A Very Special Blessing♥ 06102015

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Ephesians 5:31 By God's grace, we were able to finally come to this day--the day when we finally became one.

Like what I have mentioned in my previous blog post (Kuwait wedding preps), our wedding here in Kuwait was planned a few months ago. We had always envisioned our "first" wedding to be a very simple one--no fancy details, no fuss, just pure love and happiness. After all, we wanted to be practical since we are saving our all for our church wedding on December 2016 . ♥ And because God is so faithful and loving, we were able to have our Kuwait wedding not just the way we dreamed it would be but even better!

We were able to book this wedding last March, but we started the real, serious preparations 2 weeks before the date. Yes, now I have learned, that planning a wedding in 2 weeks is suicide, especially when it's only the two of us who were really involved. We did that because again, we were thinking of a very simple event. We were surprised to know that even a very simple wedding can give us a lot of stress! (LOL) But fast forward to two weeks after, my heart could not be more glad with how our "simple" wedding turned out.

With this blog post, I want to share and count the blessings we received on our very special day. ♥

Our Witnesses

We arrived at the Philippine embassy at 1:00 PM and were briefed about what will happen. It was only just the four of us--me, James, and our two witnesses, Chris and Geeann. Technically, they became our "Ninong and Ninang", although our Ninang was just accompanying James' friend (our Ninong). We originally asked two of his friends to be our witnesses, (We will have a our true sets of Ninong and Ninang in our church wedding next year), but the other guy could not show up because of a change in work schedule. Having both of them was truly amazing because Geeann, our instant Ninang has some photography skills and was able to help us capture our moments nicely. We didn't really plan to hire a professional photographer and thought of just askingour photographer friends in the Phil to post process our photos, but it was God who gave us a way to have beautiful photos of our big day.

Chris, our Ninong, has proven to be our true friend. We know how hard it is to really ask for a day off from work (even my groom was not allowed to have a long vacation) because of the demands in the food industry, but he committed his time and he was there for us. He helped us fix things. carried my bag, stood at our back in the ceremony (kinikilig pa nga) and made sure we had all we needed on that day.

Unlimited Joy Despite the Hassles

There were quite a few hassles we had to fix that day, but the Lord is so good that He still gave true joy in our hearts. With His help, we were able to find ways to cover up for the things we lack and He gave us wisdom for on-the-spot decision makings we had to do. James and I always find things to laugh about (and he is really a very funny guy), but remembering the problems we encountered two days before the wedding, I couldn't imagine how we were able to still smile. Hours before the wedding, we even cried while praying because there were still a lot of things to fix and we were scared that the dinner we planned will not go well. We did not have the kitchen tools, the person who promised to help and bring us kitchenwares did not show up, among a lot of things. But our good and gracious God provided all we needed and even gave us more than what we prayed for!

In the part of the ceremony where the solemnizer asked me the infamous question "Do you take James to be your lawfully wedded husband..", I answered "I do" because that's how I normally see it in movies. But I was surprised that James looked at me with wide eyes and said "Anung I do, dapat, Yes, I do!". Everyone in the room just laughed and I had to repeat the answer with conviction (because my groom said so). I think that was his way to break the ice because the solemnizing officer was being so formal and we were kinda nervous and kilig and about to cry, all at the same time. LOL His craziness did not stop because as we were having our post wedding shoot, he had his photoshoot mode on and kept on telling me "Hindi ganyan ang pose dapat sobrang sweet, tumingin ka saken, wag ka tumawa!" And that made me laugh all the more!

I thank the Lord for giving me a funny and witty man!

Impromptu Shoot and Unexpected Favors

The ceremony went faster than I thought and as you can see, it was held inside the judges' room. Not very photo-friendly, we thought, so we decided to go to Kuwait towers seaside and have a post wedding shoot. (Again, thanks to our ninong Chris and our photographer ninang for being very patient with us)

While we were shooting, people who passed by were looking and shouting "mabrook" (Arabic for congratulations). A lady wearing a backless dress is not a common sight in the streets of Kuwait, so that added a reason why people were curious. Then, a car suddenly stopped in front of us and we were a bit scared to see it was a man swearing a dishdasha (the traditional Arab male attire) in the driver's seat. We thought he was a police and will ask us to leave the vicinity, but to our surprise, he smiled and said "Congratulations on your wedding!" A few seconds after, he and his wife alighted their car and said "We want to take picture with you". Apparently, they were very pleased to see a newly wed couple (or maybe they were amazed by my hair dress LOL). The wife took a picture of us first, but the Kuwaiti man really wanted to have a photo with us, so the wife took another shot. The man was really nice and was asking us about our wedding and even said "Come, let's eat in a restaurant, my gift for you." That was very nice of him to offer, but we politely declined since we have prepared a dinner at James' flat.

