My Complete Wedding Checklist

Weddings are great manifestations of love. Weddings sum up all the ups and downs of a couple in one great celebration with family and friends, letting everyone share in on the commitment that they will be witnesses to each other's joy and fears, happiness and sadness for the rest of their lives. Sounds blissful, I know (though terrifying for some who's still afraid to commit, hehe but that's another story) but to have a great wedding comes with great planning.

So here's my wedding checklist practically laid out for you in black and white. And yeah, don't be surprised, it has to come to this. 

Some of you are not so keen on the details when it comes to planning and want to stay in cloud 9 until your wedding day, give this to your planner then if you'll get one. 

But to those of you who want to prepare for everything and get your hands dirty on planning your wedding (like I did on my wedding), then you need this. And of course, if you want to add some more of your own details to make your wedding unique, go ahead, after all your wedding is one of the most important and biggest event of your life and I'm not just talking to the bride here but to the couple. 

So buckle up bride and groom and take the first ride of your lives.

WEDDING CHECKLIST

Required General Documents:

Birth Certificate, secure from NSO to make sure (P150-P200 per person)

CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) from NSO (P150-P200 per person)

Marriage License (valid for 120 days, P250)

• process this within 120 days before your wedding date at the Civil Registry of the City you will get married
• after filling up your personal information (both parties), you will be asked to attend the following seminars before you can claim the Marriage License

Seminars to be attended by the couple:

• Family Planning Seminar (a whole day seminar at the City Health Office)
• Attend a Seminar

For Catholics:

Baptismal Certificate with the phrase “free to marry”

• P50-P100 (per person)
• This is secured from the church where you had your baptism

Confirmation Certificate

• P50-P100 (per person)
• This is secured from the church where you had your confirmation, if you were confirmed at school, take note to what parish is your school under.
• Marriage Banns – P500-P1000 (per person)
• Marriage Banns are usually what you hear during mass as “tawag sa kasal” called 3 Sundays in a row
• Church Approval (payment included in the marriage bann)
• A couple getting married in a church they do not belong to will need to secure an approval from their local church; this is usually given after the marriage banns have been called

For other religious denominations:

I still have to acquire information

Preparations

Here are the major stuff you need to prepare:

CHURCH

- Most churches have their wedding schedules set on Saturdays, better check with your preferred church as to their schedules.

- You can book both schedules so as to have the church all to yourselves in the time you want your wedding but pay twice the normal church payment (like if wedding skeds are at 8am and 10am but you want a wedding at 9 am, or 2pm and 4pm and you want a 3pm wedding mass)

- Do reserve a church for your wedding before reserving your wedding reception as hotels/restaurants will not let you reserve at their hotel/restaurant if you have not reserve your church first.

RECEPTION

- Most hotels/restaurants have wedding packages. Ask for copies/brochures of their packages. Most packages include the wedding rituals (bell & dove), a room for the couple before or after the wedding. Some packages include a bridal car and a free accommodation for the bridal shower which you can ask to be used before or after the wedding.

- Wedding packages start with 3 viands, rice, a dessert and a softdrink. Price starts at P285 per person; the more viands, the higher the price (that’s usually the difference in price of food per person, the other inclusions in the package remains the same)

- Hotels/Restaurants has corkage for lechon exceeding a certain number but other food brought is not usually charged (like desserts, fruits, additional viands and wine)

PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEO COVERAGE

- If you know a photographer, do prefer them since they always give you a lower fee than the ones you don’t know (obviously) and if you want to be practical, you can do away with the video coverage since people usually look at the pictures. If you must have a video coverage it is better to have an onsite video cover which is usually shown at the reception.

- Most photographers nowadays have wedding packages too starting from P25,000. This package usually has 2-3 photographers depending on the popularity of the photographer you contacted. This price does not include the video coverage and the prenuptial coverage. Prenuptial coverage is P1,000-2,000 depending on location and number of photographers.  

WEDDING GOWN/SUIT

- Again, there are also packages for this event. Most dress shops have packages that include the mother of the bride, mother of the groom, maid of honor, best man, about 4 bridesmaids, 4 groomsmen, 4 flower girls and 3 bearers. The package can either be all bought, first user (custom made for you and you are the first to use the dresses but only borrowed)

FLOWERS

- Flower arrangers are abound nowadays, you don’t have to go to Cathedral to make an arrangement of sorts for your wedding. You can find a flower arranger that is affordable but has also great arrangements. Flower arrangement for weddings start at P10,000.

For me, it's great to really experience your wedding, plan it as a couple and get a wedding day coordinator to make sure everything goes as you planned it to be on the big day itself. If you need my help I'm readily available to help you if you want with all the details and preparation.  Leave a comment or better yet enter your email address at the top or bottom of this blog.

Thanks and happy planning!

Disclaimer: This checklist is not a guarantee that your wedding will be error free or stress free. This is a guide to let you in all the details you need to prepare in order for you to not leave out any minute details that may be overlooked on your big day. Whatever you planned to do with the details letting somebody else in on the plan (especially on the big day itself) is the key to making a wedding almost perfect. Almost - because there's always a tiny detail that may be left out or missed in every wedding no matter how detailed the planning is. After all, it's just too stiff to have a perfect wedding, don't you think? But whatever. I just hope and pray that your wedding will be a great success and your marriage a greater success. And do please remember that the marriage is much more important than the wedding so it's ok to not overdo your wedding and you don't have to invite everybody. Today, weddings are getting practical and planned within the budget. The important thing is that you, as a couple is happy with all the planning you do and looking forward to a great life together.