St Louis Cathedral New Orleans wedding video
“Jomi Said (Bride): I have known Mike for sixteen years. We have been friends for thirteen, a couple for eleven and married for six.
We first met in the university library during the first year of college. I remember he barely looked up from his book while my friend introduced us. I have always thought he was scary quiet and too serious until two years later in medical school when we found ourselves sitting next to each other in class.
I learned that Mike was one of the smartest and sweetest guys I ever knew. Spending most of our med school days together, he became my private tutor, my caffeine-free stimulant to keep me awake until early morning, my personal chef, my album review buddy, my fellow expert in good music, my good friend who wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I had fallen in love with his smile and his little eyes that always grew wide every time he talked to me. I found in Mike a part of myself I haven’t found in anyone else. He gave me the feeling of being completely and truly understood, the feeling of having found kindred. With him, I knew that I can be myself. Day after day, our friendship grew, and we became inseparable. I always looked forward to the many things to do and say. We never ran out, and we couldn’t get enough.
Through the years, I have been both sensible and irresponsible; I have been both cautious and crazy. But Mike has always let me feel free and calm, yet fierce and strong. He has thrust me bold and fearless to extremes I did not know I could go. And he has always brought me back, content and satisfied, back to him, back to a life we’ve dreamed together, back to a place we’ve made our home.
He is the sun shining on my dark side. The rock that keeps me on the ground when I get too pumped up that I get blown away. We are two oceans that merge so impeccably well that I cannot tell where he ends and I begin. I drown in him and he drowns in me over and over, yet we never run out of breath.
I think about the milestones of our lives and the labels that change as we reach them. I reflect and realize that to me they are all just a blur. There are no clear lines to define who we are and where we are. Mike will always be to me my buddy, my team mate, my partner, my love, my soulmate. And these things come full circle every time.
Mike said (Groom): Jomi and I have wanted to be together for a long time but did not know how to make it happen. We would talk about how great it would be to be like those people who had everything in place and whose only problem was finding their special someone. We knew we did not have that luxury so if we are going to make us happen it would be through our own creation.
My thoughts on marriage hinge on the theory that one must find a perfect balance of craziness and sanity before going for it. Crazy because one has to be so in love to have the vision and urgency to see it through. And sanity because it has to have some semblance of feasibility in order to make it happen. I know that when we started, we were not in the most ideal of places but I have so much faith in us and I have so much love for her that I got her a ring before leaving the Philippines for the US. I wanted to be ready to ask her when the right time comes. When we received news that could change our lives, I knew that the perfect time has come. I wanted it to be simple, truthful and heartfelt. I wanted her to be herself and able to say what she truly feels. I wanted her to remember our place in the world in this special time of our lives. I wanted to freeze the moment and remember it forever.
It was a Sunday morning when I asked her to make breakfast for us. When she came back to the room, I was already on my knees. She laughed because she thought I was trying to be funny. She sat on the bed and hugged me, and she asked me why my heart was beating so fast. I just managed to say that her heart was beating fast too. When I took out the ring box, I saw in her face a look of surprise, amazement and excitement. For a brief moment, my girl, who always had a lot to say, was speechless. I told her to close her eyes, and then I put the ring on her finger. When she opened her eyes again, I said “marry me.” She looked at me, fighting back tears, and she smiled. And I asked, “Is that a yes?” And she gave me a nod.
Looking back, I did not think that I would be that nervous around her but I was really excited and afraid that she might say no. Words cannot describe how I feel about her and how much she means to me. She is my inspiration, my best friend, my pillar of strength, my queen, my heart, my life. And I cannot imagine life without her.
I have always told her that as individuals, we are merely good, but together we are unbeatable. Today as I write this, many years after we embarked on our dreams and made them come true, we are still, everyday, on our way to our future. I am looking forward to more walks in the rain and more walks in the sun. To more winters and more summers. To more blizzards and storms and more rainbows. To more challenges and more surprises, always keeping in mind that together we can weather anything life throws at us.”
Vendor love:
Event Design – Lulu Alexander
Photography – Art De Vie
Ceremony – St. Louis Cathedral
Reception – Royal Sonesta
Entertainment – Troy Marks and No Idea
