NEWLYWEDS Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo succeeded in keeping details of their wedding top secret.

They were that serious in balancing the demands of celebrity with their need for a normal life, their friends noted.

Judai?as the actress is known in show biz circles?explained in a series of past interviews with the Inquirer that her only wish was to keep their wedding day as solemn and serene as possible.

Hush-hush ceremonies

If all went as planned, Judai would have gotten her wish when she tied the knot with Ryan in hush-hush ceremonies Tuesday.

Throughout their year-long engagement, the two managed to keep the press guessing and all published reports have faltered regarding the details.

Filmmaker Jose Javier Reyes, who worked with the Agoncillos in the Metro Manila Film Fest movies ?Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo? and ?Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo,? as well as in the forthcoming ABS-CBN comedy series ?George and Cecil,? told the Inquirer: ?There?s TV coverage, but the couple retained full creative control.?

The Agoncillos, Reyes observed, know exactly what they want?both in the smaller picture of the wedding and the bigger one of ?life after the ceremony.?

?Polar opposites?

If there?s one thing that made the couple click, Reyes commented, it?s that they are precisely ?polar opposites.?

At first they seemed to be the most unlikely couple. He?s the English-speaking La Salle Boy; she?s masang masa, a soap opera queen.?

Another filmmaker, Dante Nico Garcia, who is directing the wedding?s TV coverage on ABS-CBN, said: ?For strangers, they may seem different. But they actually have the same likes and dislikes. They keep each other grounded and real.?

Reyes added: ?Ryan showed Judai a world she was afraid to look at; Judai introduced Ryan to a world he never gave importance to.?

Agreed Noel Ferrer, Ryan?s manager: ?Judai and Ryan were good for each other. They became kinder and gentler, more competent in their endeavors and, physically, they glow ? They take care of themselves more.?

The ?difference? spelled the difference.

?They complement each other. My wish is that when they?re in their 70s, they?d still continue learning from each other,? Garcia said.

Core values

Ferrer concurred with Garcia and offered another take on why the couple clicked: ?They are seemingly different, but they converged at a certain point. Maybe because they share the same core values.?

One of those principles, Ferrer asserted, is a ?commitment to build a strong family life together.?

The Agoncillos? journey as a couple will be expressed in a wedding song whose lyrics Reyes wrote, with music by composer Ryan Cayabyab, whom the groom had worked with in ?Philippine Idol.?

?It?s entitled ?Kuwento Nating Dalawa,?? Reyes said.

?It really captured their story as a couple,? Ferrer said.

The song is set to debut on May 2, at the couple?s party with show biz friends, to be held in Makati.

Singer Martin Nievera also gifted the couple with a song entitled ?Unchanging Love.?

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