.:It's About Time, But Yes, They Tied The Knot:.

My mom and stepdad have been together for ten long years already. Through thick and thin, they've gone through a lot with one another, and in the years that their relationship has gone through, it would certainly be an understatement that they acted a lot more married than some married couples I know of.

Yes, I have my differences with my stepdad. Hades, I have my differences with my mother, all the same. Notwithstanding the love-hate apparatus I have with them, what is rather clear, nonetheless, is that I am very much happy for them that they are now legally married. Naysayers have come and tried to rain in on their parade for the longest time, but all to no avail. This is merely icing on the already-sumptuous cake that is known as our family.

Prior to the wedding, though, most of the people in our place were drinking. It was potentially interesting how that would've worked out...

1. The groom would be drunk.
2. One of the two emcees would be tipsy while hosting.
3. One of the two sons, both of whom would be performing a song number, would be liable to sing “Inuman Na” instead of “Tuwing Umuulan”.

Needless to say, I think it was a good idea they didn't overdo the alcohol...

.:The Ceremony:.

... was short and sweet. Being a garden wedding and not a church wedding, the judge merely introduced himself, then proceeded to the exchange of vows. It took around ten minutes to get the whole wedding itself done. Yes, it was that quick.

.:The Program:.

... was a whole lot longer. I co-emceed the program with Ate Patty, whom I'm sure most of you know as Kelly on Magic 89.9. Surprise, surprise. By some coincidence, this duo was “Kel and Kelly”. In any case, we were following a script my mom wrote, which more or less was obvious to everyone, considering the brand of humor, although Patty and I injected our own stuff into it. Here's an example...

Marcelle: This is the most awaited wedding simply because it got postponed last year, like that Ben Affleck-J. Lo thing, and that Zsa-Zsa- Dolphy affair, minus the liposuction and depression. Say... I didn't know Dolphy had a liposuction!

Now you guess what was scripted and what wasn't. ;)

In any case, we were introducing performers for the most part, and one thing we noticed was almost everyone in the guest list were my mom's friends. It was pretty much clear that the bride planned the wedding and merely invited the groom. And the groom, in his infinite wisdom, reminded the bride to get a bloody judge.

A few other snippets from the program...

Patty: And even if she tried being less friendly, she still made a lot of friends, and get this, is now somewhat in showbiz!

Marcelle: Yes. Actually, she'll be on TV tomorrow night in Channel 7's “Forever In My Heart”. Catch her. She's Regine Velasquez's doctor. You can't miss her.

Definitely catch it.

Patty: And so, the next singer is apparently not quite an audio-video lock. He looks really young at 23 years of age, but he sounds like Josh Groban!

Marcelle: Yep. He's been compared to Martin. Not Martin Short, but Nievera. He's been compared to Gary. Not Gary Granada, but Gary V. And he's one of my mom's clients for Knorr. And wow, free plugging! Knorr Soupy Snax. Stop at 3, and recharge yourself with Knorr Soupy Snax!

That plug got the loudest applause of the day, mainly from the Unilver table.

.:The Family:.

I guess calling him “stepdad” is no longer applicable. Whatever shortcomings he might happen to have, no matter how overbearing he can get, no matter if I may hate his guts tomorrow or the day after, he's still my father now. And I think coming from me, that's saying something.

After the professional singers were done, my brothers, along with my dad, decided to do a bit of singing of their own. Francis started it off with his own composition, which was a nice song, although with the recurring “Why did you leave me?” theme. It was still all good, nonetheless. Of course, Francis isn't the best singer in the family, but then... it came from the heart, I'm sure.

Then, Dondon sang the Beatles' “Blackbird”, and he had a second take at one point when he forgot the chords. Thing with him is that he was a hit with the crowd. He had a good singing voice, and he was playing the guitar all the while.

Afterwards, the three of them went for “I Will”, by the Beatles. It was really a nice song, and the people were already singing along to it.

Then, Francis and Dondon had a duet of the Eraserheads version of “Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka”. Yes, this is a long repertoire. =)

Finally, the three of them, and even Jericho, then sang Ed McCain's “I'll Be”. The funny thing about it is because my dad decided to slow down his singing, and Dondon promptly improvised the guitar chords so as to accommodate the long gaps in between lines that my dad happened to have.

And so when I went up on stage to thank them again...

Marcelle: Thank you very much to my dad, to Francis, Dondon, and Jericho, for that... inspirational set. It inspired me to... do something other than sing.

The crowd loved that... heh.

The coup de grace, however, was my uncle Raymund's music video. He composed a song entitled “Finally Home”, and the thing about it is that unlike all his other compositions, he sang it and was part of the video all the same! He even played the saxophone in the video at one point, which got the audience clapping like mad, because he was singing, writing, playing the piano, and now, he was playing the sax.

.:And So...:.

Yes, this was a wedding to remember. I'm infinitely glad that it turned out so well for my mom and dad. I mean, it's only their second time at this, and they're already seasoned pros at it! Seriously, I love my parents. I didn't pick them, but I sure picked to love them, shortcomings and all. Inasmuch as they didn't pick me either, but they still loved me, shortcomings and all.

I don't see much need to say more than that at this point.