by default, as bride and groom, Vince and I had to endure being the center of attention. We dreaded that but it actually turned out okay. Here we are cutting the cake. That cake is three full layers of quadruple chocolate—no styro! Chocolate sponge cake with chocolate butter cream slathered in chocolate glaze and sprinkled with chocolate shavings. This was the hit of the night. Days after the wedding, people kept asking me who made the cake. Well, it was Vince’s college friend, Gel Colet. She’s as sweet and wonderful as our cake!

Strawberry and chocolate girls

Look at my delightful flower girls and junior bridesmaid! Aren’t their gowns amazing? They’re beautifully beaded satin and lace with full petticoats. Kate Torralba, my designer and bridesmaid, totally outdid herself!

After the wedding, we all have a laugh

Vince and I had a laugh outside the church. In fact, we spent the rest of the afternoon and the whole evening laughing with joy. We did it!

My dear friends from Manila Science High: Aida Palces-Bour and her French husband Vincent and Allan John de Leon.

My cousin, Iza Calzado and her dad, Tito Lito Calzado, took time away from their busy schedules to be with us.

We’re married!

The Sales and Amper families

Meanwhile, at the church…

Vince says he played the My Fair Lady song “Get Me to the Church on Time” as he and best man Jukka drove to Archbishop’s Palace. He was not just on time; he was there early. The wedding was at 4PM. He was there at 2:30! Excited ba? He looks so cute in his gorgeous pinstripe suit and white silk tie. Yum!

Everyone waited for me. I didn’t want to be late but *argh!* I was. Trouble with the gown. Mama didn’t know how to do the straps at the back! Anyway, I arrived at 3:45 in the sleek red Jaguar that Tita Luz Cotoco lent us. I wanted to enjoy a few minutes more in the car with my bridesmaids, you know, to collect myself but I was late! Thankfully my guests were all in a good mood, even my little adorable page boys, Kevin Sales and Zo Onrubia. They’re Vince’s nephews and godsons. They’re super makulit but for the walk down the aisle, they were remarkably well behaved. Bravo, boys!

And here we go…

Getting ready to stun my groom

Who else will do my makeup for the big day? There was no question that my old high school friend, Jigs Mayuga, chief makeup artist for L’Oreal Paris, will do it. He took Ney Guesse, this lovely talented young man to do my hair. While we talked, I found out that Jigs is an Industrial Engineering graduate from U.P. Diliman (same campus I went to but I took Creative Writing so we never actually bumped into each other) and that Ney is a Political Science graduate from the Ateneo. Imagine that!

Look at me! Love the makeup. Love the hair. Love the bouquet. Now I’m ready to meet Vince!

I chattered away throughout the beautifying session (I was all nerves!) but when Ney draped the veil over me, I gasped in utter shock. I nearly frikkin’ screamed my head off. I was a bride!

Well, what do you know? I'm special.

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTP)

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant. Only about 4% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

I told you I was shy.

And my pimple is...

... gone!

Thanks to Olay Total Effects. This jar is really full of miracles. I've always had pimples. Since forever! I tried everything: dermatologists, facials, creams, acids, pills... The pimples always come back. But since using Olay Total Effects, my face has been super clear!

(Now will someone from Olay place an ad in my magazine already?)

Till last Friday, of course. One gigantic pimple erupted on my cheek. My fault. I saw a tiny blackhead there on Wednesday night and I picked at it incessantly. But on Saturday, the swelling and pus had completely disappeared, leaving just an angry red spot, which is now also gone. Amazing. I will still be perfect for the wedding!















Speaking of that, Aida, my best friend in the entire world, is here from France! She's here for my wedding! I am so so so happy she's here. I missed her so. I grabbed these photos from her Friendster account (I'll post pics of us soon!) and they're from her own wedding last year. I am so envious she's wearing green. This girl always does what she wants.

I have never wanted to wear a white gown but I will be doing so because I am a complete wuss who does everything her parents tell her (Ahahahaha, did I just say that? Oh, ahahahahaha!). Oh well, it doesn't matter! What matters is I'm wearing a gorgeous gown anyway (and it's cream, not virginal white), I'm marrying the most fabulous man in the world, and my best friend is here to celebrate with me!

These are really such happy days!

Well, this is just great...

I have a pimple! My wedding's in 11 days and I have a huge pimple on my left cheek. What makes this worse is we're in the middle of Holy Week and my dermatologist won't be in her clinic till Wednesday. Just great.

Vince said, "Don't fret. It's just a pimple. It will be gone by Monday."

I said, "I'm not fretting."

What I really wanted to say was after being pimple-free for the last three months, why oh why did this one choose to burst out of my skin just right now?

Okay, I'm not really that upset about it. A bit pissed off, that's all. But mostly I'm happy these days. Giddy. I've taken leave from work to focus on the wedding now. But I haven't really done that. Mostly I'm just happy to be cooking and eating, lolling about in bed, reading my magazines, and watching TV. I should be doing stuff for the wedding but, hey, if there were no misalettes, will the wedding grind to a halt? If papa's suit doesn't get finished on time, will that prevent me and Vince from walking down the aisle? Uh-uh. We're good even if a lot of things still aren't. Vince and I are so chill about things really. Until I woke up and found this angry little volcano on my cheek, that is!















Anyway, speaking of chilling, Vince and I just watched this new sci-fi show, The Lost Room. It looks interesting so far. The premise is there's a motel room. Something very strange happened to this certain room--every thing in it can do stuff: a pen can burn you to death, a watch can cook hardboiled eggs, and a key can open doors to just about anywhere on the planet. Amazing, eh? Well, we've just watched the first episode so I'll tell you guys what happens in a month or so.

It's good we're watching something interesting again. We were pretty distraught with the end of Dexter and Rome (two of the finest shows that ever appeared on the tube), the break of Heroes, and the third season ending of Battlestar Galactica. Vince and I were like, "What are we going to watch now?!" There really isn't anything good to watch on local TV. And the cable provider here doesn't really provide a lot of quality shows.













Well, the second and final season of Rome is coming back on HBO this May. Thank God. But the thing is we've already finished watching it. It's not as fantastic as the first season but it's not a disappointment either, far from it. Octavian is now played by a really cute smart-looking guy who's kinda creepy, too (that's him in the white drapery). Atia is still as gleefully evil as before (that's her in red and purple). And Pulo, that big hunk of a soldier, is still endearing. I don't like Vorenus this time around, though. He's suffered huge tragedies but the actor, Kevin McKidd, seems to have difficulty expressing a range of emotions. He just basically throws tantrums left and right.




















Now, the guy who plays Dexter Morgan on the mind-bogglingly good Dexter is fantastic with this kind of character. Michael Hall (guy in white) isn't gorgeous but by the end of the first episode, where he deliciously reveals his fascination for blood and his secret passion for murdering bad people, you're in love with him. He can really act cold-blooded and smart and charming all at the same time. I love Dexter Morgan. I'm no murderer but of all the TV and movie and book characters I've ever met, I identify with Dexter the most. Watch it to know what I mean. I'm going to buy the books this series was based on. And I so so hope they do a second season!!!


















I'm also looking forward to the fourth, and hopefully the last, season of Battlestar Galactica. While I love this show, I'm kinda tired of waiting for them to find Earth. Find Earth already, you Capricans! The third season just trod along so slowly really. So annoying. But what an ending! That's how you end a season, folks! Of course, people who don't watch it have no idea what I'm talking about. Poor you.














I wish Heroes will come back soon. I really miss seeing them all say, "Save the cheerleader, save the world."