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Metro Weddings Exclusive: Ivy Almario and Koichi Masaki

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<div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770428697902METRO WEDDINGS IVY KOICHI COVER.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Ivy Almario and Koichi Masaki | Photo by NicePrint Photo</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>There is no story lovelier than a love story, but some stories are lovelier than others. While the norm may be to associate a love story with young people with stars in their eyes, like Romeo and Juliet, or any number of chick lit titles, there’s something deeper and especially moving when two people, who have loved and lost, love again.</p><p>Recently, interior designer<strong> Ivy Almario</strong> posted her wedding photos to a handsome and dignified groom in traditional Japanese Samurai garb. Ivy was as radiant in the sun, and while she was effusively grateful to <strong>Leo Posadas</strong> for her bridal glam, it was clear that the luminous aura was all her own.</p><p>As soon as our Zoom call was done, Ivy, as promised, sent us the touching toast her <em>Ate</em> Cecile gave at her wedding reception. “Perfect timing. We call it by other names. Kismet, fate, serendipity. God’s grace. Destiny. Koh and Ivy were destined to meet,” Cecile began. “To each other’s surprise, they formed a very easy friendship that was marked by authentic conversations about the roads they had traveled and the bumps in the road that had caused them to skid... Finally, we are here to celebrate with them the triumph of hope and love.”</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770256716190embed_ART09151.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770262681232embed_BAZ_2369.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770257186504embed_ART06708.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><p>Ivy also started her story by saying, “It was destiny.” Ivy and her late husband, <strong>Yong Nieva</strong>, were devoted students of Argentine Tango; they had been studying the art form with Jang and Jenn Lopez for years. Ivy had been married to Yong for two decades, and when he suddenly passed away, she was determined to give him the best send-off. But soon, she was right back in her busy life, as one half of <strong>Atelier Almario</strong>, one of the most in-demand design studios in the country, and as a driving force behind the PIID (<strong>Philippine Institute of Interior Designers</strong>)<strong></strong>, the dynamic group of professionals in interior design.</p><p>“That year, I was traveling every month,” Ivy recalls. “So when Jenn asked me, &#x27;Are you ready to start dating again?&#x27; My answer was NO!” But Jenn wasn’t so easily dissuaded. A Japanese gentleman, of a Samurai family no less, and an engineer who was doing consulting for Mitsubishi, was also an ardent devotee of tango and had told Jenn of his wish to meet a lady who was also passionate about tango. His name was <strong>Koichi Masaki</strong>; like Ivy, he was also in a long marriage, but he became a widower in the dying days of the COVID pandemic. Jenn persisted, singing her praises of Koh, of his being a citizen of the world, of speaking five languages, and his many academic and professional accolades; and so, Ivy relented. In between her comings and goings, she said she had one night free, but only for an hour. She had back-to-back events and could only spare time for a quick <em>merienda</em>.</p><div><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770257757850embed_ART06878.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770257938589embed_ART06572.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770257970090embed_ART07413.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770262724053embed_BAZ_2467.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770262751830embed_BAZ_2087.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Heart to heart over <em>halo-halo</em></strong></div><p>Everyone who knows Ivy knows her warmth, her candor, and her irrepressible humor. She is always well dressed, immaculately coiffed and groomed, even when visiting a construction site. But since she was attending an event, she was at her glamorous, sexy best. “From that first meeting, I could see his eyes pop <em>na</em>!” And she punctuates her story with her trademark throaty laugh. “But I really was thinking, nothing, nothing. We were just chatting. And when the hour was almost done, I asked him if his order was good. He had ordered <em>halo-halo</em>, and he said that it was not good. So, the Romulo Cafe in BGC was literally across the street, and not telling him that I was a part owner, I said, if you’re willing to walk across the street, I promise you a <em>halo-halo</em> that you’ll enjoy.” They spoke freely of their lives, losing their longtime spouses, and their shared love of travel. But Ivy was still resisting, and not to be coy, but because she really wasn’t thinking of falling in love.</p><p>She does remember that even at that first meeting, as she was crossing the street, he held her arm, and she felt a wave of safety and security come over her. “I noticed how strong his arm was, and it made me feel so safe. When I asked why he had such strong arms, he said, It comes from playing polo.”</p><p>They would chat on the phone, and he would invite her to travel, but she said, no. But one lunch would change all that. Her friend and astrologer of three decades, <strong>Jeannie Javelosa</strong>, told her, “You must come to my apartment, the colors you chose for me came out so nice, you must see them.” Over dinner, she told Jeannie about Koh, and the astrologer in Jeannie just casually asked her when his birthday is, and so Ivy called her new friend, with this cheeky request: “I am asking you something that you can never ask me: when were you born?” Jeannie punched in their dates to do a quick glimpse of their charts, and then revealed, “Ivy, he will be the source of your greatest healing.”</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770262522902embed_ART09467.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770263079754embed_TUR07366.jpg" style="width:700px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="700"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px;display:block" width="700"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770262607281embed_ART09418.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="700"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false">When the bride is an interior designer, florist and event designer Gideon Hermosa said, &quot;The bouquet becomes architecture. Form. Line. Negative space. A floral form that mirrors the bride’s design language.&quot;</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Love makes the world go round</strong></div><p>“When Jeannie said that, that’s when I began to lean in,” Ivy shares. “Our first date was a trip to Naples. But I always made it clear, I will set my boundaries, I will take care of my airfare and my hotel stays. You can handle everything else. And I think he liked that. He always says that if I didn’t have a career in Los Angeles, we wouldn’t have gotten along. And I also say that if he hadn’t had a career in Brussels and studied abroad, we also wouldn’t have gotten along, if he had just lived in Japan all his life.”