St. Benedict Church, Ayala Westgrove Brides

[rikki21]

^^ nakakatakot naman ang review kay Father Gani. gulp.

[mamey]

He will not be the resident priest effective mid-2015. I just cannot recall the exact month pero malapit na siyang malipat. 😊

Sana effective na agad agad! (Ang harsh lang) wish us luck mga sis canonical interview namin nextweek kay father. We already had a super bad experience with him 2yrs ago on my nephews baptismal pero pinili parin naman yung church kasi very private and solemn saka malapit samin. Pero buti nalang allowed sila na magdala ng sariling priest na magkakasal sa inyo.

[purrple]

We were allowed to bring our own priest. There are just requirements to submit, madali lang.

During our wedding, just before I march, I saw Fr. Isagani looking at me. Aba! Ang sama ng tingin sakin. This is just before the door opens ah...hindi naman malaswa ang gown ko. Sorry, but he is really something else.

[mamey]

Omg sis? Nandun talaga sha kahit hindi sha yung magkakasal sa inyo? Grabe Ano yun pag may nagawa kang mali ihihinto nya yung kasal.? sana naman nakalipat na sha sa kasal namin sa July. Intimidating naman yung ganun..

[purrple]

Omg sis? Nandun talaga sha kahit hindi sha yung magkakasal sa inyo? Grabe Ano yun pag may nagawa kang mali ihihinto nya yung kasal.? sana naman nakalipat na sha sa kasal namin sa July. Intimidating naman yung ganun..

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. Nandun lang siya sa labas (wala naman sa actual na ceremony or inside the church). Siguro he wanted to check what I am wearing or curious kung sino kami because we did not get him as our priest. =)

He doesn't have a say with the gown or the entourage attire because he is not officiating.  We were allowed to have our personal vows and to choose our songs too.  Our guest priest is super nice and he just said, whatever we want for our wedding, ok lang sa kanya. =)  Strict kasi si Fr. Isagani sa attire and no personal vows are allowed too.

[mamey]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. Nandun lang siya sa labas (wala naman sa actual na ceremony or inside the church). Siguro he wanted to check what I am wearing or curious kung sino kami because we did not get him as our priest. =)

He doesn't have a say with the gown or the entourage attire because he is not officiating.  We were allowed to have our personal vows and to choose our songs too.  Our guest priest is super nice and he just said, whatever we want for our wedding, ok lang sa kanya. =)  Strict kasi si Fr. Isagani sa attire and no personal vows are allowed too.

oh i see.. oo super strict nga nun ni father at nagkaron na kami ng super bad experience sakanya 2 years ago on my nephews baptismal. kaso pinush parin namin dun kasi nga very solemn ng place saka malapit sa venue namin. Pero kabado kami ni h2b sa canonical interview namin bukas. any tips sis? haha.. may balita na papalitan na daw si father dun sana nga before July para wala sha sa kasal namin (sorry if im bad) we will bring our own priest though. thanks sis sa info abt songs and vows

[purrple]

oh i see.. oo super strict nga nun ni father at nagkaron na kami ng super bad experience sakanya 2 years ago on my nephews baptismal. kaso pinush parin namin dun kasi nga very solemn ng place saka malapit sa venue namin. Pero kabado kami ni h2b sa canonical interview namin bukas. any tips sis? haha.. may balita na papalitan na daw si father dun sana nga before July para wala sha sa kasal namin (sorry if im bad) we will bring our own priest though. thanks sis sa info abt songs and vows

Yes, he won't be around by July =)  Sabi nung admin nila.  Buti yung admin doon napaka bait.

Tips:

Be careful with your answers relating to contraceptives and the RH bill. 
If asked how many children you want to have, answer something that means you will not limit and will wait for God to decide on it. 
Never say that you miss Sunday masses if you do not want to have a very long lecture. =)

[mamey]

Hi mga sis! We're done with our canonical interview with him last thursday and we didn't expect that it will turn out super good! It's so funny super takot talaga kami pagkastart tapos later on naintindihan namen si father about his strictness.. We've learned so much from him abt the true meaning of the sacrament of wedding.. Ang galing nya mag explain in all the things kung bakit strict sya when it comes to the wedding procedure and for us we thought it's true.. Hayss ang sarap ng feeling..😊 yes sis yun nga lang ang dapat tandaan, you should regularly go to church every sunday, dapat nag coconfession din kayo.. For me lang siguro just be humble at wag ng makipag talo kay father

[sparklingjewel]

Updating.. i attended a wedding here a couple of days ago and sad to say we will no longer attempt to get this church because our suspicions were confirmed... the strictness of the church affected the couple's super popular, super expensive videographer even... halos iisa lang yung angle shot in the church (dead center)! Majority of the SDE's shots were from the preps and we were initially wondering why...paulit ulit pa halos same shots. I think they werent allowed to take from other angles kaya nagkaganun. Wala ring shot from above yung bride walking down the aisle Quite disappointing for such a highly coveted videographer. Or perhaps limiting nga kasi itong church na to. Sharing lang for everyone's benefit but for us its a dealbreaker already as we want to maximize the videographers' talent  (and the fee we paid).

[patriciasy595]

This is really a strict church although I think it's really not possible to have a top shot of the bride walking down the aisle because as far as I can recall, there's no mezzanine there. The church is really beautiful but the strictness can be limiting to photographers and videographers during ceremony. After the ceremony, they're free to do their magic outside the church where it's really nice

[cna123]

Let me just share our rather-curious experience at SBC and our canonical interview. Disclosure, I am an agnostic and gf is a catholic. So naturally, she and her mom preferred to have a church wedding, for which I (and curiously her dad) really don't mind.

