Mikay's Christening and 1st Birthday Party

Preparing for an event can be stressful. I always thought that even before whenever I'm attending relative's or friend's occasion.  That's the reason why mama and I never celebrates any occasion 'coz it can be stressful, time consuming and not to mention the money you'll spent.

But this time a celebration is indeed needed. A celebration of life for this little sprout named, Mikay who came to our life as a blessing from God.

During the time I'm preparing for this event, I'm also preparing for a korean trip which is just 2 weeks prior to this. Great! So, I can't blame anyone for my sleepless days. I can't give up any of the two. Selfish? No. I just want to follow my happiness.

How do I prepare?

1. Set the date. Early November, we're still contemplating of the date when will she be baptized. It's just 4 months away and Mikay will turn 1 already. That the time we decided to set the date on or before her 1st birthday. Double celebration! Her birthday will be on March 24th and will fall on Maundy Thursday. It'll be difficult if we set the date on that day, so I decided to choose a date before the holyweek, on a weekend, so that there will be less complication with the guests' schedule. But take note that it will be a communal if you set it on Sunday. So, the date was set on 20th of  March 2016.

2. Choose a church. I choose San Roque Parish in Pateros as suggested by my mom. I was also baptized there, maybe that's why. We have our own parish church here in East Rembo, however we opt for the former.  Since we're not a resident from that decreed area, I seek for a permit from Mater Dolorosa Parish.

Location: B. Morcillas St., Pateros
Schedule: Sundays, 10:30 AM for communal, by appointment for solo baptism
Registration: Register one day before baptismal date for communal and 1 week before for solo.
Rate:
 Solo: P2,000 baptismal fee (covers first pair of primary sponsors), P100 per additional ninong/ninang
 Communal:  P150 baptismal fee (covers first pair of primary sponsors), P30 per additional ninong/ninang
Requirements: Photocopy of child’s birth certificate with registry number, original and photocopy of marriage certificate of parents, Permit from home parish for non-residents of the decreed area.
For inquiries, call: (02) 642-8219
3. List down the Godparents. I had a careful thought in choosing the godparents. Whether to get from my current officemates or the friends I have since then. I opt for the latter; not that I'm not close with the former, it's just that I think the friends I have since high school knows me better and my mom is also familiar with them. I had a problem with male godparents; so I let mom chose. I didn't ask them directly saying, "hey, be a godparent of mikay, okay?" hehehe. I sent them an invitation through facebook messenger (thanks for the technology and social media) and good thing most of them said, YES.

Godparents

• Irene, Amerose (high school friends)
• Mercy, Gha, Erika (college friends)
• Rio, Ate Ana (former colleagues and still remained friends until now)
• Angelo, Kuya Jo (neighbours)

 
4. Prepare your budget. Since I'm also preparing for a trip during this time. I know that I'm on a very tight budget for this occasion. Good thing we have a "paluwagan" in the office and I purposely requested for the first 2 payday before the christening. Budget which is higher than P25,000.00 will be too expensive. I only set my budget to P20,000 and a little more. I prefer a DIY so I can monitor everything.

Church Fee - P420
Reception Fee (Cabalen 38pax + corkage) - P15,962.88
Souvenirs(adult + kids) - P2,125
Cake - P2400
Photobooth - P2700
Celebrant's 2 dress + shoes - P1,500
Total: P24,729.88

5. Choose a venue for reception. I've checked different restaurants that offers "baptismal package". Most of them offers P19,000++ for 30pax. That's will be beyond my budget already. So, I opt for the buffet which is just a 1 ride away from the church which is Cabalen in Market Market. You'll just pay per head and the venue is for free (table for cake, electricity, invitation, balloons, banner).

6. Choose a motif/theme. I personally choose "Minnie Mouse",  just because I love it. :) Hehehe. Mikay is a mischievous baby and I think she wouldn't like a disney princess theme. That baby is a cutie patootie and really looks cute with a minnie mouse ears. :P

7. Prepare for souvenirs, photobooth, cake, etc. Since the theme has been set. I started preparing for the miscellaneous. I started preparing for souvenirs. I don't like the usual souvenirs which I always received like figurines. So I go with something different, something useful and will be taken care of --- like plants! I fell in love with those small plants and I started canvassing for their price. I personally like chinese bamboo plant and rose cactus. They said, everything your looking for is in divisoria including those tiny plants! Yes, i got it from Nanay Nita along the street of Juan Luna. Nanay Nita is very accommodating and the plants are really cheap. I also went to 168 mall to look something for kids, that's where I got those mickey mouse towels, school supplies and that mickey mouse bling bling. :P

For the photobooth, I'm a bit hesitant on getting one. But since I don't have a photographer and I can't take everybody's picture during that day, so I decided to have one. First, I checked metrodeal if there are deals for photobooth. I've seen 1 or 2, but before I bought the voucher...I decided to contact the photobooth services first before I avail it. Good decision, coz when I inquire if they are available on March 20, they said they were already fully booked for the day. And I remember the photobooth service from an officemate's daughter baptismal before, so I contacted them. And the rest is history. :)

For the cake, I inquire at Goldilocks Market Market before I left for SoKor. I show them the design I want for the cake and they agree with it that they can make it 2 days prior to the event and even gave me a price quotation. That's why the cake is the least of my worries. But then 5 days before I decided to pay them a visit and just settle everything. Why wait for 2 days? Walking confidently in their store with the design I printed out, I looked for someone in-charge in cake reservation. But to my dismay, he said it's not possible. Something about that they don't have a license from disney yet to create a mickey/minnie mouse themed cake. Heol ~ why they didn't said it before? If I don't go by the theme, the cake will be out of place. And I don't have much time to look for someone who can make it. I went home disappointed and asking friends for help. The next day I went back to goldilocks with a different solution in mind. I just requested for a plain red cake and just put white circles around it. I've decided to just put a minnie mouse figurine on top of it. I looked around for it but I can't and ended up with a minnie mouse container for liquid hand soap. LOL. I just put a party hat on the head of minnie mouse. :P

8. Celebrant's outfit for baptismal and a change outfit for the party. Since I only need a white dress for baptismal and shoes; and minnie mouse dress for the party, I made a short trip to SM department store and I got a 20% discount just 5 days before the occasion.