Point, Click and Plan

         They called it the 1026 Wedding and went on to make it an affair to remember. But when John Rana and Bennette Co said their "I do's" on
October 26, 1998 (so what if it was a Monday, they just had to get married on their seventh anniversary as a couple), little did they know they were starting more than what they billed as "a merger of two cultures, a union of two souls." They were embarking on a mission.

         The Ranas are the "been-there-done-that duo" behind www.WeddingsAtWork.com, a new online bridal resource for marrying Filipino couples and those getting married in the Philippines. A "virtual one-stop shop" of wedding ideas, products and services. The site helps brides and grooms carry out the often arduous task of wedding planning from the prospective of two people who have gone through the process in a very creative way.

         From basic bridal information and practical tips on planning, to a link of personal wedding websites and an e-mail support group, WeddingsAtWork.com attempts to make it easier for marrying Filipino couples to sidestep the obvious pitfalls of organizing such a complex affair as well as inspire couples to create meaningful, personal celebrations.

"Couples know next to nothing about planning a wedding, and we're here to offer help because we went through the same difficulties," says Bennette Rana.
"When couples come to us and say, 'I need a candle maker,' we can refer them to suppliers or somebody in our e-mail group may give them a suggestion. We don't consider ourselves an online wedding magazine, we're not experts, but we'd like to give couples a hand in planning their weddings."

         The site is specifically targeted at working couples who may not have the luxury of time to shop around for ideas and services. With just a click of the mouse, these couples can cut down on the time it takes to scout around for wedding vendors, reducing the efforts expended in, say, braving the weekend traffic in search of that perfect supplier. All they need to do
is log on and join the e-mail group (which now number 200+), post a question and the members and the Ranas will try to answer in the soonest time possible,
preferably within 24 hours. ("Surfers are an impatient lot," observes Rana. "If they don't get an answer in a day or two, they consider the site useless and move on.")

         Visitors also can get valuable information about Filipino weddings, from pre-wedding traditions like the pamanhikan, despedida de soltera, and offering
eggs to the Santa Clara Monastery, wedding facts and trivia (a Filipino wedding ceremony takes about an hour; most churches here don't marry couples on a
Sunday) to folklores and superstitions (arinolas or bedpans are regarded as good-luck gifts; the groom who sits ahead of his bride during the ceremony will turn out henpecked) and traffic tips for weddings in perennially grid locked Metro Manila (be mindful of color-coding; make sure the father of the bride, who arrives at the church with his daughter, has a ride to the reception; carpool for guests).

         There's a section on pre-marital counseling seminars available (Discovery Weekend, Catholic Engaged Encounter) complete wit schedules, and the numerous bridal fairs held on an almost monthly basis in the metropolis' hotels. The Library has links to other online Filipino bridal services (Kasalan, Kasal.com and Asian Bride Online), a list on local magazines, books, planners and other references for Filipino couples, and links to personal websites by Filipino couples based here and overseas. The site also includes a very useful directory of service providers, including listings for church and reception venues, cakemakers, florists, hair and make-up artists, social printers and entertainers.

         One of the most important links is the couples own 1026 Online! wedding website where visitors the unique and highly imaginative 1026 Wedding the Ranas dreamed up for their big day. Originally created by Bennette as a surprise gift for John during their sixth anniversary, this site took a life of its own during the 16 months the couple planned their wedding. Apart from the photos of the couple of the couple during their courtship and their love story, the site showed all the loving details John and Bennette came out with for their 1026 Wedding, which had been picked up for coverage by a major daily and a leading bridal magazine. The response to the site and the attention to the Rana nuptials convinced the couple that there is a need for a service like WeddingsAtWork.com.

         It all started when John and Bennette decided to get married on October 26, the same day they began their relationship seven years before. Desiring to create a memorable, personal event which expressed both their personalities and the need to do something different, the couple billed their forthcoming union as the 1026 Wedding: A Merger of Two Cultures, A Union of Two Souls, with the themes revolving around 1026 and Chinese-Filipiniana to reflect their heritage.

         For starters, they designed a 1026 logo. 1 has three roses in a stretched Coke bottle, the very first surprise gift John gave Bennette in 1991. 0 has a photo of the engagement ring superimposed on it. 2 was a collage of the couple's pictures. 6 featured an artwork done by the couple's friend, illustrating a naked couple, a Filipino guy and a Chinese girl.

         Instead of the usual invitation, John and Bennette came up with a CD ("The 1026 Wedding Soundtrack"), which contained a collection of songs John wrote for his intended, and their recorded invitation addressed to guests. Additional tracks included a greeting and good-luck advice from popular psychologist Margarita Holmes, and a guesting on their favorite radio show. The cover sleeve featured an explanation of their logo photos of the couple, and pictures of significant mementos.

         The couple gave special attention to every element of the wedding. The wedding-wear ensembles had striking Chinese-Filipiniana details combined with a chocolate-brown and champagne color motif. The bride wore a Maria Clara-inspired jusi gown with a kimona overblouse which can be taken off to
reveal a sleeveless A-line dress. The kimona had custom-made Chinese buttons and the skirt had an uneven hemline with handcrafted embroidery of small
flowers. The train was decorated with callado embroidery and had a chocolate-brown lining. The groom wore a Chinese-collared, silk georgette barong Tagalog with geometric embroidery and chocolate-brown Chinese
closures. The entourage's outfits also has the chocolate-brown buttons as accents.

         The flower girls did not carry did not carry bouquets but teddy bears. The bears had pearl headdresses and tiny flowers on each ear. Each bear "carried" a small bouquet of roses.

         The cake was a four-piece confection made by popular cake maker Penk Chin of Pastry Bin. 1 had a real Coke bottle, 0 was topped by a ring made of sugar, 2 has a collage of pictures in transparencies, and 6 was made of of paper tole. The four pieces were surrounded by smaller cakes in the 0 design. These were later given to the god parents.

         The couple's unity candle of a hurricane design ( a big, hollow candle where the votive candle is placed within and lit during the ceremony). The couple's wedding invitation cover design was set in front while the personal wedding vows were inscribed at the back.

         The wedding tokens were credit-card-type type rosaries (in honor of October, the month of the rosary) with braille-like embossing in front to serve as beads. Printed at the back were the words, "Join us in praying for the success and happiness of this marriage."

         The ceremony and reception likewise featured a number of unique touches, including a different take bouquet and garter toss, clinking of the glasses and special wedding vows.

         To top it all off, the couple devoted lavish attention to their website, adding content as they progressed in their wedding preparations. It had pages for lyrics to their CD songs, write ups of each member of the entourage, and even a gift registry. It also featured an online RSVP to make it easier for the guests to confirm their attendance. After the wedding, John and Bennette started getting a lot of inquiries from couples who logged on to their wedding site who read about it in the print media. "People who recognized us would come up and ask, 'How did you do this?'" relates Bennette. It was then when they seriously considered putting up a wedding-related venture. Originally they wanted to create personal websites for other couples, but realizing that there was scant information about Filipino weddings on the Web, they decided to put up an online resource center instead.

         They put the site on the Web in January of 1999 and officially launched it during the bridal fair Rituals at Makati's Dusit Nikko Hotel in March.

         Most of the materials on the site were based on personal research by the Ranas during their months of wedding planning. They had read all bridal literature they could get their hands on, surfed popular US sites such as theknot.com and ultimatewedding.com, and made numerous inquiries to service providers. All these information was distilled into an easy to digest site
which zeroes in on a lot of couples' concerns.

         While the site is in no certain terms comprehensive, its interactive component makes it an indispensable tool in wedding planning.