TOPAZ HORIZON

Yes, perfect wedding! It's the most perfect wedding I've ever seen. Everything about it was Harry and Meghan. It was deeply British and very African-American. It was royal and Hollywood. It was traditional and modern. It was so elegant and stylish. Every moment was studied and yet also candid. How is this wedding so amazing?


They're so happy! And so adorable!

Okay, I have too many favorite moments. Like, I can't count! But here are a few that were documented by my favorite Instagram fan account of Meghan and Harry, @meghanandherprince.

Meghan walking down the aisle on her own. You know that I am such a huge feminist so to see a woman walking alone to the man she chose with no need for approval from any other man in her life is so empowering! And then I loved when Charles got her halfway. On one hand, he was making her sundo for his son; on the other hand, he has always wanted a daughter. In fact, when Harry was born, Charles was disappointed and Diana said something in her died that day.

Meghan walking down the aisle❤️😭 This made me cry, the music was stunning! Meghan was followed by her adorable bridal party, who were all very well behaved🙈 The moment with Charles was so sweet, also how Harry told his Dad "Thank You Pa" 😭 Doria is so proud of her little girl❤️. But above all, the look on Harry's and Meghan's faces when they saw each other😍 #royalwedding

A post shared by Harry and Meghan❤️ (@meghanandherprince) on May 19, 2018 at 6:54am PDT

Harry meeting Meghan.

Too cute🙈🙈 #royalwedding

A post shared by Harry and Meghan❤️ (@meghanandherprince) on May 19, 2018 at 6:05am PDT

When Harry unveiled Meghan. Apparently, this is the duty of the father of the bride. But since Meghan's dad wasn't around, it was Harry who had to do it. Check out when he said, "Hi!"

For me, this was the cutest moment: When Harry unveiled his own bride💕 The way Meghan looks at him and Harry's very cute "hi" after adjusting her veil so it sits perfectly behind her tiara. So beautiful #royalwedding

A post shared by Harry and Meghan❤️ (@meghanandherprince) on May 19, 2018 at 10:28am PDT

Harry playing with Meghan's ring! And staring at her the whole time! Hoy, makinig ka sa sermon, Harry!

The little thumb stroke; he always knows how to comfort her❤️ Did anyone else notice this?😭 #royalwedding #harryandmeghan #meghanmarkle #princeharry #thedukeandduchessofsussex #dukeofsussex #duchessofsussex

A post shared by Harry and Meghan❤️ (@meghanandherprince) on May 20, 2018 at 2:41am PDT

Ehem ehem. Tigilan niyo nga yan! #kilig

"It's like it's just them, in their own little 🌎" #royalwedding #meghanandharry #duchessofsussex #duchessmeghan #meghanmarkle #dukeandduchessofsussex #dukeofsussex #princeharry

A post shared by Harry and Meghan❤️ (@meghanandherprince) on May 21, 2018 at 7:52pm PDT

This scene straight out of a James Bond movie except that in this story, the guy married the girl!

A very glamorous Harry and Meghan (whose wearing @stellamccartney ) leaving tonight in a vintage Love @jaguar E-Type! The license plate E190518 is today's date!#RoyalWedding⁠

A post shared by Harry and Meghan❤️ (@meghanandherprince) on May 19, 2018 at 11:47am PDT

I also loved Bishop Michael Curry's sermon. It was so apt for a couple who have devoted their lives to public service, human rights, and love for fellow man.



It called to me so much to forgive, serve and love. Love lang talaga! Ang hirap kaya niyan in this world of hate and fear. But I heard you, Bishop Curry, and I will follow the way of love. As his chosen verses said, "Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. He that doesn't love knows not God for God is love." (I John 4:7-8) So let us love one another. Always choose love! Just like Harry and Meghan. Through everything that happened in their life, they always chose to respond in love.

I'm so inspired this weekend, mamas! If you follow me on my Facebook page, you'd know I'm on a royal wedding fever high. I'll blog again about other things this week. Let me just get down from my happy loved-up cloud.

Please follow @meghanandherprince for more updates on Harry and Meghan!

We started 2014 super giddy with love because our dear friends Kat and Pat got married. It was such a love-filled and style-infused wedding! I don't remember attending a wedding where everyone was soooo thrilled and well dressed!

But let me begin with a few details:
Last June, Kat and Pat visited our home to ask Vince and me to be their ninong and ninang sa kasal. We're not much older than the soon-to-be married couple so we were surprised but Kat said that she's inspired by our love story. She also said that, if the time comes when she and Pat would need marriage advice, she wanted it to come from people she actually talks to, not some geriatric people who occupied important positions in society but not in their hearts.

