Caleruega

Posted on by

Choosing the best wedding church location was quite a challenge for us. Atsushi’s family will come from Japan and mine from Davao hence we want a venue that would be most convenient for our guests. Fernbrooks was originally considered but my choice reception room was already booked and our company will be having our Christmas party there so somehow, the place has lost its magic for me. I was already considering some churches in Makati and Quezon City and Manila. But if truth be told, for safety reasons, I hesitate to have our wedding in the thick of Metro Manila.

When Maha and I met during my Japan visit last September, I told her about my dream wedding locations – beach wedding in an Island in Bohol and a solemn one in Caleruega – both of which I considered impossible because of the travel. But then Maha pointed out that Caleruega is actually the practical choice since guests can just directly drive from the airport to Tagaytay. Plus, it’s safer as compared to Manila area. The idea then got stuck on my imagination. Hence, when Hubby agreed, I was really happy!

Last Saturday, Kat, Rey and I then went to Tagaytay to do our ocular visits of the place as well as other possible reception venues and guests’ accommodations. The day started out as a rainy one hence the mist and fog were so thick we had difficulty seeing the car ahead of us. It was quite a dangerous drive and so I am really grateful to Rey and Kat for still pushing through with our trip.

When we got to Caleruega, it was like being in heaven after that foggy and dangerous trip haha.

Suffice it to say, I fell in love with the place.

(the back of the church)

(church grounds)

(the church front)

(the church altar)

(wifey by the church door)

Contact details:

Caleruega Philippines, caleruega_philippines@yahoo.com, +63921.270.9890 ; +63921.830.4226;  (+6343)706.0348

Dino Lara and Jason Magbanua

Posted on by

Took a day off yesterday so as to meet Dino Lara in person and to visit Jason Magbanua’s office.

Dino was real nice. And sincere. He got me emotional and teary-eyed as he relayed to me his suggestion on my dilemma of a possible evening wedding in Caleruega. I wanted for me and Atsushi to have shots with the Caleruega landscape with the sunset. However, since our slot in Caleruega is at 6pm, that would mean me and hubby will have to meet before the ceremony. Dino said that usually, he would encourage for the couple not to meet before the wedding; he says there’s this unforgettable moment when the church door opens and the groom sees the bride for the first time. That got me teary-eyed, the way he said it. So then that would mean I will not have my sunset. But he suggested that we can still capture that “unforgettable moment” during our photo-shoot by adding some drama. He described how it would be done and again, he got me teary-eyed because with the way he said it, I can picture the moment and well, I get emotional. haha! I paid half of the downpayment then and tomorrow the other half.

By the way, here is an amazing interview with Dino Lara! http://www.interviewsbycrashtaylor.com/2009/02/02/crash-taylor-interviews-dino-lara/

As for Jason, too bad Jason was in Iloilo at the time of my visit hence I wasn’t able to meet him. I hope though we’ll have a chance to meet before the wedding day. At his office, I watched samples of his cinematic highlights (approx. 20 min video of the entire event which comes as a package together with the onside video) and the more I watched, the more excited I got as I imagined how it would be on our wedding. =D

Anyways today, I deposited my downpayment to Jason Magbanua. So there. Yey!! Got our choice videographer and photographer!

Dino Lara Photography – dinolaraphotography@gmail.com; +632.8834408 (landline), +63920.9125069 (mobile)

Jason Magbanua Wedding Videographer – jmdvinfo@gmail.com; +632.8171989 (landline), +63928.4704145 (mobile)

April 30, 2011

Posted on by

Last September 12, Hubby (yey hubby already and not just H2B!) and I finally decided to have April 30 next year as THE date for our Church wedding.

When we made our visit to Hubby’s hometown last weekend, the date has finally been set; parents already informed.

Time now to make inquiries with the suppliers. First off, the Church and Reception venue. Then Videographer, Photographer etc etc etc….exciting!!

PS

Coincidentally, April 30 also marks a very important and special date for us hence it is just but apt to have this as our wedding date. ^_^

Civilly married!

Posted on by

Finally, after some ups and starts, Atsushi and I are civilly married already!

To get officially married, we had to submit the following to Minami Ward (the Ward office closest to where Atsushi is staying now):

  1. Atsushi’s Koseki Tohon
  2. my CNO
  3. my Birth Certificate
  4. photocopies of the pages of my passport
  5. application form which includes hanko and details of our two witnesses who should be 20 years old and above. We had Atsushi’s batchmates as our witnesses.

I look forward to our Church wedding; a wedding that would be very special.

We also had a couple of achievements yesterday:

1. got our CNO from the Philippine embassy which of course  is one of the requirements for our civil marriage.

2. we finally selected, ordered and paid for our wedding rings!!! Oh how lovely were they! Too bad I wasn’t able to take a picture of them as I ran out of cp batteries already. Both Atsushi’s and my ring are platinum with mine encrusted with five diamonds. Can’t wait till we pick them up come January 18, 2011!!

Count thy blessings yes. And I thank you Lord. And oh yes, I hope to post soon my great experience with Atsushi’s family last weekend.

CNO

Posted on by

Applied for our Certificate of No Objection (CNO) at the Philippine Embassy today (Sept 14), yey! It was quite chaotic in the area, what with all the crowd at such a small space and with all the screaming and crying children but we got all our requirements done right:

  1. Atsushi’s Koseki Tohon
  2. Atsushi’s Juminhyo
  3. Marjorie’ s Birth Certificate (DFA authenticated)
  4. Marjorie’s CENOMAR which indicated “Marriage” as the purpose (DFA authenticated)
  5. photocopies of the above (thankfully there’s a photocopying machine in the area)
  6. 2 copies each of passport sized picture.

Our CNO will be released on Sept 21 (5 days after), afterwich we can then go to the ward office to register our marriage civilly.

CNO Basic Fee : US$25
Affidavit of Civil Status : US$25
English Translation(of Koseki Tohon or Juri Shomeisho x 2): US$50
TOTAL  : US$100

After the Philippine Embassy chaos, we relaxed a bit in Starbucks Roponggi and at 5pm, headed to Funabashi to meet with Maha and incidentally, Kawauchi-san (who just arrived yesterday with his family from the United States after staying there for almost three years). We had such a great dinner with them! =)

at Starbucks near Roponggi station