With all the planning that goes into wedding planning, you may forget to prepare for your honeymoon, and depending on how soon after your wedding that is, you might want to start thinking about it now.

Do your research

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What’s the weather like where you’re going? When you’re packing your clothes for your honeymoon it’s important to know what to pack. Are you going to a beach resort or a city break? Is it cold/rainy/humid this time of year? Do they get snow? Are there any cultural boundaries about wearing clothes? These are important things to check well in advance of packing your case and heading to the airport. Make sure you look at travel guides, check online or talk to your travel agent about these things before you go.

Write a honeymoon packing list

You don’t need to attempt last-minute packing only to discover that you’ve left half your clothes behind. Make a detailed list, no matter how detailed or meticulous it is (we know you know you need a toothbrush but what’s to stop you from forgetting it?). Planning a honeymoon while you’re already planning a wedding is very stressful and you can’t always trust your ability to remember things, so mark everything down, from your make up to your swim suit and only cross each item off when it goes in the bag.

Make sure your passport is in date

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Your passport’s expiry date is often something we forget about until it actually rolls around but it might not roll around until the day before your honeymoon. This is something you need to look at as soon as you know when you might be going away. Make sure your passport is in date for both your outgoing flight and your return flight. If it’s not, apply for a new one ASAP. Once you have it, make a few photocopies of it, and leave one at home and have one with you. On the off chance your passport is lost or stolen while abroad, it’ll make things easier if you have a copy.

Look into travel insurance

Honeymoons tend to be more expensive than your average holiday so now is not the time to throw caution to the wind. Research travel insurance and find out exactly what’s covered under your policy. What if your luggage is lost? What if the hotel you’re meant to be staying in goes into receivership? Make sure you’re covered for all eventualities

 

Sort out visas and vaccinations

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Do you need a travel visa? Make sure you check this in plenty of time. It can take some time to sort out a visa so make sure as soon as you decide on your destination that you figure out if you need a visa and start applying for one as early as possible. Similarly, some exotic locations might require you to get vaccinations to stay healthy. If you don’t like needles you might want to take this into consideration. If you think you can handle it, find out what vaccinations you need and how far in advance you need to organise them – some may need to be done months before your trip.

Confirm all reservations and bookings

Just like your wedding bookings, it’s important to confirm any reservations and bookings you made as the honeymoon approaches. Depending on how soon after the wedding your honeymoon is, you will probably be making some final confirmations for your wedding reservations and appointments anyway. Just make sure you’ve slotted any necessary confirmations for your honeymoon in there while you’re at it.

Exchange money

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If you’re going outside Europe (and even some countries in Europe) you will need to change your money. It’s safer to only bring a small amount of cash (the maximum you will need to get from the airport to the hotel) already exchanged and exchange the rest over there gradually or withdraw it from an ATM. The less cash on your person, the less you lose out on if the unthinkable should happen. Remember, cash is irreplaceable but cards aren’t. Plus you will lose out on a small amount if you have to exchange much cash back into euros when you come home. But it’s important to know what you need to change it into and order it a few weeks before if necessary. Familiarise yourself with the exchange rate too so it doesn’t feel like Monopoly money to you. For example, one euro is the equivalent to almost 10 Swedish krona so don’t get carried away spending hundreds of krona.

 

- Jenny