Workplace Romance

(This content originally appeared in my column at the Cebu Goldstar Daily Newspaper)

What started as a workplace romance ended with a wedding at the Archbishop’s Chapel and a reception at the gardens of Chateau de Busay, shared with friends and family. “Having everyone together, smiling and happy was really wonderful,” Mayel says. “It was really the people who were there who made it special”.

Ask anyone in human resources and you’ll likely hear the same answer: workplace romances are seldom ideal. But when Joseph Ferdinand Aviso and Maria Lourdes Aguilar laid eyes on one-another, the fact that they worked for the same company was a minor detail that never once became an issue. The company has no policies about workplace romances, but when the relationship became serious, they both made sure it was never going to be a problem that would affect their work.
“Mayel is simple but bright, strong-willed and, of course, very beautiful,” reflects Joseph. “But we also have a great and unique connection. Despite our differences in backgrounds and upbringing, we share a strange number of likes and dislikes, and ways of thinking about things. It is really uncanny.”
Although they have been together for more than 4 years, the actual wedding planning was just barely 2 months. The couple opted to have a traditional ceremony at the Archbishop’s Palace Chapel and wedding reception at the gardens of Chateau de busay.
On April 25, the planning paid off. Given away by her parents, Mayel walked down the aisle to the song “When God Made You” by the Sonata Singers.
Joseph was overwhelmed by emotion waiting at the altar for the first glimpse of his wife-to-be. He was not disappointed, saying that he “could not have asked for a more beautiful bride.” “She was smiling ear to ear and I was so happy when I saw her,” Joseph recalls. As their family and guests gathered around them, Joseph and Mayel exchanged wedding vows. “We wanted a ceremony that wasn’t stuffy, and with everyone around us, it felt intimate, jovial, fun and happy,” he explains.
At the reception, after they were introduced as the new Mr. & Mrs. Aviso, Joseph and Mayel took their first spin around the dance floor to the tune of Fra Lippo Lippi’s “Beauty and Madness” which the groom picked for his bride.
The entire celebration was filled with emotions. There were times when people were crying because the day was filled with so much laughter and fun, and there were times when they were crying because it was so emotional. These emotions were specially captured by both the photographer – Aileen Siroy (a very close friend of the groom’s family) and videographer – Dino Angelo Ojerio who showcased the on-site (SDE) video presentation as the last and one of the most awaited part of the reception agenda.
After the speeches were over and appetites were sated, the Sonata Singers took over the party mood. The family and guests – young and old joined and danced the night away.

As Joseph and Mayel finished telling their love story to me,
there is a moment of unspoken synchronicity, of destiny fulfilled.
Then smiling, they walk away hand in hand, as they will likely still do many years from now,
when they are accompanied by their great grandchildren.

The Team:
Planning & Coordination – Belle Mariee
Flowers – Simple Wishes
Photography – Aileen Siroy
Video – Dino Angelo Ojerio
Cakes – Alice Aguirre, Kusina Habana, The Cupcake Theory
Make-up – Romero Vergara
Entertainment – Sonata Singers