Boracay Wedding in December

There are some shoots that make me want to quit my day job and become a full time photographer (which I will definitely not and cannot afford to do in the near future. Hehe). This shoot is one of them. It wasn’t my first wedding shoot in Boracay, and it wasn’t even my own booking, but I had such a great time that it reminded me how the returns of being a photographer often surpass my expectations. I can’t emphasize enough how much I love being a photographer and how extremely grateful I am to God for giving me the opportunity to be one.

I won’t be posting our couple shots in this entry. These are behind-the-scenes photos mostly taken with my weapon of choice – iPhone + Instagram.

I reserved the first weekend of December long ago for this shoot. Sometime in May, my friend, Benjie, asked if I can shoot as third photographer with him and Paul at a Boracay wedding. Back then, I had no idea where I’ll be in December (more importantly, if I can take a leave from work – whatever work I’ll be in by then – without any conflict). My employment was about to end and I was considering a hundred different options, from being a human rights lawyer to studying visual communications. I didn’t even know if I’ll be able to shoot that weekend, but I agreed to do it nonetheless. Months after I confirmed, I ended up in the corporate job I’m in now. I was worried I won’t be able to take a leave for the wedding but thankfully, November 30 was declared a holiday, so I was able to fly in without rebooking.

Due to airline problems, our flight was delayed by a few hours and we were rerouted from Caticlan to Kalibo. We  arrived at the island at 10 pm, 8 hours after the expected time of arrival. It wasn’t the first time it happened to us with the same airline. Benjie told me it has never happened to him before so it must’ve been me and my bad vibes :))

Benjie’s clients, Ryan and Fatima, personally met us and led us to our rooms. They joined us for (a very late) hearty dinner of pork, pinakebet and seafood prepared by Fatima’s aunt. I knew they needed to rest for their wedding but they insisted on staying with us until we were done eating. They’re such warm people and wonderful hosts that I really felt like one of their guests the entire weekend. They later on joined their family/friends by the beach.

We strolled around and had Starbucks. Yes, we went all the way to Boracay just to have Starbucks coffee. At least I got two additional stickers for the Christmas planner. Ehe. I found out though that they charge PhP30 more for the drinks(!)

Of course the island was still alive at 11 pm. We saw Psy, the local version:

The rest of the night was spent watching Marimar at the Telenovela Channel. Because telenovelas are so awesome, they deserve their own channel:

And we tried to catch (and take a good photo of) the contrabida girl in the Facundo meme. This is the best I could do with my phone cam at the moment:

The wedding call time was after lunch, so spent the morning at the beach.

But first, breakfast at D’Mall:

Disturbing. :))

At “work”. Here are the cute details/cake toppers:

The reception ended early since they had a short program. It was an intimate wedding with less than 40 guests. We had a lot of downtime after.

Paul, Me and boss Benjie with our wonderful couple, Fatima and Ryan:

We picked the best place to have dessert. The first time I tried it, I was with the Imagine Nation and Mayad teams on my first Boracay wedding:

Nobody wants the diyahe piece:  :))

I was left in the island since my two companions had a wedding to cover back in Manila. I spent the morning walking around and dipping my feet in the water. The weather was perfect. There were no signs of a storm (which came in a few days later).

I was looking for a place to have breakfast and finally settled in at Lemon I Cafe at D’Mall, where I had ham and eggs and hot chocolate (yes, at the beach):