Weddings are stressful enough without having to plan the trip of a lifetime in the middle of it all. However, your honeymoon is supposed to be your downtime after a lot of organising and planning for your big day so don’t make it turn into another reason to stress you out. There are a few steps you can take to make sure you avoid honeymoon related anxiety.
Plan ahead
This one is the most important factor to be considered in order to avoid honeymoon stress; don’t leave travel plans until the last minute. Plan your honeymoon in sync with your wedding and decide where and when you want to go, start researching as early as possible and start booking it. Aside from the fact that you can reap the benefits of holiday sales and early booking, it will all be sorted long before you’re putting the finishing touches to your dream day, which means you can rest easy knowing it’s all taken care of.
Leave a gap
While some couples might opt to head off on their honeymoon the day after their wedding, we wouldn’t advise it. Not only will the wedding day itself take a lot out of you, but the run up with all the planning and organising will hit you at once when the adrenaline has worn off. You don’t want to head off on your honeymoon still wrecked from the wedding. Not to mention the fact that the days that follow from your actual wedding day will still leave you basking in joy and it seems a waste to cut that time down to rush to the airport. Leaving a gap between the two can give you time to come down slowly from your wedding joy and look forward to your honeymoon.
Get some rest
It’s not just a matter of leaving a gap between the wedding and the honeymoon – you need to actually use that time to rest and recuperate from the past several months. Wedding planning takes its toll and you need to use this time to take it easy. Be kind to yourself, and let yourself reboot before going off on your honeymoon. If you have any holidays left with work, it might be a good idea to bookend your honeymoon with a day off either side for some extra rest.
Respect each other’s interests
Okay, once mapped out when you’re going to go and allowed yourself enough time to get some rest before you jet off, it’s time to decide where you’re going to go and what you’re going to do. For some couples, this might be a no-brainer, but other couples might struggle with conflicting interests. It’s important not to let differing opinions get the better of you. Compromise about what you want to do. Consider splitting it in half with one week somewhere to suit his needs and another week to suit yours. Or, if possible, find a destination that will encompass both your interests.
Don’t over plan
Just because it’s your honeymoon, it doesn’t mean you have to cram as much as humanly possible into the holiday until you both pass out from exhaustion on the plane home. As we said, the wedding will have taken it out of you and part of the joy of the honeymoon is having no responsibilities and enjoying time together as a newly married couple. By all means, include fun activities, but make sure you leave plenty of room in the schedule for some down time between activities. You might even want a whole day or two with nothing to do but relax.
Don’t fight
We know this one is easier said than done, and nothing brings about tension quite like travelling, but it’s important to make every effort you can to avoid honeymoon fights. After all, this is a once in a lifetime trip and you don’t want to waste any of it fighting with your new husband or wife. There are plenty of things that can set you off that you should watch out for, so we’ve compiled a list of the top ten. Steer clear of these fights, and enjoy your honeymoon!
- Jenny Darmody