Okay all my engaged couples planning weddings and honeymoons! This one’s for you! Not only do I recommend hiring a wedding planner, but hire a honeymoon planner (the fancy way to say a travel agent!).
When Landon and I were planning our wedding, it felt like we were constantly in the process of making 50 decisions at a time. Picking out the invitations alone involved close to 20 decisions…paper type, paper weight, font, calligraphy, width, border, engraved or printed…and it literally goes on!
Anyway – as immensely excited as I was for the honeymoon (I can’t even tell you how many swimsuits I tried on), I really did not have the time I wanted or needed to research all the potential honeymoon destinations! Of course, I constantly looked at resort photos and read blogs, but I really needed help from an expert who had been to the resorts to give me advice on the honeymoon planning process!
And that’s where Linda Terrill came in! Hiring Linda as our honeymoon travel agent was one of the best decisions we made during the wedding planning process. Some may say this is an outdated industry and there are enough travel sites that can do this for you, but let me tell you – nothing beats the individual and custom assistance that a live travel agent can do for you! She made the process easy and booked everything for us for our honeymoon trip of a lifetime! It started off with a quick 15 minute consultation where I explained what kind of honeymoon we wanted, our level of activity, our deal breakers and must haves and, of course, our budget.
Within a few days she sent me a proposal packet of 8 different honeymoon locations for us to look through and start envisioning what would most likely be the best trip of our lives! It was painless and so helpful to have it narrowed down to 8 luxury resorts and locations so I did not have to keep sorting through the dozens of random online recommendations. A review of our honeymoon in St. Lucia will be coming soon, but in the meantime, we’ve sat down with Linda to help answer your most burning honeymoon questions!
Q: How long have you been in the travel industry?
A: I’m somewhat of a newbie in the industry — ten years. After completing my 45th cruise and helping many friends plan trips, I joined Brownell Travel, the oldest travel agency in the United States and a member Virtuoso, a network of the best luxury travel agencies in the world.
(Y’all – side note – we loved that she was a member of Virtuoso because we got so many upgrades and fun surprises/gifts at each of our resorts that we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.)
Q: What are your favorite types of trips to plan?
A: Cruises, safaris and customized trips to England, Scotland and Ireland as well as Italy and Greece.
(Another side note 😉 – She is currently planning a trip to Italy for my boss, so I’ll let ya know how that goes!)
Q: What is the benefit of using a travel consultant for planning your honeymoon?
A: We visit resorts on a regular basis to understand what makes them a good fit for couples, young families, singles and retirees. We have strong relationships with the management teams at our Virtuoso-partner hotels, thus assuring our clients VIP service and added complimentary benefits. After we get to know our client’s interests, if clients haven’t decided on a destination, we can help them select the best destination for their interests and budget. A good example is clients who want to go to Hawaii, but don’t know which island and what they can expect on each island.
Q: What is your biggest piece of advice for couples planning their honeymoon?
A: Understand your budget. If you have a “bucket list” resort in mind, but it doesn’t fit your budget, consider shortening the stay by one night to make the resort and destination fit.
(Sidenote from Kate – This is something we did. Though we went over our budget (ooooops!) we did decrease our stay by a couple of nights so we could upgrade our room and stay at nicer resorts, which we are both super pleased that we did.)
Q: What is the biggest mistake couples make when planning their honeymoon?
A: Trying to fit too many activities into the first part of their honeymoon, especially after a big wedding. Take a day or two to breathe and enjoy each other before the big excursions!
Q:What are your top 5 favorite honeymoon resorts?
A: Pairing Ladera Resort and Sugar Beach, St. Lucia; Four Seasons Bora Bora; Belmond Hotel Caruso on the Amalfi Coast; Ashford Castle, Ireland; and Rosewood Las Ventanas, Mexico. This is not a resort, but rather an all-inclusive boutique cruise on Seadream with only 100 guests visiting small ports that big ships can’t get into, sleeping under the stars on their Balinese beds, and enjoying activities from their watersports marina.
Q: What is the average honeymoon budget for newlyweds?
A: Not including airfare, $7,500 for one week.
Q: How far in advance should you book your honeymoon?
A: Depending on the destination, three to six months (unless it is over the Christmas holidays). If a safari in southern Africa, one year in advance.
Q: What’s the best way to maximize your honeymoon budget?
A:Book through a Virtuoso-member travel agent to receive complimentary amenities such as free breakfast daily, upgrades, VIP treatments and welcome gifts, and travel during “shoulder season” when the weather is still pleasant but you’re not paying high season rates.
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