Rhiannon’s “Talking About Weddings”

Your honeymoon is more than just a vacation with your sweetheart. Your honeymoon is the intimate celebration of your new union as husband and wife. A time to reflect and rejoice in your new stage of life together. It is also a time to truly take in the romance of the moment. No matter what your budget or travel style, you need to take a honeymoon! Today I am sharing with you tips, ideas, and things to consider when planning your honeymoon.

I have so much to talk about, so keep checking back for more articles on this subject!

h3. When to Go

I highly recommend staying in a local hotel for a day or two before leaving on the “official” part of the honeymoon. No matter how casual and simple your wedding day is, you are likely to be quite tired a day or two following the wedding day.

Imagine checking into a hotel room at midnight (wedding night) only to be up and out by 5 am to head to the airport for a five to ten hour flight! Doesn’t sound very romantic! And when you get to your honeymoon destination you might be too exhausted to do much more than nap! We got married on a Saturday and didn’t fly to Hawaii until Monday morning. We were able to sleep in Sunday morning and really rest that day – it was great!

Some couples decide to take their honeymoon months after their wedding due to scheduling with work, money or special circumstances. If you are planning to do this, please take a few days and honeymoon locally. You’ll never be able to fully recreate the specialness of the days following your wedding. Taking some time out to celebrate your new marriage should be a requirement! You’ll be glad you did.

h3. Use a Travel Agent

Many people think they’ll pay more using a travel agent, but that’s not necessarily true! Most travel wholesalers, like Pleasant Holidays, pay travel agents commission, that doesn’t raise your cost. Travel agents are a terrific resource and can make planning your honeymoon simple and a lot of fun. We used one, through the Auto Club (AAA). Our travel agent was great and her knowledge really saved us a lot. She knew which hotels had the best rooms and service for the best price. She even got us a free upgrade for our honeymoon!

h3. Honeymoon Registries

Registering for wedding gifts is now very popular and expected! A new trend in registries are “Honeymoon Registries!” I heard about them when we were getting married in 2002, but didn’t find good sites to set one up. I have a great one to share with you! Pleasant Holidays, a great travel company, has a new site for registering for a dream honeymoon. Family and friends can buy parts of your trip (like two nights stay, a sunset dinner cruise, your airfare, etc.). I know people who’ve purchased parts of a honeymoon for couples and they loved that they could say they got them something like a helicopter tour! This is great for couples who don’t have much need for household gifts, or have family and friends who like something fun and new! Here’s the link to Pleasant Holiday’s Honeymoon Registry.

h3. Where to Go

It would take all day to list the all the possibilities for honeymoon destinations, so I won’t even try, but I will talk about two popular types of honeymoon destinations.

Tropical Honeymoons

For many couples, nothing says “honeymoon” more than a tropical paradise! For us sandy beaches, sunsets, and a tropical breeze was the essence of romance! We went to Hawaii and absolutely loved it! Though, Waikiki, wasn’t exactly tropical—it certainly lived up to our expectations for romance! Here’s what you need to know when planning a tropical honeymoon:

• Know the weather trends for the time of year you are going! Is it the rainy season? Or Hurricane season? Or at a time of peak humidity? The Internet, travel books and travel agents can be very helpful with this kind of information.
• Bring insect repellent! The more tropical the place, the more your body is likely to become an insect buffet! I learned this the hard way on my last trip to Maui!
• Only stay in a remote place if you are planning to rent a car or stay on the beach most of the time. Many tropical destinations have cities and remote areas to choose from. A good compromise is to stay half your trip in one place and half in another.
• Know about your hotel’s surrounding areas. Some popular tropical destinations are in countries with great economic, political and social struggle. Tourists aren’t always “welcomed” beyond the perimeters of resorts. You don’t want to drive into the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time! Not that Hawaii is with out crime, but we chose Hawaii based on affordability (we live in California, so it’s closer to us than most tropical destinations) and the fact that it is part of the United States.
• Find out what people typically wear. I was told that in Hawaii people dressed very casual, but I still brought three dressy outfits and some fancy dresses. They were never worn! I would have looked like a fool in them! So save the space in your suitcase and only bring what you are likely to wear!

  I am planning to do a series on Hawaiian Honeymoons, so keep checking back for lots of great information & photos!

  European Honeymoons

  A lot of couples go abroad, most often to Europe. Though I have heard of couples having a wonderful time, I have heard a lot of stories about “less than ideal” honeymoons. I will share with you somethings you might not know about honeymoons abroad. First, I must say I love traveling abroad, and have even lived in Europe. I love that European countries are not like the United States, but some American honeymooners may be disappointed by unexpected differences.

  The top 3 things honeymooners might have a hard time with are hotel/sleeping accommodations, food, and the language(s). Even in very expensive and highly rated hotels, many Americans may be disappointed. Since a lot of hotels are quite old they may have extremely small rooms and common bathrooms. There are great places all over Europe, but it will take research and possibly calling them directly to find them.

  European food is very different from here. Italian food is not the same as Italian food. Buy a book that has detailed translations/explainations of typical foods for the area you will be honeymooning. Do a lot of research on the best places to dine and buy local foods. You don’t want to resort to eating at McDonald’s every day, because it’s all you like.

  Most people do not speak English! Hotel employees might, but when trying to get around a town or dining out you may have a lot of difficulty. Here’s a tip: No matter how bad your accent is or how terrible your attempt may be, try to speak their language! If you try, people will try harder to understand you and communicate with you. You might find, too, that they can speak English, but they might not have “let on” if you didn’t try in their language first. I have found this to be most true with Parisians.

  Again, I love Europe, but if you have never been before, you might want to rethink a European honeymoon. If you aren’t very adventurous and/or prefer a relaxing honeymoon, Europe may not be what you are looking for. If you do go abroad, do as much research as possible, you’ll be glad you did.

  I have so much to talk about, so keep checking back for more articles on this subject! Let me know if you have specific honeymoon questions or topics you’d like covered. Remember, I want this site to be as useful and resourceful to you as possible.

  
  

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  This entry was posted on Friday, June 30th, 2006 at 1:33 pm and is filed under General Information, Wedding Planning, Honeymoon, Wedding Accesories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.