Matapos ang announcement ni Ogie Alcasid sa Party Pilipinas noong August 8 tungkol sa pagpapakasal nila ng longtime girlfriend niyang si Regine Velasquez, marami na ang nagtatanong ng mga detalye tungkol sa kanilang wedding. (CLICK HERE to read related story.)
Sa interview ng PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) kay Regine last week, habang nagpapahinga siya sa pag-recording ng lalabas niyang album under Universal Records, ibinahagi niya sa amin ang ilang bagay. Una na ang naging pakiramdam niya sa pagga-grant finally ng korte sa annulment petition ng kasal nina Ogie at Michelle Van Eimeren.
"Actually, I was taping Diva when he got it," kuwento ni Regine. "No'ng natanggap namin, I was very happy. Actually, ako, yung sa personal ko, sa akin, parang I didn't really care. Kasi parang... I do care, pero parang more than that, I'm happy. I just wanted to be with him [Ogie].
"But then, it was really important for him, kaya he wants to get married. Plus, parang wala na talagang mag-contest, alam mo yun? Kasi puwede, e. So, I was really very happy for him, not so much for myself. Kasi I know that parang he has worked so hard for this. Alam mo yun, yung parang nagtatrabaho na nga siya, kakarerin pa niya ito. E, this is an annulment, so it's a little...it's difficult. Siyempre, ano, he's very emotional. He had to go through all this, he had to go back through it again. Para kang rape victim na you have to tell the story over and over again... Kasi, I saw him, e, habang nangyayari ito."
Two years bang tumagal ang pagdinig sa petition for annulment ng kasal nina Ogie at Michelle?
"It was actually more than two years," sabi ng Asia's Songbird. "Parang yun na yung pinaka-official. I'm happy. And of course, I'm happy for myself, kasi finally we get to plan the wedding already. We get to prepare for it already."
DECEMBER WEDDING. Ang ilan pang bagay na napag-usapan ay kung bakit December ang napili nilang buwan ng kanilang wedding.
"Ewan ko, siya [Ogie] ang nag-decide ng date, e. I have no idea," sagot ni Regine. "Apparently, he likes the sound. Feeling daw niya, may magandang something yung December because it's closer to Christmas, but hindi pa Christmas. Makakapagbakasyon din ang mga anak niya. Michelle and Mark [Murrow, Michelle's second husband] will be here also."
Hindi ba siya nag-suggest ng ibang date?
"He wanted talaga on December, kasi that's the break of the kids. Sabay-sabay na, nandito kaming lahat. So, parang Christmas, nandito kami lahat, para bonggang-bongga. We're doing it here. Kaya nga uuwi ang mga bata," paliwanag ni Regine.
Totoo bang out of town ang wedding nila?
"Kaya nga, we're still in the planning stage, so hindi pa... Actually, kinakausap na namin yung lugar, pero hindi pa sure kung available o hindi. So, kailangan may ano kami..."
May bali-balita na sa Boracay daw ito gagawin, meron din sa Pearl Farm, may Cebu, Davao. Ano ang definite sa lugar?
"Ang daming haka-haka, wala pa naman," sabi ni Regine. "We're still... Siyempre, ang hirap dahil ano ba ngayon, August na? So, ang daming nagpapakasal. Medyo late na kami, bale nga kasi kakakuha pa lang ng decision [ng annulment]. Ang hirap namang mag-plan na wala pang announcement."
CIVIL WEDDING BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN WEDDING. Ang mangyayari bang kasalan ay civil o church wedding?
"Its a civil [wedding]," sagot ni Regine. "But what we plan to do is, what I am asking him for, first we just go to the City Hall first, do the legal thing there, and have a Christian wedding. Yun na ang pinaplano namin, yun ang gagawin namin talaga."
May date na ba sila para rito?
"Hindi ko pa alam. Actually, we can do it now, e, if we want to. But not yet, hindi pa."
Gaano karami ang iimbitahan nilang guests?
"We'll, sana we wanted to invite mga three hundred lang. Sana, pero parang madami na nga yun, e. We don't know kasi we kinda announced to the world, siyempre may mga... Pero as much as we want to invite everybody, we can't naman. Siyempre, the place is also... Ano, sa ULTRA ba namin gagawin 'etong wedding na ito?" biro niya.
