The Philippines being marketed as a wedding destination
Thursday, April 16th, 2009Based on reports from the Department of Tourism, a big group of wedding professionals from California planed into town recently and looked at the prospects of the Philippines as a wedding destination. They only had good words for it.
“A basic wedding in the US costs around $ 50,000, while in the Philippines you can hold weddings for less than half of that, with a honeymoon holiday thrown in the package,” Richard Markel, President of the L.A.-based Association for Wedding Professionals International, was quoted as saying.
Outside of the US continent, Hawaii is a popular wedding location for Americans, but still expensive. With the recession in full swing, either people are cancelling weddings or holding it in other locales.
Distance notwithstanding, I do believe the Philippines has got what it takes to be a cheap, affordable wedding destination for the following reasons:
1. Availability of inexpensive talents who can do all the work. Be it a singer, a band, a florist or even a fire dancer, labor is relatively cheap in these parts. The choices are simply diverse and impressive too.
2. Existence of all-in-one packages which can make tying the knot relatively hassle-free. Major cities have professional organizers and coordinators, or if you don’t want to hire one, there are one-stop shops for this purpose where you can get everything you need – from gowns to catering to wedding accessories – in one roof. Okay, don’t forget the one who will take care of your wedding papers too.
