Tell people that you’re planning your honeymoon and you’ll most likely get a few things thrown back at you that’ll make you start doubting your own decisions and wondering whether the trip you’ve booked is ever going to live up to the hype. So, in order to put your mind at ease, I’ve taken the most common honeymoon “myths” and will show you why they’re complete rubbish.
- It’s the best holiday you’ll ever have Yes, honeymoons are definitely very special – and you’ll never be able to recapture that feeling of going away together after you’ve just gotten married again, or, perhaps, get quite as many treats from the places you stay, but if our honeymoon was the best holiday we’ll ever have then that would make me feel rather sad. Because we had many fabulous holidays together before getting married, and though our honeymoon was certainly special in a way that the rest of them weren’t, I’m positive that we have plenty more holidays to come that’ll be absolutely wonderful in their own right. And that’s how it should be. If we’ve already had our best ever trip then that kind of makes going on holiday again seem like a bit of a waste of money.
- It has to cost a lot of money It’s up to you how much you want to spend on your honeymoon – and you mustn’t spend loads on it just because you feel you should. Money isn’t directly proportional to how much fun you’ll have – you’ll be married, which will make even the cheapest of honeymoons pretty spectacular, and you’ll be much more likely to enjoy yourselves if you’re not worrying about money the whole time.
- You have to go somewhere you’ve never been This was something I read on the internet the other day (I forget where), which I thought was utterly ridiculous. If there’s somewhere you love that you would be thrilled to revisit, why not go back? Isn’t the whole point of having a honeymoon to spend time with your new husband/wife and have a good time? There’s no point in going away somewhere new if the two of you would much rather be in that gorgeous place you went last year.
- You have to go alone If you’ve already got a child or children, the idea of going away for more than a few days without them may be quite off-putting – so why not take them with you? Part of getting married is the formation of a family – so there’s no reason why you can’t honeymoon with your young ‘uns if you want to. Likewise, if you fancy just getting a group of your closest friends together and hiring a villa somewhere, or going to a festival, then do it – the most important thing is that you do something that’s true to yourselves and will make you happy.
- You have to go somewhere sunny Holiday brochures have taught us that honeymoons = white sand beaches, clear blue skies, cocktails and lazy days. But that’s not really what they’re about. They’re about you, and your new husband/wife, being somewhere that makes you happy, having new experiences as newlyweds and, above all else, enjoying yourselves. So, whether your perfect way to relax is hiking across the Alps (as my rather energetic good friends did), snowmobiling across Iceland, or finding that perfect beach on which to get that perfect tan, choose what’s right for the two of you, and you really can’t go too far wrong.
Yes to all of the above! I think it’s so easy to get caught up in the “you’re only doing it once” part of weddings and honeymoons. We’re doing something a bit more special because it feels like forever since we had a holiday, but we’re not suddenly five-star-first-class people. Plenty of time for that when we’re older and our ageing backs doing get on well with those airline seats
We thought about the beach option for all of five minutes before accepting that we are both ridiculously pale and easily bored.
I completely agree with everything you said. Honeymoons are all about you and what you like to do, no matter where you happen to be! Beaches are lovely, cities are lovely, even staying home can be lovely – I try to get that across in my posts, too. It’s about the person, not the destination – but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a fab destination, too. =)
Thanks for both of your comments – glad to hear it struck a chord!