Wedding legalities: attending the seminar at city hall

what a hot, steamy, sweaty day! as in literal!!

Mon and I attended the pre-marriage counseling seminar at the Quezon City hall today. I really didn't know what to expect from it since I didn't anyone who had actually attended one. One of my married friends said that during her "time", her would-be husband knew someone from city hall so they were issued a Certificate of Attendance even without going through the whole lecture. Another experience I read from the internet is that the couple just sat down for a 20-minute talk and poof! done. Certificate of Attendance issued.

That wasn't the case for us. And you know what? We're kinda happy [that it wasn't] because we really enjoyed the seminar. Ang kulit ng facilitator namin! Sayang I wasn't able to get her name but I can tell you that she's smart. She reminds me of my old elementary teachers. She's the kind that speaks English with correct grammar, the kind that doesn't mix up P with F (i hate it when that happens!), the kind that teaches with grace and confidence. Her humor is one-of-a-kind too. I must have heard the T* and P* words a hundred times during the lecture but the funny thing is when she says it, it doesn't sound bastos, like she's so used to saying it or something. Well, being a facilitator of pre-marriage counseling, malamang nga sanay na sanay na siya.

The lecture was supposed to run for three whole hours but everything was done after two hours. Started at exactly 1 o'clock and we were dismissed by 3. I think the extra hour is allotted for couples who will be civilly married right after the seminar. 

Certificate of Attendance

After we got our certificate, we went to the QC Civil Registrar's Office to apply for marriage license. For those planning to get married, FYI, the seminar from city hall is a requirement to apply for a marriage license, which means that you really have to get hold of a Certificate of Attendance, one way or another.

What was the lecture about? Family planning, sexually transmitted diseases, the importance of family in the society, the different kinds of love (i.e. filial piety, sibling's love, marital heart, and parental heart), sex, the responsibility of a woman to her husband and a husband to his wife.. Nag-enjoy talaga ako. I even took notes! Ang adik ko nga daw kasi I was the only one taking notes in the room. Honestly, i find the seminar helpful. Pero siguro kanya-kanya rin. Baka nataon lang na magaling yung facilitator namin.

There was a quiz. Hahaha! It was the icebreaker before the lecture officially started. We were given a piece of paper and there were six questions. The questions are about your partner or about the relationship. So bisto na pag wrong answer ka. Alam na!

the questions were as follows (i'm paraphrasing):

1. Kailan kayo nagkakilala ng partner mo? Give exact date.

2. Ano ang paboritong kanta ng partner mo?

3. Ano ang pinaka-paboritong topic of conversation ng partner mo?

4. Saan allergic ang partner mo?

5. Ano ang full name ng partner mo?

6. Kailan ang birthday ng partner mo?

Sinong bibo kid? Hahaha!

At the start of the seminar, a nurse and a midwife lectured us about the different contraceptives for men and women. They even gave away free condoms and pills, but only to those who want to get freebies.

Giving credit where credit is due, I want to commend Mon for being the "active" one when we applied for marriage license. Need to organize papers? Check! Need to get something notarized? Check! Need to line up at counter 11? Check! He did everything, I practically just sat at the Civil Registrar's Office, while Mon did the nitty-gritty work. Happily too, if i may add. Not once did he frown or felt frustrated kahit na ang init init. Sa sobrang init, Mon and I felt na sobrang hindi makatarungan sa mga employees na magtrabaho sa ganung ka-init na lugar. I wish the government would find the budget para gawing comfortable ang workplace ng mga government workers kahit papaano. Just saying.

Applying for our marriage license

It was a fruitful day for us and I am so happy with everything that transpired. Now that the pre-marriage seminar is done, I can now move on to the next step: registering for pre-cana seminar. Yes yes there's another seminar that we have to attend. Church requirement naman. I'm kind of excited about this next one because we're going for a more personal approach and spend one whole weekend for it! Anyway, that story is for another day.