From a Christmas proposal to a mid-December wedding at the Hamilton Manor, Charmaine and Joseph’s love story revolves around the most wonderful time of the year.

“Our sweetheart table was so romantic and straight out of a Hallmark movie,” says the bride. “Two Christmas trees were placed as a backdrop with three winter floral arrangements with greenery, pine cones, red romantic flowers alongside candles.”

Their Story

“My mom was the school accountant and his mom was a teacher,” explains Charmaine. “Both being very similar in personalities and up-bringing, they found a deep friendship within each other. In 2012, I was headed to my junior formal. My mom didn’t want to pay a seamstress and knew that Joseph’s mom was good at sewing, so she asked her to fix my dress. Joseph was there and that was the first time we informally met. We were both in long-term relationships at the time so a ‘hello’ was the extent of that visit.”

“Fast forward to 2013, it was my prom and I somehow convinced my mom to buy me this gorgeous strapless brown mermaid dress,” says Charmaine. “Once again, Joseph’s mom was going to be fixing my dress, so I came over. Joseph happened to come downstairs to grab his dog and I came out of the bathroom in my dress. We met eye to eye and smiled at each other while our moms joked that Joseph should take me to prom since I didn’t have a date. At the time, Joseph was still in his long-term relationship but I was single. Later down the road, we would joke about that memory saying we both actually entertained the idea but were both too awkward.”

“Fast forward again to 2014, Joseph and his longtime girlfriend had broken up and I was a freshman living my best single NYC life,” says Charmaine. “That spring, I got an Instagram friend request out of the blue from Joseph. I remembered him being super cute, so I added him back even though I wasn’t really interested in a relationship. He finally slid into my DMs (I still have the DM.) We ended up setting up a date to go to the movies together to go see Amazing Spider-Man 2. The funniest part of it all was that the night before our date, I was walking back from class with a friend, and I confided in her that I was going on a date with a guy named Joe. She asked for a few details until figuring out that Joe was the guy that her best friend had tried to set her up on a double date with, but he bailed. It was super awkward, but I still went on the date. That started a summer of dates leading up to the day, he would ask me to be his girlfriend on June 20, 2014. It took a while to ask me out because he wasn’t sure if he was ready for a relationship. It’s a running joke in our families that he friend zoned me.”

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The Proposal

“Christmas is our favorite holiday so he thought it would be the perfect time to surprise me, surrounded by all his family,” says Charmaine. “We went over my dad’s house the night before on Christmas Eve and while I was in the bathroom, he told my dad. On the way out, my dad said “good luck” which I thought was really weird, but I brushed it off. Christmas Day, he had me open all my presents last in front of his family. It was this ginormous box. I opened the box and found another box.”

“When I opened that box I found a pair of sneakers and another box, it was one box after another every other filled with something I wanted/some of my favorite chocolates/things. When I opened the last box it was completely empty. I looked up completely oblivious that his brother was standing there with the camera on a tripod and when I turned around there, he was on one knee! When I tell you I had never cried so hard LOL I was BAWLING in front of his entire family.”

Their Hamilton Manor Wedding

“We had an elegant Christmas-themed wedding at The Hamilton Manor on December 15 2022,” says Charmaine. “Our color scheme was emerald green, burgundy and gold with lots of greenery and winter florals scattered around the venue. Our sweetheart table was so romantic and straight out of a Hallmark movie as two Christmas trees were placed as a backdrop with three winter floral arrangements with greenery, pine cones, red romantic flowers and more lined our table alongside candles.”

“Staying true to our roots we included the traditional Filipino wedding traditions into our ceremony.”

“My mother also passed away a few years ago so we set a seat aside for her at the ceremony and at dinner.”

[RELATED: Looking for more Christmas-themed wedding inspo? Check out Sabrina and Justin’s gorgeous day at Park Chateau.] 

Choosing the Venue

“We chose The Hamilton Manor for it’s gorgeous elegant ballroom and for the insane cocktail hour,” says Charmaine. “Our guests continue to rave about how amazing the food was at the cocktail hour (and dinner of course). Unfortunately it did rain on our wedding day so we didn’t get to take full advantage of the grounds but we did also book it for its gorgeous christmas/winter photo opportunities.”

The Menu

“Our wedding menu consisted of a taco station, slider station, and a mac and cheese station amongst tons of other things that the Hamilton Manor provides at cocktail hour,” says Charmaine. “Our dinner menu was a duet plate of maple glazed short rib of beef and salmon with roasted veggies and mashed potatoes. We had a three-tier cake each with a different flavor: chocolate strawberry, funfetti and lemon raspberry.”

Bridal Style

“My gown was a gorgeous mermaid silhouette with crepe material with lace detail on the sleeves and back only and a boatneck,” says Charmaine. “I absolutely loved the simplicity of this dress while still making it feel elegant with an incredibly detailed sleeve and back. I had always said I wanted a very simple and modern dress that I felt like my body wouldn’t get lost in. I am very short so it was important for me to be able to feel comfortable in a dress and it wasn’t too heavy.”

“I immediately knew it was the one for me when I tried on other dresses and none of them gave me the feeling that this one did and I would constantly compare elements of other dresses to this one. It was also fate that I found my dress on my late mother’s birthday.”

Favorite Moment

“I have a few moments from our entire day that are my favorite,” says Charmaine. “One was our first look. It was just so special and intimate and I wasn’t expecting him to cry but he did. Despite the cold weather, everything at that moment just felt warm and together we were at ease and calm despite the craziness of the day.”

“Two, our first dance. Joseph surprised me with dancing on the clouds as my wedding gift. I had been begging him for months for it but he convinced me it wasn’t in our budget. When it went off during our first dance I was so surprised and couldn’t help but cry.”

Special Detail

“One special detail I really cherish from our day was making sure that my mom was present for my wedding day,” says Charmaine. “I had a charm of her on my bouquet, we did a moment of silence in her honor during my ceremony, we had a special spot for her at the ceremony on our bench, we had a memory table with her picture alongside our other loved ones on our reception table and we also had a seat reserved for her at the dinner table with her picture and a handwritten note from me.”

Making the Most of the Rain

“Unfortunately it’s one thing you truly cannot control but the biggest hurdle of our day was the weather,” says Charmaine. “We decided to make the best out of it and our favorite shots of our wedding are actually some in the rain.”

Advice

“My biggest piece of advice to other brides is to make a promise with your husband to stick by each other’s side after your ceremony and the whole night of your reception,” says Charmaine. “Often times, I’ve seen brides and husbands go their own separate ways—greet guests separately, hang with their own friends, etc. My husband and I made a promise to stick by each other and we have no regrets. Every memory tied to our wedding was one we both got to witness and be a part of together. We greeted the same guests, got our drinks together, danced with each other all night and it was truly just too special. Whenever we talk about our wedding day, we discuss how it was truly so special to be able to share those memories together.”

Honeymoon

“We are huge Disney fans so we went on a quick mini-moon after the wedding to Walt Disney World,” says Charmaine. In the summer, we went for two weeks to explore Italy and leave for a Disney European cruise that goes to both Italy and Greece.”

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