Traditionally it's the groom that does all of the arrangements for the honeymoon and surprises the bride on the day they leave. Both Joe and I agreed that in our case this probably isn't the best idea! For one thing I'm quite fussy, and for another he is hopeless at organising anything!
The perfect honeymoon destination for both of us – tricky!
Even though we haven't made a final decision on honeymoon destination, we know we want to go somewhere exotic so we'll need to have our inoculations done well in advance. The other thing we need to bear in mind is that I'm not as adventurous as Joe. Whilst he'll be happy to spend some time on the beach, he'll need some kind of sports or activities or he'll go mad so we need to find a resort that will cater for both of our tastes.
We usually go for last minute deals but as this is our honeymoon I don't want to leave anything to chance. Something else to bear in mind is the timing of monsoon and hurricane seasons. Whilst the honeymoon package prices may be lower at those times I don't want to be hiding in a hotel basement or getting rained on during my honeymoon!
Special honeymoon resorts
We got some brochures from the travel agent and there are some resorts designed to cater specifically for couples and many that offer special deals for honeymooners ranging from free champagne and chocolates on arrival to a night of free accommodation if there is a stopover. Sarah recommended that we dress nice and smart so we are more likely to get an upgrade on our flights by letting them know we're on our honeymoon – they flew first class to New York!
Married name passports and visas, yuk.
Something else for my to-do list is sorting out my passport as I'm changing my name. I can get one in my new name up to three months in advance of the wedding, but it isn't entirely straight forward. Once we've settled on a country, I need to check with the relevant embassy or the travel agent to see if we need a visa and if so, whether they'll stamp it into a post-dated passport. Apparently some don't, so I'd need to take my old one, plus our wedding certificate. Just to make it extra tricky, some countries don't accept passports in your maiden name, even if there is a marriage certificate. I think the best thing is to get the new one just in case and then have the old one and the marriage certificate too just to be sure.
We need to order the travellers cheques for the honeymoon in good time as well. That will give me time to note down the numbers in my notebook in case they're stolen, I must remember to make a separate note of our passport numbers too in case those go astray. I want to have all of the paperwork in order at least two weeks before the honeymoon just to make sure I don't go totally grey.
Honeymoon insurance
We also need to be careful with the travel insurance, especially if Joe wants to do some kind of adrenalin-fuelled activity. Things like bungee jumping aren't covered by normal policies, but sometimes more relaxed things like scuba diving aren't either. The last thing I want to think about is any accidents on our honeymoon, but we must make sure that the medical cover is good as care in other countries can be expensive. I'll take a copy of the policy with us too as it should have all the information we need if we have to make a claim. We also need to check that our driving licenses are adequate for hiring a car out there, and whether any other paperwork is needed.
I plan to do most of the packing about a week before as I bet there'll be no time in the run up to the big day. One thing's for certain, I'll need a holiday after all this planning!
