Imagine my amusement when a certain Victor Hugo Jr. suddenly emailed me early last year NOT to talk about the sequel to Les Miserables but to plan his own wedding ;-).

You gotta love Tagaytay in the cold season. It’s freezing!!!

I love how intimate the wedding was in feel despite the multitude of guests.

Check out their Same Day Edit.

Chiara and Victor from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

San Antonio de Padua Parish, Silang Cavite
Taal Vista Ballroom
Wedding Planner: MetroEventscape Planners
Photography: John Mateos Ong

Anya was just positively radiant on her wedding day. So pretty in fact she needed two photography studios to capture the day’s events (M+K and MangoRed). =)

As in most cases, it was the groom who insisted on BluRay. What better way to rest weary hands from playing Metal Gear than to pop your own wedding video in your Playstation3?

Anya and Venjo from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

“What the hell are those camels doing dangling from the ceiling of the church?”

And so goes the woes of the bride the day before the wedding,  stressing over paper mache figures resembling Judas hanging himself on the Joshua Tree.

But hey, when you have the coolest suppliers around, there’s no need to stress right?

You gotta love Jolene’s smoky eyes and luscious lashes courtesy of The Makeup Studio,
the flawless planning and coordination of EventsEvents.
the pretty pictures of M+K.
and the gorgeous gown by Veluz.

Check out the Same Day Edit:

Joelene and Remar from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

Oh, they took down the figures and left them on the choir loft the morning of the wedding. =)

Will work for money (and passion of course).

Shoot us an email and the Philippines’ finest will gladly document your wedding.
Mangored - DinoLara - Jason Magbanua

How exactly do you make a wedding video without a “wedding” to speak of?

That was what was going through my mind taking the flight to Malaysia Thursday evening. You see, the actual legal matters are taken care of prior to the “wedding”.  What’s left to do on the actual day is a frenzy of fun activities and ceremonies so different from the Catholic norm.

As my easy going bride said - Just go with the flow!

Ann and Jeff from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

Door Games - aka the torture session: The bride’s friends hold the bride “ransom” and ask the groom and his friends to do various tasks and activities. Think Fear Factor and The Amazing Race rolled into one. Among others, Jeff was asked to write a love poem in both English and Bahasa (the native language he’s not at all familiar with), drink a hellish concoction of vinegar, soda, tabasco, and whatetver they could find in the pantry.

Tea Ceremony - A tradition akin to the Chia Te of the Filipino Chinese. Giving tea to the family members in exchange for Ang Pow.

Yum Seng - two words - Drunken Yelling!

What an amazing experience! Thanks for having us Jeff and Ann!

(This Same Day Edit was shot and edited in HD.  Thanks to Sean Seah for the tips!)

We’ve shot Fr. Gerry Orbos’ homily several times before, but really, the chopsticks bit doesn’t get old.

Here’s the Same Day Edit from Millicent and John’s wedding - an intentionally languid-paced, mostly real-time clip… a breath of fresh air really.

Millicent and John from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

What are the chances of a Bride requesting for a Smashing Pumpkins song for her Same Day Edit?

One in a thousand.

And that one chance happened last January 3.

In the phonecall during the drive up to Tagaytay, she mentioned Tonight Tonight was her one and only choice.  Adding that she ranks SP up there with the Beatles. I couldn’t agree more.

Pressed for time (as always), we managed to finish the SDE. The playback was overwhelming! Never would have I imagined Corgan blaring through speakers in full volume, strings soaring, drums pounding.  I hope you enjoy watching this as I had much as we had putting it together.

Monica and Franco from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

Wendy, or “Doc Wendy” as I fondly call her planned her wedding a good year in advance. And in that 12 months, the wait was peppered with text messages of wit and humor.

And so the big day came, rather fast I might add. And what’s the first thing I notice entering the hotel room (after the foundation-less bride)? - the invites clearly announcing that this event was un-ordinary, in big fairytale fonts to boot.

They even had a survival guide and things to do before and during the wedding as inserts.  What made my day though was the inclusion of her list of suppliers for the wedding.  Her words were truly humbling (for a split-second) before I realized how warm and fuzzy I felt.

Awwwwwwww shucks!

Thanks Wendy and Jo for the kind words.  And thanks for the speciail “pampaligaya” brownies!

Wendy and Jojo from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

Fun and easygoing - two words perfectly describing Steve and Jecelle.

a stand-up comic priest picking at the couple (jokingly)? - just roll with the punches
band arbitrarily banned at the reception venue? - that’s OK, we can always dance to the dj’s music

It’s all good! The point being - they got married! =)

Jecelle and Steve from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

Close to two years ago a sweet lovely lady came up to me at one of the Bridal Shows we were part of and asked if we could have a picture taken together. She told me she was a “fan”.

Not one to pass up the opportunity to ham it up in front of a cam (with a pretty girl no less) I gladly obliged. Oh, it was her boyfriend Macky who took the picture (and you owe me that pic Nikki). They weren’t engaged then but it was an excellent “subtle” move. “Oh we don’t have plans yet, but I check out your wedding videos all the time”.

That was March 2007. Fast forward to Jan 2008, an email and video linked was sent - they were engaged! It was romantic and perfect and tear jerking and it was shot Blairwitch Project style. I’m glad they were hiring me. =)

Here’s their Same Day Edit - Jan 2009:

Macky and Nikki - you guys are da bomb!!! Thanks for having us.

Edit: And here’s the kick-ass first dance of the couple!

Nikki and JM’s First Dance from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.