Well this just stinks...

Do you know how you have those times during your wedding planning that are all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns? And then...at other times you may experience some periods of cloudy skies and storms?

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I currently have an ominous rain cloud over my head. Let me explain...

Remember how I gushed about the amazing honeymoon that Mr. Buttons and I had planned at the Rockhouse hotel?

Well, to put it bluntly..."it ain't happenin."

Mr. Buttons recently started a new job, which is great (yay for employment!), but not so fabulous for our travel plans. Technically, our wedding/honeymoon would fall within the 90 day probationary period for the new job, and they don't normally allow vacation time during that span of time. And, surprise surprise...when Mr. Buttons asked for the time off (he had informed them upfront in his interview), he was told that there was no justification to take time off for that.

Ok, fine. I get that it is a probationary period...but getting married is kind of a big life event, right? They are even telling Mr. Buttons that he has to come in on his "weekend" in order to be off work on the day of our rehearsal! They won't even give him one measly day off for his wedding. And, sadly...Mr. Buttons will have to report to work a mere 48 hours after our wedding takes place. So, you can imagine what that did to our travel plans.

Thankfully, we are able to get our full deposit back for a very small fee...and we hadn't booked flights to Jamaica yet. So, the good news is that we aren't losing a ton of money because of this. The bad news: we aren't going on a honeymoon, and we have no idea when we will have the chance to go on one. This makes me a very sad panda.

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Now, before you think I am just a sulky mess all of the time (although, I will admit, I have been having a little bit of a pity party for a while...but I think that I am completely justified), I'd like to think that there will still be sunny skies on the horizon for us. Mr. Buttons and I are going to have to tuck that refunded money away for safe keeping, and attempt to reschedule at a later date...hopefully sooner than later! Also, this means that we will be able to move into our new apartment right after the wedding (ok, so moving isn't exactly the most exciting task ever...)! When we were originally planning the honeymoon, Mr. Buttons and I were going to have to bunk at one of our parents' houses for a little while until a lease could start (because we didn't want to pay for a week of rent if we were out of town)! But, our lease is now starting at the end of May. Hopefully, we can take some time to move a few big pieces here and there in the days before the wedding...we shall see!

Did you experience some bumps in the road with honeymoon planning and vacation time? Did you have to postpone your honeymoon at all?

Aruba, Jamaica, ooooh I wanna take ya...

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During the wedding planning process, I always find it interesting to compare my previous expectations to what pans out in reality. For instance, when I went dress shopping, I was expecting to be overwhelmed with emotions when I found "the one." As you know, it didn't happen...but that is just one of the realities of the planning process I've had to deal with!

I experienced another one while planning the honeymoon. Ahhhh the honeymoon. I always thought that this would be one of the most exciting trips to plan, and I was imagining sunshine and rainbows and unicorns. However, the reality was more like Mr. Buttons and I kind of put it on the back burner. At the "6 months to the wedding" mark, I really started to pull myself together and get serious about booking something. I was so busy with planning the wedding that planning a honeymoon on top of it was just a lot to process!

In an ideal world, Mr. Buttons would probably have liked to surprise me by picking where we went. However, because he knows me so well, he was aware that I wouldn't like to be surprised, and would want at least SOME input on the decision.

So...what were our criteria for the trip?

• Sunshine/tropical - we really love the beach...
• Relatively close to Florida - I am not a very good traveler, and long plane rides would really do me in...so any thoughts of Hawaii, Australia, etc. were nixed right away
• Affordability - Mr. Buttons and I do like to get bang for our buck, so we wanted to find some place that was reasonably priced but still was spectacular
• Seclusion - Mr. Buttons preferred that we find a honeymoon location that featured separate cottages, villas, etc. so that we wouldn't feel like we were in a hotel. This was his biggest request.
  

So, Mr. Buttons and I scoured Trip Advisor, asked recommendations from friends and travel agents, and created a list about a mile long of potential locations to travel to. I won't go over the long list of contenders because it would take me a few hours...but essentially it came down to a decision between an all-inclusive resort and an "a la carte" one. Although the allure of the all-inclusives was strong (who wouldn't want free drinks all day long, as well as all you can eat food?), we ended up selecting the latter.

Want to see where we're going???

All images from Rockhouse Hotel website

The Rockhouse Hotel is a boutique hotel in Negril, Jamaica. You may recognize it...Mrs. Ant was married there! And...coincidentally, when we announced to our families that we selected this hotel, we discovered that Mr. Buttons' brother and his wife honeymooned there a few years back! The ratings on Trip Advisor were glowing, and I was completely sucked in as soon we we visited the website.

It features only 34 rooms (8 premium villas, 12 villas, and 14 standard rooms), which Mr. Buttons was a big fan of. Hopefully that means peace, quiet, and seclusion for the two of us!

The premium villas have been constructed recently; we will be staying in one! You can literally jump off of any cliff into the water here...how cool is that???

The regular villas sit back a little farther on the cliffs in comparison to the premiums.

There are a few restaurants to eat at on-site; The Rockhouse Restaurant and Pushcart Grill & Rum Bar have received great reviews...I'm excited to taste some Jamaican cuisine...

A really nice draw for me was their spa; they use a line of spa products made from only natural ingredients indigenous to the Caribbean.

Another thing I love about the hotel? They give back to the local community by donating to schools. Also, they are constantly improving their environmental practices and minimizing their use of natural resources, air emissions, and hazardous materials.

Mr. Buttons and I were thrilled to book our trip to the Rockhouse...and I can't wait to report back on our experience after the wedding!

What criteria factored in to your honeymoon search? What location did you end up selecting (or hope to select)?