Since my husband and I did a destination wedding, we stayed behind after the wedding in the same resort and spent a few extra days for our honeymoon. Not only was this totally economical for us, but it allowed us to spend a full week in the place where we got married.
Since we dated for 5 years before this, and I had always dreamed of getting married, I had this perfect vision in my head of what our honeymoon might have been like. While it was absolutely magical, there are a few things I didn’t think about beforehand that might have helped me better prepare.
- If you do take your honeymoon immediately after your wedding, you will both likely be exhausted! Allow one another to relax as much as you need to and make sure you’re on the same page about the activities you want to do together. We were really excited about doing some adventure sports (like 4-wheeling through the jungle) but we honestly were so tired that put all of our remaining spending money on spa credits at the resort!
- You will still want to do some things on your own. One morning, my husband went to get a massage and I enjoyed a mimosa with breakfast in bed. I wouldn’t have anticipated that we would have done activities like this separately, but just think about all of the planning and emotion that leads up to a wedding. You will both need a little bit of time to decompress and mentally prepare for the next season of life. After all, you will go from being the center of attention at a ginormous event, to doing dishes!
- The wedding will be behind you, but you’ll both probably spend a lot of time reminiscing on all of the little details. Like “didn’t you love that toast?” or “did you see XYZ’s dance moves?” Make sure to probe each other with questions, like what your most special part of the day was or what happened that might have surprised you. These will be really special conversations to help bridge you through the rest of your vacation before you jump back into real life.
- You might have a little tiff or argument! There was probably so much pent-up stress and a lot of emotions that come up because of the wedding. Don’t overthink this and just move through it. Try not to hold onto anything too long because you don’t want to ruin a special time.
- Make sure you buy something that will remind you of this special place! My husband and I spent a lot more on touristy items than we planned on (and I was a tad bitter about it). But in hindsight, I am SO glad that we did because now I have things like a key chain, coffee mug and flip flops that will always remind me of my honeymoon. It was totally worth it.
Just remember that this will be a moment in your history that you won’t be able to get back and you and your spouse will likely have a special bond with the place where you honeymoon. ENJOY!
With love,
Girl with a diamond ring
GIRL WITH A DIAMOND RING 