Wedding Itinerary

I’ve been quite busy with issues on non-related wedding preparations that it took me sometime to follow-up my previous blog on our Church…Anyway, my worries was now put to ease…there will be some reshuffling in our office and my only concern is “I want to keep my chair when I come back from vacation.” I already blurted it out today so now can concentrate again on what really matter most…

I’ve arrange our itinerary for January…and “Man, how we are so busy!” on the coming days. I don’t know if we’ll be able to enjoy this vacation since there are a lot of things to be done…Anyway, our priority is to finalize as much details as possible because we only have 1 month to do this and on May, 2 weeks and 3 days will be left for us to prepare anything more about the said event.

First things first, on our arrival…we have practically 2 days to rest and get use to the weather, traffic and get our things in order before doing all the meetings and suppliers to visit.

I decided to schedule the measurement of my gown on 4th January by Tina of New Yorker. Actually, she was the one who suggested having earlier so I’ll have more time for fittings since we’ll only be here for a month. I’m not worried though, I don’t even have any preparations like losing weight or anything…I’m one of the few who doesn’t have any problems on gaining weight…in fact I can eat anything…not the spoil ones, mind you…I don’t worry about the fats…Her place is located in Makati, so after the visit to her place we’ll go directly around Ortigas area to scout for the hotel to stay a night before our wedding…and a place to sleep after the event.

Hotels we are considering are Linden Suites (http://www.lindensuites.com/), Discovery Suites (http://www.discoverysuites.com/main.htm), Crown Plaza (I couldn’t get their wedsite…lemme verify on this when I get the chance to check it out), Richmonde Hotel (http://www.richmondehotel.com/). As you can see, I already deleted my dream hotel, Edsa Shangri-La (http://www.shangri-la.com/)…Our budget was blown up to the highest level… and we cannot afford the price anymore so we are opting to have it in a less expensive one. And if we still have time, we’ll try visiting our chosen Photo/Video supplier, Nice Print Photos and discuss the details of the wedding packages I also have some documents for them to sign, SSJ is pretty much strict on these guidelines and we don’t want to have any problems come our wedding day. So we’ll make sure that they are well informed on this to avoid any major glitches that are bound to happen…

On 6th, I scheduled our confirmation. Since both our parent couldn’t recall if we had done before, I made sure to include this in our to do list. If you read my previous blog, you’ll notice that this is one of the requirements of the church. Our wedding day falls on a Sunday, so after completion of the whole process of confirmation, I made sure to check the transit time from church to venue to have an idea on travel time between both the locations. The church again is firm on the schedule of the nuptials. The groom, bride, whole entourage and guests should arrive 15 minutes prior to the wedding, so the ceremony may start on time. The church has no office on Sunday as confirmed by my mom, so we’ll have to come back and hand over the accomplished documents.

Please note that I made the schedule in such a way that there will be no wasted time, money, energy and effort. So everything has a reason. In case we will not be able to take pictures or confirm the details on the 6th, January for both venues, we need to come back the following day to Valle Verve 6, why… you asked…because….we need inspect the area to make the necessary note on the set-up of our caterer, the singers, our light and sounds and all the littlest details on the wedding day. We will be meeting with our musician, Anima choir and lights and sounds, Rejectkrew on the 8th…hopefully since I have not received any reply yet confirming for the date. Anyway…we’ll make sure this has been arrange before leaving from here…By the way, since we will be around Ortigas on the 7th, after Valle Verde, we’ll pass by OMF Literature near the new Horizon Hotel in Mandaluyong to check their bibles – one of our wedding accessory and after that we’ll go directly to Urban Print in Magallanes to inquire on how much they will charge for our invites ( I will make a separate blog for our invitation…we are in the process of finalizing the details so in due course, I’ll share it with you).

The following day, the 9th, should be the perfect time to submit the necessary documents since we are expecting to finish all that the church is requiring us to do by this time. We’ll be visiting also our beneficiary, Haribon Foundation in lieu of souvenirs…

Wedding Requirements

175 days till our wedding. Most of our major suppliers were already booked, DP were paid, and schedule for the meeting were set. I got one more month (December) to make some more searching for the shorlisted candidates for the remaining vendors that doesn’t need much work.

Santuario de San Jose. The wedding ceremony will be held at this church. You may check the location of this church at my previous blog. I have not encountered any problems yet since my mom made the deposit to block the date. Our date being a Sunday was not a problem after all, luckily when she made the reservation, 2 PM slot was still available, immediately, i told her to have it pencil booked and visit the church. I even told her several times to ask how to go about the pre-cana and canonical interview since both of us is out of the country. We’re flying home is coming January and that’s the only time we could arrange the requirements. Hassle free as of this date.

