Josh and Reah

NOTE: This is the first time I’m publishing this. Written about six months ago for a wedding magazine. And since we’re celebrating our First Year Wedding Anniversary next week, it’s about time that I share this.

Josh and Read Padla on their January 20, 2008 Wedding at The Mango Farm.

I was just a young girl when I noticed that there was something special about my then-future husband. I remember seeing him coming out of his family’s car. I turned to my friend and told her that there was something about him that drew me to him. Thirteen-years later, I got out of a bridal car to, finally, walk down the aisle and marry him…the man of my childhood dreams.

Ours is a case of childhood friends turned best friends turned lovers for life.

We’d known each other in Sunday School – our families went to the same church and had come to know each other very well. But we really started becoming close in the summer of ’99, when we were assigned as co-counselors to lead a group of kids at our church’s summer camp. It was only then that we realized that there could be a possibility of an ‘us.’ Basically, we fell for each other – a couple of teenagers secretly entwined by a mutual crush.

The camp was God’s way of making the two of us notice each other more, and in a different light. Josh and I became even closer when we went through college. He would pick me up from UP since Ateneo is just a few blocks away. We would talk on the phone ‘til the wee hours of the morning, see each other in church every weekend, and go on a few dates. We became best friends and knew that we were truly, deeply, secretly and madly in love with each other. We knew that God was bringing us together but we didn’t act on our emotions yet; we waited until it was time. We prayed about it more, asked guidance from our parents and pastors, nurtured our friendship, and waited on God.

In January 2005 I gave him my precious ‘yes’. I visited him in school one Saturday. He was surprised to see me there; I told him I just wanted to see him. While we were inside his car, I gave him a card stating that he “could now tell the world that his best friend is now his girlfriend”. It was the start of a romance set by God.

After more than two years of being together, we felt it was time to become husband and wife. We were actually fighting the night he proposed. I was telling him to go home already because I felt there was no use fighting anymore. We were in the living room of our house when he dropped on his knees and said “I am not leaving until I give you this…” then showed me the ring. Imagine my surprise! My emotions changed in a snap, and all I could say was, “Why are you doing this?” I was really shocked. I was already expecting it, and just waiting for him to do that, but he really caught me off guard.

We already set a wedding date way before we finally got engaged, but from the date he proposed to that “special” date left us with less than two months to prepare so we decided to go for a January wedding instead, the same month we started going steady. We set our wedding for the 20th of that month.

So it was all set! Our families met over dinner for the traditional “pamamanhikan”. The following day, our engagement was announced in our church by our youth pastor, who is also my brother-in-law, inasmuch as our relationship had blossomed from there and had been witnessed by our church family. They deserved that declaration since a large part of our lives were spent there, knowing God and being with His people.

Amazingly, all the wedding preparations were planned and finalized within only two months! We had always wanted a garden wedding; happily Mango Farm was available on the date we had set. Josh and I had been talking about how we wanted our wedding to be: from the theme, to the number of guests, the entourage, down to the last detail, so envisioning the big day wasn’t too challenging. The real challenge was in the execution!

The book “Hope of the Flowers” was Joshua’s first gift to me. This book eventually provided us with our wedding theme. We decided, even before, to have yellow and black as our motif and to use butterflies as our special flourishes. These details were creatively woven into our wedding – from the save-the-date announcements to the invitations, our cake, and even to the butterfly wings worn by the flower girls.

We are blessed to have very supportive parents and friends. Josh and I were very hands- on with the wedding preparations even if we were both busy with work. I work at home so I had more time to do the planning and, with the help of my wedding coordinator, we were able to pull together a very beautiful and blessed wedding in record time! “One for the books!” as one guest described it.

On the very day itself, the date we knew was set by God, I woke up with a smile knowing that I will finally marry the man that I love. I wasn’t nervous or anything. I even prepared my heart for the eventuality that we wouldn’t be having a garden wedding like we had planned, as it was raining; and, instead we would have the ceremony inside the glass pavilion. I got out of the bridal car not knowing that the wedding ceremony had still been set-up in the garden. The sun was shining already! I could not contain my joy – I would still be having a garden wedding! I learned later on that my husband insisted on it since he knew that that was what I wanted.

God was so good to us. He made the sun come out during the wedding march. My bridal walk was a solemn one. I was trying so hard to not cry. I almost did, but my mom, god bless her, just made a joke out of it when she and dad finally met me at the middle of the aisle. And then I finally walked down the aisle to meet my man – he was smiling but I could see he wanted to cry. He didn’t.

And then came the rain. Just when we were about to start the ceremony, it began to drizzle. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too disappointed because this inexplicable happiness just overcame me. I simply knew then that the rain was a symbol of God’s blessing and approval of our union. It didn’t pour hard though. People stayed glued to their seats, under their umbrellas, showing their support for us. It was such a beautiful sight to see them all, wet yet steadfast. I will never forget that sight.

My most favorite part of the wedding was when we exchanged our vows. We had prepared our vows and what made it beautiful was the fact that we had exactly the same message for each other – a promise that we would love each other and worship the Lord together as husband and wife.

The reception was another story altogether. The glass pavilion of Mango Farm was spectacular. And the wedding ceremony set up by Vatel Manila, was just as beautiful. We were welcomed inside by our guests with a warm, rousing applause coupled with butterflies and bubbles.

The night was a blur. Our emcees did a good job in keeping everyone entertained and in good spirits. The live music, provided by our church’s worship team, was splendid, and the food, prepared by Hizon’s Catering was delectable. A gallery of our pre-nup photos was displayed in one corner, and we were treated to surprise performances by good friends.

The garter- and bouquet tosses were done in a different way, making our single friends cringe. An AVP of our love story made by a friend was shown as well. And who could forget the surprise I had for my husband? I sang Barbie’s version of the APO’s song “When I Met You” with his band! He had absolutely no idea about it and was wondering how I managed to practice it with his rock band. It was all done in stealth, of course, and I could not forget how happy he was that night.

The wedding ended. Thousands of pictures were taken. Hundreds of hearts were touched. Two hearts were finally joined as one. Two butterflies were finally given wings to fly together. And only One was glorified.

It was a day that will forever be etched in our hearts. We prayed for the wedding not just to be our event but for the Lord’s name to be glorified through it. After all, He is the reason why we are together. And it did happen the way we envisioned it – for people to be blessed and for God to be gloried in our wedding.