I. Wedding Planning and Requirements Experience

We are a couple who are not fond of planning.

Not that we don’t plan at all, but we usually do things spontaneously.

That is why it took us a year after we got officially engaged to get hitched.

After meeting the parents in person back in December of 2021, that is when we started to work on the requirements.

You may be familiar with the requirements already, but are overwhelmed on which one to accomplish first. So do we. Haha!

So I will just narrate our story of how we got each of the requirements.

The very first requirement that we got was the CENOMAR in January of 2022.

Maybe because if we get it first, it can give us a deadline of six (6) months to get things done. It will help us move, in a way.

We applied via PSA Serbilis along with our Birth Certificates (another requirement) on January 16.

CENOMAR costed Php 430 each, while Birth certificate Php 330 each.

It got delivered after 6 days on January 22.

It is not until February that we started to move with our wedding plans again though. Lol

We roamed around churches with our friends to inquire, as it will be a church wedding.

And we also inquired about wedding venues.

May kinainan pa nga kami na saktong may ikinakasal. Naki-iyak na rin kami. HAHAHA

We also attended two (2) events, one bridal fair and one food tasting.

But we did not commit to any of it yet.

Yes, friends, it is free and you are not obligated to sign up or reserve just because you consumed their goods or tried their services in the event. So don’t get pressured with their sales talks and just say you will think about it.

A lot of them may have some offers which are only valid if you sign up during the event, so if you are aiming for discounts but don’t want to rush in your decisions, I would recommend to attend these kinds of fairs early on so you can still catch them on their future fairs when you are already decided and can get discounts or freebies.

Common question from the suppliers: wedding date. 

But we didn't have one yet so it is easy to get away. Haha

So what we did was we listed out the churches and receptions first and made the budget based on their prices.

Next that we checked out on was the wedding dress and suits.

We went to Divisoria with friends to try on some.

Buti talaga kasama ko sila because I am not comfortable wearing these kinds of dresses and I feel like I owe the sellers since they would make the effort to remove the gowns from the mannequin and have it on me, then return it back.

My signature try-on pose. You'll see more below. 🤣

My friends kept telling me it’s alright because that is their business and they would really have to do that effort to make a sale and I am not obligated to purchase it if I don’t like it or if I am not sure of it.

But I know in my mind that I won’t buy that day, kaya siguro I really was hesitant na pagurin yung mga nagtitinda na magpasukat sa akin ng gowns dahil in my mind nagsasayang lang sila ng pagod…

Pero nakatatlo ako ng gowns na sinukat dito. 
Ang bait niya kasi. 🥺

But I learned something from it.

Initially, I only have some specifications in mind but unsure if it would fit me.

I was thinking baka may mas bagay pa sa akin. 

You know, yung mga nababasa kong pagkasukat daw nila, they felt then and there na yun na!

But after trying on some, it made me realize what I want/didn’t want in my dress. 

I wanted mine to be convenient na hindi ko na kakailanganin ng maraming mag-aassist sa akin, kahit isa lang na magsasara ng zipper sa likod, okay na.

I didn't want it to have so much detail too because I wanted our day to be focused on us. 

Kung bongga yung dress, baka yun na ang maging star of the night eh we're aiming for a homey-feel kind of wedding, I want to be able to move as much as I want and we're also just thinking of a small wedding. 

After ng mga lakad naming ito, we slightly slacked during the dry season/‘summer’ as you may have seen on my post about Edna’s beach camp as well as our trip to Puerto Galera, and we had some couple of quick galas during weekends like trying out the new e-kart in SM North Edsa.

But in between these trips, we were slowly accomplishing the church requirements.

We asked our families in Pangasinan if they still had copies of our Baptism and Confirmation as this will greatly help in obtaining new copies from the church because they could easily find it using the dates.

And what great of a coincidence that we were both baptized in the same church in Dagupan city!

He went home to get copies of our Baptismal Certificates and my brother got my Certificate of Confirmation in our church in Malasiqui, which he handed over to him. 

I thought mahihirapan ang kuya kong kunin ang confirmation certificate ko, but it was a nice surprise na digital na rin ang simbahan namin sa Malasiqui. They just typed in my details and found it and printed it in a few minutes. Hooray!

My then fiancé did not have copy of his Certificate of Confirmation, so we included that in our checklist to get confirmed in our chosen wedding church.

Another requirement is a 2x2 recent ID picture, which I ordered from Lazada.

I just sent our photos to the seller and have them do their magic of editing.

