www.raleene.com: #MimiJax Wedding (Part 1)

I've been looking forward to this trip ever since I started working this year because one of my good friends from Cebu, Mia, was getting married to Jacques. I met Jacques before moving to New York City in 2014 so I never got to see them together much. Before Mia met him, we both swore off being in serious relationships because boys sucked (ha!). Mia and I became good friends because we were both more serious about our careers than most of the men we've ever dated (sorry, not sorry). We collaborated on some things and partied a lot together in Cebu and Manila. We met through Friendster back in high school (that was normal back then) and I don't know, we just clicked! She's one of the most positive, hardworking people I know. She's also a real-life #BossLady.

After Mia and I agreed to never take men seriously in 2014, I got married to Darie in 2015 while Mia got engaged shortly after. Jacques told Darie we were invited to their wedding during our own "wedding party" in the Philippines. We didn't expect for it to be in France! I was so excited as soon as I got the official invite because Darie and I have never been to France. We packed a bunch of non-black outfits and prepared for a full week of fun, food, music and drinking!

We stayed at Hotel Le Brittany & Spa in Roscoff, one of the nicest hotels in the area and home to a Michelin-star restaurant. This was our view during breakfast!

A glimpse of the super cute Roscoff known for its picturesque architecture

Darie and I found it bizarre that people left their boats there during low tide - won't that damage the boats? I guess not.

On the first day we drove to Saint-Pol-de-Léon for a welcoming party for all the guests.

We picked Steven up along the way. He's been my friend since kinder! We were classmates until high school in Cebu and he's one of the best musicians I know. He also performed at our wedding party and we planned to jam together with Jacques (he plays the sax) during this wedding. Steven is a professional wedding guest- he is the biggest extrovert I know and he can play anything on the piano- the perfect formula for getting invited to every wedding.

A third of my photos are from Steven. Here's an obligatory iPhone selfie before heading to the venue and before I drank myself to death.

#TeamHusky all the way from New York

The venue for the first day was Jacques' grandfather's house. It was beautiful!

There was a dreamy rose garden behind it!

It was picture-perfect and we all took turns taking Facebook profile photos around the area

Dress from Self-Portrait, bag from Chanel & shoes from Valentino

The bride! She designed this dress, as well as her wedding gown and all of the bridesmaids' dresses (see it on part 2)

Holly, the Maid of Honor and another good friend from Cebu who's also an Interior Designer!

This woman needs no introduction [Anne]

Caught up with Camilla who now lives & works in Milan! She modeled for Mia & I a while back.

Evil (but delicious) rosé

I never found out where the food was (Steven's photos) because I was busy dancing and drinking and losing my phone that night

I did get to try the most delicious strawberries that night - from their own garden, amazing!

I'm pretty sure I had some of the scallops

This was when everyone started dancing and towards the end of the night I somehow managed to sing with Steven on the piano and Jacques on the sax! I don't remember a thing but a bunch of people tried to remind me the next day... I sang Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald.

Darie and I arriving at Steven's hotel the morning after, in a serious hunt for PROTEIN in a town where carb-loving cafes open at 11 AM. I remember wanting to work out (hence the gym clothes) but I was still recovering from the night before and Darie was too hungry to function.