Whether it was beachside, stateside or fairground ride, these couples celebrated their love in settings that perfectly suited their tastes and times together
Here at Tie the Knot Scotland we regularly follow couples on the planning journey as they kit themselves and their venues out for their big days.
But this time we're swapping aisles for airplanes and living vicariously through five sets of newly-weds as they recount their honeymoon (and minimoon) adventures.
From a food-filled itinerary in the Big Apple to paddleboarding at a Caribbean resort, read along to see how each pair embraced their own passions and personalities to plan the perfect trip with their partners.
A Disney magic-filled honeymoon in Orlando, Florida
Amy and Josh Harrison married on 24th May this year at Lochside House Hotel. They set off a week later on a fortnight’s honeymoon in Orlando, Florida.
“We would love to start a family in the next few years, so when we were planning our honeymoon 18 months ago, we thought about where we would like to go before having little ones to bring along.
Josh had never been to Florida (or anywhere in the USA, in fact) and we loved the idea of us being big kids and going on all the rides before one of us has to be a bag-holder or resigned to those little tea-cup rides for toddlers.
While we’re normally quite savvy with money on trips away, we knew we didn’t want to scrimp or scrape on this trip. It would have been exhausting trying to squeeze it all into a week – there are nine parks across Disney and Universal Studios, plus we wanted a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre and to the outlet malls – so we were really happy we had a full 14 days.
I’m a big rollercoaster fan and it takes a lot to thrill me, but the new Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure ride were both amazing!
At Disney they give newlyweds ‘Happily Ever After’ badges, so we were constantly being congratulated by staff and other visitors, and occasionally we would be allowed to go in the fast-pass lanes for free."
"Don’t feel you have to do the typical ‘all-inclusive, lie on a beach or by a pool all day’ type of honeymoon. Do what feels true to you as a couple – and have fun with it!”
Honeymoon in the Maldives with an over-water villa stay
Caitlin and Andrew McMillan married on 2nd May 2021 at Gosford House. Following a Scottish minimoon, the pair spent 11 days in the Maldives that September.
“I had always viewed the Maldives as the typical ‘once in a lifetime honeymoon destination’, and we both always knew we wanted to go there, so we started planning it about a year in advance.
Despite different Covid travel restrictions making us nervous (we set off for the Maldives just 48 hours after it came off the ‘red list’ for the UK!) and a bumpy arrival to the resort itself (Andrew still teases me about my seaplane sickness), we had such a special time.
Andrew’s highlight was the Maldivian food, specifically the curries made right in front of us by the stellar staff; we still talk about what we would do to eat them again. My favourite moment was a small one: one evening when we were having dinner on the beach, our wedding song – the exact same cover version we had – started playing over the speakers. I’ll remember it forever.
It had been quite a stressful time leading up to our honeymoon, so we were very happy just relaxing once we got there and enjoying the sunshine – although 11 days is quite a long time for that. Perhaps it would be better to come here to relax after seeing the sights and travelling somewhere else first.
We were treated very well by the resort. We booked an over-water villa for part of the trip, but as a lovely newlywed perk the resort upgraded us into a second over-water villa on the other side of the island. That meant we got to experience the sunset from one villa and the sunrise from the other! We had another free honeymoon add-on too, a floating breakfast.”
A relaxing beach honeymoon in the Dominican Republic
Natalie Godfrey and Chris Rock married on 9th September 2023 at Glenbervie House and Country Estate. After a Scottish minimoon, the couple waited until late November to jet off to the Dominican Republic for a week.
“On the Wednesday after the wedding, we went to the lovely Schloss Roxburghe in Kelso for two nights. I would highly recommend doing a minimoon the week after you tie the knot. It was great to get away and digest the events of the wedding, look through photos, enjoy nice food and drinks and relax in the spa (which is incredible at Schloss!).
For our honeymoon abroad, we started planning about nine months before. As we have two kids, getting time to chill out on a family holiday is rather difficult, so we knew we wanted to go for a relaxing beach holiday.
