St. Benedict Church, Ayala Westgrove Brides

[se7enice]

Hello everyone.. dito rin ang wedding ceremony namin on Dec 2014.

The church is really beautiful and very solemn. It looks big outside dahil medyo nasa taas siya ng hill.
but hindi cya mukha malaki sa loob. very good for intimate wedding. and then yun interior very simple but elegant,  pinaka-gusto talaga ko yun entrance door. 

anyway mga sis, do you know if meron sila resident choir? and how much ang rate for wedding?

@deathwatchspider Wow sis ang haba ng canonical interview mo ah... kami  sa june pa lang ang interview with fr. isagani. goodluck hehe 

[aliceC]

mga sis , ang alam ko may seminar ang mga supplier, p/v jan sa simbahan na yan, saka meron silang mga list of p/v, medyo strict sila sa policy.

[deathwatchspider]

^^ hi sis se7enice, wow mas mauuna ka ata samin lahat!    congrats in advance     about the choir, they do not have a resident choir afaik. but Red was recommending a choir from Dasma na madalas daw nagpperform dun. they charge a minimum of 15k ata. you can ask for their contact thru Red.    about the canonical, i think ganun talaga katagal ang mga interviews ni Fr. pero for us, it didnt felt like 3 hours kasi talagang ang gaganda ng mga sinabi Fr. Gani.. actually, until now hindi pa din kami makaget-over dun sa interview hehe.. im sure you will enjoy it as well sis. 

sis aliceC, yup thats true. the coordinator is required to meet with the church marshalls 1-2 weeks before the wedding. kasama yung representatives ng p/v team. kasi nga maraming bawal sa church. plus ang allowed lang is a total of 8 in the p/v team. in excess of that, they will charge Php 250 per person. pero afaik, wala naman atang list of accredited p/v 

[aliceC]

^ sis, mabuti naman kung ganun , hehe! isa sa nalaman ko jan, bawal na maglakad lakad ng p/v pag start ang sign of the cross, or start na ng mass. :-)
ang mga guest itataas lang ang cellphone pag magtake ng photos, bawal sila tumayo if d sila kasama sa entourage. ahihhhih!!

[deathwatchspider]

^ haha actually i dont know yet the full extent of the dos and donts inside the church. pero im sure madami sya. for starters, Fr. Gani doesnt allow personalized vows. you'll know why during the canonical interview, and we fully agree. also, the p/v is not allowed to step inside the altar once the wedding rites has started. so may designated area lang sila. otherwise, titigil dw talaga si Fr sa mass.

also, share ko na din mga sis, Fr. Gani actually discourages the bringing in of choirs. kasi may mga na-encounter na sila before na maaangas or malalakas ang dating. and they treat the wedding as if its a concert or a performance na tipong ang lalakas ng boses. they forget that they are not there as "stars" to perform but rather to aid in the wedding. naka encounter na din daw sila before ng choir na nagagalit pag pinapakialaman ang song choices.kasi only liturgical songs ang allowed sa church.

actually h2b and i were really surprised at this. pero mas lalo pa talaga napagtibay ang loob namin na we really made the right choice to have our wedding in st. benedict. i like the fact that they really wanna emphasize the solemnity and sanctity of the wedding rites. rather than be all showbiz about it, like other churches are nowadays. imagine, they even told us na its ok na kahit wala ng flowers? amazing. they had several weddings na din daw in the past na hindi na kumuha ng flowers. pero maganda pa din ang kinalabasan bec the church in itself is already beautiful and elegant. eh samantalang other churches, required ka talaga kumuha ng flowers sa kanila di ba?

[rikki21]

^hi sis! H2B said may tentative date na kmi. Wednesday nga! May kailangan ba kmi dalhan na documents? Para maasikaso ko ha pag dating ko ng Manila. Thanks sis!

[ayieloveszavi]

mahigpit sila in a good way. one wedding we had there, pinagalitan ni father gani mga naka-inappropriate na damet pero medyo nasobrahan pagalit nya sa P/V na matigas din ang ulo. sinabi nya during the mass na ban na sila sana hinintay na lang matapos ang mass, di na in-announce. oh well.

[deathwatchspider]

^hi sis! H2B said may tentative date na kmi. Wednesday nga! May kailangan ba kmi dalhan na documents? Para maasikaso ko ha pag dating ko ng Manila. Thanks sis!

canonical interview ba sis? you just need to bring yung questionnaire na binigay sa inyo kasi dun ibbased ni father yung ibang questions  .  good luck sis!

[Lorgail]

Sis ang alam ko is 5k ang downpayment then may mga babayaran kapa after that. Overall maganda ang church, two thumbs up.

[deathwatchspider]

^ yup 5k ang DP then they will schedule u for canonical interview. tapos on the day of the interview, bayad ulit ng 5k. the rest of the payment, a month before the wedding ata dapat masettle na. check ko dn ulit yungbrochure  after our interview, binigay na yung wedding banns and letter requesting permission from my parish.

