Weddings are risky events these days, no thanks to the threat posed by the coronavirus. A Pinoy couple, however, managed to have a memorable one a few days ago without sacrificing social distancing — or spending millions of pesos.
Arjanmar and Khaye Rebeta’s wedding photos went viral a few days ago because they served street food to their guests, such as Pinoy favorites isaw (skewered chicken intestines), tokneneng (deep-fried eggs dredged in orange batter), and fishballs. They figured that by having the reception near a corner store at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, their guests would be less likely to get infected with the coronavirus.
Read: Till Chickenjoy Do They Part: Couple shocks family and friends by getting married in Jollibee
In an interview with Coconuts Manila, filmmaker Arjanmar said they were serious about practicing social distancing in their wedding because Khaye, a nurse, is a COVID-19 survivor.
Arjanmar said that Khaye “was not comfortable in [having the guests eat at an] enclosed reception area and we thought at first that we shouldn’t have a reception at all.”
“Then two weeks before the wedding we submitted our requirements to the church and we saw this isaw stall, and we joked, ‘Maybe we should have our reception here’ and that’s where we got the idea. That store is just right in front of the church. It’s called Sister Edna’s Special Barbecue,” he said.
He said their family and friends were elated that they came up with such a cool idea.
“It was just a unique experience for them, and I think they missed us a lot because we haven’t seen them for a long time because of the pandemic. And I think they also missed eating tokneneng, isaw, etc.,” he said.
Their wedding photos from their photographer has been shared almost five thousand times since it appeared a few days ago, and Arjanmar believes that its virality was due to its uniqueness.
“I was also hesitant to do it. I was worried about what people would say. Like, what type of man would give his bride a reception where tokneneng and isaw were served?” he said.
“But this [virality] may also be due to the pandemic where everyone is going through financial problems. There were a lot of events that were postponed so when they saw this, they probably thought that having a wedding is still possible [despite COVID-19]. They just need to be creative, be brave, and do it with love,” he added.
Best wishes, Khaye and Arjanmar!
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