Rebecca East
When it comes to honeymoons and other romantic trips, over-planning is the biggest pitfall. Often couples travel to an exotic new destination and want to maximize their experience, so whether they are going to Bali, Thailand or Hawaii, they often want to go on every hike and see every temple they have heard about and have a fully-packed itinerary from day one.
My advice is to take a breath and spend the first two or three days at a more relaxed pace. This is especially important after a wedding. After six months to a year of intense planning, the wedding comes at you in a rush. You need some time to digest the memories (and get over the jet lag!) before jumping back into action.
Relaxing does not mean doing nothing. Often, not racing around seeing a million sights gives you the chance to experience the culture in a much deeper way. In Thailand, for example, you might spend a few days at COMO Shambhala, a retreat where you can have Thai massages, sound baths, and wonderful healthy food as well as take walks along the beach or bike into town, before heading out to Bangkok and the Golden Triangle.
Honeymoons are a chance to build new memories together. The Amalfi Coast is beautiful, but if your family vacationed always vacationed there, I would suggest going somewhere different like Puglia where neither of you has been.
In the past two years, we’ve also been seeing a lot of babymoons. Although Zikka has not been in the news, it is not over, and we always discuss that with couples. In fact, to us, the classic babymoon Instagram shot is no longer on a beach with crystal blue waters; it is a dramatic photo framed by rock formations in Sedona.
We have also been planning a lot of proposal trips. We find that encouraging hotels to let their creative side come out can yield some unique suggestions. In Bali, we arranged a private, candle-lit dinner on the beach, where the groom wrote his proposal in the sand. Another took his partner to a surprise dinner in Club 33 in Disneyland and had the concierge deliver the ring on a tiny glass Cinderella slipper.
Usually, we arrange for a photographer or videographer to capture the moment, and we manage to creatively find a way to get the couple to have a manicure that day, so their hands look great in the photos!
Happily, the romance does not stop with the wedding or the babymoon. We frequently plan anniversary trips. We are working on one in Portugal now for a couple celebrating their 25th anniversary. They are wine lovers, so we set up a winery tour that includes lunch in a private nook surrounded by flowers. And at each hotel they stay at, the general manager will welcome them with a personal note and a bottle of wine.
We LOVE finding creative ways to help couples celebrate their wedding trips or anniversaries. Whether they are dreaming of exploring an exotic culture or strolling along the dreamy beach, we can help make their trip uniquely romantic.