I decided to do some research today on how to get the cheapest airfare since a lot of us might find this useful. I'm just going to summarize the best tips that I saw that aren't the most obvious (like picking a weekday instead of a weekend to fly out):
1. Apparently, Priceline or Expedia's Price Matcher can offer you 5-15% discount of the lowest airfare you find from other sites. This is from the fool. 2. Downside to getting an agent: since they only get somewhere from $25-50 commission from flights that they book, they probably make their money from getting as many clients as they can so the soonest they can get a deal for you (which may not be the best), the soonest they can move on to the next one. From soyouwanna. 3. Cheapoair.com has been giving me the lowest airfare ($918-980 minus tax for flying out at the 25 and comming back on the 30th). I've been checking orbitz, expedia, travelocity, hotwire, cheapseats and cheaptickets. 4. There's this website called cfare.com that lets you name a price and they will find a ticket for you and hold the seat for 24 hours. They have really low prices too even after tax. 5. Group rates are available starting from 7 people so if you are planning to leave on the 25th and returning on the 30th, I know three guests that are doing these dates. If you are too, reply to this message! (now)
From what I've read, nobody really knows how airlines calculate the price or when they give discounts so it seems like instead of waiting for the price to get as low as it can, its probably better to have a target price in mind and to book right when the sale price shows up (if you don't like to gamble). If airlines really do preempt the price at this point, it doesn't necessarily mean its better to purchase at a later date because prices generally go up as the target day gets closer. If anyone knows any better, please post!
Ate Dianne and my mom brought me three huge wedding magazines which means thousands of pages of wedding gowns, bridesmaids gowns, etc. But, in trying to be good about being decisive, I managed to narrow it down to a couple of favorites. I picked mostly strapless with pleats (I'm sure there's a technical term for it) but I'm kind of doubtful that it'll work for my body type. Also an interesting beaded backless one and a cute queen anne. Check out the album below:
Themes I gravitated towards for bridesmaids: pleats (again, but I don't know why), silk and some lace. Click on the photo to view the rest of the album.
I need to know what my bridesmaids want though.. (hint) Update: Church about to be reserved today. Exciting!
I'm thinking probably the most time consuming part of the wedding planning process is choosing the venue. Since our target date is in 8 months, I feel rushed about making a decision already. On top of that, we need to send out save the dates pretty soon since the wedding is overseas. Places are getting booked pretty fast-- turns out Nov. 29 is a pretty popular pick. So that's what I've been up to the last couple of days, googling places in Manila and Tagaytay and watching a billion wedding clips on youtube (can't trust pictures alone). We've been getting a ton of help from my relatives! Thanks to Ate Dianne for being a great matron of honor and my mom for keeping us focused (I guess).
I'm posting some letters here just because I thought it was pretty neat to receive them all in one day and they were just pretty awesome tips/suggestions comming from Ate's. Others might find these helpful, too. ___________________________________________________________________
Hi!
Ako ang na-eexcite sa wedding ni kathy. she can also check on this venues... kasi sa mga dates na napili nila, there is no doubt the whole philippine's wedding venues are fully booked.
1. fernbrook gardens - they already have a chapel inside the place
they also have several caterers to choose from just look at the website
2. St James Ayala Alabang - The church where we are married. Alabang area is very convinient since there are a lot of hotels nearby. Belview, Vivere...
3. Antonio's garden in tagaytay - new place to check out for the reception.
4. Sanctuario de san antonio in forbes park - this church is very near at shangri-la, intercon, manila peninsula
5. Choose the best photo video... spend a lot on this since this is the only tangeble memory you will have of that special event. Smartshot ... the one we used. they conduct pre-nup pictorial in US. www.smartshotstudio.com
6. get the best wedding coordinator. i can get some contacts if you still dont have one.
8. Shrine of Jesus, The Way, The Truth and The Life Church - another church to check out. this is near mall of asia... near also to manila hotel.
this is my email_ if you have some inquiries
we can also call you... free naman ang tawag from singapore to US. hehehehehe
love
roche & darrel
____________________________________________________________________ Hi Auntie Bebot,
It really depends on the venue, the number of people to invite more or less 400k. we had 250 guests. ( food p800/head)
a $5,000 is feasible. depending on the number of guests, venue. are they going to have a church or Garden wedding?
if they are going to have a Christian/garden wedding - they only need one venue. if it's in the church- they have to pay the church also. for a non -aircon church it costs around 10-15k. for an aircon church: around 22-30k.
they can check out our venue at wack wack in mandaluyong. we used the Banquet A and B. here's the rate http://www.wackwack.com/reservations.html http://www.wackwack.com/facilities.html#banqueta There is also a chapel there (for Christian weddings). not for Catholic weddings (because the catholic church does not allow couples to wed outside the catholic church otherwise it will not be valid in the eyes of the catholic church)
other venue rentals medyo high end: 40-120k clubhouses: 12-20k (resident endorsements needed) Hotels: 1000-2000 per head catering depends on type of food p500-900 per head (this includes freebies like cake, setup etc)
She can email me her requirements and i'll ask around. Specify also the budget. 1. where do they want to hold the wedding? Out of town or metro manila. Manila, Quezon City, Pasig, San Juan, Makati? 2. Church or garden wedding? 3. Number of guests? (caterers have freebies like the setup, cakes, etc)
So anyways, my thing is I haven't really found a place that I REALLY like (willing-to-fight-with-my-mom LIKE).... I thought Fernbrook/wood was THE one but after watching videos and slideshows from other people's weddings, it kind of lost its novelty and I think I'll set them aside for now. The flavor of the moment right now is one place suggested by Ate Grace which is Hacienda Isabella. This youtube video had it sold for me:
The other really nice place in Tagaytay is Splendido but they were already booked for our date.
Tim and Katherine met about 7 years ago, at Sears where they used to work right before college. Turned out they got into the same school, found each other there and have been together since. Now he's in advertising, she's in research and they're going to live happily ever after. the end.
