Wed Locked Down

Nothing, and WE mean nothing, can get in the way of true love. When all else have been set aside and re-scheduled for a time when the current pandemic finds its much awaited counter vaccine, one of our most amazing couples stood the test of this challenge and brave it out with their clever but logical idea of a wedding amidst Covid-19.

With everything being done online, Coby Sarreal and Vianka Amurao thought of making the November-scheduled wedding happen this time. Having in mind that it would be best for their families and guests as well. Facilitated by the ZOOM technology, they gathered all concerns to go along with their plan to do the ceremony online.

One of the first that we know, but they managed to put all the salient elements and bring out a great wedding that would surely inspire others.

Pre-lockdown love story

I’m a wardrobe stylist-entrepreneur and Coby is the co-founder of Trail Adventours (the leading hiking company in the Philippines) and also a saxophone player.

Spontaneity brought us together, we love going on adventures– enjoying different cultures, traveling far islands and hiking high mountains. Together, we’ve hiked the Himalayas and and the highest of the Atlas mountains in North Africa among others.

Coby proposed to me in Portugal late last year and have planned to have our wedding this November 2020 in Sagada- a place that highly resonates to us.

The lockdown happened and we both agreed that given the circumstances, holding a Sagada Wedding won’t be 100% safe for our guests even later this year, which will defeat the purpose of gathering all our loved ones to witness our special day.

The plan, their “Dream Team” and making it #Happyn

The same spontaneity brought us to the idea of Stay Home Wedding. Living together on quarantine, we’ve been catching up with friends through the Zoom app and that sparked the idea of holding a Zoom Wedding. Always choosing love in any circumstance, we have decided to go for it- gather our loved ones to witness and celebrate with us, the soonest possible within our resources.

The theme is #LetsMakeItHappyn: we can make love and happiness happen, in every situation– which we believe it’s something that goes beyond our wedding.

Through Canva, we made a quick template poster, and I drafted a deck of guidelines (when the wedding will happen, what to wear, what to prepare, Zoom rehearsal/ tech run). Being in the production industry, I’ve considered my contacts: nearby suppliers and friends while sharing the idea of wishing to document our day- something to show to our future kids at a time when corona has become a thing in the past.

The 5-day preparation was a challenge, but here’s how we made it happen (Everything was coordinated online delivered via Grab and Lalamove). An RTW wedding gown from my bridesmaid who is also wedding designer, Janina Saspa of HeyHeleyna. a Macrame backdrop for the ceremony area from my friend Kim Tendido of Makrama Wall Hanging., our wedding cake was made and delivered by a friend who owns Tazzy Cakes. The reception food for the people in the house were specially provided by The Burrow Café (as they were closed on that day). Sexy Beast drinks (because we live a healthy lifestyle) are gifts from our wedding Ninang and diet guru to the stars, Nadine Tengco. Safety masks made by my bridesman. My bouquet of dried flowers – since it’s hard to source fresh flowers, a friend gifted this which was arranged by and delivered from The Wanderlust Productions.

Luckily, my HMUA is my maid-of-honor Beauty by Tinette Herrera.

Overwhelmed by these amazing things that are falling into place given they’re all last minute requests, we also took the chance of reaching out to Al Avellana of Proudrad and Gabriel Lorenzo to document this day. They are people I have worked with in the industry and am aware that they just live near our home. We ensured safety: we live in a household of 4 people in a 280-sqm house and lot.

The Master of Ceremonies is our good friend Carlo Sumaoang and our technical zoom director is my bridesmaid Keina Sabay.

We are currently gathering our legal requirements for a civil wedding to happen hopefully this year. We are just waiting as there is a delay due to the lockdown.

Even if plans seem to be perfect, there are things that we cannot control. Go back to that one thing that bound you as a couple, we focused and stayed in love. Look beyond the event itself and focus on the bigger picture- your marriage life and the people you want to share it with.