So what have we been up to? I’ve been trying to tie up loose ends at work so that everything’s okay when I go on leave. Oneal’s been doing the same, I think. Together, we’ve been delivering wedding invitations, getting RSVPs from the guests, and preparing for the despedida de soltera, which is happening this Friday.

Perhaps among the most exciting things we’ve been doing of late are the attire fittings, and the dance lessons. I can’t wait to see my finished dress and veil, and Oneal’s really excited about his barong. And last Sunday, we took our first dance lesson!

In the days to come, we’ll be meeting with our ninongs and ninangs, finishing off supplier payments, and pampering ourselves in time for the wedding.

I can’t wait till I’m married to my hunny bunny.

– rej

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.

The birth certificate:

As the parish instructed, I went to the City Hall of the municipality where I was born, Manila. Fortunately, Mom was also born in Manila, so if I needed any of her documents from the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) it would be one less thing to worry about. At least, that’s what I thought.

I got a copy of Mom’s birth certificate, and made photocopies of mine, and prepared all the wedding documents and my own papers of all sorts from various government offices. Thus armed, I made my way to Manila City Hall on December 17. Fortunately, Tita Baby was able to spare her driver, Dexter, so I didn’t need to contend with traffic or a horrid commute in addition to my already significant distress.

I arrived at Manila City Hall, and found the LCRO. At the entrance was a large table manned by at least four employees, and their sole responsibility, it seemed, was to figure out what people needed to do with their birth, death or marriage certificate, and give them the proper set of requirements and instructions. Given the mass of people who went through that office every single day, it was no wonder they assigned four people to the table. On it, arranged from one end to the other, front to back, were neatly arranged stacks of paper, each stack a different set of instructions and requirements. There were so many different stacks that you couldn’t see the table’s surface. Did I mention that this table was nigh inaccessible? So many people needed corrections on their birth certificates that there was literally a swarm at the LCRO entrance.

My problem was “Correction of Clerical Error on the Middle Name or Mother’s Name of Unmarried Petitioner.” When you think about how specific that is, then you can understand why there were so many variations on the requirements. If I were married, I would have to submit a longer list of papers. The requirements would be different if it were my father’s name I had to change, or my birth date, or my birth place… the list of permutations goes on.

So after explaining the problem in as calm and polite a manner as I could to the nice young man in front of me, I got my list of requirements. One look at it and I was ready to give up. I mean, how would you feel if you saw this list?

1. 2 latest certified/local copies and 2 latest NSO copies of birth certificate to be corrected (That would be mine.)
2. 2 latest certified copies of birth certificate/death certificate of mother. If certification of no record was issued please submit birth certificate or marriage contract of mother’s 2 brother or sister.
3. 2 latest certified copies of marriage contract of parents. If certification of no record was issued please submit birth certificate or marriage contract of 2 brother or sister.
4. 2 copies of baptismal certificate (I don’t know why they need this.)
5. 2 copies of school record, Elementary, High School or College (form 137 or transcript of records)
6. 2 certified copies of voter’s registration record/voters affidavit (COMELEC)
7. 2 copies valid ID of the petitioner and the document owner and 1 copy of latest community tax certificate from the place of work or residence
8. Other documents which the Office may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the Petition. (GSIS/SSS records, Medical Records, Business Records, School Records, Insurance, Land Title, Bank Passbook)

NOTE: (This was on my set of instructions and requirements) All marriage contract, birth and death certificates to be submitted should be latest certified xerox copy when issued in Manila, if issued outside Manila, Security Paper from NSO.

Steps to Follow:

1. Submit all requirements for assessment and initial interview. Please bring all original documents and ID.
2. Preparation of petition paper.
3. Final Interview
4. Pay at Taxpayer’s Lounge.
5. Receiving and filing of petition paper and all documents.

I already had some of those documents, since they were also required by the church. Some of the others I thought I could easily acquire. I figured, I would spend a day gathering the documents, and I could come back the next day to file the petition.

