Angelo ♥ Eyzel: We Did It!

Dear Online Diary,

Yes, We are now officially married! Before the whole kwento and blow by blow account of The Wedding, here's an awesome AVP created by Atty. Raymond Fortun.

{Onsite AVP that was shown during the reception dinner}

Update: Documents and DIY Fascinators

Dear Online Diary,

Alright, it’s 19 days to go before the Big day. Should I panic? Am I feeling giddy?

Maybe. I'm not too sure exactly how to describe it but when I think about my husband-to-be *kilig* and all the details of our wedding, I feel happy and light as a feather. Let me share some of the things that we’ve acquired and achieved for the past two weeks...

A Blessed Canonical Interview

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Dear Online Diary,

Couples who wish to marry are required by the church to attend a Canonical or pre-nuptial interview, or dulog, as it is known in the vernacular to find out any possible impediments to the forthcoming wedding, to ensure the freedom of both parties, and to determine the couple’s knowledge of the duties, responsibilities and doctrines of a Catholic marriage. Source: Kasal.com

When Ms. Miles scheduled our canonical interview, my heart started to race and immediately after, I searched the web for anything about canonical interview and what we need to expect. Unfortunately, the sources aren’t many. Some says the priest will ask you to recite several prayers, enumerate the Ten Commandments, pray the rosary and such. We did ask our relatives about it but all we got from our titos (Uncles) and titas (Aunts) is a knowing smile, and the same old phrase, “Just be yourself and be honest.”

Updates for the Past Week

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Dear Online Diary,

It dawned on me that it’s been ages since my last post. I’ve been very, very, very busy with all things related to wedding now that we have a little more than 2 months left before the Big Day. Now, for the updates:

Documents: Ready for the Canonical Interview

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Dear Online Diary,

H2B took a leave from work last Friday so we went and grab the opportunity to accomplish two of the major wedding requirements.

Our first stop: Bamboo Organ Church Registrar’s Office

We passed the rest of the legal documents so we could schedule a Canonical interview with the priest. Ms. Miles was at the office so we clarified some of the churches’ rules and regulations such as:

Documents: Church Requirements

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Dear Online Diary,

H2B and I visited the Bamboo Organ Church registrar’s office to submit our document requirements and to finalize our payment as well as to clear some things related to church ceremony.

Here are the documents required by the church (may vary depending on your parish church):
1. Recent Baptismal and Confirmation Certificate with notation for Marriage purposes.
2. Certificate of No Marriage from NSO.
3. Marriage License.
4. Birth Certificate and 1x1 ID picture.
5. Marriage Banns and permission
6. Barangay certificate

{All about documents and church requirements}

Since I was baptized and confirmed at the same church, it was a breeze requesting for the documents. They just printed my baptism and confirmation certificates and I’m done. H2B, on the other hand, had to request his baptismal certificate from the province (he was born and baptized in Ilocos Sur). We requested for the documents and we’re just waiting for their feedback. We have to complete these requirements so they can schedule us for an interview and pre-cana seminar.

As for the CENOMAR, I read that it’s SUPPOSEDLY not a requirement but I don’t know why they were insisting that it’s required by LAW. Just to stress it, anyway:

A CENOMAR however, contrary to what many of us thought is not a requirement for marriage but instead, it is only necessary for couples who were to wed to know and be certain that their partner's civil status is still single and unattached to or uncommitted to anyone by laws of the civil registry and the catholic church require. (source)

We’ve known each other for almost a decade now and we’re both sure that both of us aren’t married. It’s just unnecessary and additional expense. We could have save the moola and time. But because we are good followers of the church, we have to get a CENOMAR, anyway. I’ll go and visit their Pasay branch this Friday.

X.O.X.O.,

The Chosen One

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Dear Online Diary,

... Our wedding date, that is. I was reviewing my posts when I noticed that there’s no entry about our wedding date – 10.23.2010. I believe it is important for people to know what’s behind it and how was the process of choosing the date (at least what we went through).

{The W@W calendar set on October 2010}

We, Filipinos, are superstitious when it comes to choosing the date of our wedding. Although there’s no clear view of how it started or where it came from, the one clear thing is that choosing the right date will bring good luck to the couple… and we want to have all the good luck that we can have. Who doesn't? :)

The church is non-negotiable. It has to be the Bamboo Organ Church. I mentioned here why I preferred to marry in this historical church and H2B agreed, without hesitation.

The next thing to do was to choose the date… THE date. We came up with these requirements:

A. It has to be on an uneventful month although we wanted to keep our anniversary date, which is every 21st of the month.

B. It has to be on a weekend. Weekdays are too stressful not only for both of us but for the guests.

Did I mention that 10.23.2010 wasn’t our original choice? We were keen on marrying on March 21st (which is today, actually. Oh gosh. It is such a coincidence that I'm writing about our wedding date today).

Around April last year, I dialed the Bamboo Organ registrar's office to find out if we can reserve the date that we wanted. The thing is, it falls on a Sunday and the church does not hold weddings on a Sunday but March 20th was still open. I wasn’t too keen on the date so I advised them that I’ll call back after consulting the situation with H2B, who later agreed on the day. As I dialed the number back to let the registrar know about our decision, I got nothing but a busy dial tone.

When I dialed the registrar's office after a day or two, March 20th was already taken. The only available slot was at 9:00 AM and nope, we do not prefer a morning wedding. It gave me anxiety and yes, my world turned upside down. The church won’t hold weddings every February because of the Bamboo Organ Festival so the next best thing is to choose from the –ber months.

Here are our arguments:

It can’t be on November. It’s my birth month.

It can’t be on December. Products and services are usually higher every December than any other months. We want a budgeted wedding.

It can’t be on September. It’s too early.

So, we chose October… Lucky October. It feels just right. Besides, 10-xx-2010 sounds great.

After coming up with our preferred month, we then chose the date. It has to be on a Saturday. We wanted to stay away from 10-10-10 because of some obvious reasons. We would have chosen the 27th of the month but I wanted to stay out of the Halloween weekend (no pun intended). 16th was taken. You now know what comes next. It makes me think that God reserved the 23rd of the month just for us. It’s ours.

And the rest is history. Fast forward…

It is only now that I discovered how lucky our wedding date is. Please note that we never referred to these things long before we choose our wedding date. Let me present some things I found out from vast resources that are worth sharing:

Exhibit A.
According to ancient beliefs, getting married on a full moon brings good luck to the couple. 10.23.2010 is a full moon as what we can see from the Lunar Calendar for 2010.

Exhibit B.
Chinese (and those who believe in it) publishes the auspicious wedding dates each year according to the Chinese Lunar Horoscope. 10.23.2010 is one of the lucky dates on the year of the Golden Tiger. What’s more interesting is that neither of us was born in the year of the Rat, which is a conflicting birth sign for this particular date. Neither of us is Chinese but it won’t hurt to believe, right?


Exhibit C.
We’re not heavy believers of numerology but the date should mean something good. And it does. Let’s do the math:

1+0+2+3+2+0+1+0 = 9

According to the trusty Wikipedia:

Nine

The number 9 (九, Pinyin: jiŭ, jyutping: gau²), being the greatest of single-digit numbers, was historically associated with the Emperor of China; the Emperor's robes often had nine dragons, and Chinese mythology held that the dragon has nine children.

Moreover, the number 9 is a homophone of the word for "longlasting" (久), and as such is often used in weddings.

As a final note, I’d like to stress that we did not prefer to marry on 10.23.2010 but God reserved it for us. Indeed, God makes the plan. HE wants H2B and I to exchange our “I do’s” on 10.23.2010.

That alone makes us love our wedding date oh so dearly. HE has given us the right suppliers. Although there are some challenging things we encountered and ought to be encountered in the future, HE's with us no matter what. Thanks to HIM. ^___^

X.O.X.O.,

A Beautiful Wedding at Bamboo Organ Church

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Dear Online Diary,

H2B and I visited the St. Joseph Parish Church, more popularly known as Bamboo Organ Church, to witness the wedding of my W@W sis Bhey to her boyfriend (now husband) Cholo.

It was indeed a solemn and beautiful wedding. Here are some of the pictures taken by H2B during the ceremony:


A lot of pictures were taken but what catches us the most is this:



To Cholo and Bhey, congratulations on your wonderful wedding and best wishes to your married life. Cheers! =)

X.O.X.O.,

Is It Really Goodbye?!

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Dear Online Diary,

I was working on our wedding checklist when I received a bad news about SJA Hall on the w@w e-group. A co-w@wie announced that she got a call from the parish secretary that they had to cancel their SJA hall reservation. I was in complete shock because—first, she has no choice but to cancel the reservation, second, she has no venue and lastly, her wedding is just a few months away.

Flabbergasted, I soon find myself dialing the phone number of the parish secretary, Ms. Miles. Sad to say, it’s true. According to her, Monsignor Albert, the parish priest, said that they would need to cancel all reservations made and not to accept any more reservations for 2010 events. This is mainly due to the planned construction of the buildings beside the hall. She added that the construction will start on January 2010 and as of today, has no estimated end day. This only means that we cannot reserve the venue for our own wedding. Sigh.

I called H2B to deliver the news and he, too, was shocked. He proposed to search for another venue but I just couldn’t let it go. I’m in love with the hall and the idea that all the guests need to do after the church ceremony is to leisurely walk and find their way to the hall for the reception program.

I can only hope that I can brush the sadness off. I wish the bridal fair this weekend would help. How I wish.

Am I ready to bid SJA Hall goodbye? Here's what we may miss...

{SJA Hall: Beautiful and Dressed-up. Photo courtesy of W@Wie sis Bhey}

... and for the record, no. I'm not ready. I'll pray hard and I know that God will do the rest.

X.O.X.O.,

Semi-Ocular Sharing: H2b Goes Trigger-Happy

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Dear Online Diary,

H2b and I hardly saw each other last week due to our respective work. To make up for the lost time, we bonded yesterday by attending the Sunday mass and doing a semi-ocular inspection of our chosen church and reception venue.

Using his favorite DSLR D40 camera, H2b went trigger-happy and took a lot of pictures of the St. Joseph Church, more popularly known as Bamboo Organ Church. We can’t help but fall in love with its historical aura and Hispanic beauty.

We plan to get the SJA Hall for our reception because it’s weather-proof, spacious and it’s just within the vicinity of the church. It is very simple and almost bare, but all it need is a talented stylist who can execute our ideas and transform it to a photogenic venue.

X.O.X.O.,

Church Update v3

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Dear Online Diary,

Finally! Yesterday right after my shift, I went straight to our barangay hall to secure a residential certificate which is the initial requirement for me to save the church on our chosen date. Thanks to Ms. Edith of barangay hall for a hustle-free transaction. I got my residential certificate without a sweat.

After securing the certificate, I wasted no time to go to the Bamboo Organ registry office, praying that the date we wanted is still open. After the first setback (please refer to Church Update v2), all I wanted now is to get a day far from rainy season. I immediately looked for Ms. Miles and with my fingers crossed, I asked her if our dream date is still available. She smiled, which was a good sign. She gathered my letter of intent, birth certificate and the residential certificate, double checked it and penciled our name on the wedding calendar on the date we have chosen. After that, I handed the minimum down payment and obtained the receipt. Another one marked down on our wedding checklist. H2b is as ecstatic as I am about this good news. Next target, reception venue and catering. Yey! =D

Related Topics:
Church and Theme Update v1
Church Update v2



X.O.X.O.,

Church Update v2

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Dear Online Diary,

This is not going to be easy. Unfortunately, the date we wanted is not available anymore. It’s sad, but true. Ms. Miles gave it to another couple for some reasons. Now we have to plan and get another date to celebrate our wedding. Despite this unfortunate event, I have faith that everything is going to be just fine.

Anyway, we had the chance to attend the Bridal and Debut fair held in Glorietta Activity Center last week. There were few booths, most of which are services that offer photography and video editing, catering, bridal gowns and wedding rings. We saw booths of Golden Hills, Italianni's, TGIF, Niceprint Photography, SanFo Treats, and Flowers Way just to name a few. It was not as extravagant as the Martha Stewart fair but we got a chance to sit down with some of the suppliers and talk about their offer. I almost booked one of the florists because they offered us a great deal. Thank God I reminded myself that there will be more fairs to come and it’ll be good to see more and then choose the best. =D

X.O.X.O.,

Church and Theme Update v1

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Dear Online Diary,

I just got off the phone with Ms. Miles of St. Joseph Parish Church, more commonly known as Bamboo Organ Parish Church in Las Piñas City. So far, everything’s falling into place because the date we wanted is still available. I have high hopes (and cross fingers, too) that we are going to get the date that we wanted and seal the deal with the parishioners. Since childhood, I dreamt of celebrating my wedding day on this church, which is very close to my heart because this is the same church where my parents exchanged their vows on August 1983.

Incidentally, in addition to the Vintage Vigan theme idea, we came up with a nature theme as an added choice. It’s more like a garden wedding theme with a twist. Angelo has always been a nature lover. He takes dramatic pictures of the blue sky above, golden sunset, green plants, beautiful horizon, colorful flowers, and thanks to the macro power of his dslr camera, he got pictures of ants and bugs. I’m just happy that he is involved with all the planning. =D

X.O.X.O.,