Church and Reception Venue Booked!

I just had the best birthday weekend ever - thanks to my ever loving and sweet fiance. (",)

We both decided to take leave from office on my birthday, July 20, to be able to go to Marikina and finally book our church and reception!



We rode the MRT to Cubao station and walked towards the back of Ali Mall to catch a jeepney going to Kalumpang. Jeep fare going to the church is php12, just tell the driver to drop you off at OLA - Our Lady of the Abandoned Church. The church isn't too hard to miss also.

Our Lady of the Abandoned Church, Marikina City

Wedding rates is php6,500 but you only need to pay php1,000 to reserve the date. Remaining balance will be paid two months before the wedding day. Rate includes priest, commentator, seminars, choir and carpet but does not include flowers. They only allow maximum of 8 pairs of principal sponsors. They  also allow wedding vows provided that it will be reviewed by the priest before the wedding day. Their wedding schedule is from Tuesdays to Saturdays 8:00 AM, 9:30 AM, 11:00 AM, 2:30 PM and 4:00 PM. However, there are no 4:00 PM weddings during the months of May and October and every 4th sunday of the month. Since our chosen wedding day is the 4th week of the month, we then chose the 2:30 PM slot.

After booking for our preferred wedding day and time at OLA, we proceeded to Kapitan Moy or also known as Bulwagang Bayani which was just across the street. Aside from the fact that the reception is perfect for our modern Filipiniana theme, it was also convenient since our guests don't need to travel far to go to the reception. Upon arriving at Kapitan Moy, we were greeted by a lady guard and informed us of the venue rate which is php15,000 plus php2,000 for the security deposit. We once again took a look at the venue. There were people there setting up the place for a 50th wedding anniversary event.

Inside Kapitan Moy

To book for the venue, you should go to Marikina City Hall. But since it was 12 noon that time, we first took our lunch at Cocina Restaurant which was located 1st floor of the Kapitan Moy. They offer lunch buffet for a very affordable price of php180! Yep, you read it right. Mura di ba? Oh and did I mention that it comes with a glass of ice tea (",) Hehehe Well, they don't have that many viands but it was still really cheap. Perfect din since it's my birthday. And for those who doesn't know, this restaurant also caters but their catering name is Kusina ni Kambal. So if you want to try out their food might as well try their buffet. Their menu for the day was lumpiang hubad, fish fillet with tartar sauce, beef menudo, spicy kaldereta and sopas for soup. Forgot the name of the dessert, but it was a kakanin na white with niyog and sugar. Malamang lam nyo na ang name hahaha

Cocina Restaurant's Lunch Buffet

Cocina Restaurant's Lunch Buffet

The food was delicious by the way. The meat of the menudo and kaldereta was so tender! Ang sarap din pa ng lumpiang hubad! The kaldereta was too spicy but that didn't stop my fiance from going back to the buffet to get more of it. hehehe Too bad Kusina ni Kambal is not in our short list because it was over our budget. But still it was nice to be able to taste their food.

After our heavy lunch, we walked to Marikina City Hall para mabawasan konti ung taba namin dahil sa over eating hehehe It was not a long walk though target ko kasi sana may makita akong flower shop para ask ko how much rate nila for church set-up sa OLA. But we were not able to see any papunta sa munisipyo. We later found out that the flower shops are located near City Hall and learned that set-up costs php3,500 but rate may change daw since next year pa ang wedding namin.

When we reached City Hall we looked for Ms. Jo in MCTTIPO office. She informed us that we need to pay for the venue rent plus security deposit in full. We filled up the contract then handed her two checks for the payment. She redirected me to the City Treasury to make the payment. Napaka-orderly naman ang process, you need to get a number to go the cashier. After making the payment, we went back to Ms. Jo and she handed me a copy of the contract. Siya na rin daw bahala mag-inform sa venue manager of our event next year. And we're done! Yipee!!! We now have booked our church and reception! This is it! Go na go na to!