Church and Reception Venues Booking (Saturday, 30.01.2010)

Packed with excitement, went out early with my mom to attend the 9am orientation at the Manila Cathedral. This is a requirement before you can book your wedding date in this church for you to know their rules and regulations. However, you will not be obliged to book if ever you see that the church policies do not match with what you want to happen on your wedding. As the facilitator went on with the details, I realised that this is really the church where I want our families and friends to witness our unity as husband and wife. Why? Because aside from its grandeur, the church’s standpoint of the sacrament of wedding apparently fits with my idea of how I imagine our wedding will be, simple and with less drama. I believe in what the facilitator told us.. “Wedding is not a fashion show. The solemnity of the said sacrament is more important than all the gowns, flowers, invitations, entourage, reception, etc.”. Right after the orientation, I booked the initially pencil booked date, the 19th of Feb 2011 is blocked for me and Raf already. =)

From Manila Cathedral, we headed straight to Patio Victoria where I also booked our reception. Patio has 3 venues (Sofia Garden, Diana Garden, Sofia Banquet Hall) that suit various occasions such as weddings and debuts. In December, when Raf was here in Manila, we already made an ocular visit to this place while we searched for the right church as well. We opted for the Diana Garden so this was the one I booked. Good thing Patio also has its own catering services which dishes up a selection of packages. Other inclusions in their packages are the flowers, cake, bridal car, and many more. I'm excited on how the venue would exactly look like on our wedding night.

All things considered, I’ve booked 3 essentials in one day (church, reception, catering) with more than a year lead time to our wedding date. My mom and I enjoyed this day a lot. It could have been so much fun if Raf was with us. Sniff sniff! :p