Cuison-Tumlos Wedding Groom’s Perspective

By: Maria Girlie Pascual

 

Romance and the notion of it has inspired many a song, a poem, book, a lot of movies, a comedy act, even a scientific dissertation called “Romantic Love is an Addiction” by the blog “Live Science.” This may all be different versions, expressions and manifestations of that thing called “LOVE”, but in Edwin and Liza’s case, their intimate wedding amongst family and close friends epitomized what the word meant in the flesh–a long time aspiration to take their vows custommade to their shared vision of what their special day should look like. That vision took many years of “coupledom,” endless discussions, planning and research about making their wedding day what it should be, a celebration of their love witnessed by family and close friends. This day was to be the culmination of their shared dream of honoring each other as husband and wife through a sacred church ceremony, a soft-lighted ballroom decorated with the bride’s favorite blooms, and music that reminded them, and everyone close to them, where it all began, how it developed, and how it all came to be. The songs told a story, a timeline of their relationship, and a fun way to tell it. The art of romance and what it represented did not end at the altar that night. It started the day Edwin met Liza , progressed into their personal love story, and from what I have been fortunate to see as one of their guests at their beautiful reception that chilly night in February, they will continue to add to the pages of their romantic novel, co-authoring for the rest of their blessed lives. Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs Edwin and Ana Liza Tumlos!

“Our most special day was all we could have hoped for, and more! From the moment Liza honored me by accepting my surprise proposal on our Hawaiian Valentine vacation eight years ago, we periodically deliberated on our dream wedding. However, it wasn’t until late October of last year did we begin to turn our shared vision into reality.

Since our home church, St. Peter’s in the Loop, is only a service church, some of the Sacraments such as marriage and baptism are not celebrated there. Therefore, we had to look for another Catholic church for our wedding mass. After visiting all the churches around downtown Chicago, we finally decided on Holy Family. Besides having the Victorian Gothic architecture that we love, its rich history, and being the second oldest church in Chicago, Holy Family became our choice when we found out that the officiant was none other than my family’s former parish priest, Father Michael Gabriel. After speaking with him for the first time in over twenty years, getting caught up, and introducing my then fiancée, Liza and I took this chance meeting as a sign from the divine, and from that moment the wedding was on! Without regard for the abbreviated timeline, which was about four months, or the potentially brutal Chicago winter weather in February, didn’t check The Old Farmer’s Almanac, I suggested that we get married on the day I proposed, Valentine’s Day!

Without hesitation, Liza agreed. However, Valentine’s Day fell on a Wednesday this year. Although I had no issue with having a midweek wedding, I conceded to her suggestion that the closest available Saturday would be more prudent. Excitedly, we called Father Mike to find out the church’s availability, and, before we knew it, we booked the last Saturday before Lent. Fortunately, we were able to get into the last Pre-Cana marriage preparation class of the year. As if it wasn’t already “real,” the thought of our next major task, finding a reception venue, suddenly overcame us and made it very real.

Leveraging our professional experiences helped us gain the confidence to be able to think we can pull it off. With Liza’s business background, and my project management skills, we thought, “Why couldn’t we?” Reality though would stretch our Triple Constraint of scope, time, and cost. Fortunately, our Agile Process enabled us to stay on track, but only to a point. In the end, the Project Diamond model helped us manage scope creep while maintaining quality; and the most trying challenges were overcome thanks in large part to our communication skills, respect for one another and, above all else, our love for each other. And may I add fortuitous timing doesn’t hurt either. It turns out that the deep winter months are the off-season for weddings. That means our preferred venue, The Palmer House Hilton Hotel, was available – yes, booked it!

With the venue checked off of our spreadsheet, the next time sensitive task on our list were the invitations. We knew what we wanted, but no stationery provider really had it. So we took the elements that we liked, and we designed it ourselves. Every minute we could spare after work hours, and weekends, went into wedding-related activities. That included stuffing and mailing our custom-made invitations, printed as a wedding gift to us by Liza’s employer. It also included meetings with our caterer, flower vendor, cake vendor, wedding band and DJ. We wanted the best, but within the budget. We were fortunate, again, in that all of our vendors fit the bill! Let me tell you, we wouldn’t mind the delectable food tasting at The Palmer House, again, the artfully stimulating coordination of our floral and table decorations concepts at the Flower Firms’ warehouse, again, and the scrumptious cake tasting at Cake Chicago, again and again! White buttermilk cake with one layer each of strawberry cream, Italian meringue buttercream, and salted caramel filling – oh my! And it happened to match our wedding color scheme to boot – bonus!

