Usually brides are noted for their beautiful bridal ensemble, or elegant wedding decor, or sumptuous wedding menu. Steph Senires Villarica was the first bride we encountered who, apart from all of the above, also became known for her wedding website.
Today, five months after Steph and her husband Carlo Villarica’s wedding, one can still go to Starlo, the couple’s wedding site, and still admire how well-curated it is: its cool, hip design (very attractive colors), its young feel, and its meaty narrative, including the following information:
How they met: December 2008, at Moon Café; it was basically a hi-hello when Carlo moved up to have drinks with Steph and her friends. Carlo recalls, “Took me an hour to get the courage to walk up to the table. Not sure if she’d remember me.”
Became a couple in 2009
Got engaged in 2012
Interests: Desserts, travel on a budget
Carlo and Steph Villarica are a new media couple, no doubt. One of Cebu’s prettiest, Steph has always been creative and entrepreneurial. Carlo is one of Cebu’s most popular bloggers, covering the lifestyle scene. Therefore, a wedding website seemed like natural fun for the couple.
Lovely and classic
Their bent may be new media, but their wedding was traditionally lovely and classic. The nuptials were held at the Chapel of San Pedro Calungsod in Cebu’s fast-rising reclaimed city. The chapel’s minimalist contemporary architecture, with its clean and stark lines, was softened by classic, simple arrangements of white roses, aster and ferns along the aisle.
The foyer of the reception area at Radisson Blu was a dainty white, with calla lilies in an array of tall glass vases. In the reception area of the ballroom, everything was also in white. Dainty dendrobiums were on the VIP table, and on the rest of the tables, slight blooms were clustered amid tall, big palm leaves.
All these were the ingenious handiwork of Pink Flora, Teresin Mendezona and Annie Aboitiz.
The cake was another cool idea—a tall installation of macarons in pastel colors, done by Frankie/Memel of Brioche in Escario Central.
Carlo is the son of Rene and Marget (née Fernan) Villarica. Steph is the daughter of Glenn and Cynthia Senires.
Principal sponsors were Eduardo Joyeneche, Noel Basubas, Fernando Borja, Michael Fernan, Rafael Suarez II, Louis Unchuan, Elsa Basubas, Luchelle Borromeo, Marissa Garcia, Marissa Fernan, Aurora Ledesma and Yasmin Franco.
Best man was José Anton Almendras, the groom’s childhood friend. Maid of honor was Valerie Anne Senires. Bridesmaids were the groom’s sister Monica Villarica, Julia Feliza Garcia, Kathleen Manaloto, Michelle Villarica, Charmaine Basubas and Ria Redulla.
Secondary sponsors were Trina Marie Molina, Horacio Paul Franco, Mytha Ann Canoy, Mark Martin Goyeneche, Glency Sue Marie Corominas and Moises Anthony Corominas.
The guests were limited to family and friends. But then the Fernans and the Villaricas are such huge, tight-knit clans. At no time was this more evident than when, as the night wore on, the families—the young and the not-so-young—joined in the line dancing. It was fun, and made a touching sight.
Indeed, even in this era of new media and social media, there’s nothing like family. And more than their website and their blogs, that’s what Steph and Carlo have. And it’s irreplaceable. Thelma Sioson San Juan