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How to Plan a Honeymoon on a Budget – Afford Your Dream Vacation Getaway
Top 10 Simple Tips for Planning a Honeymoon on a Budget. Save money and time after your wedding with these honeymoon tips!
Not only do I have to plan my own wedding, but now I have to plan my honeymoon too?!
Your wedding planning is coming to a close and you are so close to being able to celebrate your love! Now, it is time to begin planning another adventure together – your honeymoon. As if you didn’t just spend most of your savings on your wedding … here comes another huge expense.
The reality is that many couples spend so much on their wedding that it becomes difficult to fork up the money for a honeymoon. Planning a honeymoon on a budget becomes a necessity.
I am here to tell you that you can still have an incredible honeymoon on a budget! You just need some careful planning and some creativity.
Top 10 tips for planning a honeymoon on a budget:
1. Set Honeymoon Budget Expectations with Your Partner
This one is going to hurt, but you may want to (if you have not done so already) create a spreadsheet with all of your wedding expenses to see where you ended up. You don’t want to go into planning a honeymoon with too high or too low expectations for what you can truly afford. Think about what is most important to you for your honeymoon.
Do you really need that couples massage? Or would you rather put that money toward an excursion?
Would you be okay with traveling to a cheaper destination if it means you can get more bang for your buck? Or must you go to the 5 star hotel in The Bahamas where you’ll just be camping out in your room because you can’t afford anything else?
2. Look At Multiple Dates for Travel
If your schedule allows, choose a cheaper time to travel, perhaps during the off-season.
You do not have to leave for your honeymoon the day after your wedding.
Leaving on a Tuesday, for example, rather than a Sunday, could save you a significant amount in airfare.
My husband and I are both teachers and got married in July, so (thankfully!) we had the rest of the summer to schedule our honeymoon. I know many people do not the summer flexibility that we do, but if you have the option to take time off at a different time of year, you may want to take advantage of it.
In order to save money, you could also plan for your honeymoon on a budget to be a shorter amount of time. You do not have to spend a traditional week to ten days on your honeymoon.
I mean really, how much time can you spend laying around on a beach anyway? 4-5 days is the perfect amount of time to experience everything, relax, and not get cabin-fever.
3. Research Multiple Honeymoon Destinations
I know going to 5 star hotels and resorts may be very Instagram-worthy, but really, are those couple photos worth spending your entire budget on?
Instead of going to the most popular resorts or destinations, make sure you really research different options. This does not mean that any hotel or resort in a different location is inferior, in fact, you may find some diamonds in the rough that just aren’t as popular.
Search for places where you can get the most out of your money. All-Inclusive Resorts and Hotels tend to save you a lot in the long run, especially if you and your partner like fine dining or having a few drinks. Another perk of these resorts are that tips are not customary!
When I planned my honeymoon, I searched for months on various dates and various locations within various destinations. We knew we wanted to go somewhere tropical, so I basically looked at every resort in Central America and the Caribbean before making a decision.
4. Use Travel Websites
Use websites such as Expedia or Orbitz to book your travel. This can save you a lot of time. They organize everything on their websites so that you can find your hotel/resort and your flight at the same time. You can even add a car to transport you to and from the airport all in one place.
Using these websites does indeed save you money. It is what they are designed for!
If you are already a traveler for work or leisure, make sure you look into your frequent flyer miles or points for hotels. It could also be beneficial at this time to open a credit card for an airline, as they may have big starter rewards or promotions for sign up.
We actually used Costco Travel to book our honeymoon and it was truly an easy, wonderful experience. It ended up saving us so much money that we were able to upgrade to the Honeymoon Package and stay within our budget!
5. Opt for All-Inclusive Packages
As I stated before, all-inclusives can truly be the most bang for your buck when it comes to what you get. With these types of packages, you’ll often get your room, pool, beach, towels, meals, drinks, room-service, and any of the activities that the resort offers.
This can be super helpful to your budget. Who wants to go on vacation and have to sit in their room the entire time because they can’t afford to do any extra activity because they’ve spent so much on fancy dinners?
