M&H Supplier Ratings (Church, Priest & Reception Venue)

Church: St. John Bosco Parish (Makati)

Peso Power: Php 17,000

Contact details: Ms. Ging (894-5932 to 34)

Mac and I wanted a small, air-conditioned church in Makati. We visited NSSH and St. John Bosco. I liked NSSH because it had a second floor balcony (perfect for photographers) but we found the parking lot a bit small and the church might be harder to find.

I loved SJB’s altar! The parking was ample enough and it was located at a main road in Makati so guests wouldn’t have a hard time looking for it. Ms. Ging of the admin office was also very easy to talk to.

Only downside was the pre-cana seminar. We weren’t really happy with the way it was handled. We gave feedback naman to Father so hopefully, they can improve on it.

Overall rating: 4.

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

Officiating priest: Father Rene de Guzman

Fr. Degz (as we call him) knew Mac since he was a young boy.  He asked us to visit him several times so he can get to know me and so that we can discuss the wedding ceremony more extensively. I think this made our ceremony more personal.

He’s so mabait and he gave us practical advice on our future as a married couple. He was also the one who made our misalette—he was even the one who took care of the printing. Yun na raw ang gift nya sa amin ni Mac.

Overall rating; 5.

photo by 5th Door Productions - with Fr. de Guzman

Reception venue: North Forbes Pavilion

Peso power: Php 16,000 for 4 hours (includes ingress and egress) plus Php 10,000 refundable security deposit plus additional Php 1,500 for onsite cooking

Contact details: Ms. Tess (817-6923, 817-2420 to 21)

We had a really tough time looking for a reasonably priced reception venue in Makati. Thank God for w@w talaga because I found out about North Forbes Pavilion through one of the brides. The only hurdle was that we needed to be sponsored by a Forbes resident to rent the place. Luckily, my close friend from college has an aunt who lived in Forbes Park.

Ms. Tess seemed a little “mataray” but she’s actually easy to talk to. She explained all the details of the contract to us and was very prompt in responding to our queries.

Parking was ample; the place was private since it was inside a subdivision so we didn’t have any problems with security and gate crashers.

Overall rating: 5++

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

photo by 5th Door Productions

Venue Hunting Part 1

After booking the church last Wednesday, Mac and I decided to visit the nearby venues for our wedding reception.
Our criteria for choosing our reception venue:
1)    Must be simple. Nothing too elaborate or “bongacious”.
2)    Can accommodate 150 people.
3)    Price should not exceed 30k.
4)    Must have ample parking space.

We visited two venues: The Filipinas Heritage Library and Lepanto Penthouse. I found both venues through my w@w sisses. Both venues are about five minutes away from our church.

The Courtyard (Filipinas Heritage Library). FHL offered three venues but their outdoor venue, The Courtyard, is the only one that can accommodate 150 guests. Mac and I both liked its Al Fresco feel. We can just imagine how it would look like at night. The rent’s not expensive at well-15k for 4 hours with 2-3 hours for ingress and egress. Their parking lot was small but there’s a wide paid parking space right beside it.
Downside: we were told that the lot beside the FHL is schedule to have a construction and they’re not sure if it will affect the “look” of the place (they’re not sure but they said the lot was going to be turned into a park). This is the reason why FHL didn’t receive any bookings yet. Mac and I decided to visit them again when the construction’s done. We’re also a little hesitant about booking an outdoor venue considering how unpredictable the weather is.
Mac also mentioned the lack of “roaming” space for guests. If we have our reception there, our guests will be limited to just the Courtyard-real space to stretch their legs, grab a smoke or take a breather from all the wedding stuff going on.

Lepanto Penthouse. I have to be honest, this one looked way better in pictures. But positive points first: it has this wide veranda overlooking the Makati skyline. Perfect photo op location especially during the magic hour. The low ceiling was the usual complaint of most of the bride-to-be’s at w@w but that didn’t bother me too much.

I didn’t like the old carpet smell although we were told that the smell disappears when the air condition is turned on. It was big enough for 150 guests but it had this small boardroom right smack in the middle of the penthouse. I felt that it would obscure the some of the guests’ from the main program and the LCD projector. Although the boardroom had connecting doors for easy access, it’s location was major turn off.

