Our Dangwa Adventure

Last Saturday, h2b and I went on a trip to Dangwa with my sister and my nanay.
I was very excited to see Dangwa and the flowers! It was my first time, eh. :p
So there, we looked muna for a safe parking area which we found in front of St. Jude College. Then we started walking.
We first headed towards the very first street that we saw with flowers alongside it. I was a bit shocked and annoyed when we started looking around and men are approaching us with nonstop spiels of "Ma'am, pa-quote kayo samen! tara na!" Though i absolutely appreciate them being very proactive on their offers, the approach is just way too blunt and kind of 'impolite'. And take note, some of the men there are very makukulit in which they would follow you around.
So there, after the men finally got tired of following us awe started asking. I was specifically looking for baby's breath flowers because of this blog that I read from one of my W@W sisters. We wanted the flowers to be simple, inexpensive but still nice as the flowers for our wedding is not really on top of our priorities. We were told then that a bundle of it costs from Php100-150 depending on how big the blooms of the flowers are (read: mas maraming bulaklak kesa dahon). I guess, the quantity of the flowers naman are reasonably numerous in one bundle, so it's okay na rin.
As we walk around, finally, I got convinced by one of the 'kuyas' there to have a quotation for our flower needs. It was Kuya Rodel Palatino of Hand Country Flower Shop. She asked first of the details of my entourage members. I told him I have 1 MoH, no bridesmaids just 3 Secondary Sponsors, 4 pairs of Principal Sponsors, 2 mothers, 2 fathers and of course the groom. I specified that I wanted wrist corsages for my ento members and the bouquet will just be for me. I told him I wanted roses for my bouquet, and gerberas for the wrist corsages then roses again for the principal sponsors. She quoted me Php3000 for the ento. Wow! "Pasok sa budget!" I thought. Then we discussed the decors for the church. SInce Our Lady of Fatima Parish church is not very spacey and the aisle is not fit for cathedral train parade, I asked for only 4 flatsprays and 2 large arrangements with stand. He also gave tips that we should not have calla lillies because they wilt faster compared to other flowers. Overall, Kuya Rodel gave me a price of Php5,300 for ento and church, with freebies like throw bouquet, bridal car bouquet and petals. I almost booked him but my sister said we should look for other possible suppliers pa with better deals. So I told kuya Rodel that we will contact him once we decide na lang.
While I was discussing with Kuya Rodel, my nanay pala has been busy with her own flower shopping. When she came back, she handed h2b at least 3 kinds of flowers in multiple bundles. She looked very pleased with her finds!

After we were done looking around that first street, we headed to the street across the first one. Here I found stall #16 which I assumed was Mang Boy's (Jurielle's ata un name ng flower shop). I went and asked the guy doing the "she loves me, she loves me not" activity on the roses' petals hehehe. He called another guy which I thought was Mang Boy pero hindi pala. Apparently, the designer was the only one there at Mang Boy's stall. We were referred to the first stall on the street to be accomodated but there was still a couple there having their package quoted. Then another couple came in (the girl was pregnant so I let her sit na lang on the chair that was provided to me). It was very hot and I felt like giving up already and just book Kuya Rodel but the man called me and said, "Miss, dito na lang tayo sa kabila." We went back to Mang Boy's but I was lead to the stall before it which was Ma. Coleen's Flower Shop, point of contact, Ate Juanita. I told her the same thing I said to Kuya Rodel. SHe quoted me Php6,500. I was somehow disappointed and maybe she saw that in my face, she asked, "Magkano bang budget mo?" I said, "Wala po kami plano lumampas sa 5k na budget para sa bulaklak, ate..." Then she said na lang, "Sige, 5,500 na. tapos add na lang natin to ng offertory flowers bukod pa dun sa mga ibang libre. Holland roses na tong mga bulaklak nito." Oha!
I was also comfortable with her, the same feeling I had while talking to Kuya Rodel. Ate Juanita's price was Php200 more but I thought about having holland variety roses for the flowers over baguio roses. Most likely, we'll have Ate Juanita for our florist, then.
On top of the florist hunting, we also found a lot of rare flowers. My nanay was very amazed. She even proclaimed, "Babalikan ko tlga to kahit linggo-linggo!"
Our trip was fruitful (or should I say flowerful). My nanay was happy with her flower buys and I am happy with my supplier finds. ^_^

"Ping-pong" flowers. They look like pingpong balls in actual.