October 2019 nang magkaroon ng special press conference ang ngayon ay mag-asawa ng sina Richard Gutierrez at Sarah Lahbati para i-announce that they are finally tying the knot in March 2020, bale three years after Richard proposed to Sarah in the midst of their snowy vacation trek of Zermatt town in Switzerland, Sarah’s place of birth.
In the same save-the-date press con, Richard revealed that he has planned to marry Sarah even earlier on, but then the ABS-CBN fantaserye La Luna Sangre came along. He got preoccupied. No’ng matapos naman ang La Luna, Kai, their second baby happened.
“So, now, finally stable na kami, si Kai, one year-and-a half na and ah, we feel like it’s really the right time,” explain pa ni then future groom Richard in the press con. “So, ito na ’yong perfect opportunity for us to get married.”
Sa part ni Sarah, hindi naman daw siya nainip dahil very stable ang relasyon nilang dalawa.
Kung nasunod daw ang mga original nilang plano, gusto sana ni Sarah ng European wedding at pagkatapos ay magha-honeymoon sila sa Costa Rica.
“Originally, we were considering to do it in Switzerland or somewhere outside of the country,” say ni Richard. “Pero na-realize din namin na we wanted all our family and friends to be there...malaki ’yong side ng pamilya ko sa Pilipinas, malaki din ang side ng family ni Sarah dito...mahirap ilipad lahat. Hindi namin mai-invite lahat. So, we figured na we’ll have the celebration here na kasama ang lahat ng mga mahal namin sa buhay.”
While both of them had past relationships, Sarah said Richard was his first serious one. “Basta si Sarah, naiiba sa lahat dahil siya lang ’yong minahal ko nang ganito at siya lang ’yong nagpasaya sa akin nang ganito.”
Ani pa ni Richard, hindi siya iniwan ni Sarah noong mga panahong down siya.
“We were tested, our relationship was tested,” Richard went on. “During those hard times, all we had was each other...there was a time na I realized who my real friends are—and I needed that. I needed that in my life. And all throughout those times, si Sarah ang kasama ko. We grew together. And I’m very thankful for her during those times and until now.”
Fast forward to 2020.
Enero palang ay excited na ang mga fans ng dalawa at ang buong showbiz saan magaganap na kasalan. Noong una ay wala pang makatunog kung anong petsa sa Marso magaganap ang highly-anticipated event. Hanggang sa makumpirmang March 14 ito at magaganap sa Shangri-La at the Fort, in Bonifacio Global City sa Taguig.
Samantala, November 2019 nang unang pumutok ang balita tungkol sa CoVid-19 sa Wuhan, China at araw-araw ay palala nang palala ang balita. January 30 nang may makumpirmang Covid-19 positive sa Metro Manila at nadadagdagan ang bilang araw-araw.
By March 12, nagkaroon umano nang masinsinang meeting ang buong pamilya kasabay nang balitang baka ipa-lockdown ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte—na isa sa mga napabalitang ninong nila—ang Metro Manila. Kinahapunan that same day, in-announce na nina Richard at Sarah sa Instagram na hindi na nga muna matutuloy ang kasalan.
Their post read: “As much as we want to celebrate our love with our family and friends, in light of the recent situation we have decided to postpone our wedding as we do not want to put anyone at risk. Thank you so much to those who flew in and to everyone who worked so hard for our special day. We only wish good health for everyone and we hope to celebrate with you as soon as things get better. Much love, Richard & Sarah.”
But on March 14, Richard and Sarah pushed through with the wedding after all. Officiated by Judge Bernard Bernal with the spiritual guidance of Pastor John Ong, the intimate wedding, made Richard and Sarah—a couple of eight years—Mr. and Mrs. Gutz.
The lovely Mrs. Gutz granted pikapika.ph an interview via email. Thus, for the first time, she is talking about that very special day in her life that almost didn’t happen.
Here’s our Q&A:
We heard there was a big meeting prior to the announcement na ika-cancel na ang wedding...when it was finally decided on, how heartbreaking was it for you and Chard? Naiyak ka ba? Si Chard?
