This Saturday has been reserved for errands, and what could be more urgent for us but the quest for the church and reception venue. We've been putting this off for so long thinking that it's still next year and we have more than a year to prep, but we thought wrong. I started inquiring this Friday for our top church picks, as it turns out, we've chosen not a just very popular date but also a day that a church will of course prioritize a Eucharistic mass. A couple of church secretaries even advised me that they will not be accepting any reservations for a wedding that day! After 7 failed reservation attempts, my relaxed persona has officially been transformed into a bridezilla!
And so there we were, one rainy, traffic-filled Saturday afternoon driving non-stop around the metro
First stop -- Mt Carmel
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| photo from blissful weddings |
I can see why a lot of couples said that this is a good option. The aisle is long, the facade can be nice in pictures, the altar is better looking than the regular parish churches and a lot of space for parking. Unfortunately for us, this is not 'The One'. I guess our hopes were already heightened by how we've seen it in pictures. Somehow, it looked gloomy for us, not sure if it was because of the rain, or it just lacks good lighting
Second stop -- Oasis Manila
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| photo from Oasis Manila |
A popular reception venue, probably because of the irony of a full garden set-up right smack in the middle of the metro. Who would've thought that such a serene place exists in that area. The pavilion is available for us on our preferred date, but only in the morning. At this point, we don't have a preferred "time," so we continued with the inquiry and our AE showed us around and explained the different packages available. I'm not a 100% sold, not sure if it was because of the cost (though they have less expensive options, so I guess that's not it) or if it's because I'm distracted by the construction site for their new building (the AE assured us that it will be done in March). Still this was a great option.
We had to drop by UERM to visit a grandma, and the downtime from driving gave me a chance to browse through the papers that the Oasis AE gave me. They provided a list of nearby churches with contact numbers so I skimmed through it and tried to dial one. I still had the hang over from the frustration of not finding an available church so I didn't get my hopes up... as it turns out, that church became our next stop...
Third Stop -- Mary The Queen
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| photo from church.nfo.ph |
- It's one of the popular churches among brides, so it was such a great news when I found out that they still have an open slot! It's a 9am schedule though, but I was still very happy about it. The secretary was very helpful, nice, and funny! We really enjoyed talking to her. So there we were, pencil booked! ",)
Fourth Stop -- Santuario de San Jose
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| photo from yugatech |
A part of me said that we shouldn't have looked at this church, I know for a fact that the date was not available since we called the day before, but still, we're already in Greenhills anyway, so off we went ahead and took a peek. There was a slight road bump when LJ called the church, the person who answered was kinda sarcastic. We were lost and the guards and pedestrians in West Greenhills that we've asked are not familiar with Santuario. So we decided to call them to ask for directions...
LJ: "andito po kase kami sa West Greenhills, san po banda East Greenhills?"
Person from the church: "Eh di sa EAST"
(ok fine, sabi ko nga =p)
Anyways, we went ahead and looked for it, asked for directions again until finally we found it. The church was aaaawwweeessssoooome! The whole time I was staring at it asking myself if I love it so much that I am willing to move my date, not just to another Saturday but to a weekday.
Answer? Naaaah... we're still good... I know we'll find "our" church. It's just a matter of time.
MTQ is a great option, but it would have been better if it's available in the afternoon. We'll see... who knows, the couple who pencil booked for the later slots for that day might still change their mind... or we might find another church... besides, Oasis is just available for us for a morning a reception, so far, it's still a match
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| photo from panoramio |
Following weekend we dropped by National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati. It was definitely a beautiful church, and I understand then why two couple friends recommended it with conviction. :) Problem was, it was too early for them to accommodate us cause they only accommodate reservations one year in advance max. That is just too risky for us, since there's no assurance that we will be the first couple to walk in their door and reserve the date in December and the other churches are filling up fast. We might end up with no church at all.
After much thought, we've decided... Mary the Queen it is! It's just perfect, see... he's marrying he's Queen in Mary the Queen :)
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