Welcome to my fun new slice of the blog, The Honeymoon Diaries! I catch up with my wedding couples and ask them all about their post-wedding travels and any advice they have now that the wedding is done and dusted. Inspiration awaits!
THE HONEYMOON
Where did you honeymoon to? Hurawalhi Island Resort, in the Maldives.
How long after the wedding did you go? We got married in August 2021 and went in November 2021. Unfortunately, the pandemic and travel restrictions guided that decision as we had previously planned to go straight after our wedding. However, things worked out in the end as November is high season in the Maldives so it meant the weather was better when we went!
How long did you go for? We went for 10 days (9 nights) in total.
Tell me all about it; why you booked this destination, and if there’s anything you’d do differently for your honeymoon now that it’s been? We chose the Maldives as it looked like the ultimate place to relax after our wedding, with amazing scenery and it just looked like an absolute dream place to go to! We had originally planned to visit Singapore first then the Maldives but unfortunately, the pandemic changed this too. We plan to do Singapore another time!
As for anything we would do differently… definitely stay longer! 10 days was the perfect amount of time but we could have easily stayed for a few more nights! In hindsight, we would also book a shorter, more direct flying route. We drove to Glasgow then flew to Dubai then Male, however, our flight times coming home were not ideal – I would not recommend a 5-hour wait in Dubai airport at 2am, when all you want to do is sleep and get home!
Any honeymoon advice for my couples? Completely switch off from social media/your phone whilst away. I did this and can’t recommend it enough! It just helped me to be completely present whilst we were there and after being so busy planning the wedding it was just perfect to switch off and relax.
I would advise not going straight after your wedding as it gives you more time to look forward to it and get prepared for going away. We were both also really tired after the wedding so don’t think we would have enjoyed it as much if we had gone away straight after! Of course, we had previously planned to go straight after our wedding, however, it worked out better as it meant that we got a wee minimoon in Scotland after our wedding and we still had our honeymoon to look forward to a few months later!
What was your favourite thing that you did on your honeymoon? Our favourite thing that we did on our honeymoon was definitely snorkeling. We saw lots of different fish, sharks, and turtles too! It really was amazing.
We were also fortunate enough that our resort had the world’s largest underwater restaurant in it. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we’ll never forget having a 5-course tasting menu whilst watching the fish swimming above and around us!
WEDDING ADVICE
Were there any challenges along the way during your wedding planning? The main challenge was definitely the pandemic and having to postpone our wedding day from 2020 to 2021. Thankfully all of our suppliers were amazing, and we went with the date that most of them could manage. It was quite stressful in the lead up to our day as restrictions were in place/guidance was changing but we decided that no matter what the rules were… we were getting married! I’m so glad we just went ahead with it and everything worked out in the end as restrictions were eased just 11 days before our wedding day.
What’s the one truly unforgettable thing about your wedding day? Our first dance… after waiting so long it just felt so emotional to finally be dancing to our favourite song. Our band had learned the song and played it live too which meant so much to us! It was great that all of our family & friends could dance with no restrictions – the dancefloor was full all night and everyone was just having the best time.
Walking down the aisle and saying our vows is also something we will never forget.
Any advice to share for my future couples? Don’t sweat the small stuff – as they say! Don’t spend time worrying or stressing about the little things as on the day you won’t even notice them. Don’t worry about the weather either. Come rain or shine you will still have the most amazing day ever and your photos will look incredible! The weather is the one thing you can’t control so there is no point worrying about it ☺
Are you thinking of a getaway to Hurawalhi island resort
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