Last November 15, 2008, found me attending a colleague's wedding... that of Alain, and his lovely bride, Ryna. Alain was (hopefully, still is) a fellow trainer for Professional Development courses that we conduct in Accenture, through PrimaryEdge. Having said that, Alain invited a couple of us - his just recent colleagues, and aside from me, Jingo, Mon, Naira, Melody, Fiel and Marimel arrived. We had another co-facilitator in the wedding as well, Menchu... but being a close friend of both the bride and groom, she was too busy being part of the entourage... and later on, as a co-emcee for the reception's program. But enough about us... let me try to describe the place the wedding was held in - that being Fernbrook. After all, present company excluded - one of the main attractions for this particular wedding was the place.From afar, the place can be clearly seen; as its transparent cathedral-like domes are very visible to anyone passing through the Daang-Hari (translated as King's Road) high way - that long road connecting Alabang to Cavite, and should you be coming from the Alabang area, you will eventually find Fernbrook's domes to the left of the road, as you near an intersection leading to Daang-Reyna (translated as Queen's Road).
If you chance upon Daang-hari and traverse its path, you will eventually end up near SM Molino (Cavite). However, if you happen to be observant enough, as you notice the road veering right, you will spy what looks like a cathedral shaped, transparent-domed (and my first impression was... is that glass?) edifice... quite tall, and majestically standing above its surroundings - which are mostly greens (trees) towards your left - you see, if you turn right, you continue to follow Daang Hari; while left would bring you Daang Reyna. Be careful though, the intersection has no visible street signs, and had I not stopped with Mon (who rode with me) to ask someone, we would not that the street we guessed to be Daang Reyna, would have indeed turned out to be Daang Reyna.
Going back to Fernbrook... that first time time I saw the seemingly transparent (glass?) church , I marveled at the concept... a glass church (well, it did look cathedral like), and imagined how the patrons/congregation would feel under the blistering summer sun... but that tidbit aside, a glass church was an architectural first in the Philippines, as far as I know. I mean, who in their right mind would build an all-glass church in this earthquake prone area? Wouldn't that instigate a panic should the glass ceiling suddenly crack?
During that afternoon when Mon and i were finally approaching Fernbrook, I realize my mistaken assumption, as it turns out that the 'glass' was made of a more pliable, thus, relatively sturdier than glass material - though the proper material name escapes me right now, lets just say it was actually a strong plastic material. But until said wedding date, I did not know that - so as I 'went to' and 'came from' Cavite, I would look at that glass church and one thing i would think of is "why so big?"
Maybe because the place was not just a cathedral, but had a columbarium (place where you have an apartment like construct for the ashes of your loved ones) perhaps? Goes to show what I knew (or imagined) back then.
Well, finally, I was enlightened... and I realized that the place was hardly a church - though it did house a chapel, the transparent dome happened to roof what would turn out to be a large central, open-spaced lobby leading to at least two function rooms and across the lobby entrance - past the garden centerpiece that had, as past of its focus, a central garden with two cockatoos - which also led to the bridge way towards the chapel... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me backtrack a bit.
The wedding was scheduled at 3PM, and by Mon's suggestion, I showed up at his place around 2PM, so we could beat the afternoon south-bound traffic. He then rode shotgun with me, as he directed me to numerous twists and turns in what was the little known, but more traffic-forgiving routes cutting across Paranaque to Alabang, thus avoiding what was a relatively heavy traffic build-up in South Super Highway.
Since I knew Daang-Hari, I had a vague impression of where Daang-Reyna was. So it was time to test my theory (which turned out to be right). Daang Reyna was the seemingly main fork I noticed, leading to the left - remember I said there was no visible signage pointing to the fact. We took the left - and lucky for us, there was a man standing near the corner, so we could confirm our theory... had we been less enterprising, or open to asking questions, we, and anyone for that matter, could've easily missed that turn during the day, or hardly even see it during the night.
As it is, Mon and I arrived on time, as wedding guests and entourage were beginning to arrive. We brought out our trusty cameras, and I then proceeded to notice how stylized the place seemed. From afar, the plastic cathedral started transforming into a seemingly elegant country club - at least, that was my impression. And the motif of gold colors, playing against the transparent sheets, which, by the way seemed to act like a giant botanical garden green house effect with all the indoor plants, vines and trees, complete with pin lights... it was like stepping into a fantasy piece. No wonder the couple chose this. It looked magnificent - even in its half-finished nature, it was beginning to look like a wonderful scenery. It could easily be a fairy tale's locale.
