5 Tips for Planning Your Honeymoon

Wedding planning has not been my favorite thing thus far, but I can tell you that planning our honeymoon has been the most fun thing yet!

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to go to Hawaii for my honeymoon. (Luckily when Duzzy and I discussed it, he was all for it!)

I knew I didn't want to chance another vacation disaster, and I wanted to make sure I was going to all the right spots, so I called the fabulous Sally at Travelsmiths in Point Pleasant for some much needed advice.

That brings me to tip #1.

1) Remember: It's YOUR honeymoon.

People will inevitably ask you where you want to go for your honeymoon...and then tell you why your answer is wrong and why you should go somewhere else. It's happened to me multiple times from friends, family, and even complete strangers. The thing is, it's YOUR honeymoon, and you should go where YOU (and your spouse) want to go. Travel is largely about personal preference, and one person's ideal vacation on a secluded beach in the Caribbean might sound awful to someone who would rather go hiking in the mountains of Europe.

2) Leave yourself time to relax.

The one thing I've heard time and time again is how absolutely exhausted I will be after the wedding, and how I should leave plenty of time to just relax on the honeymoon. While this tip mostly applies if you're going on your honeymoon within a couple days of the wedding, it's pretty solid advice for ANY vacation. If you overbook activities, your trip becomes a whirlwind and you wind up not enjoying it as much because you're worried about rushing to the next thing. Leave yourself plenty of no-pressure free time to just explore wherever you're going!

3) Get travel insurance.

I can't recommend this enough. My vacation nightmare wasn't even close to as big of a trip (with regard to money or importance) as our honeymoon will be, and I'm STILL regretting not having travel insurance for that. The peace of mind will be worth the extra money. Hopefully you won't need the insurance, but it will be worthwhile if you do!

4) Put it on your registry!

Full disclosure: this tip is highly controversial, and a lot of people find this super tacky...but a lot of people find a lot of things tacky, and well, you can't please everyone. If you already live with your future spouse, you may not need a lot of the things that normally go on a wedding registry...but your guests can help you start your lives together with awesome memories from your honeymoon. Now, I'm not suggesting asking your wedding guests to pay for your entire trip, BUT I do like the idea of putting some affordable excursions or upgrades on a registry. Perhaps your future in-laws will want to send you on a sunset dinner cruise, or your best friend wants to have champagne and strawberries waiting for you when you arrive. It's a cool way for guests to contribute to something that you'll always remember!

5) Plan it early.

Our wedding is 8 months away, but if the last 8 months are any indication, that time is going to FLY by. We're already finding some flights, hotels, and excursions booking up, and who wants to deal with the stress of finding all the things you want already taken? You don't have to do it all at once...just start thinking about where you want to go and what your budget is and go from there!

Happy honeymooning!

Have more tips for planning a honeymoon? Share them in the comment section!