Attending the Pre-Marriage Counseling

Early Monday morning, Mox and I headed to the Marikina Health Office to attend our pre-marriage counseling, which is a prerequisite to claim our marriage license. We only had a half-day session, so there were some topics that weren't discussed in detail, but we still learned a lot from our speaker.

Honestly, I was so sleepy during the first half of the talk that I couldn't really remember much on the topic that was discussed. But I was awake during the most important part of the counseling: the family planning seminar! Haha! Everyone knows that Mox and I want to have a baby as soon as we get married, so all the ideas that we could get about family planning will be very helpful.

We learned about the different methods of contraception, from the natural method to the condoms, IUDs and injectables. The speaker even helped us calculate our possible "fertile" days, which can depend on the length of our menstrual cycle.

But one important tidbit that we learned was how to have a baby boy or baby girl. Yes, apparently you can have a say on your baby's sex, if based on this scientific explanation.  You see, the male carries the chromosomes that can determine the sex of the baby. The female chromosome swims slowly but can live for three to five days, while the male chromosome swims faster, but can die after only 24 hours. Now the female egg also lives for only 24 hours, so if you want to have a baby girl, you may have intercourse a few days before your ovulation period. If you have intercourse a day before your ovulation, then the chances of having a baby boy are higher. Ang galing diba? Of course, we're not entirely sure if this is reliable information, but there's no harm in trying right?

After the counseling, we were finally handed our pre-marriage counseling certificate. So now, we just have to wait for February 3 to get our license. Yey!

Our Pre-Marriage Counseling Certificate

Wedding Docs 101: Marriage License Application in Marikina

After our canonical interview, we decided to make the best of our day off from work by applying for our marriage license. We had a choice between Marikina (where I live) and Pasig (where Mox lives), but we decided to apply in Marikina instead because the Pasig municipality requires the certificate of attendance of the pre-cana seminar, and we haven't attended any seminars yet.

Aside from the personal appearance of both parties applying for the license, here are the other requirements for the marriage license application:

1. Birth certificate or baptismal certificate (for both parties)
2. Cedula (for both parties)
3. CENOMAR (for both parties)
4. One valid ID (for both parties)

You can submit photocopies of all these documents, so no need to order another copy of the CENOMAR and birth certificate from NSO. You can also submit a 2x2 picture in case you don't have any valid ID with you.

At the city hall, we proceeded to Window 19, where the person-in-charge handed us four forms to fill up. The left column is for the groom, while the right column is for the bride. The city hall has tables and chairs set up so we were very comfortable in filling up the forms. Plus, they also have free Wi-Fi and coffee! Parang nasa Starbucks lang kami. Relax na relax. Haha.

After filling up the forms, we got a number from the cashier and waited for our number to be called. When it was our turn, we proceeded to the cashier at Window 9 and paid P50 for the forms. Then we went back to Window 19 to submit the forms, the official receipt and another P100 for the processing of the documents. The person-in-charge gave us a slip of paper indicating the date of release of our marriage license, which is 10 business days after application.

We have to present our family planning seminar certificate before claiming our license though, so we went to the Marikina Health Office, which is the pink building near Savemore, to schedule our family planning seminar. The seminar is held every Monday and Tuesday only, from 8:00am-5:00pm.

At the health office, we first went to Window 9 to pay P150 for the seminar, then proceeded to the Population Management Office on the fifth floor, where we were each given a questionnaire that we must fill up. The questionnaire was in Filipino, and had really deep terms that were a bit difficult to understand. It was a good thing that we already had our canonical interview, because the questionnaire that we had to answer for the seminar was the same questionnaire that we answered for the interview, only in Filipino. Since we already knew our answers to the questions, it only took us a few minutes to fill up to forms.

After submitting the questionnaires, we were asked for our preferred schedule for the family planning seminar. We chose Monday, January 27, because Tuesday is my coding day, and luckily, the schedule was for half day only. We can still go to work afterwards if we want to. At least hindi masasayang leave namin diba?

Overall, the application process in Marikina was smooth, speedy and hassle-free! It took us an hour and a half to apply for our license, and only because we took some time filling up the application forms since we were enjoying the free Wi-Fi too much. Haha! Once we attend the family planning seminar on Monday, we can finally claim our license on February 3. Yey!

Canonical Interview: Done!

Mox and I took a whole day leave from work yesterday to do more wedding preps. The first thing on our agenda was our canonical interview at Christ the King Church, which was done by one of their resident priests.

I was actually a bit nervous about this interview because I didn''t know what to expect. Some couples say that they were asked to recite the seven Sacraments or the 10 Commandments, while others say they were merely asked personal questions about their relationship. I was really hoping that our interview would be like the latter as I could not recall any lessons that I have learned from my Christian Living Education classes. Baka ibagsak nila kami pag di namin ma-recite ang "Our Father." Katakot lang.

So after submitting our church documents to the parish office, we were both given questionnaires to answer for the interview. The form was four pages long, with multiple-choice questions and some essay questions too! Daig pa ang entrance exam! Haha!

We took quite some time in answering the form. Some questions were easy to answer, but the others were actually thought-provoking. Mox and I had to discuss some of the items to make sure we were on the same page. Fine, nagkopyahan kami, pero ang hihirap naman kasi ng mga tanong eh!

Here are some of the more memorable questions:

1. "If your partner is not in the mood for sex, you will:"

              a) get angry
              b) go to sleep
              c) watch TV
              d) try to seduce him/her
              e) others: ______________ 
  
      2. "The husband should:"

              a) keep a "secret" account
              b) keep a separate account
              c) give all his salary to his wife
              d) give enough to pay for the household expenses
              e) others: _______________

Oh diba, ang hirap sagutin? But honestly, this gave us the opportunity to learn more about each other's opinions on sex, finance, religion and other important topics.

After finishing our questionnaires, we gave them to the parish coordinator again and waited for our turn to be called. I was called first into the counseling room, where this young priest asked me to swear by the Bible that I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. He then asked me a few simple questions like my age, Mox's age and if we will be getting married on our own free will. The questions became a bit more personal afterwards; he asked me how Mox and I met, how long our courtship was, and how did I know that I was ready to get married and that Mox was "the one". I was actually getting a bit teary-eyed while answering; I guess the questions really made me think on why I decided to say "yes" to Mox's proposal. And I'm happy to know that I have definitely made the right decision. :)

Then it was Mox's turn, and afterwards, we were both called in together. I thought the priest was going to ask us more questions about our relationships, but he just asked us if we wanted to say something to each other before we get married. Sort of like saying our pre-wedding vows to each other. Then, the priest congratulated us on our upcoming wedding and gave us his blessing. The whole interview was done in less than 15 minutes! Mas matagal pa paghihintay namin at pagsagot namin ng questionnaires.

Whew! Finally, we can finally check another church requirement off our list. All we had to do now was to attend the pre-cana seminar in February, submit our remaining church requirements, and we're done!

Some tips to remember:
1. Bring a pen to fill up the forms. Also, stretch your fingers and prepare to do some heavy-duty writing. Ang sakit sa kamay promise.
2. Bring snacks to munch on while waiting. 
3. Just be honest. :)

Save the Date!

This may sound cheesy, but I can't help but feel so happy with my groom. He's finally showing initiative on our wedding preps. Nakakakilig pala yung ganun. Haha!

You see, Mox is in charge of the layouts for all stationery needs, such as our invites, missalettes, souvenir tags and the like. He already finished the layout of the invites, so I thought he would just wait for my instructions before starting with the other designs. But I was surprised that he actually made a Save-the-Date card even though we weren't planning on giving one. Natuwa ata siya masyado sa kaka-design eh.

So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our Save-the-Date card made by my wonderful fiance. See how cute it is? :)

100 Days To Go!

Today marks our 100-day countdown. Can't believe we have a little over three months to go before our big day. Nakakatense!

We have made major progress in our preps since the start of the year. We did our prenup photo shoot, secured some of the required wedding documents, and even finalized the layout of our invitations. But I'm feeling the pressure now because I've seen our checklist and there are still a lot of things to do! Waaah!

Here are some of the items that need to be checked off our list before the month ends:

• Finalize our ento list. - We have already made several changes in our line-up because some of our chosen entourage in abroad still can't say whether or not they could come home for our wedding.
• Finalize our Principal Sponsors. - This is actually one of the more difficult tasks because we are having a hard time choosing our principal sponsors! Konti lang kasi talaga yung kaclose namin  na pwede eh. But we already have some names in mind, so we just have to ask them if they're willing to be our ninong and ninang.
• Complete wedding documents. - We already secured our baptismal and confirmation certificates. We plan to pass them this Saturday before our canonical interview.
• Have canonical interview. - We are scheduled to have our canonical interview on January 23. I don't know what to expect so I guess I have to review my old C.L.E. notes in case the priest will ask us about the 10 Commandments or the Sacraments.
• File for marriage license. - We need to secure Mox's cedula first, but afterwards, we will go to the Marikina City Hall to file for our marriage license.
• Finalize gown design for MIL. - We have to go to Paolo Blanco to finalize the design of my mother-in-law's gown. She'll have her measurements taken by a seamstress in La Union, and will just send them to me.
• Renew passport. - My passport expires in December, but I have to renew my passport before our honeymoon in June or else I wouldn't be allow to travel.

