Newlyweds Lotlot and Fadi (center) with guests —PHOTOS BY ATOM MAGADIA
It’s a life marker,” said film producer Anna Prado Magadia when the Inquirer asked her to describe the wedding of actress Lotlot de Leon and longtime partner, Lebanese businessman Fadi El Soury, in San Juan, Batangas, on Monday.
“People kept saying it was the perfect time for it. Everybody was glad for the couple. Lotlot was so happy, and Fadi doted on her,” Magadia said of the event that took place at the El Jardin de Zayda. “She is an amazing actress, but you will see that she is also incredibly sincere. I never cry at weddings, but this was different. The minute they walked in, you could see that they were so happy.”
Magadia line-produced the dramatic film “Dagsin,” which featured Lotlot and her daughter Janine Gutierrez in the cast. It was directed by her husband, Atom.
Magadia said the couple’s guests—“a mix of people from show business and from outside”—were also happy for Lotlot and Fadi. “The journey has not been easy for them, and everybody knows that. They withstood a lot of trials together,” she told the Inquirer on Wednesday.
She said Lotlot’s children—Janine, Diego, Maxine and Jessica Gutierrez, all spoke and congratulated the couple; and so did Lotlot’s sister, actress Matet de Leon. Two prayers were offered during the event, one by actress Lara Melissa de Leon, who is the sister of Lotlot’s dad, Christopher. “Another was delivered in a foreign language. I’m guessing that was for Fadi,” Magadia added.
Lotlot (left) with dad Christopher de Leon
She said she failed to see Lotlot’s mom, veteran actress Nora Aunor, at the wedding. “I guess what’s important was that the children, her dad, Sandy (Andolong, Christopher’s wife), and the De Leon clan were there,” she pointed out. “It felt like an intimate event. Only people close to them were present. I’m more familiar with Lotlot’s friends, so I also couldn’t tell if Fadi’s parents were there.”
What Magadia considered as the highlight of the event was the dance portion. “The couple’s dance was very moving, but so was Lotlot’s dance with her dad. You can really see how happy the bride was. You could feel the love—it’s actually radiating from all of them, particularly from the couple.”
Magadia added: “What everybody was talking about were the fireworks. This happened when they were dancing. Interestingly enough, a flock of birds scattered the moment the fireworks began. It wasn’t planned, but it came out so beautifully.
“The music, the fireworks, the moon and the birds,” she recalled. “The whole setup was so romantic.”
Magadia observed that it was drizzling during the earlier part of the ceremony. “It was a garden wedding, so this got everyone concerned. It’s amazing because, after the cocktails and while going to the reception, everything was dry, as if it didn’t drizzle at all.”
Lotlot, 47, was formerly married to actor Christopher “Monching” Gutierrez, the father of her four children.