Baby Z's Christening



christening at michael the archangel chapel fort bonifacio

On the last Saturday of November, we had our daughter christened. We chose that date simply because it was a long weekend.



We initially wanted to have her baptized in January when she's old enough to have great neck control and easier to be carried by others. However we decided to do it before Christmas since we'd be travelling to visit our families in the holidays. Alam mo naman ang sinasabi ng mga matatanda, mabuting mabinyagan ng maaga bago ilabas-labas.



When I chose the church, I had to consider the following factors:

  • requirements

  • schedule

  • accessibility

  • near reception



My number one consideration was the requirements. Most churches now require a letter coming from your parish if you're opting to have your child baptized in a church where you are not their parishioner. I don't want to have Baby Z baptized in our parish in Quezon City because of the challenges on parking space and many other reasons.



I needed to look for another church.



We don't have a nanny so if I were to travel, get, and submit documents from one place to another, I had to tag along the kids. And I didn't want to bring out often my then 3-month old without hubby along with us.



Thankfully my mother was kind enough to had have arranged her first granddaughter's baptism at our parish church in Fort Bonifacio.



St. Michael the Archangel Chapel is a beautiful church inside the camp, along MRT Avenue (formerly Bayani Rd) and is air-conditioned. They also have ample parking space.



We wanted Baby Z to have a special baptism (where she's the only baby to be baptized; no other babies during the schedule) and chose the 10AM slot on November 28. We paid Php500 for registration which includes the first pair of sponsors and then Php200 for each additional sponsor. Baby Z had 3 pairs so we paid Php1300 in all.



REQUIREMENTS: photocopy of baby’s Birth Certificate, photocopy of Marriage Certificate, Registration Form. (There are additional requirements for non-parishioners and non-Army dependents).








We wanted the event to be simple with less guests compared to our first born's baptism. We invited members of the family and very few friends. I was tight on budget and besides our reception area was too small.


I was really eyeing Shakeys in MarketMarket as our reception venue because: 1) I love their food,  2) the mall has parking space, 3)accessible and; 4) guests can go malling after the event. Unfortunately when we went there to reserve their function room, they said they are not open for reservations due to the high peak season. This means that they only allow walk-ins on our chosen date. Bummer. They have suggested though that a family member to come in early on the day of our event and reserve tables. Uh, no thank you.


Scout time again.


There were very few restaurants in the area that has a function room and one of them is Blackbeard's Seafood Island, also in MarketMarket. Their function room was tiny, nevertheless it can accommodate our relatively small number of guests. On the day itself, we had 40+ guests and the room was so filled, we had a hard time moving around. In fact, we weren't able to  take group pictures.


Seafood Island offer party packages from groups of 10 to 100. However we only wanted a place to dine without a program so I asked them if we could just order for a minimum purchase, which we were able to agree on.


We ordered their boodle group meals (Tali Beach, Chang China Chow, and Davao Gulf) since that's the easiest way for me to plan a menu. Haha! Then we added nachos for appetizers, Sinigang na Salmon for soup, buko pandan for desserts, and pitchers of iced tea for drinks.




I didn't plan to have any venue stylings since I didn't have the time and wouldn't be able to buy the stuffs I need. So I just bought kraft letters from Binondo Pabili (Instagram) and printed pictures of BabyZ that we could hang at the venue.


Hubby and I just wanted to have lunch with friends and family. However my siblings wanted to decorate the area so I told them that the theme is nautical.


My parents bought balloons only to find out a day before the event that the balloons they got have 'happy birthday' printed on them. LOL! Needless to say, the balloons didn't make it to the event. We can save that for BabyZ's birthday!


I commend my sister for setting up the area given with very limited space and time. I was only expecting a table with the cake and BabyZ's name on top. I was surprised that she went overboard, made a backdrop and banners. She even got BabyZ a themed cake and cupcakes. Coolest sister ever. :)




The staff of Seafood Island were assisting and courteous. I would recommend them as a venue for simple gatherings (smaller than our group's size, preferably). ;)


Overall, our bill at Seafood Island for lunch (for 45 pax) was a little over Php20,000. Not bad since we still had some leftovers to take home.


Binyag. Checked.

Welcome to the Christian world, Zoe!


CHURCH: St. Michael the Archangel Chapel

MRT Avenue (formerly Bayani Rd)

Phil. Army, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City

845-9555 loc. 6419



RECEPTION:

Blackbeard's Seafood Island

Fiesta Market Market

Global City, Taguig

889-7321 (look for Faith or Jen)

Comments

  1. hí :-) ask ko lng po kung ano mga addtl requirement kapag non army dependent. thank u

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi She! Sorry but I already forgot. For non-parishoners kasi ang additional requirement is yung recommendation letter from your parish. You can call St. Michael sa number above para makapag inquire po

    ReplyDelete
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