My husband and I were married on Mount Desert Island, Maine, and nearly all our guests had to travel far to get there. Conscious of how much effort and money they had put into making the long journey to Maine, my husband and I felt obligated to spend every waking minute with them.

When the big event was finally over, the only thing we wanted was some time to ourselves. But our families were going to stay in Maine a while longer and hoped to see us again after the honeymoon, so we couldn’t go far. We finally booked a little bed-and-breakfast on Great Cranberry Island, off the coast of MDI. We took the mail boat out there and spent three lovely, quiet days hiking, playing croquet and sitting on the pebbly beach as the sun went down.

Our families, and all the affection and annoyance and joyful chaos that came with them, were only a few miles away. But with that little ribbon of the Atlantic separating us, they may as well have been on a different continent.
- Deborah Chen Pichler

The honeymoon means alone time for you and your partner but it’s so hard when relatives or friends travel all the way from the other side of the world (or the state or the country wherever you may be!) to attend your wedding. You feel obliged to spend every minute with them! That poor couple!

We went to Grand Cayman Island, where we had 2 1/2 beautiful days, and then it started raining. Everyone said that it never rains for more than a few hours at a time there. Well, eight days, two hurricanes and a tropical storm later, it cleared — just in time for our flight home.

Our lesson? As long as there’s no lightning, a hot tub in the rain is still nice, and early-morning walks on the beach in light drizzle aren’t bad either.

We went back for our one-year anniversary the following year — and yep, it rained again.
Jennifer Riccards

This is hilarious!

Oh man, where to start.

Two round-the-world airline tickets, six countries, 23 days and one husband who had never been out of the country. I had the flu in London and gave it to him by Paris. But there were great moments: a hotel room with views of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, the carpet talk from “Mike” in Istanbul, a sunrise hike around Ayers Rock.

There were also some moments that in hindsight are hilarious: our budget hotel in Knightsbridge, London; walking about 15 miles in Paris; losing my luggage in Geneva; navigating Kyoto with a hand-drawn map and finally finding our inn, where the only English spoken was “No shoes in my hotel!”

We’d do it again in a heartbeat.
- Lauren Couillard

While reading this, I kept on thinking, the insurance companies out there can use this storyline for their ads — “why you need insurance when travelling!”

We spent our honeymoon on St. Thomas. As many Caribbean hotels do, ours asked that we close the sliding glass doors in our room to save electricity.

One day we decided to order room service and eat out on the terrace, with its great view of the harbor and downtown Charlotte Amalie. After signing for the food, I dutifully shut the sliding door as I stepped out, and watched as the security bar fell down from its upright position and locked us out on the terrace. It faced the harbor and not the hotel grounds, so it was unlikely that anyone would hear our calls for help.

My wife immediately said, “Don’t eat the food,” presumably to keep it for our breakfast for the hours or days we would be stuck out on the terrace in the sun. Since eggs get cold quickly, I opted for immediate gratification.

Luckily, sometime later workers came up on the roof several floors below to check out a roof vent or fan. I could only think, “How often is anyone ever on this roof?” We hollered at the crew, using hand signals to try to explain our situation.

Ten minutes later, we watched through the glass doors as the lock on the room door slowly turned and our rescuers entered the room. It’s a good thing we hadn’t used the inside deadbolt or put out the “Do not disturb” sign, or our dried bones would still be out there.
- David Guskin

Oh dear!

Post from: Our One Heart

‘Dear Mum and Dad, Gordon and I are having a lovely time. Enjoying lots of honeymoon fun! Talk soon,” read the postcard. That was a big fat lie — my honeymoon was miserable. I had spent virtually every day of our break sobbing my heart out on a hotel bed. Here I was ruining my gorgeous pre-wedding facial with streaming puffy eyes and a snotty, red nose. Thank goodness he had forgotten the camera.

She also said:

We were not alone. They say the majority of newlyweds fail to get up to any wedding night shenanigans, although few would admit it. How many couples actually enjoy their honeymoons?

I wonder if she’s right about that in most cases?

My own honeymoon wasn’t perfect. There were some “low moments” and “wedding night shenanigans” weren’t abundant. But, I did enjoy it a lot. I guess, I can be grateful that I can look back on my honeymoon with fondness.

What about you? What’s your honeymoon story like?

Post from: Our One Heart