When we started planning for the wedding, we decided that we should prioritize booking the major stuffs first. After booking the Blue Leaf, we set our eyes to finding the perfect church for us. This is really important to us and we know that we won’t settle for just any other church. Our parents first suggested we made use of either of our town’s church but we wanted something better. Thus began our search for the church.
The first thing we had to do was choose the date for our wedding. Leah always wanted to choose a date that’s both auspicious and at the same time, symbolic. However, more important considerations, Leah’s siblings living abroad, and when they can go home for the wedding, must be taken into account. After a lot of initial deliberations and brain storming, we decided that the best time for our wedding would be sometime in December! Why? Well, because first of all, it’s the perfect time for Leah’s brother and sisters to return here and enjoy the holiday with the rest of the family, and next, we could take advantage of the long break to enjoy our first few days as a married couple together. We felt it was a perfect idea, who would think of getting married a few days before Christmas?
As it happens, almost everybody!
Before planning for the wedding, we thought June was the so-called “wedding month”. It turns out that we were right. We just didn’t know that December was actually the super-wedding month! More couples actually choose to get married in the last month of the year, for the same reasons that we have, and also because it’s the coldest part of the year! Just the same, we decided to set wedding for December 14, 2008.
With this in mind, we suddenly realized that we could be in trouble for not booking the church in the first place. And we were not mistaken. Almost all of the churches we considered for booking were either booked or had already been reserved. Take note, this was November of last year, and famous churches like the sought-after Manila Cathedral had already been reserved until the early part of 2009! We also tried churches like San Agustin, Santuario de San Antonio, Nuestra Senora de Gracia, etc., but they were either reserved or they do not allow non-parishioners to use them for weddings during the weekend.
We were starting to grow restless, and thinking: Did we run out of churches? Well, the good ones at least? Oh no! Leah started to go into panic-mode. I tried to reassure her that we’ll eventually find a church, but it was Leah herself who will finally eradicate our worries. Feverishly searching the world-wide web as well as magazines for a solution to our predicament, she came across a relatively new church located in the area of the old Villamor Airbase. In fact, it was so new, that very few people have actually heard of it, even in wedding forums. It’s called the National Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. I immediately called up the church and talked to Father Ernie. I reserved the wedding for December 14, 2008, and immediately informed Leah. After some discussions, Leah informed me that there may be a conflict with her work schedule for that date and we may have to reconsider. With no choice, we decided to book the Silk Pavilion for the next week, December 21, and also moved our reservation for St. Therese to the same date.
First Impressions
Of course, we still wanted to see the church for ourselves. As soon as our schedule permitted it, we went to the church and saw it for the first time. Our first impression is that it’s orange. You see, it’s a really big orange church topped with a blue dome built on top of what appears to be a small hill (there’s a steep rise that one has to climb to enter the church). Except for the not-so-common colour, the Shrine was in fact quite impressive. As an attendant opened the massive doors, we get our first glimpse of the Shrine’s interior. And we loved it. Despite the large appearance of the church, the aisle, which will be of special interest to the bride, is not too long and not too short but was just right. Along the length of the church, one can view the beautiful glass windows set to depict highlights of the life the saint to which the Shrine owes its name to. It has a high ceiling that’s sparse but only made to emphasize the beauty of the scenes depicted under the domed ceiling. The altar is simple but beautiful, and I’m sure with the proper lighting, it would appear magical.
And that is how we booked our church.
The first thing we had to do was choose the date for our wedding. Leah always wanted to choose a date that’s both auspicious and at the same time, symbolic. However, more important considerations, Leah’s siblings living abroad, and when they can go home for the wedding, must be taken into account. After a lot of initial deliberations and brain storming, we decided that the best time for our wedding would be sometime in December! Why? Well, because first of all, it’s the perfect time for Leah’s brother and sisters to return here and enjoy the holiday with the rest of the family, and next, we could take advantage of the long break to enjoy our first few days as a married couple together. We felt it was a perfect idea, who would think of getting married a few days before Christmas?
As it happens, almost everybody!
Before planning for the wedding, we thought June was the so-called “wedding month”. It turns out that we were right. We just didn’t know that December was actually the super-wedding month! More couples actually choose to get married in the last month of the year, for the same reasons that we have, and also because it’s the coldest part of the year! Just the same, we decided to set wedding for December 14, 2008.
With this in mind, we suddenly realized that we could be in trouble for not booking the church in the first place. And we were not mistaken. Almost all of the churches we considered for booking were either booked or had already been reserved. Take note, this was November of last year, and famous churches like the sought-after Manila Cathedral had already been reserved until the early part of 2009! We also tried churches like San Agustin, Santuario de San Antonio, Nuestra Senora de Gracia, etc., but they were either reserved or they do not allow non-parishioners to use them for weddings during the weekend.
We were starting to grow restless, and thinking: Did we run out of churches? Well, the good ones at least? Oh no! Leah started to go into panic-mode. I tried to reassure her that we’ll eventually find a church, but it was Leah herself who will finally eradicate our worries. Feverishly searching the world-wide web as well as magazines for a solution to our predicament, she came across a relatively new church located in the area of the old Villamor Airbase. In fact, it was so new, that very few people have actually heard of it, even in wedding forums. It’s called the National Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. I immediately called up the church and talked to Father Ernie. I reserved the wedding for December 14, 2008, and immediately informed Leah. After some discussions, Leah informed me that there may be a conflict with her work schedule for that date and we may have to reconsider. With no choice, we decided to book the Silk Pavilion for the next week, December 21, and also moved our reservation for St. Therese to the same date.
First Impressions
Of course, we still wanted to see the church for ourselves. As soon as our schedule permitted it, we went to the church and saw it for the first time. Our first impression is that it’s orange. You see, it’s a really big orange church topped with a blue dome built on top of what appears to be a small hill (there’s a steep rise that one has to climb to enter the church). Except for the not-so-common colour, the Shrine was in fact quite impressive. As an attendant opened the massive doors, we get our first glimpse of the Shrine’s interior. And we loved it. Despite the large appearance of the church, the aisle, which will be of special interest to the bride, is not too long and not too short but was just right. Along the length of the church, one can view the beautiful glass windows set to depict highlights of the life the saint to which the Shrine owes its name to. It has a high ceiling that’s sparse but only made to emphasize the beauty of the scenes depicted under the domed ceiling. The altar is simple but beautiful, and I’m sure with the proper lighting, it would appear magical.
And that is how we booked our church.
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