Tuesday, January 13, 2009

"To the Moon, Alice!"

With now just a few months away, the clocks are ticking and the nail biting has turned to gnawing for poor little Soos. Wedding planning is never fun, so let's skip that part and talk about what really matters, the honeymoon.

It's not as easy as you think. If you've always known where you've wanted to go on your honeymoon, then bravo - that's half the problem sorted. If you're a bit like me and you want to go everywhere, then you may face some little difficulties in your planning. I know you may be thinking "What do you mean? You've got three months left and you haven't booked your honeymoon?!" Like I said, it's not as easy as you think. A lot of thought has to go into a honeymoon, you've literally got the whole world to pick so its easy to lose sight of what it is you need. Honeymoons are very personal, it has to be carefully planned to suit the needs of the couple, be it relaxation, adventure, romance or even just plain old fun. (Also, never criticize a bride to be, it can only go two ways: the bride breathing in a paper bag or yourself on the receiving end of ABH)

First of all to consider is timing: The bride and groom are in much need of a holiday after the crazies of the wedding and they really just want to go anywhere so long as it's far, far away from family, florists and tear jerking speeches. So do you leave on the night, waving like Dermot Mulroney (I had to google his name) and Cameron Diaz the second you've tied the knot? Or do you wait it out and travel when you're well rested? We've chosen to wait until after the last night of festivities have ended, sleep comfortably, have a big brunch and then head out.

For how long: Length of honeymoon usually varies from two weeks to a month, with the questionably lucky few going for longer. A week is too short, unless you go to one destination and plan to spend that week recovering from the wedding however you choose (the bride at the spa, the groom at the bar). Personally, a month would be too long... but maybe that's just antsy little me. A month with just one person, even if it is your spouse, can be a bit daunting. Then again, honeymoons are personal, and if your personal choice is to spend weeks on end with just one person without driving each other nuts, then so be it.

Sea or Skyscrapers: Destination is important and is very, very difficult to pick unless you know exactly what you want. If you're a "beach person" and would be happy to spend countless days lying covered in sand on a beach with nothing but your banal thoughts, then you won't have this problem picking a destination. Otherwise, I would try to plan a combination of things, including post-wedding recovery time and time to explore new things. Many newly weds seem to boast about shopping trips during their honeymoon, something the groom should be aware of.

And as a follow up from that, you don't have to pick just one place: Multiple destinations are very popular to get a real varied holiday. Honeymoon trips such as Thailand (for the resorts) and Malaysia (for the KL shopping), or Spain and Italy (going to Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Venice) are popular and fun ways to see different cities. Remember, don't over stretch yourself because you won't want a holiday from your honeymoon, make sure you put in enough time to relax so you don't over exhaust yourself.

Find out what kind of activities there are for you to do: Don't write out a detailed itinerary for your honeymoon, remember, you're supposed to relax. Just make sure you have some things to look forward to seeing or doing - perhaps a certain heritage sight or water sports, whatever it is, so long as you know what kind of things you can do if you wanted to venture out of your honeymoon suite.

Not to forget, check the weather while planning your trip: The last thing you need is to book a vacation during transitional seasons or monsoon time, once you have an idea of what kind of holiday you'd like go on all the websites, call your meteorologist, whatever - just make sure no natural disasters are going to ruin your honeymoon.

Now, for some photos to make you think:











Monday, January 05, 2009

A Book about Me?

 
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