These are the requirements that we need to accomplish this coming January:

Baptismal Certificate – recently issued with annotation “FREE TO MARRY or FOR MARRIAGE PURPOSE. Please present this upon reservation. This is valid for 6 months only.

“We planned to ask favors from our family to get this for us before coming home so we don’t need to wait for the release. December is the best time, enough time for the 6 months validity until our wedding day.”

Confirmation Certificate – Our moms cannot remember if we had our confirmation when we were kids. So we plan to have it done also this coming January. I have no idea how to go about it. Luckily, my ever reliable sissies at W@W posted one with regards to this. “San Miguel church, the one near Gate 2 of Malacañang are holding “Mass” Confirmation every Sunday. We need to be there betweein 9:00 to 9:30, so we can attend a seminar/pre-confirmation before the actual administration of the sacrament. You may also check the schedule at 7351611 or 7341271. You will get the Certificate on the same day. Bring with you the following requirements:

• 
  
  baptismal certificate or photocopy of it
• 
  
  1 ninong/ninang
• 
  
  600 pesos confirmation fee

Publication of Wedding Banns – for 3 consecutive Sundays in the parish of bride and groom. WRITTEN PERMISSION from the parish of the bride

Marriage License is usually obtained in the city hall of either the bride or groom. Choose the city hall that is most convenient for you.

I asked h2b where he preferred to get this…well of course Manila City Hall”

Requirements:

• 
  
  Original and Photocopy of our Valid IDs with Manila address
• 
  
  Original Birth certificate issued by NSO
• 
  
  Original CENOMAR issued by NSO
• 
  
  Seminar (9-10 a.m. / 1:30-2:30p.m. daily)
• 
  
  fee of 120.00

Release of license is 10 working days after submission of complete requirements

*Note: Be sure NOT to sign beforehand the document that will be asked of you to sign.

You need to SIGN the document IN FRONT OF THE CLERK who will ask you to swear that the information printed are true. If you accidentally sign it, you will be asked to buy another form again. Validity of marriage license is 3 months

CENOMAR of bride/groom –>validity is about 6 mos. This is obtained at the NSO and costs 180Php each. Around 10-14 days waiting time before you can claim. You may also call the NSO Helpline Plus 7371111 to obtain it thru phone.

Canonical Interview of the bride and groom by a priest of Sanctuario de San Jose at least a month prior to the wedding date. Kindly coordinate with the parish office regarding the schedule.

Spiritual Preparations The couple is required to attend a Catholic Pre-Cana seminar regularly held in this parish. Should the couple decide to avail of it outside of this parish, they are required to submit a certificate of attendance. They are also required to go CONFESSION prior to the wedding day.

Additional information on the next blog…

Earth Colors

We’ve finally decided on what colors to use. After several change of minds, I asked Far-ouT what is his favorite colors. He mentioned few red, gray, black, blue, yellow…YELLOW! He requested for light ones though, I too do not approve of dark colors. I particularly like ORANGE. We settled for earth colors. The right shades of it will compliment the outdoor theme. We will carefully choose the color for the invites, the entourage dresses, up to the littlest details in the reception. We want to show a little of nature that we love…so I surf the ever reliable net and found these few info about it…

aLL aBouT CoLoRs

…to Terra-fic, the fanlisting for Earth Colours. Earth colours are defined as any naturally occuring pigment. They range from brilliant burnt reds as seen on trees during the fall, to deep browns like the soils of the earth. Various shades of brown and muted shades of red, orange, yellow and green can all be considered earth colours. If you are a fan of these gorgeous shades of colour, you are definitely welcome to join. Earth colours can be found all over the world, everywhere you look in various shades of brown and muted shades of red, orange, yellow and green. Earth colors have even been on artists’ palettes for thousands of years. The Art Glossary describes Earth Colours as colours made with naturally occurring pigments, such as umbers, ochres, and siennas, rather than laboratory-produced (’chemical’) pigments. this colors represents protection, security, stability, the person’s sense of safety. It influences calm and peace that enables the person to be in tuned with the body’s messages to promote balance and health.

Earth colors are muted and not clear or bright. The vibrant summery color palette included coral pink, light pink, golden yellow, light yellow, kiwi green, and aqua.

FINDING AND KEEPING A LIFE PARTNER

When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner, no one wants to make a mistake. Yet, with a divorce rate of close to 50%, it appears that many are making serious mistakes in their approach to finding Mr./Miss. Right!