Ito ang result:

With these, we went to our chosen church in May, isa sa mga pinuntahan namin noong February, to inquire again and to reserve if possible.

Medyo masungit si Ate M ng St. Gabriel. Haha

Parang ang makakalusot lang sa kanya ay yung mga decided na talagang magpakasal doon. Which we were. Lol

Inisa isa niya sa amin yung requirements which fortunately dala na namin: the certificates and 2x2 photos.

The marriage license can follow naman daw, so we were able to place our reservation. 

Any date in June sana, but since mukhang ayaw ni Ate M na minamadali siya, we just asked her when was the earliest date possible and sa July niya kami itinuro.

I remember my mom said huwag daw Sabado kasi malas yun (although itinatanggi na niyang sinabi niya yun kalaunan), and the church does not conduct wedding rites on Sundays, so we chose the nearest Friday, 8th of July as our wedding date para makapagpahinga din ang lahat over the weekend. 

Nakapagpareserve na rin kami ng reception pagkagaling namin sa church. 

Mabilis kumilos si Ate M.

Sabado kasi kami nagpunta noon at sakto raw may seminar kinabukasan so pinaattend niya kami nun para maibigay na rin sa amin yung Marriage banns right after. 

Ganoon nga ang nangyari so naibigay rin namin agad sa aming church ang marriage banns.

It costed Php 600. 

Since may gaganaping kasalang bayan sa June, may nakaschedule na kumpil for them, kaya nakasabay na rin si fiancé doon after ng aming Canonical interview. This all happened in one Wednesday. 

We thought sapat na yung certificate from the seminar para sa pagkuha namin ng marriage license sa Cainta dahil yun ang sabi sa amin sa St. Gabriel at wala namang sinabing additional noong tumawag kami sa Local Registry ng Cainta.

Base rin naman sa checklist nila ay either certificate from the Solemnizing officer OR from MSWD ang nakalagay.

Yun ang ipinaglalaban ko sa Cainta noong nagpunta kami, pero in the end, kahit hindi nila ma-defend ng tama yung nasa checklist nila, wala rin kaming nagawa kundi umattend ulit ng seminar sa kanila…

Si fiance na lang ang nakiusap na paagahin dahil yung available na schedule ay sa bandang katapusan pa ng June eh malapit yun sa wedding date namin.

We were scheduled agad that Wednesday of the same week na nagpunta kami. Although ang sabi is kahit hindi na raw yung seminar ang attendan namin dahil may certificate na kami kundi yung marriage counseling na lang.

But you know what?

I would have to admit, I am so grateful na nagmatigas sila at pinaattend kami ng counseling.

Ang dami naming natutunan, lalo na ako, about sa marriage, family planning at marami pang iba. 

Parang doon ako namulat sa papasukin ko. Haha

And mas magkakakilanlan pa kayo ng mapapangasawa mo dahil sa questionnaires na pinasagutan sa inyo separately. 

Doon niyo makikita kung pareho ba kayo ng POV sa mga bagay-bagay about sa pag-aasawa at pagpapamilya or kung malaki ang difference niyo. 

May narinig akong mga sinabihan na couples na kakausapin daw sa labas after. 

Sila yung mga significant ang differences sa mga sagot. 

Fortunately hindi malaki yung differences namin, although may tumatak sa akin na sagot niya na hindi ko inasahan. But I'll keep it to myself na lang. 🙈

After the counseling, buti nag-iissue na agad sila ng application form for marriage license, provided dala niyo lahat ng requirements. Yung cedula, nakakuha rin kami sa ground floor ng munisipyo. The price of the cedula depends sa earnings na ilalagay mo sa form nila. 

We were given a stub with the date kung kailan iki-claim yung marriage license.  

June 6 ang claim date sa stub namin. 

Siya na ang kumuha nung license namin sa said date, and I think may pinabayaran pa sa kanyang small amount bago niya nakuha. Can't remember how much though. 

And that's it for the requirements. 

Yun na lang din kasi ang kulang namin sa church requirements kaya binigay na rin namin sa kanila after. 

Most of our wedding suppliers, the transactions were done online. 

The only three (3) that I can think of right now na talagang physically naming pinupuntahan to arrange and finalize were the church, reception, and our attires. 

Hopefully maibigay na rin sa amin ang full set ng photos soon nang maumpisahan ko na ring gumawa ng posts one by one for our suppliers. 

Kating kati na akong i-share ang favorites ko as well as the worst supplier na makakalbo ka kapag kausap mo. 

But let's save it to the future posts. 😆

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