My Best Friends' Wedding - May 15, 1999

    Well, not to offend anyone else whose wedding I attended, but this wedding was perhaps the best wedding I've ever been to in all my life.  I think it's because most of the entourage were already close to begin with -- but you could really feel the magic and the love in the room.  Joseph and Melissa, this page is for you!

    With the group of friends that I have, for most, if not all of the weddings, the guys get together to do a special something for the bride.  Until now, it's always been a song.  For Joseph's wedding, he decided to have a modern routine, slightly akin to those you might see in a PCN.  We used a wide variety of songs such as BackStreet Boys' "As Long As You Love Me" to Jordan Knight's "Give It to You".  The guys (about 10+ of us) got together whenever we could, usually after Kayamanan (Joseph's dance troupe) dance practice at the Santa Monica YWCA.  Here's a couple of clips of our rehearsals:

• Routine Rehearsal, Part 1 - The focus of this MPEG is Ben DeGuzman, Joseph's Best Man.
• Routine Rehearsal, Part 2 - This is the choreographer of the whole routine, Cedric Mempin.

    I guess for me, the best thing about having been a part of their wedding was that I know both of them well, and I can really tell they love each other a lot.  As you get to know people, you see how well they get along together, through relatively good and bad times, and you get a pretty good sense of whether it's going to straighten up and fly right, you know?  Well, take that good feeling, and multiply by a million, because everyone there not only felt that way about Joseph and Melissa, but we felt that way about each other too.  Without trying to be corny, after the whole weekend, I just kept telling myself, "Dang, now that is why life is worth living."

    Without going overboard on what happened (for more information, you can check out their website, which I'm sure they will update once they get all their pictures and all)  -- here are a few more pictures and clips:

Rehearsal Dinner:

• Melissa's Angels - I guess everyone needs to let out their wild side before they get married...

Before the Wedding:

• Joseph, reflecting  - The guys were still getting ready when I took this candid photo of Joseph in deep thought(?)
• Joseph's Groomsmen - This was taken in the lobby before the limo picked us up.

At the Church:

• Melissa walking down the aisle - I should shoot myself for taking such poor shots, but I never said I was a professional photographer!
• Family Picture - Shot just before a kiss in front of the church

At the Reception:

Pictures of the newly married couple with:

• Rosalyn and Ben
• Charo and Fermin
• Anna and Cedric
• Liz and Robert