So of course Vince and I said yes! We booked the flights to Cebu, we booked our room at Mövenpick, we bought a navy suit and a gold dress (the wedding colors were navy, gold, blush and cream), and then, on January 2, 2014, we woke up before dawn and flew to Mactan island.

The boys greeted the sun at the airport.

Enjoying the cool sea breezes and diffused bright light at the Mövenpick lobby.

Kat and Pat had toys for the kids so that the boys will be entertained during their stay. So thoughtful!

The grown-ups got fish crackers. Haha, no no, we got a big bag of goodies filled with maple syrup lollipops, designer grooming products, and bottles of water!

So after we settled in our room (more about Mövenpick at my mommy blog), we dressed up to go to the chapel wedding. This was the first wedding—only family and ninongs and ninangs. It was a pretty chapel with large windows of green glass. Hehe, now I know what it feels like to be a Sprite or a Mountain Dew!

In the tradition of my wedding posts, I'll just talk about my experience. I don't want to steal the story from the bride. Once Kat settles into married life and gets back to blogging again on Kat Dy Finds, maybe she'll tell you the story of their magical love and enchanting wedding.

I am wearing a tablecloth. No joke. The nun said my wrap dress was indecent and then gave me a tablecloth to cover myself up LOL

The long lingering first married kiss!

Gorgeous couple! I love Kat's outfit super!

Everyone's so happy!

The reception was at La Maison Rose. Such a charming place with really good food!

Since there was just a handful of us, Kat and Pat sat at every table and chatted with everyone. So intimate!

Here comes the bride. Her skirt has a high slit. Really sexy!

The groom was so excited to see his bride. He was literally giddy, clapping and laughing!

Iñigo and I with my fab friends: new beauty blogger Nicole and new mommy Nikki.

My family. The kids are sick here actually. Poor bunnies. (Look to the left of the photo. Kat and Pat are so sweet!)

We have a gazillion photos but baka maloka kayo. Vince uploaded a lot on his Facebook account so try making friends with him so you can see the photos haha!

Anyway, after the ceremony, cocktails were served then everyone moved to Ibiza Beach Club, which lies right above the water, for dinner. Oh, the food was divine! Absolutely delicious! The speeches were heartfelt and fun. The newlyweds were hopping from one table to another, engaging everyone in talk, hugs and laughter. This was absolutely the funnest wedding ever! I wish her wedding had been a whole week instead of just two days!

Nic and me at dinner.

After dinner, the guests all indulged in some really serious dancing. I had to go back to our room because the kids were sick. But I heard the next morning that the dancing lasted way into the night!

Dear Kat and Pat, thank you for inspiring us with your love. Thank you for making me and Vince your ninang and ninong. Thank you for being so relaxed and chill and giddy and totally cool at your wedding. We all felt the celebration! Since it was how our year started, I feel like it's affected the course of 2014—I want my year to be just as loved up and relaxed and stylish and sexy and fun as your wedding was! Cheers!

We went to Bali for a wedding. Jukka, Vince's best man at our wedding, was getting married. It was a surprise wedding since we didn't even know he was dating anyone, let alone dating a girl as gorgeous as his bride!

Well, that's love for you! Even Vince and I had a whirlwind romance—we met April 5, kissed April 18, and he asked me to marry him in May! That was when I got freaked out and said, "Baby, let's take things slooooow from now on." It was so slow, we got married eight years later!

Anyway, here's Jukka. He's very excited to get married to—back then to us—the mystery girl. He kept talking about Michelle and how she's so cute and how he wants to have a family like Vince and have a baby like Vito. Jukka's in love with Vito. I know how he feels.

And this is my heart! Vito doesn't like his shirt. It's really hot in Bali. Crazy hot. I wore a filmy dress so I had it good. The men wore suits! They were really sweating in the heat. But, as these photos show, the boys still looked as cool as a cucumber (sorry for the cliche but it was so hot in Bali, I just wanted something refreshing, like a cucumber shake!).

Here comes the bride! I think my jaw dropped when I saw her. If I had been beside Jukka, I'd have said, "Jukka, you never let on that she was that beautiful, you lucky ass!"

Michelle and Jukka, exchanging their vows in the amber light of the setting sun. They just giggled and smiled at each other and kissed throughout the wedding. Sooo romantic.

Here they are, holding hands. Aww! Love! Dearest Jukka and Michelle, may you have a marriage strong in love, faith, friendship, joy, humor and sex! That combo is what works for Vince and me!

And here we are, happy for our friend. I love weddings. They just affirm my faith in mankind, that we're still silly and sweet and innocent and brave and strong and believers in love.

