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How Dingdong Avanzado pulled off elaborate 25th anniv surprise for Jessa Zaragoza
Dingdong Avanzado’s surprise 25th wedding anniversary vow renewal for Jessa Zaragoza was a closely guarded family secret that took months of planning and the full cooperation of their daughter Jayda Avanzado to pull off.
On Tuesday’s “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda,” the family narrated how the plan was carefully orchestrated, with Dingdong admitting the idea had been years in the making.
“I actually thought about this long before pa. I was telling myself, sana umabot kami ni Jessa ng 25 years, and if that happens, I wanna renew my vows. I wanna marry her again. I remember talking to Jayda about it,” Dingdong said.
He revealed planning the surprise about a year in advance, knowing how difficult it would be to keep it hidden from his wife.
“I put it in motion about a year ago, last year. Sabi ko, kailangan siyempre planuhin namin ito. We had to have attention to detail because si Jessa, mahirap surpresahin. Kasi sa kaniya, alam niya lahat ng schedule namin eh,” he said.
Dingdong enlisted the help of Jayda, telling her, "I wanna marry your mom again. It's our 25th year. And I wanna surprise her. And I need your help."
"Alam mo naman ang mommy mo, detective ‘yan. So kailangan ko ng buffer and we have to do this, idadaan ko sa kanya,” he added.
Jayda reached out to the event planner and shared that they disguised their meeting as a simple bonding day between father and daughter.
“We staged a Father-Daughter Day together. Sabi namin sa kaniya [Jessa], lalabas lang kami, magmo-mall lang kami. Pero actually noon, nag-set po talaga kami ng meeting with the event planner to really start talking about this surprise,” Jayda said.
For Jessa, the surprise was almost impossible to decode until she stepped into the venue thinking it was a professional performance booking.
“Medyo na-throw off din talaga ako,” she admitted and explained that their team had even gone through the motions of a real gig setup.
“Ang pinalabas nila, may inquiry sa amin ni Dingdong na magpe-perform kami para sa isang jewelry launch. Kunwari lang na trabaho ‘yun. So talagang dumaan siya sa proseso. As in, nag-usap kami ng booking agent sa presyo, ilang kanta, ano ‘yung mga gagawin, ‘yung tipong gano'n,” Jessa said.
On the day itself, she recalled being fully in “show mode.”
“Alam mo ba, papunta sa venue, nag-vocalize pa ako. Kasi alam ko talaga kakanta ako eh. So pagdating dun sa likod, in-introduce talaga ako. So the usual. Tapos tinatanong ko ang handler ko, ano nga ulit ‘yung line-up? Ano ‘yung una kong kanta?” she said.
Jessa’s realization came when she started recognizing the people inside the room.
“Pagtingin ko sa kaliwa, biglang nakita ko ‘yung anak ko — si Jayda nando’n. Hindi ko pa agad na-realize. So pagtingin ko naman sa kanan, nakita ko ‘yung friends namin. Tapos ‘yung mga tao, lahat na nakaano na ‘yung phone nila, ‘yung camera nila. Tapos tumingin ulit ako sa kaliwa, nakita ko na ‘yung musical director namin, si Elmer Blancaflor, nakaupo siya sa piano. Doon ko na naisip na, oh my, merong surprise.”
The surprise renewal took place in March at The Atrium at Endurun in McKinley Hill, Taguig. The venue was styled by Amelia Blooms, with Jayda acting as maid of honor.
According to Dingdong, rewatching videos of the event still moves him deeply.
“This morning when I woke up, I watched it. Kasi I still see the face, her face, ‘yung mukha niya. That to me was priceless. Kasi ‘yun talaga ‘yung alam ko talagang sobrang wala talaga siyang clue at whatsoever,” he said.
Jessa wore an off-shoulder white gown by Fatima Beltran, makeup by Rick Calderon, and hair by Charlie Manapat.
Dingdong and Jessa have been married since 2001.
— LA, GMA News
