Rebellious Couple - Arnold & Jo Anne's 80s Kids Wed (Part 1)

Photos by Randolf Evan

"It was my Rebellious Groom who helped me discover the Rebellious Bride that I had in me! Our wedding is our celebration for the 10 years that we've been through as a couple, and we couldn't bear the thought of our celebration looking like somebody else's wedding. We were rebellious in the sense that we wanted our wedding to be about US."

Rebellious Bride Jo Anne Dumalaon-Canaria 

on what makes her and her groom, a Rebellious Couple

This feature is quite special to us. On the surface, it's special because the couple got loads of DIY ideas because of the blog. But on a deeper level, out of all the submissions that we have received so far, this one really shows a certain validation that our blog is in the right, rebellious path. The bride muses that our blog has enlightened, convinced, and comforted not just her and her groom, but also their family--to understand their decisions, to defend their wedding ideas, and inevitably to avoid Bride Bullying. A couple and a family that were miles apart, we are also very overwhelmed to know that our blog broke barriers for this wedding/family affair. This couple truly wanted their rebellious side to be unleashed and they found it difficult. In the end, they are proud to say that their cause was worth fighting for. So we do hope that you learn a thing or two from this feature. Here goes :)

In Jo Anne's own words:

In the beginning, my “rebelliously creative” husband, Arnold, (fiancée at that time) had two requests: one was to have 80s songs for the reception (his favorite decade), and two to make the wedding our own (we didn’t want to, and we couldn’t afford a “wedding production”).

The big challenge was, I was based overseas, and we literally had 3 months to pull it off. But we believe that as the “best team” (it’s our tag name for our relationship), that “nothing’s gonna stop us, from celebrating our groovy kind of love”.

One thing led to another and before we knew it, the 80s music turned into an “80s Kids Wed Celebration” (yup we were both born in the 80s). 

Instead of traditional “wedding games”, we had an 80s Geek fight. Instead of professional events styling, our wedding reception was 100% handmade and put together by friends and family: poms, disco balls, balloons, DIY signs, 80s movie posters, 80s treats (the Yan-Yans and Jack and Jill Pretzels were extremely popular). 

Instead of a first dance, we broke out into song and had a wedding-oke with our guests to the tune of (guess what?) “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now". I was in purple tutu dress, he was in a gangster vest and hat, and we both flaunted Chuck Taylors. 

Other details that we loved were our wedding invite (which other people said looked like a birthday party invite, but for us, truly awesome). Our only flower girl wore a purple fascinator, white shirt, and purple tutu (which she happily played around in, she was that comfortable!). 

To add more 80s flair to our details, we had the iconic game character Pac-Man all over the socks of our male entourage, and I arrived at church in a vintage yellow Super Beetle which was bought in 1980. Instead of the more popular churches, our wedding was also held in our “Funky Town” of Las Pinas, which is a place where we both grew up in.

I am such a BIG FAN of rebellious brides (I think I’ve read all your posts), and I am so grateful to have stumbled into your blog (you’re the reason why our wedding reception became a “handmade affair).

A "rebellious wedding" is one which celebrates the identity of the couple.

This is a bit of who we are :)

When we say that Rebellious Brides is one (if not) the best local bridal blogs, we really mean it! We really got inspired by by your posts (and now hopefully we can give back somehow). You guys are awesome! Thanks so much! We really learned a lot from you guys.

This is part one of this 80s Kids Wedding Feature. In our effort not to edit out important details written by our Rebellious Brides, we've decided to just divide the feature into two parts since the bride and the groom shared a lot more stories behind their wedding.

Watch out for that!

XOXO,

Kai

*follow us on twitter! @RebelliousBride

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