Flights. The key is to set a price/flight alert early. If you're considering making the trip, go ahead and set a flight alert now. Set aside a few days the search engine can continue to track without you having to check every day. This will notify you when flights are at a reasonable rate for you to book. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to track those flights.

We are so grateful that you have expressed interest in joining us on our big day, in the City of Eternal Spring: Medellin, in the greatest country on earth: Colombia. We hope you take this opportunity to travel, taste and enjoy everything this rich country has to offer and hopefully learn some Spanish to bring home as a souvenir. Please take advantage of this guide and feel free to ask questions; Colombians are very friendly, albeit very social and even chismoso people! Let's dive in.

A few things to note as you are planning your trip:

The exchange rate is easy - just take off the last 3 zeros and divide by 4 and you’ll be slightly overestimating the bill, which is always nice. You won’t need much cash. I would pull $200 out of the ATM when you get off the plane and just use your credit card for everything you can and you might not need to get anymore money out the whole time. Most credit cards don't have foreign transaction fees but you should confirm that this is, in fact, the case for yours.

Tipping is not customary in Colombia. That being said, it would be excellent if you upkept your tipping practice and provided a healthy and generous perception of Americans during your stay abroad so feel free to tip, but don’t feel obligated!

When it comes to food in Medellin, you will be lucky to find food from all over the world. We're biased to say that their Colombian food is top tier, but encourage you to explore and enjoy: diets are illegal here! ;) As I'm sure you've gathered, Colombia is its' own country with a rich collection of food, drinks, snacks and other goodies that are unique to this corner of the world. That being said, we don't have Dr. Pepper. You will have to bring your own and bring an extra for my Mother in Law, Tina.

While we've never felt unsafe in Colombia, please remember anything can happen anywhere so always be aware of your surroundings.

Most of us live in a very privileged first world space, and we take our freedoms and things for granted. In your travels, please be mindful of your belongings. Don't make it easy for pickpockets to view you as a target by letting your phone stick out of your back pocket, or keeping open zippers on your purse or backpack. Don't bring out your wallet with stacks of money in public. Keep smaller bills around different pockets to take out if you need to pay for something. This brings me to my next point...

Don't be afraid to NEGOTIATE! We love a good bargain so don't be shy to ask for a lower price. Your gringo face is making sure the price is listed higher :)

Passports: All hotels and some transportation will ask for the passport of everyone you’re with - this is normal, and required by law for hotels so you can expect it. We don't recommend traveling throughout the city with it, so please store it safely.

Lost in translation: You might find on this trip that you’re excited about something and want to express it in Spanish. That’s great, but make sure not to say that you’re “exitada,” which sounds like “excited” but means “horny.” If you accidentally make that mistake and want to express your embarrassment make sure you don’t tell the victim of your last blunder that you’re “embarazada,” which sounds like “embarrassed” but means “pregnant.” “Excited” is “emocionada” and “embarrassed” is “avergonzada.”

Another note: Bathrooms: M is for mujeres, not men. So guys, use the bathroom with the C for caballero.

Uber: If you take Uber (and you should) someone needs to sit in the front. Uber isn’t illegal, but it's also not legal. Don't worry too much about it, but just have someone sit in the front. And make sure you don’t slam the cabbie doors, this is the only thing worse than getting out without a greeting.

Greetings: Colombia is famously one of the world's happiest and friendliest countries, and with that comes the gift of gab. We are curious, chismosos, and passionate about communicating! For this reason we love a greeting and even more from a foreigner (like you!). For example, never get in a cab and just blurt out your destination - this isn’t New York. In Colombia, a proper greeting entails a salutation, an inquiry on how they're doing, 3 follow-up questions about their family, a question about their day and whether or not they have eaten... seriously. lol. get to working on your Spanish! give the groom a call! Shaeffer is always eager to practice :)