I’m particularly picky about bathrooms. Their bathrooms were clean but old-some of the toilet bowls were a bit worse for wear. After seeing the bathroom, I told Mac I didn’t want our reception there. Some people judge venues by ceilings, I judge them by bathrooms.

No bookings yet. I’m still researching on other possible venues in Makati that’s near our church. Next time, we’ll visit North Forbes Pavillion (another find from w@w).

Suggestions would be welcome right now.

Finding the Perfect Church

After my fiancé and I finally decided that we wanted our ceremony in a church, we talked about geography.  Most of his friends come from the South (Parañaque, Las Piñas area) while most of my friends come from Antipolo and Quezon City. For everyone’s convenience, we looked for possible options in Makati and Ortigas. Aside from being practical, both places have significant meanings to us. We met in Ortigas, in the old office of our previous employer; while we made most of our major decisions in Makati including setting up a production house on our own.

Between Makati and Ortigas, Makati won. It was more convenient for us to go around since Mac’s work is based in Makati plus it offered more venues and churches that we liked.

Last Saturday, January 10, after having lunch with old college friends, Mac and I went on a church ocular in Makati. Our criteria were simple: the church has to have air condition since we’ll be having the wedding in April; it should have ample parking and should not be hard to find; plus it must have production value for photographs and video (ehem!).

1)   Sanctuario de San Antonio. I liked this church from its pictures I found in the net but Mac wasn’t really into it. He told me that it was just too big for us. He was right. We only have 150 guests and having the ceremony in a big church will defeat the purpose of making our wedding “intimate”.

2)    National Shrine of the Sacred Heart. This small church is located in San Antonio Village. Mac and both liked it. We felt that it was just the right size plus it had a second floor (perfect for overhead shots!). Only downside was that the roads going to the church were too narrow and the parking space wasn’t so big.

3)    St. John Bosco Parish. I fell in love with this church the moment I saw it. I loved its semi-circular, modern architecture. The altar was unique and beautiful. The church was simple, modern, no-frills: it’s so us. I didn’t even mind the sliding doors-a friend already suggested a solution so I can still have my “dramatic grand entrance”. There was an ongoing wedding when we got there so were able to see how the church is decorated. Another plus factor is that Mac’s family knows the priests there. It had a huge parking space plus it would be easy for guests to find it since it’s just along Pasay Rd.

the altar

My camera phone doesn’t do the altar justice.

We went to St. John Bosco Parish four days later to pencil book. The staff was really nice. They booked us for April 17, 2010 (there were already a lot of 2010 couples reserving slots) but we were told to pay the reservation fee on June since they didn’t have a logbook for 2010 weddings yet. The church “fee” is 17K which is inclusive of the ceremony, registration forms, organist and soloist, red carpet along the center aisle, nuptial and unity candles, booklets for the couple, church flowers, and the use of the air condition,  It’s 15K without the AC.

So there. We now have a church. ☺ The reception venue’s next.

Venue Options Part2

This is a continuation of this post.

Thanks to w@w, I realized that my venue options don’t have to be limited to gardens. I started looking into alternative venues and found several that I actually liked:

• Acropolis Clubhouse. The clubhouse can accommodate up to 200 people and the rate’s reasonable.
  • Rate: P11,000 (2007)
  • Contact Number/s:6331937, 6345057
  • Plus points: No sponsorship required and it’s open to any caterer and suppliers

• Valle Verde6 Clubhouse. Good for 300 people. Reasonable rates and it has a garden at the back.
  • Rate: P11,000 + P3,000 security bond (2007)
  • Contact Person: Shirley
  • Contact Number/s: 6313970
  • Plus points: Open to any caterer and suppliers; ample parking

I’m still undecided over getting a clubhouse as a venue since we we want our ceremony in a garden. I’m also a little hesitant since I might need to hire a stylist to decorate the place which is why I still looked around for more possible garden-type venues.

Here are my other possibilities:

• Kasalikasan. This garden is located at The Fort. I love it! I heard that the venue rates is around P28,000.00 (not sure for how many hours). Not bad at all. Seriously considering this.