Planning our music selections with Ken Arlen Evolution Orchestra’s bandleader, Caitlin Simone, was totally fun, and our dance music with DJ JayFunk, Jay Ejercito, was a blast. We told them both that we wanted no sad/breakup songs, no songs by American Idols, and only our selection of classic Motown, old school Chicago House, 80’s new wave and 90’s R&B. Apparently, it was not a problem because it was their favorite musical genres as well. Evolution got to perform our favorite songs from Stevie Wonder, R. Kelly, Bell Biv DeVoe, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, while DJ JayFunk got to play “It’s Time For the Percolator”, “Bizarre Love Triangle”, and “Who Are You Gonna Run To?,” just to name a few. Let’s just say the jams kept coming, and we partied all night long. While we’re on the music tip, Arlen Music Productions also provided the wonderful quartet for the beautiful classical church processionals, and my long-time friend, Joe Delfin of UltraEvents, handled our church mass accompaniment duties with aplomb. He also referred us to DJ JayFunk, and our photographers and videographers at Misha Media. Thank you very much, Joe! Michele and Andy Rivera, and the whole Misha media team, are consummate professionals and are a delight to work with. We love our photos, and can’t wait to see our video!

I wonder if they caught me getting all choked up at the altar? All the planning and preparations were done, and THE moment was upon us. And as I finally allowed myself to get caught up in said moment, I saw my bride, for the first time, walking down the aisle. I almost lost it! Tears started welling up, as I bit my lip to control all my feelings of love, affection and admiration trying to overwhelm me. As I took her hand, and led her to the altar, all I could whisper to her was, “Wow!” She looked stunning! After all this time, I figured that this ceremony was just going to be icing on the cake because we considered ourselves “practically married.” Not that it matters, but Illinois is not a common law state, and my uncontrollable urge to sob took me by surprise. Being joined together in holy matrimony before the eyes of God, and witnessed by our families and friends, was something else. And I don’t know how she kept her composure, but the dam holding back years of emotion was about to break on my side as I was about to start balling like there’s no tomorrow. That was until she gave me her familiar loving gaze, and knowing smile, and grabbed my hand as we knelt to pray and consecrate our union. I am loved, and I am blessed.

I am also thankful. Thankful for my wife, who is my dream come true. Thank you to the entire Cuison family for welcoming me with open arms, and continued support over the years. Thanks to my grade-school buddy, Andrew Schafer, who came with his wife, Sheri, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to be my Best Man; just as I was the Best Man in his wedding. To my high-school friend, George Kacouris, who keeps all of our mutual friends in touch, thanks for being our Groomsman. To Uncle Juan Miranda, and the rest of the Miranda clan, Tita Mila, Sharon and family, and Jenn and family, for coming all the way from San Antonio, Texas, to be part of our wedding, thank you. To Amina, Moonie and the rest of the Ahmed family, thank you as well for being a part of our wedding. Thank you Chris and Melanie Battad too, for being in our wedding, and for your families’ continued support; looking forward to watching Jo Koy with you guys, and my sister, in September. Speaking of my sister, Rachelle Tumlos, I can’t thank you enough for everything, much love and thanks! Rach, you embodied all of our loved ones who were with us in spirit, namely: Mom, Remedios Tumlos, Dad, Eddie Tumlos, and Lola, Jovita Ofalla. Thank you, Father Mike, for being our officiant and for your guidance. And thank you to all of our family and friends, who helped make our special day even more so with your love and support. Thank you, and may God bless you all!

And now a few words, also known as “The Wedding Speech That Wasn’t,” from my better half, Mrs. Anna Liza C. Tumlos:

Our amazing wedding would not have been possible without the amazing people in our lives. Thank you to my family, my mom, Norma and dad, Pedro, my brother, Gerry, my sister-in-law, Rose and nephews, Phillip and Julian, my brother, Andrew and my sisters, and best friends, Marie and Maureen for their unconditional love and support. Thank you to my new sister-in-law Rachelle and also to my extended family — aunts, uncles, cousins and their families, and countless friends who, though too many to name individually, have given us such tremendous love and support as well! To Tita V. and to Tito Joe, thank you for always being there for Edwin and me, and for your continued generosity! And, thank you, Girlie, for featuring us in your column! We are so lucky to be blessed with all of you!

And last but not the least, thank you to my husband Edwin! I am so fortunate to have been given the rarest of gifts in life, true love! Thank you for turning my dreams into reality! The past twelve years have been amazing, and I can’t wait for what’s ahead!”##

The happy newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin D. and Anna Liza C. Tumlos, excitedly greeting their families and friends during their wedding mass recessional at Holy Family Church, in Chicago, back on Saturday, February 25, 2017. (Credit: Misha Image)