BEFORE WE GET MARRIED | REAL TALK!

Are you planning on getting married?Are you ready emotionally, physically and financially?

Let’s have a real talk before you get married!

Before getting married you should consider these factors first. Once you are tied up with someone, you cannot easily untie yourselves with them. Especially here in the Philippines, getting an annulment is so much hassle and expensive. To avoid being tangled with this dilemma in the future.

Requirements

Yes, you still need the necessary requirements. You cannot just appear in front of the priest, pastor or judge and tell them. We want to get married now. You need to get these necessary requirements first.

Whether you choose to have a simple Civil Wedding or an extravagant church wedding the requirements are all the same.

The most important requirement is that are you eligible to get married? You should at least be 18 years old to be able to get married. If you are, then you can proceed in getting these requirements below.

CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage from the PSA formerly NSO)

Parents Consent (Marriage License)

Pre Marriage Seminar from the City Health Office

Baptismal and confirmation certificates ( Church Wedding Only)

Canonical interview ( Church Wedding Only)

Pre-Cana/Marriage preparation seminar ( Church Wedding Only)

Marriage Banns ( Church Wedding Only)

List of principal sponsors and entourage members ( Church Wedding Only)

Confession ( Church Wedding Only)

If you have all the requirements above then we can proceed with the next step.

Wedding Ceremony

Getting married nowadays is expensive!

With all the trends that are popping everywhere, you would also want to have those at your wedding. Let’s say you want to have a Prenup photoshoot, the cheapest that you can get for that is 3,000 pesos. If you want to have a videographer that’s another cost! The cheapest for that is 6,000 pesos but the video for that is not outstanding but can cope with the cost itself. If you would want to have a great video on your wedding that will cost you more than 10k. Who wouldn't want to document their special day?

If you have a budget, you can get a wedding coordinator to get all the preparations done for you. And leave you to just appear on your wedding day. But be sure you are getting trusted wedding coordinators. There are a lot of scammers everywhere. Double-check, triple check the background of the wedding coordinator that you will be getting. Most of these kinds of businesses have their Facebook Pages already. You can check the reviews and recommendations on their pages. Check their work. Be very keen on choosing your wedding coordinator. Be sure to have a contract signing with your coordinator for security purposes.

If you are planning on having a small number of guests, the cheapest wedding package that you can get is 80,000 pesos. This is good for 30 guests only. The package includes the wedding gown, grooms clothes, entourage and down to your wedding reception and all the decorations. This wedding will give you a very simple decoration.

Of course, if you have the money and can afford an extravagant wedding you can spend up to millions with preparation like celebrities.

In a civil wedding, you can spend only 5,000 pesos depending also on your number of guests and venue. If you are having only your family members on your wedding and decides to just dine at a restaurant after the wedding 5,000 pesos can accommodate you to up to 10-15 guests depending on your menu.

Starting the Married Life

Having your wedding is just a ceremony telling your family and friends that you decided not to be single anymore. After the ceremony is just the beginning. The next question is WHERE WILL YOU LIVE? Do you have your house already? If not yet, will you rent a place? Or Will you invest and buy your own?

Having your own place to stay is very important in starting your own family. For newlyweds, you should always consider living separate from your parents or in-laws. Remember, not all in-laws are that accommodating.

This is one of the things you should consider before getting married. BE SURE YOU CAN SECURE YOUR OWN HOUSE SEPARATE FROM YOUR PARENTS.

Be Financially Stable

To be able to secure your own house, you should have a stable job first so that you can pay for rent or mortgage if you plan to have your own house.

If you are a plain housewife and your husband is earning minimum wage here in Cagayan de Oro City and you are planning to rent a house. You can be able to but marriage life will be difficult. Let’s say you are renting a house for 3000 a month. Then you will include your other bills. Water, electricity, grocery, and other expenses. Let's say your monthly income is 9000, then less all the expenses I mentioned. You do the rest of the math.

You should be financially stable before getting married because once you are married you will surely adjust the differences between you and your husband. If you say you truly know your husband. Well, you might be wrong. Most of the time, you will always discover a new attitude from your husband that you did not see when you were still dating him. Every year you will discover changes with your attitudes. When you have kids, there will also be another adjustment. So if you are financially stable, at least it can lessen the problems that you will be facing in starting your married life.

What if you decided to have kids already? How much will it cost you? How much should you prepare? How will you prepare? This topic will be discussed on my next blog.

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