Angelo + Sterling: DIY Filipino-American wedding in Venice, Florida

Angelo and Sterling’s DIY wedding centered around bringing their two cultures together: Filipino and American. The Venice, Florida, couple married on stage at the Venice Performing Arts Center. Their creative theme of elegance and light included peacock feathers and flowers adorning the stage, wooden altar and lanterns on the tables. Both partners wore custom-made embroidered Filipino Barong Tagalog coats designed by Heritage Barong. Sterling designed and baked the ube and green tea matcha wedding cake himself. Continuing on with the DIY theme, the two grooms created many of the decorations themselves.

The stage is where the couple first fell in love, so it was the perfect place to showcase the union of their two different cultures and spiritual traditions. The Filipino-American couple married their different upbringings in their hyphenated last name—both partners are now Jasa-Phillips.

The Florida couple says their biggest challenge was fear: they were conscious that “anything could happen for LGBTQ+ couples,” but they overwhelmingly found vendors were enthusiastic about making the day magical. “Take your time and don’t be afraid to create what you envision,” they advise other LGBTQ+ couples. “Be creative, and stick to your gut on how you envision your wedding day.”