Honeymoon Part II

Neill and I struggled with our decision of whether or not we should go on a honeymoon. We both knew we wanted to go, but it was hard to commit to going. Finances wasn't the only obstacle, either. Planning a honeymoon is hard work! I think sometimes we would get so overwhelmed with our choices that it was easier to just say no to everything.

One question we faced is when. Neill liked the idea of leaving for our honeymoon right after the wedding, but that would conflict with my class schedule. While I don't technically have to take classes this summer, it would help me stay on track in the program. If we didn't go right after the wedding, there was the option of going later in the summer or just waiting until winter came around. This was an attractive option because we both really liked the idea of going to Jamaica for our honeymoon and the winter months is the perfect time to head for warmer weather. The downside of this option is that we would have nothing planned for right after our wedding. The idea of going back to class the Monday after getting married just seemed so . . . ugh. We wanted the magic to last as long as possible! This is when we started thinking of maybe doing a small minimoon somewhere in the States right after our wedding and planning our real honeymoon for the winter or even our one year anniversary. We both have been wanting to plan a trip to Portland so that seemed like a possibility. But, when we started crunching numbers we realized that we wouldn't be able to afford both trips. And, if we were going to go somewhere right after the wedding, we might as well just do the honeymoon we truly wanted!

Another major question is where. As I said, Neill and I have always talked about going to Jamaica for our honeymoon. We have always wanted to go to an all inclusive resort and Jamaica is the logical place for us given Neill's background. But, I was hesitant to plan a trip to Jamaica during June. It's their rainy season! While on the plus side that did mean we could afford a beautiful resort with a beautiful room, I didn't want to deal with 24/7 rain. Also, part of me was still interested in that wonderfully lavish European trip. While it would be so fun to explore new places and learn about new cultures, it is daunting to plan something like that! Plus, Neill really didn't want to spend the honeymoon touristing around to museums and historical sites. We started thinking that maybe a cruise would meet both of our needs! It has all inclusive meals and we could spend the days on the ship lazing around the pools. Plus, we could stop at some awesome ports and go on mini day long adventures! We started looking into Mediterranean cruises and they really did seem wonderful. The main cons of cruising is that it isn't truly all inclusive because you have to pay for drinks (not to mention anything you want to purchase when off ship) and only having eight hours to explore a city made me nervous.

Whew! You can see why planning a honeymoon is so overwhelming! Stay tuned for Honeymoon Part III to see what we decided!