[rikki21]

Hi Sisses! Naka schedule na kami! I called them earlier. Down payment and questionnaire Lang nga ang dadalhin. Mga ilang Oras kaya yung interview?

[deathwatchspider]

^ depende sis pero hindi bababa yan ng 2 hours for sure. kami we started around 9:30 and finished around 1pm. 

[deathwatchspider]

mahigpit sila in a good way. one wedding we had there, pinagalitan ni father gani mga naka-inappropriate na damet pero medyo nasobrahan pagalit nya sa P/V na matigas din ang ulo. sinabi nya during the mass na ban na sila sana hinintay na lang matapos ang mass, di na in-announce. oh well.

panong inappropriate na damit sis? what were they wearing exactly? pati sino ang pinagalitan? entou ba or guests? scary naman yung sa p/v.. im sure traumatized yung mga yun.. for some, mejo severe tlaga si Fr. Gani. pero hes like that for a reason nga. not because he just wants to be angry. hehe. share ko lang nung canonical intrvw namin, syempre nung una stiff pa kami ni h2b. kasi kabado sa mga tanong. nung halos patapos na and nag warm up na si father, bigla kami nag holding hands ni h2b. as usual sa amin.  nung natapos na yung interview tapos kwentuhan na lang, biglang sinabi ni father, "i saw you held hands earlier.. thats nice.". awwww... hehe

[purrple]

Would anyone know the restrictions for the wedding gown and entourage please?

[purrple]

A word of caution to those who are about to have their canonical interview with the resident priest.

[deathwatchspider]

^ why sis what happened?

[purrple]

Our interview was scheduled right after the typhoon.  So being both Manila based, we were a bit wary about the road condition, safety and etc. since we have to travel early morning to meet the 9am schedule (we were reminded several times not be late).  We were requesting to reschedule since early morning of the typhoon (this the day before the interview), only to be advised around 9pm that the priest still wants us to come despite our issues on safety without even asking where we were coming from.  I find this very inconsiderate.

We arrived at 750am in the morning.  The interview promptly started at 9am.  It lasted for more than 3 hours.  I gave the wrong (and truthful) answers to some of the questions, maybe not the answers that he was expecting.  I was questioned (and maybe judged although he said he is not judging me) because I said I don't go to Sunday mass regularly, as if it's the only determining factor of being a good Catholic and ultimately a good person. 

He asked about having kids and when my fiance gave a number, he said there should be no limit to the children.  When my fiance explained that we want to make that we'd be able to take care of the kids and send them to good schools, he said that my fiance was speaking like an economist and not as a Catholic.

And I can go on and on... my fiance was traumatized and we were so drained after the interview.

He probably means well and just doing his best to lead me to the right path of being a good Catholic.  I appreciate his effort but I do not approve of his style.

[saskia]

^ another not so good experience with the priest from SBC. I have read a handful na of horror stories. But we still pushed through with our reservation and decided na lang to bring our own priest. I can feel your frustration and disappointment when the interview was not resched given the weather. Ours is scheduled for next year pa so hindi ko pa sya talaga namemeet personally but i've attended a mass na sya yung priest. Kaya lang, based sa feedback ng fellow couples na nagcanonical na, almost lahat ganyan ang feedback. Tsk.

[deathwatchspider]

sad to hear about your experience sis purrple.. well, look at the bright side, at least tapos na kayo sa canonical interview. and you can move on with your wedding preps.  so will you be bringing your own priest na din sa wedding?

he also asked us about that, yung number of kids. syempre promptly we said at least 2. and yun nga, sabi nya, it shouldnt be us who decides this because ultimately, it is God who will determine the number of children we will have. then we got a looong lecture about RH law and contraceptives. looking back, we kind of appreciated it, even if i have dissimilar views on the RH law. sympre, since he is a priest, he will be pushing for catholic doctrines.

prior to coming to the interview, we were already forewarned about how severe fr. gani is. kaya we were a bit relieved after the interview that it didnt seem as bad as we thought it would be. pero generally, ganun nga talaga ang feedback sa kanya, mejo negative..

[purrple]

@deathwatchspider prior to the interview, I read your comments and that was probably the only warning we had.  I actually understand where he is coming from (being a priest and an expert), although I think there are so many other ways to make couples understand what it means to be a "good catholic".  His style is VERY negative and if my faith is not solid/strong (not making an excuse for not going to mass every Sunday), I would have walked out that day.  I felt that he knows his church is very good in all aspects that he can say want he wants to say and be whoever he wants to be because we need it and we have no choice but to comply and say yes to him if we want to get married in that church.

@saskia just make sure that your answers are all in accordance to the catholic practice.  PM me if you need more information or need a bit of help.

We are looking for a guest priest.  Sana meron kami mahanap, one that matches our personalities and one that can really help us in our path to the married life without being judged or lectured.  Please let me know if you know any priest within the area =)