One of the great benefits of getting married is the long-awaited honeymoon. With all the stress that comes with planning a wedding, a honeymoon vacation is definitely much needed. You don’t have to spend your entire savings to go on a nice honeymoon. There are ways to plan for it it without breaking the bank. Use the tips included below to plan an affordable, romantic honeymoon of your dreams.
Figure Out a Budget
One of the first things you should do is figure out the budget for your honeymoon. This will give you an idea of what you can afford. Take into consideration that this amount should cover your hotel, transportation, food, airline tickets and entertainment. To see if your budget is realistic, research the average cost of these items to various destinations to see if your budget doable.
Sign-up for a Honeymoon Registry
Consider signing up for a honeymoon registry and ask your guests to send in a cash gift to it instead of buying traditional wedding gifts. To get started, you have to first locate a travel agency or travel company that offers this service. Many companies set couples up with their own website when they sign up for this service. This will allow you to keep track of your donations, send out announcements and emails. The donations made by your guests can be paid directly to you to use as you see fit to plan your entire vacation or you can set up your registry so that people can make contributions to specific honeymoon expenses that you have set up. Example expenses could include: travel airfare, accommodations, a romantic dinner for two or a spa day.
Travel During Off Season
If you have a specific destination in mind, travel to it during off season. A simple online research will reveal the specific months for your destination. Traveling during this time of year can save you a significant amount of money. For example, off-season months for the Caribbean is from mid-April to mid-December so this is the best time to go and get some really great rates.
Stay Close to Home
If your budget doesn’t allow for an exotic honeymoon vacation, plan one that’s less costly and close to home. Don’t stress yourself over something that you simply can’t afford. Save up and plan for it later on. It could be a treat to yourselves as a celebration of your one, two or even five year anniversary. Some staycation honeymoon ideas include:
- Take a few days off of work, turn off your phones, sleep in and explore your city as tourists. Take plenty of pictures of all the wonderful moments you will share.
- Drive an hour outside of your city. Book a hotel room for a few days and splurge a little. Order breakfast in bed a few days you’re away, plan to have special candle light dinner at an intimate restaurant and really enjoy each others company.
- If your spouse enjoys the outdoor, plan a camping trip.
By using the tips included above, you will have a wonderful honeymoon no matter what your budget limitations may be. You should never over extend yourself financially, even if that means pushing your dream honeymoon to a later date.
Diane Magruder is a hotel and resort reviewer and, while she’s in between destinations, blogs for http://www.thailandholidays.net where you can learn more about honeymoons in Thailand.
These are really great tips for honeymooners. I am getting married soon and will definitely use your valuable tips on how to save money on our honey moon. The key is definitely creating a budget and traveling off season. That by itself can save thousands of dollars! Thanks for posting!
I think some of the above tips can be used for the wedding itself. We’ve recently bought a house so can’t really afford an expensive wedding so one of the things we’re trying to do is save money. Staying close to home and having your wedding on a day which isn’t as popular as most is a good way to get better deals.
Ben