MUST-KNOW: Getting Married at San Sebastian Basilica (What to Expect and How to Prepare)

My fiancé and I attended the Pre-cana Seminar at San Sebastian Church in August 2018 and got married in December. For those of you who are not familiar, ‘pre-cana’ is a preparation session (or an orientation) for couples preparing to get married in a Catholic Church.

San Sebastian Basilica (SSB) is quite strict in hosting their own pre-cana to make sure couples fully understand the lifelong commitment that they are about to get into. During the 7pm-10:30 PM Friday session, the facilitators covered the following topics: sacrament of matrimony, differences between man and woman, communication, divorce, pregnancy, and the marriage rites itself. It was a good way to reflect and understand that marriage is a serious commitment, not just for formality.

However, having attended the Discovery Weekend seminar hosted by CEFAM Ateneo (an optional, immersive and spiritual 3D2N experience which you have to pay for but super worth it), I felt the lecture and presentation materials used by San Sebastian were somewhat redundant. Thus I looked forward more to the marriage rites lecture about getting married in this historic minor basilica.

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I’d like to share with you the important points I took note of during my own wedding preps and wedding day. If you are months (or years) away from getting married in the same church, worry not because this post (hopefully) saves you time and stress to host your own dream wedding at San Sebastian Basilica!

Time Management

• Typical marriage rites in San Sebastian Basilica lasts for 1 hour.
• They are quite strict with this rule to respect the other scheduled weddings, so make sure that the bride and groom, together with parents and entourage, are already at the venue at least 30 mins before the booked time slot.
• Guest priest, if any, must also be cautious of time to cover the homily and rites.
• Fifteen minutes is allotted for the pictorial session.

Church Coordinator

• SSB provides their own floor coordinator to facilitate the ceremony. Upon entering the church, full coordination is turned over to them — from contract signing, handling the commentator role, to the bride’s personal needs like tissue, bottled water, etc.
• All special requests (guest priest, musician, personal vow, own scripture reader, etc) must be coursed through them so I suggest messaging the assigned coordinator (usually it is Ms. Ana La Torre) ahead of time and letting her know of your wedding date and other concerns.

We had a unique case considering our special requests such as:

• Mixed marriage ceremony (me being a Protestant, him a Catholic) so we had to take a special interview and pass additional requirements such as Certificate of Freedom to Marry from the Archdiocese of Manila
• Hired our own guest priest
• 2 hours slot (instead of the default 1 hour) – we paid for 2 time slots too
• We also hired vocalist and strings band and own event coordinators to assist us on the day.

It was pretty easy to deal with San Sebastian’s coordinator and Parish office. I believe as long as you communicate your vision and requests to them properly, they will make it all happen.

Music

• Hired musicians should coordinate with SSB’s Tita Lucy, who is the organist, and arrive 1 hour before the wedding
• If you have a vocalist or you want San Sebastian to play a song request for you, burn songs in a CD in mp3 format
• Entourage march: Instrumental songs like Canon in D (Pachelbel) or Wedding Song (Kenny G)
  Bridal march: (closed door) with vocals live
• No need for ‘Glory to God’ song
• Approved songs for mass: Hallelujah, Our Father, offertory and communion songs
• During the mass: Liturgical songs (offertory song during secondary sponsors’ part, communion song during communion)

Marriage Proper

• Follow San Sebastian’s sequence for the wedding march, as drawn on the leaflet they distribute
• If you want to have offertory, let the offerers walk before the entourage
• Wedding misalettes are optional for the principal sponsors and guests, and printing is c/o couple
• The real wedding ring is given to the best man or mother of the groom (to avoid unnecessary delays)
• Candles are provided by the church. Just make sure you provide an igniter or lighter to assigned candle sponsor
• Veil sponsor must use safety pins
• Principal sponsors will sign the marriage contract upon taking their seats after the march

 

Photo Op Sequence (Suggested)

If you have additional requests like photo op with friends or officemates, let the San Seb coordinator know at least 1-3 days in advance.

• Couple + Priest
• Couple + Principal Sponsors
• Couple + Secondary Sponsors
• Couple + Maid of Honor, Best Man, Flower Girls, Bearers
• Couple + Groom’s immediate family and relatives
• Couple + Groom’s immediate family
• Couple + Bride’s immediate family and relatives
• Couple + Bride’s immediate family
• Couple

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Fees

• Hourly rate: Php 25,000 – includes electric fans, aisle flowers, officiating priest, floor coordinators, submission of marriage certificate to City Hall for processing
• Php 10,000 reservation fee – must go there to pay deposit and balance
• Additional fee of Php 300/unit for electricity use if you plan to rent Iwata air coolers from 3rd party suppliers
• Their coordinator and even church admin staff rent out white cloth for bridal march. This is used to cover the parking lot and electricity cables in the background when the church door is opened. It only costs Php 600-800.

Some Useful Notes

• Contact Number of San Sebastian Church Parish Office: 02-7348908 or 02-7348931 loc 120 (Look for Ate Maricel or Ate Cora)
• Office Hours: Tues-Sat 9am-12pm; 2-6pm (No Mondays)