Miss Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
Planning For Paradise
April 10th, 2008 @ 8:32 am by Miss Cupcake
Last weekend Mr. Cupcake and I finally took the plunge and booked our honeymoon! It was a little unnerving putting down the deposit and realizing there is no turning back on this financial commitment, but we’re also very, very excited for our first real bona fide vacation together without family or friends. (We do love our family and friends, but this trip for just the two of us will be a very nice treat!)We’ll be spending a blissful week in Antigua at the Galley Bay Resort.
All photos from the Galley Bay website
We knew from the beginning that we wanted to honeymoon in a tropical location. I love Europe and would love to go back there (and Mr. Cupcake has never been), but I know that we’d feel pressure to see and do as much as possible while there, and we want our honeymoon to be all about relaxation after all the excitement of the wedding. We are sure to be exhausted and ready for a little R&R. Our main honeymoon requirements are that we can sit on a beach, sip cocktails, eat to our heart’s content, and get massages (okay, the massage requirement is more mine than his!). Most of all, we just want to be together and enjoy each day as it comes without too many plans looming overhead.
Galley Bay seemed like a great choice from the beginning — it is an all-inclusive resort for adults only (except during Christmas and New Years), there are no high-rises so it will feel peaceful and authentically tropical, and we’ll have a nice selection of activities if we so choose (but at the moment, we’re not banking on wanting to do much!). There are two restaurants and two bars, which isn’t a huge selection, but Mr. Cupcake and I are creatures of habit and we decided if given the choice of more restaurants we might stick with a select few favorites, anyway! I will also most certainly be making use of the spa, although I haven’t talked Mr. Cupcake into getting a massage yet.
We will be staying in one of thirteen quaint Gauguin Cottages, which, according to the website, are:
Situated close to the bird sanctuary lagoon about 50-yards from the beach. Each one consists of two separate thatched rondavels connected by a sheltered breezeway - one is an air-conditioned bedroom and the other is a dressing room/bathroom with ceiling fan and shower. Their splash pools measure a minimum of 7 ft. by 9 ft. and feature adjacent sundecks concealed by either the tropical vegetation or screens made from natural Spanish heather.
The Gauguin Cottages are not as large as some of the beachfront rooms or suites, but all of our friends have told us that you grossly underestimate how much time you actually spend in your room when you’re on a beautiful island… and we couldn’t resist the lure of the private plunge pools! We’ll have more privacy in our cottage, as the beachfront rooms & suites are duplexes (and not all of them actually have direct access to the beach), and just look at how cute our accommodations are:
Look! Look! Private plunge pool! I hope it’s as good as it sounds!
We are taking the risk of traveling to the Caribbean during hurricane season, but our fingers are crossed and we are staying positive, yet flexible. We bought travel insurance (through our travel agent, Jenn at Liberty Travel in Springfield, PA — we love her!) in case of any family emergencies or illnesses, and we’ll hope for the best in terms of weather.
We’ll be spending the day after our wedding seeing friends and family before jetting off to Antigua the following day. Are you leaving for your honeymoon right after your wedding, or are you taking a day, week, or even months in between? And are you planning a Caribbean honeymoon during hurricane season, like us?
13 Responses to “Planning For Paradise”
we haven’t planned ours yet, partly because the options are so limited in september. does travel insurance cover everything (eg, fees from the airline for changing your flight, rebooking the hotel for a later time [maybe at a higher rate])?
Ooo, we’re staying at an adults-only AI in the Dominican Republic. We’re leaving early in the morning the day after the wedding. It might be a little crazy, but I know we’ll just want to get going.
Technically, our honeymoon is during hurricane season (June), but really June is extremely early for hurricanes in the Caribbean, so we’re not too worried.
@rebecca: the travel insurance doesn’t cover the change in plans in the event of a natural disaster, only if we can’t go due to illness with us or our family….. but if there is a storm and travel is not permitted to our destination, in reality most airlines release last minute policies to help people change their plans. It’s not a perfect situation, but hopefully we’d be able to figure something out!
