The wedding reception was held at the same outdoor pavilion as the wedding itself. The beautiful tropical setting was starting to cool as the reception started at about dusk. My family, close friends and relatives had traveled from as far away as Guam to be there. Like any other traditional wedding, there was dancing and throwing of the bouquet. My sister caught the bouquet and sure enough she ended up being the next one to get married.

The food that was served was fabulous and everyone stuffed themselves except me. With everything going on I was still too excited to have much of an appetite. The newly weds had their first dance together as a couple. Then they were split up and began dancing with family, friends and relatives. When my hubby danced with my mother, it was the first time that he was able to have a conversation with her alone. It was a little awkward because he did not know what to say. All he could think of was that she must be thinking this was all very crazy so that was what he said. Her one word answer was “yeah”.

He was thinking that she meant the marriage to her daughter was crazy but I think she was talking about all the crazy stuff that happened leading up to the wedding that almost did not happen. I know that it was a big relief for my mother that the wedding had finally happened and her daughter’s dream had come true. The wedding and reception were short by Philippines standards, only three and a half hours, but it felt like an eternity to my hubby despite the fact that he thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the beginning of a new chapter in our lives as a couple.

My father delivered the wedding message in Visayan (my native language) so my hubby did not understand most of it. I later had to translate so he would be able to understand the essence of the message. He did pick up on some of the more important parts because when my father was quoting Bible passages my hubby was already familiar with them. It was a solemn wedding ceremonial that brought my grandma and my mother to tears of joy.

Despite the long flight, exhaustion and blood loss my hubby managed to kept from passing out. The ninety plus heat and high humidity was also taking its toll on him and he was anxious for the ceremony to end. Thankfully I did not ask him to wear a coat and tie but only a short sleeve shirt and long pants. Even then I am sure he would rather have worn shorts and a t-shirt at the time. He was sweating and you could tell from his eyes that he was in bad need of some sleep in a fully air-conditioned room. I felt guilty seeing him like that. It was kind of my fault because I chose an outdoor wedding without considering that he had just come from being used to the cold temperatures of a north country spring. Nevertheless, despite his trials, tribulations and discomfort I could tell that he was very happy to be there.

Here comes the bride . Imagine just a few hours ago, we had just met face to face for the first time and now the wedding ceremony was about to begin.

Everyone (including myself!) still couldn’t believe that I would actually be getting married to a man that I had personally met just a few hours ago. Many people would prefer to call it insanity. I didn’t care, I just followed my heart.

My father performed the wedding ceremony. My younger sisters were my bridesmaids. I didn’t want to cry but it was hard to hold back the tears. They were tears of joy and besides I think it runs in the family because at that time both my grandma and my mother were also crying. On top of that, we were being carried away with the songs that were sung as I walked down the isle. One of the most memorable was the Power of Your Love. It seemed like I was walking on air. I felt like a ball of cotton that was being blown with the flow of the wind. It was all like a dream and then I woke up in front of the altar.

After the long awaited formal wedding proposal was completed,  my groom and I went to my aunt’s house (where I lived) for a few last minute errands that needed to be completed.  I had to get my wedding dress, giveaways and my friend who would apply my make-up.  Then we went back to the resort.  The cameramen were already there waiting for us and about to start the filming.  My family and relatives from the village were on their way to the city.  As soon as we got back to our bungalow, I started getting dressed.

Throughout all the last minute preparations and busyness I didn’t really get a chance to think about what I was doing.  The day I had dreamed of since I was a little girl was finally happening, but all I seemed to be able to feel was an enormous pressure being lifted from my shoulders after the last few weeks of final preparations,  worry about his arrival and the last minute near disasters which had been mercifully avoided.

I had no time to think or worry about the obvious craziness or what many people would consider to be insanity that I was about to engaged in.  Most women in my position would have been, and maybe I should have been, terrified by the thought of committing myself to a man who I had met online only a few months before and met face to face only a couple of hours ago.  That kind of fear and worry were the furthest things from my mind.  It could only have been God that gave me the unwavering confidence and calm to go ahead without the slightest of worries.  There was no doubt in my mind, I was doing the right thing.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the resort.  It was one of those tropical paradise type places complete with palm trees and an open air restaurant overlooking a beautiful outdoor swimming pool with built-in water fall.  Our cozy little wedding night bungalow was tucked just behind the trees at the back of the water fall.  Our wedding was to take place in the outdoor area adjacent to the swimming pool.  It was my perfect wedding day fantasy come true.

As soon as we checked-in I sent text messages to my family in the village that my groom had finally arrived. It was only four hours until the ceremony was scheduled to begin as we entered the bungalow to spend our first few minutes alone together.  He had never actually proposed to me yet because he wanted to do it face to face.  He had only promised that he would when he first arrived.  Well, anyway this was the moment that I had been waiting for…hehehe…He opened his carry-on bag while I was still busy texting. I saw him coming towards me with a single red rose and a jewelry box in his hand.  Then he bended his knee and popped the question, “(my name),  my sweet angel, Will you marry me? Suddenly I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders, my dream had come true, it was really going to happen, I was actually going to be married this very day.  My response was of course,  “yes, I will marry you”.