Honeymoon Tips

Hello! I'm back from my 2 weeks in Hawaii - and we had a blast. It was the best trip ever, and it came at the perfect time. A great end to a crazy year.

I learned some things that I thought might be helpful for other brides:

If you are going somewhere that requires more than a 4 or 5 hour flight, try to upgrade any way you can. If you have frequent flier miles with a specific carrier, start saving them up. For instance, on United, you can buy a coach ticket and then use only 15,000 miles to upgrade to first class. (If you try to purchase a first class ticket with miles, it will cost you 50,000.) My point is that you don't want to be uncomfortable for 10 hours on a plane. Not on your honeymoon. This may be the best/most expensive/longest/most fun trip you'll ever take in your whole life. Enjoy it as much as possible.

Don't book early flights home. All you have to do is get home, right? You probably won't be in a hurry to get back at the end of your honeymoon, so try not to book a 6am flight, k?

Leave a day between getting home from your trip and going back to work. Fly home on a Saturday and use Sunday to decompress, unpack, and get settled back into your normal life.

Look into the resort you're staying at before you stay there. Find out what it's close to, what kind of restaurants they have, how spread out it is. Make sure it's the place for you, especially if you'll be spending most of your time there.

If you are going to an island country, such as Jamaica or the Dominican Republic, be sure that you are staying in a safe place. I have friends who went to the DR and loved their hotel, but they couldn't leave it all week because the neighborhood was dangerous. You don't want to feel trapped on your honeymoon.

If you can, go to a convenience store nearby and get snacks for your room. If you plan to spend a lot of time lounging around, room service and the minibar will get awfully pricey. A bottle of water in my hotel room was $6.50!

Bring a laptop and do your own research. If you plan on leaving your hotel and participating in outside activities, look up tours and companies yourself. The concierge at your hotel may only recommend companies that offer kickbacks, or she may be drunk and not have a clue what she's talking about (yeah, that happened). Also, you may be able to find coupons online if you research things yourself.

Budget more than you normally would. Like I said, this is your honeymoon. You'll want to do things you don't usually do at home or on vacation, and you'll find yourself saying things like, "Oh well, it's our honeymoon!" or, "Once in a lifetime opportunity!" Start early with a jar on your counter or a bank account, and know exactly what you have to spend on your trip.

Have a great time and enjoy every moment!