Catholic Church Wedding in the Philippines

[steve monty]

I just got married in the Philippines with a church wedding in December 2010. There are a lot of questions asked about what is required, I had to do the same things if it was a civil wedding but had to do extra things to satisfy the the church. so I thought I would give a detailed review of what is needed for a church wedding to help others.

Before you fly over remember to have:
1. CNI from the registrars office about 6 weeks before you go, this costs £33.50.
2. Original birth certificate.
3. Obviously passport with at least 6 months on it.
Your fiancé will need:
1. CENOMAR which is got from the NSO, this costs around 195php
2. Original birth certificate
3. Passport or other identification
4. If married in church, before you arrive go to the local parish to get marriage bann- this is where the priest reads out the marriage for 3 consecutive Sundays.
5. Conformation certificate- get from the catholic church

When you arrive and be with mahal, go to the British Embassy in Manila in the morning to change your CNI, as they don’t process in afternoon, only pick-ups allowed. This cost around 4300php. For this to be processed you need your original CNI, original birth certificate and passport from you. Your fiancé needs to bring her CENOMAR that is got from the NSO, original birth certificate and passport. This is issued the afternoon next day. Although they did help us by allowing to pick up in the morning as we were flying to CDO at midday. Make sure you take your flight tickets as they will take photocopies for proof.

When you get to your city of marriage, apply for the marriage licence straight away, they allow you to get the other documents needed within the time it is being processed, these are to be presented when you pick-up. In Cagayan De Oro, this is issued after 10 straight days and not working days! This might differ to other places.

The family planning seminar, usually takes the whole day and spoken in local dialect Cebuano. For me though it took 20 minutes talking to a lady about starting family when you are ready and her niece in Scotland! Maybe from her niece she understood that UK people don’t need to be told how plan future family life! This didn’t cost anything for me but may differ in other cities.

To get married in the church you have to attend different interviews and seminars to be allowed to marry. Firstly we attended the Pre-Cana seminar where you talk about the 7 sacraments, but as we were a mixed marriage and not applied to my religion the talk lasted 30 minutes. These usually take place on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of every month (maybe different at other churches, so find out before), but at a cost of 1500php this can be done during the week.

Secondly, the canonical interview, this is done on a first come, first served basis so arrive early. At this interview you and your mahal will go in separately and talk about your marriage to the priest. He will ask questions about your religion and the wedding itself. As I just arrived I didn’t know much about the wedding itself and the priest asked me which priest was taking the wedding! I had no idea and explained to him I had just arrived! When I told mahal, if we not allowed to marry its my fault for not getting right!! Well mahal hadn’t told me at that point so I wouldn't have known!

If you are marrying in a different church that your mahal goes to you will need a parish permit. If the marriage bann had not been done, you can get at the same time as we did. To do this, we paid a donation to the church of 2000php.

Once you have done all of this and the time is right you can pick up your marriage licence.

As we were a mixed marriage, we had to take all our documents to the Bishop of Cagayan De Oro to get dispensation so that the mixed marriage could take place. You have to sign a document that you allow your mahal to keep on practicing her faith and that if/when you have children that they are brought up as Catholics. He then issues you a marriage certificate to say that it is ok to be married!

ALL IS DONE!!!

Ok it does sound like a nightmare and a lot of hassle and it was, but totally worth it! Amazing day!!

[Englishman2010]

Congratulations to you both

A very detailed and informative post which I'm sure will help many people, well done

[alanmf1]

Hi Steve, welcome back... superb detailed information
Many congratulations on your Wedding

[Sim11UK]

Hiya Steve
Was wondering how you got on...so you did it
Brought it all back to me going to the Registrars there, in CDO...Though we didn't do the church bit.
Congratulations to you both.

[keithAngel]

Hi Steve well done

If your in Mindanao Cebu also can do your CNI make an apointment with the consul

I didnt need my Fiance to attend for that just her documentation

For the Licence apllication a cedula or community tax document from her barangay was also required

To every one the guy who lives next door is a yank and he has just noticed his Wedding Certificate had a misspelling of his wifes first name as does the NSO version and it will take 3-6 months to rectify this be vigilant

He also said when you get married to be sure to ask for a rush filing to NSO or it will take up to six months to get the NSO version which you will need for visa apps etc

[Terpe]

Congratulations to you both on your marraige.

And well done on your write up, which will surely help many more to come

[steve monty]

Congratulations to you both

A very detailed and informative post which I'm sure will help many people, well done

Hi Steve, welcome back... superb detailed information
Many congratulations on your Wedding

Thanks so much for the best wishes! it was a great day, unforgetable!

i hope this post will help others as some mahal's also dream of getting married in a church.

[steve monty]

Hiya Steve
Was wondering how you got on...so you did it
Brought it all back to me going to the Registrars there, in CDO...Though we didn't do the church bit.
Congratulations to you both.

Alright sim,

Thank you for the best wishes, i hope you and your wife are well!

it went really well thanks! the whole day was amazing! got married in Mount Carmel church in Carmen and reception at Dynasty.

the whole experience of getting things done is different. I'm glad like you said before that it is 10 straight days, otherwise we would be having to pick up on the day of the wedding! I had geared myself up to to spend the whole day at the family planning seminar only to walk out after 30 minutes with the piece of paper needed!

