(Worship) 9 Mornings

As far as I remember, I've never missed the 1st day of Simbang Gabi, although I never tried completing all 9 mornings before.  They say you'll be granted a wish after completing all nine,  but for this, one should wake up at around 3-4 A.M. to make the daily 4:00 or 4:30 A.M. mass. There are also anticipated mass schedules around 10:00 P.M. for those who don't want to wake up early.  For Love and myself, we wanted to complete all 9 mornings (it just feels more old school).

Morning 1 - St. Martin de Porres Parish (Cavite) - 4:00 A.M.

Gospel: The Witnesses to Jesus

I always go on the first day since it's my birthday.  Another year of life to thank the Lord.  Like me, I believe most people like to go on(ly) the first day.  The church will be jam-packed with all kinds of people.  We saw the regulars (those people we also see during Sundays), couples like us, families, all the old religious folks, the teens (most of them just socialize outside) and a lot of kids.   
  

Morning 2 - Sanctuary of St. Paul the Apostle (Makati) - 4:30 A.M.

Gospel: The Genealogy of Jesus

We arrived at the church 1 hour too early (excited) since we thought the mass was at 4:00 A.M.  It was my first time hearing mass at the Sanctuary of St. Paul, the home parish of St. Paul, the store. The church is nice and modern looking. There're 5 video cameras filming the mass everyday which is being televised around the world.  An editing crew is also stationed at one corner of the church. The choir was good and they sang one of my favorite Christmas songs "Emmanuel".

Morning 3 - Sanctuary of St. Paul the Apostle (Makati) - 4:30 A.M.

Gospel: The Annunciation to Joseph

I opened my eyes and it was 4:20 A.M.  
Me: Love, 4:20 na.
Love: Bakit ang late mo nagising?  
Me: Di ako nagising sa alarm.
Love: Pano yan late na tayo?
Me: Actually, hindi pa.
Then we stood and got ready in 5 minutes (hehe).  We arrived at the Gloria.  

Morning 4 - Sanctuary of St. Paul the Apostle (Makati) - 4:30 A.M.

Gospel: The Annunciation to Zechariah

It was 2:00 A.M. and Love just got home from her get together with her former office mates.  She was still hyper when she arrived and told me stories about her night.  We slept at 3:00 A.M. and woke up again at 4:00 A.M. to make the mass. 

Morning 5 - Sanctuary of St. Paul the Apostle (Makati) - 4:30 A.M.

Gospel: The Annunciation to Mary

My turn.  It was a little after 2:00 A.M. when I arrived home but this time no more chit-chat, I went straight to bed.  Good thing I didn't have a hangover when we woke up.  

Morning 6 - Sanctuary of St. Paul the Apostle (Makati) - 4:30 A.M.

Gospel: The Annunciation to Mary (4th Sunday of Advent)

At this point, our bodies were already getting used to waking up like an old person.  It was getting easy and we were also sleeping earlier to compensate for the late nights before.  We went to mass at the usual 4:30 A.M. schedule then attended the Feast talk portion mid-morning.  We rewarded ourselves with Project Pie afterwards.

Morning 7 - Sanctuary of St. Paul the Apostle (Makati) - 4:30 A.M.

Gospel: The Magnificat

So, Magnificat was a song.  I thought it was a spell used to decrease the casting time of a party (it's an MMORPG thing).  Rev. Fr. was inspired by Mama Mary that he also wanted to sing himself.  He sang Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah.

Morning 8 - Sanctuary of St. Paul the Apostle (Makati) - 4:30 A.M.

Gospel: The Birth of John the Baptist

It was the 2nd to the last morning and our last mass at St. Paul.  That morning, we sat in an area being filmed by one of the cameras so if you saw us on T.V., we're famous!  We took pictures of the church and the film crew that morning. One thing missing from that area were Puto Bumbong vendors, so we decided to hear our last mass in Cavite.

 

Morning 9 - St. Martin de Porres Parish (Cavite) - 4:00 A.M.

Gospel: The Prophecy about John the Baptist

We had just attended a friend's wedding the night before and it was really nice. Got a few ideas and we also thought about things we've overlooked in our planning.  The reception finished early but since it was in Q.C. we still arrived a little late in Cavite.  We then heard our last Misa de Gallo, we prayed for our wish, which I believe is the same and then ate our Puto Bumbong and Bibingka! 

 

(Wedding) The Suppliers

Right after we got home from Batanes, it was already full-on wedding planning.  Love was on her phone the whole afternoon calling prospective suppliers.  We based our selections from previous weddings we've attended, our budget, and testimonials from satisfied customers.