</p><p>Traveling became their love language. “I am a good navigator. I am a pilot’s daughter, and so, traveling is easy for me. He has the mind of an engineer, so he’s the same, and so we got to know each other by traveling. Do you know when we got back from Naples, everyone asked us if we liked the pizza, and guess what? We are the only people who went to Naples and didn’t have the pizza!”</p><p>In addition to being able to travel well together, their respective families embraced their togetherness. “My son said, ‘I like Koh because he is a strong man, who can be strong with all the strong Almario women,” Ivy says with motherly pride. “And Koh marvels at my sisters, he asked me, do you know how unique you all are?” Koh also introduced Ivy to his Belgian in-laws, who are part of his tight circle. “I felt that since he had stayed close to his in-laws, even if his wife had passed away, he must really be a good person.” So much so that even if they hadn’t been dating that long, Ivy invited Koh to her son’s small, cozy wedding in Slovenia.</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770263253177embed_BAZ_3745.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770263780469embed_ART09478.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770263841828embed_ART08108.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770263331286embed_BAZ_3910.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px;display:block" width="700"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770263355646embed_BAZ_3013.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="700"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false">A statement piece in the wedding of Ivy and Koi was this floral sculpture that looked soft yet powerful at the same time. Event designer Gideon Hermosa said, &quot;For Ivy, a celebrated interior designer, the concept was never about excess. It was about form, texture, and meaning. Sculptural florals paired with architectural elements, an interplay of nature and structure, softened but deliberate. She gave us full creative freedom, and in return, we honored her language of space: simple, thoughtful, and quietly special.&quot;</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>But when it came to her own wedding, Ivy needed some convincing. “I was so happy with our arrangement, of traveling together, and one day, I said, we don’t have to get married, we can just stay this way,” Ivy confesses. But her beau was insistent. “He told me, &#x27;No, I want to marry you and protect you. I have proposed to you so many times.&#x27; And I was just so clueless! He had written me a Valentine&#x27;s card, and he wrote, &#x27;Let me always be by your side!&#x27; To him, that was already a proposal, but to me, it was just a Valentine&#x27;s card. And then, one of those times we were dancing tango, and he told me that he wanted to dance with me forever, and that was also a wedding proposal to him. I’m telling you, the Japanese are so low-key!” And then she laughs again.</p><p>When it was time to plan their wedding, everything fell into place. “I was a very chill bride. And you know why? Because I knew that all the people at our wedding weren’t there to be impressed. They were there because they loved us and wanted to share in our story.”</p><p>“I wanted it ‘almost elopement’ style, the way my son had done when he got married in Slovenia, so we kept the wedding guest list to those who are really close to us. And I’m a person who doesn’t like to impose. I would say to friends, &#x27;Hey, I’m sorry that it is a weekday and that it’s out of town.&#x27; They all said, &#x27;Are you crazy? We will go because we want to go, any day and anywhere it is!&#x27;”</p><p>Ivy’s first decision was to book<strong> Berlyn Yap</strong> as the wedding planner. “And that’s all I did. Shortly after we had booked <strong>Antonio&#x27;s</strong>, a niece-in-law told me that <strong>Char (Tinio of NicePrint)</strong> wanted to meet me and wanted to do the pictures for our wedding. We just met once, and she just did it all. Even our flowers, at first, Cynthia (Almario, her sister and partner in Atelier Almario) was going to do it. But a friend knew <strong>Gideon (Hermosa)</strong>, and just days before the wedding, he agreed to do it! He called Cynthia and asked what my favourite flowers were. Cynthia told him, Phalaenopsis, but not over the top. And he knew what to do.”</p><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770263897871embed_ART09599.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770263967272embed_BAZ_4172.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><p>For her glam team, she only had one choice:<strong> </strong>Leo Posadas<strong></strong> had done her hair and makeup when Atelier Almario had done a collab with Genteel Home, and during a photo shoot to promote the collab, she had already told him that she would book him for her wedding.</p><p>For her bridal gown, Ivy was equally decisive. “A few years ago, for an event, I had borrowed a gown from Cynthia, made by <strong>Joel Escober</strong>. It was peach, and it fit perfectly, so I told Joel to just make a lighter version of it.”</p><p>When Ivy’s now husband, Koh Masaki, first told Ivy that he wanted to marry her, she still had some doubts and fears. But her sister, who is also her confidant and advisor, told her, “What are you waiting for?” We spoke to her a few days after her wedding, and she says, “That was the day that I felt the most beautiful in my entire life.” For a lady who creates beautiful spaces for people to live out their most beautiful lives, it was a day that she totally and rightly deserved.</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770264249533embed_ART09541.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="display:block"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770264282251embed_ART09496.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Alexine Narvasa created this two-tiered cake. The bottom layer is spiced carrot cake, and the top layer is brown butter pecan cake.</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="display:block"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770264195191embed_ART09489.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">This Ginny de Guzman creation is a chocolate truffle and limoncello cake.</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770264303730embed_ART09836.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>Photos by <strong>NicePrint Photo</strong></p><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div>

<p><i>“Everything just fell into place</i>,<i>“ Ivy Almario says of her recent dream wedding, and she shares with us how being a chill bride resulted in the best possible wedding day.</i></p>

“Everything just fell into place , “ Ivy Almario says of her recent dream wedding, and she shares with us how being a chill bride resulted in the best possible wedding day.

How Ivy Almario and Koichi Masaki Found Each Other at the Perfect Time

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How Ivy Almario and Koichi Masaki Found Each Other at the Perfect Time

Leah Puyat

Published Feb 07, 2026 10:05 AM PHT

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Updated Feb 07, 2026 11:15 AM PHT

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