"Parang hindi naman," patuloy ni Regine. "So, we're trying to invite most of...siyempre, may mga kamag-anak. Uunahin namin siyempre yun kasi they want to witness the wedding. Tapos, yung mga friends namin, pipiliin talaga namin. Like I said, as much as we would love to have everybody there, we can't naman. We cannot afford naman. Him and I, we'll have to talk about and probably have another party just for the other friends that we're not able to invite to the wedding. I don't know, we're still talking."
Maraming mga pangalan ang lumalabas na magiging part ng ceremony, lalo doon sa principal sponsors. Sinu-sino na ba ang nakausap na at posibleng dumalo?
"Sharon Cuneta is one of the ninangs. Ogie asked her to be the ninang. Si President Noy [Noynoy Aquino] is one of his groomsmen. Atty. Felipe Gozon is one of the ninongs rin. Nakausap si Freddie Santos, si Ronnie at si Yda Henares. Tapos, si Ma'am Wilma [Galvante], si Manny Pangilinan..." banggit ni Regine.
Walang ba silang kukunin from ABS-CBN?
"Siyempre, mas kilala namin yung mga nandito sa network namin [GMA-7], kaya yun ang kinuha namin ninong at ninang," sagot ni Regine.
NO TO PICTURE-TAKING. Sa pakikipag-usap ng PEP kay Cacai Velasquez-Mitra, kapatid at business manager ni Regine, nabanggit nitong hangga't maari ayaw raw ni Regine ng may entourage. Kinumpirma naman ito ng Asia's Songbird.
"Ayoko, ayoko!" bulalas ni Regine. "Naartehan nga sa akin yung kapatid ko. 'Ayoko ng ganito, ayoko ng ganyan!' "
Paliwanag naman niya, "No, because I've attended so many weddings. And I've been married so many times in my movies and my soaps. I didn't want it na parang traditional. E, as you all know, very non-traditional din naman ang personality ko, although I'm very...yung upbringing ko, very conservative. Yung family ko, conservative, pero yung...Gusto kong maiba lang.
"Sabi ko nga, yung unang-una, ayoko ng may picture-taking after the ceremony. Yung magpapa-picture kayo sa altar. Kasi it takes so long to do that. In the meantime, your guests are there, cannot have a dinner, bored and so tired! Kasi, it takes at least two hours to take everybody's pictures. So, sabi ko, why don't we do that maybe two days before the wedding? Let's do a pictorial already of everybody—yung family, groomsmen, everybody. Yung mga hindi maka-attend. Yun na lang yung kukunan natin ng pictures.
"Pagdating sa wedding ceremony, straight to dinner. Alam mo yun? Para after dinner, they can still have fun, hindi yung papaghintayin mo habang nagpi-picture. By that time na magdi-dinner na, umaalis na yung mga tao. Ayoko no'n, kasi gusto ko mag-party. Kasi I want dancing."
MOTIF AND WEDDING GOWN. Ano ang magiging motif or theme ng wedding?
"Wala pa naman kaming specific motif na pinag-usapan or theme. If it's going to be in a beach, kasi nga we're still trying to look for a place, I suppose it's more casual. Pag hotel, more formal. We're still talking about it kasi kung saan, kasi you have to have a fallback. In case, you know, alam mo namang 'eto na nag-uulan, or kung pumayag ba yung lugar sa amin, e, di okey," saad niya.
Ano'ng gown ang susuutin niya? Hindi ba ito ballgown or traditional wedding dress talaga?
"Bahala na, baka lang masira ang ulo ko. Parang ayoko lang mag-white... No, like I said, I just don't want it to be traditional. I don't want a traditional wedding. So, I wanna wear a different color. I haven't thought about it yet. Wala pa. Wala pa akong naiisip."
Sino ang magde-design ng kanyang wedding gown?
"Kailan ko pa lang kakakuha ng appointment kay Monique Lhuillier. So, I'm going there [sa Beverly Hills, California] at the end of the month to have my measurement taken. I have to meet up with her. I'll be there for three days and then I'll come home," sabi ni Regine.
Sosyal!
"E, si Ogie ang may gusto no'n, e. Alam niyang dream ko na magkaroon ng gown kay Monique Lhuillier. So, yun ang gift niya sa akin. Kasi kilala niya yung family ni Monique."
