Engaged couples can thank Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for a new engagement trend this year: the engagement-moon. But unlike other trends, this one strengthens a couple’s love and connection.
Daulton Van Kuren, who owns The Refined Host, explains to Brides that the engagement-moon gives couples a chance to getaway and celebrate their engagement without the pressures and stresses of family and friends. Or the barrage of questions from your loved ones that you may not have to answers to yet.
Most couples don’t even have a date for the wedding yet let alone know the reception theme or which DJ they’ll hire.
“When couples become engaged, the first thing they do (after they tell their parents, hopefully!) is post a picture or status on social media to inform all of their friends,” says Van Kuren. “Then comes the influx of comments, texts and phone calls. Sometimes, this can become overwhelming, so the best thing for you and your fiancé to do is to get out of town.”
Many couples choose to celebrate their engagement by hosting a party with family and friends, but Megan Velez of DestinationWeddings.com says ultimately, the engagement is about the couple.
A pre-wedding holiday, she says, is the icing on the cake of the couple’s love story.
“An Engagement-Moon allows the couple to decompress while enjoying some one-on-one time, and it keeps your budget in check by avoiding the costs of a lavish engagement party,” says Velez.
The trend is gaining such traction that resorts are now offering engagement-moon packages. Manoir Hovey, Relais & Chateaux in Quebec, will host an engagement-moon weekend in July that allows couples to decompress while gaining wedding-planning tips.
“With our Engagement-Moon getaway, we’re helping them create a beautiful, romantic start to their life together by providing them with a chance to slow down, unplug, and rejoice in their commitment to one another,” said Julia Brouillard, Manoir Hovey’s Groups and Events Coordinator.
The package will include two nights’ accommodations, outdoor activities, meals at the resort’s restaurants, wedding-related workshops and a mixology workshop.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will reportedly enjoy their own pre-wedding trip to Greece. Rumor has it that the couple will be staying in Zakynthos in May and will even have their own personal tour guide. The report emerged after a hotel owner confirmed their stay through a post on Facebook, which has since been deleted.
Another hotel owner on the island stated the couple will only spend one day in Zakynthos as part of their pre-wedding vacation.
The itinerary has been kept under wraps for obvious reasons, but it is believed that the couple will arrive in Corfu before heading over to Zakynthos via a yacht. They are expected to make a few other stops on their trip.
Another pair that’s following the engagement-moon trend: Aussie couple Kieren Jack (AFL player) and Charlotte Goodlet (Channel Nine producer). The couple is reportedly enjoying an intimate engagement celebration in Los Angeles.
The couple visited Disneyland and apparently took a very luxurious flight to LA, where they enjoyed champagne in first class.
