Getting there with JP & Nok

The journey of a lifetime takes one step at a time, one day at a time, and with the marriage of this couple - one ceremony at a time. Ceremonies that took years in the making. An unusual setup so to speak, yet it was never wanting in suspense and thrill on the road to completely tying the knot.

The first event to kick off the whole process of getting married was a Thai/Chinese ritual that took place in Nok's house on September 2009. Some sort of engagement affair. 

That's how we looked back then... some skinny,

some a little heavy at the belly.

putting on the rings while families from 
both sides looked on. 

The second event was a few days later at the To-Sit resto...

with JP's batchmates
in nursing school.

 some of Nok's workmates

Nok's mom and bro Benz

and the Morenos of course.

Eight years went by and while the clock ticked, some documents had to be processed to get the legal certificate of marriage. It is not easy for a Filipino to marry a Thai. There are a myriad of requirements that have to be accomplished including a Certificate of No Marriage from the Philippines, which had to be done twice in JP's case and with the help of some relatives in Davao. All the papers that were required had to be brought to the Philippine Embassy in Sukhumvit for authentication and binding with a red ribbon. These were taken to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Chaeng Wattana were they were translated from English to Thai and were stamped as authentic. From here they were taken to the district office were they were scrutinized and the final approval for marriage was given.

After all the hassle, which took weeks, JP called to say that he wanted to give the finished documents to Nok at a dinner date to surprise her.

 ...and he knelt and proposed to her again.

 she said "yes" of course

just imagine this family tagging along

throughout their activities.

JP then announced that the coming Thursday would be the day, only to follow-up after yet another trip to the court that the clerk there said that more documents needed to be submitted. A week after that, the date was finally set - again. 

The instructions that JP and Nok gave were to rendezvous at the district office at Laksi and "do not come overdressed - just casual." Each of us wore what we thought was appropriate and drove to Laksi. We had a good laugh when we saw each other because...

...the boys came in similar attires with

papa dressed like the groom - like a best man,

and JJ and Jung dressed similarly like they

were the groomsmen.

the ladies too came in Japanese-inspired

attire that complimented each other.

At the Laksi district office we were told that JP and Nok could not be wedded there, because there was a glitch in the computer and the booking list could not be accessed and the couples who came ahead were already enough for them to handle for that day. A call to another district office - Bang Rak, confirmed a vacant slot as long as we got there before 12 noon. The distance between these locations is about 25 kilometers and considering the pre-lunch traffic we raced there to make the deadline.

One other car with Nok's mom and brother was late in coming and we only saw them at the Bang Rak office, and it was hilarious to discover... 

... that they too were wearing the blue denim 

and white shirt outfit. Call it coincidence

at its best.

We had to wait for about 2 hours for our turn with the judge because there was a long queue of couples. The next photos will testify to the fact that Nok finally became Mrs. Moreno.

There may still be one more ceremony in the near future. JP and Nok's friends and families are clamoring for a wedding ceremony/feast and I'm sure that she too would want a grand reception to mark her leap into married life, and for this reason, this blog is yet to be continued.

Cheers to the newly wed!!!