Of all the aspects of our wedding I have taken responsibility for, it is the honeymoon that I have thought about the most.
I started off thinking that I should surprise Rachel, whip her in a romantic whirlwind of indulgence and new experiences without preparing her for any of it. This kind of trip still really appeals to me but the trip itself ideally needs to be spontaneous, an event in itself.
I came to the conclusion that the honeymoon should be simple and relaxing (I’m sure we will need it after the big day) and focused on us and our history rather than new experiences. I also wanted Rach to be involved in the planning and knew she had plenty of ideas. So, we are off to our spiritual home, Cornwall to stay in a yurt and then in a cute whitewashed cottage in a small old fashioned fishing village. We will surf, paint, eat and drink incredibly well and just spend the time with each other.
As Rachel noted in her ‘Honeymoon Sneak Peek’ we were pretty wide ranging in our aspirations: Morocco, Thailand, Fiji, Greece, Northumberland and many other exotic locations were considered. The two key words were beauty and relaxation. We had an incredible visit to Morocco a couple of years ago and were blown away by the richness of the culture and the excitement of exploring Marrakesh, the Atlas Mountains, The Sahara and ultimately relaxing in ‘surfy’ Essaouira. We also met a great new friend out in the desert. We were very tempted to embrace the cliché of our generation and visit Thailand and Fiji, partying on the beach charged up on local “whisky”. Maybe we would discover a hidden beach or something! Greece really appealed in terms of lifestyle and almost guaranteed sun while Northumberland has always held a magic appeal for me, just look at those sunrises! The weather of course is not exactly guaranteed.
On reflection however, Cornwall seems such an obvious choice. We love the culture, the beauty, the variation, most of the people. There is great food, some local wine, surf, some really under-rated beaches and hopefully some sun. We will be able to visit our old haunts, included the little town in which we got engaged and eat and stay in all the places we couldn’t quite justify before. We have images of cooking fresh fish (which hopefully we have caught) on our barbecue on the beach. Most of all, we will be able to sit and watch 14 Cornish sunsets contemplating our life together.
Where will you be going on your honeymoon, and how did you make the decision?
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fun stuff! we were a little cash-strapped at the time, so we chucked the ideas of spoiling ourselves at atlantis (resort in the bahamas) or taking my dh’s first trip to europe in favor of… san francisco. for north carolinians who hadn’t visited california before, it sounded sufficiently exotic. but why not somewhere warmer or at least more relaxing? wicked, the musical, was in previews in san fran, and i was dying to see idina menzel in it. boy, am i glad we did!!! seeing the original cast before the show hit bway was a treat we’ll always remember. the sea lions at pier 39 were the second reason for choosing san fran. those two things alone were worth the trip. all the rest was just icing on the cake.
We’re going to Kefalonia, the Greek island where Captain Correli’s Mandolin was set.
I love the idea of Northumberland being “exotic”!
I think keeping it relaxing and local sounds the perfect plan – we’ll be doing something similar. Also, from May onwards so many equitorial countries have monsoon season, you’re better off staying in the Northern hemisphere when it’s at its best!
*sigh* I wish we had something like Cornwall. We’re so torn and undecided. We’re thinking about maybe Barbados, but we’re still not sure. We could easily go to Brasil – I have a free place to stay at a nice resort, not to mention free places to stay in half a dozen other cities. The only real problem with Brasil is the airfare…