Now here is our schedule for the next month:

ACTIVITY	TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
First fitting of bridal gown	First week of February 2014
Pre-cana seminar	First week of February 2014 (February 8-9)
Meeting with OTD	First or second week of February 2014
Detailing with caterer	First or second week of February 2014
Measurement taking for groom's suit	Second week of February 2014
Buy barongs and flower girl dress for ento	Second week of February 2014
Create song list and meet with Composed Band	Third week of February 2014
Do all DIYS and other stationaries (menu card, place card, etc.)	Third week of February 2014
Distribute invitations	Fourth week of February 2014

Whew! I predict that the next months will be very, very busy. We can do this!

Models For A Day: Our Official Prenup Shoot

Last Friday, Mox and I finally had our prenup with our official wedding photographers, Osep&Mimi. We were supposed to have our prenup in November, but we had to reschedule because it was exactly the day when Yolanda hit the Philippines. Kainis, ang malas ng timing namin. It was also the peak season for weddings, so the earliest possible date that both our stylist and photographers were available was in January. That's another two months of waiting, but at least we had more time to prepare. Hehe.

The day before the shoot, I took a day off from the office to buy the food that we would bring to the shoot. I didn't want our suppliers to be hungry, but I also didn't want to buy too much food since I knew that we would be hiking, and it would be difficult to bring all the food and drinks with us. With that in mind, I decided to just buy:

• Two packs of Regent cakes (Chocolate and Custard flavors)
• One pack of Nagaraya (Barbecue)
• One pack of Pica-Pica (Cheese)
• One jar of Stik-O
• One six-liter container of  water

These were also my favorite snacks because I was thinking that in case our suppliers wouldn't be able to finish the food, at least I would be able to take them home and eat them myself. Haha!

On the day of the prenup, I woke up very early to prepare our things. Mox was supposed to be at our house at 7:30am, but I learned that he woke up at around 8:00am,  and our call-time at Aira's house was at 9:00am! Luckily, there was no traffic on that day, so we met halfway and was at Aira's house a few minutes past our call-time. Pasalamat si Mox na maaga pa rin kami or else, gyera na ito! Haha!

As soon as we got there, we met with Aira and Boombee, her makeup artist for the day. I was expecting to see Fritz, her usual HMUA, but Aira said that she's currently rotating her team members so it was Boombee's turn to do my hair and makeup. While she's busy prepping me up for the shoot, Aira was fixing our clothes and preparing the accessories needed. Then, we just ordered lunch and ate at her house. Afterwards, we were on our way to Wawa Dam! :)

The travel to Wawa Dam took about an hour because of the traffic, but luckily, we still arrived there on time based on Aira's schedule. Osep was already there, along with his teammate Chris. Boombee retouched my makeup while Mox was busy fixing the permits needed for the shoot. As soon as our tour guide arrived, we were off to our first location for the day.

Our overall look for the prenup was bohemian hipster, so our wardrobe for the first layout were shorts and boots for me, and a flannel shirt and boots for Mox. We shot around the bridge and the abandoned building overlooking the dam. Very ghetto. Hehe.

Photo by Aira Franco

We then hiked some more and found this rocky, open space, with the mountains as a background. We changed into our wardrobe for the second layout: a floral dress and boots again for me, and a military jacket and black shirt for Mox. We had to rent a cottage so that we would have some place to put our things. We then crossed a shaky, wooden bridge to get to the other side. Luckily, my clumsy side was not present so I was spared the humiliation of falling off the bridge. Haha.

Photo by Aira Franco

For our third layout, we decided to shoot near the dam itself. We changed into our last set of clothes for the day: a long printed dress for me and a denim jacket and white shirt for Mox. We decided to take a side trip first because I requested Osep for some photos on a raft, so our tour guide served as our boatman as we went to the middle of the reservoir. I was a bit nervous because the raft was shaky and I didn't want to fall into the lake, but the boatman was able to steer us into safety. And judging by Aira's photo, the experience was worth it.

Photo by Aira Franco

Finally, we went off to our last location for the day: the rocks along the dam. This was actually the reason why I chose Wawa Dam as our prenup location; I love the big rocks! Dyosang-dyosa lang ang peg! It was a bit difficult navigating around the rocks because I wore a long dress and sandals, but Aira and Osep were there to help me get there safely. We had to move fast because it was almost six and the sun was about to set, but a few minutes after starting the shoot, the sky suddenly cleared up, and there was sunlight everywhere! Imagine that, we were given extra time to shoot by God! Naawa siguro sa amin kasi nagcancel nga kami dahil kay Yolanda. Haha.

Photo by Aira Franco

All in all, it was a tiring yet fun shoot. I'm so thankful for our suppliers who were game enough to hike through the dam to capture the perfect shot. They also kept on saying how beautiful the place is! It was the perfect location for our prenup. :) Now I can't wait to see our pictures!