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Joe's Diary: Right at the start

It is an ideal opportunity to have the wedding you have always wanted, and which until now has only been a dream.
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Joe's Diary: The Honeymoon

Seeing as we're going to have most of the trimmings of a traditional wedding, we are definitely going to have one of the best bits - a grand honeymoon!

Even though we haven't made a final decision on destination, Pete and I know we want to go somewhere exotic so we'll need to have our inoculations done well in advance. The other thing we need to bear in mind is that I'm not as adventurous as Pete. Whilst I'll be happy to spend some time on the beach, he'll need some kind of sports or activities or he'll go mad so we need to find a resort that will cater for both of our tastes.

We usually go for last minute deals but as this is our honeymoon I don't want to leave anything to chance. The other thing we must be careful of is the timing of monsoon and hurricane seasons. Whilst the prices may be lower at those times I don't want to be hiding in a hotel basement or getting rained on during my honeymoon!

We got some brochures from the travel agent and there are some resorts that offer special deals for honeymooners ranging from free champagne and chocolates on arrival to a night of free accommodation if there is a stopover. One of Pete's friends recommended that we dress smartly so we are more likely to get an upgrade on our flights by letting them know we're on our honeymoon ? they flew first class to New York!

Some of the well-known tropical resorts only allow heterosexual couples to book so we need to check that the one we choose is friendly for us.

We need to order the travellers cheques in good time. That will give me time to note down the numbers in my notebook in case they're stolen, I must remember to make a separate note of our passport numbers too in case those go astray. I want to have all of the paperwork in order at least two weeks before we go just to make sure I don't go totally grey.

We also need to be careful with the travel insurance, especially if Pete wants to do some kind of adrenalin-fuelled activity. Things like bungee jumping aren't covered by normal policies, but sometimes more relaxed things like scuba diving aren't either. The last thing I want to think about is any accidents, but we must make sure that the medical cover is good as care in other countries can be expensive. I'll take a copy of the policy with us too as it should have all the information we need if we have to make a claim. We also need to check that our driving licences are adequate for hiring a car and whether any other paperwork is needed.

I plan to do most of the packing about a week before as I bet there'll be no time in the run up to the big day. One thing's for certain, I'll need a holiday after all this planning!