Rey had very minimal requirements on the church: that it needs to be air-conditioned, and reasonably close to the place where the reception will be held. June is normally a rainy month in the Philippines, but with global warming throwing the seasons out of whack, we can never be too sure. June 20, 2009 could be a gorgeous, sunny day, during which our guests can be melting in their formal wear in the Philippine heat, or it could be a hot/humid/damp rainy day, during which the guests can be melting in all that humidity anyway. Rey and I want our guests, our family, and ourselves, to be comfortable, so air-conditioning in the church is pretty much non-negotiable.
Traffic in Manila/Makati is horrible, especially during rush hour, and Rey and I experienced it first-hand when we were there. So for everyone's convenience, we wanted the church to be within a half-an-hour drive (at most) from the reception.
My requirements for the church are well within reason, too:
1. That it must be picturesque/photogenic - because all Rey and I will be able to look back on when we're old and gray are the memories, and the wedding pictures.
St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori/Magallanes Church actually burned down last September 2004, and most of the original church was destroyed by the fire.
Dominic Galicia Architects drafted the design for the new church, and the results are absolutely breath-taking. I fell in love with the church as soon as I saw the pictures (one of the down-sides of long-distance wedding planning). The following photos are taken from Dominic Galicia's blog.
And this is how the church looks at night:
More photos of the church, and his other works, can be found here.
More photos of the church, and his other works, can be found here.
And this is how the church interior looks like (thanks to Yoshie Arellano).
2. That it has people who are easy enough to talk to and deal with -- granted, our coordinator, Jody Liwanag, will be going most of the talking -- and who won't make unreasonable requirements from Rey and I, understand that we are both based overseas, and can't just take off and remain in vacation for an indefinite period of time, and who would allow us the flexibility to make our wedding ceremony special and memorable.
Kuya Gilbert, from what I've heard about him, seems easy enough to deal with.
The church does not have its own florist, or a list of accredited florists, so we will have to find one ourselves. It also does not provide a choir for the ceremony, so that is something that we will have to take care of, as well. But, it does provide a church to officiate the ceremony, so Jody, Rey, or I won't have to scour the yellow pages for one. :p
