When my wife and I recently celebrated our nuptials this summer, it seemed as though the entire last week before our wedding consisted of planning, re-planning and running around like crazy. The caterer forgot an item on the menu, our wedding cake was missing the groom (which my sister-in-law thought was hilarious) and my best man, of course, couldn’t find the wedding ring in any of his fifteen pockets. 
The point is, we survived, pulled the wedding off, exchanged vows and at the end of the day, were completely exhausted and happily married. Hence, the need for a relaxing honeymoon. When discussing our upcoming destination, my fiancé was hoping I would take the lead here, but when I looked at her list of ideas, it was drastically different than what I was picturing. My criteria; 18-hole championship golf course, beachfront and well, that was about it. She, on the other hand, had a more romantic version of a honeymoon, one that emulated those of Hollywood Honeymooners. Yes, I love her, but truth be told, she’s a bit of a celebrity groupie, so when I began my search I used criteria based upon her favorite stars. Here’s a few that hit her top list:
- Turtle Island, Fiji. Yes, this had it all in a tropical paradise; exquisite water, balmy beaches, tropical breezes, and the fact that Britney Spears and her husband honeymooned here back in 2005. I double checked online to make sure it also included my own criteria, namely golf and fortunately they had a few championship courses available. Of course, I wasn’t sure if following in Britney’s footsteps was a good harbinger for our own upcoming marriage but my bride-to-be reassured me that we were far better planned and suited to be together, than they ever were.
- Maui, Hawaii. A little closer to home, the flight to Hawaii is about three hours less than Fiji, so that was already a boon for me. And what’s not to like about Hawaii? It’s beautiful, lots of activities (golf) and miles and miles of beaches for our romantic evening walks. Best of all, better fares, more options, less travel and Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green were married here.
- Seychelles, La Digue Island. Truly some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. Crystalline water, powdery sand and best of all? Golf! Well, maybe that and the fact that Wills and Kate recently chose Seychelles for their destination honeymoon. Unfortunately there is no easy way to get here and when I calculated the flight time (20 hours) I had to seriously question this choice, it would take me twenty hours to recover from all that traveling which meant less green time for me and a little less romantic beach time for my bride.
- Barbados: Another tropical locale, but in keeping with searches a little closer to home, Barbados had great things to offer for traveling honeymooners; beaches, golf, water activities, golf, spas, golf. You get the picture. There were affordable all-inclusive packages that piqued my interest and when I shared the fact that Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban honeymooned here, well, I think that might have sealed the deal.
Regardless of your honeymoon choices, narrow down your parameters and start the search. As I’ve been told a million times before we said our, “I do’s”—marriage is all about compromise. And that was how we chose our honeymoon; she got her celebrity destination and I got my golf. Now, if we can work everything else out in our lives together, we’ll be all set.
