Pulgas Water Temple is located in Redwood City,  just south of San Francisco.

“San Francisco built Pulgas Water Temple as a monument to the engineering marvel that brought Hetch Hetchy water more than 160 miles across California from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Bay Area. The Hetch Hetchy Project had taken 24 years to build through the Great Depression at a cost of $102 million.”  Click on the link to read more about it.

Pulgas Water Temple is not your usual garden but better.   The water temple is made up of a number of fluted columns arranged in a circle, upon which a large stone masonry ring with the words “I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people “ [from Isaiah 43:20] are inscribed. There is a large tree-lined reflecting pool to the east.

The fantastic Bride and Groom were Lovelyn and Paul.  Both lives in Daly City just south of San Francisco.  Their reception was at the Hilton Hotel in the City of Burlingame.   It was a long (ceremony and reception was 3 hours apart)  but a wonderful wedding since it was a 12 hours of wedding photography coverage.

Enjoy the following samples of their wedding.

San Jose Photographers Main website.

Benipayo Photography

San Jose  | Wedding | Photographer | San Francisco

Contact: Michael at michael@benipayo.com

(408) 717-3670 ********** (415) 763-7643

The Engagement

After the couple has decided to marry, the first order of business is the pamanhikan, where the groom and his parents visit the bride’s family to ask for her hand in marriage. Wedding plans are often made at this time, including a discussion of the budget and guest list. Don’t be surprised if the groom-to-be is expected to run some errands or help out around the bride’s house. This tradition is called paninilbihan, where the suitor renders service to his future wife’s family to gain their approval.

The Wedding Outfits

The white wedding dress has become popular in the last hundred years or so with America’s influence in the Philippines. Before that, brides wore their best dress, in a festive color or even stylish black, to celebrate a wedding. Orange blossom bouquets and adornments were a must during the turn of the last century. For men, the barong tagalog is the traditional Filipino formal wear.

It is a cool, almost transparent, embroidered shirt, made from silky pina or jusi, two native ecru fabrics. It is worn untucked, over black pants, with a white t-shirt underneath. These days, a Filipino groom might wear the conventional black tux, but Pilipino male wedding guests will usually show up in their finest barongs.

The Ceremony

In pre-colonial days, a wedding ceremony lasted three days. On the first day, the bride and groom were brought to the house of a priest or babaylan, who joined their hands over a plate of raw rice and blessed the couple. On the third day, the priest pricked the chests of both bride and groom and drew a little blood. Joining their hands, they declared their love for each other three times. The priest then fed them cooked rice from the same plate and gave them a drink of some of their blood mixed with water. Binding their hands and necks with a cord, he declared them married. The majority of Filipino weddings are now Catholic weddings, but some native traditions remain. Most have special “sponsors” who act as witnesses to the marriage. The principal sponsors could be godparents, counselors, a favorite uncle and aunt, even a parent. Secondary sponsors handle special parts of the ceremony, such as the candle, cord and veil ceremonies. Candle sponsors light two candles, which the bride and groom use to light a single candle to symbolize the joining of the two families and to invoke the light of Christ in their married life. Veil sponsors place a white veil over the bride’s head and the groom’s shoulders, a symbol of two people clothed as one. Cord sponsors drape the yugal (a decorative silk cord) in a figure-eight shape–to symbolize everlasting fidelity–over the shoulders of the bride and groom. The groom gives the bride 13 coins, or arrhae, blessed by the priest, as a sign of his dedication to his wife’s well-being and the welfare of their future children.

The Food

The Pilipino wedding feast is elaborate. One feast celebrated at the turn of the last century involved these foods: First was served cold vermicelli soup. The soup was followed by meats of unlimited quantity–stewed goat, chicken minced with garlic, boiled ham, stuffed capon, roast pork and several kinds of fish. There were no salads, but plenty of relishes, including red peppers, olives, green mango pickles and crystallized fruits. For dessert, there were meringues, baked custard flan, coconut macaroons and sweetened seeds of the nipa plant.

Filipino Wedding Photographers home page

Michael Benipayo

Benipayo Photography

email: michael@benipayo.com

San Jose  | Wedding | Photographer | San Francisco

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by Rafi Michael