When you first get married, 20 years can feel like a distant milestone in the future. But as you build a life together, it passes in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, you’ve raised a family with the love of your life, and reaching that milestone feels like both a reflection and a new beginning. For Oly Ruiz and his family, this special moment was marked in none other than the country of love and romance.
“Of course, I am forever grateful to the love of my life for everything that I am, and we are now. This is nothing to what you deserve and mean to us, I love you,” he wrote on his Instagram.
Oly Ruiz is one of the country’s top photographers, specializing in weddings, having captured the big day of some of the country’s top artists, including; Lovi Poe and Monty Blencowe’s wedding in England and, Megan Young and Mikael Daez Wedding in Subic. Recently, things were quite different. In a chateau in France, he was now the one celebrating a milestone in love and in life, with his family and friends.
“I think about how I want things to be before, parang ganun siya nangyari in the last 20 years,” Oly recalls.
It’s now more than 20 years after Oly and Niña first said their I do’s as young bright-eyed individuals who were excited to build a life together and start a family. They are now blessed with three children, 19, 17, and 10 years old. What started as a natural friendship at Ateneo MBA eventually blossomed into a romance, and eventually, into a life.
“We had a natural chemistry. Everything is better when I’m with her, she instantly makes me happier. When you have innate compatibility, everything feels natural.”
“I find her funny and I think she finds me funny” Oly narrates. “She was always also very supportive of me and what I liked to pursue. She’s an enabler who inspires me to go after my dreams.”
He reflects that though passion is exciting, it cannot be the one to sustain a relationship. Oly describes their beautiful relationship as a complimentary, fun, and supportive one. Not to say that it’s not without its fights, but with love there is always an initiative to make it work.
“There’s always big things in life that you wanna achieve or get. At the end of the day, what’s important are little things,” he shares.
For instance, despite his busy schedule Oly always makes time for the family. Both them agreed from the start that their kids would never be compromised. Outside their busy schedules, they make it a time to spend moments and milestones together, doing activities like working out and traveling.
Celebrating a Milestone in the Country of Love
…and so, the entire Ruiz family travelled to France. Niña attended the event, thinking that she was going to a photo shoot in lieu of their anniversary. Little did she know that Oly had an entire ceremony planned out for her. It’s the stuff you see in movies. In a garden inside a picturesque chateau, before family and friends, they renewed their vows for one another. Nostalgia, love, and happiness filled the site…and as if the weather was in on the planning, it was perfect. Oly was wearing a white tuxedo, while Niña was dressed in an elegant white mermaid-cut gown.
“It’s like wow, 20 years? I felt like it was nice to do it with the kids now present. So, they can see it, they can be a part of it…that’s a big deal also”
As a wedding photographer who was now the groom, he got the chance to shoot “the most beautiful bride with their children.”
Despite taking some shots on the day itself, Oly allowed himself to get lost in the moment, handing the reins to the Metro Photography team.
“There is no moment for me that’s more beautiful and more precious. I wasn’t a wedding photographer when Nina and I got married twenty years ago, and I never thought I’d ever get the chance to shoot her like this until the kids and I planned a surprise renewal of vows.
As Oly and his family renewed their vows, the moment was not only a celebration of the past two decades but a reaffirmation of their love for always. Reflecting on their journey, Oly summed it up perfectly: “I hope things stay like this for a long time.”
Alike was created to inspire, built on society and storytelling — it’s curating the best features of the country’s brightest luminaries, orchestrating events catered towards the country’s top, to showcasing the finest gems in art, lifestyle, and culture.
Alike is the next generation, the movers, the shakers of today.
We are Alike.
