Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash
Hey Dotties, I signed on as the Speciality Blog Editor right here at Polka Dot Bride about three months ago, and I have loved every minute working with Ms Polka and our passionate team who are literally ‘dotted’ all over the world working together to bring you feel-good wedding blogs.
What you may not know about me though is that I got hitched just in February of this year! Boy, where has the time gone? I’m an Australian residing in NYC and look, there’s no two ways around it – life as an expat is full on, especially in the city that never sleeps. So, it’s no wonder really that my husband (Mr Zigzag) and I haven’t planned our honeymoon even though it has been nine (NINE!) months since we said ‘I do.’
However, I don’t think the ‘delayed honeymoon’ is overly rare for newlyweds these days. For various reasons including work commitments, the weather (some like their honeymoon hot, some like it cold!), and financial limitations after throwing the most expensive party of your life (your wedding!), couples often put their honeymoon on the back-burner until the time is right for them.
Well, the time is right for me to at least start daydreaming about where Mr Zigzag and I would like to go on our honeymoon and I think I know the very best place to start – our Real Honeymoons stories. Our Real Honeymoons are written by real couples in their own words. There’s no better recommendation than an independent account of a trip written by people who have been there first-hand. There’s no laundry lists of ‘where to stay’ ‘what to do’ ‘what to eat’, rather these stories are written from the heart, with anecdotes and little details that make a couple’s trip uniquely theirs.
Here are a couple of the Real Honeymoons stories on our little love blog that are awakening a serious case of wanderlust in me.
Beautiful Bora Bora – Roxanna and John
“They say that the honeymoon is the best part of any wedding follow-up, and it most certainly proved as such for me and my husband! The nerves, hard work and anxiety in the lead up to our wedding last July certainly took its toll. But all of it was forgotten during our beautiful Bora Bora honeymoon!
The destination itself was my husband John’s idea, as he knew only too well that I always dreamed of spending a perfect summer vacation in Tahiti. So, to surprise me, he booked one of the Bora Bora honeymoon packages with a local tourist agency and kept quiet about it until the wedding day! (And there I was, thinking we had spent our wedding budget on the venue, restaurant and church ceremony arrangements, not daring to ask how much money we had left for the honeymoon trip!) In a word, our stay on Bora Bora was amazing, we had the time of our lives!” – Roxanna.
Blissful Vietnamese Honeymoon
“When my husband and I planned our honeymoon, one thing was immediately clear to both of us – this would be a relaxation holiday. All of our previous travels had involved exploring urban metropolises, famed historical sites or visiting family and friends, so the idea of getting away from it all to simply relax was incredibly appealing.
We settled on Vietnam as our destination or more specifically, the Fusion Maia resort in Da Nang. Billed as Asia’s first all-spa inclusive resort, Fusion Maia boasts an enviable spa with all treatments included as part of the nightly room rate. This means that on each day of your stay, you will receive at a minimum (I repeat, at a minimum) two spa treatments each – and more if you can handle them. Hello happiness!”
Antarctic Adventure Honeymoon
“On January 29th, 2013 just ten days after our beautiful wedding in Hobart, James and I set sail aboard L’Austral from Ushuaia, Argentina. We were headed for Antarctica and the perfect adventure to begin married life together.
The ship was luxurious, the service without fault and the people we met from all over the world amazing! But what truly made the journey were the captain and the naturalist guides on board. They went out of their way to ensure we would experience Antarctica for the remarkable place it is and undertake activities which we felt privileged to be a part of.”
Honeymoon to Paris and Italy – Natalie and Jonathon
“In terms of the ‘Honeymoon’ part, I’d recommend searching around for a travel agent you are happy with. You need someone that understands your budget, what you are trying to achieve and will be contactable during your travels. Moreover, one that is flexible when you change your mind a million times about what you want to do and where you want to go. We were lucky that my friend is a travel agent and accommodated our excitement. One question I keep getting asked, was how we had such a good time when we didn’t know the language. My answer, Lonely Planet phrasebooks, saying key phrases with a smile such as “Hello, it’s lovely to meet you, we are on our honeymoon from Australia, do you speak English?” Knowing this in French and Italian got us by, everyone was willing to help and responded in English with accurate pointing to things and nodding.
We flew Emirates straight to Paris for 3-days and stayed at The Scribe Hotel. The concierge were amazing, they helped us book our dinners at local cafes, gave us directions, and even sent flowers, real French champagne and sweets to our room after I commented on the how amazing flowers smelt in Paris. During our days, we pre-booked a tour of Versailles, The Louvre, and a river cruise which included dinner at the Eiffel Tower and the late session at the Moulin Rouge (most travel agents have deals like this). The rest of the time we walked around Paris in search of hot chocolate and Laduree after slowly freezing from the temperature changes from home.” – Natalie.
Ms Zigzag says: I’ve always had a fascination for Bora Bora… Now all I have to do is get Mr Zigzag on board! We’ll see how I go with that…
For our entire reel of Real Honeymoons stories, click here. There’s plenty more romantic trips to read about!
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