House Warming and House Blessing

The kids scramble for the coins that were thrown.

The blessing begins outside of the house with our lighted candles.

It's so nice to see a small house filled with people of all ages.

The priest blessing the dining table.

After the blessing, everyone went down to "Paul Calvin" at the 1st floor where the reception was held.

Buffet lunch was served. More guests came for lunch.
All the venerables got cozy in the living room.

Last January 23, my eldest niece, Nikki and her husband RJ had their new condominium unit blessed by a priest. They just got married last month, and it was the first time they invited close friends and families on both sides to their new home. So it is both a house warming and a house blessing. House warming is a party to introduce a new home to relatives and friends, while a house blessing involves prayers and blessings of a priest.

All in all, we were a party of around 25 people ranging from a 6-month-old baby (nephew of RJ), to a 90-year old grandma, Tita Ginny, grandma-aunt of Nikki from her mom's side. My parents turned out not to be the oldests of the group, although my dad is turning 81, and my mom, 79. With this wide age range of the guests, a 100 sq-metered condominium unit should certainly be prepared to accommodate bouncing kids and rickety-brittle boned grandmas and grandpas. You can just imagine the flight of the caboodle from the underground parking via an elevator, to the 10th floor where the new couple live.

The mom of Nikki, my very loving sister-in-law, Marissa, of course helped Ni kki and RJ prepare well for the simple but solemn family affair. This should serve as a simple note of experience for those who plan to have their house blessing too. To simplify, I put them now in bullet points:

• For 20 to 30 guests, no need for formal invitations; just text messages or a phone call will do. Invitations should be out at least 2 weeks ahead so the guests could block off the date.


• Look for a priest to officiate the blessing in the nearest parish, at least 2 weeks before the date. Know his complete name so you know how to address him and the gift you wish to give him after the blessing of the house.


• Know where to have your simple party: in the house itself, or a nearby restaurant. In the case of Nikki and RJ, they contracted the cozy restaurant on the 1st floor of their condominium to hold the party. (The resto is Paul Calvin.) This was the right decision, since there was no way to accommodate a big number of guests in their unit.


• Collect coins in 1 big empty plastic bottle of multivitamins 6 months before the event. This is for the symbolic "throwing of coins" around the house as a prosperity wish for the new family. I would have wanted to rumble with the little kids for the coins thrown away on the floor, but shame got the better of me.


• Have the airconditioning unit on one hour before the arrival of guests. It would be too suffocating to pack the many guests in a warm house.


• Make sure the chairs and sofas on the living room would be easily available to the grandmas and grandpas.
• Prepare candlesticks with cardboard catchers. The candles are needed for the rite of the blessing. The cardboard catchers prevent the wax from dirtying the floors or carpets.
  
• Make the more able guests guide the grandmas and grandpas to the whereabouts of the condo unit, and specially accompanying them to the restaurant on the 1st floor, if this is the place of the reception.


• Place your buffet order on the restaurant for the reception. Make sure the menu consists of food that could be taken by babies, kids and elderly people.

Thanks Nikki and RJ for making us part of your new home!