If you ask most couples who are engaged why they're getting married, they'll say: "We're in love"; I believe this is the #1 mistake people make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based on love. Though this may sound "not politically correct",there' s a profound truth here. Love is not the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of a good marriage. When the other ingredients are right, then the love will come. Let me say it again:

"You can't build a lifetime relationship on love alone"; You need a lot more!!! Here are five questions you must ask yourself if you're serious about finding and keeping a life partner.

QUESTION ..1: Do we share a common life purpose?

Why is this so important? Let me put it this way: If you're married for 20 or 30 years, that's a long time to live with someone. What do you plan to do with each other all that time? Travel, eat and jog together? You need to share something deeper and more meaningful. You need a common life purpose.

Two things can happen in a marriage: (1) You can grow together, or (2) you can grow apart. 50% of the people out there are growing apart. To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of life! Bottom line; and marry someone who wants the same thing.

QUESTION .. 2: Do I feel safe expressing my feelings and thoughts with this person?

This question goes to the core of the quality of your relationship. Feeling safe means you can communicate openly with this person. The basis of having good communication is trust - i.e. trust that I won't get "punished"; or hurt for expressing my honest thoughts and feelings. A colleague of mine defines an abusive person as someone with whom you feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Be honest with yourself on this one. Make sure you feel emotionally safe with the person you plan to marry.

QUESTION .. 3: Is he/she a mensch?

A mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can you test? Here are some suggestions. Do they work on personal growth on a regular basis? Are they serious about improving themselves? A teacher of mine defines a good person as "someone who is always striving to be good and do the right ";.So ask about your Significant other What do they do with their time? Is this person materialistic? Usually a materialistic person is not someone whose top priority is character refinement.

There are essentially two types of people in the world: (1) People who are dedicated to personal growth and (2) people who are dedicated to seeking comfort. Someone whose goal in life is to be comfortable will put personal comfort ahead of doing the right thing. You need to know that before walking down the aisle.

QUESTION 4: How does he/she treat other people?

The one most important thing that makes any relationship work is the ability to give. By giving, we mean the ability to give another person pleasure. Ask: Is this someone who enjoys giving pleasure to others or are they wrapped up in themselves and self-absorbed? To measure this, think about the following: How do they treat people whom they do not have to be nice to, such as waiters, bus boys, taxi drivers, etc. . How do they treat their parents and siblings? Do they have gratitude and appreciation? If they don't have gratitude for the people who have given them everything; Can you do nearly as much for them? You can be sure that someone who treats others poorly, will eventually treat you poorly as well.

QUESTION .. 5: Is there anything I'm hoping to change about this person after we're married?

Too many people make the mistake of marrying someone with the intention of trying to "improve" them after they're married. As a colleague of mine puts it: "You can probably expect someone to change after marriage for the worse" If you cannot fully accept this person the way they are now, then you are not ready to marry them. In conclusion, dating doesn't have to be difficult and treacherous. The key is to try leading a little more with your head and less with your heart. It pays to be as objective as possible when you are dating; to be sure to ask questions that will help you get to the key issues. Falling in love is a great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on your finger, you don't want to find yourself in trouble because you didn't do your homework. Another perspective....There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance....It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going anywhere relationships. Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention....Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill? When you leave certain people do you feel better or feel worse? Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know, or appreciate you?

The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you...the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life. An African proverb states, "Before you get married, keep both eyes open, and after you marry, close one eye"; Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don't let lust, pity, desperation, immaturity, ignorance, pressure from others or a low self-esteem make you blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don't fool yourself that you can change someone or that what you see as faults aren't really that important.

Do you bring out the best in each other? Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do you compete, compare and control? What do you bring to the relationship? Do you bring past relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past pain? You can't take someone to the altar to alter them. You can't make someone love you or make someone stay. If you develop self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and "a life"; you won't find yourself making someone else responsible for your happiness or responsible for your pain. Seeking status, sex, and security are the wrong reasons to be in a relationship.

WHAT KEEPS A RELATIONSHIP STRONG ARE:

1. TRUST
2. COMMUNICATION
3. INTIMACY
4. A SENSE OF HUMOR
5. SHARING TASKS
6. SOME GETAWAY TIME WITHOUT BUSINESS OR CHILDREN
7. DAILY EXCHANGES (meal, shared activity, hug, call, touch, notes)
8. SHARING COMMON GOALS AND INTERESTS
9. GIVING EACH OTHER SPACE TO GROW WITHOUT FEELING INSECURE
10. GIVING EACH OTHER A SENSE OF BELONGING AND ASSURANCES OF COMMITMENT

If these qualities are missing, the relationship will erode as resentment withdrawal, abuse, neglect, and dishonesty; and pain will replace it.

Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keep You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But......... Only GOD KEEPS YOU GOING!

Sunken Mood

Not in my usual mood today…just one bad day I guess…Heard some news yesterday and today and I just can’t help but wonder what will happen after the marriage. All my previous worries just keep on playing on my thoughts…All my plans and what I wanted to do with my life play tricks on me…I shouldn’t think of these now…I know I should let the future worry about itself. It’s just the usual pessimistic me. But can’t help but let it out. A lot of couples are disregarding this incompatibility for each other especially those who already spend money to reserve their suppose-to-be suppliers for the wedding. Others may think that your hard earned money will be put into waste if you just forget about the whole idea of marriage and shoo away those itsy bitsy teeny winy doubts. Even if the “Miserable life” sign is already breathing down your neck and you found out that you two were better of to be in a relationship but taking it to the next level is something that the high heavens above forbid, so you still push through with it without considering the aftermath of the whole event. It will help you both if you take sometime off, reflect and ponder about the pros and cons of a lifetime commitment. As what the saying goes, it’s not something that you can just throw away, besides it’s more expensive to have it annulled. Think a hundred times before finally deciding. It will save you both from misery than spending the rest of your lives regretting. But be careful though, you might also be blinded with anger and frustrations.

Maybe this feeling that you go through is just normal. Early wedding jitters according to my sisies at weddings@work. Money matters and different opinions clashed and so you may mistakenly think that this is one of signs that you and your husband-to-be are not well-matched. It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious on those warning signals. Though do not confuse this with the feeling caused by the pressures of the wedding preparations and the thought of spending the rest of you life with someone. Make sure that the whole preparation are shared by both parties, it is the start of working together as a couple and in the process get to know more about your partner. Isn’t wonderful that before the Big Day, you actually spent sometimes planning the start of your life together? Enjoy every minute of counting the days you will surely miss it.

Outdoor Theme

One of the hardest details to finalize is our wedding color scheme and theme which up until now is not made up yet. As I’ve mentioned on my previous blog, I’ve got tons of ideas working on my minds which has its advantages and disadvantages. Now, this will be more complicated because I myself don’t have an idea on how I will explain what I really want. The idea was to show bits and pieces of who we really are and what are the things we have in common…Both of us love sports, we love to travel…we love the mountains, the beaches, the adventures, new places, new faces. I thought of a beach theme…but it’s too informal for a wedding and reality check…there’s no beach on sight…what about Hollywood? Too costly…and not our thing…We’re into a more comfortable get-up and laid back nature. So what now?

After long hours of surfing the net, I was able to check http://www.sophiez.com/ showing some wedding themes like autumn, fall, orientalasian, etc.

What I liked most was the outdoor theme.

Celebrate your love of the beautiful and refreshing outdoors. Gardens, parks, the mountains, or the lake can be great backdrops for an outdoor themed wedding. Perfect! We just have to be careful not to overdo it, since it is still a formal affair after all. I saw one of Kaye’s (K.Cunanan catering) weddings with beach themed and I was sure that I want the same setting. Oh, by the way, she’ll be doing our wedding so I asked her advice on this. She said the beach theme can be done with formal clothes if we will minimize it a bit or add a few accents that would compliment our color motif. Now this is another story, I’m also having a hard time finding the right color scheme to go with it…I’ll do another blog for this when all is done…I just need a color palette to finalize it.

Church hunting

It’s my first time to write my thoughts in a blog where many people can actually read my mind. I wasn’t even considering this stuff till now. This is just one of the things that popped out of my mind to do. This too, I’m writing might be with different topics, but I’ll try to have a focal point so I will not lose it again. I’ve been very busy lately, my mind works all the time…and I’ll go nuts if I won’t put my head into focus. I believe it’s not only me who’s experiencing this kind of euphoria. Ever since we started the preparation for our upcoming wedding…my thoughts were on a whirlwind…one idea after another. My Far-ouT is confused already with all the things I’ve been telling and asking him…What do you really want? Are you sure? This is final, if you won’t change your mind again, he says. But he’s been really supportive of all my ideas even if sometimes…I bother him all the time…hehehe! Even at work. And I really appreciate all his inputs. He knows that this is really important to me. I believe he also feels the same with all the efforts.