Unfortunately the signage at the entrance instructed people not to take pictures - maybe because they wanted to prevent its motif and prevent potential competitors from copying said motif - yet, such a sign was seemingly ignored by many people later in the day. as cameras were clicking left and right.
For someone like me... an outdoors person at heart, this was a nice amalgam of nature and modern living. And as this was turning out to be a country club, of sorts, I imagined an 18-hole golf course right beside the 'glass cathedral' to perfectly match this ambiance. The over-all effects were enhanced by the fact that there was a horse-led bridal carriage, and a vintage Bentley parked just by the driveway entrance. Posh, elegant... almost decadent, these were the words going through my mind, as I was taking in the place and all its designs.
Then we crossed the small bridge way connecting the maid building with the chapel. Should it be completed, said bridge way would be crossing above a brook, complete with fishes, I would imagine. As I approached the chapel, i was able to see inside it. Such was simple, seemingly austere - far as chapels go... and I suspect that it could be transformed into a function room (maybe it was really one), as many of the props suggested a non-finished, portable state, including the large hanging crucifix at the chapel's main intersection. What struck me the most was the fact that there was a garden backdrop, complete with a small waterfall, soothing to the senses - both visual and auditory. In front of this, naturally stood the altar.
Hanging above the altar was an imposing cross with a suffering Christ - a colleague of mine, Fiel being both an Engineer and Seminarian commented that it would have been better to have the cross with a resurrected Christ statue, as that would better compliment the backdrop. He also pointed out (through his engineering-trained eye) how seemingly roughshod the chapel's finishing looked... whether this was due to the whole place's 'still under construction' phase, or quite possibly an effect most planned, I wouldn't know.
As for the possible hot sun's glare, as shown in the picture, there were hanging white cloths to help diffuse the sunlight - yet keep the room alive. Ferns were hanging from the side columns, and suspended on the roof. My first question was, how did they water those? Yet the place seemed designed with a green house effect in mind. The guests had wrought iron chairs - no pews here... and no sacristy either - hence my 'temporary chapel' thought. Despite this, the ambiance could not be denied... and neither could the afternoon heat, as the air conditioners and industrial fans were working overtime to keep the guests comfortable.
But the surrounding outside winds made us decide to witness the wedding from outside, while enjoying said cool winds - after all, the entire room was transparent, so we did not miss anything.
I marveled at he seeming production number, after all... I counted at least two professional looking movie cameras - not to mention all those DSLRs with very long zoom lenses... I mean, Mon and I had our point and shoot and we were intimidated by all those high end cameras - whew... but then again, all these were (rightfully) focused on the wedding couple, and we needed to show that we too were there, so our cameras were needed for that.
After the wedding ceremony, the reception was held in one large room - once again, filled with plants and vines - and white cloth hanging on the ceiling from the center moving outwards, complete with small white lights. Entertainment was supplied by many guests - including Jingo singing a number... but what was touching was Ryna singing for Alain, and even later... Alain singing for or at least trying to sing for) Ryna. All this while a large backdrop on the side was constantly showing pictures of the couple prior to their wedding.
I must say that the location was great, the production was grand - yet not over the top, and the couple? I've never seen so loving a couple as these two that evening - and oh yeah... remember that earlier mentioned seeming production number filming the wedding? It was apparently edited and shown as everything else was happening... someone commented that 'kanina lang yun, ah' (that was just a while ago) - giving a compliment to whoever handled the capturing of the wedding memories... and I must say, the portion where Ryna entered... with bubbles and all - a part that made me thingk it was slightly over the top, actually came out very well, as the cameras apparently had swift action coverage and the person carrying it knowing that as he moved circling Ryna, the film would show something similar to MTV productions - or the Matrix... damn... but that was good.
If only for that - capturing Ryna on 360' with bubbles suspended in time and all... that was worth all the planning and set-up. Whoever this team was - my hat's off to them... not just in the technical effects aspect, but in the obvious speed in how it was edited and shown.
Oh yeah... the food was great too - and the giveaways? Cute, creative and useful - basically a small towel with an I(heart)NY, reminiscent of all those I(heart) New York signs - though in this case, the NY here represented their family name initials. Like I said, creative.
Alain, Ryna... great wedding - and now the new standard I will follow in judging other weddings I may attend in the future.