CAUTION:  An increase of 25% from the initial wedding budget is (totally) possible.

I think this goes for every couple that plan to get married, the top bookings needed will be the reception location, the church and the photo and video coverage.  For the reception, Love had 3 choices.  We agreed to look at all three and then do a pros and cons list (for our funds), but after she called her first choice which had no booking for the day we wanted, that was it, booked instantly (Bye 20% initial deposit). 

The Country Garden

The great thing about their package is that it includes everything needed for the reception so it was perfect for our rush planning situation.

Their package includes:

• Use of venue for 4 hours
• Catering
• Flower arrangements
• Use of the garden for prenup photo shoot
• Live music
• Lights and sound system
• Wedding Cake
• Bridal Car
• Use of doll house for event day preparation
• Day coordinator

We also availed of their photo booth add-on offering.

The place is perfect for a Shabby Chic theme (I feel so gay knowing this).  Can't argue with Love's decision here.  It was perfect and not bank breaking.

The church that we paired with the Country Garden was the Sanctuario de San Miguel church in Xevera subdivision.  It's small, intimate and looks really nice.

For couples looking to get married, here are the requirements needed by the church:

• Certificate of Baptism
• Certificate of Confirmation
• Marriage License
• Birth Certificate
• Community Tax Certificate
• Certificate of No Marriage 

--------------------oOo--------------------

The third crucial supplier we needed to book for the wedding to push through was the photo and video coverage.  There were some names being thrown around by wedding savvy (not married but likes watching wedding videos) people.  The most notable were Jason Magbanua and Nice Print photography which covers a lot of celebrity weddings.  Pang-celebrity rin ang presyo!

Love liked her brother's wedding photographer so we looked at his other works.  He's really sought after in Pampanga and the output from Love's brother's wedding photos and videos were impressive. 

Studio Portraits

Jerome's been in the wedding media industry for a decade and he really knows what he's doing.  We thought it's better to take advantage of his prices now that he's not yet a big name.  His packages include photo and video coverage with a prenup photo shoot, save the date video and SDE.  (Sample photos will be uploaded in part 3 - The Prenup Photo Shoot)

There it is.  The top 3 bookings made in less than a week after I proposed. 

That weekend, we also booked her hair and makeup artist.  Dan Jose, did her hair and makeup for her sister's wedding where she was the maid of honor.  Love said she liked what he did for her.  The surprise for me in this was the price, ganun pala presyuhan ng mga make-up artist.  I mentioned the price to one of my friends who's also getting married, "mura na yun", she said.  What?

Dan Jose

His package includes the event day hair and make-up for the bride, groom (my conversion is complete), mothers of the bride and groom + 1 bridesmaid.  A trial day is also included.

Another crucial one was the wedding gown maker and suit tailor.  Love did the basic design of her gown herself, and as for me, I just want to replicate a nice outfit I've seen in the movies.

Adora's Creations

Tita Adora was kind enough to fit us in her busy schedule.  She made Love's initial sketch better and the output can now be imagined (now I know what a sweetheart neckline is - more learnings).  She was Love's former office mate and her creations are really nice.  She was also commissioned to make my suit jacket, so the colors are in sync with the gown.  Love's Mom will sponsor her gown :-)

For our entourage we went to Love's family's trusted first use rental shop, YoMeng Dresses.  The fitting was not 'till next year but the dress ideas for the female entourage were already discussed.  Tita Meng did Love's sister and sister-in-law's wedding gowns as well as their whole entourage.

--------------------oOo--------------------

Money Saver Tip:
For our wedding rings my Mom gave us Her's and my Dad's as a gift.  We asked different jewelers until we found Kuya Resty (ask around for him in Pampanga).  He redesigned the rings for us for a fraction of the cost if we bought new ones.

For our invitations and tokens The Oops! shop ( Oops Prints n Keeps ) was suggested to us by Love's sister-in-law as she used their printing services before.  We just finalized the invitation layout and contents and we'll be picking up the printed invitations before 2015.  They also do customized tokens which we'll use for our Primary Sponsors.

The latest supplier we booked was our florist.  Since the Country Garden already includes flower arrangements, we only needed arrangements for the church and entourage. 

Villa Rosa

Tita Aida did the flower arrangement for Love's sister at her wedding (another pledger - for the florist this time :-D ), the pictures we saw were promising, their collection of props are extensive and I think she'll make it as Love dreams it.




It was a busy two months of travelling week by week to Pampanga but as far as stress level goes, it was still pretty easy.  If we go over-budget on one supplier, another one will be below-budget.  Hope it stays this way until The Day but I doubt it.  As for me, I can't believe I'm enjoying this.