Matrimony by the Sea

Am still smiling over the fact that Avel, one of my oldest and best friends, got married yesterday to his lovely love, Ely! The reception was held on the beach at a resort in Nasugbu, and it was great. I've attended enough weddings by now to have developed an aversion to those all-too formal, standard (read: boring, unfun) hotel receptions that cost too much and pack too many strangers into some sterile, well-lit ballroom. Um, no offense to anyone who may be reading this who had a reception like that; there are enjoyable exceptions. :)

Anyway, because it was a relatively small gathering of close friends and family -- and because, hey, we were on a beach, and the weather was really nice -- the whole affair had a happy, laid-back, party-like atmosphere. Yvette and I had a blast.

As for the photo above -- I'll let JB, the Best Man, explain, by quoting something he posted on our online barkada logbook a few days ago. "Okay, so Avel's got this idea for his wedding to use lanterns instead of the usual doves. He saw them in a news clip. I remember seeing some in the movie version of The Beach. Ely's friends mention meron daw in that Heath Ledger film Casanova. Kidlat saw it done when he was in Vietnam." So that's what they're launching in the photo: a paper lantern, working on the principle of hot-air balloons. It looked wonderful when it finally sailed upwards into the night sky. We oohed and aahed and hoped it wouldn't descend on any flammable rooftops. (It didn't, whew.)

Avel asked me to compile some songs to serve as background music during dinner and after. "Basta bagay sa beach," was my understanding. So there was a lot of reggae stuff, of course, sprinkled with some soul and Brazilian stuff and even some hip-hop. Here's a partial list of the stuff I selected to play during dinner:

Ive Mendes > Voce
Sound > bossaManila
Simply Red > Sunrise
The New Mastersounds feat. Corinne Bailey Rae > Your Love is Mine
Big Mountain > Baby I Love Your Way
Jimmy Cliff > Shelter Of Your Love
Al Green > Let's Stay Together
Aztec Camera > All I Need is Everything
Beth Orton > Daybreaker (Roots Manuva remix)
Tropical Depression > Mahal Kita
Cassandra Wilson > Until
Sugar Minott > Good Thing Going

As much as possible, I wanted the lyrics to reflect the romance of the occasion. In general, though, I chose songs more for the way they sounded than the actual lyrical content, although I'm pretty sure I weeded out any songs with references to ho's, drugs or Satan worship. (Okay, maybe not drugs. We are talking about reggae, after all.) Here's some of the dancier, livelier stuff I selected for after dinner:

No Doubt > Hey Baby
Snoop Dogg feat Pharell Williams > Beautiful
Bob Marley > Is This Love
Third World > Now That We've Found Love
Erykah Badu > Love of my Life (Worldwide)
Common > The Light
Lauryn Hill + Bob Marley > Turn Your Lights Down Low
No Doubt > Underneath It All
Brownman Revival > Ngayong Gabi
Hemp Republic > Himig Ng Pag-ibig
Johnny Nash > Stir It Up
Jimmy Cliff > Wonderful World Beautiful People

Congratulations to Avel and Ely! We had a great time. It was a wonderful party, to mark the official beginning of a wonderful union. When I get married, I want it to be like that. Seriously.