Augustinemusic and Events - Sharing A Passion

Joyous Moments With A Balikbayan From New York

To date this is the joyous reception I attended. And the couple really spent a fortune for this big day. The physical arrangements of the venue alone held at the Pavillon of Oasis was short of spectacular. There were white railings with the chandelier in the middle as the main focus making it like a harem of the modern world. Their motif was light royal blue and white transforming the place into elegance. There was an open bar with lots of cocktails and hard drinks were abundant. And they hired DJ Jeff to provide the house music and dancing after the program.

It was a privilege to host the reception program as their coordinator insisted me to do the honor. I did the standard flow and when the bouquet and garter ceremonies were in, the single ladies and guys wholeheartedly participated to find partners. Some came from the states and all of them participated and stayed until the program was over. Most had drinks making them more hilarious and uninhibited and really enjoying the party. I think everybody were free-spirited and felt their joy as they went on with the celebration.

I ended the program with glee helping me shout loud – “Mabuhay ang bagong kasal!”

And really most of the guests danced to their hearts’ delight.

Moment With The Most Beautiful Bride

It was their wedding and I arrived with my errand boy carrying the heavy keyboard to be used in the church because in Sanctuario de San Jose you have to bring your own keyboard equipment and what they provide is one microphone for all. We were the first ones and saw nobody yet and it was 3:15 p.m. and their wedding was set for 4:00 p.m. After 10 minutes guests kept coming in droves. Most of the guests were simple folks and heard many arrived from the province of Bataan who were dressed for comfort. And that is acceptable, anyway. And the couple understood because their mere presence was enough flavor to add for the celebration. Most of their relatives were present and enough for the couple to be joyous about.

It started on time and the priest who officiated the ceremony is their relative, if I am not mistaken. We played the canon in d as processional march and when the bride walked the aisles she opted for a compact disc of "Only Time" to be played and used my player. As she walked you were staring a queen. She was the most beautiful bride we saw for quite sometime. Her aura filled the air.

The homily was a touching one. The priest’s voice was so controlled that made us listen and every word was meant. Seldom could you hear an officiating priest unhurriedly doing his part. Haste makes waste, as the saying goes and the priest was an exemption. He knew how to pace his doings and the ceremony was a hit. A very good one, indeed. One of the best ceremonies I observed.

Then for the offertory we did the standard piece of Take and Receive as requested and for the communion we did Lead Me Lord. We could say we added solemnity to the occasion, especially when they exchanged their vows, we played a soft background music of Cinema Paradiso, one of the most touching music of all time.

When the ceremony was over, pictorial ensued and we did five music selections timely for the recessional march and did the famous, Four Seasons with a lilting touch

The reception was set at The Glass Garden a 30 minutes drive from the church. As usual we were in such a splendid place for the fifth time and we could still appreciate the place. It’s a place enclosed in a glass with plants on the sides and some mini waterfalls making it a tiny paradise. The place is not that huge and if I am right it could house 300 guests to the maximum.

The moment all guests were in after a short cocktail the program started. The program was okay with not much expectations only the sound system was not that perfect. Sometimes technical problems happen but minimal to say the least. There was much reverberation in the place and hardly could you understand what the person was saying. The sound man was not aware but things went well to say safely. At least, we did the very best we can. My last song was interrupted with on and off microphone and just to finish the song I sang without the microphone projecting my voice to a big place with lots of people around. Rather than stopping, I played safe. I was sure the guests understood that I was not to blame but still received some applause. And that made me cool.

After the program, most of the relatives stayed for some drinking spree. We stayed a bit for a couple of drinks after a sumptuous meal. Leaving the place gave us another euphoria having expressed our passion for music and did our share for the festivity.

a special golden wedding music