A honeymoon is a sacred time during which you are meant to celebrate your love, bond with your partner, and begin your lives as husband and wife.
For many couples, the honeymoon is the reward for months, even years, of wedding planning—a once-in-a-lifetime chance to relax, unwind, and spend 100% of your time with your partner in blissful happiness.
The idea of a honeymoon is, therefore, often full of energy, positivity, and excitement to squeeze as much happiness and luxury into 1-2 weeks as possible.
But despite these high hopes, a honeymoon can often fall short of what we expect it to be. In the mad rush to fill your days with sunshine, champagne breakfasts, and luxury experiences, one key thing is often forgotten or lost.
Almost every couple makes this one mistake on their honeymoon—the mistake of forgetting to connect with your partner on a deeper level, and therefore missing out on the experience of the honeymoon entirely.
Your honeymoon should be more than simply a luxury break with your husband or wife. By avoiding this one, seemingly simple mistake, you can ensure your honeymoon is the relaxing, luxurious, and fulfilling experience you’ve dreamed of.
Make Time for Each Other – Relax, Unwind, and Discover the Simple Pleasures of Marriage with Your Significant Other
The Mistake Almost Every Couple Makes On Their Honeymoon
1. Focusing Too Much on External Expectations
The pressure to have the “perfect” honeymoon is one of the most stressful elements of the trip.
Honeymooners can often become so consumed by the worry that their trip doesn’t look “good enough” to others that they forget to make their honeymoon the romantic, relaxing trip it should be. A honeymoon is a time for celebrating marriage and being with your partner—not another stressful experience to get right.
Expectations are often built from outside sources, such as travel agents or magazines, that only want to sell you more luxury packages, luxurious hotels, and 5-star experiences, rather than focusing on what you and your partner want.
These external expectations can cause a lot of stress and anxiety. Couples can often feel so focused on fulfilling every expectation that they become overwhelmed and forget to relax and enjoy their time together.
How to avoid it:
Talk to each other about your expectations before and during the trip. Keep a list of “must-haves” for your trip and refer back to it when one of you is tempted by the latest Instagram post of a magazine cover’s “perfect” honeymoon.
Always put your needs and wants as a couple first and don’t get lost in the pressure of what you should be doing or where you should be going.
Related: 13 Biggest Lies Everyone Believes About Marriage
2. Over-Scheduling Activities
Excitement is one of the most important aspects of a honeymoon. Booking a 10-day or 2-week break after the wedding allows you to relax, be with your significant other, and enjoy all of the free time you spent months planning.
In a rush to squeeze in all the fun and excitement of the trip, some couples make the mistake of over-planning their days and over-scheduling their experiences.
Planning every hour and every moment of the day on your honeymoon can be a recipe for disaster. While some scheduled activities may be exciting, booking every excursion, meal, or experience and leaving no time to simply be with your partner can be over-stimulating, stressful, and ruin the overall experience of your honeymoon.
How to avoid it:
Leave some time to be spontaneous and discover the beauty of not having a plan. Relaxation is the goal here. Take a day trip to a local city, or two weeks to explore another part of the world, but leave some time to enjoy the simple pleasures of being with your husband or wife on your own terms. Take it slow, enjoy your new married life, and take in the fresh start together.
3. Ignoring Emotional Connection in Favor of Physical Enjoyment
Physical intimacy is, of course, a large part of any honeymoon, but some couples get so focused on all the physical experiences and ignore the emotional aspect of the vacation. Allowing time to focus on the emotional component of marriage—nurturing and deepening your relationship with your husband or wife—can be vital to the honeymoon experience.
This type of connection can get lost, as most honeymoons focus on big experiences and expensive locations. Taking a day off, or even half a day, to just sit by the beach and enjoy each other’s company is invaluable. The luxury of having your partner to yourself every moment of the day is a true gift—don’t waste this opportunity on constant stimulation and activity.
How to avoid it:
Plan some time for reflection as well. During this time, you can explore the emotional side of your marriage by discussing the meaning of your wedding and honeymoon, your feelings about starting married life, and how you feel about being husband and wife now and in the future. Spend time together not being productive but just enjoying the feeling of being together.
Related: Couples Who Are Unhappy Always Do These 5 Things In Public
4. Letting Minor Disagreements Ruin the Experience
As previously stated, honeymoons are one of the most exciting parts of the wedding process. But, as with any experience, especially a first-time experience, there will be bumps along the way. Arguing with your partner over minor things or even things that aren’t really worth fighting over is one of the most common mistakes on a honeymoon.
