For your parents and grandparents, honeymoons weren’t such a big deal. Once upon a time, a honeymoon was a week away to the seaside. A nice trip to Morecambe perhaps, or some time in Brighton.
These days, honeymoons are big business, and they’re only getting bigger and better.
The wedding/honeymoon combination can represent one of the biggest expenditures in your entire life, so it’s important you manage your finances carefully in this period so you’re not left in a tough spot afterwards.
Here are a few ideas to make some savings on the big trip after the big day.
Don’t just focus on the wedding
Unsurprisingly, planning ahead will play a huge part in getting the best deals on your honeymoon. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? Well, when there’s the small matter of a wedding to be arranged as well, the honeymoon can get lost amid all other things.
Try and put some time aside for honeymoon planning in your wedding schedule. Likewise, try and assign some of the overall wedding budget to the honeymoon.
If you’re keen on a big honeymoon, you might wish to devote some of the wedding gifting towards it. Of course, it’s up to you how you want to divvy this up depending on what’s most important.
Booking well in advance is likely to get you the best deals. The risk takers among you might think you can get the best deal at the last minute, but that’s not always the case.
To package or not?
There’s no doubt planning one of the biggest and best events of your life causes you a lot of stress and anxiety along the way. So, when it comes to booking the honeymoon you might want to go as hassle-free as possible. Thus, you could choose a package deal with all the hard work covered by the travel company.
This, while removing the trouble, might not be the cheapest solution. Booking your own holiday and activities will likely wind up cheaper, if you research well.
Once you know where you want to go and what you want to do, investigate package versus no package costs and see what works best for you.
The minimoon
A trendy solution for the money-savvy couple these days is to book a minimoon; a shorter, less expensive trip away, with a full honeymoon taking place at a later future date.
There are a couple of reasons to do this. Firstly, your official honeymoon period might be in peak season, meaning prices are at a premium and plenty cheaper to book during the off-season.
Secondly, you may wish to limit your honeymoon spending immediately after the financial cost of the wedding, allowing you to recoup funds before spending on a big holiday.
Either way, with an array of great value UK and European weekends away, a minimoon is a great way to help absorb the cost of your wedding period.
Tell the world
Finally, don’t be afraid to tell one and all that it’s your honeymoon!
A shameless plug here and there could see you pick up some extra goodies or a few freebies chucked in out of goodwill from your providers.
This could be a free upgrade on your flight, or some complimentary champagne in the hotel. Regardless, there’s no harm in seeing what you can get.
What’s the worst that can happen?
You don’t want to be stingy on your honeymoon, but if you can save money on doing some amazing things, then that’s only a bonus. The most important thing is you enjoy a holiday of a lifetime with your new spouse!
