It’s been almost a year since we’ve taken our honeymoon following our June 6th wedding day. And I must say, some days it feels like it was only yesterday we were laying on the white sand beaches of Punta Cana, sipping on iced cold margaritas, and following the sunshine all day long. Our honeymoon was quite an adventure, especially for us Newlyweds who had never traveled anywhere together! It was quite the experience! (It was also Phillip’s FIRST TIME EVER being out of the country! Passport required!)
Since it’s Monday, I’m going to share with y’all part two of our Do’s & Don’ts for today’s ‘Married Monday‘ series. Last week I told y’all all about our Wedding Day Do’s & Don’ts, so today I thought I’d continue it with our honeymoon! Hopefully this post will help all you honeymoon planning couples AND Emma Loo Brides-to-be! So here goes!
DO have a travel budget & know exactly how much money you can or should spend on your honeymoon. When we were deciding on where we should head for our honeymoon, we knew we didn’t want to overdue it and make our bank account suffer. Sure, we wanted to get away and enjoy ourselves on a nice vacation, but we also wanted to come back home to some finances as well! Set your honeymoon budget early on and shop around for the best deal.
DO use a travel agent or a travel site to make your reservation. We used Travelocity and found a great deal at an all-inclusive resort (Majestic Colonial Resort) that fit perfectly within our budget. We opted for an upgraded room, transportation to and from the airport to our resort, and additional trip insurance and even STILL fit inside our price range. I was also given some advice to check on Groupon (which we did, but couldn’t find any trips that fit within our travel dates!) but I’m telling y’all, we booked a fabulous vacation just using some simple steps from Travelocity.com! I won’t plan another trip without it!
Speaking of Travelocity…DO download the app that will help you with all of your travel information throughout the duration of your trip. The app came in handy so much and I was never finding myself having to go through paperwork or through emails to find what time our returning flight was leaving or what gate we needed to be at. IT WAS A LIFESAVER!
DON’T overpack! Especially when going someplace tropical! What are you going to do most of? For us, it was laying out on the beach or hanging out by the pool, so swimsuit only is required. Packing lightly was a breeze and Phillip and I actually packed TOGETHER in a small carry-on size luggage! We had our dressier options for 2-3 nights, but really just packed our essentials and lots and lots of swimsuits and coverups! 😉
DO tip your wait staff! For us, since everything was all-inclusive, we didn’t have to pay a dime on our resort. So we never really had the need to bring our wallets with us anywhere. We did tip our bartenders and waitstaff on the first couple days of our honeymoon and from then on, we were treated like VIPs (at least we felt that way anyway!) At the swim up bar (where we LOVED to mingle!) we were always waited on first, and our room was always taken care of early in the day and given extra care and attention from our room butler. It was SO great! Also, giving your bartender a couple of dollars here and there ALWAYS meant a heavier pour and a stronger drink! 😉 (I think this is the past-life bartender speaking through me, just sayin’! 😉 )
DON’T forget to buy souvenirs! This was one of my most favorite parts! While we were laying out on the beaches, some local vendors would come up to us and try to sell us different things. Of course I was suckered into some of the pretty Larimar stones and ring from a seaside vendor and even a humungous conch shell that now currently resides on one of our bookshelves. When I look at that conch shell or even wear the Larimar ring (on special occasions, of course!) I am reminded of those sweet moments while on our honeymoon! I love that about our souvenirs! DON’T forget to buy souvenirs like that, very special souvenirs when you’re traveling…wherever you go! It makes the memories a whole lot sweeter!
DO attend the entertainment shows and the events on your resort! We LOVED going to the nightly shows and made sure that we attended some of the events going on throughout our resort. That’s how we met new people from all over the country and got to experience lots of new things! Also, make sure to take part in some of the local adventures as well! We went snorkeling in some of the shallow waters near the beaches and LOVED it!
DON’T feel like you have to leave for your honeymoon the day after your wedding! Our wedding was on a Saturday, but we didn’t leave for our honeymoon until early Monday morning. Getting to sleep in the day after our wedding, going to a Sunday brunch with our families, and then coming home to open wedding gifts was pure delight! It also didn’t stress me out too much before the wedding to pack because I knew I’d have enough time on Sunday to pack for our honeymoon! (Less stress=greatness!) So we made sure that our trip started on Monday morning that way we got to enjoy our time together leading up to our wedding day and honeymoon!
DON’T overdo it when it comes to your honeymoon. Like I said earlier, don’t feel like your honeymoon has to break your bank! Yes, it may be a very special trip for you and your new hubby, but at the same time you’ve got the rest of your lives to take lots of trips around the globe! Some of the best wedding advice we were given was to go out of town for your anniversary every year…even if it’s just for a weekend, a week long vacation or just a night. Get out of dodge to celebrate! Knowing that we plan on doing that every wedding anniversary, we knew that we were always going to be up for traveling! We didn’t want to “overdo” anything or go over our budget, so we didn’t and it’s helped us so much! We’re planning on going to Charleston, SC for our first anniversary (something small this year since Emma Loo Wedding Season is in full force!) and then we’ll probably plan to return to Punta Cana in the next 4-5 years!
DO include a “Honeymoon Fund” jar in your wedding day celebration! You won’t BELIEVE how much spending money we got from this one simple little jar! Incorporating the Honeymoon Fund jar during our wedding day was a huge success and we were able to go to the Dominican with a little more spending money than we had thought! I didn’t even think our guests would even SEE it, let alone ADD to it…but they did! SUCH a great idea! 
DON’T forget to soak up every romantic moment with your new husband! YOU GUYS ARE MARRIED!! Enjoy every single second of your honeymoon no matter where you travel to! Soak up the sun together, hike up a mountain together, take a cruise, or just simply relax on your couch together! Cherish every thing about your newlywed marital bliss! And just when you think your days couldn’t get much better than your wedding day or your days on your honeymoon….don’t worry….they only get better! 😉
Thanks so much for reading y’all! Happy Monday & Happy Honeymooning! 😉 XO! -Emma Loo
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