Couples over the moon when they go on an earlymoon

CHICAGO – One month before their July 2023 wedding, Ms Shrestha Maharaj, 28, an analytics and insights manager based in South Africa, and Mr Sumeeth Suthurgam, 31, a senior digital design lead, took an earlymoon.

The couple spent a long weekend in Umdloti, a small resort village along the northern coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa, just a 45-minute drive from their home. Ms Maharaj described their earlymoon as a “break from the chaos” where they enjoyed electric scooter riding, table tennis playing, beach walking and even practising their first dance.

“A change of scenery was necessary for that,” she added, laughing. “It’s amazing what that’ll do even when you’re still in the same city.”

For couples who want to bask in the engagement period before their weddings, going on a pre-nuptial trip – or an earlymoon – is becoming increasingly popular. It is different from both a mini-moon – a quick getaway after the wedding to decompress – and a honeymoon, in which a couple take a longer, more elaborate post-wedding vacation.

“We really just needed a break and wanted to de-stress before our wedding,” Ms Maharaj said of their earlymoon. “Indian weddings can be intense. We had four wedding events over three days and DIY-ed a lot of it.”

Many hotels and resorts now tailor packages to earlymooners. Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall Boston, for example, began offering “Get Away Before the Big Day” last summer.

The three-night stay, starting at US$800 (S$1,080), includes a day spa pass for two; a picnic at Boston Public Garden; dinner at the hotel’s in-house restaurant, Jules on Devonshire; and a welcome bottle of champagne.

“Earlymooners just want quality time with each other, so couples have loved the stress-free aspect of it,” said Mr Kevin Matheson, the general manager of the hotel. “Some even joke they’ll be back for their babymoons.”

Stanly Ranch, a Napa Valley resort in California, has seen a 15 per cent rise yearly since opening in 2022 in couples spending earlymoons there. Many are within driving distance in the San Francisco Bay Area, said Ms Laura McIver, its general manager.

At The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern in Los Olivos, California, a roughly two-hour drive from Los Angeles, there has been a 25 per cent spike in couples booking stays before their weddings since it opened in February 2023, said Mr Joern Schwaiger, its general manager.

And at Ashford Castle in Mayo, Ireland, the earlymoon package – starting at US$8,500 – includes two nights at the hotel’s private boathouse; a boat excursion and a picnic on Chief’s Island; a rose quartz couples’ massage; and a private wine tasting in the property’s wine cellar.

The hotel has also arranged private consultations with Irish jewellery designer Nigel O’Reilly for earlymooners who want to commission custom pieces of jewellery to commemorate their upcoming nuptials.

“Before this year, we would have simply called an earlymoon a vacation or getaway,” said Ms Nicole Janoff, a senior manager of leisure travel at Magma Global, a travel agency in New York. She credits social media posts from couples for a 10 per cent increase in travel inquiries from earlymooners that Magma has received so far this year.

“The earlymoon trend represents a shift in how couples approach their wedding prep and prioritise their time together before the big day.”

Ms Janoff noted that typically, couples take their earlymoons six to eight weeks before their weddings, following a bridal shower and bachelor or bachelorette parties. She has sent couples to places like Montauk in New York, Bermuda, and Aspen in Colorado, for spring and summer nuptials. Couples marrying in the fall or winter often travel to Mexico and the Caribbean.

“No matter which destination they choose, there is always a massage appointment made,” she said, jokingly.

Those with longer engagements who want to go on earlymoons tend to travel several months before their wedding.

Ms Jillian Moya, 36, a corporate accounting software trainer, and Mr Reggie Blackburn, 40, who works for the Department of Justice, are marrying on New Year’s Eve in their home state of Florida. In June, they embarked on an earlymoon that started in London, made a stop in Croatia and ended with a Mediterranean cruise off Italy and Greece.

“We initially wanted a destination wedding but fell in love with a local venue so decided to marry in Florida,” Ms Moya said. “Our Europe trip was the perfect romantic getaway. We enjoyed peaceful times together before diving into full-on wedding planning.”

Mr Tom Marchant, a founder and chief executive of luxury travel company Black Tomato, said earlymoons unlock more destination options as couples are not traditionally bound to a specific post-wedding time frame.

He organised an earlymoon to Bhutan and India for a couple six months before their August 2023 wedding. Then, after their summer nuptials in Newport, Rhode Island, they took a New England road trip through Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut.

“Even those who have wedding planners feel the heat as the date approaches, so we find people are more at ease with some distance between the big day and the earlymoon,” said Mr Marchant. He has noticed a 13 per cent uptick in inquiries through his company this year.

“Travelling right after a wedding can be frantic. An earlymoon strips away the noise from that and allows more focus on spending meaningful time with each other.”

Ms Dri Buono Patel, 28, a corporate healthcare manager in Marlton, New Jersey, and her husband Matthew Patel, 29, a manager at global consulting firm EY, made plans for an eight-day earlymoon in Maui in September 2022, nine months before their wedding.

“We are an ‘any excuse to travel’ type of couple,” said Ms Dri Buono Patel, who also had a two-week honeymoon in Italy. “Being engaged is so special but the logistics, decision-making and nuances of planning a wedding take some of that excitement away. The trip gave us time to appreciate this phase of life.”

The couple rented a Jeep for a self-guided food tour during their earlymoon, trying banana cream pie at Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop; fresh poke from South Maui Fish Co; fresh baked slices of bread from Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread; and coconut ice cream from Coconut Glen’s. They also snorkelled, hiked and took a sunset dinner cruise.

“Everyone kept asking us if we were on our honeymoon, and we’d giggle,” she added. “It was a great escape from wedding planning, although my husband would add that it was also an extra expense on top of the wedding and honeymoon.”

Couples who can afford both an earlymoon and a honeymoon can enjoy “two distinct phases of celebration and relaxation surrounding their wedding”, Ms Janoff added.

“The earlymoon provides a pre-wedding retreat, while the honeymoon serves as a post-wedding getaway to mark the beginning of married life.” NYTIMES