This Saturday, I had the pleasure of being a part of the wonderful wedding of my cousin Reena and her new husband Blake in Rodeo and Benicia, California. It was a great opportunity for the extended family to come together and celebrate their love in true Filipino-American fashion — with lots of food, drink, and dancing from the afternoon into the evening. (BONUS: No karaoke!)
The actual wedding was your typical Catholic ceremony, embelished with some nice personal touches. The most touching part for many of us was when Reena presented special necklaces to Blake's two children, as a sign of her love for them.
The reception was held at the enormous Benicia Arsenal , a converted military facility now used for artist and artisan studios. I knew it was going to be a fun reception when it started with the bride and groom dancing to "Gangnam Style"! We had everyone hitting the dancefloor, from our elders showing us how to cha-cha to the littlest kids doing their best horsey-dances to the "Gangnam Style" reprise. I of course had to jump in and do my thing during the old school hip-hop songs. And we had to have the traditional "money dance" for the bride and groom, which ended with the groom doing a dance that was uniquely Blake.
I instigated a Soul Train line early during the party to get everything going. It was fun seeing everyone show their style. But when my Uncle Romeo, who is wheelchair-bound, rolled down the line strutting his stuff, no one really could follow that!
Of course everyone took a ton of pictures all day. Here's the boring, serious pic of my cousins with the bride.
And here's us being silly and dumb. This could be my new favorite picture of my cousins. My cousin Ryan on the left really sells it.
There was a really fun photo booth area that was created by my cousin Rafi. That boy is mad creative! Some design firm needs to hire him!
All in all, a fantastic day that was long in coming and well-deserved. Many blessings and joy to Reena and Blake for their future together.
A few more of my pics from the Reena and Blake wedding on my Flickr set.