The Love That Waited:
How Fourteen Years of Friendship Became a Lifetime Vow
They met in October 2008, two teenagers from different worlds converging in a quiet corner of Negros Occidental. Beauty Bañares was from an all-girls school; Mike Golez was from an all-boys institution. It was a Youth Leadership gathering at Don Bosco Technical Institute in Victorias City, one of those formative events you attend without knowing how deeply it will shape your life.
After that first meeting, Mike asked a mutual friend for her number. They began texting, each message a window into the other’s life. Their paths rarely crossed, except during Beauty’s football practices held at his school. While she sprinted across the field, he was nearby doing CAT training drills, quietly watching from a distance, stealing glances when he could.
“There was something comforting about him,” Beauty remembers. “The way he paid attention without trying too hard, the way he respected boundaries while still showing interest, it made me feel safe, seen, and a little bit special.”
Their story unfolded in gentle improvements. High school sweethearts who transformed into partners through college, then professionals navigating the chaos of adulthood. Fourteen years passed quickly marked by shared dreams and inevitable challenges.
“There were years when we were inseparable, and then years when long-distance became our reality,” Beauty says. Work assignments kept them apart, with stretches of loneliness, missed milestones, and the ache of not sharing everyday life in person. Other people came and went, lessons in love that eventually led them back to each other, their bond deepening with every test.
“It wasn’t just about butterflies anymore,” she explains. “It became about trust, patience, understanding, and the daily decision to hold on to what we had.”
By the time Mike proposed in April 2022, their love was no longer an untested promise, but a certainty forged in time. It was Easter Sunday, at the rooftop bar of Seda Central Bloc Cebu. Beauty thought it was just dinner with Mike’s best friend, until the band shifted to a love song and she noticed all eyes on her.
“He looked nervous,” she recalls. “Then suddenly, there he was, walking toward me, pulling out a diamond ring. Everything else faded into the background. It was a blur of emotions; shock, joy, and a little bit of confusion about how he managed to pull it off.”
She said yes, of course. Their families and closest friends had known about it for a month, waiting for that rooftop moment when two lives finally chose forever.
When it came to planning their wedding, the couple began with what mattered most: their date. They married on their 15th anniversary, January 25, 2024, a milestone layered with meaning. Budget talks followed, practical and honest. The couple decided to invest in the experiences that would last beyond the day itself: a beautiful venue, skilled photographers, and memories their guests would carry home.
They envisioned a minimalist yet elegant wedding, with blush pink as their main color, balanced by dusty blue and sage green. “We wanted something timeless, clean, and true to who we are,” Beauty says.
But wedding planning wasn’t seamless. For much of their first year of preparation, Beauty was in Cebu while Mike worked in Boracay. Late-night calls became routine. Venue visits often meant only one of them could attend. It was exhausting and required trust—an early lesson in how marriage, too, will sometimes demand faith in each other’s judgment from afar.
They chose to wed in a church that felt intimate and sacred. For the reception, her dream of a garden wedding gave way to practicality. They settled on a hotel function room with glass doors overlooking a garden, capturing the essence of what she’d imagined while ensuring guests’ comfort.
On the morning of her wedding, Beauty felt a beauty deeper than surface-level, “one that came from feeling loved, confident, and deeply happy.” The emotions were layered: nervousness, excitement, and calm, but beneath it all, readiness. Ready to walk toward the person she had loved through every phase of life.
The moments that remain etched are cinematic in their simplicity: the church doors opening to reveal Mike waiting at the altar; their vows whispered into the sacred hush; the dances with parents and their first dance as husband and wife; the surprise performance by Beauty’s friends who wrote a song just for her; and the after-party where almost every guest stayed, unwilling to leave a celebration that felt so alive.
When asked for advice to couples about to tie the knot, Beauty’s words are simple but wise: “Enjoy the wedding planning. It can get overwhelming, but don’t lose sight of the joy in it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime season, and it goes by so quickly. Celebrate the small wins, laugh through the stressful moments, and remember why you’re doing all of it—to start a life with the person you love.”
And to the man she married, the boy from the leadership camp who watched her train on the football field, the teenager who became her partner and now her husband, she says:
“Thank you for loving me through all our phases, for standing beside me through the years, and for making our love feel steady, even when life wasn’t. Here’s to forever with you, the one I’ll keep choosing, again and again.”
Wedding Suppliers
Coordination: Make Mem'ries Events Specialist
Photographer: EP Studios
Videographer: The Storyteller
Styling & Decoration: Sannys Flowershop by Jesan Inocian
Host: Lenmar Davidon
Bridal Gown: White Mannequin
Bride Entourage Gown: Ysabelle's Gowns To Go Bacolod
Groom & Groomsmen Barong: Rubyline Ladies Fashion
Hair & Makeup: Cheryl O. Garcia (MakeupbyBerta)
Grazing Table: Mezebcd6100
Band: INCH Acoustic
Mobile Bar: Budget cocktails and drinks moto mobile bar by Mars Liu
Photobooth: MetroClick Booth
Church: Sta. Clara Chapel
Reception Venue: Nature’s Village Resort
#LetsMikeitForeverBeauty