[steve monty]

Congratulations to you both on your marraige.

And well done on your write up, which will surely help many more to come

Thanks Terpe for the congratulations, i enjoy reading your posts on other threads.

[aug06_2006]

Congratulation both of u and best wishes for d future...

[steve monty]

Hi Steve well done

If your in Mindanao Cebu also can do your CNI make an apointment with the consul

I didnt need my Fiance to attend for that just her documentation

For the Licence apllication a cedula or community tax document from her barangay was also required

To every one the guy who lives next door is a yank and he has just noticed his Wedding Certificate had a misspelling of his wifes first name as does the NSO version and it will take 3-6 months to rectify this be vigilant

He also said when you get married to be sure to ask for a rush filing to NSO or it will take up to six months to get the NSO version which you will need for visa apps etc

Hi keith,

I know there is a consul in Cebu, but as flying into Manila from HongKong, its easier to process there and not having to do another flight to Cebu then on to CDO. Also i know where the embassy is. Is the consul in Cebu easy to find? and is it only by booking only?

On the filing Wedding certificate, the priest said it would take 60 days to be processed and sent to NSO. I made sure all the information was correct before signing my life away though mistakes can be made whilst processing

[steve monty]

Congratulation both of u and best wishes for d future...

Thanks so much for the best wishes!

[stevewool]

hi there steve , well congrats to you both, sounds like a amazing time for you both and like you say so worth it

[stevie c]

Hi steve many congratulations to you both sounds like a great day

[Lancashirelad]

congratulations on your wedding! what a great post too im sure it will be really helpful for anyone having a church wedding in Phils

[steve monty]

hi there steve , well congrats to you both, sounds like a amazing time for you both and like you say so worth it

Hi steve many congratulations to you both sounds like a great day

Cheers for the congratulations steve! definately worth it!!!
everyone had an amazing day!! even when the nerves kicked in 15 minutes before the ceremony, loved every minute!!

[steve monty]

congratulations on your wedding! what a great post too im sure it will be really helpful for anyone having a church wedding in Phils

thanks for the congratulations lancashirelad, i do hope it does help other people as it can be stressful when not knowing what to do.

[mary_drew]

Hi I just read what you have put and we are also getting married in a catholic church in the Philippines. I’m just asking about the CNI from uk registrar, what info do I need to obtain this and if I don’t have my original birth certificate will a copy do?

[steve monty]

Hi there mary_drew,

Congratulations on your forthcoming wedding!!

I would book an appointment with your local marrige registrar for your Certificate of No Impediment. They will tell you what you need to bring. If i remember correctly it was my passport and proof of address i.e utility bill or bank statement. This will take 21 days so get about 6 weeks before you go if you can but no more than 3 months of the wedding date.

With your birth certificate i actually could not find mine either. So i ordered a certified true copy from the General Register Office which is accepted.

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/c...es/default.asp

I hope this gives you a start on your plans. If you need any other help don't hesitate to ask.

[mary_drew]

Hi steve,

Thank for the information it will help me get started and if i do have any more questions i will ask, and thanks again.

[mary_drew]

Hi again,

i just have a question to ask about the CNI from the registrars office. how do i apply for this is it just from my local register from the town that i am living in or do i have to go somewhere else? i may sound a bit think but im really not sure where I need to go.

[Sim11UK]

Hi again,

i just have a question to ask about the CNI from the registrars office. how do i apply for this is it just from my local register from the town that i am living in or do i have to go somewhere else? i may sound a bit think but im really not sure where I need to go.

Yes, just your local Registrars...Births, Deaths & Marriages. Just ring them, to make an appiontment.

[keith britten]

Congratulations Steve, I wish you and your wife all the best for the future. I am planning a Catholic church wedding in the Phils and all your information was very helpful. Just one question that i hope someone can answer. After all the procedure with CNI and Cenomar etc. and the marriage licence is granted is there any time limit to the actual marriage taking place?

[steve monty]

Congratulations Steve, I wish you and your wife all the best for the future. I am planning a Catholic church wedding in the Phils and all your information was very helpful. Just one question that i hope someone can answer. After all the procedure with CNI and Cenomar etc. and the marriage licence is granted is there any time limit to the actual marriage taking place?

Hi there Keith,

Thanks for the best wishes!

Once you have done everything in the Philippines you can get married straight away. Because of the timescale, our marriage planner thought we might have to pick up the marriage licence the same day as the wedding day and she said it was OK to do so. Although I don't know how long the licence lasts if that is what you meant. Hopefully like me you wanted to get married as soon as possible and not delay it!

[hector]

Hi Steve,

Did you have to get a marriage bann done in the UK at your local church?

[steve monty]

Hi Steve,

Did you have to get a marriage bann done in the UK at your local church?

Hi Hector,

The marriage bann is done when you get the local CNI. It takes 22 days to pick up the CNI from the registrars office which includes the 3 sundays call out and is posted on the wall of the registry office, for any objections. So technically this is the marriage bann.

I hope this helps you.

Good luck with your marriage preparations!!