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Fray Francis Musni
Fr. Juan Almario
officiated wedding
A grandiose
event never
witnessed in
this part of
Pampanga was
the wedding of
the Señores
Torres y
Singián. It was
celebrated with
extraordinary
pomp and solemnity
on the
evening of the
27th of April,
1912, a Satur-
day, in San Fernando, capital of Pampanga.
The guests in attendance were numerous
and exclusive, the majority coming from
prominent and influential families, those
of the elite, the distinguished and the affluent.
They are united as in the proverbial
confraternity and amiability of families
of engaged couples. The intimate feelings
of jubilee become sharper with the
emotions felt before such splendor, magnificence,
solemnity and greatness of the
ceremony.
The afternoon of the same day was
blissful with unrestrained sunlight, an afternoon
full of happiness and harmony. The
immense crowd came and went with agile
gaits to see the exquisite pagoda built on
the Singián grounds in Paroba, Barrio Sto.
Niño. Here, one could see the whimsically
adorned pagoda. This was to serve as an
extension of the dining room to sit the numerous
guests, who would come to offer
worthy tribute of affection, prosperity and
happiness to the betrothed couple, who
would be forever united before God and
man. For this purpose, the distinguished
masters in the art of decorating and em-
Doña Consolacion Singian
and Don Jose M.Torres
Nuptials on April 28,1912
GIFTSofLOVE
Excerpts from the bride’s personal journal,
including the catalog of wedding presents,
reveal the genteel lifestyle of small-town nobility
Original Spanish text translated by Prof. Renán Singian Prado,
Chairperson of the Department of Modern Languages,
Ateneo de Manila University
bellishing, Señores Don Antonio Torres and
Don Mariano Cunanan displayed their accredited
ability by capriciously and artistically
decorating the locale. They used Chinese
lanterns, banners and a variety of
ferns. The light of the numerous gas lamps
and the embroidery of natural flowers
enameled on the extremely white colored
roof, the columns and the tables of more
than ninety table settings in an oval looked
like a dwelling of illusory glory. Anahao
fronds carpeted the floor from the foot of
the stairs to the grand dining room, transforming
the scene to a diaphanous ambience.
The multitude, who witnessed such
a solemn ceremony, acknowledged the
pleasant and unrestrained gaiety of the
atmosphere so much so that long and enthusiastic
pleasantries and animated conversations
ensued.
From three in the afternoon, the numerous
invited guests started arriving cordially
received by the Señoritas Torres, sisters
of the groom and the Señores Singián,
brothers of the bride. After sharing impressions,
they stood up to look at the magnificent
pagoda facing the window, which was
in front of the stairs. At around six in the
afternoon, in the distance, the locomotive
whistle blows announcing the arrival of a
Special train with two First Class coaches
from Manila totally brimming with distinguished
and illustrious guests from that
City. Their beautiful ladies and enchanting
daughters joined the gathering of lovely
Pampangueñas, who had earlier lingered
to witness and to take part in the memorable
ceremony. At the sound of the wedding
march played by the Henson Orchestra
before the multitude enters the majestic
figure of the bride, Señorita
Consolación Singián, who appears from the
door behind the stairs luxuriously dressed
in her precious wedding gown, all in white
with the symbolic flowers of orange blossoms.
She is in the arms of her godfather,
the Honorable Señor Don Florentino
Torres, Justice of the Supreme Court of the
Philippines. They walk in between the silent
gathering and he brings her before a
magnificent altar standing on one corner
of the house. Here, three priests garbed in
their Sacred Ornaments carrying a cross and
candles were waiting. Behind the bride with
her godfather followed the groom with his
godmother, the Señorita Doña Máxima
Singián. In the midst of a sepulchral silence,
the Parish Priest, Don Juan Almario, reads
the epistle of Saint Paul while the deacons
and the sub deacons answer. And the blissful
couple is eternally united in the sacred
bond of marriage before God and man to
be forever blessed and to enjoy happiness
in this life and in the next. After the betrothal,
in an instant the altar was removed
for the reception of the numerous invited
who first queued before the newlyweds who
were standing at the foot of the altar, the
matrons first followed by the young single
ladies and then the gentlemen. After this,
the bride was brought to her room and here
her friends and the sisters of the groom
helped her change from the wedding gown
to a dress of very fine gaza of pink artistically
and capriciously executed by the wellknown
couturier, Pacita Longos, who also
made her trousseau.
Now dressed and bejeweled, the
rigodón de honor, with thirty-five pairs led
by the newlyweds, followed by Doctor
Singián, brother of the bride with Señorita
Pilar Torres, sister of the groom, began.
Then came uninterrupted the waltz and the
two-steps up to nine thirty in the evening.
At this time, the guests went down to the
very well decorated extensive dining room,
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