When my husband and I got married in 2015, we decided to have a wishing well for gifts. We didn’t want hideous crockery from distant relatives or material things for our tiny 1950s flat in Melbourne. We were pretty happy with what we already had.
At the time, we had only been back home in Australia for about a year and a half. Prior to that, we had blown all of our life savings on three years of traveling abroad. By the time we got married, we were still pretty broke, but we were both working full-time — me as a journalist and my partner as a remedial massage therapist — and saving toward a deposit for a house.
We got married at a vineyard on the Gold Coast in Queensland, surrounded by 66 of our closest friends and family. After the wedding, I remember sitting on the bed at my parents’ house, where we were staying, and opening all the wedding cards bursting with cash.
We were given about 4,000 Australian dollars at our wedding
Some of our loved ones gave us as much as 300 Australian dollars, which we thought was incredibly generous. Others threw in AU$20, and we were so grateful for every cent.
At the end of the card-opening session, my husband was holding a wad of money — roughly AU$4,000, or about $3,200 at the time. “What shall we do with all this moolah?” he asked, fanning it across his face.
Now, any smart person would have put the money straight into their savings account to grow the old nest egg. Not us.
Instead, my husband and I decided to spend it all on our dream honeymoon, which was also a bit of a babymoon, as I was five months pregnant at the time. Boy, was it incredible.
We decided to spend it all on our honeymoon
We flew from the Gold Coast to the Whitsunday Coast, then took a ferry over to Daydream Island. As we made our way inside the island’s resort, they presented us with mocktails and shell necklaces, and we felt like royalty.
The island was small but perfect for honeymooners. Every morning, we’d start the day with a buffet breakfast, then laze by the pool drinking refreshments, take a rainforest walk, or try water activities like stand-up paddleboarding. At sunset, we’d go for long walks on the beach, check out the open-air cinema, and stuff our faces with fresh, mouth-watering seafood.
It was honestly the most relaxing, romantic week of my life. What made it so much more enjoyable was that we didn’t have to worry about the tab at the end of it, because with the money from our wedding guests, we had it completely covered.
As our dream honeymoon finally came to an end and our plane took off, destined for Melbourne, I started sobbing, looking out the window. My husband noticed me spluttering and asked me what was wrong.
“That was the best week of my life, and now it’s over,” I said, immediately feeling ridiculous, like a 2-year-old throwing a tantrum. We both laughed at my reaction (and obvious pregnancy hormones), and he held my hand.
Looking back, we would make the same decision
In hindsight, it was probably a little indulgent to blow all of that money in a week. It would have definitely been smarter to put the cash toward a deposit for a house.
However, given the chance to do things over again, we would probably make the same choice. Our honeymoon was the last holiday where it was just the two of us; we now have three kids, and it will be a while before the youngest turns 18.
We made lasting memories, and did eventually buy a family home in Melbourne, and it all worked out in the end. But for that one glorious moment in time, we lapped up the high life with zero regrets.
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