How to Plan the Perfect Honeymoon

One of the more traditional groom responsibilities is making arrangements for the honeymoon. An easy way to get your groom involved in planning the wedding is to ask him to book the honeymoon. But before you give him his assignment, make sure he has an idea of where you’d like to go and what you’d like to do. To help make his job easier, forward him these 11 honeymoon planning tips from The Groom’s Instruction Manual.

1. Consult Friends, Family, and the Internet
You may not want to copy somebody else’s honeymoon blow-for-blow, but you can certainly look to others for inspiration. Then hit up your old friend the World Wide Web and see which lovely locale is cheapest and/or most practical for when you’ll be traveling.

2. No Surprises
Unless your track record with your fiancé is flawless, don’t try your luck on the honeymoon, because a weeklong surprise that isn’t received well on day one will make days two-through-whenever miserable.

3. Know What You Want
And by that we really mean “know what your fiancé wants.” You may have grand plans for a golf vacation or an outdoor adventure, but if the brand-new missus isn’t down with that, you are heading for disaster.

4. Don’t Invite Anyone Else
This should be obvious but to a surprising number of people, it’s not. Your honeymoon is for you and your fiancee, period. Solitude is the reward you get for making it through the engagement and wedding, so don’t mess it up by thinking that a double-dating trip or—god forbid—family-vacation-slash-honeymoon can yield the same benefits, unless your goal is a quick annulment.

5. Know Your Maximum
Some people can lie on a beach until retirement. Others get antsy after four days. Know how long that you and your wife can survive in each other’s company and away from it all. Many honeymoons enjoy a trip that shifts gears halfway through—three to five days on a lounge chair to recover from the shock of the wedding, followed by another three to five days of more demanding and adventurous travel.

6. Know Your Minimum
On the flipside, don’t be so brief that you barely have time to take your shoes off. Weddings are crowded, loud, traumatic events, and you’ll want some time before you have to get back to reality. Three days is usually a good minimum—longer than a weekend, shorter than can cause problems if real life is anxiously awaiting your return.

7. Embrace the Cliche
You may have an irresistible urge to avoid other newlyweds on your honeymoon, and perhaps that’s why you’re ruling out tropical islands and mountain getaways. But before you buy two round trip tickets to Manhattan (or London, or even Paris) just remember that your wedding is a big chaotic event, and you might not wish to follow it up by visiting a big, chaotic city. Even the most stubborn of urban adventurers can become fond of sand and sun when confronting a serious case of post-marriage exhaustion.

8. Know Your Adventure Threshold
Perhaps you read that last tip and you’re still not convinced. That’s fine—you are perfectly within your rights to prove that the dream honeymoon can also be the dream vacation. Still, do everything you can to cut down on flight times and ratchet up the creature comforts, even if it means spending a little extra. You’ll appreciate that you did.

9. Know Your Spending Limit
As with everything else involved with this damned event, the honeymoon is going to set you back some scratch, so figure out what you have to spend in advance and plan accordingly. You may have to make some choices between having a short vacation in the lap of luxury or a longer one with half the amenities. On one hand, you can’t miss what you haven’t experienced, so having half the amenities may be just fine for you. On the other hand, you may never get a chance to go all out again with so few other considerations, so it might do you right (and earn you years of goodwill with your fiancee) to opt for luxury. If you can afford both, bring us along, please.

10. Make Sure People Know You’re on a Honeymoon
Many hotels and resorts basically exist to service honeymooners. So as you’re calling around to places and making reservations, don’t be shy about telling people that you’ll be on your honeymoon. Some may provide chilled champagne upon your arrival, a more private room, or even something as simple as fresh flowers. When you unlock the door for the first time, these amenities can be a nice reminder that this isn’t just another vacation.

11. Do Something, Do Anything
If you plan to postpone the honeymoon, you nevertheless must make plans to get away for a few days immediately following the wedding. A family cabin, a bed and breakfast, a motel with a pool that’s ten miles from your house—whatever it is, go there and get acquainted with your new life companion. Otherwise your life might not feel different enough after the wedding to have justified all of the activity.

Excerpted from The Groom’s Instruction Manual by Shandon Fowler.

O.K. Guys still need some help? Here are some people you can talk to about your honeymoon right here in Central Illinois.

Travel Agents International Talk to Steve tall him margaret told you to call.  http://www.taitravelbmi.com/

Suzi Davis Travel  http://www.suzidavistravel.com/

Call them they will take you through the baby steps you need to make this a Dream Honeymoon!

Remember Keep things in perspective and enjoy the moment!