My younger brother got married at St. John Bosco Parish in Makati City last April 2009. His was a solemn wedding and the church was really nice so I told AJ that I want us to get married in that church too. And oh, I just can’t forget their altar: it was structurally impressive and really lights me up.
Fast forward to 2010, the first wedding detail we booked was the church. Ms. Ging (the one in charge of weddings at Don Bosco) was super nice and very, very approachable. I already lost count of the many times AJ called her to inquire on something. I think she remembers us so well (not because we’re makulit ha) because every time we visit or call her, she always says: “Ah, yung De Leon-De Leon?”. I think that made things a lot easier for us hehe.
We also appreciated the pre-cana seminars that the St. John Bosco community conducts for couples who chose to get married in their church. A group of volunteer couples facilitate this one-day seminar and that’s really nice, I mean, the church community goes beyond giving marriage blessings to couples, they also provide the counseling and guidance needed by them in preparation for their married life together.
I also appreciated their attention to details, and the schedules (canonical interview, pre-cana seminar, marriage counseling and church rehearsal) are immediately drawn up upon confirming your wedding date.
Come our wedding day, which was a rainy one, by the way, the church’s altar was lit up like the Star of David, which almost made me cry:
This shot below was taken before the ceremony started. Don’t you just love the “beehive” ceiling?
Our ceremony was solemn and smooth as I wished it to be. There was just one issue before the ceremony started (we were suddenly not allowed to use the piano when we already asked permission from Ms. Ging days before the wedding) but it was ironed out before I took my walk. Our coordinator, Lyn, and my groom, AJ, worked this out hehe.
Our package at St. John Bosco Parish includes the following:
– flowers for the church
– organist and soloist
– unity candle
– pre-cana seminar
– air-conditioned church
The people at the parish basically took care of all our church needs and that was really, really a big help. They took a big chunk of our worries and all we had to do was submit the required documents and show up during the scheduled interviews and seminars.
For brides considering St. John Bosco Parish, I just have few advices here:
1. Have your misalette approved (we had ours approved and that was a good thing because come wedding day, there were no surprises during the ceremony itself hehe)
2. Don’t forget to submit the names of your principal sponsors (we almost forgot to submit ours! This is needed for the marriage contract which you will sign after the ceremony and before the final blessing)
3. If you want to bring your own pianist or use the church’s piano, you will have to get permission from the parish priest.
4. A meeting with the organist/soloist may not be necessary. The organist/soloist chose really nice church songs for the communion and other parts of the mass and we did not submit any song list for these). But if you have particular songs in mind, then you should schedule one. Ms. Ging will provide you with the name and contact number of the person in-charge for the sounds.
5. There is an extra fee if you will bring in a videographer for the wedding ceremony (P300, I think).
6. Parking is limited inside the church compound so inform your guests that they can also park at Waltermart.
I hope this helps!
Now my scorecard…
SCORECARD:
Service: Very, very satisfactory
Output: Outstanding! I’d definitely want to get married here again!
Fee/Offering: Not expensive in our opinion (considering the many inclusions in the package and the hassle-free transaction)
(Note: all pictures were taken by my brother, Dino)
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