Mancenido-de Guia wedding reception

Roughly a year after they got married in California, my cousin, Ate Grace, and her husband, Kuya Nat, flew to Manila to hold their wedding reception with family and friends. The reception was at the Diana Garden of Patio Victoria in Intramuros (http://www.patiovictoria.com/venues.html). 

I didn't take a whole lot of photos then because I was one of the three hosts. However, my dad took over the picture-taking duties, and I had photos for a change! I don't have copies of those photos, though, so I couldn't upload them here.

Our side of the family had impromptu roles during the reception, since we were the rowdier bunch. The nephews and the nieces were assigned to usher the guests to their seats and to help the elders to the buffet table or to the toilets. They also distributed the souvenirs and they passed a photo of the couple for the guests to write their greetings on. Meanwhile, the cousins who didn't have hosting duties manned the welcome desk and took care of the attendance sheets (they also made sure that we knew when a guest who's speaking had already arrived).

Kuya Nat's side of the family was a little more reserved than ours. His mom and his brother took to the lectern to say their messages while the rest of the family worked behind the scenes. His cousin, Anna, took charge of organising the event, arranging the flowers, the venue, and the food. All we had to do was show up and host!

Anyway, the family obviously had so much fun that we didn't leave Patio Victoria long after the reception was finished. Family reunions are never complete without the usual caffeine fix and we were just waiting for the elders to decide where we're going (and we thought they were thinking of which Starbucks branch we're going to). 

We ended up at the Club Lounge of H2O Hotel (at Manila Ocean Park). Ate Grace and Kuya Nat's friends were there too, it turned out. The after-party wasn't quite what I had expected. Instead of a caffeine fix at a well-lit cafe, the passengers and the non-designated drivers had final rounds of alcohol while the non-alcoholics and the kids had fruit shakes in a barely lit open-air area overlooking Manila Bay. 

To the couple, congratulations and best wishes! To Kuya Nat, welcome to the family. :)

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