Featuring Christian Canales and Mayumi Catabijan
Chris and Yumi’s love story began the way many modern romances do…online, during one of the most uncertain times in the world.
At the height of the pandemic, while Yumi was stuck in a four-week quarantine in the Philippines and Chris was halfway across the world in Texas, they matched on a dating app almost by chance.
“There’s nothing special about how we started,” Yumi says with a laugh. “I actually think it might even be a little ridiculous.”
Yet from that first conversation, something clicked. What started as casual online chats soon became daily conversations that never stopped.
“From the day we started talking, there hasn’t been a pause. Not a single day,” she recalls.
Nine months later, when travel restrictions slowly eased, they finally met in person in California. Chris met Yumi in San Diego, and the two spent days traveling up and down the coast. The trip confirmed what their months of conversations had already suggested.
“He made me feel at home with him,” Yumi says. “We have the same stupid humor. He made me feel seen and heard and loved.”
Their relationship soon turned into a long-distance journey filled with flights between the Philippines and the United States. Along the way, their families began intertwining in unexpected ways, even discovering relatives in Dallas who knew each other.
In July 2023, Chris proposed in the most intimate way possible, at home. After a quiet dinner, he led Yumi back to the apartment, where candles flickered and their song played softly on vinyl. With tears in his eyes, he told her, “You are my home.”
They held a small civil wedding in that same apartment, surrounded by immediate family. But the couple dreamed of a larger celebration where all the people they loved could gather together. That dream would eventually bring them to Siargao.
At Isla Cabana Resort, Chris and Yumi exchanged vows in a celebration that felt less like a formal event and more like a shared island experience. Friends and family flew in from different parts of the world, turning General Luna into what Yumi fondly described as “a village of people who surrounded us with love.”
The ceremony was set against a striking altar shaped like an ocean wave, made from bamboo and delicate gypsophila blooms, an homage to the sea that surrounded them. Their attire carried personal meaning as well.
Chris wore a custom barong embroidered with Philippine icons and a trombone in tribute to his life as a musician, while Yumi wore a two-piece Filipiniana-inspired gown embroidered with sampaguita and calamansi.
Rather than rushing through the day, Yumi chose to start her morning quietly.
“I walked around the beach alone before everything began,” she shares. “I wanted that moment to myself.”
The celebration that followed reflected their shared love for Filipino culture and island life. Guests enjoyed seafood feasts, Filipino street food during cocktail hour, and danced late into the evening under the stars. Handwritten names on capiz shells marked each seat, while calamansi-inspired details and native textures decorated the reception.
Yet for Yumi, the most meaningful part of the day was the feeling it left behind.
“For once in my life, I felt like I had reached my ‘perfect,’” she says. “There is no part of me that wishes anything had been different.”
When asked to describe their wedding in one word, her answer is simple.
“Safe,” she says. “My husband held my hand through the day and I felt like everything was going to be okay. We were surrounded by so much love.”
Engraved inside their wedding bands are the words that best define their journey together: We are home.
Chris and Yumi’s Dream Team:
Videography: Treehouse Story
Photography: Visual Folks
Coordination: Canaan Celebrations by Jets & Rhona
Make Up: Makeup by Xana
Bride’s Gown and Groom’s Barong: Randolf Clothing
Host: Mia Baustista
Event Styling and Lights and Sounds: Siargao Wedding and Events
Venue & Catering: Isla Cabana
Cocktails: Siargao Wedding and Events
Musicians: Gamana Tribal Drummers
DJ: DJ Estrada
Fire Dances: Fuego dela Siargao Dancers
Giveaways: 18 Days Coffee