The stress of the trip, combined with the fact that you and your significant other are going to be spending every waking hour together with little space from one another, can lead to arguments and disagreements. A simple misunderstanding or argument over a tiny thing can ruin the honeymoon experience if the issue is not addressed quickly.
How to avoid it:
Avoid arguments as best you can by taking a breath and speaking to each other before reacting. It’s not worth ruining a morning over breakfast by arguing over a silly problem that could be quickly solved or agreed on.
5. Not Taking Time to Reflect Together
The idea of a honeymoon, while one of the most romantic and joyful times, can also be one of the most stressful and over-stimulating for some couples. Couples are forced to take a step back after the wedding and spend a considerable amount of time with each other in a new role as husband and wife.
The honeymoon should be one of the best and most enjoyable experiences, offering an opportunity to share adventures with your significant other and come back to your normal lives together. By ignoring this process and refusing to take a day or two to appreciate this new start as husband and wife, you can waste your honeymoon. By not taking time to appreciate this new start, you lose an important chance to spend quality couple time together before the rush of married life and work starts again.
How to avoid it:
Make time for it. Whether it’s a day at the end of the trip or a week halfway through your honeymoon, make sure you take time to reflect on your new roles, your journey as husband and wife, and how you are feeling in this new stage of your relationship. Discuss what marriage means to both of you, reflect on how this changes over time, and talk about what you mean to each other.
Related: Couples Who Do These 8 Things Never Get Divorced
6. Neglecting Personal Boundaries
For some couples, not taking time for personal reflection or space can be a honeymoon mistake. Boundaries are incredibly important for all relationships, and getting away on a luxury honeymoon trip, spending 100% of your time together, can be a huge shock for both parties.
Expecting a couple to spend every second of their trip, whether it’s 10 days or 3 weeks, together can be overwhelming and over-stimulating. Couples can become so focused on taking every possible minute of their trip to enjoy being with one another that they forget to take a break, relax, and spend some alone time. Forgetting to set boundaries and enjoy personal space is a common mistake during honeymoons.
How to avoid it:
Acknowledge and respect your personal space. Spend some time together but also take some time apart, even on a honeymoon. Take a few hours to yourself each day to relax and focus on the luxury elements of the experience. Appreciate the time you have with your husband or wife, but also ensure you get time to yourself.
7. Not Being Fully Present
Coupled with over-stimulating their schedules and not taking time for themselves or to reflect, many couples forget to be present in the moment with their husband or wife. In the rush to capture the moment, the trip, the activity, and take part in the luxury, the over-involvement in phones, emails, and sharing the experience on social media, rather than living it, can be a recipe for missing out on the entire honeymoon.
Phones are at the center of most modern-day couple problems, and it’s common to become distracted, checking emails and notifications constantly instead of soaking in the luxury of your trip with your husband or wife.
How to avoid it:
Take a break. Unplug. Put the phone away. It’s completely understandable to want to capture the moment or share an activity on social media, but if every minute is spent focused on a screen, instead of living in the moment, the experience becomes missed. Being present and living in the moment, not constantly sharing it or thinking about it through the screens of phones and tablets, is key to an unforgettable honeymoon.
8. Failing to Acknowledge the Pressure of the Honeymoon
The honeymoon should be a fun and relaxing break with your significant other, but it’s common to place such pressure on this short time away that it becomes, for some couples, a stressful and overwhelming experience.
Acknowledging the honeymoon as the first in a series of relationship-building activities, rather than the complete start of married life, is one of the most important parts of making the most of the trip. Placing too much emphasis on this single experience can be overwhelming, as the reality of married life and the stresses of normal life can set in as soon as the trip is over.
How to avoid it:
Acknowledge and accept that the honeymoon is just the start—the first in a series of experiences as husband and wife. If the honeymoon is less than you expected or planned, that’s okay. Don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the experience. It will pass quickly and is an opportunity to grow as a married couple.
Conclusion
A honeymoon is an incredibly special time in which two people can focus on each other and begin their lives as husband and wife.
Despite the best of intentions and plans, there is a common honeymoon mistake that nearly all couples make when planning or participating in their own honeymoon experience.
In a rush to capture the most photos, have the most activities, and make the most out of your one week, 10 days, or 2 weeks as a couple, couples often forget to relax, take it easy, and enjoy the luxury of their time together with no distractions.
The best way to make the most of your honeymoon is to simply enjoy the experience with your partner and focus on you both, without spending so much time with each other.
Couples who plan their trips together and spend time simply being with one another often come back happier, more relaxed, and more fulfilled as a married couple than those who plan a million activities and share every moment on social media.
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