Airfare Updates

Today's airfare search for tickets from Dec. 25-Jan 1, +/- 1 day.

ATL-SJU: from $300 with Delta (DOWN $105)
AUS-SJU: from $430 with Delta (SAME)
CHI-SJU: from $375 with Delta (SAME)
DEN-SJU: from $782 with Continental (UP $234)
GDL-SJU: from $816 with Continental (UP $115)
MSY-SJU: from $768 with Continental (UP $190)
NYC-SJU: from $380 with Delta (UP $30)
SFO-SJU: from $530 with Delta (SAME)
STL-SJU: from $405 with Delta (SAME)
TPA-SJU: from $530 with Delta (SAME)

AA seems to continue to come down really slowly, while United and Continental went up significantly. I noticed this week that Monday had cheaper tickets prices. I will see next week if that trend continues.

The Holidays in Puerto Rico

It means a lot to us that you will take time out of the holiday with your families to celebrate our wedding. The holiday season is the most beautiful time to visit Puerto Rico. Our Christmas traditions are rooted in Catholicism and influenced by American and Spanish customs. Today, We pride ourselves as the country with the longest holiday season, starting right after Thanksgiving and lasting 8 days after Epiphany.

Homes are decorated with lights and poinsettias, Christmas trees and scenes of the Nativity, also known as "nacimientos" or "pesebres" are very popular. The season combines delicious food, great music and festive merry-making. Typical dishes are roast pork, seasoned rice with pigeon peas, fried plantains, cooked green bananas, cooked yam and "pasteles", made of mashed plantains or yucca, filled with meat and other vegetables, wrapped in the leaves of the banana tree. The favorite desserts are "arroz con dulce" (rice cooked with spices, raisins, sugar, milk, and coconut milk) and "tembleque" (a custard made with cornstarch, sugar, and coconut milk). The most famous drinks are rum and "coquito" prepared with coconut milk and rum (Puerto Rico's counterpart to the American eggnog). Other Christmas foods include Spanish "turrón" (a hard white nougat with almonds), Spanish apple cider, nuts, and assorted candies.

Friends often form "parrandas", "asaltos" or "trullas", a more joyful group than typical North American Christmas carolers. Lively music is sung usually to bongo, guitar, güiro and other musical instruments as the group goes to visit homes of unsuspecting friend's, eats and drinks, and then moves on to the home of another friend. The cycle repeats itself, usually until next day.

Misas de Aguinaldo are held for nine consecutive days ending on the day before Christmas Eve. This Catholic Mass is almost completely a song service. Aguinaldos are sung and the musical instruments used are the traditional cuatro (Puerto Rican guitar), guiros, and maracas.

On December 24th, a Catholic mass is celebrated at midnight, called "Misa de Gallo" (Rooster Mass), to commemorate the birth of Jesus. On this day, commonly known as "Nochebuena", many families organize a special dinner or party to celebrate.

On December 25th, Puerto Ricans celebrates Jesus' birthday. Santa Claus brings gifts to the children who had been good during the year. This tradition has been part part of Puerto Rico's Holiday season since the 1940s.

December 28th marks the day of the Holy Innocents. Catholics commemorate the mass slaying of male children by Herod in Bethlehem following the birth of Christ, as it is told in the Gospel. This feast used to be celebrated much like a carnival, where men dressed as the "evil soldiers of Herod" went house to house, "kidnapping" the first-born boy from every family. To recover their children, the families offered the soldiers gifts and candly. This tradition continues today in a small town called Hatillo. The celebration in the rest of the island is more like April Fool's Day in the USA, where people trick each other.

On December 31, people celebrate the end of the year with relatives and friends. The major event occurs at midnight, when everybody greets and hug each other and wishes good luck and happiness to everyone. Some traditions includes: a) eating 12 grapes, one for every time the clock rings its bells to tell time. It is believed to bring good luck to those who can eat all 12 grapes before the clock stops ringing the bells b) throw out a bucket of dirty water by the balcony or window, it is believed to scare away bad luck.

On January 5th, the feast of Epiphany's Eve, children place water and grass under their beds for the three wise men's (or the Three Kings, as they are better known locally) camels, and in return, the Three King's brings presents, which they leave under the bed, after the camels eat the grass. Children wake up early on January 6 ("Dia de Reyes") to check out what Baltazar, Melchor, and Gaspar left them. Epiphany commemorates the day in which the three wise men arrived bearing gifts for the Christ child.