We are already in the middle part of our planning. At last! We already found our church, which took months before we finally reserve one. This one was full of frustrations and disappointments…Our wedding falls on a Sunday, which of course, was the main problem…since most of the churches, were not holding Sunday weddings. My friends suggested Nuestra Señora de Gracia. I was happy with this one already and so I thought. My mind was already settled when I just thought of asking my mom to check the church and see for herself. Then she was informed that it will be the feast day of their patron and so no wedding will be allowed. My throat literally runs dry of saliva…as if I just swallowed handful of Dubai sand after learning this. And I was really irritated…But I kept my cool and start all over again…

This time, I search the net for all the possibility of finding the right church…I asked my sisies from weddings@work and I gather all the details that I could get. And then I ask a favor again from one of my friends…of course they were more than willing to help me out…this time I told them to call first before going to save time, money, effort and energy…And they found two, one was not that recommended so we opted for Don Bosco church…which is fine with me already…well, that “fine” took four weeks before I learned that our date was already reserved for someone else.Gosh! They were already telling me to change our wedding date to Saturday! I insisted…because it will not be significant anymore. And well, Ian’s mom already consulted a fung shui that our wedding date was OK! So, this time our moms were the ones hunting for the church…

There were other churches that we considered, which I decided not to mentioned anymore…since it will take more space…To make the story short, Camille of F@b who is now our coordinator, was the one who suggested Sanctuario de San Jose in greenhills…I saw some of the photos of the church and I immediately texted my mom to visit and reserve the church. With no hassle at all, I felt it will be the perfect place for our ceremony.

Kish Island, Iran

Kish Island, Iran is a famous destination if you are in the process of Visa renewal in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Most of the people who went here doesn't have that nice experience to share especially this past few years. I was want of them who has to travel to this Island in not one but two occasions.

Upon arrival in Kish, I stayed in Farabi Hotel. But instead of being a guest, they don't normally treat you as one. While checking in, they will require you to surrender your passport. Something most us find odd and scary. Without passport, its like having your hand tied in an unfamiliar place. Each room is having to share with a lot of people, very unlikely for a hotel. You can't really do much about it though. You can't have your passport back unless you already have your visa to go back to Dubai,

Fortunately for me, I had my company to shoulder all the travel and food expenses. Travelling to Kish, Island wasn't that bad for me, instead of wallowing in self pity, I tried to make it as fun as possible while I was in that situation. Being in Kish was a different story for me. I actually decided to do some tour to see and appreciate its beauty together with some new friends I met along the way.

This is one the ruins that I was able to see.

Their water reservoir

I was told that this ship was one of the oldest

If I am not mistaken, this tree is also an old, old one.

One of the famous thing to do in Kish is Shisha at night, by the way, when you get to visit the place, that is, if you are interested, you need something to cover your head and make sure you wear something to cover your entire body. They don't allow people roaming around with skin showing. You don't want to be in trouble with the police while being away from your family.

Restaurant is near the water. You don't have much food choices though, fish is mostly what's on their menu.

So, make the most out of your travel even if its not really that pleasing.

All the best.

Hatta, Oman Trek

One of the things Far-ouT and yours truly have in common is being nature lovers. Although Far-ouT was the one who introduce me to this kind of nature tripping, I realized that this is what I was really looking for to do in my life. One of the highlights of my life includes mountain climbing. I get to feature one of them here. I wasn't able to post more of them but as I get along, i will definitely find time to share them all with you. Who knows, you may find yourself loving it as well.

What I love in the Philippines are the mountains that we have. The flora and fauna in the Philippines are one of the best in the World. Truly beautiful, exotic, gaudy and even bizarre. This activity is one of the many things I missed the most but that doesn't stop you for adventure tripping even if you are Dubai Living right? Far-ouT, yours truly and a friend decided on one fun day to explore the wonders of nature once again by trekking Hatta, Oman.

We all started from the bus station going to Hatta.

Upon reaching the road to Hatta, we don't ride, we walk.

Its gonna be a long day for us. Downside of this trip is the heat of the sun and the dust of the road made the trip a little harder though.

Instead of whining from the long and winding road, enjoy every bit of it. You may even meet a friend along the way.

But we're only human so we had some time off resting.

After some rest and food, we again proceeded to our destination, although we actually have no idea what we'll find at the end of this journey. During our walk, few people on their vehicle offered their car for us. Its nice to see such friendly gestures from stranger especially for foreigners. I am so enjoying this trip.

Without so much of the trees, you can still appreciate other beauty that nature has to bring

After the never ending walk, 3 of us has finally reach the peak. Not on top of the mountain but the end of our final destination.

Its all worth it.

Water! Water! Water! Yes that's me, behind the water!

Enjoying the cold, clean water of Hatta

See the rocks? Its as if its crying.

Always be in touch with nature. You never know what you gonna get.

All the best,