We decided to call everyone involved with the wedding including our families to announce that we have decided to postpone the wedding for everyone's safety. It was quite a sad day for everyone involved but it was more important to overlook our own feelings and prioritise everyone's health and safety during this time.
Who’s decision was it na ituloy pa rin ng intimate ceremony? Was March 14 a special day for you guys kaya dapat matuloy on that day?
It was both Chard and I who decided to push through with the civil wedding. My parents were also very supportive on this decision for us to be one in marriage for God, for ourselves and for our kids. At the end of the day, our love doesn't necessarily need a massive wedding party for it to work. The right time for us to celebrate with our loved ones will come. It's all about our love for each other.
March is indeed a special month for us. We got engaged on March 20th, 2017 and our little angel Kai was born on March 21, 2018. It just felt right to do it.
But nagkaroon ka ba, as a bride, ng emotional moment na tinitingnan mo ba ang gown mo na di mo masusuot that day?
Mas nangibabaw ang pagiging protective ko kesa sa sarili kong mga emotions when we decided to postpone the wedding. My concern wasn't about wedding dress being store for awhile or "sayang hindi ko masusuot", I felt more worried about everyone's safety including my own family's safety.
If it’s okay to ask, how many supposedly ang invited guests talaga? More or less, ilan ang umuwi pa from abroad?
500+ guests. Around 30-40 people flew from different parts of the world for us. We felt bad this all happened but again, it's for the better and for everyone's safety.
And after the soc-med announcement, isa-isa n’yong tinext/tinawagan to formally say na cancelled?
We are grateful to have our amazing wedding planner Amanda Tirol and her team help us message all our guests about the postponement of the wedding.
How does it feel noong kinakasal na kayo...that you were actually exchanging I do’s na?
It felt perfect. We were all happy and felt blessed to be with our small family and pastor.
Did anything change between you and Chard right after the wedding? Cause you’ve been with Chard a long time, may nabago pa ba sa perpective mo sa kanya?
More than anything, mas minahal namin ang isa't isa. We are excited for this new life as a married couple. Our lives as couples have always been full of surprises and now even more love for each other.
May idea na ba si Zion about what wedding is? Was he excited?
Zion briefly knows what a wedding means. He was excited and very happy for us that day we were preparing to leave for our civil wedding. He kept announcing at home "MAMA AND DADA ARE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!" with the biggest smile. :)
Btw, how many days did it take for you guys to shoot the amazing prenup shoot? Was that in Palawan?
It took us 2-3 days to shoot our prenup memories in El Nido with Bob Nicholas and Pat Dy.
How are you guys coping with the corona virus crisis?
We're all okay. :)
Are you learning new things? Did you take up new hobby?
Right now, I've been home schooling Zion and playing with Kai. Chard has been very helpful too in terms of taking care and playing with the kids. I've been busy working on raising funds to be able to donate urgent needs to different hospitals, health workers and front liners. Eventually, we hope to reach drivers and people in need of help.
We read that you and the while Gutz Family are also doing FundDrive for the crisis...who thought of it and what’s each one’s participation?
We were all in the living room one night and my dad brought up the topic of doing something to help. That same moment, Chard and I started getting in touch with friends for help. I started researching current needs and started ordering necessities. The whole family quickly came on board too. The next couple of days I started a fundraiser online https://gogetfunding.com/labansacovid/ to add help to what we were already doing at home.
I'm currently getting a lot of help from my friend Mikaela Martinez who is directly talking to different hospitals and doctors to find out their current urgent needs. From there, we slowly but surely ship whatever arrives home to the recipients. We're also still looking for individuals and brands who might have access to non- perishable food items as well as contacts for medical supplies.
I can't emphasise enough how crucial it is for hospitals and health workers to receive PPEs (medical supplies). My lovely friend, Bela [Padilla] called me up this morning to help me out with my logistics going forward with us. I'm grateful to her for everything she's done to help out and to everyone taking part in helping our kababayans.
Fans are asking kung kelan ang big celebration? May Napili na ba kayong bagong date? Or will it take another year to prep just like the March 14 date?
No date yet. We have bigger priorities right now. At the right time, everything will fall into place. We are extremely grateful for all the love and support from family, friends and fans.
