How the Brits got jiggy with it: The Tagalog-British-Kalingan Inter-cultural Wedding

On top of the Talama Ranch in Tabuk City, Kalinga is the reception of Kuya Stew and Jaydee's inter-cultural wedding. 

When we had the "pamamanhikan" before, we were told that it takes time ( I'm not sure if it was a month) to make the tent and make sure to cover the surroundings of the place.

Months before, Ate Chimy and I were BBMing each other and I was sending her photos that I took from my phone so that she will have an idea once she gets there. They flew in three days ahead of us and had more cultural immersion.

Our Kuya finally got hitched!

I never had a brother. So when Kuya Stew came to stay in the Philippines for a year, we were given a chance to borrow an older brother even just for a year. So when Kuya decided to get married, October 20, 2012 in Kalinga, Apayao to be exact, we were given a chance to see what it felt like having a family member get married. We even went to Kalinga for the formal "pamamanhikan" to represent his family who are based in UK.

Weddings are big in the Philippines. The stress is always, always on the menu especially the day before the big day.But when you have a rush inter-cultural wedding like ours, stress is also magnified in the middle of flying people from UK and Laguna to Kalinga, three different languages for language barrier challenges, observing each other's cultural protocols, all for the coming of two people together to start a family.

I would always remember Kuya Stew, the groom, knocking at our door at 5:30 in the morning handing me the car key, telling me that the wedding car has arrived. The official wedding florist and Church designer, my sister Aprille, immediately went down and took care of installing the flowers to the vehicle.

Then a photographer arrived telling him that he's having a pre-wedding pictorial. He looked at me, zombie-like and surprised, then handed the key and said:

"If worse comes to worst, since you drive, you're driving!"