Our 5-day Frenchinoy Wedding

Featuring Fabien and Erika Courteille | Photography Ram Marcelo

Fab and I first met at the GK Enchanted Farm back in 2013. I was a volunteer for their Social Business Summit while Fab was part of the management team. After the summit, I found myself going back to the farm on weekends to learn more about social entrepreneurship. I then joined GKEF full time in 2014 and that was when we grew close and spent more time together. I was never interested in being more than friends (he was friendzoned) until his crazy superman stunt back in 2014 when he ran 20 kms from MOA to Cubao in the middle of EDSA between jeepneys and buses to make it on time for John Legend’s concert with me. Talk about dedication or just being crazy! We had a great time and a good laugh about it. Since then, I realized that this guy makes the impossible possible. We eventually got together in 2015 and were engaged in 2019.

The Engagement

Fab took me to Manila Ocean Park to see the aquarium as I used to dream of being a marine biologist when I was little. He took me to the diving area and while we were both underwater our guides made us feed the fishes and enjoy the wondrous sight. Then my guide led me to this HUGE fish, took off my glove and asked me to touch it and when he brought me back to the center, I saw Fab kneel and that’s when I realized what was happening. Fab pointed to my left and I saw my sister together with my closest friends with letter balloons spelling out ‘Will You Marry Me?’ I then turned to Fab with tears streaming down my face and nodded to say yes. I never liked a public proposal, but he made it feel very private. It was fun and well thought of, with the man of my dreams and him making my dream come true.

We were supposed to get married in 2020 but COVID happened. We had everything in place and most of our guests also had their tickets to France. Before the year ended, we finally got married (civil) in France with friends and family attending via Zoom. We then decided to push back the ceremony to 2021 thinking that the pandemic will be over. But nope! Finally, after 2 postponements, we were able to push through with the wedding last June 2023. Third time’s a charm!

Our 5-day wedding celebration

Since our wedding was set in Normandy, France, it was not like the usual weddings we have back home. We decided to do it ourselves and have a 5-day celebration with the help of family and friends. Our theme is Frenchinoy – a term we coined by merging our heritage being French + Chinoy. We did not have organizers, stylists, nor coordinators but we have an awesome crew who helped us put together our DIY dream wedding. We’ve set up cocktail tables, garden lounges, signages and decorations at the venue. It was one of my favorite moments seeing the people I love come together helping each other. The night before the wedding, we had a white party with our closest friends just to celebrate and unwind. It was also a way to break the language barrier between the Pinoys and the French so people would be more relaxed during the celebration.

We wanted our wedding to feature the talents and enterprises of our friends, so we got them to help out. Bea, one of my bridesmaids and closest friends, was the one who made my gown back in 2020. We had Fr. Leo, our Pinoy priest friend who lives in Paris, officiated the ceremony in English, French and Tagalog with the choir being led by our friends from Couples for Christ Paris.

After the church, we all headed to the château for the vin d’honneur, a french tradition serving sweets and drinks. We surprised our guests with a lion dance to showcase my origins as a Chinoy and everyone loved their performance in the Versailles-like garden. We then started the cocktail dinatoire (dinner) instead of a seated diner with many food stations. We ate, drank and partied until the next day.

At noon, we had outdoor BBQ and games. We got local suppliers to do the grilling at the château and my family bought some mangoes for the French to try. After lunch, our guests also played giant lawn games that we borrowed from local schools. It was incredible to see that even though there were language barriers, they still enjoyed each other’s company.

To cap off the wedding celebration, we also organized a 2-day Normandy tour for our guests. We took them to the famous Mont-Saint-Michel and the different WW2 D-Day sites. The weather was just perfect, and our guests got to see how beautiful Normandy is. We had an unforgettable 5-day wedding celebration filled with love and laughter even though we had to wait for 3 more years to make it happen.