As I mentioned in our honeymoon recaps HERE, HERE , and HERE, we had an absolute ball. We had the greatest time and truly enjoyed ourselves. There are a few things, though, that I wish someone would have told me, so here I am today letting you know in case you are honeymooning in the future or going on a vacation with your man!
1. Check with your travel agent or tickets to ensure that you know EXACTLY what time your flight leaves!
Remember when I was so extremely calm before our wedding because everything was done? Well, I forgot one minor major detail. I had our passports and plane tickets in a drawer ready to take with us to Charlotte. For some odd reason, I kept telling myself that our flight was at 11. Actually, it was at 9:40 and we flew out of Charlotte. After crying to my mom, valet parking, crying to a ticket agent, pulling the "we're newlyweds" card, cutting everyone in the security line, and two hours of delays, we actually got on the plane. For international flights you are supposed to check in at least one hour ahead of time. We made it to the ticket counter at 8:47, seven minutes late. Thank the good Lord we made it. I was a mess. Also, valet park. It is only a little more expensive than regular parking. When your car is waiting for you at the terminal instead of you hopping on a bus and waiting and walking... I promise you'll thank me later.
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| too legit. |
2. Instead of leaving Sunday after the wedding, leave on Monday.
Sunday is such a busy travel day anyway and if you are tired (or hungover like us), you won't feel like you wasted an entire day. We went to bed at 7:30 pm on Sunday night after ordering room service. We were wiped out physically and emotionally. Sunday you can also see your friends and family one more time, especially if they live far away like Tyler's family does. We honestly didn't get to say goodbye, but they partied one more time at my parents' house.
3. If you go to an all-inclusive resort, there are extra things you need to bring:
Exhibit A: Large Cups
Most all-inclusive resorts give you little cafeteria cups! They hold barely even a can of beer! We were constantly going back and forth to the bar. The old people at our resort knew to bring a big tumbler or bubba keg shown above. I'd check out my girl Crystal's boutique and get a cute monogrammed tumbler for the trip!
Exhibit B: Umbrellas and Bug Spray
It rained and we got soaked and the bugs ate me alive. Need I say more? Oh and extra sunscreen if you are going to be in the sun alot. We went through 1.5 bottles and STILL got burned. Eeessh.
4. Take lots of small bills for tipping.
We made the huge mistake of only taking big bills with us. Ty's parents had given us some cash and that was honestly the only cash we had, but we couldn't tip the doorman $50!!! And the ATM was always broken. And you can't barter with the Jamaicans when you have a large bill. Lots and lots of $1 and $5!!
5. Take a copy of your marriage license.
Some places give you a discount on things at the resort! We got a free 25 minutes couples massage for proving that we were just married! I frantically emailed my mom to call and get our minister to email me a copy or picture of it! Ohhhh AND BEFORE the wedding make sure everything is correct. My birthday was wrong so I still haven't even begun to officially change my name.
So, there you have it. Charlotte and Tyler's list of things they wish they had known prior to leaving for Jamaica! But like I said, we still had an awesome time! Hope these help. Feel free to ask me specifics if you need to!
12 comments:
I echo all of those. I wish I'd known those a few years ago pre-honeymoon. ESPECIALLY to take a tervis! Seriously, red stripe in a teeny cup lasts about 30 seconds around these kids...
Remind me of all of this in October!!!
great adivce!
I totally agree with not leaving right after the wedding. We left the Wednesday after and it was perfect. Since we got married in Charlotte, it gave us time to return to Hoboken and get settled in and switch out our luggage before leaving. I enjoyed the honeymoon so much more knowing I had absolutely nothing to worry about waiting for me at home.
thank you!! I'm getting married in October and we are looking at honeymoon locations now.. we'll be taking all this into consideration!
Great, great advice! If I could add a few things it would be to bring more sunscreen then you'll think you'll need! We brought 30 regular, 50 spray, and 70 face and after the first day of blotchiness due to the spray, we wanted to buy 50 regular. Yeah, a nice $30 for sunscreen later....
AND if you're going on an international flight, leave extra time in between connecting flights for customs! We had exactly an hour between flights and had to go through customs, re-check our bags, AND go through security again. We were that couple sprinting through the airport to make our next flight. :)
I absolutely agree with not leaving right after the wedding! We left at noon the day after the wedding and we were absolutely exhausted. It was rough!
Ah, I have gotten flight times mixed up on one too many occasions! I am a CRAZY PERSON right before I leave for ANY trip making sure that everything is correct. I actually sometimes get anxiety when booking trips because I freak out that I may have selected the wrong dates/times/airports. I think when it's time to book the honeymoon, I will put my hubby-to-be in charge and save some anxiety!
Okay, so I probably won't be getting married for at least a little while, but I feel like I need to bookmark this for future reference. Definitely things I never would have thought about!!
Wahh we left 7am the next day and I was so pooped. Luckily we had a direct flight and I slept the whole way! The one thing about an umbrella though is it is likely to get your bag flagged on an international flight. We have had it hapen twice and once it made Andrew's bag delayed a day!
Our resort gave us the small cups which were a boo but if you asked for larger ones they would give it to you so we asked for doubles the whole time!
Also we weren't allowed to tip at our resort which was nice but we didnt have money to tip at the airport
These are all good tips!! I'll need to remember these...5 years down the road haha :)
I will have to remember these down the road! Love the beverage container tip!
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