Gus and Eula take on their first dance as a couple at the famous Basco lighthouse. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / Vincent Verzosa Visuals
CEBU CITY, Philippines— A Cebuano couple wowed the online world when they vowed to love each other for eternity in one of the country’s most scenic spots.
Meet Gus and Eula Alvero, a couple who are originally from Cebu, who chose to get married in Batanes on June 10, 2019.
The couple chose Batanes because it is the same place whete they got engaged back in December 2018.
The wedding was intimate attended by 35 guests, who are the closest family members and friends of the couple.
Eula, 29, says they want their wedding to be an expression of themselves, where they can truly enjoy the program without feeling the need to impress their guests.
“We wanted to spend more time with our closest friends and family beyond just the typical wedding day in the city where guests just eat and run. In Batanes, they can’t just eat and run,” shares Eula, a quality assurance analysts.
Gus is in the sales and marketing profession.
Preparations
It took six months for the couple to put the wedding together.
“Preparing for a Batanes wedding can be a bit of a challenge because (mobile network) signal is intermittent in the remote island,” says Eula.
A wedding with 35 guests. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / Vincent Verzosa Visuals
But knowing that they just want a simple and intimate wedding was all the direction they needed to plan out their special day.
Eula says they were hands on in all aspects of the wedding from decor down to planning their guests travel itineraries.
“Batanes is a very beautiful place, to begin with so there’s no need for those extra frills” she says.
Honest Ivatans
Eula says the sense of community and the kindness of the Ivatans, the people of Batanes, was instrumental in the success of their wedding.
Eula says a restaurant owner named Jessica Vunong Dinette reserved the Basco Lighthouse as their reception venue “even if we haven’t committed yet.”
For the welcome dinner, Eula says “Tita Imee of Phil’s Brew agreed for us to use her garden cafe even if she is just a one-woman crew.”
“Batanes is a very beautiful place, to begin with so there’s no need for those extra frills,” says Eula. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / Vincent Verzosa Visuals
More stories of honesty emerged even after the wedding.
Eula says a friend left his wallet in a store far from the town.
Those who found the wallet turned it over to the police and a travel agency, Bisumi tours, hurriedly went to the airport to return the wallet as they were already leaving the island that day.
“They even refused to accept any amount to pay for transportation cost just to return that wallet,” she says.
In another story, Eula says her sister got stranded in the island for six days after the wedding but the Ivatans welcomed her into their home during their town fiesta and showed her around.
A toast to the lovely couple. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / Vincent Verzosa Visuals
Meaningful
With just 35 guests in their list and the love and help of the locals, Gus and Eula’s wedding was a proof of the bayanihan spirit, the strong sense of community in an island.
The bond is strong that they were able to pull off an otherwise logistically challenging event.
“It (wedding) wasn’t just a businesses transaction for them. They genuinely wanted to help” shares Eula.
Wedding photographer, Vincent Verzosa who is also a Cebuano, shared some photos of the wedding on June 14 which quickly captured online attention.
“ I was super excited about it because Batanes is one of my dream locations to work in,” he tells CDN Digital.
“Knowing that the place is highly looked up to for destination weddings made me feel pressured. Having high expectations and the fear of not doing the place justice by not capturing the raw beauty it deserves also added to the pressure that I’ve felt, ” shares Vincent.
Vincent’s post now has 41 comments, 106 shares and 194 reactions as of June 29 at 1:15 p.m. / celr