Wedding Digest Philippines Weddings. More fun In the Philippines Edition | Page 180

Of course, such grace doesn’t grow overnight
and for Nikki it was such a norm because of
her family. She described her family and her
childhood to be a “normal Filipino family unit”.
They were close with each other, a God-centered
family who was very demonstrative of their love
and affection to one another.
“I was very privileged to have come from that kind
of family. We are very clannish, we would have
Sunday brunch with the whole family [and] we’re
a musical family so yun ang bonding ng buong
pamilya (that’s the family way of bonding),”
shared Nikki but she added “I wouldn’t say
conservative, but we are traditional.”
Theirs is a family that prays sincerely, lives
virtuously and loves unconditionally. If there are
manuals that tells what a Filipino family is, Nikki’s
family would be a good model. That kind of
sheltered life gave her the idea that such life is
the norm for the rest of the world. She admitted,
“I didn’t know that things could be done in any
other way.”
So as a child, she would dream of having that
kind of relationship and family in the future. “The
peg was always my parents’ marriage. They really
showed us ‘yung pagmamahalan nila as a couple

(their love as couple),” said Nikki.
It is expected though that Nikki would think that way.
Why not? Even her grandparents provided them
with the ideal family setup of love, care, security
and faithfulness. No wonder that when asked about
her ideal man, she quickly blurted, “I want someone
who’s like my dad!” Her dad as described by Nikki
is an intelligent and witty guy. She described him
to be “kengkoy” (funny). Aside from that, her dad
is a man of God, always prayerful and spiritual. He
brings his family closer with God as their center. He
has also been a very good provider and is always
affirmative of his love to his wife and his family.
“If I have a check list, I would just photocopy my
mom’s,” Nikki said.
However, Nikki wants a tall guy, and that’s not
negotiable.
Then finally, Nikki met BJ. A common friend set
Nikki and BJ for a date, late 2013, when the two
were introduced formally. Although Nikki and BJ
went to the same school (both studied in Ateneo de
Manila), they were never introduced before.
After a year and a month in a relationship, Nikki and
BJ got engaged.