Tie the knot

Wedding? what comes to mind when you hear that word?.. hmmm.. lets see.. churches or gardens with magnificent view, entourage, flowers,food, wine, dancing,and so on and so on. Basically its a ceremony for a couple wanted to bonded for life, thru better or worst till death do they part.
Here I want to express my journey thru writing.. our journey in getting married.. Yes, I am married.. To the most beautiful man "I think" i know.. my best friend, brother, companion, lover, hiking buddy, or what so ever they called it. I am married and really proud of it..Why? Just read on.



When I was a kid, i dreamed of Big weddings, lots of gifts, big church, plenty of guests and dancing and singing, big wedding cake, I will be wearing that big white, long gown with a long veil. While my husband to be waits at the end of the aisle, smiling and saying even without a word that I am the most beautiful of all. HAHAHAHA.. ( of course) kikiligin ako then will continue on dreaming.

Teka, bakit parang pag binasa ko, iba naiisip ko.. to be perfectly honest nothing like that happened, but of all the things we did to prepare for the BIG day, everything was WORTH IT, its the most perfect wedding I ever attended, of course kasal ko yon. :)

Being a DIY (do it yourself) bride is never easy, specially when the "big day" needs to be ready in 3 months, with all the paper works and canvasing to be done.. pasakit talaga. Well let's start with the paperworks legal matter muna. Need to do and prepare the following before anything else..
Secure an NSO copy of birth certicate (both parties), since nasa NSO ka na get a copy of CENOMAR ( mag papatunay daw na di ka kasal sa iba), still both parties, you must have the latest copy of your baptismal certificate and confirmation certificate (for catholic not sure sa ibang religion). Once secure na yang documents, apply for the marriage license sa either municipality, noted that mariage license has 120 days validity so dapat within that range ang date ng kasal. In applying, you have to go to the Local Civil Registrar ( couple should apply together), need to fill out 4 copies of information sheet ( be accurate since permanent records na yan) for both then have it notarized before submitting, then you will be required to attend a family planning seminar/interview since need to submit yung certificate plus a copy of the cenomar secured from NSO. Once completed they will schedule the release of the marriage license usually after a week.
After the legalities from the government lets proceed naman sa church requirements, first you have to choose a church (venue) considering all possible expenses such as decor, choir, priest, fees of all sort, plus the necessary requirements they need. In our case, I brought my husband to several venues while reading out loud the fees.. (parang tour tas mag aalok ka ng presyo :), well lucky for me he agreed on it, we talked and choose Mary Immaculate Parish in Moonwalk Laspinas, ( also known as Nature Church)..After that I did the necessary  syempre with the help of my sister. We did schedule the date of the wedding, paid the down payment and then talked to the caterer/decorator/reception coordinator.
The church requirements are as follows, submit the marriage license, CENOMAR, birth and confirmation certificate, attend a pre-canna seminar (whole day event), marriage bond (secure one month before the wedding), attend the pre-marital interview ( where the priest will ask questions), fill out forms then you're all set. Time to dig deeper into other details. Tight budget on hand.

Outfits: when I was a child I was so particular in what to wear but that wears out of me, luckily I have a wonderful ninang that cater gowns and dresses, with her help, I manage to buy materials to be use in making my lovely dress and also materials for my Best barong and pants which was tailored by non other than my Tatay. This is what I call the labor of love, hehe kasi we literally roamed around divisoria for that. Dahil sa craftmanshift ng aking ninang, I did wore a simple but lovely wedding dress with that long veil accented by tiny pearls. For the shoes, having no time and specially no excess budget we chose not to buy  instead we agreed to wear what makes us comfortable, what makes us WE.. With my Merrel i walked down the aisle towards my man in his Lafuma :). Lovely right!

The Reception: We chose the Big Banquet hall that can hold a hundred people in capacity, as part of being a DIY, the flow of the event shall be taken seriously, considering the moods and preferences of the invited guests. And I'm so thankful to my sisters for they handled everything for us, the programmed went as planned with little flaws,  Everyone was fed and we were able to enjoy the meal. which is good as it can be.

There are so many things to consider to make a certain wedding as wonderful and magical as it can be, you can have a reception with extravagant decorations and overflowing food or as simple as a dinner/luch for the family. You can chose a professional photographer to capture the moment or have your friends capture each raw smile everytime they wish, you can have a 5 layer wedding cake or just a cupcake if you must. Guest may give you gifts others may not. But most important of all is the couple enjoyed the moment as much as others do, for this our theirs and I'm certain I did mine.