All the Filipino celebrities who exchanged their 'I Dos' in 2021
Compared to 2020's stricter wedding ceremony restrictions, we saw bigger and grander weddings this year now that vaccines have become available.
In just the first half of 2021, we saw Rocco Nacino and volleyball player Melissa Gohing tie the knot, Luis Manzano and Jessy Mendiola finally become Mr. and Mrs. in February, as well as Melissa Ricks and Michael Macatangay who got married in the US last May.
During the second half of the year came more weddings including that of Derek Ramsay and Ellen Adarna's and Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo, who both got married in November.
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, these stars prove (and inspire us) that their love is as strong as ever. Below, see some of the local celebrity weddings that happend this year.
Derek Ramsay & Ellen Adarna
Probably one of the most talked-about couples of the year, Ellen Adarna and Derek Ramsey's whirlwind romance caught everyone by surprise (in a good way). It was in January 2021 when dating rumors between the two started, which they eventually admitted to a month later. Then, in March, the actress revealed that she's engaged to Ramsay.
Finally, in Nov. 11, the couple tied the knot at the Rancho Bernardo Luxury Villas Mountain Resort in Bagac, Bataan, attended by celebrity guests like Vicki Belo, Hayden Kho, and Pops Fernandez to name a few.
Tom Rodriguez & Carla Abellana
Celebrity couple Tom Rodriguez and Carla Abellana, whose wedding banns went viral on social media, finally wed last Oct. 23 at the San Juan Nepomuceno Parish in Batangas.
In her wedding vow, Abellana shared how she prayed and wished for a man to love when she completed her Simbang Gabi a few years back.
She said: “I prayed for you … But the thing is, back then, I didn’t even know it was you I was praying for. I seriously never thought that the man I had been praying for was already so close to me and that we had already crossed paths months prior. I didn’t even have to pray anymore, because God had already answered my prayer in advance.”
Dennis Trillo & Jennylyn Mercado
It's been a long time coming for the DenJen couple. Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo said their "I Dos" in an intimate civil wedding on Nov. 15, at Kathryn Bernado's studio, TGIS Studio, in Quezon City.
The couple first got together in 2010 but broke up almost a year after. They reunited again in 2014 and celebrated their seventh anniversary as a couple in January 2021. They are pregnant with their first child together.
Neil Arce & Angel Locsin
"Simple pero rock"—those are the three words that would describe Angel Locsin and Neil Arce's wedding.
Despite many challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple decided to push through with an intimate (and very minimalist) civil wedding ceremony at the Taguig City Hall last July 26, followed by a simple gathering in their garden with only "take-out food" like milk tea, fries, fishball, and kikiam.
“Kung ano man ang nangyari sa wedding na ‘to, may personal touch talaga namin. It’s very intimate, it’s very simple, it’s very us,” the actress said in her vlog.
Moritz Gastl & Jess Wilson
Longtime couple Jess Wilson of Sunnies Face and Moritz Gastl wed last June 26.
Like most engaged couples, they had to postpone their wedding several times due to the pandemic.
“After 2 delayed weddings, a pandemic and a few new family babies born in between, what felt like forever away when planning has now crept up on us out of nowhere and it’s finally our turn to get married,” Wilson wrote on Instagram.
The wedding turned out really beautifully as they wed by the beach at Sunlight Ecotourism Island Resort in Coron, Palawan.
Anthony Semerad and Sam Pinto
Nothing is as intimate as this actress and basketball star's wedding.
Sam Pinto and Anthony Semerad wed at Conrad Hotel in Pasay City last Mar. 8 in front of only four guests: the bride's mom, her sister, the groom's twin brother David, and his wife Gwen Zamora.
The former Bubble Gang star shared in her vlog that they were supposed to get married in the city hall on the said date. But due to the pandemic, they had to make a few changes.
“We just wanted to sign the papers and get married kasi this was already planned, this date was already planned siguro pre-pandemic pa," she said.
But these changes turned out for the better, as they exchanged their I Do's amid the beautiful backdrop of Manila Bay.
JC & Rikkah de Vera
JC de Vera and Rikkah Cruz's wedding was "three years in the making."
Three years after their civil wedding ceremony in 2018, de Vera got married to his non-showbiz partner Rikkah Cruz in a church. He told Erich Gonzales in a vlog that they were initially planning to do a civil wedding before their daughter Lana was born.
“Ang nangyari kasi diyan dapat inuna talaga namin ‘yung civil wedding tapos lumabas si Lana then right after lumabas si Lana dapat mag-church wedding na kami, eh nagka-pandemic so na-move ulit sometime this year,” explained the actor.
Rocco Nacino & Melissa Gohing
Fur parents Rocco Nacino and Melissa Gohing officially became Mr. and Mrs on Jan. 21. The pair got married on a naval ship in Manila.
Luis Manzano & Jessy Mendiola
Luis Manzano and Jessy Mendiola, who have been together for more than four years, announced their engagement in December 2020 and wed last Feb. 21 at The Farm in Lipa City, Batangas.
It can be remembered that Manzano's crying face easily became a viral meme when the wedding vlog came out.
Melissa Ricks & Michael Macatangay
"Rings exchanged, fingers entangled, and the hearts too," wrote Melissa Ricks, who got married to non-showbiz boyfriend Michael Macatangay in the US last May 24.
The Star Circle Quest Season 1 alumna's intimate wedding consisted of Jack in the Box drive thru, a guest list of 15, and no glam team.
"Our special day made special by my closest friends and relatives here in California in only 3 weeks!" Ricks began.
"I woke up early, hubby cooked breakfast, we went to the grocery to get some snacks and soda for the guests, went through the drive thru at Jack in the Box to get churros and tacos, then proceeded home to get ready."
"I did my own hair and makeup, zipped myself into my gown, drove down to the chapel, had a simple ceremony with 15 people. Afterwards we had the reception in my stepdad's backyard. Couldn't get any simpler than that," she shared.