How to start planning your honeymoon

Struggling with honeymoon ideas? Not sure where to start, let alone where to go? There are a few simple steps you can take to help you figure out a honeymoon that is right for you not only in terms of location, but feel, duration, budget and accommodation. These factors are generally interlinked so defining one or two can really help in coming to a lot more decisions and allowing you to start imagining a trip that will suit your wants and needs instead of being cast a long on a uniform package deal designed by someone else.

For many couples a honeymoon is planned to take place a short period after the wedding. Although this is a general trend some circumstances mean that your honeymoon must be scheduled for an alternate date and that in itself is absolutely fine, you could always have a shorter weekend away to celebrate your nuptials and then anticipate together the excitement of going away. In my experience, if you do intend to honeymoon straight after your wedding at least consider booking a late afternoon or evening flight, or better yet wait a day or two and then jet off. After all of the excitement and emotion of the ceremony and reception you don’t want to feel rushed into your holiday, it should be a calming and relaxed experience (or as much as travel can be anyway).

Picking a destination is often the first preoccupation of an engaged couple, but with quite literally a whole world out there to explore, where you’d like to go can become a little confusing. The most effective way of overcoming this problem is communication; discuss in honestly and in depth with your partner what you have dreamed of or always would have liked for your honeymoon. Are there any specific places, attractions or activities you have always wanted to encounter the dive the Great Barrier Reef, safari in Africa or lounge on the beaches of the Caribbean? You could both make a list of your top five destinations (without telling each other) and then compare them to see if there are any correlations; don’t panic if there aren’t any direct matches look for more general features like whether you both like big cities, beaches, remote locations, Eastern or Western destinations.

Once you have a shortlist of destinations in mind try to do as much research into that place as possible. This will be especially helpful when deciding the suitability of a location, for example will your honeymoon fall within the rainy season, or winter; or if you’d rather miss the crowds perhaps you would hope to avoid the peak season.

Of course where you go may be dictated by your budget and it is always important to stick to the amount that you set out for yourselves. If you would rather have a little contingency cash then consider saving 10% extra and using it as an ‘emergencies’ purse use only for really special treats or if you are running a little low on funds. A good way of boosting your honeymoon budget is to use a honeymoon gift list, a service where instead of presents guests donate money or buy aspects of your honeymoon; particularly applicable if the couple have lived together for sometime and are not in need of five more bread makers.

One of the most important things to remember when planning your honeymoon is to relax, take it steady and don’t be rushed. Even if there are one or two bumps along the road but they can be overcome. Perhaps most of all though remember that this holiday is the trip of a lifetime and to savour every moment of it!