Sunday, May 27, 2007

Talk of Wedding Gold

Randy and Stella's wedding is coming up fast: June 22! In a previous post, I blogged about the arrhae they needed for the wedding. For non-Filipino folks, this is what the coin bearer carries down the aisle, after the ring bearer who bears the rings of the couple. In Filipino custom, the arrhae is given by the groom to the bride to signify that he will take care of her financially and will support her during their married life. The arrhae consists of coins arranged in some manner (I don't think there's a specific way) and is taken from the coin bearer and given to the groom to give to the bride during the wedding ceremonies.

All our arrhae so far have been patterned after Mom and Dad's original one: they look like some sort of small crown, with the coins dangling from the lower ring, with a solitary coin hanging in the middle. All our arrhae (mine, Rondic's and Boydee's) were all dipped in silver. However, for Randy and Stella's wedding, we had to re-think the silver motif since their colors were white, black and GOLD.

So I called Imelda, our jeweler, to give me a quotation for an arrhae dipped in not silver but in gold. I needed to know the price to be able to give a go signal to her because Mom was still in Korea attending to Tita San at that time. I figure if it was a mangeable figure, then Mom wouldn't mind and needn't be bothered by a call or text message about the whole thing. Imagine my surprise (and horror!) when from a silver arrhae that cost P7,500, the gold-dipped arrhae would cost a whopping P125,000!!!! Yowzer!!!

Obviously, I know gold is expensive. Even more so, in these times of low dollar exhange rates and all. Gold has always been an investment type of commodity. No doubt about it. Gold is safe, and its value will only appreciate, rarely depreciating. No wonder Mom loves gold, hehehe. Gold has always been a sign of status, of wealth. Kings, queens, emperors and empresses...they all wear gold on their bodies or clothing.

No wonder Japa talks of investing in gold. This is the one and only commodity that is a sure thing. It increases purchasing power and gives the investor a sense of stability. Bullion, bars, jewelry. Gold is gold, and is the all-powerful investment.

As for the arrhae, I told Imelda to dip the whole thing in silver and coat it in some color to give the effect of gold. It will be used for a whole 2 minutes in the entire ceremony after all, and will be put in the vault for safekeeping.....for when Randy and Stella's kids get married :)

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