• Jardin de Miramar. I didn’t consider this place at first but I have to admit that it’s growing on me.
  • Location: Antipolo City
  • Peso power: From P7,000 to P50,000 depending on number of guests and time of day

• Velada Estate. I found this in the last wedding expo Mac and I attended. It’s a relatively new place in Antipolo.
  • Peso power: From P20,000 to P55,000 depending on number of guests and time of day.

• Sitio Elena. My AE from Hizon’s told me about this place. I emailed them and received a very prompt reply. I’m clinging to the possibility that they’d charge me less since my target guest number is just around 150 while the place can accommodate up to 500 guests.
  • Location: Antipolo City
  • Peso power: from P30,000 to P50,000 depending on time of day.
  • Plus points: The venue is still under construction so it will be relatively new by the time Mac and I get married.

I’m toying around with the venues in Intramuros area like Baluarte de San Diego and Plaza Moriones but I don’t really want to deal with people from the Intramuros Administration office (government people). We’re also a bit turned off with the traffic.

Instead of narrowing the list down, I’m kinda happy that we found more possible venues for our wedding. We’d probaby set ocular visit schedules before attending our next expo.

Venue Options Part1

We were originally planning a church wedding since Mac’s family is Catholic. To my surprise, he told me that he wanted to have the ceremony in a garden. I didn’t have objections–I actually preferred it. A garden ceremony would be simpler and less demanding: it was more in tune with our personality as a couple.

Our criteria for choosing our venue:

1. It should be big enough to accommodate at least 150 guests.
2. Must be accessible to people who will mostly come from Paranaque and Quezon City.
3. Must not be expensive.

With these in mind, I was able to search the internet on possible garden venues without thinking about nearby churches. We’ve narrowed down our choices to the following:

• The Filipino Heritage Library. The Courtyard showcases a great view of the Makati skyline. Price isn’t too bad either. Only problem is that the venue might be too small to hold both the reception and the ceremony. An option I have is aside from renting The Courtyard, I can also rent The Reading Room for cocktails or for the reception. I think it’s still our best option.
  • Location: Makati
  • Peso Power : P10,000 for first 2 hours/ 1,500 for each succeeding hour (separate prices for the two venues)
  • Plus points: There’s ample parking since the venue is near a parking garage. It might also be easier for our guests to travel to Makati.
• Amaranth Garden. A quaint little garden in Quezon city that might just be big enough for our event. Same price as The Courtyard with no corkage fee.
  • Location: GSIS Subdivision, Mindanao Avenue, Quezon City
  • Peso Power: P15,000 for 5 hours
  • Plus points: No corkage fees!
  • Minus points: read in one review that the “the neighbourhood looks fairly dubious, and its hard to get to” without a private vehicle. Will reserve judgment until we visit the place.
• La Huerta Estate. My favorite venue so far. It’s this really nice estate overlooking Antipolo. The fact that it is in Antipolo is a drawback since most of Mac’s guests will be coming from the South. Plus I’m not sure if Antipolo is considered an “out of town” location by our suppliers which might incur additional cost. The rental price is reasonable since we get to have the entire place all to ourselves for the entire day.
  • Location: Antipolo
  • Peso Power: P40,000+ for the entire day. Corkage fees to be determined.
  • Plus points: Since we can rent the venue for the whole day, we won’t be pressed for time…and the view from the veranda looks breathtaking from the pictures. I can’t wait to visit the place in person.
  • Minus points: It might be too far for some of our guests and there’s a possibility that there might be out-of-town charges.
• Ecotrend Garden. Really classy-looking from the pictures. It’s relatively unknown (which works for me).
  • Location: Las Pinas
  • Peso Power: P20,000 for five hours/ P3,500.00 for every additional hour.
  • Plus points: The place is big and it really looks promising.
  • Minus points: It’s in Las Pinas!!!!! It might be too far for some of our guests.

I’m still researching on possible places in Manila. I’ve heard of Puerta Real Gardens in Intramuros but I know next to nothing about it.

Mac and I aren’t rushing into this. We’ll be deciding on the place by next year pa so we’d probably stumble on more possibilities.

Haaay…I am realizing what an “event” a wedding can be.