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Me and my fiancee are planning to return to the Philippines after everything is completed and have the traditional marriage ceremony there also.  The wedding here will be very small and inexpensive so that we can save for our flight back to the Philippines and the "real" wedding.  I'd like to get an idea of how much to budget for a wedding with a crowd of maybe 25 attendees.  We'll be getting married in Bacolod.  Can anybody give me an idea?  Sagamat!

... in response to How much for a wedding in Philippines, posted by dennis1964 on Apr 19, 2002

cost me $1700 not including the honeymoon or the airfare there.  Honey did all of the planning and co-ordinating herself and I spent my first 11 days there helping her (at Christmas time too).  There were about 150-200 people at one reception and more at the second.  I was very impressed.  I think it was worth every penny to have it there.

Bear and Honey

... in response to How much for a wedding in Philippines, posted by dennis1964 on Apr 19, 2002

Me and Mares did the same thing.  We had the wedding in Escalante.  It's about an hour by bus from Bacolod, so a lot of stuff, like food and decorations came from Bacolod.  Tickets for 4(had to take my kids), cost $5,000, The wedding cost about $5,000 and the rest of the vacation was around $3,000.  

Part of the extra expense for the wedding was buying a gown here in the states.  That ran us about $1,000.  There wasn't enough time to get one made in the Philipines.  So stuff from the states for the wedding was expensive.

We also took the family(parents and two sisters) on a first class vacation to Boracy.

Over all it was a nice trip.  Mares went two weeks before me to get everything ready. I was diagnosed with Bronchitas 2 days before leaving.  Because of the heat and humidity, my son threw up in the church.  Of course this happened on the red carpet running down the middle of the isle.  It was all caught on the wedding tape.  And to top it off I started to black out during the ceremony.  Of course the priest brought me tap water, which I gratefully drank, followed by diarhea for the rest of the trip.

BTW, we really like Bacolod and are thinking of eventually living there.  How 'bout you guys?

Dan and Mares

... in response to Re: How much for a wedding in Philippine..., posted by DanAndChed on Apr 20, 2002

Thanks everybody for giving me an idea of what to expect.  Dan and Ched...omigosh!!  What can I say?  That sounds like an unforgettable experience! And it's all on videotape! lol!  Twenty five was what I was told but I guess I'm just learning to interpret...it'll probably end up around 100 attendees. I'm REALLY going to have to budget for this one...or (something that causes me to break out in a cold sweat) use a credit card.

... in response to How much for a wedding in Philippines, posted by dennis1964 on Apr 19, 2002


Ray is right.
I payed about three grand for mine. I would suggest letting your girl have her dream wedding. It is her big moment in front of  friends and family. I had a great time, so will you.

Take care,
Surigao Ken

... in response to How much for a wedding in Philippines, posted by dennis1964 on Apr 19, 2002

"Crowd" of maybe 25 attendees? That's not much of a wedding in the Philippines. Usually there are more like 100-300 guests or more. 100 guests would be a "small" wedding.

For a traditional church wedding with a nice reception, you're probably looking at anywhere from $1,000 to $6,000 unless it's in Manila. They can be real flexible with the costs depending on how much you want to spend. I would say at least $2,000 for a "decent" wedding with 100 or so guests.

Decide what you can spend and put whoever is doing the planning on a budget and let them handle it all. They will need about 3 months or more for planning, but in an "emergency", they can probably set everything up in a couple of weeks, for a price. They will need about half of the cost in advance for deposits and wedding gowns and such.

If you will wear a traditional barong, I can help you with the clothes you will need to bring with you.

Ray

... in response to Re: How much for a wedding in Philippine..., posted by Ray on Apr 19, 2002

Whoa! holy cow!  I should start a new business!!

(just jerkin your chain, give it a few more years, and we'll be up to 20k like it is here in the US for all the trimmings).

... in response to 2 Grand Ray???, posted by BrianN on Apr 20, 2002

Well Brian, when is the last time you checked the cost of weddings here in the States? My neighbor had a traditional Filipino wedding here in San Diego a few years ago and they spent over $40k. I would say that a similar wedding in the Phils would probably run about $5k-6k. Still a bargain to have the big wedding over there!

Ray

... in response to Re: 20 Grand Brian???, posted by Ray on Apr 20, 2002

I give up!  I guess that pi prices for great weddings really are a deal then.  another day, another dollar.