Romancing Ilocos (with Kit and Ace Mandac)

Sometime ago last year, I got an email from a reader who chose Ilocos as her wedding destination. She had everything she wanted listed down, but didn’t quite know who to contact for such things such as carvery and dessert stations, cake and others. I actually had only one local name, oh, two names in mind who could possibly make her wishes come true, and for her to really not worry so much about details and quality. I later learned from Kit and Ace Mandac that the Lara (Tabifranca) who emailed me tied the knot with Vic Magsaysay, son of (senatoriable) Mitos Magsaysay. Like I always do, I only asked Lara info about the things to be done in Laoag, so I was a little surprised that they came to the north for that one very significant occasion in their lives.

On second thought Ilocos Norte is an ideal wedding destination with all the beautiful old churches. That something old can be crossed out, or maybe that something blue if you prefer the beach.

Going back to the Lara-Vic wedding, it was on the day Haiyan was expected to landfall. The planned garden wedding reception at the Fort Ilocandia was moved to the Sierra Madre Ballroom at the last minute, an hour before it started, according to Kit. I would be a nervous wreck of a bride if I were not dealing with Ace and Kit, who always know what to do in last minute changes, like how they competently moved in a flash the sand dune wedding setup of May and Angelo to a function hall in the midst of heavy rains.

I’m so proud of the two true Ilocano artists Kit and Ace Mandac. They are steadily adding beautiful, romantic fetes to their portfolio. They also styled the heritage-themed wedding of Nessa Valdellon (GMA VP for News Affairs) to Gil Balderas (BMW executive director) at the Paoay Church.

The Sitio Remedios wedding reception of Gil and Nessa Balderas.