Planning the perfect Honeymoon
Including the much needed respite of the honeymoon. For most couples, this is a truly special trip – the first long, exotic holiday together and the start of their new lives as a married couple. So you want it to be perfect, right? Sadly, it is possible to do this heavenly trip wrong, and a few simple mistakes could endanger your wonderful trip. But I don’t want that – I want you to have the time of your lives. So here are my 5 to tips for planning the perfect honeymoon, whatever your tastes.
CHECK THE WEATHER BEFORE YOU BOOK
If you’ve been dreaming of a winter wedding followed by a glorious beach honeymoon, you need to do some serious planning beforehand. Despite some of these destinations seeming ‘always sunny’, most of them have wet seasons, hurricane seasons and harsh winters that could ruin your ideal sunny honeymoon. Now if you like rain that’s fine, but it’s always worth doing your research, so that you know what you want is what you’ll actually get! So before you book your February honeymoon to Mauritius, remember to check the weather and make sure it isn’t cyclone season!
USE A TRUSTED TRAVEL AGENT
With a wedding to plan, the honeymoon often ends up being an afterthought for busy couples. But your honeymoon is one of the most special holidays you will ever have, so you should make it memorable. Using a trusted travel agent means you will have access to all sorts of hidden perks from complimentary champagne and fruit platters in your room to spa access and romantic dining experiences. Not only that, your Travel Agent will have direct contact with a wide range of hotels that offer fantastic benefits packages for honeymooning couples, so you can get the 5-star treatment for a fraction of the cost. There’s one more benefit to using a trusted travel agent to arrange your honeymoon, and that’s complete peace of mind. I can completely tailor your honeymoon experience and take care of all the little details – like luggage, seat reservations, car transfers, and hotel bookings – so you can enjoy a stress-free, seamless honeymoon from start to finish.
ASK FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
If you’re desperate for a particular honeymoon but your budget won’t quite stretch to it, you might want to consider a honeymoon gift list. Honeymoon contributions as wedding gifts have been growing in popularity over the last few years, especially since most couples getting married already live together. This makes the ‘traditional’ wedding gifts of linens and china a bit redundant, so instead ask your wedding guests to help you put together the perfect honeymoon. With me, you have access to a unique gift registry service that makes it simple and easy to manage your donations. Guests can buy a particular activity for you, or simply give a sum of money for you to spend on you trip. Our registry services include a web page, where we can upload photos and messages, as well as all the stationary you need to ask – and thank – for your honeymoon gifts.
READ TRUSTED REVIEWS
It saddens me to say it, but every year I deal with so many people who have been taken in by fake reviews on their previous holidays. Now if you’re reading a review of your local pub, it’s unlikely they have hired a reputation management company to post fake reviews (after all, how much do you spend in there? £30?). But with hotels and big attractions, where you’re often spending over £1000 before you’ve even bought your first drink, fake reviews are often posted to boost their reputation and sabotage the competition. If you don’t believe that would happen – just take a look at Trip Advisor, who recently lost a legal case over fraudulent marketing. In fact, they were forced to remove the words ‘honest’ and ‘trustworthy from their marketing after they awarded the coveted ‘Travellers Choice Award’ in 2016 to a hotel in Tunisia that had been closed for over 6 months due to a mass shooting. But you can avoid all of that by talking to a trusted travel agent. As a franchise owner of Travel Counsellors, I have access to millions of hotel reviews worldwide from trusted and certified sources, so you can read real stories from real clients, without worrying that you’re being lied to.
BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET!
Just like the wedding, the honeymoon budget can easily spiral out of control. So when you’re talking honeymoons, it’s important to set yourself a realistic budget. From there, you can work out a savings plan, how much you can pay off in advance and whether you want your guests to contribute. By working out a budget, you avoid overspending and having to make last minute cut backs on other elements of the wedding. It also stops you from dipping into the honeymoon fund if the wedding starts to go over budget, as you know you won’t be able to afford that wonderful 10-day trip if you take away from the pot.
But above all, planning the perfect honeymoon means being true to yourself. There is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ honeymoon, and this once in a lifetime trip should be a celebration of everything that makes your marriage unique. As a Travel Counsellor, I love helping each couple I work with craft the ideal honeymoon for them – whether it’s swimming in clear blue oceans or hunkering down to watch the Northern Lights together. With my network of contacts and knowledge of luxury travel worldwide, I can help plan the perfect honeymoon for you.
For more information or to start planning the most exciting getaway of your life, get in touch and i'll look forward to hearing from you!