(From left) Art Atayde, Sylvia Sanchez, Arjo Atayde, Maine Mendoza, Mary Ann Mendoza, Teodoro Mendoza. Image: Facebook/Sylvia Sanchez
Arjo Atayde and Maine Mendoza are one step closer to becoming a married couple as they engaged in a traditional “pamamanhikan” with their families.
Pamamanhikan, in Filipino culture, is a form of respect bestowed by the family of a groom to her soon-to-be bride and her family by visiting her home bearing food and gifts to be shared by both families that would soon be bound by marriage.
Atayde’s mother, seasoned actress Sylvia Sanchez, took to her personal Instagram page on Sunday, June 25, to share glimpses of the couple’s pre-wedding ceremony which took place at Mendoza’s family home.
“The Very Important destination,” she wrote in the caption. The video showed Sanchez presumably talking to a driver as they headed to Mendoza’s home, before they were greeted by the latter.
The couple were then seen posed for a picture with their respective families, via a set of photos posted on Sanchez’s Instagram. One photo also showed Atayde posing with Sanchez and his father Art, while Mendoza was smiling with her parents Mary Ann and Teodoro.
“Pamamanhikan [heart emoji] The Ataydes & Mendozas will soon merge as one family [emojis] Excited,” she wrote.
TV host Melai Cantiveros, TV writer Darla Sauler and actress Melissa Mendez expressed their excitement for the couple’s upcoming wedding in the comments.
Image: Screengrab from Instagram/@sylviasanchez_a
Arjo’s sister, actress Ria Atayde, likewise posted about their family’s pamamanhikan on her Instagram Stories. “Would it be a proper introduction if we weren’t the entire Barangay Atayde? A first for our little barangay,” she said as caption to a picture with their entire family in attendance.
Image from Instagram Stories / @ria
Mendoza and Atayde got engaged last July 28, 2022, which happened exactly four years after they met for the first time. The couple remained mum about the details of their wedding, as of this writing.
The actor also revealed in an engagement video that it was also the same date where the former tweeted the now-famous “Arjo cutie” line — which netizens refer to as a moniker for manifesting or hoping for good things to happen — back in 2013.
In an interview with Mega earlier this month, the host-actress revealed that she always had a “crush” on her partner even though she clarified that their first meeting wasn’t love at first sight.
“I’ve always had a crush on him. We just matched: our personalities are opposites, but somehow our differences make up for what we each lack. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I saw him, and I love him.’ Walang gano’n. I wouldn’t consider it as love at first sight. Does it really happen in real life?” she said. EDV