JV Valino & Jessy Daing: The best friends’s wedding

By Cristina DC Pastor

Best of friends for nine years, JV Valino and Jessy Daing became a married couple on November 25, 2024, in a destination wedding that took them and their 65 guests from the Hudson River Waterfront in Bayonne, N.J., to the lovely Bahamas seas.

Sailing amid the island’s refreshing blue waters, JV and Jessy pledged to love one another, with Jessy, a director at the largest transportation agency in US – MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority), especially grateful at finding a “partner, an incredible father for my  son Kaeden, and a teammate for life.”

The cruise wedding was planned for at least two years even before JV made his proposal, Jessy confessed, breaking into laughter. JV and Jessy are producers of Over A Glass Or Two, the first and only Filipino podcast globally televised on The Filipino Channel (TFC) and Jeepney TV. He’s also a producer for The Loida Lewis Podcast, and a U.S. Managing Partner of GIGIL New York ad agency in the Philippines that is making a crossover to the United States. She probably had an intuition their romance was leading to the altar, so she had made mental plans. Comparing costs, she found out cruise weddings are rare, more exciting and more practical compared to the traditional on-land wedding.

“Our intimate, simple yet elegant Bahamas wedding cruise was truly one of a kind,” she said. “We were not expecting so many of our loved ones to join us, especially since it was Thanksgiving week, but to our surprise, our friends and relatives showed up to celebrate with us.”

The ocean views were breathtaking, and the cruise staff and crew provided exceptional service, with the Filipino crew members going above and beyond to ensure an unforgettable experience. Their warmth and attention to detail truly stood out. The food was extraordinarily drool-worthy, adding to the overall delight.

While there were a few minor limitations, like the prohibition of candles and fresh flowers on a cruise ship, everything was stress-free and well worth it, with just a bit of extra effort for the decorations, according to Jessy.

Instead of a candle ceremony, the couple performed a sand ceremony where JV’s blue sand (representing the ocean) and Jessy’s burnt orange (representing the Fall season) sand mixed in a brief mingling ritual.

“Bawal ang candle sa ship because of the fire risk,” she said. “All our candles were battery-operated.” The flowers were DIY using craft papers, wire and glue sticks. There were limited options for fresh flowers, and  Jessy had a different vision of the flowers and colors in mind.

“I’m an arts-and-crafts person so I loved doing it,” she said.

“Cruise weddings gave us the chance to spend quality time with all of our guests, unlike traditional weddings where everyone leaves after the event,” she said.

The guests had their fill of food and drinks every night, some of them partied till 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. for seven straight days from November 24 to December 1. Through it all, guests and bridal party sailed for a week enjoying one another’s company, making new acquaintances and getting to know old and new friends more intimately.

“There were guests who didn’t know they went to the same school until they met at the wedding,” she recalled in jest. “Everyone became closer as they played in the casinos, watched theatre shows and musicals, danced in the club, sang at the karaoke, and engaged in many other activities.”

The Money Dance, one of the highlights of the celebration, had the couple dancing as guests pinned dollar bills all over their elegant attire. It’s an old-fashioned Philippine tradition uncommon in contemporary urban weddings but JV, whose ancestry roots hail from Bicol and Cabanatuan, and Jessy, whose parents are from Cebu and Bohol, decided to incorporate a folksy Filipino custom to their modern vows.

JV as ‘Dad’Thirteen-year-old Kaeden, appearing manly looking in a suit and blue tie and sporting a faintly growing moustache,  walked his mother to the altar. Kaeden and JV are close, he calls him “Dad.” It was JV who taught him how to read and write, helped with his homework, took him to school and helped shape his values about how men should treat women. Kaeden is also equally close to his birth father, said Jessy, adding how the teen is lucky to have the love from both fathers.
Jessy’s maid of honor is the popular actress-singer Rachel Alejandro. She dedicated her song “The way you look tonight” to the bride, a friend of longstanding. The mostly Filipino crew wished they had witnessed the wedding because they heard from others how Rachel wowed the crowd with her performance. Many of them requested to have their selfies taken with her.

FilAm Hollywood designer and Project Runway Season 19 contestant Kenneth Barlis designed the wedding gown, bringing Jessy’s vision of a unique yet elegant cruise-inspired look to life. She wanted a gown that stood out from traditional wedding dresses, with a high-low hemline and a touch of simplicity. The design embraced the “cruise vibe.”

Jessy and JV also tapped the services of talented global destination videographer and photographer, Jaypee Noche. Based in Cebu City, Jaypee’s passion for capturing genuine moments has taken him around the world from Australia and New Zealand to the USA, Singapore, and the UAE.

The ship’s crew was overjoyed to share that JV and Jessy’s wedding was the “first largest wedding” held aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas.

“They were so proud that it’s a Pinoy couple who made history,” said Jessy.

The crew surprised the party with a Filipino breakfast “tapsilog,” which she said “made our special cruise even more meaningful.”

All the partying must have taken its toll on Jessy who came home feeling under the weather. She lost her voice and had to take a sick day from work to recover from the week-long “Bahamas Beauteous Fête.”

JV and Jessy remain full of excitement from their cruise wedding, but back home they are “ready to embrace the next chapter of our lives and to grow old together.”