Another unexpected favor we received was our wedding cake and party souvenirs. As I have mentioned, the preparation was done by just me and James--from shopping for our outfit, planning the menu, going to the market and cooking. Because we had a lot of things in our mind, we forgot to prepare desserts for our guests. We originally did not plan to give out souvenirs as we thought that it's not needed for a very simple dinner.

The dinner was ongoing when the doorbell rang and James opened the door. Again, we were surprised to see a man wearing a dishdasha, and thought that he was someone from the building and he will reprimand us for the noise we were causing inside James' flat. He asked "Are you James?" and James answered yes nervously. The man then said "This is for you" while handing over a box of big cake and a bag of macaroons. Turned out, he was asked to bring us a gift from our Kuwaiti friend who owns a big and famous bakery here in Kuwait. We met this Kuwaiti man through one of our closest Pinoy friends and it was just so sweet for them to remember sending us this favor. We were really glad to receive that gift and shared it at once with our friends who, just in time, were about to finish their meal. I also fell in love with the cute wooden hearts clipped on macaroons and instantly, we had wedding souvenirs our friends can keep. God really is amazing in surprising us with more than what we ask for. ♥

The Love of our Families and Friends

Having our family and friends, even if they are thousands of miles away, was truly the biggest blessing we have. They guided us in decisions and waited for updates, encouraged us with their words and we felt their love and concern all throughout our relationship. My future bridesmaids helped me choose my dress thru Viber and Facebook chat and our families supported us with the documents we lack and the most important things we have to prepare. I couldn't be more excited to have our church wedding with all of them!

Also, our families and friends here in Kuwait made our day so special with their presence. I was expecting a simple, intimate dinner but it became a fun, lively party because of their help. Like what I mentioned earlier, the person who offered to help us cook did not show up so me and James had to do all the cooking. As soon as we got home from the wedding, we started hustling in the kitchen, I even forgot to remove my hair dress! (nope, I intentionally wore it the whole time. Just because..I am the bride! LOL) Good thing my husband is a very machamba cook, I mean, a very good cook! Our friends came to the rescue and helped us prepare. God really sends us people who will uplift us just when we think things are about to fail.

I know we could've opted to just dine in a restaurant with our witnesses, but we wanted to share the joy and the blessing with what we have, no matter how simple it may be. With their presence and smiles, all the tiredness went away!

My Husband ♥

Needless to say, my husband (kilig everytime I say it ♥) is the greatest blessing I received that day and everyday. I cannot count with my fingers and toes the many times he became my angel, my help, my encourager and love. He is my funny guy who, despite all we are going through, always manages to make me laugh and see things in a positive way.

A very nice Pinay friend offered to color my hair and do my makeup for free (another great blessing). But I forgot to tell her that my hair is so thick it tends to absorb color unevenly. So, two days before our wedding, my hair is half yellow, half brown. I was about to cry and panic but my ever so bright husband decided to fix my hair. We bought an ash blonde hair dye and he applied the color---yes, he is my all around yaya, patiently, layer by layer until we covered all. It turned out so perfect!

He also did everything to ensure that I have all I need, my dress, my shoes, flowers (I insisted to have the flower crown hehe) and our wedding dinner. He patiently went shopping with me though there were times he looked frustrated because I couldn't choose which dress I want to buy. He went back and forth our church carrying chairs and cheffing dishes, cleaned his room, washed plates and made sure our guests were okay. Not to mention I didn't spend a single dinar although I know he didn't have a lot. I truly felt his love and he was true to what he is always telling me, he will give his all and do everything for me. ♥ I think our counselor pastor (thank you P.Erwin) did a good job in reminding him how a husband should love his wife. :) Ephesians 5:25 says "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." (Now I want to print this verse and post it on our wall LOL

Did I mention that my husband looked so dapper and handsome as always? ♥

​​All glory and praises belongs to our God for His goodness and love. Because of Him, we were able to have a very special "first" wedding. It's pure bliss to know that I now have someone with whom I can live a full life with, giving honor to the Lord who brought us together.

I am now ready to submit as his wife and love him with all my heart, to bless him with my service and give him joy all the days of our lives. Having kids is not yet part of our plans but James would always say if the Lord wills, why not. ♥

Last funny thing I want to share: Our wedding night was not the way everyone expected it to be. Honestly, we slept at 2:00 AM after all the guests have left and we cleaned up. And because of our "biboness" for doing everything from preps to the actual cooking, we were so tired we slept like logs! James even talked in his sleep and said "Be, may huhugasan pa ba ko?" and I bursted into a loud laughter!

Now I know why wedding planners and coordinators exist!

So thank you all for wishing us a wonderful life together. We are super excited to celebrate with you on our church wedding on December 2016. ♥

For now, Mr. Martin is ready to make it up for the epic fail wedding night! ♥