Wedding Manila: Pre-Cana

Tonight, I'll be flying back to Manila for the pre-cana. Pre-cana is a course that couples must undergo before getting married in a Catholic Church. For San Sebastian Church, the pre-cana is usually every 3rd Friday of the month.

For more info you can contact San Sebastian Church:
San Sebastian Church
Tel. No. 7348908
Every 3rd Friday
Php 500/couple

I've been sad for a week now. My closest cousin just passed away. Shit happens.

UPDATE:
If you are going to wed at San Sebastian Church, then, there is no need to pay for 500 pesos. But if you are guest couple meaning you are going to wed in a different church then a fee of 500/couple is required.

The pre-cana started around 7pm, although the call time was 6:30pm. The session started with the priest explaining the sanctity of marriage and his experiences with the couples being wed at San Sebastian.

Then, another speaker spoke about the difference between man and woman, life of a married couple, etc.

Lastly, the event coordinator of San Sebastian spoke about the rules of San Sebastian Church.
> The wedding is strictly 1 hour. So if you want to have more picture taking, then you must pay another 1 hour - it means that you must pay 50K.
> If you opted for 1 hour only, they suggest that the officiating priest should be from San Sebastian Church since they already know the flow of the ceremony in San Sebastian.
> No offertory in San Sebastian.

Wedding Planning Step 2: Church Hunting in Manila

So we already booked our wedding reception venue. The next we did was Church hunting. Around early November of 2013 I started researching online for the churches near Oasis Manila. The nearest church in Oasis is Mt. Carmel which is just a stones' throw away from Oasis Manila. Apparently, we knew it was already booked on our preferred time and dates since the day we went to Oasis Manila to booked them, the couple who booked the pavilion (PM time) in Oasis Manila also booked Mt. Carmel Church. Too bad. Makakatipid na sana for the service from Church to Reception. Oh well, life is life.

So I made a tabulation through excel. I searched online for the churches near Oasis manila using the following keywords: "churches near oasis manila", "churches in san juan", "churches in manila", "churches in cubao". Then, I also checked the lists of churches that was given by lights of love events place during my reception hunting period.

Here are the following:
Churches in Quezon City
Immaculate Concepcion Parish
-364-9862
-Damar Village, Sgt. E. Rivera St., Quezon City
Most Holy Redeemer Parish
-716-0464; 715-6798
-1 Brixton Hills, Araneta Ave., Quezon City

National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
-731-9306
-Kanlaon cor. N.S. Amoranto Ave. (formerly Retiro St.) Sta. Mesa Heights, QC

Our Lady of Fatima Parish
-712-1668
-37 Cordillera St. Brgy. Don Manuel, Quezon City

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Shrine
-725-1508; 724-5938; 727-0814
-Corner 4th & 5th St. Broadway, New Manila Q.C.
-New Address Dona Juana Rodriguez Ave. (Formerly Broadway Avenue) New Manila

Sacred Heart Parish
-923-0685; 415-4353; 929-0419
-28 Scout Ybardolaza, Kamuning, Quezon City

Sto. Domingo Church
-712-6271; 712-6272
-537 Quezon Ave., Quezon City

Churches in San Juan
Mary The Queen Parish
-722-9711 to 15
-Madison St., Greenhills West, San Juan

Santuario de Santo Cristo
-724-5466 to 69
-183 F. Blumentritt St., San Juan, Greenhills

Santuario de San Jose Parish
-725-2044; 724-4139
-Cor. Buffalo and Duke St., East Greenhills, San Juan

St. John The Baptist Church
-725-7731; 725-3524
-26 Pinaglabanan Street, San Juan, Greenhills

Churches in Manila
Santisimo Rosario Parish
-731-3062
-UST, España, Manila
San Sebastian Basilica
-734-8931 to 34 loc. 120
-734-8908
-Plaza del Carmen, Quiapo Manila

As you can see I listed out the travel time to the reception venue from the church. So kung super layo ang travel time from church to the reception venue hindi na namin pupuntahan to check out.

In order to know the travel time you may check out google direction map .

Anyway, so we went to Santuario de San Jose Parish around late November 2013, unfortunately, they the only allow reservation 1 year before the event; So we had to wait for December 1, 2013. Kaya lang Dec 1 was my niece baptism and birthday; so the next day tumawag kami; unfortunately, may naka reserve na for Jan 10, 2015 4pm.

Church hunting again. Lahat ng Cubao Churches were fully booked.

We ended up at San Sebastian Church. We immediately made a reservation - paid the down payment (10k). By the way,  the rate of San Sebastian Church as of 2013 is 25K per hour. They are quite strict with the time. Kaya yung mass talaga including picture taking is only one hour. So if you want to have a longer picture taking and longer ceremony you might want to opt for two hours which will cost you 50K. As for us, one hour lang yung binook namin, but we chose 4:00pm wedding para wala ng kasunod. Thus, may time kami for picture taking outside the church.