Well, you know how such assumptions fare. Suffice to say that the odyssey of compiling all the required documents was so arduous a journey that to write it all down now would simply take too much time and far, far too many words. There’s gonna be a part 3 to this series of travails, and it’s going to be bloody. All I will say now is that the worst part of the ordeal was that I was all alone when I started gathering and requesting the requirements at Manila City Hall that day, and the initial disappointment was so devastating that I burst into tears right in the middle of the LCRO while whining to Oneal over the phone. “How the hell do I know how to get to the hospital where I was born?” I bawled, not caring about the masses who walked past me as I hiccuped and sniffed in my distress.

The baptismal certificate:

Oneal’s baptismal certificate seemed the least of our worries. The Jose in his name was just put there because in 1973, priests refused to baptize children unless they had Christian names. I suppose back then what counted as a Christian name only included English, Filipinized or Hispanicized names of saints. I think they’re less fussy about names now.

Mount Carmel told us that we would have to go back to San Vicente de Paul and ask them how to correct or amend his baptismal certificate. So after my initial foray to Manila City Hall and a sad, lonely lunch (which I couldn’t even finish) at SM Manila, I ventured to the church to inquire about the process. It seems this is a common problem, because when I explained to the parish office what I needed, they gave me a small slip of paper with a short list of requirements: notarized letter of request, photocopy of the baptismal certificate, and a valid ID. Oneal would have to submit the request to the parish, and they would give him a letter which he would have to bring to the Office of the Chancery in Intramuros. They were the only ones authorized to make the correction on the baptismal certificate; I supposed they were the Church’s version of the LCRO.

Next to my mountain of problems, this was quite a petite molehill. But with everything we needed to do, I found that I was just so tired and stressed that the mere thought of visiting another city hall, another government office, or another parish office made me dizzy. I found myself looking to the heavens and asking God, “Is this a sign? Are you telling us to stop? Don’t you want us to get married?”

Calling me disheartened at this point would have been a gross understatement. But we trudged on. I even managed to make it to Karen’s condo that evening for a small geek dinner, but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the couch.

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.

We went to the office, where the nice lady gave us a form to fill up–in triplicate. Naturally Oneal made me fill them up–”Your handwriting’s much better than mine!”–while he went to have our CENOMARs and birth certificates photocopied. That form was pretty detailed. Not only did it ask for the bride and groom’s personal information, but also for our parents’ information. Good thing I’m 28–if I’d been anywhere from 18 to 25, I would need a parent’s permission to get the marriage license. Zoiks.

Upon completion of the form, we had to have it notarized. We went to a law office that the nice lady specified, and for P50 they notarized and signed the forms. Then we had to make a payment of P200 at a payment lounge. Then we returned to the nice lady (it helps to be there early, and to smile at them), who gave us a slip of paper and told us to go to the DSWD office on the second floor for counseling.

This is the funny part. The nice lady told us the counseling wouldn’t take long. So we went to the office with our slips of paper, and a secretary told us to sit down, fill up some forms and sign our names on some logbooks, while she typed up a form with our names and had it signed by some lady of authority. Upon signing our certificates, she called Oneal, gave us the certificates, and said we could go. Uhm. Yep, counseling! Oneal said, “Well, if they leave you alone for a few minutes and you don’t end up yelling at each other, then you don’t need counseling!” Haay.

Then back to nice lady, who gave us our receipt and told us to come back for the license on December 21. Done!

Up next: Oneal’s baptismal certificate! We were done at the city hall by 10, so we rushed to San Vicente de Paul church in Manila, near Adamson University and TUP. Traffic was getting congested, and it was 11:30 when we made it there. Fortunately the parish office didn’t close for lunch till noon, so we had time. Oneal got his baptismal certificate. Yay!

We hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast at 6:30 AM, so we went to Makati for lunch. By 3:00 we were on the way to Bulacan, to get our wedding rings and arrhae. Traffic was bad, and I was tired and full. I fell asleep somewhere in Mandaluyong; when I woke up, we were back on EDSA and approaching Cubao. The jewelry shop was closing at 5, so we had to hurry down NLEX to get to Meycauayan. It was a little past 4 when we made it there, and boy was the trip worth it. Our rings are beautiful! So beautiful that I didn’t want to take mine off na. It looked so lovely on my finger, next to my engagement ring. The jeweler said it was a really nice design, like something she saw from Bulgari. Sosyal!

