My travel bug is back! I always have the itch to travel, but I particularly have travel on my mind when I don’t have any upcoming trips on the calendar. When we got back from our honeymoon, we went to Cabo two weeks later (just realized I still need to write that recap and travel guide.. stay tuned) and then a month or so after that I was in NYC for Fashion Week. I was trying to get a trip to Chicago on the calendar this month, but it isn’t working out, so I’ll have to postpone that for the Spring. This means I am wide open for travel planning and am wanting to have another trip to look forward to, soon. While thinking of where to go, I was reflecting back on the amazing Summer for all of travel I had. We went so many amazing places for our wedding and honeymoon. I’ve had a few people ask how we decided where to go, so today I wanted to bring back Wedding Wednesday and write about how to choose where to honeymoon.
Mini Moon vs. Immediate Honeymoon
First things first, you need to decide if you’re going to take a little mini moon after your wedding and do a bigger honeymoon later or if you’re going to go straight from your wedding to your honeymoon. Personally, we couldn’t imagine going back to work a few days after our wedding, so we knew from the beginning we wanted to immediately do a honeymoon. I think there are so many pros and cons to both options! For example, if you take a mini moon, it could be so fun to make that trip ever year to celebrate your anniversary. This decision will affect when you are taking your trip and therefore what the weather will be like everywhere.
Climate + Preferred Activities
Next up, decide what you both want. I’m not typically a fan of cold weather. We both get really restless and bored just lying on a beach for a week. So, we knew we wanted to go somewhere where we could have a nice mixture of relaxation, exploring, and fun. If you would rather relax on a beach and not have leave your hotel often, then an all inclusive resort in a remote destination could be perfect for you!
Vacation Time
Obviously a huge factor is how much time you have off of work. A wedding in of itself may mean taking quite a few days off both leading up to it and for the actual weekend. Not everyone has a ton of personal time off of work, no matter what the occasion (this breaks my heart), so planning for vacation time is a must. You don’t want to only have a week off of work and end up with two days full of travel and not really get to experience a destination because you are jet lagged and only have a few days. If you only have a limited time to travel, then consider some closer destinations.
Dream Destinations
Once you’ve narrowed down what kind of trip you want, you can narrow down where you want to go. I think each making a list of 3-5 top places that will give you the sort of vacation you are looking for and comparing notes is a great way to decide.
One Stop vs. Several
After you have a few ideal spots for both of you, consider if you want to stay in one location or hop around to see more of a certain country or region. Some people don’t like to pack up and move locations when on vacation, where others want to see several places in a shorter amount of time. Thinking about your travel preferences and how you may feel after your wedding will help you decide! We love to move from spot to spot and see as much as possible, while still being able to relax. We like to choose where to stay based on the vibe of each destination. For example, in a place like Santorini, we wanted to splurge on our hotel and stay there to relax as much as possible. In other destinations where we were out and about more, we stayed somewhere a little less extravagant. We love balancing it out!
World Events + Budget
Also, always be conscious about what is going on around the world. It is important to consider world events and economies when planning vacations. The exchange rate can really affect the price of a vacation, so be sure to consider that as well. Obviously budget is a factor in any major wedding related decision, so be sure you keep that in mind when thinking of honeymoon spots! Sometimes going a little off the beaten path may save you money. Staying a town or two over from a better known place may result in much lower hotel and food costs, so that is another thing to consider!
We couldn’t think of a more perfect honeymoon destination than Italy and Greece. They combined relaxation with culture, fun, food, and beauty. We wanted to hop around from place to place so we didn’t get too restless in one spot, so we ended up going to several cities along the way. After spending a few days in Rome and then going to Florence for a long weekend where we got married, we took a train down to the Amalfi Coast the day after our wedding. We stayed in Positano for a few days and then went to Capri before flying to Greece. We started in Santorini and then went to Naxos and Mykonos. We spent a night in Athens, also before heading home! We had such an amazing trip and I really couldn’t recommend those destinations as honeymoon spots enough. They were so surreal and were the perfect way to start our lives together. Be sure to check out my travel guides for each of our destinations, too! I linked each of them above. XO
I really want to do a road trip in America for my honeymoon!
Hey Natalie,
That would be so fun! I want to do that for a vacation sometime, too!
Xo, Lauren