My favorite Disney movie was Beauty and the Beast. I loved it so much that I had 4 VHS tapes of the beloved fairy tale, yet as I grew to learn to be more independent and confident in my abilities as a Filipina-American community leader, I realized that these Disney fairy tale stories were conditioning young girls like me to build this false idea of a Prince Charming who will save us because we were always in need of rescuing. We were led to believe that our goal in life as women is to have a fairy tale wedding and pop out babies. Fortunately, the women in my generation are gradually learning to have inspirational break-through leaders to look up to vs. Disney princesses who fall for the first guy that they meet in a forest or has your missing shoe. We have women like Analisa Balares, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Womensphere; Nicole Ponseca, Entrepreneur & Founder of the successful Jeepney and Maharlika Restaurants; Geena Rocero, transgender model and advocate and founder of Gender Proud; Ayesha Vera-Yu, CEO and Co-Founder of Advancement for Rural Kids (ARK), and Venessa Manzano, Founder of Filipino School of New York and New Jersey and those are just a few of the young women I have had the honor of meeting on the East Coast.

As Makilala TV continues to be a platform to highlight our own community’s unsung #sheroes, I have become more open-minded in each topic that we tape at QPTV Studios. During our past episode on Fil-Am Weddings, I realized how there are a wide range of what one may believe to be their fairy tale wedding and the social pressures that women endure.

Behind the Scenes: When a couple decides to book our three special guests as vendors for their wedding lighting, photography, and flowers, they are said to be booking “#TheExperience” because they will receive the highest quality of service and products. Ivie Joy, who leads Ivie Joy Floral Arts and Events, Glenn Maningas of MPW Media Group, and Amable Yalong from Events by Amable Key Music Group, Y2 Collection, all shared a recurring theme of Filipinos (usually the couple’s parents) automatically assuming that they will have a ‘Kababayan’ discount just because they are also Filipino. I paused and realized that I was actually one of the Filipinos who would expect the same discount, but then again I am always looking for the best deal! They explained that it is important to know that the service each of them deliver is high-quality and if #TheExperience is booked, you don’t even need a wedding planner since they work so well together in providing the expertise and passion in creating one’s ideal wedding. By offering a basic package and then people deciding what perks to add, the budget is negotiated to what the couple agrees on. The bulk of the wedding cost is from the venue and of course – the number of guests. A helpful hint that they shared was to be prepared with a budget of how much you want to spend on each vendor for transparency and ease of negotiating. For Ivie, she believes that weddings are beautiful stories that she gets to help couples create. That pushed me to think about my own future fairy tale wedding and it dawned to me-

  1. I want a simple story (dancing, wine, my parents and siblings, oh and my Prince Charming!).
  2. I will aim to focus more on my marriage vs. the wedding.
  3. I know my budget so I should not feel pressured to live up to Pinterest or Instagram standards.
  4. Weddings are not for everyone- Respect each person’s decision to be or not to be in a marriage.

Makilala Ka: What are some examples of social or family pressures that you have experienced? Reply to us on Twitter @MakilalaTV

Alam Mo Ba? The ladies of Makilala TV learned that “Thursdays” are the new “Sundays” if you want a lower-budget wedding at catering halls.

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Queens Public TV Time Warner Cablecast Schedule:

  • 2nd Friday of every month- 10:30 pm, Channel 79, Time Warner
  • 2nd Saturday of every month 1:00 pm, Channel 34, Time Warner
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Rachelle Peraz Ocampo, MEd is a lead Co-Host for Makilala TV, a Project Director for NYU Langone Medical Center’s Community Service Plan, a Board Member of Pilipino American Unity for Progress (UniPro) and Roots of Health (Ugat ng Kalusugan), and Co-Director of External Affairs for Filipino American Young Leaders Program (FYLPro). She is also a Groupon addict who enjoys red wine, roses, and truffle parmesan fries. @RockyRach16