After that, it was back south. We went to the Fort, and hopped into Make Room for our wedding registry. We started picking out a few things, while waiting for Aids to come over so we could go to the dress shop. It was fun to pick out things for our new home (wherever that may be). It must be noted that most of the things we picked out were kitchen items and serving dishes; we love having people over, and we expect that both our families will be coming over a lot, especially when we have our first baby!

Then Aids arrived, and we went to Tita Jenny’s. He got measured for his barong, and we discussed Oneal’s barong with Tita Jenny. Also, good news for the lovely ladies of the entourage: your dresses will be ready for first fitting by next week. Mine too!

So in one day, we:

1. Applied for the marriage license
2. Got Oneal’s baptismal certificate
3. Got our wedding rings and arrhae
4. Picked out things for our wedding registry
5. Designed Oneal’s barong

That’s a lot for one day! And WE’RE NOT DONE! *faint*

All we wanted was a pair of two-tone rings, two outer bands made of yellow gold, with a white gold band in the middle. Matte finish, no diamonds, no engraving. Quotes at bridal fairs placed it at P30,000.

So last Monday, Oneal’s mom came to Yale with Tita Angie, and we all went to Meycauayan to order the rings. Good Lord, what a price difference! We told them what we wanted, and they measured our ring fingers (mine is 5 1/2, and Oneal’s is 11, haha!). After some computation and a bit of consultation with the craftsman, the proprietress quoted it at P21,000. Whoa!

In addition to the rings, we had also brought our arrhae. We decided to use the arrhae from Oneal’s parents’ wedding; it’s our “something borrowed.” It’s a set of gold-plated 1967 50-cent coins. There are supposed to be 13, but two were missing. A few months ago I put out a call for coins, but eventually it was Tita Baby who found them: one among her jewelry boxes, and the other just sitting in a ceramic bowl in the house.  Oneal said, “ It was in that ceramic bowl in the basement, right under the light switches. Mom wouldn’t have looked there if my dad hadn’t changed the light switches in the house, and that particular one stopped working. When he was checking the switch, my mom looked at the coins and found the 1967 50 centavo coin. They said it’s like something was telling them to look there.”

So as you can see, our arrhae is pretty special. We needed the jeweler to repair the crown that held all the coins, clean everything, and gold-plate everything.

We went to the jewelry shop last Monday. This morning, they called me. The rings would cost only P17,200. The arrhae repair and plating? P800. So everything for a total of P18,000! If only we didn’t have so much work to do, I’d drag Oneal to Bulacan tomorrow so we could get the rings na.

I can’t wait to see them!

– rej

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

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

Imperial Palace Suites, at the corner of Timog and Tomas Morato

Since both our families live so far away from the wedding venue, we need a hotel nearby for our preps. There we can all get ready, get made-up, leave our other things, and probably stay for the night before and/or after the wedding.

Since the wedding is in Fernwood, we need a hotel in Quezon City. We were originally considering Sulo Hotel, but naturally we wanted other options too. So today, we checked out rooms and rates at Hotel Rembrandt, the Imperial Palace Suites, and the new Torre Venezia. The only problem with this area, Timog and Tomas Morato, is that you have to cross EDSA to get to Fernwood. But it looks like there are SM Advantage Card perks for the Imperial Palace Suites and Hotel Rembrant! That’s certainly a plus. Stay tuned for our reviews!

We’re also going to visit Sulo Hotel, since we heard it’s been renovated. We’d also like to see PCED, Balay Kalinaw and the University Hotel in UP Diliman. Those hotels would definitely be closer to Fernwood.

Hair and make-up by Ms. Rose of Watercolors salon, Shangri-La Plaza

With my first hair and make-up (HMU) trial session, my hair stayed beautiful until the wee hours of the morning. I was happy with the make-up too, but in retrospect it seemed a little pale.

With my second HMU trial, my make-up was gorgeous! But my hair was only nice for two hours. That wasn’t so great.

My third trial seems to have worked out the best. Grace M recommended Watercolors salon, which her sister Marilyn and their event company, EventLab, patronize frequently. Marilyn recommended Ms. Rose.

So I scheduled an appointment, and got my hair and make-up done. So far, I think I like Ms. Rose best.