Wedding Date on Nov 29, 2019

How We Met: I met Frances on Christmas Day in 2017. My family and I were in Ohio for Christmas vacation. It was about 8am when I woke up and headed downstairs to the smell of breakfast being cooked. I heard a couple of voices, but to my surprise it was just my aunt (the wife of my mom’s brother - super important to understand so you all don’t think we are related hahaha). Anyways, I was very confused, but soon noticed that she was talking with her family back in the Philippines on Skype. She asked if I could continue talking to them while she finished cooking. I proceeded to introduce myself to all of her nephews and nieces on Skype and since it was the evening in the Philippines already, they had all been merrily drinking the night away. So what did I do? Yes, you are correct. Without hesitation I cracked open a beer and joined the festivities. I spoke with them for about an hour and noticed a very shy girl at the corner of the screen. I tried engaging her, but her timid nature always seemed to make the conversation one sided. When the Skype call ended, I asked my aunt who that girl was. She said, “That’s Frances! I’ve been wanting to introduce you to her for years, but you’ve always been taken!” That being said, I added her on Facebook and after awkwardly messaging with her back and forth for a couple of days, we took it to the next level. Yup that’s right, we started video chatting with each other on our free time. Those video chats became a daily occurrence and we could not get enough of each other. A few weeks went by and I told my parents that she was "the one" and that I had to go see her. A few months later, the month of May 2018 rolls around and I’m in the Philippines to spend time with her! Shortly after returning from the Philippines, I told my mom that I needed to see her again and that I would propose because I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. No matter how difficult the process would be to make it work, I wanted to figure it out. I called her mother asking for her blessing to marry her daughter and asked if it would be okay for me to fly her daughter to America so that I can propose to her. Thank God her mother agreed! It has been a quick timeline, but I am so happy and blessed that I met Frances when I did. The Proposal: Alright, so I got the blessing from my future mother-in-law and immediately contacted Frances asking her if she was able to take leave from work to come to America. She was a little hesitant about coming because she didn't think she had enough leave days remaining (or maybe she just wasn't as interested in me as I was to her... hmm... okay let's not go down that road haha) Anyways, I sold her on the fact that we would road trip together through Texas and she would be able to see all my friends and family. I was so pumped! I left her at the end of May and she was coming on the first week of July. So I had about a solid month to plan the proposal. First thing I did was dive straight into the DMs with her sister, Gayle, and a few of her friends to determine what type of ring Frances was interested in. Gayle, if you are reading this I appreciate your help... however comma it was very very very very very tedious with the back and forth we had trying to decide. Still love ya sis! So once the ring was bought, it was time to figure out the proposal plan. If any of you know Frances, she is a huge Harry Potter fan!! Like HUGGGGEEEE!! So I had to incorporate that somehow. I ended up finding a hollowed out book of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and it opened up to the chapter called The Unbreakable Vow. There was a string inside where I would tie the ring up in a bow. Keep in mind that I had already told Frances that I would be getting her a gift upon her arrival to America. I also hinted that the gift would be an autographed Harry Potter book by JK Rowling. Ladies and gentlemen, she believed me. So the surprise factor was in place, but now I had to pick the location. I picked my family’s lake house in Central Texas on Inks Lake that belonged to my Uncle Scott and Aunt Meri. The house had been in the family for many years and it was also the spot where my Aunt Ayen (the one who introduced Frances and I) and Uncle Vernon got married. It was perfect. I told my entire family about the plan and the majority of them locked it in on their calendars to be a part of the event. We all planned to get there on July 06, 2018. Frances had no idea she was about to meet most of my family. The minute she arrived she was so shocked and of course my mother broke out in tears when she was finally able to meet my soon to be fiancé. Classic Phoebe! Let’s fast forward to the day of the proposal. Of course, it’s raining. Thunder, lightning, golf ball sized hail, the works!! Okay okay just some wind and a lot of rain. Luckily, the proposal was still in the afternoon so we had some time to weather out the storm. We ended up going to a vineyard for brunch and indulged ourselves in some Central Texas wine. Great times! We went back to the lake house and the plan that was in Frances’s head was that everyone would start getting ready for a nice formal dinner somewhere near Austin (definitely not the case). So while she was getting ready, my friend Tom and his fiancé arrived because they were the photographers who would capture the moment. They started taking pictures of my family on the dock to give the illusion that I invited my friend and his wife to take pictures of us since they “lived in the area” (also definitely not the case! Thanks Tom and Tuyen!) Once Frances was done getting ready, I was already positioned at the dock. So my cousin, Kristin, told Frances to come and meet me because it was “our turn” to take photos. As soon as she met me at the dock, I gave her a little speech, brought out the gift wrapped book, and presented it to her. She proceeded to open the book and got excited because she really thought it was an autographed Harry Potter book. Once she opened it and saw the ring, she was speechless! I untied the ring from the bow, carefully grabbed it (so it wouldn’t fall through the cracks of the dock), got on one knee, and asked her to marry me. She said yes!!! and we cannot wait for you all to be a part of our wedding in the Philippines. Very big shout out to both of our families for all of their support. Frances, I really wish your mom and sister were there to experience the moment. Civil Wedding - November 29, 2018 In early November we found out that my next duty station would be in Daegu, Korea. We both agreed that our love was too great and that this long distance relationship was not fair to our relationship. So with the support from both of our families, Frances and I got married through a Justice of the Peace in Boston, MA on November 21, 2018. Best Thanksgiving ever. We are so glad we found each other and are blessed that both of our families were able to be present for such a beautiful moment. Church Wedding - November 21, 2019 This was the best day of our lives!! The amount of effort it took to plan a wedding from Korea that took place in the Philippines was so much! However, we loved every step of the way. Tune in and enjoy our wedding video!! Aceron Studios did an amazing job capturing all the magic! Wedding Details: -Location: Tagaytay, Philippines. -Church Venue: Chapel on the Hill -Reception: Narra Hill -Videographer: Aceron Studios -Photographer: The PaperProject #FrancesFindsHerforeVerano About the Couple: Rommel: -Captain in the US Army -Logistics Officer -Graduate of The United States Military Academy at West Point Frances: -Data Monetization Manager for a FinTech Company called Mynt in Manila -Master's Degree in Financial Risk Management at the University of Reading in the UK -Bachelor's Degree in Applied Mathematics in Mathematical Finance at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines