Pictures Galore!
Now that the wedding is done, photos of the amazing event have been flooding cyberspace. Check out the photos from Oneal’s camera, taken by the Managing Editor of Playboy Philippines, Misha Lecaros:
Eight Days to Go
As I write this, Oneal is at Big Sky Mind for his bachelor party with the geek guys, and I’m at home with the cats and the laundry. Eight days to go till the big day, and my bridal shower is on Monday. (If you want details, please ask Jovan or Shey. I know nothing.)
I’m so excited that my nerves are in a frenzy. This past week we’ve been pretty relaxed, but now I’m listening to my bridal march song, and I’m so psyched that just listening to the song brings tears to my eyes. (Check out my epiphany about it from months ago.) Ted of Manila String Machine says they’ve been rehearsing the music they requested, and I can’t wait to hear their renditions of the Star Wars themes we love so much. Continue Reading…
Anak ng tatlumpung tokwa! Hindi pa tapos!
Even when we knew what we had to do, things seemed hopeless.
The confirmation certificate:
Come Tuesday, December 15, we called Mount Carmel, and the verdict was out on my confirmation certificate: the Diocese said we had to get a copy of the original from Abu Dhabi, or at least some sort of certification stating that the confirmation had indeed taken place on the date and at the place we claimed in the original certificate we presented.
Great. How were we supposed to do that? There was an address for the Vicar Apostolic of Arabia on my certificate, but it was just a PO Box. All seemed bleak. Continue Reading…
Anak ng tatlumpung tokwa! Ang hirap talaga magpakasal! (Part 1)
Some of you know by now the trials and tribulations we suffered in December in our attempts to prepare our documents for the wedding. Some of you have no idea what we’ve been up to. Well, here’s the long blog post.
When we reserved the St. Francis of Assisi Chapel at Fernwood Gardens, we had to go to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Project 6, since the chapel was under their care/authority (“Tyranny” would be more appropriate. But I get ahead of myself.) So we booked the chapel for our date, and the parish office gave us a list of requirements. It was a pretty long list, but it didn’t seem that bad when we first saw it. Hah, unbeknownst to us, we were about to embark on a journey that would take us to many City Halls and churches . (And I just wanted to use the word “unbeknownst”.)
Just so we’re all on the same page, boys and girls, here’s the list of requirements they asked of the bride and the groom: Continue Reading…
Tuloy ang Kasal!
Our Lady of Mount Carmel finally said they are accepting our documents and we can proceed with the wedding!
We can finish the pending documents after the wedding so we are not in a stressful rush.
- Oneal
Anak ng tokwa, ang hirap naman magpakasal.
It seems like every free day or hour we have is spent on the wedding. Or in the car, going somewhere wedding-related. Take Wednesday, for example.
We spent Tuesday night in Roseroland, then woke up bright and early on Wednesday to go to Parañaque City Hall. We applied for the marriage license, which only took an hour. The documents required were the CENOMARs (Certificates of No Previous Marriage, obtained from the NSO), our NSO-certified birth certificates, and Oneal’s barangay clearance, since he’s a resident of Parañaque. Continue Reading…
Back on track
Typhoon Ondoy has sidetracked many people, and many plans. That weekend, we were supposed to have a family pictorial! Obviously, we had to cancel it.
Since that weekend, and through the other typhoons that have blown through the country, we’ve been busy with relief efforts here and there. Also, Oneal has a new job, and I have two new projects that keep me busy. So you can understand how our wedding planning got sidetracked.
Now we’re gathering our wits again, and going through all our wedding checklists to see what else needs doing. Fortunately, there’s not a lot left. All the major suppliers have been booked:
- Ceremony and reception venue – Fernwood Gardens, QC
- Caterer – Shangri-La Chinese Restaurant
- Florist for the church – 15-58 Flowers and Styles
- Florist for the entourage – Go4Flowers
- Photographer – Pat Mateo
- Videographer – 30fps
- Cake artist – Our friend, Reitch Calabia
- Couturier – Our friend, Jenny Rojales
- Rings maker
- Bridal jewelry – Our ninang, Ruby Bayan
So now, here’s what we need to do next:
- Book the hair and make-up artist
- Complete our wedding documents
- Draft and finalize the missalette
- Design and finalize the invitations
- Decide on the music for the ceremony
- Decide on the music for the reception
- Decide on the preps hotel
- Finalize the reception program
- Attend a pre-cana seminar
There’s more that needs to be done, but these are the most urgent. We’re working on some of them already:
- Some of the documents have been obtained while a few others need to be requested.
- We’ve canvassed 4 hotels in Quezon City already.
- I know which HMUA I want to get.
- Jovan is working on our invitations.
Some things need more work than others, obviously. 
But we’re getting there. Wish us luck! In the meantime, it’s my birthday on Saturday, and we’re flying to Bora for a much-needed vacation. Yay!
– rej
I ♥ the NSO
It’s not often you’re happy with the service at government offices, so when it happens, it’s a cause for celebration!
For the wedding, among the documents we need are birth certificates and certificates of no previous marriage (CENOMAR) from the National Statistics Office, dated within six months of the wedding. Since we only have 4 months and three weeks to go, I figured now was a good time to apply.
I went to the website (thanks to Dante for the link!), filled up the forms, and was done! It’s so wonderful when you can be efficient from the comfort of your own home. Even better, I was able to pay for the certificate requests online, through Banco de Oro online banking.
The website says it will take about two weeks for delivery. So not only can you make the request from your own home, and pay online, but your documents will also be delivered right to your doorstep! *happy dance*
– rej
all our suppliers are booked!
well, at least the priorities are done. we’ve given downpayments for the venue, caterer, ceremony and reception flowers, photographer and videographer.
just today we signed the contract with the Manila String Machine.
the funny thing is that we never tell any of them about the theme of the wedding when we initially meet. we only inform them about what we have planned right after we sign the contract and give them the check. fortunately, none of them reacted violently when we tell them what we have planned. they all seem to get really excited when they find out it will be a Star Wars wedding.
they can’t wait to be a part of it because it is something different from what they usually have to do, which can get tiring after a while.
the best part is that they can play the Imperial March! 
5 months to go and we are ahead of schedule.
- oneal
Updated pages!
Donation to the GMA Kapuso Foundation, September 2008, SM Marikina
As you may have noticed, we update the wedsite sporadically, but when we do, we post a lot of stuff! I usually write the long entries, and Oneal fiddles around with the code.
This time, we’ve added links to the websites of our suppliers, removed some clutter, and changed a few settings. Please feel free to leave a comment or two (or more)!
Also, please check out our other pages, as we’ve posted some updates:
– rej