Now onto the day of the canonical interview, pag-pasok pa lang ng resident priest eh taas-kilay na agad, hindi yata nagustuhan yung answers (truthful naman) namin sa questionnaires. Nagsermon about RH bill, family planning, about having kids and about not getting a regular confession and going to church every Sunday. There was a point na nagdidiscuss sya about prayers and confession na I really don't agree with. Apparently you have to go through a priest to talk/confess to God, sumagot na ako at that point and the interview became a debate. At some point, di na naka-pigil si gf and she told fr. that na hindi sya nag-aagree sa stand ng church about RH bill and other stuff to the point that gf asked the priest verbatim (this was the point where she started crying): "Ibig nyo po sabihin, dahil naniniwala ako sa RH bill hindi na ako pwede ikasal sa simbahan?" for which he promptly denied and hindi naman daw sya nagjujudge (although judgy and condescending na yung tone since nag-start). So to cut it short and since i had the feeling na gusto na magwalk-out ni gf, I told the priest na okay, if that was the case then we will first assess our faith, and decide if we can wholly accept the catholic faith since hindi naman pwede na part lang ng doctrines ng catholic church ang ie-embrace namin plus, we don't want to lie sa answers namin just to complete the requirements for a church wedding.

After the interview (five minutes outside the church), we both agreed that it would be best for us to have a garden wedding instead - for the same reason I told the priest and it would be hypocritical to find another church if we still do not agree with the full doctrine.

Traumatic? In a way, but I do agree that couples have to answer the question 'Why do you want to get married in a catholic church?' (included in the questionnaire), before getting hitched at SBC,or any catholic church for that matter. Will I still recommend SBC and the resident priest? Yes, it was an exercise of faith for the both of us. I guess it was a good thing that we were challenged and we had to make a stand for our beliefs. Too bad we already paid half of the booking fees.

[jentotmd]

not an SBC bride pero let me just share my take on this.

canonicals, for me, are done to remind you of the stand of the church about certain things. you may or you may not agree with what the church enforces pero just leave it at that. IMO, hindi na kailangan mag debate or makipagtalo pa just because deep in your heart, iba ang belief natin.
walang nananalo sa debate ng faith. wala naman kasing may alam ano talaga yung dapat paniwalaan.
in our case, since it is a seminar, we would just listen and absorb yung mga bagay na applicable sa amin and sa married life.

[mamey]

not an SBC bride pero let me just share my take on this.

canonicals, for me, are done to remind you of the stand of the church about certain things. you may or you may not agree with what the church enforces pero just leave it at that. IMO, hindi na kailangan mag debate or makipagtalo pa just because deep in your heart, iba ang belief natin.
walang nananalo sa debate ng faith. wala naman kasing may alam ano talaga yung dapat paniwalaan.
in our case, since it is a seminar, we would just listen and absorb yung mga bagay na applicable sa amin and sa married life.

agree with you sis.. we just had a canonical interview with Father Gani and it went well, siguro nga dahil quiet lang kami ni h2b and we just listened to him to all his explanations. We never tried to question him kasi we know na kaya kami nandun is para ma enlighten kami about the sacrament of holy matrimony which is we are thankful dahil after that interview parang mas naging mas close kami ni h2b spiritually. My favorite part about the interview is about having a personal vow since meron na ngang sinusunod na standard ang church na vow bakit kailangan pang baguhin which is same lang naman talaga ng meaning na we wanted to make a promise of a lifetime commitment to our partner. kaya after nun we decided na wala na kaming personal vow. btw we will be having our pre cana seminar next march 23 kita kits mga sis! happy preps. 

[sparklingjewel]

is this the new SDE of cinemaworks?

No it was Mayad. Not sure if uploaded na though, we never really check their site.

[weddingbelle]

Hi mga sis!

SBC din ako next Jan 2016.. pero parang ang daming sagabal esp. venue! Limited ang choices so we ended up getting Alta Veranda (na medyo pricey at 3 pa lang ang accredited caterers).

Other venue na pinuntahan namin:
Teofely Gardens
The Hills @ silang
Rekados
Hardin ni Maria
Seda
Microtel

Challenge tong church na to since I booked the church first before looking for venues. Ayoko kasi sa Tagaytay dahil sa traffic.

Sis Mamey we'll see you on March 23!

[mamey]

^yay sis aattend din kayo ng seminar? see yah! have you tried Savannah Hall in Southern Plains? mejo malayo sha sa St Benedict pero hindi matraffic kasi exit lang sha ng Silang sa South Express way ang accredited caterer nila is Hizons and Juan Carlo

[weddingbelle]

^yay sis aattend din kayo ng seminar? see yah! have you tried Savannah Hall in Southern Plains? mejo malayo sha sa St Benedict pero hindi matraffic kasi exit lang sha ng Silang sa South Express way ang accredited caterer nila is Hizons and Juan Carlo

Yes sis! Mura nga siya actually parang 700/head lang ang Juan Carlo all in na yun no ++. Kaso naliitan ako sa place. 200-250 guests namin.

[mamey]

^ ayy okay sis ako kasi maximum ko na 200 including suppliers na yun Sis mag dadala ka ba ng own priest mo?

[weddingbelle]

^ hindi na sis kasi nabasa ko dito papalitan na si Fr. Gani by July? hehe January pa kami eh so safe kami.

[mamey]

Onga sabi ng mga ka sis naten dto.. Haha.. Baka kami magdala kasi July wedding kami..