We’re leaving the morning after the wedding, but I have no idea where we’re going! Some place tropical… but I won’t find out until we get to the airport and check in at the ticket counter!
OMG! We are going to Antigua too!! Our wedding is June 7th and we leave the next day. I can give you a full report when I get back. I have no idea where we are staying. My fiance only told me the island and the flight times. Everything else is a secret. That still does not stop me from snooping to see what to do on the island 
I am so happy to see someone else going there too!!
Miss Cupcake,
I’m very glad that you are going to Antigua..especially since I am from there! Make sure to check out some of the interesting stuff on the island, including Shirley Heights and Devil’s Bridge if you want a change of sccenery from the resort for a day. I am actually going for a visit to my family (I have not been back in a long time) next month. Luckily Antigua has been spared bad hurricane seasons for the past few years so you shoould be fine (knock on lots of wood ofcourse). Have a great time!
Looks utterly gorgeous and relaxing…
Whenever I hear “adults-only resort,” I immediately think of Michael Scott from The Office and how much he loves Sandals Jamaica. It makes me giggle.
Something to make sure your TA stays on top of–my bother and SIL’s original resort in Mexico was severely damaged from Hurricane Wilma in 2005, and they weren’t notified of it until a month or two before their October wedding. They found another resort to go to in time, but it really added to their stress level because finding another place was not easy. Fortunately, having a TA will help immeasurably if that situation arises for you (which I hope it doesn’t!).
I had the same thought about Europe too - my main goal on my honeymoon is to RELAX (and maybe do a little scuba diving). We settled on an all-inclusive in Antigua too! I’m so glad someone else did is planning a trip there because every time I say where I’m going for my honeymoon the immediate reaction is “where’s that?”
Could be good though… you know it’s not too touristy then…
We’ll have to check out the sights carib queen suggested!
My husband and I honeymooned in Antigua last September and the weather could not have been more gorgeous. It rained maybe 15 minutes total our entire week, and we just used the rain as an excuse to go back to our room for a while. We were a little concerned about the possibility of hurricanes, also, but the weather couldn’t have been better. We loved every minute! Enjoy your honeymoon!
My fiance and I just booked the same honeymoon! We’re getting married in March of 2009 and we’re also staying in the Guaguin cottages. They’re actually building a third restaurant which is slated to open very soon, which I read on TripAdvisor.com, so that might help spice up the variety. I would definitely read some of the reviews on there, they give a ton of info that you can’t get off Galley Bay’s website, like the gem of a tidbit that since its on a bay, the beach is only accessible through the resort, so there aren’t any vendor’s that wonder the beach like at many other resorts! Happy Honeymooning!
@elizabeth: Thanks so much for the advice! We will definitely keep our eyes on the weather in Antigua from now until the wedding, so we can be on the lookout for any possible storm damage.
@carib queen: We will definitely put those places on our to-do list!! Thank you!
@KNW: that is GREAT news…. fingers crossed that our weather is just as lovely!
@Becky: I forgot to mention I did check out TripAdvisor.com, which definitely solidified out desire to go there! It was a toss-up between Galley Bay and the Jalousie Plantation on St. Lucia, but I read a few negative things about Jalousie and we didn’t want to depend on shuttles to get us from our room to the beach (down a mountain!). I’m excited that we’re honeymoon twins!!!
[…] may be early to start thinking about what I’ll be wearing during our honeymoon in Antigua (since it’s not for another 3+ months), but when we head to the Caribbean it will be fall in […]
We are going to the Sandals Antigua in the beginning of August, the day after our wedding for one whole week! I am pretty worried about it being hurricane season also, but like you I’m crossing my fingers! =X I’m so excited! I did not even THINK about the honeymoon wardrobe until I saw your post!
