How a hotel keeps couples happy on their wedding day
By Joy RojasPhilippine Daily Inquirer
It was only fitting that Dusit Thani Manila Hotel play host to the recent “Face-Off 2012,” the biggest bridal fashion show staged by Inquirer Lifestyle, Look Magazine, featuring more than 30 of the country’s top Filipino designers from three generations.
According to Christine B. Divinagracia, assistant director of events, approximately three wedding receptions a month and some 50 a year are held in the prestigious hotel in Ayala Center, Makati.
“Weddings are very personal, so you need to deal with a bride and groom with care,” Divinagracia explains. “That’s what we do. That’s our edge. We build that kind of trust with couples who choose to have their weddings and wedding receptions here.”
Such trust is established early, when Dusit’s in-house sales managers pull out all the stops to ensure clients feel important and taken care of even before their most important day. Wedding and reception packages can be customized to suit a couple’s taste and budget, says Nina T. Miguel, Dusit’s assistant sales manager (socials).
And while advanced bookings are encouraged, this hotel has been known to deliver on short notice. “If the venue they want is available three months before their wedding day, why not?” says Miguel. “We’re very flexible.”
Favorite place
With its 1,000-person seating capacity, Dusit’s Grand Ballroom is certainly a favorite place to celebrate a couple’s early moments as man and wife. Still, there are other potential spots: the refreshing pool side, serene Japanese Garden and, for privacy, one of Dusit’s spacious function rooms.
Wedding motifs aren’t limited to Asian-Thai inspirations prevalent in the hotel’s interiors. In collaboration with sought-after events stylist Henry Pascual, Dusit has tastefully themed wedding receptions: from the exotic Moroccan-Bollywood (with an Indian chef to boot) to contemporary urban chic. There’s also modern Filipiniana, Asian tropical Zen and Thai, of course.
Conveniently, couples can even enjoy the Dusit Thani experience away from Dusit Thani’s confines. Arrangements can be made to have the hotel set up table settings, and food and drinks in the couple’s preferred venue.
Food and drinks are among the hotel’s major attractions. Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao’s youngest daughter Queenie celebrated her birthday at Dusit Thani twice, with a Tinkerbell theme in 2011 and a Ballerina theme this year.
Manny’s wife, Jinkee, made sure the menu was the same as last year’s party, informs Miguel.
Core values
Ultimately, long after the event, the hotel becomes family to the newlyweds.
“At the end of a wedding, you know you’ve established a relationship with the couple. Some even turn out to be friends,” says Divinagracia, who has received many e-mails from brides and grooms thanking her and Miguel for having been part of their life-changing occasion.
“That’s one of our core values at Dusit—care,” she adds. “Not just among employees but particularly among clients, and especially brides and grooms.”
Couples who book their weddings and wedding anniversaries at Dusit Thani Manila Hotel between until Sept. 30, 2013 are eligible to join the Magic of Romance promo. This Dusit Thani Manila campaign awards three lucky brides and grooms with P50,000 worth of hotel vouchers, and two couples with a voucher for an overnight stay in a Dusit Thani’s grand room, plus a free breakfast buffet for two.
A couple receives one raffle coupon for every P300,000 spent for the reception and upon confirmation of the wedding with a deposit of P50,000. Draw date for Magic of Romance is Oct. 15, 2013.
Call 2388888 or e-mail bqtsalesmnl @dusit.com.
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Tags: Dusit Thani Manila Hotel , Face-Off 2012 , Inquirer Lifestyle , wedding
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