Weddingbee Blog

Alternate Title: Be Still My Beating Heart

Mr. Kettle and I have been discussing on and off plans for our honeymoon. It’s been a pretty big deal in our house because our choice to go on a week-long honeymoon right after our wedding affected lots of other decisions in the rest of our life.

We want to do this honeymoon right. We want romance, relaxation, and a trip to somewhere that will be warm in February while also some place neither of us has visited. We’ve come up with Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Seeing as how Mardi Gras is such an important day in the course of our relationship, I thought it would be fun to extend the honeymoon to include a stopover in New Orleans for the holiday.

Image via tchacky on Flickr

That would mean a flight to an island the Monday after our wedding.

We’d be staying there ’til Sunday (6 nights, woot!), and then flying to New Orleans and staying there until Wednesday, when we would fly back to Chicago and officially start our married lives.

For both of us, that’s not too much travelling. It could prove to be too much money. Also Mr. Kettle isn’t sure if he wants to use up almost all his days off just for our honeymoon. We’re still discussing it, but I’ve realized what I want. And that is a honeymoon on an island followed by keeping our promise to each other to spend Mardi Gras 2012 together as a newly married couple.

I didn’t even realize at first that Mardi Gras was so close after our wedding. I think it’s perfect and I wish I could go back in time to tell Mardi Gras 2011 me that it would all turn out just as Mr. Kettle drunkenly promised.

With this idea now firmly planted in my head, I went online to begin checking out hotel prices in Hawaii. I figured I’d start with the most expensive option and work down from there til we found something that could work for our projected budget.

Image via Honeymooners Review

But then, I had the most unexpected moment I’ve experienced since getting a beautiful pink sapphire ring put on my finger. My heart skipped a beat. I’ve been trying like the Dickens to avoid any connection between our wedding and Valentine’s Day.

But our honeymoon and Valentine’s Day? Oh hell yes. I went to check rates at all three Hawaii Hyatts and my pulse quickened when I selected the start date the day before Valentine’s Day. As a woman who loves her some holidays, I would be over the moon to have my honeymoon include both Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras. Those are two of the year’s biggest holiday celebrations that don’t require you to love and dine with family.

I could spend those newlywedding it up with my new husband. Lounging on the beaches in Maui, sipping hurricanes in New Orleans.

He’d have a great opportunity to play his sax and sit in with a band. I’ve demanded he bring his horn to our honeymoon because I’m clairvoyant and I know it will be used. How awesome is that? Oh please oh please God, make this happen for us!

Are you deciding between two honeymoon locales? What are they?