Welcome the wedding month of June

By Herbert L. Vego

THIS month of June has universal popularity as “the wedding month.” To a certain extent, to be a June bride has become an obsession among Filipino women. That includes the widowed actress Boots Anson Roa, who was 69 when she remarried widower Francisco “King” Rodrigo Jr. on June 14, 2014.

As a former entertainment-beat reporter, I had interviewed Boots.  Her first marriage to the late Pete was also in June, specifically on June 4, 1964.

Was it because of the influence of the 1948 Hollywood movie “June Bride” – starring Robert Montgomery and Bette Davis — which had broken box-office records in the Philippines?

Indeed, “to be a June bride” has become a dream come true for many other Filipinos until now. Why, when June marks the start of the rainy season in the Philippines?

Take it from our superstitious lolos and lolas, rain brings abundance and blessings to the June wedding.

The tradition, however, traces its origin to Rome. The Romans favored June weddings because that was the month dedicated to Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage. Therefore, couples who marry in June are blessed with a joyful, lasting union.

But there is also a logical side to it: A marriage in June could result in a conception early enough so that a wife wouldn’t be so full with child as to stay at home during the harvest. The baby would be born soon enough for the bride to be in shape for the next harvest.

Indeed, in pre-contraceptive Europe, getting married in June meant that children conceived from June unions would be born the following spring, increasing their chances of survival after the long – and often very lean – winter months.

Unfortunately, adopting the Roman style may not be honey-sweet in our country. First, June marks the beginning of the typhoon season here.

Second, students having gone back to school in June, expenses are in high gear.

Third, diseases like dengue, influenza and typhoid are rampant in the rainy month of June.

If I could turn back the hands of time, I would choose December or January to marry because of the bonus income generated by the Christmas season and the cold weather that enhances romantic air to it.

But as an “oldie” at 76, I can share my wedding experience as a lesson for today’s lovers to learn from.

My fiancée wished to be a June bride. I approved even if it meant disobeying my parents who had lectured me that “singles” had to be well-prepared first before doubling down.

Anyway, I pretended I was that good enough when in fact, as a 22-year-old journalist in Manila, I had barely saved enough for a wedding.

I deceived myself into believing that a second mouth to feed would not be much of a burden.

I gave in to her wish to be married in a Roman Catholic Church even if I was not a Catholic.

You, too, must have read this famous line from the epic “Florante at Laura” by poet Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar:

“O, pagsintang labis na makapangyarihan. ‘Pag ikaw ang pumasok sa puso ninuman, hahamakin ang lahat, masunod ka lamang.”

Our wedding day on June 25, 1972 started ominously with heavy typhoon rains.  In the afternoon, flood water had risen so deep that the engine of my borrowed car conked out, and I had to push the car with the help of by-standers to enable the driver to rerun it and reach the church on time.

By the time the priest pronounced the newly-wed “man and wife,” the wind had blown harder and the rain had poured heavier. And so, some of our sponsors failed to reach our wedding reception.

The bride side to that was the fact that one of our wedding sponsors was the late Dr. Jose Perez, the big boss of what was then the biggest film firm, Sampaguita Pictures. I could always count on him for help.

Three years later, Ninong died.

To cut the long story short, that ill-prepared marriage failed, partly due to financial worries. We broke up after nine years and one son.

Anyway, that was not really a bad ending for us who have eventually moved on.