Here Are Best Tips For Planning A Honeymoon, According To Married People
We recently asked married people in the BuzzFeed Community to share their best honeymoon tips. Here's everything you need to know before you plan your own:
Note: Some submissions are from this BuzzFeed post.
1."Absolutely, 100%, be bold and tell people it's your honeymoon! We got everything from balloons and a free in-room breakfast to a Vegas penthouse suite upgrade!"
2."Plan in downtime. We were so excited about where we went that we had something scheduled daily. By the end we were exhausted. For every two days scheduled, plan one day of nothing."
3."Don't be afraid to postpone! I know it's tradition to finish the wedding and then jet away to your honeymoon, but there can be a lot of advantages to breaking that tradition if you're worried about crowds or money. My husband and I got married right before he deployed with the Army, so we had the choice between a rushed honeymoon on the cheap or something longer and more leisurely after his deployment. We opted for the latter and were so glad we did. Our destination was much less crowded at the time of year we went (fall rather than spring), the travel deals were better, and we had saved up enough to splurge on the room, dining, and entertainment."
—Anonymous
4."Spend the money if you can and make it a trip to remember. It might be one of the last big trips you have as a couple if you plan on having kids."
5."My husband and I were already living together, so instead of registering we set up a honeymoon fund! The amount of money we got opened our options to more places than if we had saved on our own. We also booked it a few months after the wedding so we didn't have the stress of planning a honeymoon at the same time. It also gave us plenty of time to save up vacation days from work!"
6."Just get a travel agent, for sure. You tell them your preferences and budget, and they do the rest. Our travel agent didn't charge us any fees for his services. Don't stress yourself out planning what is supposed to be the best trip ever. Make someone knowledgeable on the subject do it for you!"
7."I would have budgeted more money for little conveniences. It was a bummer to have to nickel and dime my way through our honeymoon and it made things stressful. If you're going to do a lot of walking, prepare for it. Map it out and make sure your timing is right. Also, if you're walking as your main way of transportation, plan for naps and rest! We were exhausted and cranky because we didn't plan for it."
8."My husband planned our honeymoon and I didn't know where we were going until 5 a.m. when he printed our tickets at the airport! He gave me some very general guidelines of what to pack. After all the stress of wedding planning, I was truly so surprised and excited we were going to sit on a beach for a week. If possible, I would suggest a surprise honeymoon! I also wholeheartedly agree with everyone saying not to leave right after the wedding. We stayed at a hotel five minutes from our venue and left the next morning. Weddings are exhausting. The last thing you want to do after your send-off is going on a road trip or head to the airport."
9."Don't settle for the first travel quote you get. It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to go on a great trip. One of the best travel agents I found is not an 'agent' at all! Costco offers great travel packages at fractions of the price. When we initially looked into booking our 10-day honeymoon in Maui, we looked at AAA. They quoted us $4000 for a standard hotel room and flights. We got the Costco recommendation from a friend and booked the hotel (a condo with a full kitchen, washer, and dryer), the flight, AND a rental car for $2400. It helps to shop around!"
10."Clean out your fridge before you go. If possible, ask a friend or family member to drop off a meal for the night you return from your honeymoon. My new mother-in-law had dropped off a chicken casserole that only needed to be reheated. It was a blessing to have food in our fridge when we returned."
11."I would make sure to spend time with each other, not just do a bunch of activities. The best parts of my honeymoon were laughing and watching movies together. You don't have to book every minute. Also, stay off your phone! Be in the moment!"
12."Give yourself a lot of budget wiggle room. The last thing you'll want to do is stress over whether you have enough money left to order dessert or do something extra you hadn't planned. This will be true even if you do something all-inclusive like a cruise!"
13."Bring plenty of medication (i.e. Tums, Pepto-Bismol, Motrin, anti-nauseous, anti-diarrhea). You probably will get sick, so just in case!"
14."If you are a member of certain organizations, check to see if the hotel you want to stay at offers discounts. My husband was a member of Civil Air Patrol and Motel 6 offers a discount for its members."
15."There is nothing wrong with a 'stay-moon,' that's what we had. Planning the wedding was already so exhausting that planning an actual trip after that would have completely overwhelmed us. So we took a week off and stayed home, had a lot of fun in the bedroom, unwrapped our gifts, sent thank yous, enjoyed a bit of local tourism, and explored parts of our state that we had never seen before. It was wonderful. Don't let people guilt you into a trip you don't want to take or can't afford. Don't let them tell you it's 'bad luck' or the marriage is only 'real' if you take a honeymoon. I legit had an aunt tell me this. She was married three times, honeymoon after all of them. If you want to stay home and do nothing but each other and feed each other waffles all day, DO IT."
16."We went the Monday after our Saturday wedding. Every wedding we've been to where the couple postponed it or didn't go right away never took their honeymoon, and we constantly have them mention they always wish they went on one. Life gets in the way but if it's important to you, book one soon after your big day! Also, be careful on your honeymoon of using the phrase, 'Well, we only have one honeymoon!' because you spend a lot more money."
17."My husband and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon. I went quite a few times as a kid, and my family took my husband for his first trip when he got his master's. He wanted to go back for our honeymoon the next summer. We were already living together when we got married and fresh out of college, so it didn't make sense for us to ask for silverware or other traditional items on our registry. Instead, we listed out the meals we made reservations for while at Disney World, the expected price, and let our guests sign up for a meal to pay for. Our family loved it because it allowed them to choose something that would help us make our honeymoon memorable, and most people only had to pay $30 to $100 for their 'gift.'"
—Andie, Virginia
18."Do your research, especially if you're going out of the country. See what specific suggestions or tricks other people have for where you're going instead of winging it."
19."No matter where you go, don't overbook. Having a plan for every moment of the day can leave you too tired to have a different kind of fun, and it can rob you of some spontaneous fun. Romance isn't planned down to the minute, leave room to breathe!"
—Nick, Texas
What's your best honeymoon tip or advice? Share it in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
