Guest Blog

Honeymoons – Just The Two Of Us!

Julia Braime

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I think it’s time to inject a little sunshine onto the swirly silver pages of the wedding blog, don’t you?  This morning, my guest blogger Alison is back from a winter sojourn in Morocco, fired up on the vitamin D and ready to talk honeymoons – both mini and mega.

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Your wedding day comes with a massive added bonus:  the holiday at the end of it.  Whether you choose to visit balmy foreign shores, staycation in the UK or, like my hubby and I, go to some really really cool places that have always been at the top of your wish list, with a little forward planning, haggling and compromise, your trip of a lifetime needn’t cause you too much stress or debt. My top tips: check the weather at the time of year you want to go, compare DIY prices to complete packages for the best deals, shop around and start saving now.  

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog   Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog

The hubby and I on our triple centre self planned tip to NYC, Vegas and LA! (Baby!)

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You can officially begin looking forward now…

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Over to Alison: Having just returned from the mayhem that is Marrakech (I raised a glass of mint tea to each and every one of you) – and with frost on the ground it seems like a good time to tackle ‘Honeymoons’!

Tris (my husband) and I both owned our own places before we finally took the plunge and moved in together – so when we got married we decided against a traditional wedding list.

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We put the usual on our wedding invitations, “Of course, having you at our special day is present enough”.

But I knew that people would still want to get us something. Not wanting to risk a mountain of Jamie Oliver cheese boards, we agreed that what we wanted most of all were amazing memories, so went for an on-line wedding list where people could buy treats for us on our honeymoon to New England and New York.

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But which one to choose?

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In the end we came up with a short list and ranked them on cost (many will charge a set-up fee, % of gift value and a transaction fee depending on payment. And don’t be caught out by PayPal fees), flexibility, and which looked the best.  We chose ‘Bliss List’ (www.blisslist.co.uk) but do shop around and find the right one for you.

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Finding the right product was just the start. You then have to fill it with exciting treats – describing them in a way that people almost feel like they are coming with you. ‘Bliss List’ gave us the option of adding a web link which was really handy, so guests could check the treats out for themselves.

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I tried to include a range of price options, from £5 up to £100. In addition to contributions to flights, car hire and campsite fees, we had treats such as:

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“Whale Watching at Cape Ann – Nothing beats the thrill of getting up close with these amazing creatures. Help us have a whale of a time!” (2x£30).

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“Cocktails on the Lower East Side – Very Sex and the City” (4x£7).

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“Carriage ride through Central Park – It’s cheesy, its 30mins, but it’s our honeymoon. Bring on the romance!” (2x£50).

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If you want to check out the rest of our list for ideas, click here (www.blisslist.co.uk/viewlist/Natural)

It worked like a charm. Our guests found it really easy to use and were ridiculously generous, filling their virtual shopping baskets with multiple treats. In fact it was so successful we ran out and unfortunately had to add a minimoon to Paris – damn!

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“Keep us in croissants – Help us start the day with a proper petit dejeuner!” (4x£5)

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“The Louvre and galleries of Paris – I bet we can make the Mona Lisa smile! Paris is one of the most artistic cities in the world. There is so much art to see it is a Monet away from ridiculous.” (2x£20)

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With ‘Bliss List’ our guests paid the web site directly. They held the money which we were able to transfer into our account at any time. We found that most people bought their gift as soon as they received their invitation which really helped with cash flow.

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Of course I was really careful not to over promise. I didn’t want ‘achieving our wedding list’ to overwhelm our honeymoon. The temptation is to overfill our days with treats – I had visions of screaming at Tris “But we can’t sleep yet – we’ve got a unicycle workshop from your Auntie Beryl and ice fishing from Una to fit in before bed time!”

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While we did do most of the things on our list, there were a couple of occasions where we were thwarted. So we made sure we did something else instead. When we couldn’t get to see a Boston Red Sox baseball game, we spent that gift on watching it in a bar while having dinner.

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog

Alison and Tris on their Bliss List Honeymoon(s!)

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It was fantastic to text people from the top of the Eiffel Tower and send post cards from Moosehead Lake to thank people for treating us. Then when we got home I made a montage of photos and e-mailed people with stories.

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But despite all the treats and excitement – at the end of the day our honeymoon was about the two of us. After the build up to the wedding it was fantastic to be just us again. I can remember sitting opposite Tris in a café in Paris in the sunshine three days after our wedding. We’d moved onto the next stage in our life together and it was like falling in love all over again! Ahhhh!

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Alison writes her own personal blog at http://alison-staples.blogspot.com

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Alison’s latest posts for Brides Up North:

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Santa Baby- A Bride’s Letter To St Nick

Christmas Weddings In Soap Land – Some Very Un-Real Weddings!

Up For Discussion- Money Can’t Buy You Love – Bringing It In On Budget

Up For Discussion- Don’t Tell The Groom! Man Management

Up For Discussion- How To Do “I Do”- Writing Your Own Vows

Up For Discussion- Empty Chairs

Up For Discussion- Achieving The Perfect Level Of Wedding Morning Zen

Up For Discussion- The Name Game (and meet Alison!)

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Would you like to guest blog for Brides Up North? Email [email protected]

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  – Images © 2012 Brides Up North/ Alison Staples

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comments

  • January 20, 2012 | Permalink | Reply

    If you want to look at our wedding list – click on the link above and put in the name Pocock and 11/06/11 x

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