Here is some advice for planning your honeymoon. Maybe the best part of the wedding is the fabulous little rest at the end of it, with all the stress you will have gone through you will need it.

You can go to the most exotic parts of the world: Maldives, Seychelles, Barbados or you can go to romantic city’s like Paris, Venice, Rome the Greek isles or you can explore a place or country you have never been to before and always wanted to.

Climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh

Recently my friends decided to honeymoon around the iconic UK. They drove to the quirkiest quintessentially British hotels all with a slight Art Deco theme from Land End to John O’Groats, yes that way around.

They ate in the best restaurants and basically had a 1930’s honey moon that was Instagram perfect.

They made me reevaluate everything I wanted to go along with them.

Honey moons don’t have to be exotic, but they should reflect what you want and what is within your budget.

Saint Brelade, Jersey

Budget

Modern weddings aren’t what they used to be.

The whole point of the wedding list was that people bought you things for your new house to start your new life together. Nowadays many people live together before they get married so they already have the guest list filled.

Me and Gav have been together 9 years, 10 when we get married. We have bought our own house and filled it up with things we love. And although I would love some new appliances I can’t ask guests to buy me a £1000 Smeg fridge but we will be asking for money/ vouchers to put towards our honeymoon.

We can afford a honeymoon by ourselves but every penny helps.

For my best friend’s wedding she wanted Honeymoon money, so using her travel company we bought her a trip to the Cai Rang floating markets of Vietnam.

She loved it and we didn’t have an issue giving money as a gift and nor should you!

A wedding gift is optional, we always give money so they can buy what they want.

There doesn’t need to be an etiquette uproar about this. The older I get the more I understand that people would prefer you to be more upfront about gifts.

Beau Vallon Seychelles

Honeymoon Planning

So, work out how much you would like to spend on your honeymoon.

Like with your wedding you need to sit down and discuss what you want to do, ten days on the beach/ by the pool. An active honeymoon where you backpack/hike across an undiscovered part of the world. Live the American dream and drive route 66, Vegas New York.

Do you have enough holiday allowance to go for longer?

Drinking in the Beer Library Vilnius, Lithuania

If you book your honeymoon out of season then the flights will be so much cheaper. I mean ridiculously cheaper, I have never paid more than £700 for a flight to Seychelles and this year I am going in August and have been quotes £1700. I can’t avoid the times but I did have to shop around for a slightly cheaper flight.

We always go snowboarding before or after the school holidays. The only thing you have to be aware of is the weather in that country. Monsoons and Seasons differ everywhere you go.

My family are coming from all over the world for our wedding, so I want to spend a lot of time with them. I will be taking time off work to be with them, then we will have a mini moon somewhere in Europe for a few days after our wedding,  to rest relax and take in the time spent on our day.

I am slightly in love with Croatia and Montenegro at the moment so some time by the water would be great, plus the food is supposed to be amazing.

We plan on a two-week honeymoon the next year, this will give us approximately 5 months to save for the proper honeymoon.

I have always wanted to go to Japan- I love the food, the cultures of old world versus new, the etiquette and politeness contrasted with the chaos. Gavin is a big geek and loves the Japanese cultures as well.

Plus, we can snowboard for a few days with Mount Fuji in the back ground, oh and did I mention that Japan has amazing gins? Oh yes, we will be in heaven.

Val D’Isere, France

Honeymoons can be expensive or not- just like your wedding you can make it as unique as you are.

We plan to rough it for the first week then have a bit of luxury to relax on the second week and stop off somewhere on the way home fore a few days. We don’t mind going economic if it means we can spend our pennies and eat in gorgeous restaurant like Tapas Molecular Bar in Tokyo.
Honestly, I cant wait. I am going to eat Sushi every day!!! Drink Gin and saki. Sleep in a Shoji (paper house) snow board down the mountains, visit the Cherry blossom trees ( if they are blooming) stand in a Japanese garden of perfection in Minami-Ku, Kyoto. Eat amazing food from vending machines and visit a cat or hedgehog café.

Carana Beach, Seychelles

Go shopping in the stationary shops Tombow’s, Mitibushi and Pentel are all from here and I plan on filling a suitcase full of washi tape!

Can you tell that I am excited? I am starting to think that two weeks just won’t be enough but that is what wedding anniversaries are for.

This really should be the stress free bit as no one should interfere or have an opinion on your honeymoon ( not that they should on you your wedding but hey ho.)
Have fun with it!

Keep within your budget! And don’t forget that you can visit the most exotic places on a shoe string budget.

Trust me I have done it!

Have fun
Dana

All the pictures I have taken on my trips abroad