If there’s one day that most couples will want to look back on as a fairy tale or romance novel kind of day, it would be their wedding day. Small wonder then that these same couples will spare no expense in making this dream day come true — and years/decades later, even enthusiastically shell out again for a renewal of vows or red-letter wedding anniversary celebration. Just witness how earlier this year, we’ve had a slew of “big” weddings that became instant media events.
If we weave a fiction around our lives and seek to idealize a life’s milestone, so much is expended on marriage — and that one day when our lives were altered. And silently working behind the scenes, making these potent dreams a reality, are the wedding planners. When you think of all the logistical details that add up to make the wedding such a memorable day, it’s really no joking matter to entrust this very special occasion to an outfit who, more often than not, you may never see again after that period of time planning the wedding, executing all the plans, and tying up the loose ends post-nuptials. It’s a great responsibility —conceptualizing to make each wedding unique, coordinating all the suppliers and making sure everything on the day, from the ceremony to the reception, goes off without a hitch.
Without a doubt, given how much we love weddings, it has become a multimillion-peso industry. And the undependable and unscrupulous will naturally realize this and see an opportunity.
Knowing that their profession’s image was at stake, the Philippine Association of Wedding Planners (PAWP) was created some 13 years ago. Its mission-vision is to uphold the integrity and high standards of business ethics of its members, and to advance the development of the wedding planning business as a respected and honored profession. Whether between or among members, or in dealings with non-member event managers and practitioners, the aim of PAWP is to ensure that the conduct of business and standards are maintained at a high level. It can be a forum to facilitate new ideas and share best practices, and can resolve conflicts and disputes.
And for six years now, PAWP has staged an annual Wedding Industry Ball, where members from all over the country (and from abroad) congregate and kick off their shoes to celebrate and enjoy. The various suppliers and network of contacts are also invited. Funds raised by PAWP from this event go to different charities, and this year’s beneficiary is Bantay Bata 163.
Themed “Havana: La Fabulosa Noche de la Gala,” this year’s ball was held at the Solaire Ballroom. Issa Litton hosted the ball so, I was designated driver for the night, and was amazed by the effort put into the event. It was truly a fabulous night, that fostered camaraderie, something I appreciated, noting that those members gathered and partying, are at one level, also business competitors.
Where yesterday, larceny & less is more
Today, we write about three wonderful novels; two by first time novelists. Yap hails from Malaysia and with a misleading cover, this is a taut sci-fi crime thriller. Rose gifts us with a gritty urban, conspiracy story, while Greer offers a comedy of manners and aging gracefully.
Yesterday by Felicia Yap (available at Fully Booked) Taking the concept of short-term memory loss to its extreme, first time novelist Yap conjures up a world of Monos and Duos — where Monos have one day’s worth of memories, and the “gifted” Duos have two days worth. An iDiary is the device used daily to store memories and survive this situation that befalls everyone at a certain age. Claire is a Mono housewife married to Duo novelist Mark, who hopes to run for political office. When the corpse of a woman, who could be Mark’s mistress, is dredged up from the River Cam, one police inspector makes it his duty to solve the case within 24 hours. A multiplicity of narrators pushes this thrilling page-turner to its conclusion and we can second guess the author and yet, she springs several deadly surprises along the way. Truly engaging!
The Ready-made Thief by Augustus Rose (available at Fully Booked) Here is a debut novel that sneaks up on you with its unpretentious start, then has you snagged — hook, line and sinker. Lee Cuddy is a 17-year-old misfit who lives in Philadelphia. She survives in the urban margins after escaping from the juvenile detention center, where she was placed for taking the fall for a friend. What follows is an engrossing tale as she finds herself enmeshed with the machinations of a cult devoted to avant-garde artist of the 1920s Marcel Duchamp. Behavioral science, brain function modification, line theory and multidimensional possibilities, rave parties, prostitution and the pursuit of pleasure — they’re all linked to this group who do not spare a second thought for murder. At an abandoned building christened the Crystal Castle, they rule.
Less by Andrew Sean Greer (available at Fully Booked) This novel’s “hero” is a mediocre gay novelist named Arthur Less, who’s about to celebrate his 50th birthday. One-time lover of a celebrated Pulitzer-Prize winning poet, Arthur now spends his time moping about life, when suddenly he gets an invitation to the wedding of his most recent on-off partner, Freddy. Panicking on what excuse to use for not attending, he accepts all the invitations that have arrived from all over the globe to his doorsteps — to write articles for magazines, to literary conferences, and to teaching creative writing classes. What follows is something of an “Around the World in Gay-ty Days,” punctuated by self-realizations of his worth, his writing and his attitude towards life. From NYC, to Mexico, Turin, Paris, Berlin, Morocco and India, we enjoy this “ride” of his lifetime.