Edward's wedding (at the reception)

On sat, the 25th of April, I, together with my daughter and several of my friends attended the wedding reception of my good friend Edward who is also the godfather of my daughter.

We were among the first ones who arrived at the reception. We went there before everybody else because we are not too familiar with the location and apart from that the reception was held in Cebu’s historical place, the Fort San Pedro. Being a place of history, we want to explore the area first before settling down for the program and dinner. We chose to be seated at the back because we brought our kids along with us and we don’t want to distract the program with 2 and 3 year old kids running and shouting around.

The program started with minimum fanfare (which is really quite nice). Just before the dinner started, the lady program host asked us if we know something about the seating arrangements. My friends and I looked at each other baffled by the question. Honestly, we don’t know any seating arrangement at all. The lady host then continued and said that we are seated in such a way because the ones sitting in front were the one who gave the biggest gifts and those sitting at the back were the ones who gave the smallest gift or no gift at all. She tried to retract her statement by saying “joke only.” But joke or no joke, the damage has already been done.

I have been an emcee myself to several wedding receptions and I always keep in mind that the people attending the reception comes from all walks of life. Regardless of the size of their gifts, what matters to the married couple is the mere presence of the people they invited. These people are not just ordinary friends. Knowing Edward, I know he will not invite the regular hi and hello friends. The people gathered around are those who mattered to the couple. The emcee should have thought about that first before she opened her mouth.

With the financial crisis that spread all over the globe, the guests were not really expected to bring grand gifts but since it’s customary to bring one, most of us brought a practical gift for the newlyweds. Some of my friends bought them a gas stove and we bought them a set of casserole. We thought that as husband and wife starting a new life in a new house together would need kitchen utensils and a gas stove and a set of casserole would really come handy.

I am not berating the newlyweds or the reception or the food. I love the couple and I thought the wedding rite was really solemn. The reception, although not grand but it certainly whimsical and I love the touch of history to that. What I think was not right was the choice of words by the lady emcee. She should have thought about it twice.

I believe that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. It may be a satire for her but on a wedding reception, satires are inexcusable.