During this season Old San Juan is decorated beautifully. I would really recommend a visit to the town at night so you can fully enjoy the sights.

Information from:

http://www.elboricua.com/traditions.html

http://welcome.topuertorico.org/culture/folklore.shtml

Airfare Updates

So, I'm going to try to help you find the cheapest airfare and will post updates on ticket prices every Friday.

I will search for tickets from Dec. 25-Jan 1, +/- 1 day. Below is what I found today:

ATL-SJU: from $405 with Delta (UP $75)
AUS-SJU: from $430 with Delta (DOWN $50)
CHI-SJU: from $375 with Delta (SAME)
DEN-SJU: from $548 with Continental (DOWN $50)
GDL-SJU: from $701 with Continental (DOWN $25)
MSY-SJU: from $578 with Continental (SAME)
NYC-SJU: from $350 with Delta (SAME)
SFO-SJU: from $530 with Delta (SAME)
STL-SJU: from $405 with Delta (UP $25)
TPA-SJU: from $530 with Delta (SAME)

Overall, the AA prices are coming down and I do think prices will level off for most airlines around $400-$600 in the coming weeks.

I am working on group rates at hotels. More on that next week (hopefully).

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day!

Ryan and I had a laid back Valentine's Day. Ryan got me the Legally Blonde Musical soundtrack and a mix CD of Radiohead songs. I got him the Tim & Eric Season 2 DVD. I cooked us a nice Puerto Rican dinner and then we went out for dessert at Culver's! We also went to the mall and found some good deals on clearance winter clothes and ended our day grocery shopping at ALDI. =-D


Overall, a nice remainder of how happy we are together doing simple everyday things. We are looking forward to our first Valentine's day as huband and wife next year!

Info for Out of Town Guests

So, we hope to send out 'save the dates' in the next few weeks. Some of you have been asking about where to stay, what to do, etc. Here are the answers to some of your questions:

Where to stay?
I would really recommend you stay in a vacation home in Dorado. It's the cheapest option for bigger groups with a minimum stay of one week. Here's some ideas:
3 bedrooms, sleeps 7: $1,300/week
3 bedrooms, sleeps 8: $1,850/week
3 bedrooms, sleeps 6: $1,000/week
3 bedrooms, sleeps 9: $900/week
4 bedrooms, sleep 10: $1,700/week

If you are coming for just a couple of days, maybe a hotel stay is best for you. I will research this in the next couple of weeks and try to get group rates.

Transportation
I would really recommend you rent a car if you want to explore the island. You might be able to get a good deal when booking airfare + car together. But I have never done this before. For those of you who stay in the area of Dorado, we will try to provide transporation on the day of the wedding.

Airfare
From my experience, think the best time to book will be between 10-8 months before the wedding. The best way to save money is to monitor prices every day. Our wedding is during the high tourist season. I think a fair price will be $400-$600. I did a quick search for tickets from Dec. 25-Jan 1, +/- 1 day. Right now, the cheapest options available are:
ATL-SJU: from $330 with Delta
AUS-SJU: from $480 with Delta
CHI-SJU: from $375 with Delta
DEN-SJU: from $598 with Continental
GDL-SJU: from $726 with Continental
MSY-SJU: from $578 with Continental
NYC-SJU: from $350 with Delta
SFO-SJU: from $530 with Delta
STL-SJU: from $380 with Delta
TPA-SJU: from $530 with Delta

I hope that helps. I will keep updating you with information as it becomes available to me.

We will have pictures!

I took a photography class in 2007 and since then I am obsessed with pictures. Even though I'm not the best photographer myself, I judge the light, composition, and creativity in every photo I see. I knew from the beginning that picking a photographer was going to be an aspect of my wedding I would not be able to compromise. I had a very specific style in mind for my wedding pictures: photojournalism. This is a narrative style of photography, where images combine to give an accurate representation of an event. Photojournalism places emphasis on emotions by capturing real moments without direction or interruption. So, 30, 40, or 50 years from now, when the gown, the colors, and the hairstyle are out of style, the pictures will serve as a timeless reminder of the emotions felt.

It was hard to find an affordable photographer that met my high standards. But I found one! And they are AMAZING! They are EnviPhoto. I invite you to check out their website and the blog. I can't wait to see the pictures they take on our wedding day!