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Your honeymoon is a sacred time in your relationship. It is the first trip you take as a married couple; and although more and more couples are choosing to take a delayed honeymoon as opposed to leaving straight from the wedding reception (including my husband and me!), that doesn’t make the trip any less special. In many ways, planning a wedding is to please a family but the honeymoon is all about you two! So, how to stay present during this special time? This is a question that has come up often for me as I have helped couples prepare to document their travels.
How much should we be staying engaged in the moment (away from our tech)? How much should we be documenting our experience?
Strike a Balance + Stay Present
This question that will continue to arise, way after you’ve returned home from your vacation. It will come up on holidays, children’s’ piano recitals, and even on normal days when you’re on a walk in your neighborhood + the sunset is TOO good (because you like to celebrate small things too, not just the significant milestones).
I have one dear friend for whom documenting is part of the enjoyment; she always has her camera out and loves recording her adventures. Another friend I know leaves all of her tech (including her phone) at home when she and her husband travel. There’s no wrong answer here in between those two extremes. A third friend of ours has a boundary around no phones during meals.
Whether you’re an over-documenter or a disconnector, I hope these iPhone video tips are helpful as you create your personal balance:
- Have a conversation with your spouse-to-be about what feels comfortable for them regarding the amount of camera usage. If necessary, create language they can use to ask you for your full attention when they need it.
- Discuss why you feel documentation of this experience is vital to each of you
- Opt for a tried and true camera versus a phone. This avoids the temptation to upload all your honeymoon moments to social media during your trip; these things can wait until you get home!
- Learn the storytelling basics for the best of both worlds – enough video memories and enough camera free alone time.
Communication is Key
What it always comes down to is the communication between you and your spouse! My husband and I have established that we’ll be open with each other about our needs; this includes when we need our spouse’s attention, and when a particular moment is essential for us to capture. We put our phones away during meals, but we still love documenting our travels in other moments.
If you’re worried about your phone playing too big of a role during your honeymoon or another big event, invest in a small mirrorless camera, DSLR or Go Pro that doesn’t allow you to browse the internet or social media.
The other aspect that’s important to the balance between documenting and disconnecting is knowing what to shoot. If you capture the essentials of experience on video, you can put your camera away knowing that you didn’t miss anything that’s vital to the story. For this reason, I created the training resources that accompany the Juniper package.
Learn the Basics of Travel Video
I love the medium of film, so much that it’s my job to work with it all day. But I love my marriage to my husband more. Spending time with him is more important and more fun than anything else on my plate. So I get it. The more you can learn about what’s vital to tell your story, how long video clips need to be, and what is “too much” video for an editor to work with, the easier it will be to avoid the FOMO that can come from not having your camera out at a given moment.
Smartphone addiction is a real thing. You’re not alone in your struggles, and you’re also not alone in still wanting to keep a record of the mini-moment celebrations that you’re prioritizing in your everyday life. I’m not perfect at this. The important thing is that my husband + I are open to talking about what remains private and what we’re hoping to chronicle for years to come. And I wish the same for you! If you’re looking to get started in learning the storytelling basics so that you can banish FOMO for good, sign up for my free course here.
