From our series FIVE: Tips for your honeymoon

This last year has been a year like no other. Many of us have faced a lot of disappointment including canceled holidays and postponed honeymoons. We are dreaming of that holiday or indeed the perfect honeymoon that never happened. 

 We’ve collected a few stories over the years and have also obviously been on our honeymoon and as we know lots of you are currently planning yours, we thought it might be helpful to share a few tips. 

 Let’s start with before you get there. Planning your honeymoon can be incredibly exciting …or perhaps you would rather just leave it up to your partner. Perhaps the idea of a surprise is appealing…. which brings us to tip no.1.

1.    Decide what you both want

We know of a wife to be who was lead to believe (to throw her off the scent) that she was going on a ‘hot, beach’ holiday. After excitedly packing her summer wardrobe, she had the most almighty sense of humour failure when she discovered at the airport that they were in actual fact going to stay in cottage in the highlands of Scotland. Although that’s a lovely thing to do, sit isn’t what she hoped for and she was devastated. Their honeymoon didn’t start well. So, if you are going to surprise your partner, make sure you are on the same page and that you understand what you both want from your honeymoon! 

2.    When to leave

Some people now choose to go on a short holiday after their wedding and save the real thing for a few months time. We can see the benefits to this; there is so much to take in on your wedding day and you are also very tired. Escaping for a few days together and saving the big honeymoon for a few months means you can make the most of all of it. However, some like the more traditional approach of getting away for a couple of weeks straight away and that too has its huge benefits. Whatever you decide, don’t book a beautiful, expensive hotel for your wedding night only to leave it bright an early the next day. It will feel like a waste of money. If you can, give yourself a couple of days to breathe, enjoy the hotel, process the wedding a bit, catch up on sleep and then go. Leaving the next day was one of our biggest regrets.

3.    Tell everyone it’s your honeymoon…

Tell the airline, the hotel, the places you visit and bookings you have. People love a honeymoon couple and someone will treat you well. It just makes the holiday and you feel that much more special. 

4.    Plan a balance of activities

It’s a great idea to plan a real mixture of activities. Match it to your characters and what you like to do on a normal weekend. Having all pool or beach days can mean every day feels the same but too many activity days can be exhausting. Planning some of each and finding the balance that suits you is important. We didn’t plan enough activity days and wish we had made more fun memories.  

5.    Plan a surprise for each other for your time away

It’s a lovely idea to plan something for each other as a surprise during the honeymoon. Perhaps a beautiful meal somewhere or something your partner has always wanted to do. It adds to the romance and fun of the holiday. 

So, planning is important. Even though this is, in many ways, just a holiday, you want to get it as right as you can. Nothing is ever perfect and we will come on to that later but act on the above and you can certainly try. 

 The next few tips are little things but they can make a big difference:  

6. Be careful of that sun!

We know a couple who got sunburnt on their first day. They were deceived by the cloud and badly burnt. They couldn’t touch each other for a few days apart from to slather on the Aloe Vera gel! So tip no. 6, be careful of that sun and wear sun cream! 

7.     Put your phones down.

Give each other your very best and the most attention, not your phone. You don’t really need to know what everyone at home is up to and they don’t need to know all that you two are up to. Most of us assume a honeymoon is a personal and private time so give yourself permission to not report on your activities, food, drink, what you are wearing and everything else and keep this time sacred for you two. Put your phone on airplane mode… we dare you. You can report back when you get home. 

8. Be a little careful with your food choicesand drink bottled water, particularly in hot countries (watch out for the ice). We have heard many stories of one half of a couple getting sick whilst away from something they ate… and Tom was one of them. We think it was the ice he had in a drink. Calling the doctor out on your honeymoon isn’t fun, nor is missing out on eating and drinking so be a little reserved depending on where you are. 

9. Journal it

We think it’s a lovely idea to write a little journal whilst you are there so that in 30 years you can remember what you did, what you ate and how you felt. We did it and we treasure that book. Take photos (of course!!) but don’t watch the whole honeymoon through the eye of the camera lens. You know when you watch the London New Year Fireworks on TV and EVERYONE has their phones out and are watching the whole thing through the camera…. I always wonder why. Record some of it, but really experience the rest.  

And finally, a really important one…

10. Expectations       

It’s easy to have the highest of expectations for such an important holiday. But nothing is ever perfect. View it all as an adventure in which you are creating stories to tell in the years to come. If something doesn’t go according to plan (like one couple we know of whose honeymoon barge sank!) try to laugh about it and make the best of it. Go with the flow and don’t put too much pressure on yourselves. (That couple ended up having the best time and now have the best story). 

So there we have it. Our top 10 tips for your honeymoon. If you are going this year or next, happy adventuring together! Enjoy each other and make fun, beautiful memories that will last a life time. 

xx

 Video we recorded on this below: