Christ The King Parish

(Updated Post-Visit. Answers in Green.)

Rolly and I are getting married in Greenmeadows, at Christ The King Parish.  According to wikipilipinas,  this church is among the top 10 best churches for weddings in the Philippines as "the structure is round, enclosed by clear glass, allowing plenty of light to seep through, including a magnificent altar which would look good in pictures." Yippee! :)

Grabbed Photo courtesy of Alvin Valencia

This afternoon, Rolly and I will attend mass at Christ the King to personally experience the place.  We will also talk to the parish coordinator to discuss the following requirements:

1. New copy of the baptismal and confirmation certificate of the groom and the bride with annotation "For Marriage Purposes," issued not more than 6 months before the wedding date. (This means we can only secure these papers on or after May 9.) 
2. Photocopy of the birth certificate of both parties. (This is easy.)
3. Marriage license to be secured from the civil registry for marriage at the city or town of either the bride or the groom, issued not more than 4 months before the wedding date. (In short, earliest will be July.)
4. Publication of banns in the parishes of the bride and the groom and permission from the parish of the bride.  The appropriate form will be provided by CTK's office, 3 months before.  (This means that by August, our names and faces will be posted in our respective churches.  Oh no, shy ako. =P)
5. Canonical Interview every Wednesday at 9am given by CTK's resident priest. (Okay.)
6. Marriage Vocation Seminar (2 Days). Failure to attend the seminar will result in the cancellation of the wedding date. (This I have to clarify later.  Will the seminar be scheduled by CTK, or can we attend other seminars like Discovery Weekend or Marriage Encounter?  Is there no validity period which would mean we could attend one as early as now?) [CTK urges its couples to have the marriage vocation seminar organized by the parish.  Ate Aileen, the coordinator, didn't say that it's not allowed to have it some place else though.  Rolly and I are attending in CTK's July schedule. FEE: P2,500 per couple.]
7. Name and addresses of the principal sponsors, maximum of 6 pairs. (We want to have 8 pairs of ninongs and ninangs because 8 is our lucky number. =D We need to inquire if there's a fee for additional pairs).   [No fee for extra pairs of sponsors. They're not too strict about this, apparently.]
8. Certificate of No Marriage from NSO. (Is there a validity period for this?)  [Yup.  This has to be secured not more than 6 months before the wedding.]
9. 2 x 2 ID pictures of the couple. (Okay.)
10. Confession two days before the wedding date. (Okay. This means we're doing it on November 6, Tuesday).

Other things to check:

• Does CTK allow customized wedding vows?  [The coordinator wasn't sure of this since she's new. But other brides claim that this is allowed.]
• Copy of the missalette template?  [There was none available on the day of our visit.]
• Can we put something like a curtain or cloth or swags in lieu of "the door"? (CTK only has sliding glass doors, so  I'm thinking of putting something to cover me up before I walk down the aisle. Hehehe.)  [Yes, this is allowed and has to be arranged directly with the church's florist.  The moment we arrived at the church, a wedding just ended and we saw that there was a curtain installed on the door.]
• CTK's package already includes flowers. What kind of flowers exactly? Is there an upgrade we can avail of in case I want better blooms?  [This has to be coordinated directly with the florist.]
• Is CTK's church choir good?  Can the singer give justice to the bridal march I want? =D  [The musicians included in CTK's package are composed of just one guy soloist and a pianist.  This means I would have to think of another bridal march, the one I originally wanted needs a female singer.]
• Which resident priests are energetic and good at giving homilies?  [Aileen said that people say it's Fr. Peter. :)]

Hmm, I guess that's it. I'd like to believe we're all set! ;)  I'm excited to see you, CTK! :) 

Cheers,