E, di ang mahal?
"May budget naman kami," sabi ni Regine. "Ayaw din naman namin na, you know, we want to be...not a big wedding but enough na maganda naman siya. Ayaw namin ng lavish, na wala na kaming kakainin for the following month. We don't wanna be too extravagant. We want it memorable for us, for our family and friends. But we don't wanna for it to be extravagant, hindi rin naman namin personality yun.
"For one, nandito na rin kami sa business na super extravagant, hindi na rin namin kailangan yun. Ako, personally, I just want for it to be pretty and nice. So, I want for it to be memorable, kaya nga gusto ko party. Kasi feeling ko, pag kayo ikinakasal, hindi mo maalala kasi stressed yung bride. Haggard na haggard kaka-picture! Anak ng tipaklong na picture-picture na 'yan, hindi ko talaga gagawin 'yang picture-picture na 'yan!" halakhak niya.
"Sabi ko kay Cacai... Si Ogie at si Cacai, although I'm involved now, silang dalawa yung nagpaplano. Basta, sinasabi ko yung mga ayaw ko. Sabi ko, 'Kayo-kayo na lang ang mag-ayos. I don't wanna be stressed out.' Kasi knowing me, I'll be really stressed and I'm excited. I wanna be excited, I don't wanna be stressed out. Sabi ko, 'I wanna go there looking pretty. Looking beautiful and gorgeous.'
"Buti na lang si Cacai, bilang sanay naman siya sa ganyan at type naman niyang gawin. Parang siya nga yung magpapakasal uli! Involved siya and my other sisters are involved. So, they're just asking me what I want and what I don't like. And basically, I somewhat told them already what I don't like and what do I like. So, yun na yun."
SINGERS & RECEPTION. Sa dami ng mga kaibigan sa music industry nina Ogie at Regine, siguradong marami ang gustong mag-presinta para kumanta sa kanilang kasal. At may mga singers na nakalaan talagang kumanta sa kanilang ceremony.
"Yung mga kakanta, marami yun, bilang singer naman kami!" tawa ni Regine. "But I think, Lea [Salonga] wanted to sing for us. We said yes to that. And Gary [Valenciano]. I also asked Jay-R and Kyla. There's going to be another band, kasi gusto ko namang mga old songs. Gusto ko talaga mag-dance. Gusto ko kasing nakikita yung after the wedding, masaya, party talaga. Hindi pormalan. Yun nga, as much as possible, I don't want it to be formal. So, hopefully nga, it won't be in a hotel kung may choice talaga. Hopefully, ma-approve yung lugar naming pagagawaan."
Totoo bang ang unang plano niya ay sa Chowking ang reception?
"Oo, tawang-tawa naman sila sa akin," sabi ni Regine na natatawa. "Bakit? Maganda yun, a! Although, na-realize ko rin na... Kasi nga, kinu-convince ako talaga ni Ogie na, 'Huwag naman, hon.' Kasi siyempre, my family wants to witness this. Sina Michelle want to see us, kasi they've been waiting for this event.
"Oo nga naman. How corny naman if I just do a simple one na...yeah, a lot of people prayed that one day this would happen for both of us, especially for me, it would be nice if we share it with friends. It would be really, really nice if we share it with everybody who really prayed and really hoped that we have this kind of life together and have this kind of wedding. Naisip ko nga, 'Sige, sige, let's have a pretty wedding."
MICHELLE'S PARTICIPATION. Kinumpirma rin ni Regine ang partisipasyon ni Michelle sa wedding nila ni Ogie. Ito ang natoka sa pag-a-arrange ng bulaklak.
"Yes, kasi she wanted to do the flowers. She wanted to do my bouquet. I don't want a bouquet. She'll probably do a center piece sa presidential table, I asked her to do that. And corsage 'coz I don't want a bouquet. Kasi pag ikinakasal ako sa movie, ang bigat-bigat nitong bulaklak na ito. Ang hirap hawakan, kasi maliit ang kamay ko. And you have to hold that a long time. Ayoko! I don't want a bouquet. May corsage lang ako sa may wrist. So, she'll design something for me and my hair. As you all know, I like putting flowers on my hair. So, she'll do that. She'll design something for that," sabi ng isang nakangiting Regine.