Wedding Photography by Ryan Macalandag
Waterfront Insular Hotel, Davao City, Philippines
Antonio and Pressia were already married in Spain right after the Christmas of 2007. But since most of their friends were in the Philippines (and couldn't go to Spain for the wedding), the couple decided to hold a wedding party here in the Philippines.
Which was really good. I had always wanted to go to Davao for so long a time. Antonio invited me to go and be the official wedding/party photographer. I grabbed the invitation, of course.
The party was held at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City. It's one of the bigger hotels there.
After more than half a day of travel (from Bohol to Davao, via Butuan), we arrived in Davao City around lunch time. After a super heavy lunch in SM City Davao, we dropped by downtown to grab some stuff and went ahead to the hotel after. So I really didn't have time to rest. By 3pm, I started preparing for the shoot, scouting for locations, casing the joint..the beach wasn't that nice, I noticed. By 4pm I proceeded to the couple's room to start shooting preps.
The venue was in an open-air bar at the end of a narrow walkway just off the hotel's beachfront. The couple marched the walkway and were greeted with percussionists beating the drums and chanting.
As soon as they reached the throng of guests, a simple ceremony was started. Again, as they were already married in Spain, a prayer for the couple was made and greetings were said. It was short but sweet.
The party which followed the buffet dinner was a blast. It really helps that guests are close friends. Everyone stayed on 'til late and had a helluva great time.
Party music was provided by - none other than - (the great) DJ Bodo himself.
No wonder "YMCA" was such a great hit.
And the people were out and proud with their 80's dance moves.
Even Antonio who was never a dancer (he claims), burned the dance floor away.
All in all, we had a great time and tons of fun...especially the couple. Of course, especially the couple!
For the rest of the photos in this set,
Flickr Album.
Picassa Web Album
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Wedding: Antonio & Pressia, Waterfront Davao
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Travel: Davao at last!
Travel Photography by Ryan Macalandag
In my 27 years of existence, I have never been to Davao until last January. A Spanish friend who had their post-wedding party in Davao (their wedding ceremony was in Spain) invited friends over. As usual, I was to be their official wedding photographer. When we got married, Antonio was one of the groomsmen so it was kinduv an exchange of favor, except that Antonio had to pay for my travel expenses. haha
So anyways, I really had opted to go to Davao through the boat-bus route and not by plane so I can explore Mindanao some more. And explore we sure did. Mindanao is a huge island so our bus ride from Butuan was long -- about 7 hours. We took the new air-con Bachelor bus so we were comfortably seated.
Here are some photos from the trip.
#1 This was shot in the Port of Jagna, Bohol. The boat left at around 11pm and arrived in Nasipit at around 5am. Terence is still a bit drunk from the 2 San Miguel grandes we downed.
#2 This is a shot of the Bachelor Bus interiors. We rode on this from Butuan City to Davao. Took us about 6-7 hours.
#3 We arrived Davao City around lunch time. This is the facade of the Ateneo de Davao University.
#4 We we strolling around downtown Davao to look for some little bronze bells that Tito wanted to buy.
#5 At the wedding party..Tito, me, Terence and Antonio.
#6 These vendors are persistent!
#6 We went home a couple of days after. This time, we rode the Bus to Cagayan de Oro City and took a boat direct to Tagbilaran City from there. We left around 7pm and arrived at around 5:30, just in time for this perfect (just before) sunrise shot.
#8 As the ferry drew close to the pier, some Badjaos (sea gypsies) came paddling around on the side of the ship to dive for coins.
To view more photos from this trip, please click here.
