- Food tasting – To be done around 4 months before the wedding, in our case we would only do it 3 months prior (December)
- Location shoot for pre-nup photos (which I scheduled on August 26)
- Use of the fitness center two weeks before the wedding – Good luck sakin ha! I hope I use this well.
- In-room massage for the bride and groom – Can be done separately before the wedding orsabay na lang after, during the first night of the couple. Fiance would love this!
- Use of the Acacia Grand Ballroom – For 5 hours. In our case, it would be from 1800H to 2300H.
- Champagne toast for the couple
- One round of drinks for the all guests
- Custom flower centrepieces with votive candles on all tables – plus simple backdrop, which I don’t find too appealing, it’s just a basic set up kasi
- Cascading flower arrangement for the couples table – I had to keep in mind that these inclusions are only basic floral arrangements. Meaning, no imported flowers, minimal number of flowers to be used
- Place cards for the VIP tables (and menu cards for sit-down reception. I wouldn’t have menu cards because I availed the buffet package)
- Two nights stay in a suite room for bride – Usually a Junior Suite room, but upgraded to the Bay Suite because I booked for 200 or more guests. They only have one Bay Suite in the whole hotel, and it’s the room which has a balcony and a view of the bay. Lucky me, it was still available on my date. (Duh, more than a year ahead pa kasi from the wedding day. *laughs*)
- Overnight stay in a Deluxe room for the groom – It’s their simplest room available, but mind you, it’s not too modest. It’s also like the Junior Suite minus the panoramic view and the living area that’s partitioned (other suites don’t have dividers). All the beds in the rooms are orthopaedic beds, and they have different kinds of pillows depending on your preference and needs (some are even aromatic pa). Staff members roam around the halls and offer you extra pillows. For me, that’s just cute. *laughs*
- Personalized butler service – All I can say is, UHHHHMM OKAY. Sorry, I’m just not used to this kind of things. Sensya na, dukha lang.
- In-room breakfast for the couple – Probably on the morning after the wedding.
- Personalized gift – I wonder what this is!
- LCD Projector and Screen – I saw this and it was huge but is located right above the stage for the couple’s backdrop. Then it’s also an option to go for two screens on the sides, for a large reception.
- Hotel public address system – Note that it’s not the same as a sound system. If you would be having a full band, or string ensemble, this wouldn’t be enough. I’d be having a quintet or sextet so I had to hire a separate sound system for that. They don’t charge naman for bringing in your own lights and sounds as long as you don’t go beyond 100 Amperes daw. Whatever that means. *laughs*
- Special group rate for families and friends – Discounted room rates for guests of the reception, if ever they would come from the provinces or if they just want to spend the night there. More than 50% off the published rates
- Dinner for two on the first year anniversary – I hope fiancé would be available that time.
- 25% discount on the first year wedding anniversary reception – I don’t think I would be having that. LOL
- Three layered wedding cake – Their suppliers are Hearts and Bells, Cakeworks, and Cake Concepts, as what they have informed me.
- Bridal car or 3-hour trio entertainment – I availed of the bridal car na lang. Their supplier is Don Robert’s, so mostly vintage cars.
Here are images of the bay suite taken from the hotel's website:
I can't resist sharing a photo of the dog:
Sometime in February, I emailed Acacia to confirm that we were going to book them for the reception. I asked until when they could hold our wedding date to give us time to prepare for the 30% down payment (which amount is by no means a joke). Rosanna Chua (Ms. Anne), the Events Executive, responded and told me that they could hold the date (or pencil book) until the 24th of the same month. A few days later, I scheduled to meet her for the booking; I also came with my mom that time. I really wish fiancé was there to be with me for the preps but sadly, no-can-do eh. These are some of the details I learned pa when we booked:
- Mobile bar and lechon have corkage, though the hotel can waive corkage for ten bottles of alcohol
- Use of red carpet, stage, and dance floor are free
- Ceiling and wall drapes are not allowed--sayang din naman kasi the design of the ballroom if it would be covered by drapes
- At the ballroom, they would provide access to internet for the couple only
- Chair covers can be black or white
- First five kids aged 0-5 are free of charge; kids aged 6-12 would only be charged half the rate of excess adults
- No additional charge for requests for additional tables and chairs
- If we wouldn’t avail of the basic event styling, it could be converted to free flowing iced tea for all guests, one overnight stay in a deluxe room, or three buffet vouchers (good for 2 pax each)—this one I find not sulit talaga, if it happens.
