Civil Wedding - I Married My Best Friend

From the last post, I shared my experience on how to apply for a marriage license. It really helps a lot when you come to a war prepared. I did my share of research online (various websites, forums, official websites of local governments) and also asked some of my married friends how they did it. After getting our marriage license, what now?

The document was only valid for 120 days. We got it by the first week of January while our church wedding is still on September. Why did we get a license so early you ask, well at the back of our heads we know that we want to be married in a civil ceremony to save us some time in the future. As a married couple, the Catholic Church will no longer ask us to attend the seminars and get marriage banns and the like.

So how did we pull it off?

A civil wedding is a ceremony officiated by a government official (a judge, a mayor, military commanders) or a pastor, priest, rabbi or imam authorized by the church to officiate a wedding. In our case, we tried to inquire for a civil wedding in Quezon City (where we applied for our marriage license) but it turns out that we will not be able to do it on our preferred date.

Our second option was to visit San Juan City Hall, which is just near where we live. A marriage license can be used wherever in the Philippines and not necessarily in the city/municipal where you got it.

In San Juan, we approached the Civil Registrar's office where they accommodated us. We handed over our marriage license along with other documents during the application and they showed us a calendar of available dates. The ceremony will be officiated by a pastor who is also a department head in the city hall. The fee is surprisingly affordable, at 2000 pesos for a weekday ceremony or 3500 pesos on a weekend.

We selected March 18 (because it was my day off) and originally we really wanted our wedding date to fall on a date ending in 8 or 0. They asked for the names of our witnesses (at least 3) and we were all set.

On the day of the wedding, I picked out a nice dress from my closet (did not plan on buying any), Mike bought his polo shirt the day before, and I decided to look pretty by having my make up and hair done professionally. By 10:00 AM, we went over San Juan City hall along with our witnesses (and our wedding rings too) and by 11:00 AM, I was officially a married woman. We checked our Marriage Contract (for spellings and all) and signed it in front of our witnesses and the officiant. The ceremony (done inside the office of the pastor) was quick but solemn and we got to say impromptu vows (we didn't prepare any). It was sweet and it made me tear up a bit and I can tell that Mike was also emotional and we were both very happy.

Put a ring on it

After the civil wedding, we invited our witnesses and some of Mike's office mates for lunch at Gerry's Grill in Greenhills (no function room in that branch but it was okay). We did not prepare any souvenirs for them except for our witnesses. Really, it was a no fuss day because what we are really preparing for is our big day on September along with all our friends and family.

I was grateful for that day because everything went smoothly and as planned. The next day, I went back to work wearing my ring and my new husband's last name (okay, still using my maiden name because we will change our status after our church wedding).

I would like to thank Sir Jojo of San Juan City's Civil Registrar's office for assisting us (processed our papers and even took photos during the ceremony) and Rev. Antonio Dilla for solemnizing our wedding.

With our officiant and witnesses (the room was quite packed)

"No divorce in the Philippines", the pastor reminded us

For details on how we applied for our marriage license, click here.

Thanks for dropping by! X

Across Sierra Madre (Palanan - The Hidden Gem of Isabela) Part 1

This morning Facebook reminded me that one year ago, some of my workmates and I flew across the Sierra Madre Mountain range just to visit the well hidden paradise of Palanan. Palanan is among the four remote municipalities in Isabela separated from the rest of the province by Sierra Madre. According to Wikipedia, it would take you a multiple days to trek the mountains and reach Palanan and its neighboring municipalities. Palanan is also known as the town where General Emilio Aguinaldo was captured in 1901.

Our adventure started when a former workmate invited us (or rather we begged her to take us) to her hometown in Palanan. Since I was then based in Cauayan, Isabela at that time, booking our flight via Cyclone Air was easy. The fare was at P3000 round trip for a min of 5 passengers (barkada package). This was in March 2018.

We arrived at Cyclone Air's office at 6:00 in the morning packed with not more than 5 kilos of luggage per person. The person in charge of checking in passengers would weigh you (literally you would step on a huge weighing scale along with your bags) so that the plane would not be overloaded. The aircraft was small, good for 5 passengers and 1 for the pilot. I was dead nervous, I never rode a plane that small before. But my companions were all too excited.

(Our ride to Palanan)

The plane ride was short, about 20 to 25 minutes only. The pilot was an Indian national who was probably a graduate of Cyclone Air's own pilot school. I can hardly hear my own voice when the propeller started to roll and within minutes we were flying. I could not stop looking out the window. The view was just majestic, I have no words to describe what I felt at that time. 

Then it was time to land in Palanan. I can already see the rice fields from above. And the river, you can tell how clean it was even if we were still aboard the airplane. 

After landing, we waited for our bags and walked around the small town center. 

