Soon-To-Wed Couple Ella Pangilinan and Enrique Miranda Share Their Love Story

Most cover shoots are planned with an aesthetic concept. This one is a little different. This venue is a way for the cover couple to somehow reconnect with how it all began and how their love story unfolded. It’s also apt as it is a popular wedding spot. It’s still set in a beautiful place, Palacio de Memoria, a heritage home filled with European art and antiques, two old airplanes on the front lawn and stately trees dotting the property; but more importantly, it is an integral part of the love story of our cover couple.

Perfectly matched

“We had our first Valentine's here. It was so special for me because I love art, I love history, and the fact that Enrique brought me here really meant a lot; it showed that he was really listening to what I said when we first met,” recalls Ella Pangilinan, daughter of actress and author Maricel Laxa and business mentor, motivational speaker and entrepreneur extraordinaire Anthony Pangillinan; sister of matinee idol Donny Pangilinan; and a social media star in her own right. 

Her fiancé, Enrique Lhuillier Miranda, grandson of Ambassador Philippe Lhuillier and son of Angelique Lhuillier Miranda of auction house Casa de Memoria and the aforementioned Palacio de Memoria, then adds, “It didn’t look like this yet; the floor hadn't been fixed, the paintings and antiques were still everywhere. My mom was just about to start to fix things up but I really wanted to share the place with her. When my grandfather first bought the house, I could tell that he was really proud of it, and since my mom is super into art and antiques, it was such big job to restore the house and put everything into its place.”

When Ella and Enrique first met, it was not by accident. Family friend to both the Lhuilliers and the Pangilinans, publicist and everyone’s best friend Ferdi Salvador had told their respective mothers that he wanted to set them up. Ella had her doubts but her mom convinced her by saying, “Ferdi will be ‘hiya’ to introduce you to someone who's not nice so why not just try and see what he’s like.” So at an event that he was planning in Manila House, both mothers convinced the young ones to attend the event so that Ferdi could orchestrate the introduction.

Go the (long) distance

“When I met Enrique, I was about to leave for Florence and study design, and I really didn’t want to go into a long distance relationship. But somehow , he convinced me!” Ella admits, with a soft laugh. “It helps that he went through my dad. He really asked my dad first. Well, he asked a lot of the right questions. These days, guys just slide into your DMs, and there’s really nothing wrong with that but I still prefer the old-school way of doing things. I didn’t want to ‘just date’!”

For the first two years of their relationship, Enrique was studying business in Sydney and Ella was learning design in Florence. She said, “I got to really have my own life in Florence. Study and see the city in the day with my friends, and talk to Enrique at night. It was really a time of self-discovery and I’m glad that I got to do it.”

“For me, time in Sydney was just being in the library or talking to my professors, so it was study , study , study,” Enrique reveals. “But when we would have our breaks, and we would both be back in Manila, we would spend all our time catching up.”

So how did they figure out that this was more than “just dating”? “Well after two years of doing long distance, and then by our third year, we were back in Manila, I already knew this was serious, serious, serious,” Enrique confesses.  

“For me, it was when I saw that this was already bigger than ourselves. During the pandemic, his mom invited my family to Tali (beach) and wow, everyone got along so well. It gave me a vision of what my future could be, of what it would be like to have in-laws, and at the end of the day, we are both so close to our families,” Ella reminisces. “Just last night, my brother was out with her brother and sister! Our siblings are so close with each other,” Enrique adds.

Knowing that in-laws very rarely meld together so easily, I tell them, “You’ve hit the jackpot!” Ella replies without missing a beat, “It’s God’s grace. Really, it’s not on us, but God’s fingerprints are all over.”

“We both have prayerful families and we know they’ve been praying a lot for us,” concurs Enrique.

Ella also says, “We are not alike but we are aligned. We may be different but we have the same values. Maybe we don't always understand each other’s work, but we are here to listen to each other.”

But Enrique is quick to add, “But there are times when our work will cross over, like when we made the TIKTOK, Bisaya 101 with Enrique, that’s her most viewed video! And there will be times when she needs business advice, and I do give it to her.”

Then, Ella smilingly adds, “Enrique likes to say that he’s private but he loves it when he gets recognized from being on my videos.”

Of old rings and new memories

Enrique is also proud to tell the story of Ella’s engagement ring. “When I told my mom that I needed a ring, she brought out some pieces. I could tell that she was kind of testing me, too, but growing up in the jewelry business, I had developed an ‘eye’ so when I picked one, my mom was so happy because it was a ring that my grandparents had given to her.”

While Ella and Enrique exude the boundless love and giddy romantic bliss of an engaged couple, they are the first to admit that wedding planning is not a bed of roses.  In one of her Tiktok videos, Ella talks about prioritizing her mental health as she takes on the gargantuan task of wedding planning and starting a new life. 

“Yes, I make sure that I make time to see my therapist, and not let the stress of wedding planning get to me. We are not perfect,” she says emphatically. Enrique agrees with her, saying, “We have mentors, and when we have needed counseling, we do get it.

So their strategy: Divide and conquer. Enrique goes, “I’m in charge of the party! The alcohol, the DJ, that’s all on me.” The two were also united in their choice of theme. “I hate wearing suits!” Enrique declares.  

Ella got together with a friend who creates marketing campaigns and created a whole deck.  “I didn’t want to  rely on pegs.  And I wanted everyone, from the coordinator to my hair and makeup person to the florist to literally be on the same page, and so that’s why even before I had a single meeting with a single supplier, I wanted all my visuals and inspirations all in a single deck.”

The choice of the wedding dress designer is also deeply sentimental. “He [the designer] was my mom’s high school classmate so he would always make her gowns when she had occasions. I would always tag along to her fittings and watch her try on these beautiful gowns and I loved it. So now that I am the one getting my gown made is such a full circle moment.”

But when asked what they are truly looking forward to, their answer is sweet and simple. “Just us, being together, just us,” says Enrique. And Ella smiles at him as she silent nods her head.

Photographer: Rxandy Capinpin

Metro Head: Christina Lopez 

Editor-in-Chief: Geolette Esguerra

Sittings editors: Red Dimaandal, Grace Libero-Cruz, and Kate Paras-Santiago

Art Director: Raff Colmenar 

Content producer: Judy Arias

Editorial Assistant: Mika Yusay

Makeup and Grooming by Rick Calderon, assisted by Jomar Soria and Nell Almarez

Hairstyling by Mark Rosales

Styling by Cath Sobrevega, assisted by Gail Ong and Mika Alejo

Videographer: Giancarlo Escamillas 

Photography assistant: Daniel Manalastas

Shot on location at Palacio de Memoria

Special thanks to Guilt Free Food