After love and marriage, there usually comes a honeymoon. But more and more people are doing things a little out of order and taking a break from the stress (and strife) of wedding planning and opting to get away before the ceremony. Enter: the earlymoon.
Condé Nast Traveler reports that the phenomenon of jetting off before the actual wedding is becoming more and more popular with couples.
The magazine notes that Pippa Middleton may have started the trend by taking a jaunt to St. Barts before her May wedding. It Girl DJ and wellness guru Hannah Bronfman took a similar break by stopping at a spa in Spain with her then-fiancé Brendan Fallis before they said "I do."
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It sounds like the perfect way to get away from the fervent activity that comes with the lead-up to a wedding. After cake tastings, dress fittings, guest lists, seating charts, florists, and bachelor-bachelorette parties, couple can sometimes feel alienated from one another while they're planning the ceremony that's supposed to bring them together.
"I often find with my couples that the wedding date becomes a deadline for perfecting everything in your life, not just your food, flowers, and guest lists. Many couples choose to buy a house and move at the same time they're planning a wedding," Amy Shey Jacobs, a NY-based wedding planner, told CNT. "So, I often plan a mini vacation for them before the wedding to unplug and reconnect."
Anyone planning a wedding can probably relate to the desire to drop it all for a few days, but may also think that it's a little bit unrealistic to escape during crunch time. After all, not every couple has a royal planner to keep things running smoothly. Jacobs has some advice for any couples looking to give the earlymoon a shot. It's all about timing.
"Go away before the invites go out," she explains. "Many of the big decisions and stressful moments happen at the two month out mark, when the invites go out. So, if you really want to get away, take a pause on planning before this time. You'll be recharged and ready to tackle the big decisions when you return."
That buffer lets couples deal with any last-minute changes and final prep work. Jacobs adds that getting away should be just that, so couples should plan on disconnecting, not answering wedding-related emails from a beachside cabana. Unplug and really get away to ensure that an earlymoon is a real respite and not merely a change of geography.