We also dropped by the house where Emilio Aguinaldo lived when he made Palanan his hideout during the war. 

In honor of  Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo

As we walked around town, it was noticeable that only motorcycles and tricycles were present. According to my office mate, it was hard to bring any 4 wheeled vehicle because the journey would be long and expensive (boat via Aurora Province). There were also a few general merchandise stores, groceries and local food shops in the town center. 

 Parish Church in Palanan

After a few blocks, we arrived in the next leg of our trip: en route to the sea side of Palanan. To get to my office mate's house we need to ride a motorized banca for about 2 hours and a half. It would cross the Palanan river then venture out into the open sea! (Please take note that there are no hotels in Palanan yet).

All aboard! (with Mike, Cathy and Marvie- our gracious host)

Motorized bancas are ready to take you to the other side of Palanan

We went there during Holy Week and spent a total of five days (should be four but we got bumped off our original flight schedule). My office mate's  house was situated in the border of Isabela and Aurora. The boat ride was fun (when we were cruising Palanan River) but got a bit scary when we were out in the open water. I was not able to take any pictures during the ride because we stuffed all our phones inside our bags and the bags were wrapped in huge plastic covers to avoid getting wet. After almost 2 hours, we finally arrived in barangay Dicotcotan. 

We made it!

Next week, will blog about the things we did in Palanan. 

X

Getting a Marriage License (in Quezon City)

Hello. First of all, I am quite amazed that this blog is still alive after so many years. From my last blog, I said I was 22 back then, now I'm already 32! Imagine that.

So at 32, many things have already changed. First, my relationship status. I am now a legally married woman and is lucky enough to spend my whole life with my best friend. We became officially in a relationship April of 2018 and he proposed to me last August 2018. We both wanted to have a church wedding but I suppose we got too excited and that is why I am now wearing a wedding ring. We had our civil wedding this March 2019 and I am really glad that we did (Church wedding scheduled this year too).

Some friends asked me how did we pull it off and all. Basically, all I did was to research all the things we need to do for us to be married. First on the list: marriage license.

How to apply for a marriage license in the Philippines:

My boyfriend (now husband) lives in Quezon City while I am currently assigned (work assignment) in Northern Luzon. We decided to apply for a marriage license in QC since it was his place of residence for over a year. Some cities would require you to present a proof of residence during the application. But in Quezon City, these were the requirements that we submitted to get a license:

1. Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR).

My then fiance and I are busy with work so I got our CENOMAR from PSA Serbilis website. Each CENOMAR costs 430php. It was delivered to us after one week.

2. Birth Certificate from PSA (formerly NSO).

We also got our authenticated copy of our birth certificates from the PSA Serbilis website at 330php. If you have the time and energy to visit the PSA local office in your area, feel free to do so because it will cost you less to get these documents from PSA.

3.  2 Valid IDs (goverment issued photo IDs) such as passport, driver's licence, UMID, Voter's ID etc.

4. Cedula/Tax Certificate (which we got from the city hall on the same day we applied for the license)

5. Marriage License application form (from your civil registry office)

6. Attendance to a Family Planning seminar

7. Personal appearance of both parties

8. 1x1 ID picture (both parties, not sure how many did I submit but I remember I brought 2 copies)

We went to the Civil Registrar's Office in Quezon City early, around 8 AM and was directed to Window 11/12. The in-charge checked all our documents and instructed us to attend the family planning seminar in the afternoon to complete our application requirements. He gave us the marriage license application form (4 copies to be filled up, using a pen with black ink) for a fee of 120 or 150 pesos (forgot exactly how much).

The family planning seminar was held in another location so we went there early to make sure that we can still be accommodated (as the slots were said to be limited). The seminar lasted for 2 hours and the discussion focused on different methods of contraception and roles of a husband/wife. Over 20 couples were there including Mike and I. After receiving our certificate of attendance, we went back to the Civil Registrar's office, got the application forms notarized (just at the back of the building) and submitted the forms together with the other requirements. After that we were instructed to come back after 10 working days for the release of the marriage license.

Unfortunately, we were not able to come back after the 10 day waiting period. I went after a month thinking that the 120 days validity of the marriage license already started but instead it only began on the day the marriage license was released to me.

What I liked about our experience in Quezon City is that the staff were courteous and accommodating. They answered all our questions and gave us clear directions (where to go, what to do etc).  I also appreciated that they no longer asked for secondary/additional requirements (unlike other cities that I've read about). In fact, they did not even ask if any of us were residents of the city nor asked for a proof of residence.

We accomplished the marriage license application in one day but getting the above mentioned requirements might take a few days or so.

In the next post, I will write about our Civil Wedding ceremony.

Thanks for visiting and good luck in getting your marriage license!

X