Right now, we’re working on our marriage license. We need to make a personal appearance at the Parañaque City Hall, and present our CENOMARs, NSO birth certificates and Oneal’s certificate of residency.

We also made reservations to attend the pre-cana seminar at the Center for Family in Ateneo in January. But before we can do that, we need an authorization letter from the church. AND we need to submit our birth, baptismal and confirmation certificates. Egads! Surely getting married was never this complicated before?

On the upside, I think all the suppliers have been booked. The venue is now fully paid, yay! We’ve also finalized the program.

It’s only two months away, and it feels like there’s still so much we need to do. To top it all off, it’s Christmas! But I guess Christmas is just another opportunity to be thankful that I have a wonderful Oneal who wants to marry me.

It’s going to be a Merry Christmas indeed!

– rej

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:

1. Book the hair and make-up artist
2. Complete our wedding documents
3. Draft and finalize the missalette
4. Design and finalize the invitations
5. Decide on the music for the ceremony
6. Decide on the music for the reception
7. Decide on the preps hotel
8. Finalize the reception program
9. 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

So when we started checking out florists, I had to ask the names of the flowers that looked pretty, and we had to write them down. So by the time we were meeting with florists and talking about packages and options and such, we had a list of flowers we liked! Yay!

Unfortunately, Fernwood is rather strict about florists for the chapel, and we can only hire accredited florists: Flowers of May, 15-58 Flowers and Styles, and Scenta Flowers. We met with account execs from all three, just to see what they could offer, and which one we were most comfortable with. After meeting all three, we decided on 15-58.

So this evening we met with their AE, Rina, in Gateway, signed the contract, and paid the reservation fee. Yay flowers!

We’re getting calla lilies, mums, and aster. As for the arrangement, you’ll see it on the big day!

– rej

Our next target is to find a caterer. Having selected Fernwood narrows down our choices, since we’re only allowed to choose from their accredited caterers. While it’s a little disappointing that it limits our choices, it’s also a relief because it limits our choices. We’ve tried a number of caterers (food reviews soon!), and only one of them is accredited at Fernwood. At least now we don’t have to search far and wide for our caterer!

Our criteria: We’re not that picky. We’d like the food to be yummy, of course, but we’re not looking for anything too specific. It would be nice if there were a good balance of meats and seafood, stuff kids will eat, and more importantly, vegetables and soup that Oneal will actually like. A chocolate fountain would be a very happy plus!

We’re also hoping that the caterer we hire can serve the food lauriat-style. We really don’t like buffets, because we want our guests to be seated and enjoying their food, not rushing to the buffet tables for fear of missing out on the good stuff. Besides, it’s awful to have to wait your turn at the buffet line!

Our other big step this month: we want to go to the dress shop! We already know exactly what I’m wearing, and we have a pretty good idea of what Oneal wants for his barong. We’ve also selected designs for the entourage. We’re going to ask our loyal costume maker, Jennevita, to make my dress and the entourage gowns. Should be fun!

Other updates: We’ve already asked some of the ninangs and ninongs, and about half of them are confirmed, yay! We’re also in the process of informing our friends that they’re in the entourage.