I have to say that getting time together just the two of us to talk, laugh and enjoy each other’s company – without being asked every five minutes for an ice lolly – was bliss!
We ended up booking our honeymoon through Lynne, a private travel agent, who was an absolute angel. After narrowing it down to the Dominican Republic, we looked at the hotels in detail (reviews, photos, Instagram etc) and settled on the stunning Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana.
This resort is adults-only as I knew that being in a hotel around kids would really make me miss our two! Our highlight was a day trip to the blue lagoon and Saona Island. It’s like heaven on earth – white sand, crystal-clear water, starfish and stingrays at our feet.
There was even a guy with a floating bar in the lagoon handing out drinks! We drank cocktails from a pineapple, had a barbecue, drank plenty of rum and swam in the sea. It was absolutely perfect from start to finish.”
Natalie Godfrey, office manager at Frox of Falkirk, was a planning diaries bride! See her and Chris' beautiful Falkirk wedding
A Caribbean honeymoon of paddleboarding and snorkling
Lauren and Tommy Cardiff married on 11th June 2022 in their garden in Inverkip. Fast forward a couple of months and they were off to Antigua for a week-long honeymoon.
“Through his work on cruise ships, Tommy had already been to a lot of countries, so we put a good deal of time into finding somewhere we could both visit for the first time.
After narrowing it down to the Caribbean, we settled on the Sandals resort in Antigua. It ticked a lot of our boxes – entertainment, food, swimming pools, swim-up bars. (I’d never been to a hotel with a swim-up bar, so it felt ‘fancy’!)
We enjoyed planning it together, and we definitely ended up with the week of relaxation and good food and drink that we’d been hoping for. Every morning, we would head to the buffet breakfast and then on to the water activity centre. We would paddleboard nearly every morning then sign up for snorkelling in the afternoon. There were a number of different snorkelling locations we’d be taken to and we always saw something new.
I so wish we had extended our trip. The Caribbean is a long way away and I wish we’d gone for at least ten days. It’s something we’ve both thought about since.
"Take the time to organise something you both want and, where possible, allocate more money for it than you’d planned. We booked a nicer room than we initially budgeted for, due to saving money on other wedding costs, and it was 100% worth it."
We had a private pool and access to room service that we could use any time (very handy when we were slightly hungover!). We also bought some local artwork to bring home so that we would always have a piece of Antigua with us.”
A sightseeing food-filled New York City honeymoon
Ellen McLean and Callum Strachan married on 31st March 2023 at Verdant Works in Dundee, then followed this with a minimoon in Scotland. Once July rolled around, they were off to New York City for ten days.
“On our minimoon in the Black Isle we deliberated over a few options for a big trip, like LA or New Zealand. Ultimately, we wanted a busy holiday filled with things to do and places to eat – and in NYC you are never short of options!
Plus, we love bagels, so we made it our mission to test every well-known spot there and rank them all!
I’m a bit of an over-planner, so I made an itinerary for every single day we were there. I was making sure we covered all the areas of NYC we wanted to see, and didn’t miss anything out. Callum is a much more relaxed ‘let’s just see what we feel like’ kind of person, so he just went along with it.
All in all, we had a great time with no major disruptions, other than a few thunderstorms (and one day of potential heatstroke!). If we were to go again, we’d avoid the height of summer – our weak Scottish sun tolerance couldn’t handle it!
We had lots of lovely moments, but a big highlight was walking over the Manhattan Bridge on our last day. It was early evening, the weather was perfect, and there were such beautiful views. We also had the best sushi of our lives (possibly the best meal, even) at Planta Queen (we spotted Elliot Page in there too!).
Completely exhausted after our wedding, we were so glad we spread our celebrations throughout the year rather than doing it all in one go!”
Before their design-led DIY Verdant Works wedding in Dundee, graphic designer Ellen shared all the details leading up to the big day in her very own planning diaries
