5 Tips to Plan Your Honeymoon + My Biggest Regret in Planning My Own

Honeymoons are a great time for you to experience new things with your spouse. After several months of planning your wedding, it’s now time to unwind a bit and really enjoy your spouse’s company before going into the full swing of life again. It’s the time to reminisce in all the beautiful moments you shared with your family and friends, relax and have some fun. Below are five tips to help you plan the perfect honeymoon!

 

5. Use Your Maiden Name When Booking Anything

If you plan on changing your name after the wedding to your spouse’s, be sure to still book any flights, hotels or activities under both your current legal last names. This holds true until you are issued new i.d.s with your spouse’s last name. (This can take anywhere from 8-12 weeks after you submit the proper documentation) While it is exciting to use your new last name and be known as a Mrs., many places, such as airlines and hotels, will need to see your i.d. when checking in to confirm it’s you. If your reservation has Mrs. Johnson but your i.d. still reads Ms. Smith, you will likely not be able to check in. (And that’s a major damper after all the planning you do!)

4. Include a Buffer Day if You Are Traveling Across Several Time Zones

Jet lag is the real deal. You are tired during the day and can’t sleep at night. This can make your trip less enjoyable as you will not feel at you best. If you have never experienced severe jet lag, prepare for it by planning one day to catch up on sleep. You can still make use of the day by planning something that doesn’t require too much energy for the evening or morning and then take the rest of the day to relax. This will help you feel energized for the rest of the trip, especially if you have a more adventure packed honeymoon planned.

3. Prioritize What You Want To Do Most

Is your dream to climb temples in Mexico? Scuba dive of the coast of Australia? Visit museums and historic landmarks across Europe? While all these sound great, make sure when you plan your trip to not try and do everything under the sun. There are many, MANY things to do in different countries around the world and it will make it really hard on you to try and do them all. Prioritize and choose the things you both would like and would be worth your time on your honeymoon. You should feel energized on your trip, not stressed and over tired from doing four weeks of activities in one week.

 

2. Try Something New

One of the great things about being married is you can try new things with your partner and have fun with it. It’s a great bonding experience because you never know what you both will like and not like. Maybe you two decide to try rock climbing and then discover your new passion for it. Wine tasting will make for knowledge on what to pair with dinners together back at home. Don’t be afraid to do something you’ve always wanted.

1. Relax and Have Fun!

At the end of the day, It’s your honeymoon. Not everything will go as you planned and that’s okay. Make sure to enjoy this time with your partner because you never know where life will take you later down the line.

BONUS – My Biggest Regret From Our Honeymoon

Looking back on my own experience for our honeymoon I can now say my absolute biggest regret wasNot Hiring A Photographer to Take Newlywed Photos. My husband and I had the fortune of being able to go to Paris for our honeymoon. Initially we weren’t planning to take our honeymoon until later this year, but my sister Sia was planning to go the week after our wedding and convinced us to go on our honeymoon sooner. (We went three weeks after our wedding) Being a professional photographer, I made sure to bring my camera and take plenty of photos of our walks around the city. After we got home and I went through all the photos, I realized that the only photos we had together were selfies and the one I placed at the top of this blog post. I also realized I only asked my husband to take one photo of me, which is shown below. (There isn’t even a photo of us in front of the Eiffel Tower) After all the wedding planning and craziness that went on during our engagement and wedding, I didn’t take the time to think that it may be a good idea to get our photos taken professionally in an absolutely beautiful city. I regret it now, because we won’t have those moments back. We will likely never see Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower or Sacré-Cœur in person again and I wish we had photos of us that weren’t selfies at these stunning landmarks. Granted I still loved our trip and am so grateful that we went, but if I could change just one thing it would be that.

 

Thanks for reading this weeks post! Check back next week for a new blog post highlighting 6 beautiful wedding venues in the Willamette Valley!