Despite getting married in Nov 2006, we didn’t take our official honeymoon until April 2007. One of the reasons why we delayed our honeymoon by several months was to coincide our trip to Japan with the peak “sakura” (cherry blossom) season.
The wait was worth it! We enjoyed “hanami” (sakura-viewing) and admired the lovely sakura in Ueno Park, Tokyo. (click on images to enlarge for detail)
The Asakusa district is home to many temples and shrines.
The famous Tsukiji Fish Market is a must-see and was well worth several early morning treks. Not only are the market stalls full of interesting items, but the restaurant stalls offer some of the freshest and yummiest sashimi you’ll ever eat.
For half of our nights in Tokyo, we stayed at Sukeroku No Yado Sadachiyo, a charming “ryokan” (traditional Japanese inn) that featured tatami-matted rooms and communal baths. Before our stay, I wasn’t sure how I would take to sleeping on a futon or sharing a hot spring bath with strangers (note: the communal baths are segregated by sex and there are also private showers in each guest room). But I absolutely adored the experience and felt as if I had been transported back to Edo-era Japan.
Next up: * Modern Tokyo, * Mt. Fuji and Hakone, * Tokyo Food: Honorable Mentions, and * Top 4 Tokyo Meals
Is anyone else delaying their honeymoon? What are your reasons?
We are delaying ours six months. The first two months after the wedding will be crazy busy, so we knew we neede to delay at least that long. Then we decided what we really wanted was 10 days in Aspen, so we night as well delay until February to be sure of good snow! We are mini-mooning in a fabulous old hotel in the Washington wine country. I’m actually glad we did it this way, as our location for our mini-moon is close enough that we can easily go back for anniversary celebrations. Aspen, sadly, not so much…
We’re getting married in June and taking our official honeymoon to Italy in October. We decided to do it that way since we’ll be spending two weeks in Italy and June is when it starts to get really expensive (not to mention it already IS expensive to go to Europe). We are taking a mini-moon for 5 days to Las Vegas and Napa/Sonoma/San Fran though two days after the wedding. I think I’m pretty lucky!
same for us - wedding in june and everything is expensive when it comes to traveling. we definitely are considering either somewhere tropical like tahiti or a big europe trip end of august or september.
getting married in June, but waiting until December for the honeymoon, when it’s summertime in New Zealand!
We’re delaying ours because we are taking a lot of time off around the wedding. Since we’re getting married near our hometown (far from where we now live), we’re taking a week before to go and finalize things, and then a week after to spend time with our friends and family, the majority of which are traveling for the wedding. We’re taking a “minimoon” for a weekend, but I’m hoping that we will plan a nice long trip for our first anniversary.
same here, wedding in june but must wait to go to the bahamas until dec. due to weather conditions! ; )
Thank you for posting this Mrs. Ant! Japan is on my must-see list! I’m book marking this post!
Yes, thank you for sharing! If you don’t mind, do you think you could share the expenses (just a ballpark figure, no need to be detailed), just so I know how much to save up for a trip like this? =)
we’ll be mini mooning…somewhere, lol. not sure yet. i flip flop bw the beach (off season for our November wedding) or a resort in the mountains( gorgeous, but pricey)
our full blown “honeymoon” will be…….
uh…..i dont know, lol.
whenever we get money saved up and i build up enough vacation time at my new job.
We’re honeymooning 4 months after the wedding in Australia! can’t wait! Japan looks awesome too, so beautiful
Hi Mrs. Ant: thank you for sharing your adventure in Japan. I love all of your photos. May I ask what kind of camera did you use?
pretty photos! i hear so many wonderful things about japan, i hope to be able to travel there some day!
we’re postponing our HM till who knows when… our lives are so busy its difficult enough to find time to get married! the week after the wedding will be spent with out of town relatives so that’ll be a good break in itself.
@GetMarried4Less: Traveling to Japan is expensive, but I’ve read that backpackers can do it for as little as US $2K for 1 week (including RT flight). $3K for 1 week would be more reasonable and comfortable. We spent much more than that because we splurged, but, really, the sky’s the limit.
@chocolove: Thanks! I actually took all the photos with my trusty Exilim point-and-shoot (Z750). I bump up the in-camera Sharpness, Saturation, and Contrast settings to “+2″ for each. (Under “quality” in the set-up menu)
I went to Japan in April 2007 too! Just seeing pictures makes me wish I could be there right now. Cherry blossom season is definitely the time to be there.
We delayed our honey a few weeks to let the dust settle. Love all the pictures from Japan, now I want to go more than ever.
We went to Thailand and Japan on our honeymoon. In Japan we went to Tokyo (I wish we’d done a ryokan seeing your pics! We went to Ueno Park, too), Mt. Fuji & Hakone, and Tokyo so I look forward to seeing your pictures!
[...] in this series: * Traditional Tokyo and * Modern Tokyo Coming up next: * Tokyo Food: Honorable Mentions and * Top 4 Tokyo Meals [...]
[...] returning from my brief trip to Tokyo and seeing Mrs. Ant’s fabulous guide to Japan… I’ve been missing Japan even more.I never realized what a huge DIY and craft culture [...]
[...] in this series: * Traditional Tokyo, * Modern Tokyo, and * Mt Fuji and Hakone Coming up next: * Top 4 Tokyo Meals [...]
[...] in this series: * Traditional Tokyo, * Modern Tokyo, * Mt Fuji and Hakone, and * Tokyo Food: Honorable Mentions [...]
Mrs. Ant, New York/Jamaica
Age and Occupation: 25, PhD Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Finance
Engagement Date: July 26, 2005
Wedding Date: November 18, 2006
Blogging Since: February 15, 2006
Venue: Rockhouse Hotel
About Me: I live in New York but I'm planning a destination wedding in Negril, Jamaica. My fiance and I are high school sweethearts!
My fiance and I are delaying our full-blown honeymoon due to his new job. He won’t have enough vacation time saved up for a week and a half off in Hawaii, so we’ll be mini-mooning in Yosemite
Hawaii will come later on in the year.