Wedding planning can be hard. There are so many decisions to make, and so many people you’re trying to please, even though you’re told it’s “your day.” One of the easiest decisions I made during the wedding planning process was to hire Epperly Travel as our travel agent for our honeymoon. At first my fiancé was a little confused as to why I would want to hire a travel agent when I *LOVE* planning vacations, but planning our honeymoon felt different to me. With so much stress planning all of the other wedding details, I didn’t want to add to it on top of this being the vacation. So Much Pressure. I am SO glad I put myself first and removed that from my plate of things to do. It was so stress-free that our honeymoon ended up being planned and booked before our save the dates went out!
Working with Epperly Travel was such a breeze. I sent them an initial email with what we were dreaming of for our honeymoon. They explained the process via email as well as how their fee structure works (i’ll get into that a little later, but don’t be scared!). We loved it, signed on the dotted line, and were sent a travel questionnaire that was a fun date night for us to fill out! They wanted to know about previous vacations we loved and what we liked to do as well as places we may want to go and more. It was a fun evening! Within 2 days, I had a phone call set up with our Travel Agent, Devan. I think we sat on that phone call for over an hour chatting about what we envisioned for our honeymoon (fun!), how much we wanted to spend (not so fun…), and just laughing while getting to know each other. She offered to make us two itineraries, one for Greece and one for Tahiti. I didn’t think Tahiti would be an option, but when she got the cost and sample itinerary to us within a week, we saw it was!
Once we made our decision on Tahiti, I “worked” with Devan on hotel options, activities, and traveling. I put worked in quotes because all I had to do was review what Devan sent and choose which option we’d prefer, even though none of them could have been wrong!
Now that you’ve seen my side of the planning process, Devan, our Travel Agent, wanted to chime in on what it’s like planning from the travel agent’s side! Now you can see both sides of the planning process!
We know that planning a wedding can be stressful and our goal at Epperly Travel is to make the honeymoon planning seamless and fun. Like Victoria mentioned, you spend a lot of time and energy focusing on accommodating for your guests on your wedding day but when it comes to honeymoon planning it really can and should be all about you!!
One area that I choose to dedicate my time to during the planning process is in getting to know each honeymoon client and their ideal first trip as a married couple! By taking the time to connect over the phone with travelers I am really looking to dig deep in to their dreams and bucket lists while also reading in between the lines to provide options and experiences they may never have thought possible.
A top reason to hire a travel advisor, who specializes in custom built itineraries, is that we truly have your best interests at the forefront and as the driving force in our search. The world is massive and the number of great experiences and opportunities for travelers are endless. However, this on top of all your other wedding decisions can be flat out overwhelming, which is why it is my job to find you the best fit for the season of life you are celebrating, your budget and the time of year you will be traveling. You will not have to worry about what the crowds or weather will be like, I will tell you. Don’t stress about which resort, island or city offers the best views, value or plunge pools, I’ve got you covered! Last but not least, I am sure you have tons of family and friends (in real life and virtually – thanks social media) that will have opinions, suggestions, advice and warnings about all aspects of your wedding and honeymoon but remember this is a time to celebrate you and your partner. They made choices and celebrated in a way that worked for them, now it is your turn!!
Travel is not one size fits all; to ensure your honeymoon fits as perfectly as your dress, do yourself a favor and hire a professional travel advisor!!
It all sounds so easy and too good to be true, doesn’t it? Good news, its not!
Let’s get back to the “scary part” now. Normally, you may hear that travel agents work on commission so they’re going to try to up sell you, but I can assure you that is NOT AT ALL how Epperly Travel works. We did pay a small fee up front, but the benefits we are getting are worth MANY TIMES more than what we paid. Since Devan is a Virtuoso Travel agent, we are getting added benefits at our hotels when we check in like a free couple’s massage! Hello, Savings! Also, the small fee makes sure they aren’t focusing just on commission. We actually got to use some of our credit card and travel points for some of the trip! #Winning
Knowing we have this amazing trip planned AND I got to make a friend has seriously been the easiest part of our engagement (besides saying “yes,” of course). I know when we get there everything will run smoothly and we can just relax without thinking about what we have to do next or that maybe we made any wrong choices in hotel, activity, etc. I know this is already going to be the trip of a lifetime!
For more information, make sure to visit EpperlyTravel.com, and reach out to Devan!
Devan Mercer
Devan@epperlytravel.com
865.410.8983