You often have a wide variety to choose from when it comes to dining. Typically, you’ll have some sort of breakfast buffet and maybe a coffee shop to go to for breakfast. For lunch, you’ll have maybe two or three more casual locations. For dinner, you’ll have fine dining experiences that you may not otherwise encounter.
These are also great places to try new things! If you order something and don’t like it, just order something else!
With these types of packages, you can usually book extra excursions. These are not included in the all-inclusive price, but sometimes they can be discounted. Think about your priorities and if you can afford an excursion without breaking your budget.
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6. Plan and Book in Advance
I’ve heard many myths about booking flights on specific days or booking flights at certain times of year.
I am here to tell you that these are all simply just myths.
I researched and planned my honeymoon for a couple months prior to actually booking it. For some reason, I had heard in the past that if you look up flights on Tuesdays, they would be cheaper than if you had looked them up the day before.
That’s not true at all. What is true, is that prices for flights vary on the day or time that you actually fly out.
Don’t wait to book your flight!
Personally, my husband and I were truly all set to go to Costa Rica for our honeymoon. The first time I researched Costa Rica, it was well within our budget. In fact, I actually think it was significantly cheaper than other destinations.
However, when I went to book about two months later, the price had gone up about $2500!
Unfortunately, we could now not afford to go to Costa Rica for our honeymoon.
Don’t wait. Book the trip!
7. Stay Closer to Home
If you do not dream of being on a tropical island for your honeymoon, consider traveling to a more local place. You can still have just as much fun!
In retrospect, my husband and I probably would have had more fun if we stayed in the United States. Since we were staying at an all-inclusive, we did not want to leave the resort and spend more money, so we essentially were trapped there and became a little bored.
You could consider doing a road trip for your honeymoon to save on flight costs. You could totally make this fun and stop at multiple places along the way!
This will also make packing for your trip much easier – no need to worry about having liquids in your bag or having a bag over the free weight limit.
You’ll also be able to bring your own food, which could cut costs significantly.
Your honeymoon is your honeymoon! It will be an amazing experience wherever you decide to go.
8. DIY Your Honeymoon Activities
Research free things to do at your destination!
You could have so much fun doing free things such as hiking, going on picnics, or just generally exploring.This can also allow for amazing alone time with your partner to reflect on your wedding and life in general.
This could also be an opportunity to meet locals and chat with them. You never know what hidden gems you may find!
Focus on the experiences of your honeymoon – avoid anything overpriced and unnecessary like spa treatments. Yes, they are nice and wonderful, but are you really going to remember the massage, or would you be more likely to remember climbing a mountain on your honeymoon?
9. Capture the Moments
Now could be a good time to invest in a professional camera. You would save a ton of money rather than purchasing professional photos at your resort.
This would be an investment because you will use the camera again and again in your future, whether it may be future experiences or if you plan on having children.
If you don’t want to invest in a camera, definitely use your phone and take as many photos and videos as possible to create cherished memories!
10. Create a Honeymoon Fund
In order for a Honeymoon Fund to be successful, you’ll need to plan this out ahead of time.
These days, when people get married, they’ve already been established in their home with their partner for quite a while. Couples typically have all of their household essentials already because they’ve been living together.
Traditional wedding registries include home essentials because back in the day, many couples did not live together prior to getting married.
If you are open to it, create a Honeymoon Fund instead of a traditional wedding registry. You’ll avoid getting gifts of things you already have or things you don’t want.
By creating a Honeymoon fund, you’ll ask your wedding guests to contribute instead of giving a gift. You can use this registry for your wedding shower and also for your wedding. This can allow for more flexibility in your budget when planning your honeymoon!
Remember, your honeymoon is meant for you and your partner to relax and reflect on your wedding. Don’t worry about getting the perfect Instagram photos and instead take more candid photos that you can laugh at for years to come.
Make sure that you go into this with a plan, but also make sure to note that things don’t always go according to plan. Some of the best memories can be made when things don’t go the way you originally intended.
I hope that these tips help you to plan your successful budget honeymoon! Have a wonderful trip!
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