Wedding surprise

32 years ago today, my parents were pronounced man and wife. So to commemorate their matrimonial experience, I'm hosting an intimate dinner for them in one of the restaurants where they used to frequent when they were, in my Mom's words, "going steady." I'm doing this because:

• I'm the only child here. At least until August 10th when my brother comes back from his China woo-ing trip.

• I figured it'd be great to celebrate it differently.

• I wanted to give them the gift of reliving the past in present time.

I originally intended to take them to Little Quiapo so they could have pancit and burgers like the good ol' days but unfortunately, there isn't one that's situated in a proper location. I was thinking of buying the food instead in their branch in BF but figured the food won't be so great by the time I get to Makati. Luckily, my Tita who was once perpetually super glued to them way back said they also used to eat in Aristocrat. So that's where I'm taking them tonight - to the branch in Jupiter for some Chicken Barbecue, Honey Chicken, and Pancit Canton.

*images from www.kainpinoy.com

I also wanted them to be collected in a red Volkswagen Beetle because that was what my Dad used to drive but I couldn't find any. So what's a thoughtful son left to do? I searched and bought one.

A toy model of it, that is. I wanted to have the roof engraved with the date but was afraid it might ruin the paint job.

Wedding notes

Things that shouldn't happen when getting married: Pre-wedding Book it in a Church that has three other weddings scheduled one after another. Unless your organizer has the uncanny ability to pull out the decor from the last wedding and put in yours in 20 mins (that's the flowers, entourage, and rearranging the chairs), or in time for the ceremony to start right away. Ceremony proper Make the priest read the life story of the bride and groom - complete with how the parents of the girl weren't fond of the guy for about two years into the relationship and how far down the family tree the bride and groom are. Make the best man ring bearer because the original ring bearer called in sick. Then make him walk down the aisle twice.. first as best man, then as the ring bearer. Reception Pass off tiny sandwiches of white bread with cheez whiz, liver spread, nachos, and almost diluted iced tea as cocktail grub Make the host introduce every single wedding sponsor. And it's more than just saying who they are. The intro should include what they do as a living, if they have any major accomplishments in life, and what they enjoy doing. At the end of all that, say that the last sponsors are THE most important because they were responsible for letting the bride and groom meet. Because the others are just there for the sake of having sponsors. Introduce the parents of the groom and bride, complete with information on how many they were growing up, what their businesses are, and what their motto in life is. Make friends of the married couple do a scripted spiel and get the script mixed up even if they're already reading it from printed sheets of bond paper in front of the crowd. Shouldn't they just use cue cards? Call the groom, make him stand in front of everyone, and continue doing the spiel to introduce the bride and say that her best moment in life was being crowned Miss Friendship (or some lame title) way back in HIGH SCHOOL. Propose a toast when everyone hasn't eaten. How's that going to affect their tummy? Use an April Boy Regino song as part of the wedding repertoire for the night Announce the table number for them to have a photo taken with the married couple BEFORE they're allowed to attack the buffet Not cut the program short when it's already 9pm and dinner has not been served. The wedding I attended tonight did all that. It was so bad that my family and I stood up and left and had dinner at Cafe Adriatico. They've got really good crispy tadyang there.