- I can always talk to the suppliers if ever I would want an upgrade
Aside from booking for the reception, we were able to sign up for membership in the Acacia Circle. Members are entitled to discounts and freebies at the hotel. An annual fee of 7,500 Php was required. Why did we sign up? I was able to enjoy a 5,000 Php off from the package rate of the reception as part of the membership perks. We were also given the following: 1 voucher for an overnight stay in a Deluxe room with buffet breakfast for 2 (which I would be using for our pre-nup photo shoot. I want a bedroom setting as one of the layout of our photo shoot but they informed me I had to book a room since the guest rooms’ area aren’t part of the allowed areas to shoot. It can go up to 9,000 Php at times so having a free voucher would be a huge relief for us), 1 voucher for buffet dinner for 2, 1 voucher for buffet lunch for 2, 10 pool passes for 2 (20 pax total), 10 gym passes for 2, and a voucher for complimentary birthday cake (LOL). If I would add that up, the 7500 Php is already a good deal, considering that I’d be able to enjoy 20% discount for total bill at the hotel’s restaurants, 10% on whole cakes at the pastry shop, 20% off for room service bills, 10% off on room rates, 15% off on suite room rates, transferability of the perks, 10% off on business center services, fitness center services, spa services, and flower shop purchases. And this: for every 2 consecutive referrals, you get 1 buffet voucher for 2 pax; for every 5 consecutive, you get 1 voucher for an overnight stay in a deluxe room. (Okay, now you can say, “Kaya pala niya dine-detalye, gusto ata maka-recruit!) *laughs* But hey, if you’re a frequent “stay-cation”-er, you’d find this really sulit diba? Some members even renew mid-year, just to enjoy new vouchers, and that’s allowed! LOL.
Basically that’s just what we did the second day. Sorry for the long read. I could’ve just written, “PAID THE DOWN PAYMENT, SIGNED UP FOR MEMEBERSHIP THEN LEFT.” *laughs*
March 19, 2014 Finally, the last episode! LOL. This time, fiancé was with me! Yaay! I wanted him to have a look at the place, since he wasn’t there when we did the ocular with mom. Para sulit ang pagpunta, I decided to have our lunch there at their buffet restaurant, Acaci. For us not to be awkward eating buffet alone, we decided to tag along my two sisters, Pao and Mei. I scheduled the visit via email with Ms. Anne, and she was kind enough to be the one to make the reservations at the restaurant. I told her I’d be using the vouchers from the membership. I made some changes about the reservation later on but just contacted Lorenzo via SMS, the one in charge for the memberships, to make the changes. He was kind enough to call my mobile and confirm to me the changes. (People in Acacia are very nice talaga. I hope our guests would notice and appreciate that, come the wedding day.) I decided to avail of the dinner voucher for two for the lunch buffet, apparently they allow that. That way, we wouldn’t pay for the lunch of my two sisters. (You’re so kuripot, Ate! LOL.)
We had lunch before we met Ms. Anne for the ocular, which was scheduled at 1400H. The Acaci restaurant was a pretty place. The chairs were so comfy, and the colors around were cool. The food? Well, I’ve read bad reviews by guests about the food, but I didn’t have any problem with it. The dishes were delicious, and there were a lot to choose from. They have both Asian and Western cuisine, and so many desserts which my sisters enjoyed (one of them is a chocolate lover kasi). Fiancé also enjoyed it, siyempre buffet,matakaw siya eh! (Peace, Babe, if you’re reading this! I love you! *winks*) At the end of lunch time we were all full. We ordered fruit shakes and juices na lang on top of the buffet pang-tanggal ng umay. The waitresses and waiters and chefs were very nice to us too. Kulang na lang tabihan kami and ask what we need or even subuan kami. De, joke lang. Pero ganun na rin ‘yon.
Here's a picture of Acaci:
So that’s it! I’d really like to apologize that this has been as super long read. As I type this sentence it’s already around 3,300+ words na! But if you’re still there reading at this point, thank you so much for the tiyaga and interest! I would be posting my story about finding my wedding gown designer after this.
Good vibes!
-Gero