Not a cookie-cutter type of people, Megan Young and Mikael Daez broke all conventions of a traditional wedding, before and after they exchanged vows—twice, last January 10 and 25 in two separate places.
Atypically, Megan did not even have a proper diamond engagement ring.
Sure of each other from the start of their long relationship, they both felt they've been engaged to each other these many years, so what was the ring for?
But in a slight bow to tradition, Mikael finally decided to give Megan some sort of an engagement ring last year—five years after they were officially betrothed sometime in 2014.
He thought of it only because they were getting their wedding rings.
And when Mikael slipped the ring into her finger, Megan could only laugh.
In an exclusive interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) on January 20, Monday, the couple shared a funny story how Mikael ended up getting Megan her "iceberg" engagement ring.
Mikael told PEP.ph, "We don’t like rings. We’re not ring-wearers so I was like, ‘Bakit tayo kukuha ng singsing para sa iyo kung hindi mo naman susuotin?’ o ‘Kung hindi mo type or baka mawala mo kasi hindi ka nga sanay magsuot ng ring.’
"So sabi ko, ‘Sige, maybe we can get a watch for one another? Baka yun puwede pa kahit papaano kasi mas madalas nating sinusuot?’
"But still, not every day, watch-wearers kami. For the next two, three years, we just never got ourselves to buy it.
"At the end of the three years, ‘Alam mo, baka hindi lang talaga natin type?’ Kasi we couldn’t bring ourselves to buy it.
"And we didn’t feel the need na, ‘Ano, dahil wala tayong watch or singsing hindi tayo committed sa isa’t isa?’ Hindi naman totoo yun.
"Hindi naman yun yung basehan ng commitment namin. That’s why we’re not really pressured into it."
SOMETHING BLUE, SOMETHING WEIRD FOR MEGAN
Still, Mikael sought the help of his grandmother Ameling Daez, the general manager of Oro Y Plata Jewelry in Makati City, about choosing a ring.
Mikael related, "I went to my lola, she’s a jeweler. So standard briefing sa quality, size, price. ‘Okay, lola, gets-gets.’
"So nakapili na ako, simple lang naman, straightforward. I picked the most traditional design para easy lang."
But it got complicated when Megan told Mikael she didn't want a diamond engagement ring.
As Mikael recalled, "We we’re playing video games, biglang nabanggit niya sa akin, ‘Alam mo, Fofo, parang ayaw ko ng diamond?’
"‘Ano? Ano to?’... Sabi ko sa kanya, ‘Anong gusto mo?’ I think we were playing a video game na na-inspire siya sa with a blue piece of equipment, maybe sa video game, something similar to that.
"And she was like, ‘Blue na lang siguro?’...
"Buti na lang sa lola ko, di ba? Sabi ko, ‘Lola, hold! Wait’"
Megan mentioned that it was the "Staunch Ring" from a mobile game she was playing that made her want an iceberg-looking ring.
Mikael immediately went back to her lola's office and had a custom-made blue topaz ring inspired by the "Staunch Ring" for Megan.
The 32-year-old Kapuso actor said it was the first time her lola made an engagement ring that wasn’t a diamond, and a blue one at that.
"When I saw it, napakapanget! Sabi ko, ‘Hala, bakit ganito?’ ‘Oo nga e, hindi masyadong maganda no?’
"Kasi first time nila, parang first design, siyempre. I was like, ‘How are we gonna fix this? I don’t know anything?’
"My lola was like, ‘Ay, oo, we can do this, we can do that…’ Kasi sinundan lang naman talaga niya yung peg.
"Siyempre yung peg wasn’t really pang-engagement ring. Peg lang siya, sample, inspired by lang.
"So sa second revision, bumalik na ako, and I was like, ‘Yun na yun! Beautiful! Wow, talented lola ko!’"
Megan and Mikael first had an intimate wedding ceremony in the Calaruega Chapel, Nasugbu, Batangas. Their second and grander wedding was held in the San Roque Chapel, Subic, Zambales.