Finding Our Temporary Home and Completing Our Marriage Requirements

Hello, hello! July has got to be one of the longest and busiest months for us, and I’m so glad it’s over. Right after meeting with our wedding coordinator last July 2 to align, things just started to quickly happen, and the Cupcake and I had to simultaneously complete our marriage requirements and find a temporary home—which I’ll get to in a bit.

Finding Our Temporary Home

We started the month by already looking for units to rent in Makati by August. Renting a place temporarily near our offices was something that we discussed for a while now, since our forever home would take about 10 to 12 months to finish construction. We also agreed that moving in our things by August would mean less hassle come September after the wedding. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about the logistics anymore. But finding the right place was emotionally exhausting—we had to make sure that the unit was walking distance, was within our budget, and most importantly, was Booboo-and-Bellatrix-friendly. The last criteria was the most crucial, because Booboo grew up in the company of humans. He’s not used to being on his own, and I worry that leaving him alone would be hard for him (even with Bellatrix around). Finding a place that was easily accessible to me was a priority, so that I could conveniently visit him during lunch and merienda breaks.

The Cupcake and I looked through listings, spoke to a few brokers, went through several oculars almost every day during lunch breaks, and we just couldn’t find the right place. It was either the ones that we did like got reserved by someone else right away, or the ones that we didn’t like we didn’t want to settle for. Eventually, a friend from grad school referred me to her colleague, who was coincidentally moving out of his unit this August. The unit fit our criteria and more, because it’s literally a 30-second walk away from my office, it’s spacious and beautifully designed and maintained, and the building allows pets! It felt like the Universe aligned exactly to how we wanted everything to be, and I’m so grateful.

I’ll definitely be doing a quick tour of the place once we move in and settle down. But I’m really so excited to show you guys our temporary home soon!

Completing Our Marriage Requirements + Other Wedding Errands

While we were busy during weekdays doing unit oculars, our weekends were fully booked as well. The first weekend of July was dedicated to Cayo’s barkada and pretty much his second family, the NBoys and Baes, because one of them got married in Tagaytay.

The second weekend, we had our cake tasting and consultation with my good friend, Elle (of Elle’s Kitchen PH), and canonical interview. We also ordered our custom wedding rings, which I’m so eager to wear already. A few days later, we had our food tasting and ocular at our reception venue together with our wedding coordinator and stylist/florist, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I can’t wait to see how everything will turn out! That same day, the Cupcake and I submitted our wedding banns to my church, attended the government-required family planning seminar, submitted the rest of our papers to city hall for our marriage license, and had Cayo’s Barong Tagalog made.

Just this week, after my best friend’s wedding (KChan!), we got to pick up our marriage license, and have begun sending out our formal invitations (I owe a lot to my sister, cousins, mom, and college friend for making our invitations a dream come true). I have my second fitting with my designer this weekend, then I’m flying out for my bachelorette with my sister and cousins the weekend after.

Things have been crazy hectic to the point that I just want to fast-forward to the wedding already. But I know how fast time flies, and that I should be savoring these little moments. And I’m really glad these wedding updates allow me to do just that. I love looking back at the previous months and remembering how I thought and felt at that time, and what my expectations were then vs. the reality that I went through. I’m glad that despite being a bridezilla (in the sense that I’m a control freak and a perfectionist), the Cupcake and my family and friends are still going above and beyond for me. I really, really am so lucky.

Anyway, I hope I’ll have time to still update the blog more this August. It’s been getting harder and harder to focus on actual work, because I’d rather be doing wedding work. Does that make sense? Am I allowed to feel that way? Haha. If you’ve stuck with me until the end of this post, thank you so much and until next time! Here’s to a joyful August!

Finding Our Temporary Home and Completing Our Marriage Requirements