We are now down to 64 days left to finally I do.

Our Chosen Wedding Officiant

There will be no lengthy explanations on how did we come up with choosing our
SO, as he is very well known in officiating good and memorable weddings. We
don’t want out wedding to appear like it is a legal thing, so we got a good one for
the beginning of our memorable life together. For this wedding we have
Rev Emmanuel Rey P. Moreno.

Peso Power: PHP 4000.00 (He gave us PHP 1000.00 discount)

Even Rev feels kilig from Jack’s vow hehe

As I was researching about civil weddings and officiants in the Philippines, I found
out that there are limited available information so I will try to make this section as informative as possible, based on what I’ve learned.

To give you some background, let me give you a refresher on what is the
difference of a civil wedding compared to a church wedding.

A civil wedding is a type of legal union of 2 individual persons officiated by an
authorized and licensed person and making you a legitimate married couple
acknowledged by the state. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the church wedding,
given it also makes you a legitimate married couple acknowledged by the state,
differs to the civil wedding by means of how it is being celebrated, where is it
supposed to be celebrated, and its location. Church wedding is officiated by a
priest a pastor, or a religious leader who are also authorized and licensed by the
state to solemnize weddings as a part of their profession.

Rev Emman was very cool and easy to deal with. He understands every couple’s need and he considers the couples preferences on their wedding celebration. There is only one request that he asked us to do on the wedding day that he mentioned during our first meeting. This is to give each other a first kiss as husband and wife that is long enough that it will look good in our photos.

I am really thankful with Rev Emman because he went on and stayed in the venue eventhough I was 45 minutes late due to the current weather condition and traffic. He managed to wait and started as soon as we are ready.

He executed the ceremony at a very solemn manner, such that it was heartfelt, even to our guests. The lessons that he has shared us during the sharing part was really heartwarming. I would wish other couples to have that kind of celebration because that is one unforgettable part of the wedding day. Even our guests complimented Rev Emman on how he facilitated the ceremony that it felt very sincere, simple and touching.

His service did not end from there. He processed our local civil registration, and it was a breeze! After 2 weeks, we were able to get the copy of our marriage contract! Amazing, isn’t it?

I am officially a Missus! Hahaha!

He contributed to the first success of our civil wedding. It was everything that we wished for. All the best, Rev. Emman!

There are different types of officiants can solemnize a civil wedding. They can be
one of the following:

1. Justice of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax
Appeals – These justices belongs to the highest and other sub branches of the
judiciary branch of the Philippine government. A justice can officiate a marriage at any part of the Philippines. The downside of this however, is that since the justices always are expected to have the busiest schedules, they usually do not entertain marriage solemnization requests unless they know the couple personally, or has been referred to them by a personal relative or acquaintance. You may try to
inquire to their offices though, like I did. Just search for their website and contact
their numbers to inquire from their secretaries. They usually don’t charge the
couple for having their marriage officiated. However, there is a P350 solemnization charge which will be paid in the court for processing of registration of marriage. I got the information from one of the justices’ chief of staff upon my inquiry.

2. Municipal Trial Court Judge – These judges’ jurisdiction resides to the
city/municipality to which the marriage license was issued. If the marriage license
is issued in Quezon City, the MTC judge from Quezon City City Hall should
officiate the marriage.

3. Regional Trial Court Judge – These judges’ jurisdiction resides to the
city/municipality to which the marriage license was issued. If the marriage license
is issued in Quezon City, the RTC judge from any court in the NCR may officiate
the marriage.

4. City Mayor, Any consul-general, consul or vice-consul in the case provided in
Article 10. (Article 7 of the Family Code) – Jurisdiction for marriages officiated by
them is like that of MTC judges.

5. Any priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church or religious sect duly
authorized by his church or religious sect and registered with the civil registrar
general, acting within the limits of the written authority granted by his church or
religious sect and provided that at least one of the contracting parties belongs to
the solemnizing officer’s church or religious sect;

Wedding and Processing Fees

As the Supreme Court justices are not encouraged to receive fees, other
members of the judiciary have the following fees, according to the family code of
the Philippines.

(a) Two hundred pesos [P200.00] – for marriages solemnized by Justices of the
Court of Appeals;
(b) One hundred pesos [P100.00] – for marriages solemnized by Judges of
Regional Trial Courts; and
(c) Fifty pesos [P50.00] – for marriages solemnized by Judges of the Metropolitan
Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal
Circuit Trial Courts.
(d) The collection of other fees not mentioned by Administrative Circular No. 31-90,
Series of 1990, or the collection of the legal fees in any currency other than the
Philippine peso shall not be allowed and shall be dealt with accordingly.

Meanwhile, the case of having a minister solemnize your marriage differs from
what I mentioned above. As they are professionals who are ministers for a living,
they are being paid according to their rates. Usual fees for ministers ranges from
P3000-5000 pesos at the minimum, while some other services offer higher than
P5000. That I will not discuss here as I am not encouraging high spending on this
aspect.

Legal Sources:

https://jlp-law.com/blog/guidelines-on-solemnization-of-marriage/

http://www.mylawyer.asia/node/31