Thoughts Behind The Ultimate Modern Filipino Wedding Fantasy “Ang Muling El Bimbo”

Inspired by the original 90’s hit song “Ang Huling El Bimbo” by the pinoy band Eraserheards, it was a challenge for the team to conceptualize a happy ending for a song that resonates sadness and regret. But with everyone’s creativity and passion for their craft, they managed to pull off of a wedding concept that would illustrate the couple’s personality, which was then themed “Modern Filipiniana Elopement”.

Event Stylist Dave Sandoval said that he’s used to handling big weddings and that this bridal fair was something new for him. He wanted to bring out the theme of their project as well as add his own design philosophy: classic and elegance, with flavor. With that in mind, Dave used a black with white stripes tablecloth, which is decorated with white flowers and with hints of Sepak Takraw balls painted in black. These Sepak Takraw balls where placed arbitrarily on the table setting to add playfulness to the design, which would also remind us about the characters’ young love.

Zandra Lim of Zandra Lim Designs was also very excited to be apart of this project because “it’s not so often that I get to create a vintage and rock n’ roll inspired dress”, she says. The designer used organic materials for Paraluman’s dress to tie up with the theme of the wedding. Zandra also incorporated details such as sampaguita, ilang-ilang, and even touches of Soli Hiya patterns. To make it more retro, she added black details for the bridal dress. Even the preparation dress was in black and patterned after the 1960’s.

For Jay’s barong, Rau Albaza of Rau Atelier Weddings envisioned the groom to be very modern and relatable. It would look like a regular barong tagalog for fresh eyes, but the designer had a story behind this. It was a Barong that every groom would want to wear on his wedding day. Rau used a fabric that would represent more of a modern Filipino and made it into a short sleeves making it look more laid back, but also taking the weather in the Philippines into consideration.

A simple wedding invite is underrated for a love story like Jay and Paralamun’s. Kenneth Uy created a vintage black vinyl record as the couple’s wedding invitation. This was inspired by the lyrics of the song “naninigas ang aking katawan pagumikot na ang plaka…” The plaka or vinyl represented the start of their dance when, as kids, Paraluman was teaching Jay how to dance the El Bimbo. The team found it fitting that the vinyl should also signify the start of a new life together (a new dance) as a married couple.

And lastly, what is a wedding without a wedding cake? Melissa Cardenas of Lovelots Cakes was up for the challenge in creating a happy ending for the couple’s love story. Melissa thought that her cake must blend with the elements of the wedding so she had to collaborate with Dave Sandoval’s ideas. With Dave’s inspiration, the major shades that would stand out from Melissa’s cake are the color black, white, and green. She also added common textures of Filipiniana such as edible Solihiya patterns that went along with the wedding concept. As a finishing touch, Melissa cleverly incorporated the famous lyrics of the song “tinuruan mo ang puso ko na umibig nang tunay”, which gives us chills down the spine!