Tips & advice on planning a honeymoon

Clutch your (wedding day) pearls. Here’s shocking advice from a travel advisor about your honeymoon: don’t look at inspo pictures for ideas on where to go. I know! Your social media algorithm is already sending you tons of travel content and it looks sooo pretty and relaxing. But don’t and here’s why.

Those are amazing trips. Those are stunning locations. But those places probably won’t give you the feeling you want right after the biggest day of your life. So how do you figure out what’s the right place for you and your honey to… well… honeymoon? Snuggle up with your sweetie and talk through these questions together.

1. Emotionally walk through your wedding… the big feelings… the new relatives… the culmination of lots of planning.  Where will you guys be emotionally?  Are you charged up and ready for adventure or wiped out and want a fly-and-flop?  How do you want to feel when you get home?  A honeymoon is an important trip, but it is the first of many.  It doesn’t have to be the most extreme, luxurious vacation of your life to make you happy.  You’ve got decades together for different kinds of vacations.

2. Schedule-wise, how much time do you really have?  You may have taken a few days off work before the wedding.  Do you want to take a day or two post-honeymoon to get over jet-lag, unpack wedding gifts, and grocery shop so real life isn’t frazzling from the getgo?  Think about how much time you have left.  Is it really worth flying 36 hours to overwater-bungalows for the time that remains?  Consider your transportation to relaxation ratio, if it takes eight hours to get there, give yourself at least five full days on location.

3. What are your happiest dates as a couple?  Dinner out trying a new cuisine or returning to a favorite restaurant? A visit to Disneyland?  Hiking to an incredible vista?  Snuggled on the couch together?  Be honest about what brings you joy and follow that.  Picking a popular, romantic vacation won’t give you the feels if the language barrier is fatiguing, you don’t like the food, or you never liked snorkeling in the first place.

4. How predictable is your budget?  Do you have money set aside for the honeymoon or are you relying on wedding gifts to cover the cost of the honeymoon?  An all-inclusive resort will give you a firm number so you’re not stressing mid-trip at the cost of dinners, and activities.  A honeymoon is not fun if you’re freaked out about spending money the whole time.  If you’ve got your heart set on an expensive location, some couples splurge out on a fancy hotel in town for two days after their wedding and save up for a more expensive one year anniversary trip.  

5. Do you have the bandwidth to DIY your honeymoon?  If you love researching accommodations and scheduling activities and don’t mind troubleshooting mid-trip (lost luggage, missed transfers) then block off time to plan a stress-free trip.   Travel advisors add value when the trip is too complicated to plan yourself or you just don’t have the time to manage all the details.  Those gorgeous Insta pictures may be worth a thousand words… but a few words from a knowledgeable source on cleanliness and service might be worth a lot more so you don’t wind up in a beach hotel under a noisy airplane flight pattern.

So what’s it like working with a travel advisor?  You begin by filling out a general inquiry form (destination ideas & general budget) and then schedule a short, complementary video call.  During that conversation, ask if the travel advisor has experience in the locations you’re thinking about and if they have on-the-ground contacts in your destination in case you need help during your trip.  If you decide to move forward, you’ll pay a research and design fee (usually $250-$500).  Then the travel advisor will begin creating an itinerary for you to approve.  For more complicated trips, there might be a few drafts back and forth to get the trip exactly the way you want. Don’t be shy, you’re paying for that level of service!   Working with a travel advisor also means that you may be upgraded to a better room than you could get on your own, the hotel may add complimentary amenities, and there are people there to help in case something goes awry.  You get to focus on your sweetie in a location that not only looks good on Instagram, but feels amazing to BE in with your favorite person. 

Catherine on her honeymoon 20 years ago.  It was a modestly priced sailboat trip that was exactly perfect.  Shhhh, don’t tell Brad that she’s planning to surprise him for their 25th anniversary with a luxury, five star version of their honeymoon.  Meantime, if you would like to work with Catherine, you can connect with her here.