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Creating Meaningful, Memorable and Magical Honeymoon Memories

By Judy Allen

Planning the perfect honeymoon requires the same care and consideration as preparing for your wedding. Your honeymoon should not be viewed as simply another vacation getaway. Your wedding day and your honeymoon – two major life events -- will be replayed in your memory and talked about for years to come and taking the time to research the right destination, hotel and honeymoon activities that best suit you as a couple – not individuals -- is equally as important as sitting together to design a wedding vision that embraces both of your dreams.

Your wedding day – whether it is held locally or a destination wedding -- will be a whirlwind of movement and emotion. Many of your actual memories of your special day will remain a blur until you return home from your honeymoon and have a chance to sit back and listen to a play by play of what took place from beginning to end from your family and friend’s loving perspective. Stories shared, as you pour over wedding photographs and videos, will help to strengthen your wedding day remembrances and fill in what took place while you were engaged in other wedding day activities such as having your formal wedding photographs taken or mixing and mingling with your wedding guests.

Your honeymoon, however, is a lifetime memory shared by just the two of you and it is the foundation of your new life together as Mr. and Mrs. It is the time for the two of you to come together, relax and unwind from all your wedding festivities, enjoy each other’s company and connect as newlyweds. You have a lifetime of vacations and anniversary celebrations to look forward to but only one honeymoon. Making sure that your honeymoon incorporates what is meaningful to the both of you and includes special (and surprise) touches will help you to create cherished memories and produce a magical romantic ambience -- no matter where you choose to go, how long your stay or the size of your budget.

Being able to clearly define what type of honeymoon you are both looking for is the first step in turning your honeymoon fantasies into reality. Honeymoons destinations can range from the tropical to the exotic. One couple’s idyllic vision of a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon could be being tucked away on a romantic island, staying in an over the water bungalow and being pampered with a private couple’s massage on the beach by the water’s edge. For some, their dream honeymoon could be an adventuresome African safari. Others may find that a combination honeymoon is what will best meet both of their needs such as combining an exciting African safari with a stay in a luxurious beach resort in Mauritius. Touring a specific wine region by a bicycle built for two and sampling local delicacies may be the perfect honeymoon for someone else, while exploring culture and history may be right for another. There is literally a world of options available to chose from.

To help guide you towards honeymoon options that are best suited to you as a couple – location, resort and what you can do while you are away -- it is advisable to use the expertise of professional travel agents as opposed to planning a trip of this nature entirely on your own. Travel agents are extremely well traveled and well informed. Their extensive product training and first hand experience viewing destinations, hotels and local attractions allows them to make knowledgeable recommendations based on your personal preferences. Travel company that maintain a preferred supplier list for hotels, resorts and destination activities know exactly the quality of accommodation and service you will be receiving and that each property, supplier or venue on their list meets their highest standards. Travel experts can help you narrow your choices down and help you find what will work with you in terms of the length of your stay, the destination and type of resort that would be your best fit for what you are looking to do, tours and activities that can be arranged for just the two of you with special touches – as opposed to simply purchasing a local bus tour -- and assist you in deciding what will deliver the honeymoon experience you are looking for while staying within your budget.
 

Choosing the right destination is just the starting point when planning your honeymoon. Selecting the right resort property is equally important, as you will be spending the majority of your time there. What the property offers in terms of accommodation, food and beverage, entertainment and amenities all have to be taken under consideration. Travel experts can walk you through exactly what you will find at each property and explain to you for example, the differences between an ocean front or an ocean view guestroom or suite at a particular hotel or resort and which you might enjoy best, taking into consideration everything else you will be doing on your honeymoon. You may decide that being able to charter a private yacht for an evening of dinner and dancing under the stars just for the two of you may be more important to the both of you than staying in an oceanfront suite or vice versa. Having a white glove candlelit dinner served on your private oceanfront terrace while watching the sunset and being serenaded by an amazing classical guitarist after a day of pampering may be exactly what you have always envisioned. The choices -- and the memories you make -- are ultimately yours but a skillful travel agent can help you to chose wisely..
Setting up a honeymoon or destination wedding and honeymoon registry provides a wonderful gift alternative for family and friends who might prefer to give you a special lifetime experience on your honeymoon – one that will live on in your memories -- as opposed to more traditional gift items that in time are often discarded as tastes change or they become unusable. Today many couples getting married either already have established homes or are trying to combine the furnishing of two separate homes into one and have most items that can be found at conventional bridal registries. The option of being able to delight a newlywed couple on their honeymoon with luxury upgrades, in room amenities, spa treatments, romantic dinners and custom excursions is one that is being embraced by wedding guests looking to give couple a special wedding gift that they know you will never forget. Being able to be part of making a honeymoon meaningful, memorable and magical is fulfilling to the romantic side that lives in each of us.