Poor tired Vito. He's chewing on my turquoise necklace. The party was held a few steps from the beach, by the pool, and we had delicious Indonesian cuisine. We ended the day with dancing and laughter and Game of Thrones. Yep, it was a gathering of nerds!

And that was our Bali trip! Hope you enjoyed it as much as Vito did!

This is my friend Nikki.

We met in 2007, when I hired her to be the Fashion & Beauty Editor of the magazine I edit.

This is the staff on a team building trip to Zambales.

Nikki, Lana and Joanna get silly in Zoobic. This is the only photo of Nikki "wearing" something not chica!

Nikki with Lana and me at the Cosmo Bachelor Bash in 2008.

We did the rounds of TV shows taking about celebrity style.

Here she is at the staff shoot in 2009.

She worked as a stylist (in heels no less!) for our staff shoot.

She's also a beauty columnist.

Nikki with Nicole and me at The Spa to do reviews.

Here we are again at a Lancome event. (I was pregnant!)

Or we do dinners and lunches at each other's homes.

Uber chic couple Nikki and Bern

Nikki's cloud gown.

Her entourage photo looks like a fashion editorial!

As you may have guessed from all the photos above, Nikki's a woman of many talents. One of those talents is her unerring knack to put together a completely stylish look. Everywhere Nikki goes--whether it's to a gala, a TV show, a lunch meeting or a dinner at home, she looks absolutely amazing. Not a hair out of place and always flawless. And she makes it look so effortless, too!

So we've been entreating, begging, nagging and pushing her to put up her own style blog. She's been giving us shopping, style and beauty advice for years and her tips are always unbelievably easy! I think my outfits drastically improved when we became friends to be honest. So wouldn't it be nice if she did the same for you?

Well, she finally agreed. Meet The Picky Dresser. In her words, she's "living life one outfit at a time!"
Do give Nikki a warm welcome to the blogging world!

Update, Sept 12, 2012: Nikki shut down her blog =(

This is a working weekend for me at the entertainment magazine I work for because of the royal wedding. The entire staff is all busy looking through thousands of photos and researching all the details. It's very exciting and terrifying at the same time because we have to finish this issue in 2 days so that you can have it by next week. Fun fun fun!

I was squealing and gasping the entire time. So many thrilling moments! When William and Harry departed Clarence House, when the Queen showed up in sunny yellow, when all those gorgeous Philip Treacy hats paraded outside the Abbey, when I saw those trees in the Abbey, when Pippa showed up (I though for a moment she was Kate), when Kate finally appeared, when she met William at the altar, when I saw all those magnificent horses and the cavalry, etc etc. Of course I clapped most during the kisses at Buckingham Palace! Love it love it love it!


Anyway, I think I'm one of the very few underwhelmed with Catherine's dress. Underwhelmed and disappointed. It's a lovely dress and she looked absolutely amazing in it but... it's not the Alexander McQueen the fashion world remembers.

I'm not dissing it, okay? Like I said, it's a gorgeous dress--simple, elegant, lovely. But those are adjectives you don't really use to describe a McQueen. McQueen is--rather, was--the rock star of the fashion world. He's known for his bold, out-of-this-world, outrageous, sexy, controversial, shocking, theatrical, lavish, rebellious, fantastical, edgy, avant-garde designs.

I honestly could not imagine classic, elegant, sophisticated Kate wearing a McQueen! Just look at his designs as worn by the Great Cate Blanchett:




When I heard the rumors that Sarah Burton for Alexender McQueen might be the lucky designer, I got so excited. William and Kate are known to be a modern couple but even I didn't expect they'd be that modern. Here's the bridal dresses from his last collection:




I was sooo excited to see if Catherine will actually be able to pull off a McQueen! Well, turns out Sarah Burton designed a very Kate Middleton dress for the new duchess. Compare her wedding gown with those dresses up there. Not even close. There's nothing McQueen about Catherine's dress at all.

When I saw Catherine in her gown, I said, "Oh, it's gorgeous! She looks lovely!" And then I got sad because that beautiful gown just emphasized the fact that a true design genius is dead and gone.

However, I figured that Catherine chose the design house of McQueen because he was one of the most celebrated British designers of all time. But if she had actually worn something outrageous, well, that just wouldn't get the approval of two billion people who want their princesses to wear fairy-tale gowns, not cutting-edge fashion!

So great choice, Catherine! You wore something very British and were able to marry tradition with modernity. You've proven to be a master at compromise. So very you and William!

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See what other designers have to say:
Top designers Lagerfeld, Givenchy and Lacroix give their verdict
San Francisco's top wedding designers weigh in

And what Preview editor-in-chief Pauline Juan has to say:

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For the official wedding photos (so breathtakingly beautiful! The one with the kids is my favorite!), click here.