Our [Crazy] Wedding Preparations

My (then) fiance arrived on the 17th of November 2014 after about a 13-hour plane ride from Manchester, a few hours waiting time at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and a 2-hour plane ride from Manila to Davao.

Together with my parents-in-law, I was there to meet and fetch him from Davao International Airport.

GoPro shot of fiance's arrival. Woohoo!

Anyway, the day after his arrival, we immediately went to the Local Civil Registrar to apply for a marriage license. (If you are wondering why we arranged this a few weeks before the wedding, it's because 1. You cannot apply for a marriage license unless upon personal appearance of the BOTH of you and 2. It has a 120-day expiration. So even if we did get one before he left on February 2014 it would still expire and we'd have to get one again upon his return home.) Good thing I had someone help me get us our Birth Certificates and Certificates of No Marriage (CENOMAR) from NSO. Apart from waiting in line to get the latest cedula (a marriage license requirement), the process was just a breeze and we managed to submit and pay for all requirements by around lunch time on Nov. 18.

Nov. 19--we went to the St. Francis of Assisi Parish to have a run down of all our wedding requirements. Afterwards, we visited the shop that made our wedding outfits to fit my fiance a coat, and to rent at the last minute one set of formal outfits for our prenuptial shoot the next day (a decision I made at the last minute haha!) Unfortunately, the entourage gowns were not ready yet so I could not advise our bridesmaids and groomsmen to try them on. However, they showed me my wedding gown, and I merely took a picture of it. After all, I planned to stick to the superstition that soon-to-be-brides must not fit their wedding gowns due to bad luck. WRONG. Luckily, I changed my mind less than two weeks before the wedding, and found out that the gown was generally bigger than my size and the sleeves were kinda loose so I had them repair it with the new measurements. (Lesson learned: There's nothing wrong in believing superstitions; but when it comes to your wedding, be practical and have a gown fitting if it's what will put your mind at ease! After all, you can never assume that your body measurements have remained the same especially after all the emotional roller coaster ride during the wedding preps!) We also dropped by the PAL office because Cyril followed up his Mabuhay Miles card (which, until now, still hasn't arrived).

Waiting for CLN finish his transaction. Yawn!

Nov. 20 was our Engagement Session, so you can just imagine how exhausting it was for Cyril who has had no decent sleep ever since he got home. (More on our prenup story in my next post.)

Nov. 21--we visited the church again, then the wedding shop; then we shopped for shoes, long sleeved polo, undergarments (I took care of my own stuff); then again we checked our wedding to-do's. We were scurrying from one place to the next to maximize our time, so every single day was very exhausting. That Friday was the last day of my leave.

Scouting for wedding shoes until I decided on this pair

I went back to work on the following Monday but the week was also just as busy with the wedding preparations. After work, we had scheduled appointments with our suppliers and coordinator, we made downpayments--you get the drift. It felt as if we were throwing all those £££ away. Haha!


We also had our pre-cana seminar during the weekend, so we spent two whole days for this. I found out that it was fun, actually. At least, I did haha! We met other couples and learned from the lectures, though admittedly during some parts of the lecture I wanted some Zzzzzz.

Pre-Cana Day 1: Purple matchy matchy attire

Pre-Cana Day 2: Feeling fresh and blessed!

My OC notes

A week before the big day, we made constant followups with the shop for our entourage attire. To be honest, they were being a pain-in-the-a**. They were fond of promising delivery upon certain dates but it did not happen. When the gowns finally came, it was as stressful to remind our entourage for fitting. Two days before the wedding, our bearers still did not have bowties. Nonetheless, there was nothing we could do but to trust that everything will just smooth out. (Lesson learned: Jot down everything up to the tiniest detail so that you got everything covered! My notebook was already full with notes, scribbles, illustrations, and we even carried around an envelope containing all pertinent files and documents such as receipts, still there were a few things I overlooked!)

We also made hotel reservations, met with the coordinator for final reminders, met with some suppliers, did our DIY giveaways, made last minute adjustments to the guest list, bought the remaining wedding must-haves like offerings and Bible, practiced for our first dance and the entourage dance (good thing they were all very cooperative), and prayed for the best.

After our confession. Time check: Around 8 o'clock on Dec. 12 

At Marco Polo: Was offered fresh watermelon shake while waiting for our check-in confirmation

Enjoying our brief moment of relaxation at our Cabana Room (for the ladies)

The gowns! Good thing my bridesmaid checked on each gown.

A day before our big day, Cyril and I had our confession first thing in the morning, met with the coordinator again, then in the afternoon got all the gowns, props, and body form from the shop. Still no bowties and tie for the bearers and the groom. I wanted to scold all the staff but Cyril would remind me to keep my cool (although he himself would sometimes snap at me after a tiring day haha). We dropped everything off at our hotel rooms. Then Cyril fetched some of his relatives at the bus terminal, while I had my nails done. After dinner with his relatives and just as I thought things couldn't get any worse the night before the wedding, one of my bridesmaids discovered that their gowns did not have breast pads!!! The horror!! I immediately contacted the "mananahi" and two ladies from their team ended up sewing breast pads to the bridesmaid's gowns inside my room at around 10 in the evening. So, yes, we did NOT have any beauty rest of some sort. (Lesson learned: Do not pay your suppliers in full yet unless you can really REALLY trust them! Or unless it is specified in the contract.) Gaaaaaah. It was craaaazy! Bloody crazy.  But it was all worth it.

Our biggest takeaway from all the stress (and as advised by our officiating priest) is that amidst all the craziness in the preparations, we should never lose sight of the goal: MARRIAGE. A wedding is not as important as the sacrament of marriage. So even if things go wrong (and they are bound to go wrong even during THE day), we should learn to let go and let God.

Watch out for my entry about our 12-13-14 big day!